The 2020 Spring Carnival will be a different one for David Eustace with his co-trainer Ciaron Maher basing himself in Sydney for the foreseeable future to help with the handover from Annabel Neasham to their new Assistant Trainer Jack Bruce.
It wouldn’t be the first time Eustace has had to be the sole man on the ground in Victoria, but it would certainly be the longest since the 29-year-old joined the ticket at the start of the 2018/19 season.
The Victorian arm of the Maher and Eustace operation is large to say the least with stables at Caulfield and Ballarat plus a base at Balnarring and a pre-training farm in Pakenham, and Eustace said it’s all down to the team he has around him.
“Luckily we’ve got a great team who are very experienced, very young and very enthusiastic in all locations which Ciaron has put in place,” Eustace told TDN AusNZ.
“Luckily we’ve got a great team who are very experienced, very young and very enthusiastic in all locations." - David Eustace
“Obviously there’s a little bit of added pressure there and I think some frustration from Ciaron as well that he’s not able to be physically in both places like he was able to do prior to COVID-19.
“It puts a bit more added pressure on everyone because there’s a bit more to do for everyone who are all in charge of each location. We’ve got Declan (Maher) at Ballarat, Lucy (Yeomans) and Gilly (Ian Gilchrist) at Caulfield, Meg (Marr) at Cavallino and the team with horses at Balnarring as well.”
Eustace said it’s all about communication and that the team across the country are frequently in contact with each other to keep tabs on where all of the horses are at.
“With the world that we live in we are able to have phone calls very regularly, we schedule meetings on a Monday where we go through every horse. Ciaron and I will run through every horse again later in the week as well.
“So it’s been obviously difficult at times but everyone is working very well and luckily the results are coming.”
David Eustace and Ciaron Maher
As for his own day to day runnings, Eustace said there’s a bit more travel involved but he has a general schedule for where he has to be on each day of the week.
“I’m probably doing what Ciaron was doing prior,” he said. “As a rule I’d be at Ballarat on a Monday, Caulfield on a Tuesday, Ballarat Wednesday and Thursday and then pre-trainers at Pakenham and Balnarring on a Friday. Saturday varies a bit depending on what’s going on in the morning and then of course the races so there is a general structure to the week.
“You tend to be a bit more flexible with Ciaron being away but there’s obviously a bit of driving and a bit of moving around.”
Terrific form
The stable has kicked off the new season in terrific form with 51 winners from 206 runners in Victoria and Eustace said Maher ensured everything was set before he departed for Sydney.
“He very much put everything in place before he went,” Eustace said. “The horses were flying before he went up there and we kicked off the season very well.
“I think it’s reassuring for the whole team that if everyone does their role, plays their part and pulls in the same direction then the horses stay healthy, which is the most important thing.
“I think it’s reassuring for the whole team that if everyone does their role, plays their part and pulls in the same direction then the horses stay healthy, which is the most important thing." - David Eustace
“If they stay healthy, then we’ve got the right systems in place and the right varied facilities to get the best out of every horse and I think that is the key.
“You can’t be everywhere, even when Ciaron is here, he can’t be everywhere either. But each horse is in the right spot to get the best out of it and I really do think that’s where the business has developed and that was what Ciaron really wanted to do when strengthening.
“Size in numbers is not just putting them all in the same place but having them in the right place.”
One challenge Eustace has faced is getting to know the horses that have come down from Sydney.
The likes of Anders (Not A Single Doubt), Holyfield (I Am Invincible) and Prague (Redoute’s Choice) are in for career-defining campaigns this spring but have spent the majority of their lives so far at the Warwick Farm stable, leaving Eustace relatively unfamiliar with them.
Prague has arrived in Melbourne for the spring
However, he said that he and Maher have worked together for long enough that they can understand most things about a horse just by describing them.
“That is probably one of the most difficult aspects of it, getting to know the horse as quickly as you can,” Eustace said. “What really helps is when Ciaron describes a horse, I know exactly what he means.
“We’ve worked closely together for four years now so when he says a horse is how it is, it’s exactly how I envisage it. If he says that the horse needs this or it needs that, then he’s spot on, whether it’s fitness or a rider and so on."
On Sunday, boom 3-year-old Anders was ruled out of Friday’s G1 Moir S. after posting a higher than normal temperature and Eustace said that while he wasn’t as familiar with the horse as his training partner, their strong communication skills saw them able to navigate through the situation.
