It’s a long way from Winslow to the Gold Coast and a long way from being a kindergarten teacher to part-owning a leading chance in the Magic Millions 2YO Classic.
Eileen Maher, part-owner of Magic Millions 2YO Classic contender Dubious (Not A Single Doubt) and mother of one of Australia's best young trainers in Ciaron Maher, stole the show at this week's barrier draw for the $2m race.
Amid the glitz and glamour of the Glitter Strip, with horses parading down the beach alongside polo stars and celebrities, the diminutive wife of a dairy farmer became the star.
Showing a penchant for the theatre of the moment, she took an age to select the barrier, coming up with a perfect No.7 for a horse she owns with several other women. Media swarmed around her, and Channel 7 host Hamish McLachlan scooped her up in his arms.
Twelve months ago, her son parted with $300,000 for a Not a Single Doubt colt from Kitchwin Hills' draft, combining with Aquis Farms.
When the ownership of the horse was being worked out, it was decided the colt would be raced in all-female interests in order to target the Magic Millions Women's Bonus. Loretta Fung, the wife of Aquis supremo Tony Fung, had already enjoyed fabulous success last year when Sunlight (Zoustar) won the 2YO Classic, and so there was no question where Aquis's share in the colt would go.
Maher, meanwhile, had a surprise in store for his Mum. While she had been a major influence on his career, she had never raced a horse with her son, but that was about to change.
"He'd put my husband in a few horses, but never me, I was absolutely delighted." - Eileen Maher
"It was terribly exciting," Eileen told TDN AusNZ. "I was gobsmacked, I suppose, I was completely blown away, I didn’t know what to say, it was completely out of the blue."
"It was strange, I suppose. He'd put my husband in a few horses, but never me, I was absolutely delighted."
Ciaron's biggest fan
While she hasn’t featured in the racebook until now, Eileen has been one of Ciaron's greatest supporters and she is immensely proud of what he has achieved.
"You never, ever, ever think as a Mum, that your children will become anything that can possibly bring you so much pleasure. So I'm forever grateful that Ciaron became a trainer, because it’s the most exciting sport in all the world to be involved in," she said.
"I'm forever grateful that Ciaron became a trainer, because it’s the most exciting sport in all the world to be involved in." - Eileen Maher
It was a twist of fate that led Maher and his family to life as a trainer. Like any family of four boys growing up on a dairy farm, competition ruled the day, and Eileen saw that instil a spirit in Ciaron that drives him to this day.
"Four boys growing up on the dairy farm, they were very competitive. It didn’t matter which sport that they turned to. You had to win, there was no such thing as coming second. It didn't matter if it meant you might die in the effort, as long as you win," she said.
The life and death nature of their contribution to a more serious turn, and it was that moment which proved decisive for the future of the Maher family.
"The four of them had motorbikes. They were all very skilled at that. Eamon, my second son, had a terrible accident, where he was unconscious for a fortnight. John sold all the motorbikes much to their disgust," she said.
"Then Ciaron said one day out of the blue, I want to learn to ride a horse. I said, rightio, I'll ring Shayne Fisher. He was a trainer who drove past our farm every day, so I rang him. The rest is history, He broke in horses and so he put Ciaron on all the horses and before long, they were off to the different races."
Best of the crop
Ciaron Maher is the best of a generation of quality horseman that has emerged from the western district of Victoria over the past 15 years. While Maher was cutting his teeth on the family dairy farm at Winslow, a few kms away at Yangery, Jarrod McLean was learning the ropes, while the likes of Matthew Williams, Symon Wilde and Aaron Purcell were also making an impression.
Maher enjoyed an extraordinary success early in his career when Tears I Cry (Lacryma Cristi {Ire}) caused one of the biggest upsets in Australian Group 1 history to win the 2007 Emirates S.
But while that success, made all the more memorable by the wild celebrations of owner Anne McGrath, propelled him into the spotlight, Maher wasn't happy with visiting the top of the tree once.
"I remember being terribly upset when he came in from the backyard, from where his stables were on our dairy farm and said 'I'm moving to Caulfield'." - Eileen Maher
He broke his Mum's heart a little when he told her he was headed to the city and setting up stables at Caulfield.
"I remember being terribly upset when he came in from the backyard, from where his stables were on our dairy farm and said 'I'm moving to Caulfield, I just don’t want to be known as a jumps trainer,"
"I was inconsolable. But I thought, don’t worry, he’ll be back in five minutes, he's going down there with two horses. But that has grown to be in excess of 200 horses."
It was the making of Maher, who has since tasted multiple successes at the top level, notably through champion stayer Jameka (Myboycharlie {Ire}) who won the G1 VRC Oaks a G1 Caulfield Cup and a G1 The BMW.
In his mother's footsteps
Eileen and Ciaron share a lot of similarities as mother and son. She doesn’t sport the iconic mop of hair of her trainer son, but there in bloodstock terms, the dam's influence is strong.
Eileen sees the correlation between what she was able to achieve in a career teaching kids at kinder to what her son has been able to achieve with horses.
"I've got great faith in Ciaron as a trainer. Because, so many people say to me that he is unique. He's a real horseman," she said.
"I know what people tell me about you, obviously the same rapport I have with children, you have with horses. And it is a gift." - Eileen Maher
"I was a kindergarten teacher and I can relate to him in that way. I can make a connection or rapport with any child and I used to say to him, I know what people tell me about you, obviously the same rapport I have with children, you have with horses. And it is a gift."
On the Gold Coast this week, sharing the experience of a lifetime, that gift is being repaid many times over.
"You just meet people from all walks of life. I would have never imagined the time I'm able to experience here (on the Gold Coast)," she said.