Photo: ANZ

Pencarrow principal Sir Peter Vela has climbed one of the highest peaks in Australian racing, sharing in the ownership of a A$5m Group One Longines Golden Slipper (1200m) winner.

The blue-blooded Shinzo (Snitzel) produced a scintillating performance at Rosehill on Saturday to win the world’s richest and most famous two-year-old race. The colt has now earned over A$3m in stakes from a four-start career, and his potential value as a stallion is estimated at upwards of A$50m.

The Golden Slipper preparation was timed to perfection by Shinzo’s expat New Zealand trainer Chris Waller. The lightly raced colt was a maiden until a week before the race, when he booked his place in the field with a bold come-from-behind win in the Group Three Pago Pago Stakes (1200m).

When he stepped out on to the Rosehill track on Saturday for the stallion-making showpiece, Shinzo was coming up against a Golden Slipper field stacked with stakes winners and described as one of the most open in recent memory. But he rose to the occasion with a win that left no one questioning his quality.

After settling in seventh spot among a field of 15, Shinzo began to work through his gears coming up to the home turn.

A gap appeared along the rail and Shinzo drove through it, overhauling the favourite Cylinder (Exceed and Excel) and stretching out powerfully to score by just over a length.

“He’s a very good colt, and I appreciate the owners trusting me to train not only him, but with a lot of other good and valuable horses,” Waller said.

“I guess that takes things to a different level of pressure. They need results, and they chose me to try and find a Golden Slipper winner, and we’ve managed to do it for them.

“We already knew Shinzo could be a Group One horse – we just didn't know what distance. Our team backed ourselves to know we could get speed into him, because he'd just learned to race. Today, fourth-up after a confidence-boosting win last week, he knew exactly what to do.”

Shinzo was ridden to Saturday’s blockbuster win by visiting English rider Ryan Moore, who has won more than 150 Group One races around the world and is renowned as one of the greatest jockeys on the planet.

“Growing up, the Golden Slipper was always one of the big races that everyone knew around the world,” Moore said.

“Tom (Magnier from Coolmore) called me last week and asked if I’d like to come down. He won well last week, he’s a very talented colt, and he’s got a super attitude. He’s a lovely, big, strong, long-striding horse.

“I’m sure he’s going to be better when he goes up in trip. We were lucky we got a nice draw, was able to follow Cylinder through and it all just went beautifully for us. It all worked out.

“I’m sure he’s not just an out and out six-furlong (1200m) sprinter. I’m sure he’s going to be more comfortable when he gets over more ground. It feels like he’s improving, and he’ll continue to improve, and he’ll have a good future.”

Sir Peter Vela shares ownership of Shinzo with Coolmore, Wynaus, Westerberg, Joe Poulin, Chris Waller Racing, Lynque, Woppitt Bloodstock, Peachester Lodge, Rockingham Thoroughbreds, Kerry and Jenny Pooley and Robert McClure.

“Golden Slippers are so hard to win,” Coolmore’s Tom Magnier said. “This is the race we wanted to win more than any other this year.

“Shinzo would be the most exciting colt in the world now he's he won the Golden Slipper, but he is definitely not for sale. To win the Golden Slipper, it's what dreams are made of.

“Shinzo is a special colt and if you look at his frame he is not developed yet, the best is yet to come.”

Shinzo was bred by Katom and is by record-breaking Australian sire Snitzel out of Samaready (More Than Ready), who herself won the Group One Blue Diamond (1200m) and Moir Stakes (1200m) and is also the dam of five-time stakes winner Exhilarates (Snitzel).

Shinzo’s Golden Slipper heroics headed a big weekend for Pencarrow, with homebred mares Pearl Of Alsace (NZ) (Tavistock) and Les Crayeres (NZ) (Redoute’s Choice) finishing first and fourth in the Group Three Cuddle Stakes (1600m) at Trentham, while promising and lightly-raced Pencarrow graduate Mehzebeen (NZ) (Almanzor) was a strong-finishing second placegetter in the Group One New Zealand Oaks (2400m).