CITY START LIKELY WITH SHIELD WIN
THE Blue Diamond. The Golden Slipper. The Magic Millions Classic.
Global giant Godolphin has dominated just about every major two-year-old race in the country this season.
But one has finally eluded them, with hot favourite Smitten going down in the Toddy & Kingy Time-Honoured Shield (1112m) at Geelong yesterday.
The $1.90 pop didn’t run a place on a heavy track at Geelong, with progressive Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young filly I Am Eloquent recording an eye-catching victory.
So impressed with the win was Young that she said it was likely I Am Eloquent would head to the city next start.
But connections might have to rethink that, with the Toddy & Kingy Time-Honoured Shield carrying one of the worst form references in Australian racing.
Raced since 2013, just one horse — Spirit Or Lager — has won the shield and gone on to claim victory again in Victoria. Garrett County also won again, but that was in a lowly race in Alice Springs.
Viking Good Thing (2013), Koh Chang (2016), Baseman (2017) and Petronas (2018) are others who have failed to return to the winner’s stall.
Young is confident her galloper was city class ... unlike the other winners.
“She is Super VOBIS Gold, so there is a nice race for her at Caulfield on the 27th over 1400m. We might throw her in the deep end and put her in there and try and use a little bit of that bonus scheme,” she said.
“We always thought she would be a really nice threeyear-old.”
The idea of the race was coined by K rock radio personality Tom King and his mate Todd Nicolich.
But given the shield carries little to no value, you could forgive Young for throwing the shield in the back of her truck with it never to be seen again.
“Todd and I are rapt for the connections,” King said.
“We’re also very happy for local Sue Bowles who is among the First Light Racing Syndicate.”