Fresh from plundering two Group One races on Queen Elizabeth Stakes day, Ciaron Maher will be looking to keep his winning momentum rolling into the final major of the Sydney autumn carnival.
Maher will saddle up Southport Tycoon in the $1.5 million All Aged Stakes (1400m) at Randwick on Saturday, seven days after producing Circle Of Fire to win the Sydney Cup (3200m) and Pride Of Jenni to score a stunning victory in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
Southport Tycoon was slated to line up in the Doncaster Mile (1600m) two weeks ago but drew an outside gate and was scratched, Maher opting to instead re-route towards Saturday’s feature.
“He was ready to go a couple of weeks ago, that was a target for him and we scratched, but he’s had a trial and he’s in great order,” Maher said.
“(His) form is huge and the horse is in a great spot.”
Southport Tycoon hasn’t raced since claiming to scalps of Veight and Riff Rocket in the Australian Guineas (1600m) at Flemington on March 2.
However, he has been kept up to the mark with two Sydney trials, most recently at Warwick Farm last week when ridden by his Guineas-winning jockey Jamie Kah, who sticks with him this weekend.
Maher says those hitouts have Southport Tycoon spot-on and he has no qualms over the three-year-old going into Saturday’s race with six weeks between runs.
“Not really. Jamie couldn’t have been more complimentary the other day,” he said.
Maher has been enjoying a heady run of form at all levels, producing 11 winners from his past 50 starters leading into Wednesday’s midweek meetings.
He had 14 runners over the two days of The Championships for a trio of Group victories – two with Circle of Fire and one with Pride Of Jenni – along with two feature race placings courtesy of Erno’s Cube (Percy Sykes Stakes) and Semana (Queen Of The Turf Stakes).
If Southport Tycoon can overcome the older horses on Saturday, he will become the third three-year-old to win the All Aged Stakes in the past seven years after Trapeze Artist (2018) and Giga Kick last year.