Ciaron Maher stayer Gilded Water produces stunning win at Australian debut for owner King Charles III

A horse owned by King Charles III who was well beaten at Royal Ascot made a successful debut for trainer Ciaron Maher at Kembla Grange.

Gilded Water storms past Alalcance to win at Kembla Grange on Saturday. Picture: Jeremy Ng/Getty Images

Gilded Water, the aristocratic former English galloper owned by King Charles III, was successful on debut in Australia at the Kembla Grange stand-alone meeting on Saturday.

Trainer Ciaron Maher chose a lowly Benchmark 78 race over 2000m for Gilded Water but the lightly-raced four-year-old’s impressive win showed he is a stayer of obvious potential and destined for better races.

Top jockey Jason Collett had the honour of wearing the King’s world-renowned racing colours of purple, gold braid, scarlet sleeves, black velvet cap and gold fringe to a famous win.

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“This is the first time I’ve ridden in these colours so it is pretty special to win this race,’’ Collett said.

“Gilded Water is still lightly-raced and he tends to climb a bit in action so I just tried to keep him balanced.

“I thought we had the whole straight to get there and this horse can stay. He was always going to run the 2000m right out.’’

Gilded Water ($3.30 favourite) wore down another import, Alalcance ($4) to win by a half-length with Morryl Moral ($41) nearly two lengths away third.

This was His Majesty’s second win in Australia after Chalk Stream won the Australia Day Cup at Warwick Farm last year.

Maher was in Perth for the Railway Stakes on Saturday but recently revealed he had a conversation with King Charles during his recent royal visit and provided an update on Gilded Water.

It's a ROYAL win! 👑

Gilded Water storms home and wins the fifth on the line for @cmaherracing! pic.twitter.com/sBdcuTOz9M

— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) November 23, 2024

Gilded Water, a three-year-old by northern hemisphere time and bred by the late Queen Elizabeth II, raced only four times in England when trained by the maestro William Haggas, scoring a maiden win at Chepstow.

He hasn’t raced since finishing unplaced in the King George V Stakes at Royal Ascot in June.

“I used to train Gilded Water and he’s a really good horse,’’ Haggas said recently.

“He’s only had four starts, he’s by Fastnet Rock, and he’s been sent to Australia by the King but he is going to be a very good stayer.’’

Interestingly, Gilded Water is bred on the same cross as super mare and six-time Group 1 winner Via Sistina – by Fastnet Rock out of a Galileo mare.

Gilded Water’s dam, Fiery Sunset, has also produced the Maher-trained Circle Of Fire, winner of the Group 1 Sydney Cup earlier this year.

Maher’s stable representative Johann Gerard-Dubord said Gilded Water is “very talented” and should represent the King well down under.

“We are very thankful to be racing this horse for His Majesty,’’ Gerard-Dubord said.

“Ciaron talked to the King a few weeks back. His Majesty loves his racing, he is very interested in the sport.’’

King Charles III and Queen Camilla watch Gilded Water finish 12th at Royal Ascot in June. Picture: Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images

Gerard-Dubord conceded Gilded Water is still inclined to do things wrong in races.

“He was climbing a bit in his actions, he doesn’t know how to flatten out yet but that will come with experience,’’ Gerard-Dubord said.

“We saw today it took him a while to get there but he will stay all day. He’s a half brother to Circle Of Fire and is a talented stayer.

“I think Ciaron will space his runs over summer but we plan to keep him going to improve his racing manners.’’

Gilded Water’s only win in England came by nearly eight lengths on a soft track and the Maher stable had some reservations about how the gelding would handle the very firm Kembla surface.

“We were concerned about the fast track but he handled it well,’’ Gerard-Dubord said.

“He has shown us a bit at home, his work has been very good and so was his trial.

“I think he will be a very good horse in the autumn as he has good form on soft tracks in England.’’

Parker leads home Kembla brigade

Justela smashed the track record and gave the locals reason to celebrate at the Kembla Grange stand-alone meeting on Saturday.

The Kerry Parker-trained Justela enjoyed the frenetic early tempo and powered past her rivals to win the Midway Handicap (1400m).

Kembla Grange trainers stacked the field with 11 runners and duly provided six of the top seven finishers led home by Justela with only runner-up Miss Hades (trained by Gary Portelli at Warwick Farm) preventing a complete home track domination.

“This was a target race for Justela,’’ Parker said.

“We wanted to try and win a race on her home track on the big day so that is super.

“I think there was 11 of us in the field so it is good the race has gone to the locals.’’

"She looked to do that quite comfortably"@kjparkerracing and Jay Ford are ecstatic with Justela's win at Kembla Grange AND the mare set a new track record! pic.twitter.com/s1gehpkBrJ

— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) November 23, 2024

Justela ($20) was well ridden by Jay Ford and sprinted clear to win by nearly two lengths from a game Miss Hades ($6) with early leader Direct Fire ($8.50) three-quarters of a length away third.

Favourite Monte Supreme ($5) was never in the race and finished a well beaten 11th.

Ford said he made a little use of Justela earlier to negate the mare’s awkward barrier.

“She drew a little wide today so we ‘chanced’ our arm a bit,’’ Ford said.

“But she enjoyed the nice tempo which enabled us to park in a nice position. O loved the way from the 400m to the 200m she put the race to the sword.’’

To add further merit to Justela’s win, she ran the 1400m in course record time of 1min 21.41sec.

“She has broken the track record and looked to do that quite comfortably,’’ Parker said.

“I thought going into the race she had made the necessary improvement from her first-up to be competitive in this race.

“Hay gave her a great ride, she got a lovely run in transit and worked home off the speed. It’s nice to see that little mare put it together.’’

Originally published as Ciaron Maher stayer Gilded Water produces stunning win at Australian debut for owner King Charles III