Shumookh to follow Mum to Group 1

3 min read

Shumookh (Dream Ahead {USA}) will likely be given the opportunity to join her dam Shamekha as a Group 1 winner with co-trainer Gai Waterhouse indicating the mare would head to the Myer Classic at Flemington following her win in Saturday's Schweppes G2 Tristarc S. at Caulfield.

Shumookh dominated from the front in the Tristarc, adding a second Group 2 win for the regally-bred 4-year-old after her success in the G2 Golden Pendant S. last month.

She was beaten at her first trip to the 1600m in the Group 3 Angst S. last time out, while her other attempt beyond the 1400m resulted in a fading fifth in the G2 Phar Lap S.

But Waterhouse is confident that she can measure up in the feature mile at Flemington in two weeks' time and she is hoping that the mare's owner, His Excellency Nasser Lootah and his son Hussain, feel the same way.

"I'm just praying the boss lets us run her in the Myer, because I've always been confident she’ll run the mile. I trained her Mum,." - Gai Waterhouse

"I'm just praying the boss lets us run her in the Myer, because I've always been confident she’ll run the mile. I trained her Mum," she said.

Shamekha was a three-time Group 1 winner, including over the 1500m of the Coolmore Classic for Waterhouse and Emirates Park.

Dr Shalabh Sahu, who is the managing director of Emirates Park, said that Waterhouse's success with Shamekha was key to the decision to send Shumookh to her and Adrian Bott.

Waterhouse praised Tim Clark for the ride on the Shumookh, allowing her to roll along in front without being tested.

"Tim does the miles, he comes to the track very regularly. He's very much part of Adrian and I's team," Waterhouse said. "She was coming back in trip and we knew if she was back in the field, it would make it harder for her."

Clark said it was as much the pace, rather than the distance of the Angst which saw her beaten last time out.

"It’s good to see her bounce back. She just got softened up a bit last start at the mile at Randwick and it was only the last little bit she got gobbled up," he said.

"Tim does the miles, he comes to the track very regularly. He's very much part of Adrian and I's team." - Gai Waterhouse

With that in mind, he ensured she stayed in her comfort zone on Saturday and she never looked like getting beaten, finishing 1.75l clear of the in-form sprinter-miler mare of the spring, Invincibella (I Am Invincible).

"She was rock hard fit today and she really improved nicely underneath me from the 600m and made sure they had to chase me around the bend to get me. She ran through the line strongly," he said.

"Once she got a couple of cheap ones down the side, it was always going to be hard to run her down."

Should she win the Myer Classic, she would be the first Australian Group 1 winner for her sire Dream Ahead (USA), who stands at Aquis in the Hunter Valley.

Saturday's success was the seventh Australian stakes win for the progeny of Dream Ahead.

Dream Ahead standing at Aquis Park