3 minute read

Trainer and jockey quotes after Erno's Cube takes out the Group 2 Yarraman Park Reisling Stakes at Randwick on Saturday.

Race Result:

1st: Erno's Cube (C Maher/J Collett) - $3.70
2nd: Silmarillion (J Cummings/J McDonald) - $4.60
3rd: Too Darn Lizzie (G Waterhouse & A Bott/T Clark) - $3.10F

Winning Time: 1:10.66  Last 600m: 34.91

Margins: Head x Long Head

Erno's Cube is into the Slipper after winning the G2 Reisling Stakes at Randwick for @cmaherracing!@aus_turf_club pic.twitter.com/kN8gwSVJvk

— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) March 9, 2024

Winning Trainer: Ciaron Maher (stable rep Johann Gerard-Bubord speaking)

More runs to come?: "Definitely. She is still improving physically, mentally still doing plenty wrong. From that gate it was always going to be a bit tricky.

"She didn't help herself early, once she got a bit of cover she dropped the bridle and it was a good effort to be able to quicken and get her nose in front.

Slipper?: "We will see how she comes through it first. Obviously, the Slipper is always tempting but the boys seem to be better than the fillies this year.

"She'd gone two weeks from the Silver Slipper, so the right thing to do would be to give her a bit of time and go to the Percy Sykes, but we'll see how she comes through it. It's a discussion to have also now she is a Group Two winner.

"She has been going for a long time, she's had a little freshen between races but she seems to handle her racing very well."

"She had two weeks after the Gimcrack where she was a bit disappointing and did a few things wrong. She had a week in the paddock after Magic Millions and that's all. She goes to Bong Bong after her runs, it's a great facility, she puts her head down in the paddock for a few days and that keeps her going.

"It keeps her fresh and very fit.

"If we didn't have Bong Bong, we probably wouldn't get the result we have today. We've got a good team there.

"It's great to get a win for Mick Johnston and that group of owners."

Winning Jockey: Jason Collett

On the win: "Credit to the stable and Ciaron, this is a big effort by them. She was there for the first set of trials, first two-year-old race, she's just been in the training set-up the whole time, this is a big day for us today with her a Group Two winner."

On the run in transit: "She's a work in progress as we've been saying. She's still a work in progress. The pace didn't seem overly quick early. Jo (stable rep Johann Gerard-Dubord) probably gave me too little instructions, he sort of left it to me and half put the idea in my head of going forward on her, but it's just not her at the moment. She just needs to do things right and when she does it like that, when she relaxes through the middle then she can finish it off."

Golden Slipper horse?: "She's qualified now, so she'll be worth a crack. She's in form and although she still does a few things wrong, you'll get a good tempo in the Slipper so probably won't have to worry about that head coming up on me early."

Beaten Jockeys:

Tim Clark (Too Darn Lizzie): "Really brave performance. She went down fighting. It was a good effort."

Tom Sherry (Nymphadora): "We had a nice run in transit. Just failed to finish off."

Dylan Gibbons (Miss Busslinger): "Just had to go a bit further back than I would have liked. Shame she didn't settle closer and she would have finished a bit higher up."

Chad Schofield (Extreme Diva): "We had the box seat following the favourite. Obviously we envisaged that horse quickening but it didn't. As a result we got held up."

Sam Clipperton (Reasonable Point): "Really nice filly. I just don't think she has that physical strength at the moment to make a Sydney 2yo but follow her in 3 to 6 months time."

James McDonald (Silmarillion): "She was good. Just inexperienced the last little bit. Just found her out against tough seasoned horses."

Tommy Berry (Mic Drop): "Plenty of ability. Just doing a lot wrong. It's only her first start and in that sort of grade. When she learns to do things right and relax she has a bit of upside there."