Ciaron Maher shifted a handful of horses away from his Cranbourne base to perform gallops at Caulfield Tuesday morning.
The reliable mare Pride Of Jenni was included, stepping up her preparation ahead of a Saturday slot in two weeks’ time.
Maher flagged the Group 1 Australian Cup (2000m) at Flemington as the leading candidate for Pride Of Jenni’s immediate future, while keeping the Group 1 Queen Of The Turf Stakes (1600m) at Randwick next month on the table.
Pride Of Jenni began her autumn stint ending third to Tom Kitten during the All-Star Mile (1600m) at Flemington on March 7.
Maher commented that Pride Of Jenni had progressed as expected post-race and turned in a robust solo gallop at Caulfield.
“Dec (Declan Bates) said she was wanting to pull him in half early in the gallop, so that’s always good to see,” Maher said.
“She had a nice blow after her first-up run where she ran pretty quick time, fresh up, so she will take natural improvement and she wasn’t here (this morning) to bring her on or anything, it was just a tick over gallop.
“I’m quite happy with how she came through her first-up run. Her weight is good, her action is good and she just had an easy time this morning.
“The Australian Cup or the Queen Of The Turf, is next, but at this stage the Australian Cup.
“You would think Flemington is more chance of being drier than Sydney, but the main thing is she came through it well and we’ll track towards the Australian Cup.”
Pride Of Jenni was joined by Middle Earth along with UK import King Of The Sea.
Middle Earth builds towards a late-season autumn-winter push in Queensland en route to Melbourne Cup targets, whereas King Of The Sea acclimatises further having joined Maher’s team earlier in the year.
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