Source :- THE AGE NEWS
Don’t let leading horse trainer Ciaron Maher’s laid-back demeanour be your lasting impression.
His mind is like a steel trap.
Asked whether he recalled a horse called Electric Turban, he did not miss a beat. “Yeah, that was one of Richard Freyer’s,” Maher said.
It is also the most recent horse he rode around the two miles at Flemington, where he will race seven horses on Tuesday in the Melbourne Cup.
That ride happened way back in April 2002 when Maher was a tearaway jumps jockey who had moved from Warrnambool to live at the end of the Flemington straight with a bunch of other aspiring jockeys.
Maher finished fourth on Electric Turban midway through his career in the saddle that was never going to go far given his size. He rode a respectable 26 winners from 210 rides and finished third in the Brierly Steeplechase at Warrnambool on Yallah Limit in 2002.
“Safe to say that I was better on the other side of the fence,” Maher said.
But he recalls with fondness the vibe among jumps jockeys on Melbourne Cup Day as the lesser lights raced in the Cup Hurdle, which was won and done before midday, allowing them to settle in for a big day with family and friends.
His only ride in the Cup Hurdle came 26 years ago on Taylors Bridge for the late Peter Hayes. Maher’s mount sat back in the field and just managed to avoid a fallen horse, Gilligan, and finished seventh. Later that day Brew won the big one from the outside barrier.
Was he a mad bugger in those days? It’s a reputation the rest of the jumps jockey fraternity used to wear as a badge of honour. ”Some would say I still am,” he said with a wry grin.
He hides the madness well, running the country’s biggest training operation with a calmness that seems to translate to his horses.
His business has about 900 horses and operates out of six locations – three in Victoria and three in NSW.
The systems and planning required is astounding.
Maher invests heavily in science, data analysis and horse wellbeing.
What puts Maher among the elite trainers, however, is not the whizz bang devices or the high-performance staff.
It’s his desire to learn about horses, which has not diminished from the moment his mum, Eileen, dropped him off at trainer Shayne Fisher’s property near the family dairy farm in Winslow, in Victoria’s south-west, when he was just out of primary school.
Fisher, a hugely respected horseman around Warrnambool, laughs at the memories of a bunch of local kids including Ciaron and his brother Declan, his own stepson, Australian equestrian champion Jamie Kermond, and others hanging out at his property on weeknights. On weekends, they would jump in his truck to attend showjumping, pony club events or shetland steeplechase races.
“He spent a lot of time at our place,” Fisher recalled.
“He was very keen and wanted to have a go at everything. They were wild buggers, got into bull riding and all sorts of things. They weren’t just little kids sitting on the sidelines.
“They got to learn the basics with every horse, not just horseracing. We taught them the basics of horse handling,” Fisher said.
They became tough, too. Fisher laughed as he recalled Maher one day squealing that he could not stop a horse he was riding only to be told, “point him at the shed”. That, apparently, would encourage the horse to pull up.
Maher became an apprentice, before moving to the city to work with the Hayes stable.
However, once he turned his attention to training in late 2005, Fisher realised the youngster’s aspirations in that field exceeded his own. Maher didn’t just want to be a trainer, he wanted to be Victoria’s leading trainer.
Maher hadn’t wasted his time as a jumps jockey. That speciality requires riders to work with the animal rather than just jumping on their back, often breaking or pre-training horses or doing trackwork.
Former jumps jockeys trained the winners of both the Caulfield Cup and Cox Plate this year.
“Normally the jumps jocks are riding the difficult horses,” Maher said.
“That [time] was phenomenal for me.”
As a track rider he worked for greats such as Bart Cummings, Jim Houlahan and Paddy Payne. He then rode in Ireland and, later, worked there as well, storing the lessons every moment provided.
“I never took notes, but I do think about every little thing [I experienced] when a scenario comes up [now],” Maher said.
Maher’s first breakthrough as a trainer came when, on the final day of the 2007 Flemington carnival, the gelding Tears I Cry won the group 1 mile at huge odds.
