Rock Empire delivers Maher’s first Crown Lodge win

Narbold seemed certain to score when he sprinted past Rock Empire but the latter fought back defiantly and regained the lead in the final couple of strides in the ATC Thank You Trainers Handicap (1600m).

Maher wasn’t at Randwick on Saturday but his trusty stable lieutenant, Johann Gerard-Dubois, confirmed the trainer had moved into Crown Lodge at Warwick Farm.

“We handed the keys in for Bong Bong yesterday (Friday),” Gerard-Dubois said.

Maher was about to move into 65-box Leilani Lodge stables at Royal Randwick when Crown Lodge, which is almost double the size, became available at Warwick Farm.

Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott were awarded the Leilani Lodge stables by the Australian Turf Club during the week and will soon move into those famous racing stables.

Rock Empire digs in for the fight and rallies to nose out Narbold 💪

Ciaron Maher continues to make his case for the 7Racing Medal 3 Votes 👀@cmaherracing pic.twitter.com/iBwSKC759w

— 7HorseRacing 🐎 (@7horseracing) July 25, 2026

Rock Empire ($17), ridden by Adam Hyeronimus, will be the first of many winners from Maher out of Crown Lodge after his hard-fought half head win over Narbold ($4 favourite) with The Creator ($11) one-and-a-half lengths away third.

“This was the right race for him,” Gerard-Dubois said of Rock Empire.

“His first-up run was very good, he was strong late. He had to go to 1600m today and it would have been nice to have a run in between but the programming didn’t quite work for him.

“But he’s a very clean-winded horse and he’s a very genuine horse. He had to fight hard late but he was brave.”

Rock Empire was Maher’s 44th Sydney winner from nearly 380 starters this season and he will finish sixth in the trainers premiership rankings.

But with Maher now having a permanent Sydney base out of Crown Lodge, then his number of Sydney starters increases exponentially in the new season and he will be pressing for a top three finish in the trainers premiership.