Darley sire Shamardal (USA) added another gun colt to his artillery when The Handsome One was successful at Caulfield on Boxing Day.
The Handsome One (3c Shamardal – Dehere And Now by Dehere) had won at Traralgon on December 13 and he made a seamless step up to city class in the Dennis Hanrahan Hcp (1200m).
“I’ve had a big opinion of the colt from the start,” trainer Greg Eurell revealed. “He still has a bit to learn but he’s big and strong. Hopefully he can keep progressing towards the Australian Guineas.”
Eurell launched the Group 1 career of champion galloper Apache Cat in the 2006 Australian Guineas.
The Handsome One is from an unraced half-sister to G2 MRC Schillaci Stakes winner Patpong (Royal Academy). Their dam Rouquin (Paris Prince) was a Listed winner at Randwick and she is closely related to up-and-coming Brisbane filly Chakvetadze (Taimazov).
Shamardal ($1.66 million) currently trails High Chaparral ($3.43m) and Fastnet Rock ($2.06m) in the Australian second-season sires’ premiership and his three year-olds will need to be firing on all cylinders to close the gap during the autumn carnivals.
Shamardal will also have Shamoline Warrior back in harness after a frustrating spring. He won the G3 Norman Robinson Stakes but was withdrawn from the G1 Victoria Derby just hours before the race.
Shamoline Warrior and The Handsome One are both out of mares by Dehere. They will find formidable adversaries in the classics against High Chaparral stars So You Think and Monaco Consul.
So You Think won the Cox Plate but dodged the Victoria Derby in preference to the Emirates over a mile. Trainer Bart Cummings has won the AJC Derby with Belmura Lad (1977), Prolific (1984), Beau Zam (1988), Ivory’s Irish (1995) and Roman Emperor (2009) and would love to lead another blue-riband winner back to scale at Randwick.
If Bart is a stumbling block for Shamardal in the AJC Derby, the master could be his salvation in the AJC Oaks. Cummings prepared Shamardal filly Faint Perfume to win the 2009 Victoria Oaks and she will attempt to become the first filly since Serenade Rose to complete the double.
Coolmore sire Fastnet Rock will also be firing on several fronts for the classics with Irish Lights and We’re Gonna Rock. The filly already has a Group 1 to her credit in the MRC One Thousand Guineas and the colt looked every inch a Guineas candidate after his awesome debut at Flemington on December 19.
Flemington trainer Mark Kavanagh is in a similar situation to Cummings. He prepares Shamoline Warrior and also puts the polish on We’re Gonna Rock.
There’s bound to be some head-on collisions come autumn and hostilities won’t be confined to old rivals Darley and Coolmore.