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McDonald rides Generosity to fourth stakes win in 2026 Challenge Stakes

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Leading hoop James McDonald piloted his fourth stakes winner of the Royal Randwick fixture as Generosity swooped late to pip Marhoona in a dramatic Group 2 $500,000 Challenge Stakes (1000m) on Saturday.

From gate to post, the weight-for-age feature was full of thrills, highlighted by short-priced Raging Force suffering issues at the start and retired by jockey Tommy Berry shy of the corner.

Concurrently, veteran Mazu surprised with sharp early foot, dictating terms ahead of Marhoona and Generosity, as Giga Kick, the 2022 The Everest hero, dropped back early.

The turning point came courtesy of McDonald’s skill, detaching from Marhoona’s slipstream late to outlast the previous Golden Slipper winner by the barest margin.

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McDonald said all three placegetters “fought it out really well”.

“Take nothing away from the second horse (Marhoona), I didn’t think I was going to get there, she’s a very good filly in her own right,” McDonald said.

“Generosity looked great in the parade ring and although I wasn’t intending to be there early, she jumped so well.

“Then she presented like the winner and jogged up to them. She’s a bonny little mare.

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“Chris (Waller, trainer) was pretty confident before the race and you always get so much confidence when you get legged onto his horses because they’re primed and ready to go.

“She’s Group 2 placed (3rd in The Shorts) from memory but The Galaxy down in the weights is the perfect race for her.”

Generosity ($10) nosed out Marhoona ($9.50) by a short half head in the nailbiter, with Mazu ($8.50) a mere head adrift in third.

Her time for the 1000m stood at a swift 56.63s, underpinned by a scorching 32.59s closing 600m that sealed the deal against those positioned rearward.

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Giga Kick ($3.20) produced a late surge to fill fourth, beaten by 1.5 lengths.

These three contenders are likely to cross paths again in the Group 1 $1 million The Galaxy (1100m) at Rosehill Gardens on March 21, while Giga Kick eyes the Group 1 $3 million TJ Smith Stakes (1200m) at Royal Randwick on April 4.

Preceding victories for McDonald came via Pinito (Group 3 Aspiration Quality), Beadman (Listed Fireball Stakes) and Chayan (Group 2 Reisling Stakes), rounding out his quartet.

An atypical move from trainer Chris Waller involved three trials to peak Generosity for the Challenge Stakes.

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“Generosity needed to be fit and fresh to win this race,” Waller said.

“I didn’t lose faith in this mare, she’s got very good form in Perth and she’s a talented mare

“She was ready to go a month ago and then we thought, where are we going to run her?

“We know she is good fresh and we couldn’t find the right race so we put her on the treadmill for a week.

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“Then we gave her a third trial as she had to be very fit and fresh for this race. She is a lovely horse to worth with, she is mentally mature now.

“So, we will go to The Galaxy on our home track at Rosehill now and could even look at the Sangster Stakes in Adelaide.”

Discover top racing odds on the Challenge Stakes follow-up across leading betting sites.

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“Give me a refund” — Fans furious after repeated rescheduling of ENHYPEN online fansign amid members’ poor health

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Fans of ENHYPEN have expressed frustration online after another schedule change affected the group’s video call fansign event. On March 8, the organizers of the event titled [VIDEO CALL EVENT 2] ENHYPEN ‘THE SIN: VANISH’ announced that the event would no longer take place on its previously scheduled date of March 10, 2026.

In an official notice shared online, the organizers says that the event has been postponed due to “unavoidable circumstances.” The video call event will now take place on April 2, 2026, at 8:30 p.m. KST, while the test call for participants has been scheduled for 7:00 p.m. KST on the same day.

In the notice, the organizers apologized to participants and fans who had been preparing for the event. They stated that the team would work to provide a “smoother and more stable service” and asked fans for their understanding regarding the change.

The announcement came shortly after another disruption related to ENHYPEN’s another online fansign events earlier in March. On March 2, a separate video call event involving ENHYPEN was canceled only two hours before its scheduled start time. At the time, the organizers explained that the postponement was due to the members’ poor health.

The second cancellation drew criticism from some fans, many of whom had already adjusted their schedules to participate in the event. Several participants also raised concerns about the lack of earlier notice. One fan wrote online,

“If you’re going to do that, you should give me a refund. What are you doing taking the money?”

One fan wrote (Image via TheQoo)One fan wrote (Image via TheQoo)
One fan wrote (Image via TheQoo)

Others also questioned the repeated schedule changes and expressed confusion about the newly announced date.

“Shouldn’t there be a clause that allows cancellation when changing the date of the call? It’s so arbitrary. What if I don’t receive the test call? What if someone else shows up during the call? Threats are rampant” said this fan.

“I don’t think there’s any need to badmouth the members. I’m just annoyed by companies that treat fans’ time and money as a joke” wrote this user.

“Is there a problem with Hello Live? Why does it keep doing that in the episodes they do?” asked another fan.

Some ENHYPEN fans said the situation suggested that there might be additional factors behind the postponements.

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“There must be something going on. There’s no communication ” said one netizen.

“It seems like there’s trouble with the record label, probably due to money ” read a comment,

“At this point, it seems like there really was a contract problem” wrote this user.

“It seems like there’s trouble with the record label, probably due to money” added this fan.


ENHYPEN’s THE SIN: VANISH surpasses 2 million first-week sales, continues steady run on Billboard charts

Meanwhile, ENHYPEN began 2026 with a strong commercial performance following the release of their seventh mini-album THE SIN: VANISH on January 16, 2026. The album recorded high sales both domestically and internationally soon after its release. Data from Hanteo Chart showed that THE SIN: VANISH sold 2,075,056 copies between January 16 and January 22, becoming the first album of 2026 to surpass two million copies within its first week.

On its release day alone, the album sold more than 1.6 million copies, becoming the highest first-day sales figure recorded by any album this year. THE SIN: VANISH is the group’s fourth album to exceed two million first-week sales and the third album to reach the milestone within a single week, following ROMANCE: UNTOLD and DESIRE: UNLEASH.

The album also continued to perform on international charts. According to the March 7 chart update published by Billboard on March 3, THE SIN: VANISH ranked No. 95 on the Billboard 200, the publication’s main album chart. The release remained on the chart for six consecutive weeks since debuting at No. 2 on the January 31 chart.

In addition, the album held No. 2 on the World Albums chart for three consecutive weeks and ranked No. 7 on the Top Album Sales chart. ENHYPEN as a group also appeared at No. 57 on the Artist 100 chart.

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Outside of music promotions, ENHYPEN continues to engage with fans through their self-produced variety show EN‑O’CLOCK. New episodes of the show is released every Thursday on the group’s official YouTube channel.