HE'S JUST SHANE - NOT BY ANY OTHER NAME

MONDAY: August 18, 2025: IT’S not always the easiest assignment to name a horse.

So when Hawkesbury husband and wife trainers Phil and Tara Vigouroux submitted what they thought were good names for a Showtime gelding and had them all rejected, one of the owners came up with a simple solution.

“Because his stable name is Shane, one of his part-owners said why not call him Just Shane?,” co-trainer Tara Vigouroux said this evening.

Now a five-year-old and having only his sixth start, Just Shane won his second race when successful at Bathurst today in the Benchmark 50 Handicap (1406m) at double figure odds ($15).

He also was at the same odds when he broke through in a Maiden Plate (1000m) at Queanbeyan in April last year.

Team Vigouroux has begun the new season with a bang, also scoring with Unreal Expectation at the Forbes Cup meeting on August 3.

The couple purchased Just Shane online through Inglis Digital in April 2022 for $7000, and syndicated him to clients, including Tara Vigouroux’s father, former Hawkesbury Race Club chairman Ken Quigley.

“Dad went to Bathurst today to watch Just Shane race, and would have been thrilled with the result,” Tara Vigouroux said.

“We were confident he would run well after his last start fourth over 1206m on the synthetic track at Canberra when he did his best work at the end.

“The extra 200m suited him better at Bathurst and we were fortunate to get a good track.”

Ridden by Chad Lever, Just Shane again did his best work at the end and defeated Vis I Do ($9) and Geostorm ($10).

Connections have had to be patient with the gelding, given there has been a decent space between his first and second success.

“Just Shane ran at Hawkesbury after his Queanbeyan win last year, and unfortunately strained a tendon,” Tara Vigouroux said.

“Full credit to Phil, who did a terrific job rehabbing him. He brought him in after a good break and gave him some pacework, then put him out again.

“He took blinkers off Just Shane for his Canberra race and left them off today as he felt he didn’t need them.”

Whilst Tara Vigouroux was at her day job and wasn’t able to watch the Bathurst race as she was at a meeting, she got a pleasant surprise.

“I asked Phil to message me with the result,” she said. “I had the phone on silent and when it started buzzing, I knew it was good news.”

. HOOFNOTE: Just Shane’s stablemate Unreal Expectation has gone for a spell.

The lightly-raced Under The Louvre four-year-old won two in a row at Bathurst on July 21 and at the Forbes Cup meeting earlier this month before stepping up to provincial grade and finishing an excellent second to Mizella over 1600m on a heavy track at Newcastle last Thursday.