The 2026 running of the Australia Stakes will break tradition, with the Group 2 sprint being staged away from Moonee Valley for the first time while the venue undergoes redevelopment.

Friday’s edition will instead be held at Pakenham, where the 1200-metre feature has attracted a quality field headed by Group 1 winner War Machine and a strong Ciaron Maher-trained duo.

Maher will saddle promising colt Jimmy Recard alongside stablemate Nadal as they take on the $1.65 favourite, War Machine, winner of the Stradbroke Handicap (1400m).

Jimmy Recard made his mark last spring when winning the Group 3 Vain Stakes (1100m) before taking on the elite of his generation, including Tentyris.

Ciaron Maher Racing assistant trainer Jack Turnbull said the colt had returned in good order.

“Jimmy’s good,” Turnbull said.

“He’s had two jump outs and we’ve been happy with both of them.

“He’s come through them fine and he’s a big lad with plenty of racing to come.

“Ultimately we’ll follow the weather that is around and whether that is in Adelaide or Sydney to look at something like The Galaxy, that would be fantastic.

“For the moment to kick him off, he’s ready to go, and goes well first-up.”

Stablemate Nadal resumes after an interrupted preparation, having finished second to Hedged in the Christmas Stakes (1200m).

“He has taken a bit longer to come to his best,” Turnbull said.

“It was a bit of a shame that we got so far back in running last start because his late work was quite good.

“The threat through the whole preparation is that he could regress in his action after the surgery but he would be a peak fitness and hopefully the likes of War Machine need the run.”

Jimmy Recard is rated a $10 chance while Nadal sits at $8 for Friday’s feature.