With Bella Nipotina confirmed as Ciaron Maher’s first runner in the $20 million Everest (1200m), his chances in the prestigious race could receive another boost if I Am Me performs well in The Shorts (1100m) at Randwick this Saturday.
The two mares have faced off three times, with I Am Me finishing ahead on each occasion, most recently edging out Bella Nipotina to take victory in the Group 3 Concorde Stakes (1000m) earlier this month.
“She has been a very good horse, she hasn’t won a Group 1, but she has been Group 1 placed multiple times,” said Maher’s Sydney foreman, Johann Gerard-Dubord.
“She won the Sydney Stakes last year, so we know she enjoys Randwick. She was probably a couple of lengths off the better ones [in the past], but she seems to have come back like she might have improved those couple of lengths and that could be enough.”
I Am Me has secured an ideal draw in barrier two, with James McDonald set to ride.
Gerard-Dubord’s only concern is the short turnaround between runs.
“That’s probably the only question mark, two weeks between runs after such a good first-up effort, but she’s not showing any signs she has gone backwards,” he added.
“She was very good first-up, she has drawn well on Saturday, she has found a dry track. She will be hard to beat again.”
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