Chris Waller’s bold decision to race young filly Lady Shenandoah against older mares in the Coolmore Classic has paid off, with the three-year-old becoming the first filly in 16 years to win the prestigious Group One event.
Rather than following his usual path with fillies in the Group 2 Phar Lap Stakes (1500m)—which he also claimed with Lazzura—Waller chose to challenge Lady Shenandoah in the 1500m race. He believed the filly deserved another big race opportunity after already claiming a pair of major wins against her own age and sex.
“It’s a little bit scary, but it’s uncharted territory for me to run a filly against the older girls,” Waller admitted.
“I wasn’t that confident pre-race. She sweated up badly, and I thought, ‘What have you done?’ But we got away with it.”
When the barrier draw was announced, Waller questioned whether a Group Two would do much for Lady Shenandoah, considering her future prospects. “She doesn’t owe us anything, so even if she doesn’t win this race, she’s still going to be a good filly in the future if we look after her,” he said.
James McDonald delivered a masterful ride, positioning Lady Shenandoah ($2.60 bookies favourite) one-out and midfield from a wide gate. When McDonald asked her for an effort in the straight, the last-start Surround Stakes winner responded brilliantly, surging to the front and holding off the late charge of stablemate Firestorm ($14) by a head, with fellow filly Lady Of Camelot ($5) another half-length behind in third.
While Waller leaves the door open for another run this autumn, he suggests Lady Shenandoah will most likely be sent to the paddock.
“What else has she got to prove? And she did have a good sweat before the race, so the signs are there,” he said.
“We look after her, and she will be in all the great races next campaign.”
Waller has now won the last three Coolmore Classics in succession with Espiona (2023), Zougotcha (2024), and now Lady Shenandoah.
Winx captured the Phar Lap Stakes (1500m) on the same program a decade ago, and when asked to compare Lady Shenandoah to his best fillies, Waller mentioned his former champion.
“The good fillies we’ve had just keep getting better and better,” Waller said. “She’s already there. Our job was to try to get her to that next level again.”
“It’s not going to be easy, and some of those great horses were late maturers. I don’t like to compare, but Winx wasn’t doing this at the same time.”
McDonald described Lady Shenandoah as “pretty good,” but like Waller, he was concerned when she sweated up prior to the race.
“She wasn’t entitled to win. She was all out at the 100 metres, and she was worked up before the start, which was a bit of a concern,” McDonald said.
“Just whether that was her home track, but we were able to take a couple of minutes where she took a breath around at the start.”