CHAMPION trainer Ciaron Maher will set Bella Nipotina for the $20 million The Everest at Randwick on October 19 after she added the $700,000 Group One Tattersall's Tiara to her imposing record at Eagle Farm on Saturday, June 29.
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Bella Nipotina, with former Colac apprentice jockey Ryan Maloney in the saddle, beat stablemate Semana to win the last Group One race in Australia for the 2023-24 racing season.
Maher, who has trained 46 Group One winners, told The Standard he was over the moon with the win from the six-year-old mare.
"Bella Nipotina is one good, tough mare," he said.
"She's had four runs in Brisbane, all in Group One races and won two of them, namely the Doomben 10,000 and now the Tiara.
"And she lost no fans with second-placings in the Kingsford Smith Cup and the Stradbroke. She'll have a break now and be set for The Everest.
"She was an emergency in that race last year but I think she's going better in this campaign. It's incredible what she's achieved during her career.
"She'll be an extremely valuable broodmare for her connections once her racing career is over.
"It was great to give Ryan another Group One winner. We go back a long way to the days I was setting up as a trainer in Warrnambool."
Bella Nipotina, who has won nine of her 52 starts and finished in the minor place-getters stall on 23 occasions, took her prize-money to more than $10.9 million with the Tiara victory.
The powerful Maher stable also had Desperado and Wyclif win at Caulfield on Saturday.
The victories took Maher to 99 Melbourne metropolitan winners for the season.
He trained 97 winners last year and 104 in the previous season.
Maher will win his fifth consecutive Melbourne trainers premiership when the season concludes on July 31.
