It may have been a Benchmark 58 on a soft track in country Victoria but Brighton based trainer Paul Maher could not have been happier with his lightly raced 4 year old Laughing Heir.
Having just his third race start, Laughing Heir, ridden by Siggy Carr, came from well back in the field to score a stylish win.
“He does a lot wrong but he does have a fair bit of ability, he’s a really nice horse,” Maher said after the win at Benalla. “The second horse carried seven kilos less and he gave it a big start.”
“Since Shiralee (Pauls wife) got hurt, Siggy has been great, at the stables at 4.30 every morning to ride work so the owner was keen to reward her. Siggy is a massive wrap for the horse and we think he’s capable of winning a big race somewhere.”
“We want to run in a Supervobis race at Cranbourne that carries a $20,000 bonus on the 20th so I thought we needed to get his rating up.”
Laughing Heir created a big impression when he won at his first start in Launceston on a heavy track in May and after a solid Hobart trial, ran on well to finish sixth in a Benchmark 70 at Sandown prior to Benalla win.
Maher has most of his stable campaigning in Victoria at the moment and admits there is a temptation to make the move permanent.
“The prizemoney over here does help pay the bills,” He said. “But Shiralee and the kids love living in Tassie so it would be hard to leave.”
HOOFNOTE.
Maher was happy to report that his wife Shiralee is back riding track work but is not yet allowed to ride in trials or races following her fall at Brighton in May when she suffered an eye socket injury.