FEATURE
CIARON MAHER Trainer, Head of CMR
SAM CAVANOUGH Chief Executive
As the man at the top, Maher sets the tone for everything that follows. He is at trackwork before dawn, splits his week between Sydney and Melbourne, and remains the final word on every horse in the stable. “We have a lot of meetings, employ good people. Nothing is missed, everything is recorded, we benchmark each horse against itself and others, against past history. It’s always developing. “I am there at trackwork early, spending half the week in Sydney, half in Melbourne. I start the day checking in with everybody. “Your gallops are worked out the week before, but change if horses have a temperature, haven’t eaten, or for other reasons. Depending on trials or gallops, you do post-race analysis from the day before or weekend. “On race days you run through with your jockeys and team how the horses might run, going through speed maps, track conditions. “The phone starts at 4:30am and continues through the day. “I definitely get the same buzz. Two- year-olds coming through, even horses returning from injury, give me great satisfaction. If you are passionate you don’t view it as hard work – you aren't looking at the clock."
While Maher focuses on the horses, Cavanough runs the business around them. His job is to build the infrastructure, culture and systems that allow a stable of this scale to function as a high-performance sporting organisation. “My role is to set the strategy for the direction Ciaron wants all our departments going – to help us achieve our goal of being a high-performance sporting organisation that offers a premium experience to all levels of ownership.
“We want to be transparent, provide regular communications, and be up to date. We strive to make sure our facilities are best in class, where we can cater to each horse and all their needs.”
“Data and sports science is probably the biggest thing that differentiates us from our competitors. We can analyse performance metrics and bloodstock and do sales and pedigree analysis all in-house. We make sure no stone is left unturned in trying to get an edge. “Our size gives us the structure to invest in different approaches to technology and welfare."
Fancy a Gallop? | 71
Made with FlippingBook Digital Publishing Software