Ciaron Maher & Mark Zahra have combined with New Energy ($4.20) to secure victory in the Group 3 Eclipse Stakes (1800m) at Caufield on Saturday afternoon, dropping back in grade after a testing effort in the Group 1 Champions Mile (1600m) at Flemington on November 9.
It was a deserving reward for the consistent five-year-old gelding, relishing the Heavy 8 conditions at Caulfield as the son of New Bay stretched out to 1800m for the first time in his second Australian campaign.
Zahra timed his run to perfection in the end, weaving a passage in the final 400m as Sirileo Miss ($5.50) assumed her usual front-running role in the early stages.
Daniel Moor and Poison Chalice ($4.20) did the stalking after bounding forward from barrier three, while Uncle Bryn ($31.00) was ridden forward to hold a position at a big price with horse racing bookmakers.
Poison Chalice took over with a furlong left to travel and appeared to be finishing best; however, it was Zahra still getting clear aboard New Energy to make one final lunge, taking over in the final 50m to claim his first Australian victory.
Eclipse Stakes 2024 Race Replay – New Energy (1st)
Ciaron Maher spoke again after claiming back-to-back features at Caulfield and was delighted with the performance.
“He’s a horse that he promised a lot when he came over,” said Maher.
“We gelded him while he was in the UK, because he was fairly unruly, and it’s just taken him a while to settle into the routine and hit his straps.
“I was saying to Jamie (Lovett, Australian Bloodstock), he’s come up really well, it’s the most condition he’s carried but he can be a bit of a handful at trackwork.
“He’s been up in Sydney and the team have done a good job with him there. He’s come down here, he’s settled in and he’s a horse that had some really good form over the UK and it’s just taken him a while.
“I think this horse will go right on with it. He’s a pretty good horse and he’ll get a lot of confidence.”
Zahra was happy with the performance on the testing conditions as well.
“He handled the ground fine,” said Zahra.
“Ciaron said give him time to get there because he’s always finishing when it’s all over but I actually gave him no time to get there.
“I needed to put him in a spot to switch off, which I didn’t get the whole way, but I found the fence and I had to squeeze through a gap late but I didn’t mind his chase the last 20 when Poison Chalice kicked he had a chance to turn it up or win, and he won.”
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