O’Shea aiming for more family success with promising Scintillation

Image: Scintillation (Credit: Bradley Photos)

Trainer John O’Shea is looking to make hay while the sun shines as Rosemont homebred Scintillation (I Am Invincible) seeks a hefty value boost by joining a glorious honour roll in the Quezette Stakes (Gr 3, 1100m) at Caulfield on Saturday.

The set weights three-year-old fillies’ sprint perfectly fits the description of “a good horses’ race”, with its past nine winners including subsequent elite victors Sunlight (Zoustar), Bella Nipotina (Pride Of Dubai), and two daughters of I Am Invincible in I Am A Star and Charm Stone.

That the last two were by the same sire as Scintillation has a nice ring to it for O’Shea, but the Randwick conditioner is more focused on the skies above than ancestors in a pedigree as he sizes up the chances of his filly after her first-up win at Randwick last month.

Sydney horses have built an imposing record at the Melbourne spring carnival in recent years, with O’Shea among the leading beneficiaries.

But while many will contend the thoroughbred flesh assembled in the Harbour City, closer to the Hunter Valley’s power broking stud farms, is simply better than that down south, O’Shea believes it’s more a matter of geography than class.

That’s especially so, he says, at the start of the spring, since Sydney horses have typically had better conditions in which to thrive, particularly the young developing kind like Scintillation.

And that’s why he’s mapped out a program of early spring features for the well-bred daughter of his former star mare Minhaaj (Exceed And Excel).

“I think the Sydney horses have an advantage in Melbourne early in the spring, primarily because of the weather conditions,” O’Shea told ANZ News.

“And this year it’s been a lovely winter in Sydney. We haven’t had a lot of rain, it’s been 20, 22 degrees every day, not a cloud in the sky, and our horses reflect that.

“The boys in Melbourne have been telling us it’s been a bitterly cold, wet winter there. As a result, their horses are probably a bit behind ours in terms of how they’re doing.

“We’ve got to try to take advantage of that at the moment, because as we get closer to the Flemington carnival, the weather warms up in Melbourne and so do their horses.

“So I just think it’s a climatic issue more than anything. I don’t necessarily think the Sydney horses are any stronger or better than Melbourne horses. It’s just that early in the spring the Sydney horses have a bit of an advantage because of the climatic conditions they’re prepared in.”

Scintillation is the first foal out of Minhaaj, whom Victorian farm Rosemont bought from a Shadwell Stud dispersal sale, for $1.8 million.

She’d won her first two starts for Lindsay Park at two, ending with Flemington’s Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m), but hadn’t scored in five more black type attempts in the 14 months following.

Rosemont transferred her to O’Shea and she won black type races in her first two starts for him as a spring four-year-old in 2021 – Randwick’s The Nivison (Gr 3, 1200m) and Flemington’s Begonia Belle Stakes (Gr 3, 1100m).

Minhaaj was retired after three more unplaced runs, and when her first foal failed to meet a $600,000 reserve at Easter 2025, Rosemont also sent her to O’Shea.

Scintillation debuted in February with a Gosford 1000 metre win at odds on after two strong barrier trials, before rising to black type on her first trip to Melbourne for a meritorious third up the Flemington straight in the Ottawa Stakes (Gr 3, 1000m).

Packed off for more growth in the paddock, she showed the signs of her development on resuming at Randwick on July 25, winning an 1100 metre two-year-old handicap impressively, by 0.77 lengths, after racing just off the pace.

“Flemington, she wasn’t necessarily your genuine two-year-old, and she was just coming off a soft win at Gosford, so we were more than happy with that run,” O’Shea said.

“Then we were very happy with her first-up win. That’s a genuine effort at that level – Saturday grade in Sydney against a couple of well supported runners; there was plenty to like.

“She’s come back a bit bigger and stronger. She’s got a late maturing pedigree and she’s going to continue to improve each time we turn her out.

“She had a spell down at Rosemont after her autumn campaign but she’s been back up here in Sydney enjoying herself for the past three months. She’s big and round and healthy and happy.

“She’s just developed. She didn’t go to the paddock tired, and she did really well in the time she had off. We’ve been lucky to have a good sound preparation, and we’re really happy with where we’re at.”

O’Shea sees strong similarities between Scintillation and her dam Minhaaj.

“Very similar,” he said. “Great attitude, she’ll go up to the 1100 metres, maybe 1200. She’s got a good turn of speed, very similar.”

Many Sydney horses raiding Melbourne have come unstuck on the demanding contours of Caulfield, but O’Shea holds no fears over the track for Scintillation, who’s drawn gate six of 16 for Ben Melham and will come in two spots if the remaining emergencies come out.

“It’s important that she handles Caulfield, because there’s so many races for fillies there,” he said.

“I think she’ll be fine there. She’s worked left-handed in Sydney and been very effective. She’s also got a good racing pattern for Caulfield, she takes a handy spot, and she’s so tractable, I’d be very surprised if she wasn’t effective around there.

“She’s drawn well, so she’s got plenty of options. She could put herself wherever you want her to be. At worst I’d hope she’d be box seating. She’s got very good gate speed and loves to chase too, so if she can get on the back of something that can bring her into the race, that’d be great.”

O’Shea and co-trainer Tom Charlton set a long range target of the Quezette back in autumn, aware that it can boost a fillies’ CV more than most Group 3s.

“Oh man, look at the list of horses who’ve won it,” O’Shea said. “The Quezette is such a great guide historically, and this looks a very good version of it.

“Still, it’s not a race that I traditionally target. It’s usually a little early for me. But once I came across this filly, since she was owned in Victoria, when we spelled her this was the race we were setting her for.

“It’s more a function of the horse than anything else. I don’t usually train five-and-a-half furlong horses, but once we got one it made sense to target this race.”

O’Shea said all going well, Scintillation would try for more early spring Melbourne laurels in Flemington’s recently upgraded Cap d’Antibes Stakes (Gr 3, 1100m) on September 12.

Then may come a return to Caulfield for the Scarborough Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m) on September 27, with other targets to consider in preference to Melbourne’s vaunted three-year-old spring sprint highlight of the Coolmore Stud Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) on Derby Day.

“I’m not a fan of fillies in the Coolmore. Those big colts are usually too strong for them,” the trainer said.

“But there’s plenty of races for her. In Melbourne, they really cater for those sprinting three-year-old fillies, and we’re going to try to take advantage when we can.”

As for this rich looking edition of the Quezette, in keeping with the Sydney weather O’Shea remains warm on the chances of Scintillation, who was at $8.50 on Thursday.

Ahead of her were two resumers in Team McEvoy’s Natural Fling (Home Affairs) at $3 and Mark Walker’s Lara Antipova (Russian Revolution) at $5, and Grahame Begg’s debut Flemington winner Riverina Lulu (Blue Point) at $7.50.

“To be honest, I haven’t really done the form, but all I can tell you is our horse is in the scheme of things, and she’s got great formlines for a race of this nature,” O’Shea said.

“But the reality is you’ve had champions win this race. If we come across a potential multiple Group 1 winner, they might be a bit good for us. But I think on what our filly has shown and how she’s been prepared, she can’t not run well.”

Caulfield was a Soft 7 on Thursday with a slight chance of rain tipped for Friday and Saturday.