Maher’s Jimmysstar doubles Group 1 tally in All Aged
Having landed the Oakleigh Plate (Gr 1, 1100m) in February, the Ciaron Maher-trained Jimmysstar (5 g Per Incanto – Anniesstar by Zed) doubled his Group 1 tally when coming home strongly to win Saturday’s All Aged Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) at Randwick.
The five-year-old gelding had run third in the William Reid Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) and fourth in the TJ Smith Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) in two runs since his Oakleigh Plate triumph, and appreciated the step back up to 1400 metres on Saturday.
Ridden by Ethan Brown for the fourth start in a row, Jimmysstar needed racing room down the home straight but, once in the clear with 200 metres left to run, came home best of all to beat fellow fast finisher Joliestar (Zoustar) by 0.6 lengths.
There was a further 0.7 lengths back to the third-placed Sunshine In Paris (Invader), while $4 favourite Briasa (Smart Missile), who won the TJ Smith on his previous start, ran a further 0.1 lengths back in fourth.
“He is such a ripper,” Maher said. “This prep, he has come out this time with the Oakleigh Plate and his next two runs have been absolutely outstanding. He has run in four Group 1s and to claim two of them is pretty special.
“He’s a cool horse with a great ownership group and he’s got a pretty cool jockey as well. I’m just thrilled. This has been a real come-out preparation for Jimmy.
“Credit to Ozzie [Kheir, part-owner] and his team, with Matt Becker finding these horses. They’re very good at it.
“A couple of states, it doesn’t matter, he performs and I take a lot of pride in that.”
Maher revealed that the $20 million The Everest (Gr 1, 1200m) would be an obvious target in the spring for Jimmysstar.
“I was thinking about The Everest after the Oakleigh Plate,” Maher said. “The other day, he ran home a quicker time in the TJ Smith than he did in the Oakleigh Plate, and his Oakleigh Plate was blistering.
“He’s just a very good horse and I’m sure he’ll make his presence felt in The Everest.”