Trainer Ciaron Maher has not yet approved Jimmysstar for a run on the first day of The Championships following the sprinter picking up a pair of black eyes during his comeback at Caulfield.

The gelding came home seventh as the heavily backed elect in the William Reid Stakes (1200m) on March 21, while also ingesting some track surface at Caulfield.

Maher is waiting to observe the gelding in another workout prior to locking in a slot in the TJ Smith Stakes (1200m) at Randwick this Saturday.

The quick sprinter bounced back from the eye problems inside 48 hours and made the journey to Sydney last week, completing a gentle canter on Saturday morning.

Maher avoided offering justifications for the effort but conceded it was tough to account for.

Ethan Brown, his usual jockey, is slated to climb aboard again should Jimmysstar take his place in the TJ Smith, having had Mark Zahra on board at Caulfield.

Zahra has commitments to partner Tentyris in the Group 1 dash this Saturday.

“We’ll see how he works,” Maher said.

“I don’t really like making excuses, but Mark said he got sort of terrorised. He is a horse that does his own thing a bit, bridles up.

“I didn’t mind him being on the inside, but he jumped, got hit straight out of the barrier. He was wanting to get out, but he got pushed back in and then at the furlong got a decent bump as well.

“I don’t like making excuses and Mark is a pretty straight shooter, and he was like ‘nothing went right’.

“I was very happy going in, but I’m a little bit on the fence (afterwards).”

In addition to the black eyes, Maher noted that Jimmysstar emerged from the race free of further concerns.

Maher further revealed that stable companion Tempted will skip the TJ Smith Stakes in favour of the Arrowfield 3YO Sprint (1200m) at Randwick on April 11.

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