2 weeks Ago By Chris Roots
Australia’s biggest trainer, Ciaron Maher, was delighted to get his first Everest runner when the TAB picked Bella Nipotina this week but his attention quickly turned to getting more runners into the $20 million slots race. That process will start with I Am Me, the favourite in The Shorts at Randwick on Saturday and continue with boom three-year-old colt Growing Empire and Estriella in the Manikato Stakes at Moonee Valley next Friday. I Am Me beats Everest-bound Bella Nipotina in the Concorde Stakes.
Credit: Getty Images Maher chose last year to run Bella Nipotina in the Sydney Stakes, where she was third to I Am Me, rather than take on The Everest. “I was chuffed to get Bella into the Everest because it is a race that everyone wants to talk about,” Maher said. “She deserves to be there on what she has done in the past year, and she is going better than last year when we decided not to take up an option in The Everest.
“I thought she would have run top five last year; I’m much more confident this year. “But if Bella is there, I Am Me has to be close. She has beaten her the three times they have met, including the Sydney Stakes and the Concorde Stakes, and she is flying.
“It is the best she has been, and I think if she can win The Shorts someone would take her. “I have been talking to Yulong [who owns a slot] about Growing Empire, and if he can get a group 1 in the Manikato he could be there, and Estriella isn’t that far away as well. “Once you have a runner, you always want more, and we are hoping to have all four there on Everest day.
” I Am Me is a $2.70 favourite for The Shorts and looks likely to get the same run as she got behind Way To The Stars when she won the Concorde Stakes two weeks ago. She is a Randwick specialist, having won three of her four starts at the track.
With only 55kg on her back, James McDonald fills in for Nash Rawiller, who won the Concorde on her and would ride her if she gets an Everest slot. Detonator Jack wins The Gong. last year to qualify for the Big Dance Credit: Getty “She was very good last time, and I think I should get a similar run again,” said McDonald, who was on board for I Am Me’s Sydney Stakes win and when she was runner-up to Imperatriz in the Manikato last year.
“She is a very fast mare and is up to this level, and with the right run, we saw what she is capable of last start. She looks like she has improved [from last year] and that would make her one of the best sprinters in the country.” Maher also has Gringotts, Erno’s Cube and Detonator Jack looking to build towards their spring targets.
Gringotts, which qualified for the Big Dance by winning the Tamworth Cup earlier in the year, takes on the Epsom contenders in the Bill Ritchie Handicap. “He is in the Big Dance and we are looking to get him there,” Maher said. “He was a benchmark horse last time and has a good mark [weight] for a $3 million race, which is where we are heading.
“Detonator Jack is also in the Big Dance, but he is a weight-for-age horse, so he goes to the 7 Stakes against Fangirl. “I thought he was very good first up [when fifth in the Winx Stakes] and the mile is where he is at his best. He will stay at a mile in the Epsom and the Big Dance, and it would be good if we get any cut in the ground for him.
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