Maher sprinter spanks rivals by seven lengths in Caulfield Group 3.
Ciaron Maher's decision to run Recommendation in Saturday's Sir John Monash Stakes instead of trialling at Cranbourne on Monday proved a profitable one when the gelding thumped his rivals in the $200,000 Group 3 at Caulfield.
The four-year-old turned in one of the easiest wins in a Group sprint race since the days of Black Caviar when he cantered home by seven lengths under Blake Shinn in the 1100-metre race.
Maher knew Recommendation's class would carry him a long way but his dominance took him by surprise.
"I didn't expect him to win that easy," Maher said.
"Normally we take him to a couple of jumpouts before racing, but his recovery and his data was very good.
"He looked much better there than what he would at Cranbourne on Monday."
Recommendation jumped well, took up the running and cornered with a one-length lead but put the race to bed once Shinn clicked him up at the 250m.
The son of Shalaa, who started $3.70, raced away to score from Queensland visitor Party For Two ($11) with Mrs Chrissie ($4.80) nabbing heavily backed $2.80 favourite in the shadows of the post to claim third placing, half-a-length behind Party For Two.
"Once I established the front, he just got into a rhythm, he really loved the ground and was amazing," Shinn said.
"I had a little look to the big screen and saw a margin and thought, 'it's all over now'."
The Sir John Monash Stakes was one of three wins for Shinn, who also won aboard Jabbawockeez and Astero.
Shinn now has 71 Melbourne wins for the season, 10 fewer than premiership leader Damian Lane with just over a fortnight of the season remaining.
Recommendation's win, the seventh in a 17-start career, was an equal-career-best 104th Victorian city success for Maher, who is now likely to bring him back to Caulfield on July 27 for another $200,000 Group 3, the 1200m Bletchingly Stakes.
"There's the Aurie's Star, but I think the bend's probably more the go for him," Maher said.
"He looks like he hasn't hardly turned a hair since he's come back (to scale) so hopefully he's in for a good spring."
Recommendation!
— 7HorseRacing (@7horseracing) July 13, 2024
He puts the hammer down and wins with ease@blake_shinn @cmaherracing pic.twitter.com/MD5eIiKN9T
