In the new year, Schillaci was catapulted straight into Group One company, and won the Lightning Stakes, the Oakleigh Plate, and the Newmarket Handicap in successive starts.
In winning these races, the grey had become a triple-Group One winner after just six starts, and only the second horse, after Placid Ark in 1987, to complete the treble.
Schillaci was then taken to Sydney, where he was beaten on protest by Alishan in the Canterbury Stakes, and won his fourth Group One race, The Galaxy.
In Brisbane, he added the QTC Cup, and carried the big weight of 56.5 kilograms when unplaced behind Rough Habit in the Stradbroke Handicap.
According to trainer Lee Freedman, Schillaci was 'never quite right' as an older horse,[2] but made a winning comeback in the Caulfield Sprint, on Cup day, and won his final Group One race in the autumn's Futurity Stakes.