The focus might be on his four Cox Plate runners at Flemington, but champion trainer Ciaron Maher will be keeping a close watch on Sydney where his team is headlined by emerging three-year-old Scarole in the Spring Champion Stakes.
The stable has been in superb recent form with five black-type wins this week, including a two-state Group 1 double last Saturday with Tempted in The Everest (1200m) and Saintly Dancer in the Thousand Guineas (1600m).
Maher also captured the Geelong Cup (2400m)–Geelong Classic (2200m) double midweek with Point Of Law and Murshidi respectively, and his Sydney foreman, Johann Gerard-Dubord, is warming to the chances of Scarole adding to their feature race haul at Randwick.
Only making his debut in July, Scarole has progressed rapidly through the grades, breaking his maiden three starts ago before posting consecutive Group placings in the Stutt Stakes (1600m) at Caulfield and Gloaming Stakes (1800m) at Rosehill.
Nash Rawiller had his first ride on the colt in the latter and Gerard-Dubord expects that experience to be telling come Saturday’s Spring Champion Stakes (2000m) at Randwick.
Generally an on-pace runner, Scarole was slow away in the Gloaming and settled worse than midfield before finishing powerfully to just miss behind Proxima Dea and Wonka, who will both be among his rivals.
“He’s got a bit of a touchy mouth, so you just have to go with him,” Gerard-Dubord said.
“Nash had to go to Plan B last start, but he settled well and actually ran really well, so that gave us some options as to how we ride him.
“Nash has had a sit on him and knows him now, which I think will be a big thing.”
Only a half-length separated the first five horses across the line in the Gloaming Stakes and while Proxima Dea lifted herself off the canvas to get the win, Gerard-Dubord suspects there is little between them.
“Run the race a few times, and you probably get a few different results,” he said.
“It’s an extra 200 metres and whoever stays will have a big advantage.”
Fellow three-year-old Ciaron’s Star will fly the flag for the yard in the Listed Brian Crowley Stakes (1100m) after resuming with an encouraging second to the speedy Blue Door in the Heritage Stakes (1100m) last month.
She has been kept up to the mark since with a barrier trial win, and while the filly has taken time to come to hand this preparation, Gerard-Dubord is confident she’s spot-on for Saturday.
“She was very wintery for a while, and we pushed her back a couple of weeks before we got her started,” he said.
“The last ten days before her first-up run she really started to come on.
“Blue Door was a bit too fast for her, but she was good late.
“We feel she has come on quite a bit since that first-up run. She couldn’t look better and she’s got that run under her belt now.”
Jason Collett will partner Ciaron’s Star from barrier three.
