Read what each of the jockeys said about their mounts in the 2024 Caulfield Cup at Caulfield on Saturday 19th October.
Harry Coffey (Duke De Sessa) 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.”
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.”
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.”
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.”
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.”
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.”
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.”
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.”
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.
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.”
Luke Currie (Huetor): “He run well. He got galloped on though so that might have just found him out late.”
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.”
Akira Sugawara (Warp Speed): No comment offered.
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.”
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.”
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.”
Ben Melham (Kalapour): “Drying ground was not in his favour and he’s getting a bit old and cunning too I think.”
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.”