The Group 3 Naturalism Stakes (2000m) delivered the perfect result for Ciaron Maher, as his leading Caulfield Cup hopefuls, Zahrann and Saint George, successfully qualified by running the quinella.
Zahrann, sent off as the strong $3.20 favourite with Ethan Brown aboard, maintained a one-length lead over stablemate and second elect Saint George ($3.60). Asterix ($26) finished a further half-neck behind in third.
The Naturalism Stakes, which last year saw Half Yours claim victory before going on to win the Caulfield Cup and Melbourne Cup double, offers a ballot-free exemption into the Caulfield Cup. This was essential for Zahrann to gain entry, while Saint George needed to finish in the top three to bypass the ballot clause.
Despite the qualification necessity, both horses were already favoured for the Caulfield Cup. Zahrann is now the $6 favourite, with Saint George at $8, and Maher expressed optimism about their chances in the prestigious event.
“I think that qualifies them both today so fantastic,” Maher said.
“I think George is already in, he just needed to qualify so can’t thank Ozzie (Kheir) and the whole team enough. They’ve had to be patient with Saint George and Zahrann is just a very, very good horse.
“Ozzie was very upbeat when he was able to purchase him.
“I actually spent some time with Johnny Murtaugh, who was his former trainer when I was on holidays this year. He gave me a pretty good rundown of him.
“They’re always better their second preparation and he’s going to get into the cup on a beautiful weight.”
Zahrann is allocated 52.5kg for the Caulfield Cup, though a penalty for his Naturalism Stakes win may be applied. Saint George will carry 53.5kg, a weight that jockey Ethan Brown admitted would be a stretch, but he considers the horse an exciting prospect.
“He gets you excited, that’s for sure,” Brown stated.
“It’s what you get out of bed for in the morning. Ozzie (Kheir) rang me before he got here and said he had a good one and said I had to get on to Ciaron to have to ride it.
“He was primed today, he had a lovely run in transit. I had to trust the horse as I knew he had the turn of foot and he proved that today.”
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