The Ciaron Maher and David EustaceĀ stable has had a lot of luck with imports over the years, think horses like Cox Plate winner Sir Dragonet.
While he was highly-rated before arriving in Australia, Maher and Eustace also like to look a rung or two lower to try and find a horse that can race through the grades.
Floating ArtistĀ is one of the stable’s latest imports and makes his Australian debut in the Les Taggart “Bar’s Closed” (1400m) at Caulfield on Saturday.
The son of Nathaniel was a purchased at last year’s Tattersalls HorsesĀ InĀ Training Sale at Newmarket.
“We’ve got about five of them, all similar types, all about ready to go,” Maher said.
“There were a few that trialled at Traralgon on Wednesday, they’re all nice enough horses.
“We target those horses with a rating around the 60 to 80 mark and see where they get to.
“If they come out with a rating of 100, it’s tough to win a race, but if they come out with the right rating, they can win a few races.”
Maher pointed to Al Galayel, a Group 3 winner of the JRA Cup at The Valley that was successful in a benchmark 70 race at his Australian debut and is the winner of seven races since arriving.
Floating Artist has a handicap rating of 80 and Maher said the owners will have some fun.
“The fun is in winning races,” Maher said.
“When they get up to 100, they need to be elite to win those races, but there’s a lot of fun in the 70 to 100 horses.
“We got him at the Tattersall’s Sale last October. He hadĀ time off when he got here and then we’ve been working him to this.
“Hopefully he’ll work through his grades.”
