A sparkling track gallop at Cranbourne from Jimmysstar has Ciaron Maher considering an unlikely start in the Newmarket Handicap.
Maher said he would confer with the sprinter’s owners before deciding whether to accept in the Group 1 sprint over 1200m at Flemington on Saturday.
The Maher team had been planning for the gelding’s return in the Group 1 William Reid Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield on March 21 before heading to Sydney for the Group 1 T J Smith Stakes (1200m) at Randwick on April 4 and the Group 1 All-Aged Stakes (1400m) two weeks later.
Mark Zahra headed to Cranbourne on Tuesday to put Jimmysstar through his paces as regular rider Ethan Brown is sidelined through suspension until the end of the month.
Zahra has been booked to ride Tenytris in Saturday’s feature sprint but will be aboard Jimmysstar if it is decided the gelding heads straight to William Reid Stakes.
Final acceptances for the Newmarket Handicap are taken on Wednesday morning.
“Mark’s coming back from his ‘fake broken leg’, but he was pretty keen to get down here this morning and he worked super,” Maher joked.
“I will have a chat to the owners, and it will be either this race or the William Reid, but I think Jimmy is coming up really well.
“We only gave him a short time off and we wanted to keep him active.
“The planning has been to only have one run here and then go to Sydney for the T J and the All-Aged, but I’ll have a chat to the owners after today’s work.”
Should the stable decide against starting Jimmysstar on Saturday, Benedetta will run for Maher after her pleasing return when third in the Group 1 Lightning Stakes (1000m) at Flemington on February 14.
Benedetta meets Lightning winner Tentyris on 4kg better weight terms on Saturday for her 1-½ length defeat.
It will be Benedetta’s third shot at Newmarket glory after finishing fourth and tenth respectively when in the care of Jason Warren.
Maher said Benedetta was super first-up, her best performance in four runs for the stable.
“Last prep, whether we were working out, or she didn’t come up as well, she’s certainly come up better and certainly her coat, and her action, is a pretty good reflection of that,” Maher said.
“She was super the other day. She ran close to a PB. I thought she looked fantastic and I think she’s held that through to this race.
“We haven’t had to do a lot with her. She was very fit and right to go and couldn’t have hit the line any better.
“The 1200 (metres) is going to be ideal. I think she will hit the line pretty hard.
“It’s going to be a slick race, but I think she’s come on again.”
