European Group 1 winner Sammarco set for Australian debut with Ciaron Maher at Sandown

A Ciaron Maher import who was a multiple Group 1 winner in Germany will begin a winter campaign at Sandown on Saturday.

European stayer Sammarco, a multiple Group 1 winner in Germany, is set to become a Melbourne winter fixture with potential spring ambitions.

The 2022 German Derby winner, now trained by Ciaron Maher, banked more than $1m prizemoney through 18 starts in Europe, including solid stakes performances in France and Italy.

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Sammarco could in time follow in the hoofsteps of Maher stablemates past and present, including Berkshire Breeze, Floating Artist, Grand Promenade and Persan to parlay winter into spring.

“Ciaron has done it plenty of times with those types of horses going back three, four, five years,” assistant trainer Jack Turnbull said.

“He’s an interesting horse, (99 rating) is reasonable, it’s going to be interesting how that German form ties in.

“We’ve had some of our riders on him and Ethan (Brown) had a sit on him recently and said he gave him a feel, that’s what you want to hear.

“He’s definitely one of those staying horses that could do anything, especially this time of year … you know he’s got the stamina, he’s just got to get the first half right.”

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The opposition could be too slick on Saturday for Sammarco in the 1800m Benchmark 100 but the six-year-old is expected to be “doing his best work late”.

“He’ll want the run naturally (first-up) but it’s just the right race to kick him off in,” Turnbull said.

“Our plan is to pick through winter, he’ll probably go through the Banjo Paterson Series and then all being well you’re at the doorstep of spring (race) fit.

“He will be regulation four to five weeks every run, emulating that European style … he’s not young, he’s seasoned and we can’t reinvent the wheel running every two weeks.”

Sammarco, winning the 2022 German Derby, will make his debut for trainer Ciaron Maher at Sandown on Saturday. Picture: Marcus Brandt/picture alliance via Getty Images

Sammarco arrived in Australia last year but needed the time to settle into conditions.

“We moved him from Ballarat from Cranbourne, had him barefoot for a long time,” Turnbull said.

“He’s going quite well, last time (initial preparation) we thought he was going OK but once we got to the stage of racing him we thought we better just put him away.”

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Sammarco is $17 on Saturday.

Turnbull will also saddle Sayedaty Sadaty, an $8.50 chance, for Maher in the race.

Sayedaty Sadaty was gelded after racing too fiercely in the Caulfield Cup last year, finished third last.

He resumed in a 1600m at Flemington in March but “knocked a joint” in the run and dropped out.

“We think he will get to being like a Future History, Duke De Sessa-style of horse, he will be rolling forward when he’s fit between 10 and 12 furlongs (2000m-2200m), a very nice horse,” Turnbull said.

“Again 1800m is bottom of his trip but this horse does have a bit of speed, where he lands is going to be interesting (from barrier one) because I don’t think we want to drag him out of the race.”

Originally published as European Group 1 winner Sammarco set for Australian debut with Ciaron Maher at Sandown