Racing Confidential: Ciaron Maher to train Gilded Water for King Charles III

Gilded Water, owned by His Majesty King Charles III, will be among nine international horses including four Golden Eagle runners due to arrive in Sydney next Tuesday.

Britain's King Charles III and Queen Camilla watch on during Gilded Water’s unsuccessful attempt to win The King George V Stakes at Royal Ascot in June. Picture: AFP

Gilded Water, owned by His Majesty King Charles III, will be among nine international horses including four Golden Eagle runners due to arrive in Sydney next Tuesday.

Ciaron Maher will be the new trainer of Gilded Water, a son of Fastnet Rock, who has won once in four starts in England.

The gelding, who was unplaced behind Going The Distance in the King George V Stakes at Royal Ascot in June, is not expected to race this spring.

Great ride! Going The Distance flies home to win the King George V Stakes at Royal @Ascot under @Rossaryan15! pic.twitter.com/lAirKl5QYY

— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) June 20, 2024

• Rosehill Turf Talk: ‘If I owned him, he’d be in the Melbourne Cup’

Joining Gilded Water on the plane out of England will be unbeaten French Group 1 winner Lazzat and the William Haggas-trained Lake Forest who are both being aimed at the $10 million Golden Eagle (1500m) at Rosehill Gardens on November 2.

There is stopover in Hong Kong where Japan’s talented duo, Ascoli Piceno and Corazon Beat, will be loaded on the Sydney-bound flight.

Ascoli Piceno is the $3.50 TAB Fixed Odds favourite for the Golden Eagle ahead of Lazzat at $6. Corazon Beat is at $15 and Lake Forest rated a $26 chance.

The other internationals are Relentless Voyager and Saganti, who are both likely to be aimed at the Rosehill Gold Cup, along with Rose Bloom and Shadizi.

King Charles is due to arrive in Sydney on October 18 ahead of a five-day tour that includes a trip to Samoa to open the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting.

The King’s official itinerary has no events planned for the following day when the Group 1 $20 million The Everest (1200m) and the Group 1 $5 million King Charles III Stakes (1600m) are at Royal Randwick.

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‘This is too big … benefits will be dramatic’: Rigg

Eddie Rigg, one of Western Australia’s leading owner-breeders, made some forthright comments on racing’s funding model during an interesting interview on Caroline Searcy’s popular Bred To Win program on Sky Thoroughbred Central earlier this week.

Rigg is a major investor in the industry as the owner of Geisel Park Stud where he stands leading stallions Winning Rupert, Aysar, Manhattan Rain and All American, and he has some forthright views on racing’s funding model.

“The top level of racing has to be strong,’’ he said.

“Anyone who says we should take prizemoney off the top level racing to give money to the lower level, I can guarantee everyone will get less, that’s how it works The top end of racing has to be supported.’’

Rigg also suggested that the Australian racing industry should follow the wagering funding model introduced by Racing NSW.

“I have no doubt in my mind the way NSW has handled wagering to collect the biggest cents in the dollar from wagering is absolutely the gold plate way we should be doing it across Australia,’’ he said.

“There will be people who get their noses out of joint with the NSW versus Victoria, that sort of concept, get over yourself, right. This is just too big … the benefits will be dramatic.’’

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Vale John Nicholson, John Patterson

VALE 'PATTO'

John ‘Patto' Patterson, who personally led in at least 44 Melbourne Cup winners and worked as clerk of course for 50 years at Flemington, died on Wednesday aged 86. 👇https://t.co/xAFri2t5ki

— Racenet (@RacenetTweets) October 9, 2024

The racing industry has lost two wonderful servants this week with the passing of John Nicholson and John Patterson.

Nicholson, the former Sydney Turf Club general manager of racing and wagering, passed away on Monday following a long illness.

Racing NSW chief executive Peter V’landys echoed the thoughts of so many in the racing industry when he described Nicholson as “widely respected and admired right across the racing industry.”

“John had a larrikin nature and was brilliant at his job, and for decades put his heart and soul into the betterment of Sydney racing,’’ V’landys said.

“Upon retirement in 2017 we were lucky to have secured John as a highly valued member of our Appeal Panel. We pass on our sincere condolences to John’s wife Julie, his family and many friends.”

Michael Kenny was the STC chief executive before the club merged with the then-Australian Jockey Club and he described Nicholson as “the best racing manager I’ve ever seen.’’

Then, the Victoria Racing Club announced the passing of Flemington’s legendary Clerk of the Course, John “Patto” Patterson on Thursday.

Patterson is part of Melbourne Cup history leading in 44 winners of the race that stops a nation.

VRC chairman Neil Wilson said Patterson was a “stalwart of the Flemington community and someone who will be dearly missed”.

“The role of the Clerk of the Course is as important as any on a racetrack and John’s image is entrenched in the history books alongside the 44 Cup winners he accompanied back to scale, with his ability to keep horse and raider calm and safe always on display,’’ Wilson said.

A permanent tribute to Patterson was established at Flemington last year with renaming of the horse walk to “Patterson Avenue”.

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Japanese legend remembered

Delta Blues (ridden by Yasunari Iwata, red cap, pompom) holds off Pop Rock (Damien Oliver) to win the 2006 Melbourne Cup.

Delta Blues, the first Japanese horse to win the Melbourne Cup and one of the 44 Cup winners Patterson led back to scale, also passed away this week.

Trained by Katsuhiko Sumii and ridden by Yasunari Iwata, Delta Blue defeated another Japanese stayer, Pop Rock, to win the 2006 Melbourne Cup.

Delta Blues, who was 24, spent his retirement at Old Friends Japan, a retraining and retirement facility.

No Japanese horse has won the Melbourne Cup since but Warp Speed will attempt to emulate Delta Blue on the first Tuesday in November.

Originally published as Racing Confidential: Ciaron Maher to train Gilded Water for King Charles III