3 minute read
Trainer and jockey quotes after the The Schweppes Plate at Flemington on Saturday taken out by Arran Bay.
Race Result:
1st: Arran Bay (D Stackhouse/P Stokes) - $4.00 fav
2nd: So Risque (C Gaudray/B, W & JD Hayes) - $4.80
3rd: Belle Plaisir (R Houston/T & C McEvoy) - $31
Winning Time: 1:23.07 Last 600m: N/A
Margins: 3/4 lengths x Long Neck
Arran Bay romps home to win the last at HQ @pstokesracing pic.twitter.com/mfOuDVuKnX
— Racing.com (@Racing) March 2, 2024
Winning Trainer: Phillip Stokes (stable representative Shae Dinunzio speaking)
Planned target: "We sort of had a prep planned out from the start to have him ready second up, he's obviously five runs now, four wins, so he's obviously very good second up, 1400 (metres) suits still, maybe a step up to a mile over the Adelaide Cup carnival but we'll see how it plays out."
R A Lee Stakes on Adelaide Cup day: "I think that's where we'll go now, Alan Jackson might've pointed out before that he'll be there on the day, so I think that's where we're going to go, put him on a float Thursday night and see him run in Adelaide."
On the horse: "He started his career in Adelaide, he was a very quirky horse back then as a two-year-old, very tricky ride, to be honest he still is now, he's very quirky, gives you a hard time on the track, but to win four hundred odd thousand that he's won now, an All Too Hard gelding that they could've sold to Hong Kong early days, I think an x-ray stopped that sale but he's paid them back and done a good job and he's still got two, three seasons to go."
Winning Jockey: Daniel Stackhouse
Another winner for stable: "There's a really frustrating horse called Fagin in the barn and I was just giving Phil some ideas for what we should do and they seemed to work last night so I was claiming it but it's a team effort, he's done a good job this horse, he's got a great second up record, there wasn't a lot of speed on paper so I was happy to put him into position where he had every chance and he did the rest."
How the race unfolded: "I knew I had a lapful of horse, I just didn't want to expose him too early being so close, I knew where so Risque was and I wanted to make sure I was in front of Holbein, Sandy Price went a nice tempo that suited my bloke, got a little bit lost and waited for the other horses but he held his other competitors off and that's all you can do."
