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Shamus Award has further maximised his value as a stallion by making all in the Group 1 Australian Guineas (1600m) at Flemington last Saturday.
While having confirmed a stud career when becoming the first horse to break maiden status in the Cox Plate during the 2013 renewal, the Group 1 Australian Guineas was always a main goal for Shamus Award this autumn.
Despite saluting over the older horses in Australia’s premier weight-for-age contest last season, doubters were quick to question the colt after a third behind Moment Of Change and Eurozone contesting the C.F. Orr Stakes (1400m) first up at Caulfield.
The C.F. Orr Stakes shaped as the strongest form line brought into the Australian Guineas and post race it proved correct as Shamus Award made all for a length success.
Criterion showed good improvement on his C.S Hayes Stakes (1400m) effort to finish second while Thunder Fantasy performed well off an Autumn Stakes (1400m) win for third.
Others vying for Australian Guineas favouritism in Eurozone and Hucklebuck were disappointing as they ran fourth and eighth respectively.
Eurozone was found to be lame afterwards though with the stable reporting the colt had jarred up on the firm track after being treated for heel bruising in the week before the Guineas.
In claiming the ‘stallion making’ event, Shamus Award ran to a Timeform figure of 121, three pounds shy of his master rating achieved when taking out the Group 1 Cox Plate last spring.
While dubbed a stallion making event, Shamus Award is only the second colt to have claimed the Australian Guineas during its past eight runnings.
Shamus Award’s 121 sits noticeably above the prior five year winning average of the event which has produced a mixed bag of renewals.
The only other colt to have claimed the Australian Guineas in the past eight renewals is 2013 winner Ferlax assessed at 112.
Heart Of Dreams (2009) and Mosheen (2012) produced the highest rated winning displays during this period assessed at 124 and 124p respectively.
While these pair were kept against their own age for the autumn, Shamus Award will return to taking on more seasoned opposition in the Group 1 Australian Cup (2000m) at Flemington on Saturday.
The double has not been achieved in previous seasons yet Shamus Award is currently second favourite to do so at $5 behind 2013 Melbourne Cup winner Fiorente.
Fiorente is odds-on favourite for the event after winning the Group 2 Peter Young Stakes (1800m) at Caulfield on February 22 with an effort assessed at 120p.
While not noted as a race where three-year-olds shine above their older counterparts, Super Cool and Fiveandahalfstar did run the quinella during the 2013 renewal of the Australian Cup.
Sydney will then ensue for Shamus Award where he will be targeted at the Rosehill Guineas (2000m) and the lucrative Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m).
Now a dual Group 1 winning son of Snitzel, the lure of Shamus Award’s beckoning stud career at this stage won’t stop connections from aiming the colt at the 2014 Cox Plate (2040m).
Such a success would put him in elite company with champions such as So You Think, Northerly, Sunline, Kingston Town and Phar Lap just some who have won the weight-for-age feature in consecutive runnings.