Coolangatta, who was going for her third consecutive victory, hung on to defeat Russian Conquest in the 1200-metre contest.

Maher and his training partner David Eustace won the prestigious race with Away Game in 2020.

The Winslow training export said it was exciting to win the feature race with Coolangatta who was ridden by champion jockey James McDonald.

"It's very satisfying to win our second two-year-old classic," Maher told The Standard.

"The victory is a great result for our staff and Coolangatta's owners.

"We've had a big opinion of Coolangatta since we purchased her at last year's Magic Millions Yearling Sales.

"There has been a bit of hype around Coolangatta after she won her first two starts."

Maher was rapt with Coolangatta's run, pleased she could handle the pressure of being a contender.

"There's always a bit of extra pressure when you have the favourite," he said.

"I was a bit toey before the race but I was confident she could win if everything went all right in the run.

"She's an extremely valuable filly having won her first three races and one of those is the $2 million Magic Millions.

"It was a very good ride by James. He's a world-class jockey.

"I would say she'll have a bit of a freshen up before we look for another race for her."

Coolangatta was sold for $280,000 at last year's Magic Millions Yearling Sales.

She has earnt more than $1.4 million in prizemoney from her three starts.

Snapdancer, a stablemate of Coolangatta, won the $1 million Magic Millions fillies and mares on Saturday.

The lightly-raced five-year-old mare has won four of her 15 starts.

The Maher-Eustace training combination, which also had runners in Victoria across the weekend, won with Decent Raine at Flemington Racecourse on Saturday.

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