Champion trainer Ciaron Maher’s focus may be split between his four Cox Plate runners at Flemington and his emerging three-year-old Scarole, who is a key contender in the Spring Champion Stakes in Sydney.
The Maher stable has been in scintillating form, achieving five black-type wins this week, including a Group 1 double last Saturday with Tempted in The Everest (1200m) and Saintly Dancer in the Thousand Guineas (1600m).
Adding to their recent success, Maher’s team also clinched the Geelong Cup (2400m) and Geelong Classic (2200m) double midweek with Point Of Law and Murshidi. Sydney foreman Johann Gerard-Dubord is increasingly confident in Scarole’s ability to add to the stable’s impressive feature race haul at Randwick.
Having debuted only in July, Scarole has rapidly progressed through the grades. He broke his maiden status three starts prior to consecutive Group placings in the Stutt Stakes (1600m) at Caulfield and the Gloaming Stakes (1800m) at Rosehill.
Nash Rawiller rode the colt for the first time in the Gloaming Stakes, and Gerard-Dubord believes this experience will be crucial for Saturday’s Spring Champion Stakes (2000m) at Randwick.
Scarole, who usually races prominently, had a slow start in the Gloaming Stakes and settled worse than midfield before finishing strongly. He narrowly missed behind Proxima Dea and Wonka, who are expected to be among his rivals again.
“He’s got a bit of a touchy mouth, so you just have to go with him,” Gerard-Dubord stated. “Nash had to go to Plan B last start, but he settled well and actually ran really well, so that gave us some options as to how we ride him. Nash has had a sit on him and knows him now, which I think will be a big thing.”
The first five horses in the Gloaming Stakes were separated by just half a length, and while Proxima Dea produced a tenacious victory, Gerard-Dubord feels there is little separating the contenders.
“Run the race a few times, and you probably get a few different results,” he commented. “It’s an extra 200 metres and whoever stays will have a big advantage.”
The stable will also be represented by Ciaron’s Star in the Listed Brian Crowley Stakes (1100m). The filly is resuming after a promising second to the speedy Blue Door in the Heritage Stakes (1100m) last month.
Ciaron’s Star has been kept in good order with a barrier trial win since her last run. Although the filly has taken time to reach peak fitness this preparation, Gerard-Dubord is confident she is ready for Saturday’s challenge.
“She was very wintery for a while, and we pushed her back a couple of weeks before we got her started,” he said. “The last ten days before her first-up run she really started to come on. Blue Door was a bit too fast for her, but she was good late. We feel she has come on quite a bit since that first-up run. She couldn’t look better and she’s got that run under her belt now.”
Jason Collett is set to partner Ciaron’s Star from barrier three.
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