Racing has an amazing way of throwing up current stories worth telling which can be linked back in history.
Take the case of Torque To Be Sure … the $3 million Magic Millions 3YO Guineas winner at the Gold Coast on Saturday.
The Matt Dunn trained runner was still a Maiden after ten starts going into The Guineas.
You would think that going into and claiming a $3 million race as your first scalp would be unusual and a precedent might be hard to find, but no that was not the case.
Unusual … yes … but the precedent is not hard to find.
All it takes is a quick look at Torque To Be Sure’s breeding, or, more specifically, a look at his sire.
Shamus Award … remember him.
He was the horse that won the 2013 Cox Plate as a maiden … the win coming in his tenth start (one less than Torque To Be Sure) … and he claimed the same prize-money as Torque To Be Sure for the win.
That might be hard to believe for a Cox Plate versus a restricted race, but $3 million is what the Cox Plate was worth in 2013.
And, also following a similar script, Torque To Be Sure finished in second place five times before finding big race glory while Shamus Award finished in second place three times and in third place four times before his Cox Plate triumph.
Some of the races Shamus Award contested as a Maiden were the Group 1 Blue Diamond Stakes, the Group 1 Caulfield Guineas and the Group 2 VRC Sires … while, for his part, Torque to Be Sure raced in the Group 2 Champagne Classic and the Group 2 Sires Produce.
You could say they were warming up before they struck gold, but not everybody saw then coming.
