Esha, a high-priced daughter of Extreme Choice and the Group 1-winning mare I Am A Star, has thrust her trainer Shane Nichols back into the racing spotlight as the filly attempts to lay down a spring marker at Moonee Valley.
On the doorstep of Australian racing’s primetime, Shane Nichols will happily choose his attire for an occasion befitting the stage as the dearest horse he has trained bids to turn juvenile promise into spring potential.
“I like putting the suit on for a Saturday during the spring. It’s better than driving all the way to somewhere in the country,” Nichols told The Straight.
Nichols’ preference is about finding winners that can change the fortunes of a self-described boutique stable, such as the one he runs out of Mornington.
He’s no different to any other trainer who has climbed racing’s summit as a three-times Group 1 winner with an ambition to return for more.
Since taking out a licence in the 1990s, Nichols can count I Am A Star’s Group 1 Myer Classic win as a high point.
But two subsequent elite-level successes with Streets Of Avalon only confirmed that there is still hope for trainers who can eke out a living despite operating at a reduced scale.
Four seasons have passed since Streets Of Avalon won the CF Orr Stakes, a year after claiming the Futurity Stakes in 2020.
There have been a couple of stakes winners since.
Yet it's doubtful if Nichols has been better placed heading into a spring carnival since I Am A Star thrived on a busy schedule to secure Myer almost a decade ago than he is at the moment.
I Am A Star became the first three-year-old filly to get the better of her older rivals in the Myer.
Fittingly, it will be the closest of links to I Am A Star that will ensure Nichols commands a good share of the spotlight at Moonee Valley on Saturday.
Esha, the third foal from I Am A Star, will be given her chance to confirm the substance of a three-and-a-half length win towards the end of the 2025/2026 season in Adelaide when she contests a 1000m scamper against her own age.
The expectation that comes with a $900,000 price tag as a 2024 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale graduate and daughter of fertility-challenged but extraordinary Newgate Farm sire Extreme Choice will remain.
Esha seems certain to start the shortest-priced favourite at a meeting that lacks a stakes flavour but invariably provides a sneak preview of what might be to come.
Esha shows an electric turn of foot in the final furlong to stride away to a debut win in the opener at Morphettville 💨@shanenicholsrac @TzafJess pic.twitter.com/WhwswqKJ7G
— Racing.com (@Racing) May 17, 2025
For Nichols and one of the filly’s owners, Matthew Sandblom, I Am A Star’s 2016 spring achievements are an obvious benchmark - even if they are unlikely to be matched by her daughter.
It will be the continuation of a trainer-owner connection that happened by chance.
Sandblom, the well-known thoroughbred industry investor, purchased a ready-to-run horse Nichols had prepared for public sale.
Nichols liked the filly so much that he asked Sandblom if he could keep the daughter of I Am Invincible to train.
Band On The Run, an older sister to I Am A Star, got up and going during the middle part of her two-year-old season with back-to-back Listed placings in Tasmania.
She finished racing without fulfilling that early promise but a stable legacy is ongoing as Sandblom retained an interest in Esha to form a partnership with Kia Ora Stud.
“When I Am A Star was in the Classic Sale (in 2015), I said to Matthew ‘one of us needs to buy her, whether it be you or me’,” Nichols said.
“It needed to be one of us and he said ‘I’ll look after it’. So we bought I Am A Star for $40,000 and we've had a pretty solid relationship ever since.
“Matthew is a trainer’s dream client. He’s realistic. He takes the good with the bad.
“His impact on my life has certainly been substantial enough. And look, I think he thoroughly enjoyed racing I Am A Star. And now he's enjoying breeding out of her.”
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That appreciation makes Nichols’ job easier as he assesses a spring program for the costliest horse in his stable, tailored to make her even more valuable before she finishes racing.
“We don't treat them any differently. They still have to be able to gallop,” he said.
“I don't feel any pressure. They're both experienced, realistic racing groups.
“And they understand that I want to get the best result I possibly can for them.
“Things might change as we go along, but hopefully that will be a good problem to have.”
