Maher team seek debut win

The Ciaron Maher stable is not one to push their two-year-olds and has waited until late in the season to unveil its latest debutant.

Oyster Lane makes his debut in the Vale Snitzel (1000m) at Caulfield on Saturday where he will be joined by race seasoned stablemates Yolo and Life After Love.

Jack Turnbull, the National Assistant Trainer for Ciaron Maher Racing, said Oyster Lane had been well-schooled in preparation for his debut.

“We don’t them screw down, or really press our two-year-olds, we let them come up,” Turnbull said.

“We’ve got a really nice crop that are going to develop into three-year-olds naturally, but it’s not our style to get them in and get them up early, unless they put their hands up.

“What we have produced at the track this season, we have been pleased with and we’re really looking forward to the three-year-old season.

“The ones that we are producing now we are hopeful for in the early season three-year-old races.”

Oyster Lane has been prepared predominantly out of the stable’s Ballarat complex, but has had two Cranbourne jump-outs.

The colt, a son of Blue Point, also had a trip to Horsham as part of his education.

“He’s a nice colt that has done nothing wrong in his education,” Turnbull said.

“John Allen has done most of his work and he had a trial down at Cranbourne recently, just to have a look down there and give him a trip away.

“He was at Ballarat but because he’s a colt, he gets a bit lairy, so we switched him around, which is great with the facilities that we have.

“The trip away really brought him on, but Johnny kept him up to the task all the way to the line in his last jump-out, hence the margin.

“That wasn’t always the plan, but he said post-trial that he felt to be better educated he wanted to keep him up to the mark.

“He went pretty well and we’re looking forward to his debut.”

Turnbull indicated that Yolo may be looking for something a shade longer than Saturday’s race after two runs at 1000m this time in while Life After Love has yet to be placed in three starts and is coming back in distance after finishing near last in her most recent assignment at Flemington.