Tatt’s Tiara 2016: Ciaron Maher gives Azkadellia green light for crack at final Group 1 of the season

BETTING: CIARON Maher has given Azkadellia the thumbs up to start in the final Group 1 race of the Brisbane Winter Carnival on Saturday.

Michael Manley

2 min read

June 21, 2016 - 5:54PM

Azkadellia will chase her second group 1 this season in the Tatt’s Tiara on Saturday. Picture: Annette Dew

CIARON Maher has given Azkadellia the thumbs up to start in the final Group 1 race of the Brisbane Winter Carnival on Saturday.

Maher said the mare worked sharply on Tuesday and was on track for Saturday’s 1400m Tatt’s Tiara at Eagle Farm.

“She worked with a stablemate on the course proper and her work she was really enthusiastic,” Maher said. “Her action was great and I was happy with the way she pulled up.”

He said Azkadellia strode over 1000m and ran 400m “in a tick under 22 seconds”.

Maher hasn’t pushed Azkadellia since her failure in the Stradbroke Handicap, in which she finished 10th. He believed she didn’t fire as she was in the wrong part of the track near the fence.

“We’ve kept her nice and fresh,” Maher said. “We took her to the beach a few times. She should hopefully bounce back to form.

“While it appears an easier race as she’s back against her own sex and it’s a step back in class, it’s a Group 1 and they’re never easy to win.”

Azkadellia is aiming for her second Group 1 win of the season, having taken the Queen Of The Turf at Randwick three starts ago.

Nick Hall will have his first ride on the $2.80 TAB fixed odds favourite.

Meanwhile, Maher’s brilliant three-year-old filly Petits Filous will miss the spring.

She had knee surgery to remove bone chips after failing in the Robert Sangster Stakes and is spelling at Warrnambool.

Petits Filous will miss the spring carnival in Melbourne.

But VRC Oaks winners Jameka and Set Square have returned to work. Maher said Jameka was in great order and was likely to resume in the Memsie Stakes and be aimed at the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups.

Set Square had benefited from missing the Autumn Carnival and he was thrilled with her condition. “I’ve done it in the past, skipping carnivals with mares, and I think it really benefits them,” he said. “It’s relentless for a horse going from carnival to carnival.”

Maher said Set Square ran some great races last spring, when she finished third in the Turnbull Stakes and fifth in the Mackinnon Stakes, but over-raced when she led in the Caulfield Cup. He said he would aim her at the Turnbull and then make a decision on the Caulfield Cup after that.

Top sprinter Srikandi, who won the Stradbroke and Tatt’s Tiara last year, will be back in work next month after missing the autumn with a leg injury.

“I’ll assess her as she goes along and also have the vet keep a good eye on her,” Maher said.

michael.manley@news.com.au

TATT’S TIARA

Eagle Farm, Saturday

$2.80 AZKADELLIA

$5 Danish Twist, Tsaritsa

$6.50 Precious Gem

$7.50 Cradle Me

$14 Artistry

$15 Jessy Belle, Scarlet Billows, Telepathic

$21+ Others