Winning Horse: Duke De Sessa (Ire)
Winning Trainer: Ciaron Maher (stable representative Jack Turnbull speaking)
Big day for stable: “Oh, it’s magic to be honest. Yeah, just fantastic to get on the phone with him (Ciaron), especially after Bella. Pride Of Jenni’s walking into the yard as well, so we’ll hold fort for another ten minutes. But just pinch me moment sort of stuff. Stable are having an extremely good day. Very good ride by Harry. Everyone’ s so thankful for Harry, and really appreciative for him to win. Everyone knows how well-deserved he is. It’s just amazing.
Keeps improving: “Last season, he was a colt, and he had a good think about it, and he used to over-travel. This race in particular, we changed a bit, so we put a norton on. He obviously had 12 months of seasoning and conditioning, and Ciaron and the team just had a better handle on him. So the form is around him with Via Sistina, and it’s just amazing. Just very appreciative and well done to Maurice Regan, Cole McKenna’s in the horse. It’s amazing, and it’s fantastic for the stable.”
On the win: “Well, when I thought we were going to make all, I was okay, but when Deny Knowledge came around us, he just got a lovely drop, and they weren’t’ going fast, and he loves this ground. He’s fit. When they upped the ante at the right time, he was able to build into it, and it just got everyone chasing. And when he put, you know, two or three lengths at the top of the straight, you knew he was going to sustain that, especially the way the track is playing. So, just unbelievable. Like, I cannot, you know, even think this is happening. Speechless.”
Winning Jockey: Harry Coffey
Caulfield Cup win on birthday: “Oh, I don’t know how to describe this. How am I feeling? Spectacular. Oh, phenomenal. When I let rip I thought maybe I’d gone too early. But one thing you can count on with Ciaron Maher and this amazing team he has, you can back your horses in. They’ll just keep running. And because of Ciaron, his horse’s owners, his staff, and more importantly the horse, I’ve been involved in the day I’ll never forget, on my birthday.”
Win for the battler: “Oh, I just couldn’t believe it, that he kept running. And that the Caulfield Cup was going to have Harry Coffey’s name next to it. Like, it’s just phenomenal. It’s not supposed to happen to people like myself. I’m just, I’m considered a battler. People like to laugh about how I’m a battler and a country boy. But, yeah, not many Caulfield Cups get won by country boys.
So I couldn’t pull the horse up, to be honest. I just let him roll. And, yeah, me and him just had a little moment along the side here where I actually can’t tell you the love and the happiness I have for how well this horse ran today.
And as you can see, he’s pulled up absolutely tremendous. And once again, I don’t want to harp on it too much. Just a phenomenal effort from Ciaron and his team to condition stayers the way they do. Amazing feat to win an Everest and a Caulfield Cup on the same day.”
“My Dad wanted to come with me today, but I told him not to worry about it, and I’ ll handle it without him. And he actually nearly caught the train this morning and was going to drive me home tonight and I said to him, ‘nah, I might have a beer tonight.’ So it all worked out how I thought. But, yeah, sorry Dad, that I told you not to come!”
Beaten Jockeys:
Ben Melham (Kalapour): “Drying ground was not in his favour and he’s getting a bit old and cunning too I think.”
Joao Moreira (Buckaroo): “He run fantastic. He was a bit unlucky, he got checked twice during the race, that put him a little bit too far back, but he hit the line like a champion. Very proud of him.”
John Allen (Circle Of Fire): “His run was OK. We had a good enough run in transit, three-wide with cover, but we just got flushed a bit wide on the corner. For a moment on the corner I thought we might run on and run fifth or sixth, but I just thought he plateaued a bit up the straight. He still stuck to his guns OK but I was still expecting him to finish a little better than he did.”
Akira Sugawara (Warp Speed): No comment offered.
Luke Currie (Huetor): “He run well. He got galloped on though so that might have just found him out late.”
Michael Dee (Warmonger): “It definitely didn’t help springing the gates prior to the start, that just fired up a little bit and we ended up a little bit further back than ideal. He felt like he was coming into the race down the side really well but he just doesn’t have that turn of foot, he just sustains a good gallop.”
Tim Clark (Eliyass): “He ran honestly. He came off the bridle early when Zac went around but to his credit he stuck to his guns and never gave it away.”
Zac Purton (Land Legend): “He got really stirred up at the gates and then the horse going through didn’t help him. He was very agitated in the gates and just raced like that, I couldn’t get him to relax at all, and at the half-mile I couldn’t hold him any longer and had to let him go.”
Jye McNeil (Young Werther): “Every position I tried to get in it just didn’t work out for me today and he had no hope from that position.”
Robbie Dolan (Knight’s Choice): “From the wide draw we rode him quiet and he’s probably a horse that appreciates a drier track because he’s got that good turn of foot.”
Andrea Atzeni (Zardozi): “She run well. We actually got a position from that draw, the pace was really strong and when the pace came back she was a little bit keen for a few strides and when the winner quickened it left her flat-footed. But she stuck on to the line and I thought she run well.”
Karis Teetan (Coco Sun): “She was a bit disappointing, to be honest. I had her in a good spot three-deep, I had to use her a bit down the hill, but she just spat the dummy.”
Craig Newitt (Deny Knowledge): “She run terrific. She stepped a little bit slow so I wasn’t in that mad rush early but just just took me time to slide around, eventually got there and got into a good rhythm but when I went to build at the half-mile the winner just gave me windburn basically. He went and he went quick. I thought I was going to drop right out of it but she’s so honest she kept battling on.”
Teodore Nugent (Valiant King): “Great effort. It was a shame he drew so wide. He began great out of the barriers for me and I tried to take up a nice midfield position but just had to come back and find a spot. Three wide the majority of the way into it and it was shame he had to make his run from the half-mile because the horse in front of him stopped. I loved the way he finished off and two miles is hi go.
Ben Thompson (Sayedaty Sadaty): “We were aided a good run from the nice draw on the back of the winner but he was just too keen today and pulled too hard.”
Ron Stewart (Fancy Man): “He run super. We were in a nice position early and the horse three deep was just unsettling him a little bit through the race, racing quite tight, but at the half-mile I would have loved to have been on the (back of) the right horse. We just got held up momentarily for a couple of strides but once we got clear muttered well to the line. Really good run.”
Carleen Hefel (Berkshire Breeze): “Not his day today. Got bumped around a little bit in the run and when it was time to go his wheels were spinning on that shifty surface. Hopefully he can pull up (well) and bounce back from that.”