Sheza Alibi set to test the boys in Randwick Guineas
Peter Moody and Katherine Coleman’s rising star Sheza Alibi (Saxon Warrior) will attempt to defy recent history when she lines up in Saturday’s Randwick Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m), where the progressive filly will take on the boys at the elite level.
The filly is the result of a modest mating that proved remarkably successful for long-time Queensland hobby breeders Fred and Desley Monsour. Acting on the advice of Verna Metcalfe, the couple sent their mare Sheza Gypsy (Shaft) to Japanese-bred shuttle stallion Saxon Warrior (Deep Impact), who stood his third season at Coolmore in 2021 for a fee of $13,750.
Saxon Warrior struggled to gain traction with Australian breeders and has produced only two stakes winners from four southern hemisphere crops, Sheza Alibi and New Zealand Listed winner Archaic Smile.
Sold as a $10,000 weanling on Inglis Digital to central Queensland-based owner Fred Noffke, the filly quickly began to show promise on the racetrack. After beginning her career in Rockhampton with Kris Hansen, she captured the QTIS 2YO Classic (1200m) in Townsville on her third start before finishing second in the Tattersall’s Stakes (Listed, 1400m) at Eagle Farm behind subsequent Caulfield Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) winner and Saturday’s opponent Autumn Boy (The Autumn Sun).
Transferred to Moody and Coleman after winning two of her four starts for Hansen, Sheza Alibi has continued her rapid rise through the ranks, adding victories in the Vanity (Gr 3, 1400m) at Flemington and the Sandown Guineas (Gr 2, 1600m). She now sits as a $2.50 favourite as she prepares for her first attempt at Group 1 level.
“We thought we had a stakes–quality filly and she had that form around Autumn Boy, who looked quite smart at the time,” Moody told ANZ News.
“She ran second to him and didn’t have a lot of luck in that race on Tattersalls Day in Queensland, she got caught wide and crowded, and that was the form line that probably suggested to us that she was going to certainly be good enough to have a crack at Saturday Melbourne class and probably three-year-old stakes company. But she’s just continued to improve physically all the way through, and I think that’s led to race performance improvement as well.”
Following her Sandown Guineas triumph, Sheza Alibi was sent for a spell and resumed on February 21 with a dominant victory in the Angus Armanasco Stakes (Gr 2, 1400m), prompting Moody to send the filly north for the Randwick Guineas.
“Our initial thoughts were that she was going to go to the Australian Guineas, but we decided to give her an extra week. She missed her first–up run, so she went into that Armansco, and obviously, the Australian Guineas was only a week later, so it was two weeks to the Randwick Guineas or three weeks to the Coolmore, and ultimately, we decided on the Randwick Guineas if we thought she was going well and had the right amount of work in her.
“It’s come up as a smallish field, but a quality field in saying that. We’re very respectful of that and we’re very respectful of the fact that we’re taking on the boys as well.”
Only one filly has won the Randwick Guineas since it replaced the Canterbury Guineas in 2006, Mosheen (Fastnet Rock) in 2012, but Sheza Alibi has already shown she is capable of matching the colts, having captured the Sandown Guineas last spring.
“I would have beaten the boys on foot that she met in the Sandown Guineas,” Moody joked. “You take some heart from it, but I’m mindful that we are dealing with a totally different opposition quality wise – taking on a Caulfield Guineas winner, and Attica, the Spring Champion Stakes winner, so I’m very mindful of that.”
Despite not being an imposing type of filly, Moody remains confident in her ability.
“She’s got nice strength, she’s a good sized filly with nice strength. She is not a monster, but she’s a good size.”
Sheza Alibi will again sport blinkers, a gear change Moody introduced following her first-up run for the stable when third in the Gothic Stakes (Listed, 1200m) behind boom colt and Newmarket Handicap (Gr 1, 1200m) favourite Tentyris (Street Boss).
“I trialled her before she ran first–up behind Tentyris, and I thought she was a bit lackadaisical in her trials. But not knowing a lot about her, I thought ‘we’ll just go to the races and have a look at you.’ But straight out of that run, I thought she did need blinkers on.
“She’s not blase, but probably needed a little bit of focus and I even think that if she had the blinkers on that day, she might have been undefeated since she joined our care. But there’s no disgrace in running third to Tentyris.”
