Photo: ultimateracingphotos.com.au
New Zealand-bred filly Saintly Dancer (St Mark's Basilica) completed a notable spring double with victory in the A$1.5 million Gr.1 Stow Storage Thousand Guineas (1600m) at Caulfield on Saturday.
The daughter of St Mark’s Basilica became the sixth filly in the last 30 years to win both the Gr.2 Edward Manifold Stakes (1600m) and the Guineas, joining Inaflury (1998), Special Harmony (2003), Alinghi (2004), Gallica (2008) and Amphitrite (2018).
A maiden winner at Sandown in August, Saintly Dancer stepped onto the black-type stage with a sixth in the Listed Atlantic Jewel Stakes (1300m) and second in the Gr.2 Thousand Guineas Prelude (1400m). She burst to prominence with a six-length runaway in the Edward Manifold on a heavy track on September 19, and her high-class performance on Saturday to claim classic success proved two things – that her Edward Manifold heroics were no fluke, and that she can also excel on good ground.
Saintly Dancer was ridden by Blake Shinn and dominated the Guineas from the front. She kicked two lengths clear at the top of the straight and never looked like being caught, going on to score by a length and a quarter from Icelady.
“She was able to lead and control the race,” Shinn said. “She got into a great position. There was a little bit of pressure, but I think the draw ultimately won us the race, because I was able to hold the fence, get a nice little breather down the side, but I didn’t back off too much. She told me how fast she wanted to go, and around the turn I was supremely confident. She kept that gallop up. All the stars aligned today, so I’m absolutely thrilled.”
Saintly Dancer was bred by the Hawkins family’s Llanhennock Trust and offered under their Wentwood Grange banner at the 2025 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, where First Light Racing and Ciaron Maher Bloodstock bought her for A$100,000.
From a six-race career, Saintly Dancer has now recorded three wins and two placings and has earned A$1.18 million.
Both the winner and the runner-up Icelady are trained by Ciaron Maher.
“I favoured Icelady pre-race, but you don’t mind being wrong under these circumstances,” assistant trainer Jack Turnbull said. “To get a Group One quinella is very special for Ciaron and the whole team.
“That was very, very impressive. Saintly Dancer is a serious filly. There’s been a question mark whether or not she goes further, and looking at her physically you’re probably a fraction apprehensive, but she just keeps proving us wrong. She’s now a Group One winner, and that’s what it’s all about.
“For a filly bought for A$100,000 to become a Group One winner is a dream. It’s what it’s all about and gives everyone the chance to get into a racehorse. The journey that she has taken us on, and First Light, has been amazing so far. She’s been lightly raced, she will strengthen up further and will get better. It was nothing sort of devastating.”
Saintly Dancer is out of the winning So You Think mare Thinkyoucandance, who is the dam of two winners from three foals to race. A filly by Sword Of State out of Thinkyoucandance was offered by Wentwood Grange during Book 1 of Karaka 2026 earlier this year and was bought by Mike Breslin for $50,000.
New Zealand can claim a connection to three of the first five placegetters in Saturday’s Thousand Guineas. The fourth-placed De Armas – runner-up in the Gr.1 Flight Stakes (1600m) in Sydney in her previous start – is a New Zealand-bred daughter of Ardrossan and won at stakes level for Otaki trainer Johno Benner before her sale to OTI Racing. The fifth placegetter was the Mark Walker-trained Lara Antipova, who was New Zealand’s champion two-year-old last season.
In the Gr.1 Caulfield Guineas (1600m) the previous weekend, Cambridge Stud stallion Sword Of State sired the winner Warwoven from his first crop while the New Zealand-bred Blind Raise finished second.
