The G1 Myer Classic for fillies and mares attracted a deep field that included Group 1 winners such as Global Glamour (Aus) (Star Witness {Aus}), Foxplay (Aus) (Foxwedge {Aus}), Silent Sedition (Aus) (War Chant and last year's winner I Am A Star (NZ) (I Am Invincible {Aus}) and similar to last year it was the sole 3-year-old in the lineup, Shoals (Aus) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}), who made her valuable weight allowance count to justify favouritism and claim the spoils. Shoals jumped smartly under Dean Yendall but it was Global Glamour, rushed up by Timothy Clark, that took the field along with the Anthony Freedman-trained winner content to sit in second and avail of a trouble-free trip. She in turn was tracked throughout by I Am A Star and Silent Sedition. As Tim Clark tried to get a breather into his mount, Yendall drew alongside at the 300m pole and began to make the best of his way home. Shoals went a length clear as the other early pacesetters dropped away and it appeared she thought she had the race won as the chasing pack bore down on her. The line came just in time for Shoals, as she held off the late surges of Eckstein (Aus) (I Am Invincible {Aus}) and Dixie Blossoms (Aus) (Street Sense) by two short heads.
Dean Yendall was riding his fourth Group 1 winner in the last year and he was naturally chuffed with the outcome. “We began well and I used her a little bit to cross over and sat off Timmy Clark on Global Glamour,” Yendall told Racing.com. “I knew I had a seven-kilogram weight difference on the rest of them and used that to our advantage, and was able to kick clear and hold off the late runs. She got a bit wayward late–she had a bit of a look at the winning post–which she's entitled to do. It's a massive effort from Team Freedman and I'd like to thank them and Jonathan Munz for giving me the opportunity to ride her.”
Shoals now has five wins from seven starts and she did not take long in demonstrating what she could be capable of when winning the G3 TBV Thoroughbred Breeders S. at Flemington on her second start back in March, before taking a further step up the ladder when bagging the G2 Percy Sykes S. at Randwick a month later. She posted a listed win at Moonee Valley on her return in September before meeting with defeat for the first time when second in the G2 Schweppes Thousand Guineas Prelude at Caulfield on Oct. 1. She again came up marginally short at her first top-level attempt when second to Aloisia (NZ) (Azamour {Ire}) in the G1 Schweppes Thousand Guineas two weeks later before gaining ample compensation on Saturday.
Her trainer Anthony Freedman beforehand was as confident of victory as one can be in a Group 1 and he commented, “That was very satisfying. We were always going to go forward and take any bad luck out of play and use the weight advantage. She's a pretty tough filly, not very big but incredibly tough, trouble-free and straightforward.”
Pedigree Notes…
Shoals was bred by Jonathan Munz and John Messara and is the first foal out of The Broken Shore (Aus) (Hussonet) who was a A$1.9m purchase at Magic Millions in 2014 when carrying Shoals. The Broken Shore owed her lofty price-tag not to her impressive race record that yielded just one win, but to her lineage, as she is a half-sister to both champion racehorse and champion sire Redoute's Choice (Aus) (Danehill) and fellow Group 1 winners Platinum Scissors (Aus) (Danehill) and Manhattan Rain (Aus) (Encosta De Lago {Aus}). This is one of the best pedigrees in the stud book and Shoals has now done her bit to extend the legacy. The Broken Shore has since produced a full-sister to Shoals called Tides (Aus) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) who is yet to race and foaled a full-brother in 2016. Click for the free Arion.co.nz catalogue-style pedigree.
Saturday, Flemington, Australia
MYER CLASSIC-G1, A$502,500 (US$384,590/£294,101/€331,163), VRC, 11-04, 3yo/up,f/m, 1600mT, 1:35.26, Good.
1–SHOALS, 50.0, f, 3, by Fastnet Rock
1st Dam: The Broken Shore, by Hussonet (USA)
2nd Dam: Shantha's Choice, by Canny Lad
3rd Dam: Dancing Show (USA), by Nijinsky (Can)
1ST GROUP 1 WIN. O-Pinecliff Racing (Mgr: J B Munz) &
Arrowfield Pastoral Pty Ltd (Mgr: J M Messara); B-Arrowfield
Pastoral Pty Ltd (NSW); T-Anthony Freedman; J-D Yendall;
A$302,500. Lifetime Record: 7-5-2-0, A$1,067,150. Click for
the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Werk Nick Rating: A.
2–Eckstein, 57.0, f, 4, I Am Invincible–Comrie, by Choisir.
(A$50,000 Wlg '14 INGMAY A$165,000 Ylg '15 MMLJAN).
O-Ms A Winchester, Mrs V H Green, Mrs N Santry, Mrs R A
Fahlstrom, Mrs K Robertson, M D Weiner, A M Cardy, P Green
& Poidevin Paradice Racing Syndicate; B-Redbank North NSW;
T-Kurt Goldman; J-B Avdulla; A$90,000.
3–Dixie Blossoms, 57.0, m, 5, Street Sense (USA)–Whistle Dixie
(NZ), by Star Way (GB). O-A S Osburg; B-Mr AS Osburg (NSW);
T-R J Quinton; J-C W Brown; A$45,000.
Margins: SHD, SHD, SHD. Odds: 3.80, 40.00, 11.00.
Also Ran: Prompt Response (Aus), Foxplay (Aus), Now Or Later (Ire), French Emotion (Aus), Heavens Above (Aus), Global Glamour (Aus), Danish Twist (Aus), Flying Jess (Aus), Daysee Doom (Aus), Sword of Light (Aus), Silent Sedition (Aus), Ellicazoom (Aus), I Am a Star (NZ). Click for the Racing Post result.
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