I Am Me continues strong spring start with The Shorts win at Randwick

Ciaron Maher-trained mare I Am Me continued her strong start to the 2024/25 horse racing season with an impressive win in the Group 2 The Shorts (1100m) at Randwick Racecourse on Saturday. The six-year-old mare won the race by a long neck over Group 1 winner Stefi Magnetica.
 
I Am Me has yet to win any Group 1 races, but she is surging up the betting odds lists for many after convincingly winning The Shorts and the Group 3 Concorde Stakes (1000m) two weeks ago. There is even talks of her earning a spot for The Everest next month.

Favourite delivers at The Shorts

I Am Me came into The Shorts with huge expectations on her after winning the Concorde Stakes two weeks ago. The mare was a $2.60 favourite with the betting sites. She lived up to that tag and then some.
 
The six-year-old mare never dropped out of the top four, and put in an impressive sprint from the 400m-mark onwards.
 
Jockey James McDonald and I Am Me steadily passed Mazu ($11) and leader Way To The Stars ($41) down the stretch, before beating out fellow favourite Stefi Magnetica ($6.50) by a long neck at the finish line. Mazu ended up finishing third, behind I Am Me by a half-length.

“Copy and paste” performance

I Am Me started her 2024 spring campaign by winning the Group 3 Concorde Stakes at Randwick. She beat stablemate and three-time Group 1 winner Bella Nipotina in that impressive run.
 
According to Ciaron Maher Racing assistant trainer Johann Gerard-Dubord, I Am Me’s performance on Saturday in The Shorts was just as good as that Concorde Stakes win.
 
“That’s what James said before the race, just copy and paste, and that’s exactly what he did,” Gerard-Dubord said.
 
“To do it first-up, obviously is one thing, but to repeat it two weeks later like that is a good effort.
 
“Especially after a hard run like that, two weeks back-up, there’s always a bit of a question mark, but she’s come back better.”

“Ticking a lot of boxes” for Everest

As glowing as her trainer Gerard-Dubord was after the race, jockey James McDonald was even more bullish on I Am Me’s performance after her The Shorts win.
 
“She always felt in control of the race and even a furlong from home. I felt like I was always going to win, even though they were so close,” McDonald said reflecting on the race.
 
When asked about whether I Am Me has what it takes to race in bigger races such as The Everest next month, McDonald said yes.
 
“She’s just doing enough, enough, enough,” he said, “She’s won the first two lead-ups to the great race (The Everest), so she’s ticking a lot of boxes.”