‘We are looking to go 50-50': Ciaron Maher eyes bigger slice of Sydney riches
And he hopes the likes of Sacred Rocks and Hi Dubai, which race at Randwick on Saturday, can lead the early charge.
Maher's stable last week became the first to win more than $60 million in prizemoney in a season and is closing out a third consecutive Australian trainers' premiership, with 322.5 winners before Thursday's meetings. Chris Waller was second on 270.
The Victorian has built the amazing success largely on performances in his home state, but his reach in NSW is set to grow with the move of his Sydney stable from Warwick Farm to Leilani Lodge at Randwick. The larger stable, together with existing arms of his operation at Bong Bong Farm in the Southern Highland and Bobs Farm in the Hunter, are part of Maher's ambition to expand and increase his winning totals in NSW.
'There's about 20 extra stables, but we sort of alternate,' Maher said of the difference between his Warwick Farm stables and Leilani Lodge, which is still being renovated.
'We have up to 200 at Ballarat but that fluctuates, and all the other stables stay full. But we own that joint, so that's why we can do that. We haven't sort of changed for about two or three seasons now, so it's always just consolidate.
'We are looking to go 50-50. We are sort of 60-40 with Victoria at the moment, but 50-50 with Sydney has been the aim for a couple of years.'
Maher has 84.5 winners in NSW, with 48 in town, this season. Those numbers are dwarfed by Waller's. The Rosehill trainer, who is upgrading his Flemington operation with a move into Godolphin's Carbine Lodge, has 182 and 140 wins respectively in NSW and metro will secure a 15th consecutive Sydney trainers' premiership.
The expansion of Maher's operations, though, raises the question of whether he can one day challenge Waller's reign in Sydney.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sydney Morning Herald
an hour ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
The opera lover, the aromatherapist and the $1m inheritance fight
It was a costly court fight over the million-dollar estate of an elderly opera aficionado. An aromatherapist who struck up a friendship with the woman stood to inherit everything if she won. Eva Marie Easton died in September 2021, aged 89. The German migrant made a will in November 2020 naming the Sydney Opera House Trust as sole beneficiary. It was her wish that the funds be used for the promotion of performances of German classical music. The 2020 will superseded a will from 2019, leaving everything to her friend Isabelle Agnes Peacock, an aromatherapist she met in 2004 when she started having monthly massages. Easton's Australian ex-husband had died years earlier, and she was unaware of any other living relatives. By about 2009, Easton and Peacock 'had developed a good friendship', Supreme Court Justice James Hmelnitsky said in a decision last year. 'Mrs Peacock would drive Mrs Easton to places she needed to be, such as dental and medical appointments.' Loading Easton was diagnosed with cancer and moved to a NSW aged care facility in 2017. Peacock continued to visit. The elderly woman made a will in December 2017 leaving her estate to a couple with whom she was friends. If they predeceased Easton, everything would go to Peacock. The court heard Easton became upset when the couple moved to Queensland. She executed a new will in May 2019, leaving her estate to Peacock.
The Age
an hour ago
- The Age
Perfect 10: Demon recovers from brink of defeat to win title
When the going gets tough, Alex de Minaur gets tougher. The Australian became a 10-time champion on the ATP Tour on Monday (AEST), recovering from 5-2 down in the final set of the Washington Open final to outlast childhood rival Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 (7-3) in another performance packed with mental resilience. De Minaur saved three separate championship points in a nerve-jangling, 14-minute service game at 4-5, including a defensive backhand lob that barely touched the sideline on the third of them. He never trailed in the tie-break – but twice handed back mini-break leads – before sealing victory after three hours and two minutes of tense and absorbing tennis that owed to repeatedly brave shot-making in the toughest moments. Loading De Minaur is now only one career title behind Australian greats Patrick Rafter and Mark Philippoussis. He is the fifth Australian to win in Washington, with Nick Kyrgios the most recent in 2019 and 2022. 'I don't know [how I did that]. It's something about this court. I did it in 2018 against [Andrey] Rublev, and honestly, I just kind of knew I could do it,' de Minaur said. 'I just backed myself and told myself to commit, no matter what, and if I lost this match, it was going to be on my terms, and today went my way. I've had a couple of brutal ones not go my way, so I'm glad this one [did]. 'I'm very happy with where I am at the moment, [and] how I'm dealing with things on and off the court. I had the mindset that even if today didn't go my way, it was a very positive week, so I was proud of my efforts, no matter what, but, geez, it feels good to hold my 10th title.'
The Age
an hour ago
- The Age
The opera lover, the aromatherapist and the $1m inheritance fight
It was a costly court fight over the million-dollar estate of an elderly opera aficionado. An aromatherapist who struck up a friendship with the woman stood to inherit everything if she won. Eva Marie Easton died in September 2021, aged 89. The German migrant made a will in November 2020 naming the Sydney Opera House Trust as sole beneficiary. It was her wish that the funds be used for the promotion of performances of German classical music. The 2020 will superseded a will from 2019, leaving everything to her friend Isabelle Agnes Peacock, an aromatherapist she met in 2004 when she started having monthly massages. Easton's Australian ex-husband had died years earlier, and she was unaware of any other living relatives. By about 2009, Easton and Peacock 'had developed a good friendship', Supreme Court Justice James Hmelnitsky said in a decision last year. 'Mrs Peacock would drive Mrs Easton to places she needed to be, such as dental and medical appointments.' Loading Easton was diagnosed with cancer and moved to a NSW aged care facility in 2017. Peacock continued to visit. The elderly woman made a will in December 2017 leaving her estate to a couple with whom she was friends. If they predeceased Easton, everything would go to Peacock. The court heard Easton became upset when the couple moved to Queensland. She executed a new will in May 2019, leaving her estate to Peacock.
