Star filly Lady Shenandoah showcased her class while also displaying her fighting spirit to claim victory in a thrilling Group 1 Surround Stakes at Randwick.
Following an impressive Flight Stakes win last spring and a dominant first-up success in the Light Fingers Stakes this autumn, the Chris Waller-trained Lady Shenandoah was sent out as the $1.30 betting sites favorite in Saturday’s 1400m feature for fillies. However, she had to work hard to edge out Golden Slipper winner Lady Of Camelot in a dramatic finish.
With champion jockey James McDonald aboard, Lady Shenandoah settled just behind the leaders and made her move early in the home straight. But the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott-trained Lady Of Camelot fought back strongly, pushing the favorite to the limit.
Lady Shenandoah responded to the challenge, securing victory by a short neck. The pair pulled well clear of the rest of the field, with the winner’s stablemate Lazzura finishing 2-3/4 lengths behind in third.
“I’m rapt with her, she had to really fight it out,” McDonald said.
“Credit to Gai and Adrian’s filly, that was as tough as it comes. At the 100-metre mark, I thought we were done, but my filly pulled out all stops.
“She’s a top-class filly. And obviously, we were expected to blaze away in glory, but you’ve got to have the tough victories to get the good ones as well. So that was a good effort.”
Waller was also pleased to see Lady Shenandoah dig deep when it mattered most.
“I could see that she had accelerated but didn’t quite clear the horses around her, and then I realised it was Lady Of Camelot, and she’s a Golden Slipper winner, so I knew a Waterhouse and Bott horse was going to be hard to get past,” Waller said.
“And sure enough, it was.
“Lady Of Camelot lifted, and it was good to see Lady Shenandoah fight and be dominant.”
Bott praised Lady Of Camelot’s performance and suggested the Coolmore Classic as a likely next target.
“She was excellent and really brave,” Bott said.
“I thought she showed the nice improvement that we wanted to see from her first-up run. We were looking to stretch out to that sort of trip to open a few more options, and I think that’s important for her, that versatility.”