Winning Horse: Ocean’s Thirteen (Aus)

4yoM Ocean Park (NZ) - Really Reputable (NZ)(O'reilly (NZ))

14 starts - 5 wins 1 second 1 third 1 fourth $123200

Other Wins

1st Ballarat Porter Plant (Bm64) 1600m (2020)

1st Pakenham Synthetic Meluca Group (Bm58) 1600m (2020)

1st Warrnambool Grahams Cleaning Supplies-Bm58 1400m (2020)

1st Swan Hill Get Well Shanae O'meara Mdn 1300m (2019)

Other Placings

3rd Flemington Tcl Tv Stakes (Bm70) 1700m (2020)

2nd Sale Tambo Waste (Bm64) 1717m (2020)

Race Result:

1st: Ocean’s Thirteen (Will Price/Ciaron Maher & Dave Eustace) - $3.50F
2nd: Laundy (Luke Currie/Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young) - $9.50
3rd: Mostly Sunny (Craig Williams/Patrick Caboche) - $13

Winning Time: 1:36.31 Last 600m: 35.88

Margins: 2¾L x ½L

Winning Trainer: Ciaron Maher & Dave Eustace (Dave speaking)

“So pleased for the owners (on-course) and for the filly. They really deserved that. Great win.

“Will got it spot on. She loves rolling along out in front. She’s been up for a while. She trains down at Fingal. Big shout out to Georgia Johnson who has set up the place and has done a super job with her. She’s holding her form really well and she loves fast ground so we’ll keep going with her through the summer.

“She looks great. She was ‘on’ today. She was marching around the paddock. She’s just in a really good groove ad hopefully we can get another win.

Tough for owners now being at the track: “They’ve been very patient across the state. They’ve been looking to get out here and on-track as soon as possible. Hopefully we can get a few more here and get some crowds here to enjoy the racing.”

Winning Jockey: Will Price

Owners there cheering: “It was nice. I got a little cheer on the way to the gates, too. I’d only ridden in front of crowds for three or four months as well. To ride a winner at The Valley on a Saturday and to have a few boys here is really super.”

On the run: “She was going really well. Dave and I always had the plan to lead and then getting into a nice rhythm, obviously not too slow then we’d have people (opposition) attack us.

“She’s not that sit-sprint sort of horse so we’ve got rolling when we got to the side and she won well.”

Asked if with the jockey exodus from Victoria is it guys like him who will make the most of it: “It is so tough here at the moment. It is probably the strongest it has ever been in Melbourne. With the three-kilo claim it makes it a lot easier to get those opportunities like I got today.

“With those riders going you’re trying to fill that void and make the most of it. Without having the country claim it is a lot harder in the country now than what it was. I’ve tried to come down and ride a lot more outside of work and get those opportunities from the trainers at Flemington and Caulfield. Hopefully we can keep building on that and the results keep coming.”

** PAKENHAM NEXT SATURDAY **

Phillip Stokes bringing Defiant Dancer over from Adelaide for 1000m BM78 - won last two starts & hasn’t missed a place first-up: “He’s resuming and she’s done everything right at home and this looked like an ideal race for him. He was here previously and he’s won a few in Adelaide so he might be well placed there.”