Introducing Ciaron Maher

HE looks like he’d be more at home paddling out into a break rather than overseeing trackwork at 4am, yet Ciaron Maher heads the racing operation that’s stepped in to fill the space left by Darren Weir’s four-year ban.

Taking over Forest Lodge a week ago, Mr Maher has been tagged by some pundits as the next big thing in racing.

It’s a prediction he rejects.

“I don’t buy into that at all,” he said. “We just do the best we can.”

While Mr Maher’s chilled and laconic style kind of feeds into the surfer vibe, it’s really a quality that experts say works well with horses.

If he says cool, they stay cool.

It’s an approach that’s yielded results. To date Mr Maher has trained 641 winners, 10 of them group ones, and netted just over $34 million in prize money.

That success has led to property and training facility acquisitions across the country including stables in Caulfield, a beach training site in Balnarring, a pre-training farm in Pakenham and recently opened stables in Warwick Farm, Sydney.

With all onsite stables at Caulfield Racecourse set to close within five years, Mr Maher said that Forest Lodge was a great addition to his operation.

“I’ve been looking to buy a place and set up a farm,” he said.

“This adds another string to our bow. It’s a different option. Fillies and mares usually like this country environment, as do the older horses. It’s very tranquil.”

By taking on Forest Lodge, Mr Maher has saved jobs. Both at the site and further down the supply chain.

It’s something that he’s said was “a good feeling.”

“For the staff in the stables, even in the office and outside, it makes the transition very smooth.

“It’s great for everyone that is involved. It’s good for us and an easy change over.

“I’m sure there’s little things that I’ll do differently to Darren and he’d do differently to me but everything else is pretty straight forward.”

Ciaron Maher Racing isn’t a one-man-band. In mid-2018 Mr Maher teamed up with David Eustace and he has been repositioning the structure of his operation.

“A lot of small business are normally lacking because it’s so hands on and you don’t have the turnover and all that,” Mr Maher said.

“We restructured pretty heavily about 12 months ago and that put us in good stead for when an opportunity like this came up.”

While much of the talk in the leadup to Ciaron Maher Racing taking over Forest Lodge was about horses leaving the stables for other trainers, that exodus has slowed.

“We haven’t worked out numbers yet but a lot of the owners I already train for and they have crossed over and there’s some new owners in there as well,” Mr Maher said.

“It’s great. It’s great for the staff here, to give them a bit of clarity and confidence and it’s a great opportunity for us and the stable.”