Shenandoah Is Lady's First In Coolmore

Group 1 Classic for fillies & mares unfolds in busy 1-2 finish for Waller at Rosehill Gardens

- Michael Lee

Exciting filly Lady Shenandoah answered all the questions over her bid to beat older mares in the Group 1 Coolmore Classic (1,500m) on March 15, while under sufferance at the weights.

Even her famous trainer Chris Waller had thought long and hard about starting the Snitzel three-year-old in a fillies and mares race that had favoured the latter, more so when the handicapper slapped the then four-time winner and dual-Group 1 winner with 54.5kg.

Facts and figures were against her. Typhoon Tracy was the last filly to win the Coolmore Classic in 2009, albeit carrying only 51kg.

One has to go further back in time (another 12 years) to see a victor shouldering 54.5kg or more—Assertive Lass who won weighted at 55.5kg in 1997.

In the end, Waller winged it, scratched Lady Shenandoah from the Group 2 Phar Lap Stakes (1,500m), run on the same day, to add even more firepower for a four-pronged attack in the A$1 million (S$842,000) race.

Punters love some chutzpah in racing, as they backed Lady Shenandoah off the map into $9.