Maher wants rain for Pharari

Ciaron Maher says Pharari will benefit from any rain before the Ballarat Cup meeting on Saturday.

Trainer Ciaron Maher is hopeful the Ballarat Cup meeting will attract the rain just as it has in previous years.

Lightly raced four-year-old Pharari heads to the VOBIS Gold Eureka Stockade (1200m) on Saturday, looking to notch her fifth career win from 11 racetrack appearances.

Of those four previous victories, two have come on soft and heavy surfaces while the daughter of American Pharoah had also been successful on a Good 3 and a Good 4 surface.

It is tracks with some give in them that Maher believes the daughter of American Pharoah excels and the trainer is hopeful that the predicted rain – of up to almost 20mm – falls on Friday and Saturday.

Maher said Pharari’s liking for a wet track would have been ideal for the mare had she been engaged at Caulfield last week, but with just over $200,000 in prize money on offer on Saturday, the Ballarat race, for VOBIS Gold horses, was a nice option.

While not in the same league as stablemate Bella Nipotina, Pharari is like that older mare in that she handles both wet and dry ground.

“She’s like Bella who thrives on wet ground,” Maher said.

“And she’ll (Pharari) will go to another level if she gets a wet track on Saturday.”

Pharari has travelled between Maher’s Sydney and Melbourne operations in recent starts.

After two starts in Sydney which included a win at Rosehill on October 12, Pharari returned to Melbourne and led the field when a fading 12th in the Group 3 Begonia Belle Stakes (1100m) at Flemington on November 2 before running second to Kin in the Listed Village Stakes (1100m) on November 16 at Caulfield.

With Damian Lane, Ethan Brown and Mark Zahra all riding interstate or internationally on the weekend, Maher has called on Irish jockey Dylan Brown McMonagle, who has been riding in Sydney in recent weeks, to ride Pharari for the leading trainer.