The Thousand Guineas made a triumphant return to the Caulfield Cup undercard on Saturday, delivering a race for the ages as local filly Ole Dancer outlasted Sydney star Apocalyptic in a thrilling Group 1 duel.
Trained by Peter Moody and Katherine Coleman, the daughter of Ole Kirk produced a gutsy performance to claim the $1.5 million feature at just her fifth career start. The victory gave Victoria the upper hand in the state rivalry, with Apocalyptic — winner of the Flight Stakes (1600m) — travelling south to contest the Caulfield classic.
“We knew we were in for a very light spring because we’d lost most of our big guns, and this filly, we weren’t disappointed in her last two runs — barriers had just brought around her demise,” Moody said.
“We had great respect for the Sydney filly. She just rose to the occasion and out-toughed her. The other one might have had one too many, and maybe we had one not enough too, because I thought it was going to out-tough us halfway down the straight.”
Apocalyptic ($1.90 favourite) led throughout under Nash Rawiller, with Ole Dancer ($5.50) sitting close behind. Turning for home, Blake Shinn began to urge the Victorian filly forward, and the pair went stride for stride down the straight before Ole Dancer edged ahead to win by a short neck. Edward Manifold Stakes winner Getta Good Feeling ($8) finished strongly for third, just three-quarters of a length behind.
Shinn, celebrating his first Thousand Guineas triumph, praised both the filly’s toughness and the stable’s preparation.
“It was an exciting race, a thrilling race for me to even ride in,” Shinn said. “Peter and Kat — you can just trust their horse’s fitness, and when the pressure came on, she came to the fore. It was a great effort.”
The win marked the first Thousand Guineas success for both Moody and Coleman as a partnership, with Moody — a Hall of Famer — returning to Group 1 glory at the track where he first built his career.
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