Irish apprentice Louise Day will link with her old boss Ciaron Maher for a strong chance at an Eagle Farm double.
Day will ride Quality Seeker (PaddyFest Handicap), Classic Gaming (Benchmark 70) and Ken’s Dream (TAB Open Handicap) on Saturday for Maher who trains in partnership with David Eustace.
The Maher/Eustace combination has had plenty of success in Queensland this year winning three stakes races and the Magic Millions 2YO Classic.
Quality Seeker, a Randwick winner in December, won a 2200m-handicap by 3-1/4 lengths last Saturday week and has paid for his consistency with top weight of 61kg.
Day’s three kilogram reduces that to 58kg, half a kilo more than he carried to his Eagle Farm win.
Likewise Day will claim 3kg on Ken’s Dream, who has been mixing racing between Victoria and NSW, reducing his weight to 52.5kg.
Annabel Neasham, who runs the Maher/Eustace operation in Sydney, said Day was an accomplished rider and the stable had been sorry to see her go.
“Louise was with Ciaron and David in Melbourne but because of visa restrictions in Victoria she wasn’t able to be our apprentice,” Neasham said.
“So she went to Kris Lees at Newcastle where she has been very successful.”
“It would obviously nice to get a metropolitan double for her.”
Day did her early riding in Ireland but has ridden 50 winners since moving to Australia.
She mainly rides in the Hunter region of NSW while Lees operates a satellite stable at the Gold Coast in addition to Newcastle.
