Star colt Observer ready for Rosehill Guineas bow
Victorian gallopers often falter when facing Sydney's unique racing demands across the Murray, but Ciaron Maher expects his top colt Observer to thrive there.
This dual Group 1 champion heads into his Sydney first-up run during Saturday's $1 million Rosehill Guineas (2000m).
The Ghaiyyath gelding travelled northward shortly following his Australian Guineas success at Flemington on February 28 to ready himself for clockwise tracks, and Maher is thrilled by his progress.
"I wanted to get him up there early and do a couple of nice little pieces of work and he worked like a horse that has had a lot of experience up there," Maher said from Caulfield on Tuesday morning.
"He came through his Guineas win very well. He's travelled up, he did a nice piece of work last week that was quite impressive and this morning just cantered around on the bit.
He didn't have to do a lot and you would think he's only going to improve getting back up to 10 furlongs (2000m)."
Owned by Godolphin, Observer gained right-handed track familiarity under James Cummings prior to switching to Maher mid-last year, now chasing history as the first Australian Guineas winner to take the Rosehill Guineas.
His other elite win was the Victoria Derby, positioning him to emulate Dulcify, Helenus, Tarzino and Riff Rocket on the Rosehill Guineas list.
Maher weighed entering Observer in Saturday week's Australian Cup (2000m) versus seasoned horses, yet favoured the Group 1 clash at the distance with contemporaries.
"He's still got options (to take on older horses), but taking on three-year-olds at 2000 metres, it's hard not to go there and his form this prep has been spot on," Maher said.
"Hopefully he can add another one to his CV and add to his record."
In the finalized nine-horse Rosehill Guineas field on Wednesday morning, Observer secured barrier two, adjacent to main opponent Autumn Boy, with Craig Williams in the saddle.
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