22 Apr 2023Ciaron Maher and David Eustace may have unearthed a potential G1 Caulfield Cup contender in the form of Almanzor’s French-bred son Convener.
The four-year-old won two of his seven starts in England before relocating to Australia and followed up a debut second at Sandown with a two-length victory over 2000 metres at Mornington.
“He’s won over this trip and he probably gets 12 furlongs, a light weight, who knows?” stable representative Jack Turnbull said.
“I’ll let the bosses work that out. Thankfully, he’s in our stable.”
Convener was sent out favourite and he assumed control at the top of the straight before putting his rivals to the sword under rider Blake Shinn.
“He was overdoing it for most of the race and most horses don’t finish off, but Blake persisted with him, he kept him back and chose the right time to make a move,” Turnbull said.
“To sustain a run like that is decent. It looks like he’s got a very bright future.
“He’s a big striding horse, obviously all about balance. We were more mindful of that, and we told Blake that and he pulled it off perfectly. There’s a lot of upside.”