The stable of Ciaron Maher has dispatched Seraphox to Melbourne targeting a Stakes race which could provide various directions for the young horse.

In the Listed Anzac Day Stakes (1400m) at Flemington on Saturday, Seraphox arrives after two Sydney races, including a triumph at Warwick Farm last time out.

The colt impressed the Maher team sufficiently from the outset to launch him in the Group 2 Todman Stakes (1200m) at Rosehill last month; he placed second last but trailed the winner by a mere four lengths.

Jack Turnbull, National Assistant Trainer at Ciaron Maher Racing, affirmed the high regard the stable has for the colt Seraphox.

“He’s a beautiful horse,” Turnbull said.

“It’s the right trip and it’s the right time to bring him down.

“He debuted in a good race on a Saturday in Sydney and did a few things wrong, and then he won his maiden next time around.

“He’s been down here a couple of weeks, and he’s taken to the left-handed direction without a problem.

“He’s a placid animal and has taken no extra work to settle him in, he’s been very natural and very straight forward.

“He will be a very interesting horse because he will continue to get better as he’s only young and whatever he does over 1400 (metres) you can potentially look to the spring, if he takes that step.”

Saturday’s performance will dictate the next steps for Seraphox, as per Turnbull, who hasn’t excluded a Brisbane trip over winter.

Such a path might involve the Group 2 BRC Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m) at Eagle Farm on May 30 or the Group 1 JJ Atkins (1600m) two weeks subsequently at the same track.

“There are races in Brisbane if we wanted to push on, or we could put him away and go through the pathway of trying to get him to the (Caulfield) Guineas in the spring,” Turnbull said.

From Sydney, two-year-old Nialah enters the Anzac Day Stakes having run third in her maiden debut at Wyong.

Nialah took a while to adapt and become race-ready, Turnbull observed.

“Early in her career she was very fast and fierce, but she’s settled a bit now and we were pleased with how she ran at Wyong,” Turnbull said.

“Joe and the team up there in Sydney were pretty keen to step her up in trip, so she’s come down for an early chance at some Black Type.”

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