AZKADELLIA 'PRETTY GOOD TO GO' FOR THE STRADBROKE

By Darren Winningham | Tuesday, June 7, 2016

HRO’s Darren Winningham caught up with Ciaron Maher at the ‘Breakfast with the Stars’ gallops at Eagle Farm this morning. He found the trainer very pleased with the progress of his Stradbroke favourite Azkadellia and quietly confident of the mares chance of victory in the big race on Saturday.

Ciaron Maher, who is chasing consecutive Stradbroke wins after Srikandi won the race last year, was buoyed by the track gallop of current Stradbroke favourite Azkadellia at Breakfast with the Stars this morning.

“It is amazing to think that we have had two horses in the stable that are very competitive in this race” Maher said. “You grow up watching these races and hoping that you have a horse good enough to compete in the Carnival let alone in the biggest race.“

After the gallop this morning Maher declared that the mare is in great order leading into the $1.5 million dollar race on Saturday. “She is a pretty straight forward horse and works pretty well. She just needed a good blow today.”

When asked about the run in the Doomben 10,000 two weeks ago Maher said “I think she just peaked on her 10,000 run. It was a solidly run high pressure race and I think it only just brought her on”.

Maher was happy to be back at Eagle Farm for the Group One Stradbroke this weekend.

“Eagle Farm is a big track and her racing pattern is to get back and have a really explosive turn of foot. At Doomben she had to use a bit of that up around the turn because it is not a long straight.”

Maher was also pleased with the mare’s overall progress since they have arrived in Brisbane and said that the Doomben 10,000 run topped her off nicely in preparation for the Stradbroke.

“Just having that run under her belt, a nice clean out and a nice gallop today, we should be pretty right to go Saturday” he said.

Azkadellia goes into the race with seasoned jockey Damien Oliver aboard.

Oliver previously won the race on River Lad.

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After watching Azkadellia work over 1200m this morning, with a slashing final 600 metres, Maher was asked for his views on both the new Eagle Farm track, where the Oaks meeting was abandoned last weekend due to the diabolical weather event that struck Brisbane ... and his Stradbroke opposition.

“Azkadellia trialled on the new track a few weeks ago and there was a little bit of movement there in a couple of spots, but I think the rain would have only helped it consolidate a little bit” Maher said.

“It galloped very similar today as to what it did the other day and that is positive going into the weekend.”

With regard to which horse might be hardest to beat, Maher responded, “It’s a quality field and I think they are all equally hard to beat. Azkadellia just generally needs luck in running. A lot of times she has just been unlucky and you can see she has run a lot of placing’s.”

Emphasising that point that Azkadellia’s pattern of running is, in itself, a threat to her success, Maher continued saying, “her biggest opposition is just getting a nice clean run through the field.

“With her racing style she gets back and she has to weave a path through the field or come wide – so she really just needs luck in running.”

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In other Stradbroke news Joao “The Magic Man” Moreira has been confirmed to ride the Chris Waller Counterattack fresh off riding a treble at Sha Tin on Sunday ... in the process breaking his own Hong Kong riding record ... now with 146 winners for the season.

This eclipses the 145 winners that he set last season.

Counterattack is currently the second favourite for the Stradbroke behind Azkadellia.

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