Maher secures Crown Lodge lease as Racing NSW completes landmark purchase 

Leading trainer Ciaron Maher will shift the key part of his NSW operation to Warwick Farm after confirming he has been handed the keys to state-of-the-art stable Crown Lodge.

Maher announced the move on Friday, and it comes in tandem with Crown Lodge’s sale to Racing NSW as a jewel in the regulator’s expansive real estate portfolio.

In outlining his ongoing status as a trainer with a multi-stable footprint across Victoria and NSW, Maher will relinquish his lease on Leilani Lodge at Randwick and the Racing NSW-owned Bong Bong Farm in the NSW Southern Highlands.

Maher signed an Australian Turf Club agreement in March to lease Leilani Lodge following trainer Anthony Cummings’s eviction from the stable made famous by his legendary father Bart.

He is also leaving Bong Bong Farm after a three-year tenure that started when he was training in partnership with now Hong Kong-domiciled David Eustace.

A sprawling 97-1/2 hectare property, Bong Bong Farm is equipped with 40 paddocks, four custom-designed barns, dual training tracks and an extensive range of equine training and rehabilitation amenities.

Issuing a statement under the banner of his business Ciaron Maher Racing, the trainer says the move represented a significant expansion of its metropolitan presence in Sydney.

He said it was also a step that underlined continued growth for a stable that has become a national powerhouse over the past decade.

“Crown Lodge is one of the great training facilities in this country, with a history that speaks for itself,” Maher said.

“Warwick Farm is where our Sydney story started, so coming home and taking on a stable like this means a great deal to us.

“It gives us a world-class base to keep delivering the very best for our owners and their horses, and we can’t wait to write the next chapter.”

Maher will keep a Bobs Farm training location near Newcastle to complement Victorian stables at Ballarat, Cranbourne, Fingal and Pakenham.

Crown Lodge is considered a historically important training complex after leviathan owners Jack and Bob Ingham built the stable in the late 1980s.

Many of Australia’s best-known racehorses of the modern era have been trained from the 125-box yard.

Champions of the turf, including Octagonal and Lonhro called Crown Lodge home when trained by Hall of Famer John Hawkes.

Peter Snowden also trained out of Crown Lodge before and after its 2008 sale to Sheikh Mohammed when the ruler of Dubai purchased the entire Ingam thoroughbred empire.

It became the Australian centrepiece of Sheikh Mohammed’s global Godolphin brand.

But it eventually became surplus to the operation’s needs when Godolphin ended its private trainer model following James Cummings’s departure last year.

Godolphin managing director Andy Makiv confirmed sale contracts had been exchanged between the thoroughbred conglomerate and Racing NSW.

“There was some interest from a number of parties, some developer interest, but ultimately it was a competitive process, and Racing NSW ultimately won the day fairly and squarely,” Makiv told The Straight.

“It’s a very prized position for the racing industry, so Racing NSW, I suspect, recognised that as well. 

“We are delighted for them that the property does stay within the racing industry.”

Makiv said there was interest shown from established industry investors with links to prominent trainers before selling the stable and accompanying housing to Racing NSW for an undisclosed sum.

He insisted Godolphin would maintain its support for Australian racing with the proceeds from the Crown Lodge sale likely to be used to upgrade Darley’s breeding farm infrastructure in NSW and Victoria.

“Godolphin continues to invest significantly in Australia, across racing upwards of 200 horses,” Makiv said. 

“We’ve got a big breeding operation, big stallion operation, international shuttle stallion operation. We invest a lot in our farms and our people.”