Maharba has completed a two-state feature double for the Grahame Begg stable with his victory at Mornington.
Begg was in Sydney to saddle Magic Time who scored in the Group 1 All-Aged Stakes (1400m) at Randwick, just under an hour before Maharba took out the Listed Hareeba Stakes (1200m) on Saturday.
Ridden by New Zealand jockey Michael Mcnab, Maharba, the $3.60 betting app favourite, got the result in a deceptive photo finish over Nicolini Vito ($10) by a short-half-head with The Inferno ($7.50) the same margin away third.
Stable representative Chris Hyland said it was a great result for the stable following the two-state double.
Hyland said Maharba was a stable favourite and deserving of Saturday’s success.
“He’s good tough horse. He tries hard and he’s a stable favourite,” Hyland said.
“He consistently runs well all the time, so its great that he could get that win.
“Michael said the track was a bit shifty, but he got through it well, so that will open things up.”
Plans for Maharba are to head to the Wagga Town Plate (1200m) on May 2 where local jockey Danny Beasley is expected to take the ride.
Beasley had been booked to ride Maharba on Saturday but could not arrange flights to and from Melbourne in time for a return to Wagga to ride on Sunday.
Begg quickly got on the front foot to engage McNab, a leading rider in New Zealand, who was coming to Mornington to ride Nereus in the Mornington Cup.
While Nereus was unplaced, it gave McNab some added exposure to the tricky circuit after walking the track earlier in the day.
“It’s a different sort of track, and I thought I’d be able to compare it to something back home, but we don’t have anything like this,” McNab said.
“It’s uphill and downhill and when you turn into the straight, you hammer down and its flat stick, but luckily, I was able to adjust.”
