Horse of the year now with All Stars stable
REIGNING Otago horse of the year Eamon Maguire has found himself in a good, but unlikely, spot.
The star southern 4yrold has been transferred to leading trainers Mark Purdon and Natalie Rasmussen’s stable by his former trainer and partowner, Graeme Anderson.
Although the powerful All Stars stable is rarely short of horsepower, the arrival of Eamon Maguire gives their 4yrold stocks a significant boost.
They are going into the country’s biggest 4yrold races without stars Vincent, Ultimate Machete and Thefixer, who have all succumbed to injury.
Eamon Maguire and More The Better are Purdon and Rasmussen’s only two nominations for Friday night’s group 1 Taylor Mile at Alexandra Park.
The transfer of Eamon Maguire means the 4yrold will follow a similar path to that of Titan Banner, who Anderson, Purdon and Rasmussen successfully joined forces with previously.
It also means Anderson can continue to focus on producing his strong run of recent results from his Westwood Beach stable.
Eamon Maguire returned to racing after a sixweek spell with a deadheat victory with Alta Orlando at Addington earlier this month. The victory endorsed Anderson’s decision to reset the horse’s season after he did not race up to his high standards earlier.
‘‘He had a wonderful six weeks out with good weather, good grass, good feed and he came back looking magnificent,’’ he said.
Eamon Maguire should line up an improved horse on Friday night as his freshup win at Addington came without the fitness benefit of a trial or workout.
‘‘He will have to improve to be competitive, but he has got that great gate speed which will help,’’ Anderson said.
‘‘I don’t overwork him. We tried to get one of those wins without screwing him right down.
‘‘He can race for $300,000 in the next few weeks, so he is on his way to have a crack and he is with the right people.’’
The $100,000 Taylor Mile looks to be a rare group 1 race that is not totally dominated by the PurdonRasmussen stable.
Although they have two strong candidates, the stable’s chances took a slight hit with More The Better’s secondline draw (10) and Eamon Maguire’s draw of 8 on the outside of the front row.
Steven Reid’s speed machine Star Galleria drew perfectly in barrier 4, with Easter Cup winner A G’s White Socks (1) and leading Aussie 4yrold Let It Ride (2) inside him.