Winning Horse: Madame Pommery (Aus)
Winning Trainer: Chris Waller (rep by Charlie Duckworth)
“Obviously a fantastic ride. We were a little but nervous as to whether she’d see out a tough mile especially when the rain came it threw some serious doubt into our minds but she got a gem of a ride and did not work early and only had to chime in at the 400 (metre mark) and let down pretty impressively.
“It is just incredible to take out a Group 1 as a stable not just with this filly and now we’ve taken out the Flight Stakes and the Thousand Guineas.
“Massive credit to the filly and it is awesome to be a part of it.”
Decision to run – was it difficult: “Not so much with her – she’s got terrific wet track form. You can say that she potentially didn’t live up to her best in the Flight Stakes last start but ultimately she has got good wet track form and she’s obviously an exciting prospect.
“It’s an all ladies syndicate. I’m a bit speechless really. Sophie and Steph put this together and got 20 ladies together hoping they could run in the Magic Millions and now they’ve taken out a Thousand Guineas.
“It is above and beyond expectations and I think they would all have been happy to have a winner at Kembla or Geelong on a Thursday, so it is mindblowing.”
Cost $150,000: “It is almost a freebie at that price and she’s obviously worth a lot more than that now and she’s worth a lot more than that now. Really exciting and James (McDonald) is going to be happy.
“Those colours might see better days to come, too, and for this syndicate. They’ll be famous colours now and Group 1 winning colours now.”
Winning Jockey: James McDonald
Staying inside: “At some point in time they’re going to overdo it and I reckon that had come to the time and a lot of the races are pace related as well. I was very comfortable with where I was, it was so economical tucked away where I was a Gai Waterhouse-Adrrian Bott-trained runner ridden by Timmy Clark was always going to get to the right spot at the time and he took me to the right spot at the right time and my filly was classy enough to get the job done.
“Chris has had a lot of faith in this filly and hence why he brought her down and he asked me to come down. He said she would be very hard to beat and he was quietly confident.”
Reservations on track: “I went for a walk and I thought it was on the softer side for her, but you have to remember that they were deep tracks at home and this is not a deep track and not tired. She skipped though it OK, she ran the mile out very strongly and she was the right filly on the day. She had the superior form coming through, albeit a fair way off the top fillies in Sydney, but she had excuses on those wet tracks.”
Winning for ownership: “Obviously Chris and his team and Guy Monkhorst selected her and put a ladies syndicate in mind and for a first horse they couldn’t wish for a better start. I’m sure they’ll have more success to come.”
Beaten Jockeys:
Jamie Kah (Russian Conquest): “She just doesn’t handle the wet. We knew that before today. Shame we got the rain.”
Mark Zahra (Revolutionary Miss): “She ran a good race. The winner was too good.”
Damian Lane (She’s Licketysplit): “She ran well. She was super.”
Luke Nolen (Boogie Dancer): <Unavailable to comment>
Tim Clark (North Star Lass): “Toughed it out well. She’s had a long preparation on pretty deep tracks in Sydney but she was brave.”
Craig Williams (Waltz On By): “It’s a shame. She just didn’t like that ground condition at all today unfortunately.”
Harry Coffey (Jenny Jerome): “Maybe the heavy ground just took away her finish.”
Damien Oliver (Tajneed): “Struggled to get around the track.”
