Ciaron Maher has high hopes for the younger brother of Caulfield Cup winner Jameka who has made his first public appearance in a Cranbourne trial.
Two-year-old Grandslam, ridden by Mark Zahra, finished third in Tuesday’s 800m-trial giving Maher confidence for the future.
Maher said there were many similarities between Jameka and Grandslam.
“I’ve always thought he was the colt version of her, same attitude, same action,” Maher said.
“She was quite unique in her action and the way she moved. She covered the ground with relative ease and I was pleased that Mark said he gave him a similar feel.”
Jameka, won the VRC Sires’ Produce as a two-year-old and the VRC Oaks at three before returning the next season to win the 2016 Caulfield Cup and 2017 BMW.
Maher indicated he would be in no rush with Grandslam saying the colt may turn out to be a Caulfield Guineas contender in the spring.
“Jameka was very leggy as a two-year-old filly and I remember thinking ‘what are you doing giving her four runs as a two-year-old’, but that ended up setting her up the rest of her career,” Maher said.
“He’s had a jump-out at home and we brought him here today. It’s a bit like race day conditions and I said to Mark to ride him like that, get him out of the barriers, get him to travel and give him a good squeeze late.
“I was pretty pleased with the way he finished off. He’s still a raw product, but he’s got a bit of an engine there and he’s going the right way.”
Jameka broke her maiden status with victory in the 2015 Sires’ Produce (1400m) at Flemington and Maher said that race next month could be on Grandslam’s agenda.
“We’ll go home now and see how he pulls up,” Maher said.
“But I can sit back, map a bit of a program now off the back of that with a bit of confidence.”
