Unit Five is one of Ciaron Maher’s current top ranked three-year-olds and the colt is set to make his race day return and Sandown on Saturday.
Little went to plan in Unit Five’s tenth placing in the Group 1 Blue Diamond Stakes (1200m) in February but a good break since and two satisfying trials has the 2026 Magic Millions 2yo Classic (1200m) ready to raise his credentials further this spring.
A shot at the Group 1 Coolmoore Stud Stakes over the same distance is the ultimate target on the opening day of the Melbourne Cup Carnival.
“We’ll give him the opportunity,” Maher’s National Assistant Trainer Jack Turnbull said.
“He had three months out to prepare for this time of the year and I think that time has done him the world of good.
“He’s strengthened but he hasn’t grown tall. He is a bit bigger but he’s a magnificent looking animal and he looks fast and athletic.
Unit Five is among the nominations for the three-year-old handicap over 1000m after two trials at Cranbourne.
“I was stoked with his trials,” Turnbull added.
“He had one on the grass and one on the poly. We kept him on the bit on the poly being an artificial surface, but he is very sharp and he looks good and he’s in a good place.
Turnbull noted that the Sandown outing would be followed by a test down the Flemington straight in the Group 3 Poseidon Stakes (1100m) on September 12.
“He just a racehorse and we saw that when he won on debut at Caulfield Heath,” Turnbull said referencing the win on December 20.
“He’s one of our top tier three-year-olds and it is good to have him back.”
Whatever Unit Five does going forward, he has already proven himself to be a bargain buy for Ciaron Maher Bloodstock having earned just shy of $1.9 million in prizemoney after being bought for $80,000 at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale in 2025.
