3 minute read

Trainer and jockey quotes following the Listed John Dillon Stakes won by Blazejowski at Caulfield on Tuesday.

Race Result:

1st: Blazejowski (Jye McNeil/Greg Eurell) - $17
2nd: Brave Song (John Allen/Peter & Paul Snowden) - $14
3rd: Morvada (Mark Zahra/Peter Jolly) - $2.90F

Winning Time: 1:23.56  Last 600m: N/A

Margins: 1¼L x 1L

Who managed to catch Blazejowski today?

— Racing.com (@Racing) January 26, 2021

Winning Trainer: Greg Eurell

"He's been very frustrating this whole prep. It's been hard work. He's been terrific at home, he's been very sound, his work has been right up to speed. But he's been coming to the races and just doing a few things wrong. Carrying that weight he's been making hard work of it for himself.

"Then today, the way the race panned out, I said to Jye 'this might just work out for him today'. He brought his true Blazejowski back to the races today. It was a good effort.

"You always think that when things aren't going quite right that you change this or change that but we basically kept to the same recipe that has always worked for him and I think what probably made it more frustrating was that at home his work and general wellbeing has been absolutely spot on. If he brought that to the races (more often) like he did today, well he would have been competing a lot better.

"I think that the push up in the weights, and he's probably got away with it earlier in his career, but these days with the weight he's got to start doing things a bit more correctly.

What's next: "He's been terrific for everybody. From earlier in this prep he's been very consistent going to the races, but he's very lightly raced so we'll just keep poking along at this time of year and hopefully get into the right races."

On Wolves in the BD Preview (F) earlier: "I thought it was terrific. I thought she was just a bit unlucky there. Close to the line the winner shifted around. Jye had to grab her quick and shut her down. Pound-for-pound I think it was a terrific effort and I think she can only get better as we step up in distance. Lovely filly to work with and hopefully she can hang together."

Winning Jockey: Jye McNeil

"We've got a great association together and unfortunately at the start of the preparation I wasn't able to ride him and thankfully I was able to get on at the right time. I think a couple of key things happened today with rainfall, he really likes the cut in the ground, and also getting into a nice settling position with a genuine tempo which enabled him to finish off well.

"I was just worried that he wouldn't be able to finish off with that big weight. I think he certainly put that nail in the coffin today. He carried the weight really well so it was more or less about finding the right surface at the right time. Greg was really positive before the race saying that he'd been going fantastic in his work and I think he showed that today.

"I'd just like to give a mention to all the owners up in the grandstand. They nearly lifted the roof off the joint. It's fantastic to have them back on-course."