Anders was ruled out of the G1 Moir S. due to a temperature
“Anders is a case in point really,” he said. “With him getting a temperature over the weekend and not being his usual self, that posed a problem but Ciaron knew the horse so well that by me saying he doesn’t seem to be bouncing around, Ciaron knew that wasn’t him.
“So again, that’s communication and working closely together for what is now quite a long time.”
Eustace said that while Anders’ temperature spike derailed his tilt at the Moir, he is now back to his usual self and can carry on with the rest of the spring as normal.
“His temp is back to normal,” he said. “It was a 48-hour bug which couldn’t have come at a worse time and it was very frustrating for all the owners but there are some great targets for him.
“It was a 48-hour bug which couldn’t have come at a worse time and it was very frustrating for all the owners but there are some great targets for him." - David Eustace
“The Coolmore ultimately will be the aim and is the race for 3-year-old colts so we’re looking forward to that. Obviously we had Merchant Navy so we think we know how to get a horse right for that race and I’m sure the team will be able to do that.”
Iron filly
Despite Anders not featuring in Friday’s Group 1 sprint feature at Moonee Valley, Eustace will still saddle a talented 3-year-old for the race in R. Listed Magic Millions 2YO Classic winner Away Game (Snitzel).
Labelled the 'Iron Filly’ during her fruitful juvenile campaign, Eustace believes that the withdrawal of Anders from the Moir could benefit the chances of his stablemate.
Away Game kicks off her campaign in the G1 Moir S.
“I think she is close to being back to her best,” Eustace said of Away Game. “Her work on Monday was really sharp and she looks great. She’s come through that piece of work really well and she was bouncing around yesterday afternoon.
“She’ll be right down in the weights and I think the pressure of the race will be about right for her. It won’t be really frenetic, I think she will be able to travel, which is the key, being able to travel early in the race.
“I think if it had Anders and Bella Vella in it, it would’ve been a little bit too high pressure for her but with a bit of pace coming out of it now, if she’s able to travel, it’s the right weight scale to be kicking her off in and it’s good timing into the Manikato which has been the plan if she’s going well enough.”
Away Game had eight starts as a 2-year-old for four wins and one placing when she was second in the G1 Golden Slipper S. The filly won three stakes races and featured in the G1 Sangster S. against the older horses.
Away Game after winning the R. Listed Magic Millions 2YO Classic
Eight runs at stakes level and travelling all across the country is tough for any horse, let alone a 2-year-old, but Eustace believes that the only adverse effect it has had on her is delaying her kick-off point for the spring.
“It had an effect on her in that we had to give her a longer break and that’s why she’s having her first start now whereas most spring horses have already had a run or two,” he said.
“That’s why she is kicking off now because we had to give her that good break she deserved.
“She was a little bit slow to get into gear and a little bit slow to come into her coat, but she really does look great now. I would say she is only a run and 10 days off her coat looking absolutely spot on so we hope she’s going to be bang on for the Manikato.”
3-year-old talent
There is far from a shortage of talented 3-year-olds within the Maher and Eustace camp but they seem to have unearthed another one in Amish Boy (Star Witness), who finished second in the G2 Danehill S. at his first run for the spring.
This weekend Amish Boy will contest the G2 Caulfield Guineas Prelude and Eustace believes he is spot on to give the race a shake.
“That was a really, really good run in the Danehill obviously,” he said. “It wasn’t a huge surprise that he was up to that level but he’s really trained on well.
“He looks great, he’s tightened up nicely and he’s bouncing at home so I think he’ll run a big race on Saturday over 1400 metres. I think it could possibly be his ideal distance.
“We’ll see on Saturday whether he finds the line well and is looking for the mile in the Guineas but I suspect he will go there, but I think he’ll give them a shake on Saturday.”
Talented colt Prague is also set to contest Saturday’s Guineas Prelude and while he finished fourth behind Amish Boy in the Danehill, Eustace said he can only have benefitted from that run.
"Prague is a horse that’s very, very talented,” he said. “He’s still furnishing as a horse and is really still learning how to race. His run in the Danehill I think summed him up well.
“He was a bit slow into gear and then Johnny (Allen) gave him a squeeze to get into the bridle and then he almost got there a bit too soon and got a little bit tired and that probably sums him up.
“He needed that run for experience and fitness and for his coat to come through. His coat has come through and he looks great, he now needs to learn to put it away and I think if he can do that, there’s a big win in him this spring.”
