Ciaron Maher might be away on holidays but his team at home are keen and ready for Finals Day at Flemington where the stable says they have a strong team taking on the wintertime features with lessons learnt along the way.
Detonator Jack and She’s An Artist headline their team with the former out to break a long run of outs.
Despite having not won since taking out The Gong (1600m) at Kembla Grange in November 2023, the now six-year-old Detonator Jack faces one of his more winnable tasks second-up.
While the Listed VRC-CRV Winter Championship Final (1600m) is not insignificant, there is a gap between it and the million-dollar 7+ Sport Stakes (1600m) last September at Randwick where he finished fourth behind Fangirl, and the Group 1 Doncaster Mile (1600m) in which he ran sixth behind Celestial Legend during The Championships in 2024.
“Detonator Jack ran really well first-up but he got a long way back,” stable representative Leigh Allen said.
“We thought he was a bit under what he normally is on returning but we can forgive him being a that far off them.”
“He’s been consistently running against black-type and group company, so he will know the difference here.”
Detonator Jack is rated a $16 chance at Flemington with firming favourite Oh Too Good at $2.70.
Of Maher’s other runners, She’s An Artist is looking to continue her perfect record in the Listed Creswick Stakes (1200m) to follow-up on her impressive win down the Flemington straight over 1100-metres on June 21.
That experience for the horse and their own learning from the past is key to the preparation for this event.
“We gave her that look down the straight and she seemed to tick every box there,” Allen said.
“We were surprised with how well she won, not that she won, and it seems me to be a similar field but we are confident with how well she came through and she should be winning.
“We were going to straight into the Creswick after her Bendigo win but we did that with Pharari last year after winning at Ballarat and she folded in the Creswick because she didn’t handle the straight.
“We learned from that, and she has improved again.”
Allen is also happy with Shockletz in the Mahogany Challenge Final (2500m) with weight relief and the distance suiting the three-year-old daughter of Melbourne Cup (3200m) winner Shocking.
