There are plenty of “Classic” races on the Australian calendar that don’t merit the name, but this Saturday’s Coolmore for the fillies and mares at Rosehill won’t be one of them … not this year, at least.

Ignoring the pedants who’ll tell you that the only true classic is a Group 1 involving three-year-olds at set weights over 1600 metres or further, this Coolmore Classic looms as a mouth-watering showdown between a top-class filly and a super mare.

Still, let’s not forget that the Coolmore is the only fillies-and-mares Group 1 on the calendar run as a handicap (albeit a quality handicap), so it’d be no shock if neither Lady Shenandoah nor Amelia’s Jewel got the money.

It’s certainly been a minefield for punters in recent years. Zougotcha ($3.30) last year became the first outright favourite to win since Typhoon Tracy 15 years earlier. The 14 winners from 2010 to 2023 (including $6 equal favourite Aloha in 2011) had an average SP of $14.50.

That isn’t Typhoon Tracy’s only distinction when it comes to this race either. She was also the last filly to win it.

That fact is a head-scratcher when you consider she was the fifth filly to win the Coolmore Classic in the space of seven years, following Bollinger (2003), Shamekha (2004), Regal Cheer (2006) and Tuesday Joy (2007).

Since Typhoon Tracy’s 2009 win, 43 fillies have run in the Coolmore Classic for three seconds, five thirds and 35 unplaced.

Four of those fillies have started favourite — First Seal ($1.60, 2015, second), Omei Sword ($4.40, 2017, seventh), Espiona ($3.10, 2022, eighth) and Forbidden Love ($5, 2021, 12th).

A filly might well win the Coolmore Classic on Saturday, but one streak will continue — Sunline (2000, 2002) will remain the only dual winner in the race’s 53-year history.