Canberra's two-pronged Kosciuszko attack was gallant on Saturday, but unable to match it with boom Brett Cavanough mare It's Me.
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Matthew Dale's Man Of Peace led throughout at Randwick and clung on gamely for third, just ahead of Keith Dryden's defending champion Handle The Truth, but the newest darling of Australian racing dashed past the pair of them late on to remain unbeaten.
The four-year-old brushed off a throat mucus scare earlier in the week, and was forced to escape a wall of trouble under Jason Collett at the top of the straight before letting down to nab Redouble at the post.
"Are you allowed to cry?" Cavanough said on Sky Thoroughbred Central.
"J Collett I thought he tried to get her beat, it was ugly but it worked. When he went into some traffic, into a black hole on her I thought well we're in some trouble here.
"He done a bit of camp drafting to get out and he's got the job done so what more can you say."
Man Of Peace set a cracking tempo first-up under Irish hoop Louise Day and pinched a break at the top of the straight. He was still in front 100m from home, before Redouble slipped by on the inside.
They were both gobbled up by a flying It's Me, who was close to being scratched earlier in the week when she pulled up from a midweek swim with a cough.
"I would've scratched her and the vet said run her," Cavanough said.
"Just go down the back and have a hose, go to the swab stall, go home to Scone and we'll worry about that [what's next] tomorrow."
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Top weight Handle The Truth was typically tough stuck three wide without cover throughout with 59kg, and refused to wilt as he finished fourth.
Dryden's galloper went into the race second-up, mimicking the successful pattern that yielded him last year's race. But since then It's Me has emerged as potentially the next star in Australian racing.
"She's having her fourth start and she's just beaten some open grade sprinters, I can't quite say how high she'll get," Collett said.
James Buckley
James is a Queanbeyan boy enjoying his second stint at the Canberra Times, more than eight years on from his first. In between he's traveled the world, and spent time covering sport in Sydney.
James is a Queanbeyan boy enjoying his second stint at the Canberra Times, more than eight years on from his first. In between he's traveled the world, and spent time covering sport in Sydney.
