Trainer Ciaron Maher and the connections of Another Wil are hoping to secure a confidence-boosting victory at Caulfield.

Instead of aiming for a richer prize in the Group 1 Memsie Stakes (1400m) on Saturday, Another Wil will compete in the Evergreen Turf Handicap over the same distance.

It has been just over 18 months since Another Wil last achieved success, taking out the Group 1 C F Orr Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield. This was one of his nine wins from 21 starts, and includes three victories from six attempts over the course and distance.

Maher mentioned that horses, much like most athletes, gain confidence from winning, and he is looking for that scenario on Saturday.

“They thrive off it,” Maher said. “That would be ideal and there’s a nice program that he can go back to at Group 1 level and hopefully he can do what we think he can do.”

There has been an expectation that Another Wil possesses Group 1 class, and a glimpse of this was seen during the Brisbane winter carnival.

After finding the 1200m too short in the Doomben 10,000 when resuming, Another Wil went on to run fourth in the Kingsford Smith Cup (1300m) before finishing last in the Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) at Eagle Farm in June.

The 2kg claim for the in-form apprentice Jabez Johnstone was also a significant factor in Maher’s decision to select Saturday’s race.

“His first two runs were good in Queensland, his third one was not as good on the wet track,” Maher stated. “He’s in very good order, has come up well and I just thought that 1400-metre benchmark 100, with a good record at the trip and at Caulfield and Jabez can claim off him as well. He’ll get in with 60 kilos, and he would be pretty well handicapped off that.”

Maher indicated that following Saturday’s outing, the intention is to return to a higher level, with plenty of options available for the gelding.

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