CIARON Maher failed to have a winner at Caulfield but his stable saluted with Verona winning the $160,000 group three Frank Packer Plate at Randwick on Saturday.
Verona, with William Pike in the saddle, beat Maurice's Medad by more than a length to win the 2000 metre race. The three-year-old filly was having only her second start for Maher, who trains in partnership with David Eustace. Maher said there's plenty of improvement in the New Zealand bred filly.
"I'm confident Verona will improve a lot on the back of that winning run," he told The Standard.
"She had only five runs in New Zealand and showed plenty of ability in those runs. We were happy with her first-up run for us at Warwick Farm and she showed she had improved with that run under her belt with an impressive victory.
"She stepped up in distance and had a good run through the field. Verona goes in all types of going. We've done a fair bit of beach work with since she came over from New Zealand.
"We'll now look at going to Queensland with her - a race like the Queensland Oaks appeals but we'll take her home and see how she pulls up after that effort."
Pike said he was not surprised by Verona's win after riding her in her Australian debut at Warwick Farm.
"I thought she did enough late at Warwick Farm to suggest she would run good," Pike said. "We had a soft run today and she was just too strong over the concluding stages."
Meanwhile, Maher said he's looking forward to the Warrnambool Carnival which will be run on May 3, 4 and 5.
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