Ciaron Maher imports kick off at Caulfield

Two European imports that the Ciaron Maher stable has Cups ambitions for, are set to start their spring campaigns at Caulfield.

St George kicks off in the Listed Heatherlie Stakes (1700m) on Saturday with Okita Soushi set to run in the Quayclean Handicap (2000m).

Both are entered in the Group 1 Caulfield Cup (2400m) on October 19 with St George also among nominations for the Group 1 Cox Plate (2040m) at Moonee Valley on October 26.

With nominations closing for the Group 1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington next Tuesday, both St George and Okita Soushi are expected to feature.

St George is a lightly raced galloper that has not been seen in action since finishing third at Newmarket in July last year.

Maher’s assistant trainer Jack Turnbull said St George was a ‘nice colt with a lot of quality’.

“He’s coming along well and in the third jump-out he probably lacked that sharpness he showed in his first two,” Turnbull said.

“The first one was over a half mile, and he was never going to be in contact, his second was better, and now he rises 500 metres on his last one in the Heatherlie.

“He’s a Cups horse that will be out the back and running on hopefully and then we can go to 2000 metres and go on from there.

“He’s a nice colt with a lot of quality and is one out of the box.”

Okita Soushi arrived in Australia last year as part of the Joseph O’Brien assault on the Melbourne Cup, finishing 11th behind Without A Fight.

Turnbull said Okita Soushi was an out-and-out stayer and Saturday’s race at 2000m will be the shortest trip the seven-year-old has raced over in his 14-start career.

“He’s a horse that wants ground and the 2000 metres is the absolute minimum,” Turnbull said.

“He’s still an entire and his fitness is good and it’s just a matter of getting the miles into his legs.

“He’s been hard to get a guide on. If I was to compare him to something we already have, he’s an Interpretation type.

“They’re true staying horses and unfortunately there’s not many true staying races for that class and there’s even fewer at two miles.”