Paul Messara chases stakes-level redemption with Know Thyself in Winx Guineas

He still has a bad taste in his mouth from the last time he went from Highway grade to stakes level, but Paul Messara can change all that at the Sunshine Coast on Saturday with the promising Know Thyself.

Paul Messara vividly remembers the last time he took a horse from Highway grade to stakes level and says Know Thyself is one of the few capable of making the enormous step in class in the Group 3 Winx Guineas on Saturday.

Know Thyself should boast an unbeaten record to date and is a short-priced favourite at the Sunshine Coast on Saturday to mark himself as a serious horse.

Messara, who now trains in partnership with Leah Gavranich, can’t believe he was beaten when he took Shalstar out of a winning Highway performance in Sydney to Listed level in Melbourne two years ago and is out to make amends on Saturday.

“I did it with a horse called Shalstar in 2022 and I am still certain I won the race,” he said.

“We got beaten in a photo finish, we went from a Highway to Caulfield into the Listed Alinghi and I have watched the replay 10 times and I’m certain we won.

“You watch the overhead and the other horse never goes past us, so I am still working it out.

“It was the last one I went from a Highway into a stakes race, we got beaten by a matchstick.”

Know Thyself crushes them in the TAB Highway at Rosehill!@aus_turf_club@Paulmessara@[e-mail]/kp1fJyEsjW

— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) June 15, 2024

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After winning on a Heavy track at Rosehill last month, Messara said there were no concerns about the prospect of another rain-affected track at the Sunshine Coast on Saturday.

“There’s nothing worse going there to a Heavy 10 not knowing if they can handle it, so we have ticked that box with this guy,” he said.

“He is pretty much untapped, we don’t know where his ceiling is at this stage.

“He should be unbeaten – it wasn’t the horse that got beat, it was the ride at Canterbury then he came out and ran really well on the Saturday in a Highway.

Paul Messara is looking to tick a stakes-level win with Know Thyself. Picture: Jeremy Ng—Getty Images.

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“We are going up in class again but he can handle the wet track … he looks like one that can make the jump and he has travelled up there well.”

After knocking back big time Hong Kong offers, Messara said they had not closed the door completely on selling the horse if he was to tick off a Group-level win on Saturday.

“It is important for us in the broader scheme of things because we have the mother here (at Arrowfield Stud), the half sister and some horses going through the ring, so to get some Black Type and boost that pedigree would be good,” he said.

“Who knows, if he was to win on Saturday, who knows? There could be the option to sell him.

“There are a lot of big money races for four and five year olds now if you get a properly good horse, so we need to weigh things up.”

Know Thyself is the $2.30 favourite for the Winx Guineas on Saturday.

Originally published as Paul Messara chases stakes-level redemption with Know Thyself in Winx Guineas