Guelph has confirmed her status as the dominant three-year-old filly in the country with victory in Wednesday’s Group One Thousand Guineas at Caulfield.
Her win capped a marvellous week for Darley which celebrated a big race double on Saturday with Long John in the Caulfield Guineas and Complacent in the Spring Champion Stakes at Randwick.
Guelph winning the Schweppes Thousand Guineas at Caulfield - photo by Race Horse Photos Australia (Steven Dowden)
Kerrin McEvoy made a surprise move on Guelph shortly after the start of the Thousand Guineas (1600m) by taking her to the front in the small field of nine.
“When she began well I thought, `stuff it, I’ll take the race by the scruff of the neck’,” McEvoy said.
Best known as a backmarker, Guelph showed another string to her bow by dictating the speed.
She comfortably accounted for runner-up May’s Dream who momentarily looked as though she might challenge the Peter Snowden-trained favourite in the straight but couldn’t match Guelph over the final stages.
“When that second horse came to her she kicked and if anything else had of come to her she would have kicked again,” Snowden said.
“She’s just got that quality that she can keep finding.”
Gregers did best of the rest to finish third.
The Darley team will decide in the coming days whether Guelph will press on to the Cox Plate on Saturday week or be spelled.
