Smokin’ Romans delivered Ciaron Maher his long-awaited first flat feature win at the Warrnambool Carnival, taking out the Listed Warrnambool Cup with a bold front-running performance.
Maher had previously notched 16 feature victories at the Carnival, all over jumps and including wins in the Grand Annual Steeplechase, Brierly Steeplechase and Galleywood Hurdle. However, a major win on the flat had eluded him until now.
Only the Wangoom Handicap (1200m) remains to complete his Warrnambool feature collection, after Smokin’ Romans ($9) held off Torranzino ($12) in Thursday’s Cup.
Maher, who hails from the Warrnambool region, had three horses in the race including Group 1 winner Smokin’ Romans, third-placed Ziryab, and Strawberry Rock who finished fifth.
“I thought we had a pretty good chance here today. I’m absolutely rapt,” Maher told racing.com.
“He’s been such a great horse. To win a Group 1 and then carry a topweight like that.
“What a fantastic ride from Ben. He understands this horse really well.”
For jockey Ben Melham, it was his second Warrnambool Cup success, having previously won the race in 2010 aboard Hissing Sid.
Melham capitalised on Smokin’ Romans’ inside gate and opted to stick to the rail throughout.
“The track has had a lot of traffic, and I thought I would stay hard on the rail,” Melham said.
“I wanted to lead on him because of the big weight, and I didn’t want to be stop-starting on him.
“He had to do a bit of work going out of the straight and it was only the weight (59kg) late that brought him back over the line.
“He is a Group 1 winner, who has a bit of class, but he can mix his form a little bit, but he does seem to go well for me.”
The duo had previously teamed up to win the Group 3 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2600m) during the Melbourne Cup Carnival, and later ran second in the Group 2 Sandown Classic (2400m) at Caulfield.