Trainer Grahame Begg has made sure he has Maharba up to the mark for the Group 3 Standish Handicap and believes the gelding is on song heading into his first-up assignment after some positive trials.
Maharba is set to resume for his first start in more than nine months in Saturday’s Standish (1200m) at Flemington and Begg has given the multiple stakes winner two jumpouts and a barrier trial leading in, including an impressive win in his most recent jumpout at Cranbourne last Monday.
Jordan Childs will take the ride on Maharba, while Begg is also set to run Samangu with Michael Dee to ride the mare.
A runner-up in the 2024 G1 Winterbottom Stakes in Perth, Maharba hasn’t raced since finishing unplaced in the G1 William Reid Stakes last March while his most recent victory came on the straight 1200m at Flemington in a G3 sprint during the 2024 Melbourne Cup Carnival.
Begg wasn’t happy with the way Maharba wintered in his spell after his autumn campaign and decided to send him back out for another break and has been delighted with the way he has returned since then.
The trainer felt there was a lack of suitable lead-ups for Maharba to the Standish, so the sprinter goes to the race first-up over 1200m.
“He’s going as well as he could ever go, to be truthful,” Begg said.
“He’s had three positive trials leading into Saturday’s race.
“I had to have him up to the mark to go 1200m first-up because there was no lead-up race to it, which was disappointing. They changed races around; the Kensington Stakes went to 1400m (in 2024/25 season) but there’s no lead-in race to the Standish Handicap between the month of December and into January.
“He’s got good form up the straight. He won on Derby Day, not this season but the season before, and he has won a Talindert as a two-year-old, so he has raced well up the straight before.
“We wanted to have him right up to the mark because you’re going to be taking on horses that have probably had runs under their belts and probably a lot fitter, but he’s been very positive in everything we’ve asked him to do.”
The Standish is one of two January targets for Maharba, with the weight-for-age G2 Australia Stakes (1200m) at Pakenham on January 23 also in Begg’s sights.
“We wanted to run him in this race because he potentially wouldn’t get in too badly at the weights in the Standish. We felt he’d have about 58kg on Saturday and then the Australia Stakes is weight-for-age,” he said.
