As the architect of Australia’s largest racing stable, Ciaron Maher might not have the luxury of visiting a newsagent this week, with racing’s most significant week on the horizon.
However, he does possess an entry into a lottery, and the price of his ticket far exceeds that of a standard quickpick.
Maher is aiming for the pinnacle of success with the exciting colt, The Next Episode, in this Saturday’s $2 million Coolmore Stud Stakes at Flemington.
The 1200-metre event, while not the most prominent three-year-old race on the Derby Day card, is critically important from a breeding perspective. Should the son of Snitzel win, his value could soar into the tens of millions.
Maher secured The Next Episode for $2.8 million at last year’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale. He acknowledges the significant stress that comes with managing the career of such a valuable horse, but confesses this is precisely the kind of pressure he anticipated when bidding.
“It’s pressure that you want to have,” he said. “Every person that goes to a yearling sale, every person that breeds a colt, they’re your Tattslotto tickets. That’s what the industry is geared around. You want to have these horses and you want to be performing in this race. You want to win Tattslotto.”
Maher was given the assignment of finding a colt for prominent English owner Phil Cunningham at the Gold Coast in January of the preceding year and identified The Next Episode, who is out of the Denman mare Humma Humma.
He commanded the highest price ever paid for a colt at Magic Millions and stands as the second most expensive yearling in the auction house’s history, surpassed only by a filly by Home Affairs out of Sunlight, which sold for $3.2 million later in the same auction.
Cunningham, whose horses in the UK race under the Rebel Racing banner and are named after his favourite songs, kept a substantial portion of The Next Episode, with Maher tasked with selling the remainder.
Maher admits that the colt proved a bit harder to sell than he initially expected, but he noted that his desire to sell diminished as he increased The Next Episode’s workload.
“He started to show a little bit of ability and there was a piece there, so I thought I’d take the punt,” Maher said. “I’d be happy if I got left with more now.”
The Next Episode confirmed his status as the horse to beat in the Coolmore Stud Stakes with a victory in the Group 2 Danehill Stakes (1100m) at Flemington on October 3, his sole start as a three-year-old this campaign.
He finished down the track on debut in the $1 million Golden Gift at Rosehill just under 12 months ago but was then spelled. He had three other starts at two, including the $1 million Magic Millions National Classic (1000m) in May.
Once Maher realised that securing a Golden Slipper start for The Next Episode was not feasible, all subsequent efforts were channelled towards the Coolmore Stud Stakes.
“That’s been his goal,” he stated. “I raced him into the winter and took him to Queensland with a view to going fresh into this race. He had a look down the straight (in the Danehill) and he ticked that box, he’s had a month between (runs), which I love, and a little tick over trial here the other morning was lovely, just to give him another look down the straight. He should be pretty close to right at his best.”
The Next Episode is the current favourite in the Coolmore betting, ahead of St Gotthard, another expensive Snitzel colt acquired for $2.7 million at the Inglis Easter Yearling Sale and a brother to the 2024 Coolmore Stud Stakes winner, Switzerland. Fillies Satono Glow, Natural Fling, and Pembrey are next in the market.
Mark Zahra is set to ride The Next Episode, aiming for his third win in the race, following earlier successes with Merchant Navy in 2017 and Tentyris last year.
Betting markets are now open for the Coolmore Stud Stakes at Australian betting sites.