Lady Shenandoah cemented her status as Australia's best filly when she secured her third group 1 triumph with a victory in the Coolmore Classic (G1) March 15 at Rosehill.
Chris Waller, who saddled up the quinella with stablemate Firestorm pushing Lady Shenandoah all the way home, admitted he was 'blown away' by the filly after she overcame a wide draw to deliver him group 1 win No. 175.
Despite sweating up in the pre-parade ring on a hot and humid day in Sydney, Lady Shenandoah conserved just enough energy to carry her race record to five wins and two minor placings from seven starts—a remarkable run which has yielded more than AU$1.8 million in prize-money earnings.
After registering his 112th victory at racing's elite level, James McDonald labelled Lady Shenandoah 'a champion' and marveled at the ability of his compatriot Waller to have his stable stars in peak condition time and time again.
"She wasn't entitled to win, she was all out at the 100-meter mark, but like all champions she found a way," said McDonald.
"She got worked up prior to the start, which was a bit of a concern. But we were able to get a couple of minutes where she took a breather before the start.
"She began well and showed her fighting qualities at the end. She is a very fast filly and as she gets older and starts filling out into her frame, I think that she will come back in trip and be even faster."
In the more immediate future, Lady Shenandoah is likely to head to the paddock with Waller keen to have the daughter of Snitzel in prime condition for her spring assignments.
"I do tend to change my mind a little bit as I'm getting older, but I would say it is highly unlikely she'll have another run in the autumn," said Waller.
"But I will speak to the owners (Hermitage), with due respect to them, and work out what she needs to do to be right in the spring.
An AU$525,000 purchase Eugene Chuang's Hermitage Thoroughbreds at the 2023 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale from the draft of her co-breeders Arrowfield, Lady Shenandoah became the first 3-year-old to win the Coolmore Classic since Typhoon Tracy triumphed back in 2009.
Arrowfield will offer her Maurice half brother at next month's Inglis Easter Australian Yearling Sale, with a bidding frenzy all but assured on Lot 187.
"He's going to be popular, isn't he,'' Arrowfield's John Messara said. "We've got some lovely horses coming to Easter, gee it's a nice draft and I'm really very excited to get back to Riverside in a couple of weeks to offer them to the buying bench.''
Out of winning mare Star Pupil, Lady Shenandoah is a three-quarter sister to Hong Kong group 1-winner Stronger, who stands at Aquis Farm.
Of the Coolmore Classic beaten brigade, Firestorm's pilot Tyler Schiller was full of praise for the 4-year-old mare who flashed home but was ultimately unable to bridge the gap to her more illustrious stable companion.
"She was quite phenomenal late," said Schiller. "I thought at the top of the straight she was getting on her right leg, but I just had to balance her up. I didn't feel like she was getting through her gears quickly enough for the 1,500 meters, so I was surprised how close she got to the winner and she's a really nice mare going forward."
Lady Of Camelot is still without a win since her Golden Slipper (G1) heroics, but the ultra-consistent filly now has five successive stakes placings after she rounded out the top three.
