Legends are made as Chad Schofield wins on Shamus Award Chad Schofield on Shamus Award (far right). Moonee Valley promotes itself as a place where "legends are made." Equine legends come along occasionally. But horses which are genuine pathfinders, gallopers which do something for the first time in history, are truly unique. And Shamus Award, the Danny O'Brien-trained three-year-old, on Saturday afternoon became a true original when he etched his name in racing folklore by winning the Cox Plate under apprentice Chad Schofield. In the process he became the first maiden to win the great race since its inception in 1922. It was also a first for Schofield, as the 19-year-old had never won a group 1 race in his short but hugely successful career. This was not a triumph without controversy. There were many who were critical of the decision to allow Shamus Award to take his place in the field as he had never won a race in nine previous starts. O'Brien pointed to his official rating of 109 - higher than the great So You Think's figure when he won the Cox Plate as a three-year-old - as justification for his faith in the Caulfield Guineas placegetter, and paid up for him on Tuesday morning. He was declared as the first emergency and it was only due to the unfortunate breakdown of super mare Atlantic Jewel that he got into the field. The son of Snitzel - a noted speed horse - had been crying out for a longer trip, his trainer insisted, and the $21 shot proved O'Brien's judgment was perfect when he bounced from the gates and set off to be the hare for this high-quality field, taking full advantage of his featherweight burden of 49.5 kilograms. In the end, he had almost all his rivals well beaten some way for home as Schofield, the only junior jockey to win the apprentices' title in Melbourne and Sydney, rated him perfectly at the front of the field with the colt travelling sweetly from the moment the barriers opened. Gai Waterhouse's Fiorente, which had worked hard to get some sort of position having started from the widest barrier, stuck on gamely and was the only horse to really go with the winner for most of the race. It was only in the closing stages that the real danger emerged when the South Australian Happy Trails emerged from the pack under Dwayne Dunn. But the day belonged to O'Brien - whose faith in his tough, hardworking colt was vindicated - and Schofield, one of the most promising riders of his generation and the son of leading Sydney jockey Glyn Schofield. "It's a fantastic feeling," Schofield said. I wanted to get a group 1 really badly, and what a way to do it in the Cox Plate. I was confident that the horse would run well, but he was a 30-1 pop. Danny didn't put any pressure on me when I worked the horse on Wednesday and I was confident he would run well as he worked nicely. He jumped really fast and I let him slide to the winning post, I let him maintain the rail, he came back underneath me and travelled well, and he was strong to the line. O'Brien added: "We got our chance to go out there and make our own luck and it shows what a good colt this is. He could have easily been a Guineas winner and a Cox Plate winner, but we are happy to take the Cox Plate. We were always wanting to run and we were well aware we would be the last into this field. Not much has gone his way the whole spring, but the last seven days have gathered momentum. It's a great feeling, these majors are not that easy to win.