Declan Maher set to build on good Queensland start

By Glenn Davis

Sports fanatic Declan Maher hasn’t taken long to get off the mark in his new home state of Queensland and he is hopeful of scoring more runs at Doomben on Wednesday.

Maher has been based on the Gold Coast for only four months and wasted no time landing his first win with his fifth starter in his adopted state when War Drama won at the Sunshine Coast in late July.

The younger sibling of champion trainer Ciaron Maher, Declan was back in the winner’s stall when Perhaps Perhaps gave him his first city winner since shifting north at Doomben last month.

Maher decided to move north to relaunch his own training career after a long stint as stable foreman at his brother’s Ballarat stables in Victoria.

He was in charge of over 200 horses at Ballarat but didn’t have time to train himself despite holding his own trainer’s licence since the 2016-2017.

Maher is a lover of most sports including AFL, cricket and rugby league.

“I like all sports and I used to play Aussie Rules and I follow Geelong which is a bit disappointing after their Grand Final loss,” Maher said.

“I’m a Warrnambool boy and I went to school with Jonathan Brown who used to play for the Brisbane Lions.

“I love my cricket too and I’ve been to a couple of Boxing Day Test matches in Melbourne.”

Maher makes his next trip to the city hopeful French import Winning Side salutes in the Benchmark 68 Handicap over 2050 metres at Doomben on Wednesday.

Winning Side has only had two starts for Maher and is coming off a last start fifth in an 1800 metre Benchmark race at the Sunshine Coast on October 3.

“She was with Peter Moody when she landed in Australia and she was later passed in at the National Broodmare Sales at the Gold Coast when I got her,” Maher said.

“She’s a nice mare but I’m still trying to find the key to unlock her.

“She looked like she was going to win last time when she was box seating with 300 metres to go at the Sunshine Coast.

“She’s a typical French stayer who started off over 2400 metres at her first start and she’s got loads of good staying qualities.

“I had blinkers on her for her first start at Lismore but I took them off for her last run and she’ll go into this race with visors on so she should be competitive.”

Maher is happy with his progress since relocating to the Gold Coast.

“I started off with a handful of horses, but we’ve now got 13 so we’re building slowly,” he said.

“I was lucky enough to get my first city winner the other day with Perhaps Perhaps and hopefully this mare will go well also.”