A campaign for Sergeant Major with a view to gaining a start in the Caulfield Guineas will be kick-started at Moonee Valley.
The former New Zealand three-year-old will have his first start for the Ciaron Maher stable in the Listed McKenzie Stakes (1200m) on Saturday.
Sergeant Major was purchased by a large ownership group, headed by Ozzie Kheir, and will make his Australian debut for the ownership group on Saturday.
The gelding, a son of Proisir, had three starts in New Zealand, winning a two-year-old race in March before running fifth in the Group 1 Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m) at Trentham in April.
Sergeant Major made his way to Australia with a view to competing in the Group 1 JJ Atkins (1600m) at Eagle Farm in June, but after a trial at Randwick in May was sent for a break.
Maher said depending on how Sergeant Major performs on Saturday, he could potentially go to the Group 3 Caulfield Guineas Prelude (1400m) on September 21 and then onto the Group 1 Caulfield Guineas (1600m) on October 12.
“Ozzie purchased him, and we were going to have a look at the J J Atkins, but he’d had enough,” Maher said.
“That breed, even to win as a two-year-old is a big thing, so we gave him a break, but he trialled up nicely at Cranbourne the other day.
“He could be a Guineas horse. He’ll run in this, probably run in the Prelude and then we’ll see whether he deserves a run in the Guineas.”
Sergeant Major will be joined in Saturday’s race by Extreme Diamond, a last start winner of a maiden over 1112m at Geelong.
Maher said, like Sergeant Major, Extreme Diamond may also be on a Guineas path.
The colt is a son of Extreme Choice and Maher said it may be testing the waters to see if he could stretch out to the 1600m of the Guineas.
“He won impressively at Geelong,” Maher said.
“He’s an Extreme Choice, but he’s a big scopey horse, so it wouldn’t surprise you if he stretched out, but he’s bred to be sharper.”
