Ciaron Maher mares I Am Me and Bella Nipotina state their case in The Everest audition Concorde Stakes at Randwick

Speedy mare I Am Me maintained her excellent first-up record when she dug deep to hold off her fast-finishing stablemate Bella Nipotina in the Group 2 Concorde Stakes at Randwick.

I Am Me (centre) holds on to beat Bella Nipotina (right) and Way The The Stars (left) in the Group 2 Concorde Stakes at Randwick. Picture: Getty Images

Trainer Ciaron Maher’s brilliant mares I Am Me and Bella Nipotina made resounding Everest statements with their one-two finish at Royal Randwick on Saturday.

I Am Me held off her fast-finishing stablemate to win an exciting renewal of the Group 3 $1m Concorde Stakes (1000m).

The winner ran an exceptional time of 55.97sec while Bella Nipotina’s closing 600m sectional of 31.81sec was off the charts.

Bella Nipotina, the “Iron Lady” of Australian racing, surely gets a start in the $20m The TAB Everest (1200m) at Royal Randwick on October 19 but I Am Me is no certainty to line up in the world’s richest turf race.

Leading syndicator Dean Watt of Dynamic Syndications which races I Am Me revealed The Everest is not necessarily the main goal for his speedy mare.

“The Invitation for mares is probably the race we really want to target,” Watt said.

“But she will run in the Sydney Sprint Series so we will go to The Shorts and then the Premiere Stakes.

“Then we have the option of the Everest, the Winners (Russell Balding) Stakes or The Invitation.”

I Am Me ($4.80), ridden by Nash Rawiller, held off the fast finishing Bella Nipotina ($4.40 favourite) to win by a half-neck with early leader Way To The Stars ($61) was two lengths away third just in front of Private Eye and Giga Kick.

Rawiller praised I Am Me’s determination: “She was amazing, wasn’t she?” he said

“I was surprised, because I really dove through that gap, came off Way To The Stars back, and as soon as I produced her, I thought, I’m in trouble, because, you know, obviously, Bella Nipotina was coming.

“I thought she’d out-tough me, but I loved the character of my horse. She picked up and really just wasn’t going to lay down.”

Maher wasn’t on track but his Sydney stable representative Johann Gerard-Dubord said I Am Me has “come a long way, improved every preparation”.

“She’s been spending some time at Bong Bong, we have some very good tracks there, it’s very relaxed and it’s probably just what she needed.

“The team there have done a very good job with her and she loves these conditions, fast tracks.

“She’s got a very good record first up, the gate helped, it was a very good ride from Nash (Rawiller) and yeah great to get another win for Dynamic (Syndications).

“Obviously they have had a lot of fun with this horse and it’s been a plan to target the (Sydney) sprint series with her and this was the race we had in mind from the get-go and everything worked out well.”

What a finish!@nashhot and @cmaherracing combine to win the G3 Concorde Stakes with I Am Me, and it's a Maher quinella with Bella Nipotina in second place! pic.twitter.com/9S20wni02u

— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) September 7, 2024

Gerard-Dubord described Bella Nipotina’s first-up run as “just unbelievable”.

“She loves racing, probably not the best conditions for her today, we know she does like those tracks with a touch of give,” he said.

“The 1000m, obviously as short as she wants and the way the track’s been playing it was always going to be hard for her, but yeah, she just can’t run a bad race. I think she’s still improving and we’ll have a lot of fun with the.”

Craig Williams, the rider of Bella Nipotina, said his mare is going to be a force in any sprint race she contests this spring.

“It was not result I hoped but most importantly it was the way that she performed,” Williams said. “She came through the race really well she is in for a great preparation.”

The Matthew Smith-trained Way To The Stars led for a long way in a career-best effort.

“It was a massive step up for him but gee he is tough and all heart,” jockey Rachel King said.

Private Eye, a dual Everest placegetter, resumed with a strong finishing effort to claim fourth, pleasing trainer Joe Pride.

“I just watched the replay and first, second and third were on the fence,” Pride said.

“It is a big advantage to be on the fence today so maybe if he had drawn inside a bit he runs top three.

“He will go to The Shorts then straight into the Everest at this stage but I am not against running him in all the ($3 million Sydney Sprint Series) races so I will see how he pulls up.”

Giga Kick’s trainer Clayton Douglas was far from disappointed with his sprinter’s comeback effort.

“First-up with the big weight over 1000m he has run well but we have bigger fish to fry,” Douglas said.

“He began really well, actually I thought he might be a bit further back, then they ripped home the last bit, they are running incredible times.

“He will know he has had a race today. As long as he comes through the race well today, we will go to the Premiere Stakes.”

Originally published as Ciaron Maher mares I Am Me and Bella Nipotina state their case in The Everest audition Concorde Stakes at Randwick