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The seven-year-old gelding has had eight generally well-spaced runs this preparation, including a narrow second in the Listed Chester Manifold Stakes (1600m) at Flemington on Oaks Day.<\/p>\n
Declan Bates, who rode him in The Big Dance at Randwick in October, will take the Cup ride.<\/p>\n
Murphy said it went without saying the stable, which also boasts premium training facilities at Cranbourne and Sydney, would love to tick off a hometown Ballarat Cup win.<\/p>\n
“I think Saint George is the right horse for it,” he said.<\/p>\n
“He gets in well at the weights and we’ve targeted this race.<\/p>\n
“He’s a horse on the way up.”<\/p>\n
High among the stable’s other best hopes on Ballarat Cup day is the progressive Sunshineinmypocket in a strong 1400m benchmark 84 handicap.<\/p>\n
Murphy said the stable would head into Cup day hoping to build on the momentum from a big spring carnival.<\/p>\n
“The Flemington four-days was good, being the leading trainer over the four days was great,” he said.<\/p>\n
“The Derby was obviously the pick of them.<\/p>\n
“There’s definitely buzz around Ballarat.<\/p>\n
“Being the hometown cup for our Ballarat stable, they’re excited, especially having a good chance of winning the Cup.”<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, missing from the Cup acceptances is Beltoro, who was ruled out of contention on Tuesday morning by his Ballarat trainer Rob Hickmott, after showing signs of illness.<\/p>\n
“He worked a bit ordinary this morning, so I’ll need to get his blood results back,” the dual Melbourne Cup-winning trainer said on Tuesday afternoon.<\/p>\n
Hickmott will be cheering on his younger brother, South Australian trainer Michael Hickmott, who is targeting the Cup with Promises Kept.<\/p>\n
The six-year-old, placed in this year’s Group 2 Hobart and Launceston Cups (both 2400m), was previously trained by Maher and will be third-up following a last-start sixth in the Listed John Letts Cup (1800m) at Morphettville on 4 November.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BEFORE May this year, two sentimental Cups were notably missing among Australia’s biggest and best in Ballarat trainer Ciaron Maher’s trophy cabinet. The 60-time Group 1-winning trainer was able to add one of the two when he won the 2025 Warrnambool Cup with Smokin’ Romans. He will be hoping to tick off the other \u2013 […]<\/p>\n