Aussie stayer primed for Cup bid
Dennis Ryan - Raceform • January 17th, 2025 9:30 AM
A week after arriving from Melbourne for a summer campaign taking in two of New Zealand’s premier staying races, all is going to plan for the Ciaron Maher-trained Interpretation ahead of his opening assignment.
That’s the word from Maher employee Nikki White, who has been putting the finishing touches to the Galileo gelding’s preparation for Saturday’s Gr. 3 NZCIS Wellington Cup bid. White has been with Interpretation while stabled at Te Akau’s Matamata stable, which includes riding him in all his trackwork.
“He travelled across without any problems and when I weighed him the first day here he had lost 12 kilos but he put 10 of those back on pretty much straight away,” White told RaceForm at the Matamata track on Tuesday morning.
“He was back to his racing weight – all 470 kilos of him – within a couple of days, so he’s a happy horse and everything has gone to plan.”
White’s tongue-in-cheek comment about Interpretation’s prime fighting weight is an upfront admission that the seven-year-old is below average size. However, the experienced horsewoman is just as quick to defend her travelling buddy in stating that he’s up for the challenge this week, clear topweight of 59 kilos and all.
“He makes up for any lack of size with his overall strength and natural staying ability. He was an unlucky second over 2500 metres at Flemington on New Year’s Day and his sixth in the Melbourne Cup gives you some idea of his ability.”
That Melbourne Cup placing came in the second of his three attempts, having failed to finish the course in 2022 and finishing well back in last November’s race after taking up an unsuitable on-pace position.
Maher prepares Interpretation for well-known syndicator Ozzie Kheir, whose many high-profile horses over recent years include the mighty Kiwi-bred mare Verry Elleegant. He sourced Interpretation from the stable of champion Irish trainer after he had finished fourth in the 2021 English St Leger, having won his previous three starts in Ireland.
He has since won only once in 21 Australian starts, taking the 2400m Bendigo Cup in his lead-up to the Melbourne Cup sixth 14 months ago. However on top of his last-start second under 57kg in the Listed Bagot Handicap a fortnight ago, he filled the same placing in October’s Gr. 3 Geelong Cup.
“Ciaron figures that at his best the Wellington Cup would be a realistic target, and if he races up to expectations he’ll come back here to Matamata and be prepared for the Auckland Cup, with the Avondale Cup a fortnight before a likely lead-up,” White said.
“I haven’t had to do a lot with him since arriving over here, but he feels good – nice and bright and enjoying himself – so that’s a good way to be going into the weekend.”
Interpretation was originally going to be ridden in the Wellington Cup by Victorian jockey Ethan Brown, but with the postponement to Friday night of last weekend’s washed-out Gold Coast meeting, Brown is unable to make the trip and has been substituted by fellow Victorian Luke Currie.
Picture at the Top of the Page: Ciaron Maher-trained stayer Interpretation pictured at the Matamata track earlier this week with his travelling groom Nikki White. Photo: Supplied
