3 minute read
Trainer and jockey quotes following the The Sharp EIT All-Star Mile won by Pride Of Jenni at Caulfield on Saturday.
Race Result:
1st: Pride Of Jenni (C Maher/D Bates) - $3.90
2nd: Mr Brightside (B, W & J Hayes/C Williams) - $2F
3rd: Cascadian (J Cummings/B Melham) - $9.50
Winning Time: 1:35.22 Last 600m: NA
Margins: 2L x 1L
THEY CAN'T CATCH HER!
— Racing.com (@Racing) March 16, 2024
Pride Of Jenni runs them into the ground & wins the All-Star Mile for @cmaherracing & @decbates pic.twitter.com/5MdE5gaxfB
Winning Trainer: Ciaron Maher
On the horse and the performance: "She's very, very special. Tony and Lyn (Ottobre), they put a great deal in, but you don't get horses that can do that.
"Linda Meech (who rode Attractable) was coming in off the track and she goes, 'God, she's a freak'. She said, 'we were going quick and she just went quicker'.
"She is quite special because you don't get horses that can do that."
On the team involved: "Dec Bates, unbelievable. My team, super. There's a lot that goes into it and as I said, Tony and Lyn, fantastic, they put a lot into racing."
On what makes her so good: "It's just stamina isn't it? Most horses have a 600-metre sprint and she seems like she can do it for half a mile or 1000 metres. She's unbelievable.
On why Bates gets along so well with her: "He understands her. You've got to have the confidence to ride her like that.
"There was a bit of conjecture today about speed in the race and I said, 'don't worry about that, you know the horse, trust yourself and the horse, just ride the race' and he said, 'I just want to be smooth'.
"He never rides her bad."
What's next: "There are obviously options in Sydney (and) the Australian Cup. Tony has always been very keen to get her to 2000. We were half contemplating a Cox Plate last year so she'll be hard to beat in whatever she goes in."
Winning Jockey: Declan Bates
Can you believe it?: "I can believe it. We have so much faith in her. This prep, every time I've sat on her back, she has certainly improved from last spring. I didn't want to say that out loud because of what she did last spring and not say that she might have come back better, but I think that is the case. She is doing it, sustain a gallop, is so impressive."
Thoughts going to first corner: "I was happy enough going to the first corner. She began cleanly, and that is my first main job, that first 400 metres. She jumped nice and cleanly and straight away she was into that nice rhythm, even though I had a few kicking up on my inside. I knew I could take my time and stay a bit wide early. Once I got to the front, I got there doing it in a nice manner and once she turned down the side, she wants to go and at that point you're almost a passenger and pointing her in the right direction. I was on that part of the track I wanted to be on. I put her there and she did the rest."
On the turn?: "I didn't look either way. I just kept her aimed at the line. I'm used to Mr Brightside flashing down my outside, so I was half expecting it, but I was pretty glad to see inside that last 100 metres he wasn't in my vision anywhere. She's special."
What do you say to Ciaron Maher and Tony Ottobre? "Tony, he has changed my life basically giving me this opportunity. To repay faith and pull off the rides and execute them, it's so satisfying."
Owner Ambassador: Sharon Whitehead
Thoughts on feeling as race was unfolding?: "As soon as I saw Jenni coming, I was like, 'keep going, keep going, keep going'.
"My legs were shaking, My heart was in my mouth and then when she got down here, I shut my eyes and hung on.
"It's just amazing. I'm so thankful and grateful and it's life changing for us."
$100,000 - what does it mean?: "It's huge. Next month my husband and I have been married 20 years, so we'll be upgrading our holiday from Adelaide, no offence to the people in Adelaide, but the one we wanted to do was Singapore and Japan. That will definitely be happening.
"There will be the biggest party at our house. We've got two boys and we'll be looking after them too.
"I feel like I'm in a dream."
Beaten Jockeys:
Craig Williams (Mr Brightside): "It's a shame but don't take anything away from the winner, she was very good and very dominant. My horse, he was huge. We didn't have the best barrier draw and under those circumstances…you see how far he stood them up and for him to only be beaten the margin he was beaten in the end, he went super. If the plan is to go to the Australian Cup I'm looking forward to him at 10 furlongs, that's for sure."
Ben Melham (Cascadian): "I thought he ran super. He's right on track for an Australian Cup. Probably where he got beat was the first two furlongs, they were a bit sedate, probably a bit more sedate than everyone anticipated and then they cranked from there. He was a long way off them, he got a good run through them and got beat a similar margin to Mr Brightside as what he did in the race last year."
Linda Meech (Attractable): "I think she broke his heart."
Mark Zahra (Munhamek): "He ran as good as he could. Good job to run fifth."
Damian Lane (Dom To Shoot): "He ran super. I was caught covering ground in what was obviously a solid-run race, he had to do a lot of work between the 800 and the 400, so he stuck on well. He tried hard."
Celine Gaudray (Buffalo River): "Terrific run. He's such a brave, honest horse."
Ben Allen (Pinstriped): "Just no luck. I don't know how much that cost him at the start but he still needed that run."
Vin Colgan (Desert Lightning): "A little bit out of his character but the speed was hot and he found the race a little bit too quick. He was flat from the half-mile onwards and held his ground in the straight and that was about it."
Jamie Kah (Ayrton): "He's run enormous, just not the place we wanted to be. Didn't have horses that were travelling to follow into the race, but he's run well."
Craig Grylls (Puntura): "He began well, end up in a nice enough spot, but down the side when they really put the pace on he was out on his feet then and didn't really finish it off."
Blake Shinn (Holymanz): "He acquitted himself well, ran a great race against the best around and I thought he did a great job."
