Maher brothers dodge Doomben Cup showdown

Declan Maher will resist the temptation to take on his brother’s champion mare Pride Of Jenni with his own top liner Fawkner Park, despite the gelding showing a return to his old form on Saturday.

Winless since the Rosehill Cup in the spring of 2024, Fawkner Park caught the eye at his first run for Maher when finishing powerfully from the back of the field to run sixth with 61kg in the Listed Bernborough Handicap.

He holds an entry for Saturday’s G1 Doomben Cup but his trainer said he will instead wait for the Listed Lord Mayor’s Cup and the Q22, a race he won in 2024.

“I was rapt with the way he ran and Ethan Brown got off him and said he’s back but I think I’m asking for trouble backing an old boy like him up a week after a performance like that,” Declan said.

“My physio has done a lot of work on him and maybe that’s what he needed because he showed the zest for racing again on Saturday, which he hadn’t done since probably this time last year.

“He’s likely to go to the Lord Mayor’s over 1800m in a couple of weeks and then onto the Q22 if he runs well again.

“But if I mention it (Doomben Cup) tilt to (managing owner) Nathan Bennett one more time, he won’t need any more convincing.”

Declan knows the task that would’ve faced Fawkner Park in the Doomben Cup, given he’s also been charged with overseeing his brother’s feature race contenders.

As well as Pride Of Jenni, Ciaron Maher has Middle Earth and Royal Supremacy in the nominations for Saturday’s $1 million feature.

Declan said Pride Of Jenni, now a rising nine-year-old, appears to have a renewed zest for racing, which was on show in her last-start win in the G2 Hollindale Stakes.

“Looking after Pride Of Jenni and a few of Ciaron’s other top liners has been a good part of the job,” he said.

“She (Pride Of Jenni) has settled in really well since she came up here – she has her routine and she’s been very straightforward.

“She had an easy little gallop this morning (Monday) and I can’t see why she won’t put in another big performance.

“She’s a remarkable horse and she’s still got such a zest for racing.

“Even before the Hollindale, she’d just freshened up so nicely and was in such a good space.”