Spring Champion next for Shangri La Boy as meteoric rise continues
The Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott-trained Shangri La Boy (Pierro) announced his name on the big stage on Saturday when producing a head-turning victory in the Gloaming Stakes (Gr 3, 1800m) at Rosehill.
Having failed to make the track as a two-year-old, the half-brother to Storm Boy (Justify) is making up for lost time – with Saturday’s success making it two wins from just three starts.
Shangri La Boy’s rise to being a Group 3 winner has been achieved inside just 25 days, with a debut third placing at Canterbury over 1250 metres on September 17 followed by a maiden success at Rosehill over 1400 metres on October 1.
Lining up in Saturday’s $500,000 event over 1800 metres, the colt son of Pierro (Lonhro) was sent off the $4.50 joint-second favourite in the capacity 16-runner field and made light work of those 15 rivals under a confident Adam Hyeronimus ride.
Sent to the front after leaving the barriers, Shangri La Boy never saw another rival, kicking two lengths clear off the home bend and comfortably maintaining that advantage to the line to beat The Pearls (Proisir) ($61) by 2.1 lengths. The third-placed San Giovanni (Zoustar) ($21) finished a further 0.4 lengths behind.
“He’s obviously got some great true staying capabilities there,” co-trainer Adrian Bott said.
“Storm Boy [is] a great sprinter but this horse in his own right [is] a very good stayer because he’s up to this grade very quickly in his career.
“This is his first preparation, just his third start, so to get quickly up to the 1800 metres and do that in such dominant fashion, it’s certainly encouraging.”
A crack at the Spring Champion Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m) at Randwick on October 25 is likely to be next in the offing for Shangri La Boy.
“Being by Pierro you always thought he might be more of a Classics style and physically that was the way he always presented right from the yearling stage,” Bott said.
“I think we have to [go for the Spring Champion] after the manner in which he won that. It was a good test because it was 1400 metres up to 1800 metres on a relatively quick turnaround from the Wednesday meeting here ten days ago.”
Although being marked down as one with huge potential over staying distances, Hyeronimus was also quick to credit Shangri La Boy’s turn of foot inside the closing stages of Saturday’s contest.
“He finds that rhythm straight away. He’s good from the gates but he’s so relaxed after 100 metres and he was beautiful throughout the race,” the winning rider said. “He’s got a sharp turn of foot too.”
Purchased for $375,000 by his trainers and Kestrel Thoroughbreds out of Coolmore at the 2024 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, Shangri La Boy is a half-brother to Group 2 scorer-turned-Coolmore stallion Storm Boy being the second foal out of Pelican (Fastnet Rock).
Pelican is a winning daughter of Fastnet Rock (Danehill) who is out of the NZ Horse of the Year and seven-time Group 1 scorer Seachange (Cape Cross). She has a two year-old filly by St Mark’s Basilica (Siyouni), a yearling filly by Justify (Scat Daddy) and was covered last spring by the late Wootton Bassett (Iffraaj).
Shangri La Boy (3 c Pierro – Pelican by Fastnet Rock) was providing Coolmore’s Pierro with his 40th individual stakes winner by winning on Saturday. Pierro is standing at Jerrys Plains Farm for a fee of $33,000 (inc GST) this breeding season.