Maher readies autumn cups team
Ciaron Maher will have hands to play in plenty of Cups around Australia in the coming months, with tough Caulfield winner Herman Hesse set for a tilt at some of Tasmania’s feature races.
The son of Frankel jumped a red-hot $1.70 chance on Saturday, and after some shuffling ended up in the perfect one-one spot for the back-half of the 2400-metre trip.
Leader Grand Promenade ($4.40) gave a strong kick around the bend, but the chasers were coming, with Herman Hesse, stablemate Alakahan ($15) and Monbaher ($4) all looking big chances in the straight.
But under strong Craig Williams riding, the favourite found an extra gear to repel Monbaher and win a thriller, ending a 14-month odd drought.
Looking ahead, Maher is prepared to get creative with Herman Hesse’s next few runs, identifying the Hobart and Launceston Cups as potential targets.
Alakahan, who finished a gutsy third at each-way odds, could even join him down there.
“On the form, you would think it was Herman’s race to lose,” he said.
“A few of the owners here told me it had been nearly 500 days between drinks… but he’s a fit old tough horse, under a good ride by Craig with no weight, he got the job done.
“On the back of that win, I’d say he may go down to Tassie now … he’ll have a crack at whichever one comes first, the Hobart or Launceston Cups.
“But he’ll head down there, and Alakahan might go with him, actually.”
The trainer also expects to have a strong hand in April’s Group 1 Sydney Cup, with last year’s winner Explosive Jack being set for a return to Randwick to defend his title.
“Explosive Jack has had two trials at Gosford and Wyong the other day and he’s coming up,” Maher said.
“He’s never really been a spring horse Jack. He’s been an autumn horse as he’s won derbies and the (Sydney) Cup and he was just coming up (in the spring) and I just pulled the pin.
“He loves it up there (Sydney). He gets trained at the beach, and he’s got a really good base on him.”
Maher said he also had a number of imported horses that could get to the Sydney Cup, including a son of Almanzor called Circle Of Fire.
“He’s a benchmark horse in about the high 70s, so he’s going to have to warrant his way in, but I thought he had the right sort of form,” he said.
Maher’s post-race interview was his first since becoming a father on Wednesday, and he confirmed that both partner Alice and daughter Eliza are doing fine.
“I’d better give Alice a shoutout, she’s in the Prince Of Wales and the midwives there are absolutely phenomenal … they’re both really well,” he said.
“Little Eliza’s been a model citizen the last two nights, plenty of sleep, and it’s not that hard they reckon!”
