Trainer Ciaron Maher has made a name for himself with stayers.
At the head of Australia’s largest training operation, Maher has won two of Australia’s longest races – the Grand Annual Steeplechase and the Jericho Cup – in his hometown of Warrnambool, along with Australia’s premier staying race the Melbourne Cup.
Basking in the glory after a night of celebrations following a second win in the Melbourne Cup, this time with Point Of Law, Maher was asked what his dream race would be.
“I’ve always thought that if I had a horse good enough, the Gold Cup (at Royal Ascot in England) would be a nice race to have a horse run in,” Maher said.
“Whether he’s up to that this year, or next year, whether it’s at all, but I think he’s world class.
“If he keeps developing, which you can see in the shape of him, the frame of him, he’s still got a lot of furnishing to do, it wouldn’t surprise me if he could race in some of the best races around the world.”
Point Of Law won the Melbourne Cup at just his sixth start on Tuesday and Maher said the Northern Hemisphere-bred three-year-old was subdued when paraded on Wednesday.
“He’s pretty good, but he knows he’s had a run, I think,” Maher said.
“He’s normally pretty playful, but he was happy just to chill out there today.
“It’s pretty phenomenal in his first preparation really as we’ve only had him for a short amount of time, so it’s pretty surreal.”
Maher said he would sit down with connections and ‘nut out a plan’ over a few drinks and a bite to eat.
He said the Melbourne Cup was highly likely to come up in discussions and another tilt at Australia’s most famous race.
“I would hope so, and I’m sure the owners would too, but the handicapper does catch up with you pretty quick in that race,” Maher said.
“We’ll nut out a bit of a plan over a few drinks and something to eat today and you wouldn’t rule out going back to England or Dubai, there’s some nice races there.
“It should be good fun, but we’re mindful that he is still raw.”
Maher has a keen eye for the horse but is also ahead of the game when it comes to science and data in training his large team.
“The art of training is peaking a horse on a certain day,” Maher said.
“To get seven into a target race like that and have five of them finish in the top six and three in the top three, I’m very proud of the team and their efforts.
“Everyone uses data and systems, better efficiencies.
“I always look at the way humans are trained, like footy players, compared to the way they were trained 10 years ago. The change is huge compared to the way they used to train, and I think horse racing is no different.
“The only difference is obviously they can’t talk.”
Maher said he had received a text message from John Warren, the racing manager for His Majesty The King, in the days after Point Of Law won the Geelong Cup.
He was unsure whether there was another following Tuesday’s win, but Maher admitted he was still wading through the extensive bunch of well-wishers.
Maher said it would be a bittersweet moment for The King having sold Point Of Law to the trainer and connections, but the trainer went through a similar scenario last year with Half Yours winning the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups.
“I know exactly how he would be feeling because I did it the year before,” Maher said.
“It can be a funny game racing, and it would be bittersweet, I would imagine.”
