Top trainer Ciaron Maher has dismissed recent suggestions that a cap should be imposed on the number of horses a trainer can manage, labelling the idea as “ridiculous”.
“That’s spoken by someone with a very small mind,” Maher told RSN. “The goal is to train every horse and place every horse to the best of its ability.”
Maher argued that capacity varies between trainers depending on their resources and infrastructure. “Some people can do that with a maximum of five horses. Some people can do that with 50 horses and that’s as many as they can handle,” he said. “If you’ve got people and structure … you analyse your business year-on-year and if I ever felt there was ever a point where we couldn’t do that (then) that would be the level.”
His operation has grown significantly in recent years, and Maher’s influence continues to expand following the Australian Turf Club’s approval for him to train from the iconic Leilani Lodge at Randwick, once the base of legendary trainer Bart Cummings.
“As I said, we haven’t grown for a couple of years and we’re very happy where we are at the moment,” Maher added.
Despite being content with the current scale of his operation, Maher hinted at potential international expansion in the future, especially given the volume of imported horses under his care. “It certainly makes sense but there is still a bit of change going on with Randwick and Warwick Farm and things like that at the moment,” he said. “But I certainly wouldn’t rule that out with the amount of horses we import.”
Maher’s stable continues to attract high-profile talent, with recent Group 1-winning mare Benedetta the latest notable acquisition to his multi-state team.
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