The formidable partnership of trainer Chris Waller and jockey James McDonald has now amassed 66 Group 1 victories following Lady Shenandoah’s triumph in the Toorak Handicap at Caulfield.
It was McDonald’s counsel that prompted Waller to opt for the Melbourne Group 1 Handicap over 1600m on Saturday, bypassing the 1400m Alan Brown Stakes at Rosehill.
Lady Shenandoah, sent off as the joint $5.50 favourite, navigated a challenging draw to narrowly defeat Changing Colours ($8) by a head, with Welcometotheshow ($16) finishing a short-head behind in third.
Waller commended McDonald’s masterful ride, which prevented Lucy Yeomans, in just her second year of training, from securing a Group 1 win with her inaugural top-level contender.
Changing Colours, a horse previously under Waller’s care before joining Yeomans’ Cranbourne stable, entered the race on a streak of four consecutive victories.
“I’m sorry for spoiling their party because they’ve done a great job with that horse to get it up to Group 1 level,” Waller stated. “But it’s credit to a good horse (Lady Shenadoah) and a good ride from James. That was one of the best you will ever see with the big weight and for a mare, that’s massive.
“She’s a really good horse and I think that’s her fourth Group 1 and she’s done it in handicaps. Not many horses do that in handicaps after three Group 1’s.”
Waller detailed that his ‘form man’ had indicated Lady Shenandoah had a strong chance of a top-three finish despite carrying significant weight, and McDonald had also strongly endorsed the mare.
“We kept that pretty close to our chest,” Waller admitted. “James was coming down and Ben (Melham) was already riding Birdman as he had won a Group 1 on him. I thought I can’t just bring you down here for the Guineas as the Guineas, we didn’t think we could win it, but we could run top three (with this mare), and with that, and James saying she can win, we decided to bring her down.”
Waller confirmed the Empire Rose Stakes (1600m) at Flemington on the opening day of Melbourne Cup week is now the target for Lady Shenandoah.
With three weeks until the October 31st race, Waller is contemplating whether to transport Lady Shenandoah back to Sydney or keep her in Melbourne.
“We normally leave them down, but we took her home (after running in the Sir Rupert Clarke),” Waller explained. “She doesn’t do that well down here and we’ve got three weeks. I had her booked in to go to the farm tomorrow, so I’ll have a think whether to send her there or take her back home.”
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