Ciaron Maher Racing has made a 16 percent staff reduction after completing the acquisition of the Forest Lodge stables at Ballarat from disqualified trainer Darren Weir.
Maher and co-trainer David Eustace announced that 61 former staff members had been retained while 12 had accepted redundancies.
"While it is never pleasant to undergo a process such as this, it needs to be understood that the number of horses that were managed previously at this location has reduced by some 35 per cent, with the reduction in staff numbers at 16 per cent.
"Our purchase of this facility has allowed a large number of staff to remain in their existing roles, with benefits and entitlements carried across under Ciaron Maher Racing."We are pleased and proud to have been able to retain the majority of staff here and look forward to fully integrating them into the Ciaron Maher Racing Team."
Maher said the Ballarat stables will become a key plank in the growth of his racing business that recently expanded to Sydney with the opening of a satellite stable at Warwick Farm.The Maher Racing operations are based at Caulfield but with that course to close as a training facility in five years the rapidly expanding business is planning for the future with stables at Ballarat and Warwick Farm, pre-training at Pakenham and facilities at Balnarring for beach work.
Maher and Eustace have 100 horses in work at Caulfield and is starting at Ballarat with at least 60 former Weir-trained horses.The Group stars transferred to Maher and Eustace from Weir include Humidor, Gailo Chop, Extra Brut, Sopressa, Voodoo Lad, Nights Watch and Kemono.
Maher confirmed that Humidor and Gailo Chop will not race for the stable until the spring.
