Ciaron Maher mare Mrs Chrissie to miss Group 3 Standish Handicap

Mrs Chrissie is set to skip this Saturday’s Group 3 Standish Handicap (1200m). Ciaron Maher’s team have indicated that the mare may be better served skipping the $160,000 race at Flemington in order to race on Australia Day weekend in a listed race.

Maher’s outfit have identified the  WJ Adams Stakes (1000m) at Caulfield Racecourse and the Durbridge Stakes (1100m) at Morphettville on January 25, as ideal races for Mrs Chrissie to make her 2025 debut.

Mrs Chrissie misses opportunity to build form

Mrs Chrissie ended 2024 in some of the best form of her career to date.

The daughter of Per Incanto returned from a 19-week layoff on December 7th with a stellar performance in the Tonks Plate at Ballarat.

Mrs Chrissie entered the race as fifth-favourite with $10 odds from the betting sites. She defied the odds to win the $150,000 race by two and a half lengths to Nick Ryan’s Deepour.

The six-year-old mare followed up her winning run with a second-place finish in the Christmas Stakes at Caulfield on Boxing Day.

Rather than build on those performances, Mrs Chrissie will be rested this weekend and potentially until the end of the month.

Australia Day weekend preferred

Speaking about Mrs Chrissie’s near future, Ciaron Maher assistant trainer Jack Turnbull revealed that this Saturday’s Standish Handicap is too soon for the mare.

“Knowing her, 1000 and 1100 (metre races) are her best trips and if we can space her runs, which we like doing, we do,” Turnbull explained.

He added that Maher’s team have identified two races on January 25th that could be a better fit for Mrs Chrissie than this weekend’s Standish Handicap.

The first opinion is the WJ Adams Stakes at Caulfield, while the second is the Durbridge Stakes at Morphettville.

“There’s a race in Adelaide on the same day and one at Caulfield, she’ll be in one of the two,” Turnbull said.

Both races offer similar prizes –$175,000 and $120,000, respectively. Mrs Chrissie will also likely be a favourite for both events according to the betting apps odds.

Team knows Mrs Chrissie’s quality

While Maher’s team are still deciding what to do with Mrs Chrissie in the short-term, Turnbull says they are confident that she is a horse with quality.

“She’s Stakes-quality, obviously, but if we can just get that win it will be good. We’ve got her, we’ve got a sibling, the owner’s still got the mare, so it adds a lot more to the picture,” Turnbull said.

The assistant trainer added that Mrs Chrissie could even be contending for Group 1 races in the future.

“Pie-in-the-sky, you would say a Grand Final could be a Sangster (the Robert Sangster Stakes) –you might have a crack at six furlongs in mares' company– but we are very realistic and the ownership group is much the same.

“If we could win a Listed or Group 3 in mares grade, that’s number one (goal), and then we could potentially look at a Sangster.”