Sheza Alibi will be partnered by Moody’s long-time rider Luke Nolen, who heads to the meeting sitting on 1,999 career winners. Nolen famously rode Moody’s undefeated champion sprinter Black Caviar (Bel Esprit) in 22 of her 25 victories, and has partnered Sheza Alibi to two of her three wins since joining the stable, Zac Purton having been on board for the Angus Armanasco Stakes triumph. The pair will jump from barrier four on Saturday.
“He’ll sort it out. She’s an adaptable filly. She could sit outside the leader or she could be in the box seat, wherever. She’s not afraid to take gaps, as we’ve seen in the last few runs.”
Reflecting on Nolen’s potential landmark success, Moody said: “It would be special, and well done to him for getting that far, and I think we’ve had over 900 of them together, so that’s been a special association.”
Beyond Saturday, Moody said plans for the filly remain open.
“I haven’t thought beyond tomorrow a hell of a lot. She’s nominated for everything – The Doncaster, Queen Elizabeth, everything’s pie in the sky. She was never going to have a deep preparation because last year, she had a very long season.
“If she ran again, I’d think maybe something like the Queen of the Turf. I don’t think I’d want to throw her to the wolves in the Doncaster, even if she happened to win on Saturday, but listen, she’s nominated for everything, so we’re open-minded.”
The stable will also be represented in their home state of Victoria, where lightly raced and progressive sprinter Gallant Son (Written Tycoon) lines up against Tentyris et al in Flemington’s Newmarket.
Godolphin’s exciting colt heads the market at $2.30, with John McArdle’s talented filly My Gladiola (I Am Invincible) on the second line of the betting at $5.50.
The field is further strengthened by Angel Capital (Harry Angel), War Machine (Harry Angel), Benedetta (Hellbent) and Wodeton (Wootton Bassett).
Bred in the purple by the Esplin family, Gallant Son is by multiple champion sire Written Tycoon (Iglesia) out of Coolmore Classic (Gr 1, 1500m) winner Plucky Belle (Mossman).
He burst onto the scene with a six-length debut win at Sale as a two-year-old before returning at three to race exclusively in metropolitan company. Consistent without winning, he finished second in the Sunlight Classic (Listed, 1100m) and Morphetville’s Redelva Stakes (Listed, 1100m) in the autumn of his three-year-old campaign.
The entire returned at four with consecutive Benchmark victories at Flemington and Caulfield, prompting the stable to test him at the elite level in the Oakleigh Plate (Gr 1, 1100m), where he finished third behind Tropicus (Too Darn Hot), beaten 3.3 lengths.
“I thought it was a very good run and he was probably a victim of the fact that he drew one, nothing crossed him, and he probably did too much work early,” Moody said of the performance.
Gallant Son has a strong record down the Flemington straight, having started four times for a win and two placings.
“I think back out to 1200 metres, we will ride him more conservative. That doesn’t mean he wouldn’t be in front, but it means that he’ll be going through his first 600 metres a fair bit softer than he’d be going through his first 600 metres in an Oakleigh Plate.”
“We realise we’re taking on some very smart sprinting horses again, but he’s come on again. [The Oakleigh] was only his third run off a long break. So, I think out to the 1200 now, he’s shown that he handles the Flemington straight.
“I believe he’s a Group 1 quality sprinter, and that being the case, you run in Group 1 sprints. You’ve only basically got the Oakleigh Plate, the Newmarket, and the Galaxy as Group 1 handicaps. He’s run one of them and was competitive, so he’s running in the second one on Saturday.”
Given the handicap conditions and Gallant Son yet to register a black type win, he will carry just 52 kilograms, five kilos less than Tentyris, with Luke Cartwright booked to ride from barrier ten.
“It certainly won’t hinder,” Moody said of the light weight. “Regardless of tempo, unless it’s breakneck, I would imagine he’d hold a position in the front half of the field and hopefully be given a chance to quicken – where he’s probably had the quick and taken out of him at his last two runs early.
“We will ride him to quicken on Saturday, and let’s hope that’s the case, and he’ll need to be right on top of his game to be running well and winning this rush. Everything at home tells me that he is.”