Wyong trainer Allan Kehoe was so thrilled with Shaggy’s win in the Listed Pierro Plate at Randwick that he was almost tempted to strip his clothes off to celebrate.
“I could have done a nude run, I was that excited,” Kehoe said.
Kehoe’s delight was well founded, his two-year-old making the running and finding another gear in the straight to score a comprehensive victory in Saturday’s 1100m race, claiming the scalps of Golden Slipper hopefuls Pallaton and United States in the process.
It took his record to three wins from as many starts and prompted connections to deviate from plans to run him in the Wellington Boot and reroute towards next month’s Golden Slipper 2025.
“We all dream we can win the Golden Slipper so we’ll head that way at the moment,” Kehoe said.
“We’ll go to the Todman (Stakes) in a fortnight and then go from there. He’ll tell us.
“He was explosive. He actually bashed them.”
Shaggy isn’t nominated for the Slipper but connections have the option to pay a late entry fee to run and he now sits on the second line of betting for the $5 million race at $11 with betting apps in Australia.
The youngster is a half-sister to two-time winner Moonlight Grace, also trained by Kehoe, and keen to get another member of her family, he approached Shaggy’s breeder and managing owner, Kooringal Stud’s Angus Lamont, at the sales.
“It ended up they pulled him out of the sale and Angus rang me and said, ‘do you want to give him a go?’ It went from there,” Kehoe said.
“I deserve a good one don’t I? I’ve been doing it since I was thirteen and now I’m forty-one.”
Shaggy was ridden by Adam Hyeronimus, who picked up the late mount when Aaron Bullock couldn’t make the weight.
He described Shaggy as a “beauty” and said the youngster showed some promising attributes to win.
“Aaron wanted to get down to this weight today and it’s not easy for him but he tried for a reason,” Hyeronimus said.
“The best thing about him he is bombproof. He jumps quickly, relaxes well, had pressure in the run which wasn’t ideal but he didn’t want to run through the bridle and take off.
“Then they took him on at the top of the straight and it was a big tick the way he responded and drew clear.”
Shaggy ($7.50), so named because of his amorous tendencies prior to being gelded, scored by 2-1/4 lengths over Comedy ($16) with Skyhook ($5) a long neck away third.
Pallaton started a $2.05 favourite and was given every chance but jockey Zac Lloyd wasn’t disappointed in his effort.
“He’s a lovely colt. I thought I was the winner all the way up until the 200 metres and the winner just found another gear late. He’s still learning his craft,” Lloyd said.
