After incurring two black eyes in his Caulfield return, trainer Ciaron Maher is holding off clearance for Jimmysstar on The Championships’ opening day.
In the William Reid Stakes (1200m) March 21, Jimmysstar ran seventh despite short odds favouritism and consumed some turf there.
Maher requires another session of work from the gelding before settling on the TJ Smith Stakes (1200m) at Randwick Saturday.
The eye ailments resolved for the sprinter in under 48 hours; he trucked to Sydney last week and managed an easy canter Saturday morning.
The trainer steered clear of rationales for the run yet found it challenging to rationalise.
Mark Zahra handled duties at Caulfield, but Ethan Brown, the steady rider, returns if Jimmysstar joins the TJ Smith field.
Saturday’s Group 1 sprint sees Zahra aboard Tentyris.
“We’ll see how he works,” Maher said.
“I don’t really like making excuses, but Mark said he got sort of terrorised. He is a horse that does his own thing a bit, bridles up.
“I didn’t mind him being on the inside, but he jumped, got hit straight out of the barrier. He was wanting to get out, but he got pushed back in and then at the furlong got a decent bump as well.
“I don’t like making excuses and Mark is a pretty straight shooter, and he was like ‘nothing went right’.
“I was very happy going in, but I’m a little bit on the fence (afterwards).”
Maher added that apart from the black eyes, no other troubles arose for Jimmysstar post-race.
Additionally, Maher verified stablemate Tempted sidesteps the TJ Smith Stakes for the Arrowfield 3YO Sprint (1200m) Randwick on April 11.
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