Ciaron Maher is setting the stage for Gringotts’ return in Randwick’s Canterbury Stakes, where a fellow jockey has unwittingly championed a major opponent.

Towards the close of his latest season, Nash Rawiller established a tight bond with Gringotts, claiming wins in succession via the Big Dance and The Gong.

A reunion was on the cards for Saturday’s Group 1 Canterbury Stakes (1300m), however, post an open chat with Maher, Rawiller elected to persist with Lady Shenandoah, fresh off a bold finishing third under him to Joliestar in the Expressway Stakes (1200m).

Tommy Berry assumes the mount on Gringotts, having steered him to three successes encompassing last year’s Group 1 George Ryder Stakes (1500m) triumph.

“Nash was riding Gringotts, and he said, ‘Lady Shenandoah was in second gear the other day. Do you mind if I step off and step on (her)?’. I said, ‘no, Gringotts will probably want the run anyway,”, Maher recounted.

“Tommy has ridden him plenty of times as well and had good success on him, so it didn’t make any difference, really.

“He can run really well fresh, and he’s got a good base on him. He has been up at the beach.

But hearing those words out of Nash, and looking at the way Joliestar hit the line too, those two, I wouldn’t be surprised if they had his measure (on Saturday).”

Maher is optimistic Gringotts will progress from his run and delighted by the six-year-old’s training return.

Precisely half of his 12 career wins were at a mile, leading the stable to weigh options for trialing longer distances soon.

In the immediate future, the Canterbury Stakes acts as an optimal trial en route to protecting his George Ryder Stakes title.

“He’s in good order. He ran in the Liverpool City Cup last time and then the George Ryder. This time he will go Canterbury Stakes to George Ryder,” Maher said.

“He normally runs very well fresh. He had 61 (kilos) last year in the Liverpool City Cup, and I think he ran the fastest last 600 for the meeting and was unlucky.”

Gringotts boasts a near-perfect first-up record with just one miss from six, yet Saturday pits him against a quality group spearheaded by the two mares from Chris Waller’s barn, their Golden Rose hero Beiwacht, and Napoleonic from the Hobartville Stakes runner-up spot.

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