He had only been a trainer for two years and after spending time preparing horses out of his parents’ dairy farm in Warrnambool, he moved into two boxes at Caulfield alongside racing greats such as Peter Moody, Mick Price and Rick Hore-Lacey. He had been told if he stayed near home, all he could hope to train were broken-down types from owners hoping for a miracle.
His mum thought he would be back in Warrnambool in no time, but he settled in with the experienced crew working their horses there and expanded his operation, winning the 2016 Caulfield Cup with Jameka.
“Caulfield was a great training centre,” Moody recalled.
“Everyone worked well together. We had a golden period there where we had a lot of good horses trained out of numerous stables and great trainers.
“I won’t suggest Ciaron learnt off us but no doubt he picked up a lot off us.”
Maher’s stable grew at pace until a suspension for not asking enough questions about the ownership of horses connected to conman Peter Foster saw him cop a six-month ban on the chin in 2017.
He used the sabbatical to travel to places where he could learn more about the industry.
Maher has not looked back from that point, racking up trainers’ premierships. In 2019 he bought Darren Weir’s operation in Ballarat when Weir was banned from racing. (He trained in partnership with Dave Eustace, who left in 2024 for Hong Kong.)
Maher said on the podcast The Dos and D Show recently that his accountant opposed the decision, but he knew such an opportunity would not arise again, and took the punt.
Now “CMR” or Ciaron Maher Racing’s brand is seen at Ballarat, Cranbourne, Pakenham and Fingal, that location chosen, says Maher, because it was where legendary jumps trainer Jim Houlahan weaved his magic with horses.
In NSW, he trains at Warwick Farm, Bong Bong in Moss Vale and Bobs Farm where horses work on the stretch of dunes near Anna Bay, a nod to his time at Warrnambool.
Fisher marvels at the fact Maher is just as happy having a chat to King Charles III on the phone – as he did walking into The Everest one year – as he is leaning an elbow on a bar in the middle of nowhere and chatting about whatever topic arises.
“He’s a real horseman,” Fisher said. “He learned how to handle horses from day one rather than just turning up to fully educated horses. He just takes everything in his stride.”
Moody is also rapt for him, having watched him emerge from those inauspicious beginnings to having seven starters in the Melbourne Cup, with the favourite Point Of Law considered the best of his chances.
“It’s a phenomenal performance. He was probably a little more quiet and withdrawn [at Caulfield] than he is these days. He is obviously an exceptional horseman and very innovative,” Moody said.
The secret to Maher’s mastery is his mind. He maps out the plan for each horse as they head towards the Melbourne Cup, which he won with Gold Trip in 2022.
“It’s timing. That’s why Bart [Cummings] was the master. The grounding, and then it’s the timing. And then it’s obviously conditioning,” Maher said. “Anyone can have a horse conditioned, but you gotta have a peak so the run-in [to the race] is so important.
“What work they’re doing the two days prior for example. That’s the bit that matters.”
He looks for the one-percenters and employs people to implement them, knowing it might give his horse a one-inch lead at the end of a big race.
Middle Earth finished third in last year’s Cup and Maher – despite his lead in form – thinks he is a huge chance again, always mentioning seasoned seven-year-old in the same breath as Point of Law, who he will saddle up for the Cup in just his sixth start.
“The whole plan from the moment of crossing the line last year [with Middle Earth] was this race this year.
“It’s about tweaking, you know?
“I might have to furnish him a bit. He might need more work. Weights are important.”
At 45, Maher has a Melbourne Cup, Cox Plate, a couple of Caulfield Cups and a couple of Everests on the mantelpiece, but he wants more. On Saturday, he unleashed with his good mate, jockey Mark Zahra, The Next Episode, to win the Coolmore Stakes.
His seven Cup starters all have different levels of experience, ways of racing, preparations, temperaments and talent, but they share one thing in common: the Maher touch.
“It’s pressure you want to have,” Maher said. “I think this is the strongest hand I have had.”
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