Maher stable hopes import can show carnival potential amid Sydney move

The Ciaron Maher stable hopes $800,000 import Zabiari can prove to be another Sydney carnival weapon as it steps up its presence in NSW with the impending move to Crown Lodge.

Zabiari, a two-time group 3 winner in France, is set to debut alongside stablemate Eliyass in the listed Civic Stakes (1400m) at Randwick on Saturday.

The five-year-old entire arrived in Australia in November after Astute Bloodstock’s Louis Le Metayer paid 450,000 euros for the son of Wootton Bassett at the Arqana Arc Sale in France.

A winner five times in 12 starts, Zabiari ($9) has gate one and Nash Rawiller aboard for his first assignment.

Maher’s NSW assistant trainer, Johann Gerard-Dubord, has overseen the long preparation of Zabiari, which he believed could rise to Sydney’s premier group 1 handicap miles, the Epsom and Doncaster.

“He’s going well,” Gerard-Dubord said.

“He’s been in work for a long time, we’ve taken our time with him and we are very mindful of having him ready for the softer, winter tracks, and to let him acclimatise.

“In terms of fitness, he’s pretty forward. He’s done plenty of work, but we are mindful he hasn’t raced for a while.

“His last trial was his best and we used blinkers that day, but we are leaving them off on Saturday.

“He’s got a good gate, a bit of weight, but a big track, 1400, it’s a good starting point.

“Based on his French form, you would be hoping he could be an Epsom horse in the spring, whether he gets there not will depend on how he’s going. Long term, the Doncaster, when it’s usually wet, could be better.”

Former Tulloch Lodge-prepared import Eliyass ($34), which won stakes races at his first three Australian starts, is back after a year off in which the seven-year-old had screws inserted in both front fetlocks.

“It’s short of his best so it’s very much a starting point and using it as almost a trial,” Gerard-Dubord said.

“He’s got a lot of weight and a bad gate, so we’ll just ride him quiet and let him hit the line.”

Maher’s best chance on the card shapes as Sunshineinmypocket ($4.20) in the eighth. The five-year-old broke a year-long drought last start on the Gold Coast and has drawn well in five for another 1200m test on Saturday.

“We probably haven’t seen the best of him yet, so hopefully there’s more to come,” Gerard-Dubord said.

“His last run last prep at Randwick was very good. He was very unlucky and probably should have won. He had a freshen after that and got the job done in that nice race on the Gold Coast.

“He’s not the quickest away, so he’s very tempo-dependent, and hopefully they go quick enough for him.”

Maher confirmed on June 12 that he would make the 123-box Crown Lodge stables at Warwick Farm his NSW flagship operation. Racing NSW on Friday confirmed it has bought the stables from Godolphin and the premier Victorian trainer would take over the lease once settlement is complete this month. Crown Lodge has sat dormant this season, after Godolphin’s move away from a private training model.

Maher will relinquish his lease on the 59-box Leilani Lodge stables at Randwick and move on from his Bong Bong facility in the Southern Highlands. Maher, who moved out of Warwick Farm stables in late April, will continue to use his Bobs Farm property, in Port Stephens.

“It will be good to have everything there at one spot instead of two,” Gerard-Dubord said.

“Warwick Farm is where we started. We were there for four years before we got Bong Bong, so we know the track there very well, and it’s a lovely facility there at Crown Lodge.

“Horse numbers won’t change a lot because we had about 90-100 at Bong Bong and 30 at Warwick Farm, so similar numbers, but less travelling.”

Maher has long had hopes of having an even split of his team between NSW and Victoria.

Ford to find next gear with Kool motor

Jay Ford hopes to handle an even better version of Ice Kool on Saturday after trainer David Pfieffer chose to race the three-year-old at Randwick instead of Flemington.

Ice Kool has won three of his four starts and Ford has been successful both times aboard the speedster, including a last-start domination over 1000m at benchmark 78 grade at Randwick. He rises from 56.5 kilograms to 60kg for an identical assignment in the seventh, where he was $1.60 with TAB.

Ford hopes to stick with Ice Kool as he makes what seems an inevitable rise to stakes grade in the spring.

“He’s obviously got a decent weight on his back, but he’s a very talented horse,” Ford said.

“He’s only a young horse and lightly raced, so he still lacks a bit of race craft, but he’ll get better as he hones that.

“In all his races, he’s not been able to get out of the gates that well, then he’s quite a keen-going customer and likes to get things over and done with, but he executed reasonably well in his first-up run.

“He got out of the gates really well, for him. He still wanted to go quite keen outside the leader, but he’s finding his way, and hopefully every time he steps out, we see a better version of him because the motor is there.”

Ford also hoped for a sharp start from Pfieffer-trained Whinchat ($10) in the feature Civic Stakes (1400m), where he had gate 18. He faded to finish 10th last start in the Luskin Star Stakes.

“As he’s got older he’s lost a bit of his speed, as he showed the other day at Scone,” he said.

“I think he’s better off drawing out. The less time he’s in the barriers, the better. He can be problematic in the barriers.

“When he ran fifth in that race last year, he wasn’t able to find the front and lead. That’s always been his Achilles’ heel, when he can’t find the front, he struggles to adapt. And as he’s climbed the grades, it’s not always easy to find the front without company.”

This week marks 20 years since Ford took Takeover Target to victory at Royal Ascot in the King’s Stand Stakes. Ford later added group 1 success in Japan and Singapore to his wins at home with the champion.

“They are always good memories, but I don’t really dwell too much on the past,” he said.

“It was a great experience and as time goes on you realise he was a pretty special horse.”