With Schwarz now officially a Group 1 winner, the focus shifts to planning his next move before the upcoming breeding season, with a potential trip to England emerging as an option.
Co-trainer John O’Shea confirmed on Monday morning that Rosemont Stud will determine the Zoustar colt’s future, though the timeline suggests he may have one final race before retirement.
The $1 million Group 1 Kingsford Smith Cup (1300m), previously known as the BTC Cup, at Eagle Farm on May 31 is the most likely local target. However, there is also consideration of an international campaign, with the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes (1200m) at Royal Ascot in June also in the mix.
“The options for him will be to run in the BTC sprint in Brisbane and then there’s also an option to dally with the concept of giving him another try down the straight, but with a better preparation,” O’Shea told RSN927.
“Come to Melbourne, try him down the straight in a trial and if he was to trial well then there’s obviously the option to run him at Ascot.
“They would be the two options for the horse, if he is going to run again.
“He’ll definitely go to stud this year, he’d be well-patronised, he’s got an amazing pedigree and he’s an outstanding-looking individual.
“He ticks a lot of boxes in terms of a future stallion prospect.”
Schwarz’s Group 1 victory in the William Reid Stakes was his sixth win from 12 career starts. While he has won at Flemington, his only previous experience racing down the straight resulted in a seventh-place finish in last year’s Group 3 Rising Fast Stakes (1200m), won by Maharba.
O’Shea acknowledged that while that performance wasn’t ideal, he gained valuable insight that could improve Schwarz’s chances in future straight-track races.
“I’m a great believer in historical precedents and I think that the right horses to take to Ascot are horses that have run well in a Lightning or a Newmarket,” O’Shea, who trains alongside Tom Charlton, said.
“In that sense, he doesn’t meet the criteria but the one time that we did run him down the straight, if I had my time over again I would have done it differently.”
Schwarz’s success marks a significant win for the Rosemont-led Victorian Alliance, which has spent over $20 million on yearlings across the 2022, 2023, and 2024 sales.
A $1.25 million purchase at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, Schwarz is out of Not A Single Doubt mare Summer Sham, whose granddam is a half-sister to the legendary Redoute’s Choice.