Curtain falls on Maher-Eustace partnership

They have been a formidable duo in Australian racing, but Ciaron Maher and David Eustace will saddle up their final runners together this weekend before the latter ends his tenure to take up a training position in Hong Kong.

Winners of the National premiership last season and again the pacesetters this time around, Maher and Eustace have captured the past four Melbourne trainers’ titles, while also establishing themselves among the top five in Sydney over the past two years.

Announcing late last year that he had accepted a role to train in Hong Kong, Eustace will have his final runners alongside Maher this Saturday.

In reflecting on his achievements over the past few seasons, Eustace nominated Gold Trip’s 2022 Melbourne Cup win as a highlight, along with the inroads he and Maher have made in expanding their presence.

“The Melbourne Cup is a day none of us will ever forget and not something you could possibly imagine would happen, but it did,” Eustace told Sky Racing radio.

“There are countless other moments along the way which were fantastic.

“The fact that it’s (the business) built from Caulfield with forty in work to where it is now, with a lot of help along the way – staff and owners and jockeys and horse -, it has just been an incredible few years.”

Maher and Eustace will have five runners at Randwick on Saturday with Eustace nominating two-year-old Scampi and Sky Out in The Agency Real Estate Handicap (2000m) as their leading chances.

They will also have up to nine starters at Moonee Valley where in-form mare Running By, who contests the Simpson Construction Handicap (1600m), is Eustace’s top pick.

The duo’s final runner together will be Command Approved in the last race at Newcastle on Saturday.

Officials in Sydney and Melbourne have confirmed that as of Sunday, all runners will appear in Maher’s name only.

Eustace’s final shift will be on Saturday morning before he heads to the Karaka Sales in New Zealand.

He will then make a brief visit to Hong Kong before heading home to England to visit family ahead of his relocation to Hong Kong in April.