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Sometimes we see an elite youngster in the Australian Guineas run at Flemington on Saturday.
Shamus Award managed little success apart from a Cox Plate and this race. Will the 2021 Australian Guineas (1600m) at Flemington on Saturday toss up another good one?
2021 Australian Guineas: Nominations
2021 AUSTRALIAN GUINEAS - RACE HISTORY AND BACKGROUND
The Australian Guineas is a Group 1 race over 1600m at Set Weights at Flemington conducted by the Victoria Racing Club.
First run in 1986, the fillies have five wins which isn't so bad as not that many run in the race.
After being a Group 3 in its first year it became a Group 1 from 1987.
It was changed to be run over 2000m as a Victorian 3yo Triple Crown from 1998 to 2000 but reverted to the mile in 2001.
In 2007 it was run at Caulfield when Flemington was under some reconstructive works.
This effectively became the race in 1990 that Zabeel gained his credibility before heading to stud and becoming a champion sire of stayers.
One of the great wins of the race was when Reset singled out with Starcraft at just his fourth run to win in 2004. Starcraft would keep winning big races afterwards while Reset won the Futurity then was retired.
Alligator Blood stamped himself a grand 3yo beating a small but elite field in the 2020 edition giving him and his rider Ryan Maloney their maiden G1s.
There have been 8 x 3yos do the CS Hayes Stakes/Australian Guineas double – Zabeel (1990), Mahogany (1994), Mouawad (1997), Dash For Cash (2002), Wandjina (2015), Hey Doc (2017), Grunt (2018) and Alligator Blood (2020).
There was a great story in 2019 as the Tasmanian filly Mystic Journey trotted in with the Guineas. Two weeks later she would replicate that winning the All-Star Mile almost as easily against the older horses.
In 2021 the Australian Guineas was worth $1,000,000.
Notable winners of the Australian Guineas include Zabeel, Triscay, Mahogany, Flying Spur, Gold Guru, Reset, Apache Cat, Miss Finland, Shamrocker, Shamus Award, Hey Doc, Grunt, Mystic Journey and Alligator Blood.
The 2020 Australian Guineas was won by Alligator Blood from Superstorm and Soul Patch.
