What the jockeys said after the Group One $3 million Caulfield Cup (2400m):
Cory Parish (Boom Time) 1st : “I couldn’t ask for any more. I’ve been here five years now (from New Zealand). I’ve been working for David (Hayes) and he owns the whole horse and he had the faith to put me on today, and I said I just want to repay him and I have. It’s been fantastic. This horse went super last start in the Herbert Power> He was the only horse able to finish off and I thought if he could relax today, he’d do it, and he did just that. It’s just an amazing thrill, first Group One and for it to be a Caulfield Cup, you beauty!”
Kathy O’Hara (Single Gaze) 2nd :”She went sensational, she gave her everything. I’m so proud of her. She had to do it the tough way, had to drag the field up, she’s so tough.”
Ben Melham (Johannes Vermeer) 3rd : “He ran really well. He took a step backwards as the barriers opened and I would have liked to be a couple of spots closer in the run. I just had to pick and weave through the corner but he was really strong on the line.”
Ben Allen (Lord Fandango) 4th : “Super .. he was just very unlucky to be caught wide all the way but gee he’s tough.”
Damian Lane (Humidor) 5th : “He ran well. I settled a lot closer than I anticipated and he got fired up going past the winning post the first time. When I went for him, he hung like a rusty gate and cost himself the race.”
Beau Mertens (Abbey Marie) dead-heat 6th : “Very happy with the run. Just had to swoop around them on the turn which I really didn’t want to do but she still hit the line well.”
Hugh Bowman (Marmelo) dead-heat 6th : “Excellent performance, he’s right on track for the Melbourne Cup.”
Chad Schofield (Harlem) 8th : “It was a good honest run. I followed the winner everywhere and was happy with the way he travelled but with that leader stopping so quickly, I had to change course quite abruptly, but he was OK to the line.”
Stephen Baster (Jon Snow) 9th : “We ended up in a nice spot following Humidor, then around the half-mile I pulled out to go around him and I really struggled. I got knocked down in the straight. He picked himself back up and kept coming . I thought it was a nice run but he just might need a bit more sting out of the track.”
Craig Newitt (Hardham) 10th : “He ran OK. The speed was good. They really took off from the half-mile and it just made him very dour.”
Craig Williams (Amelie’s Star) 11th : “I was really proud of her performance. She had a really sticky barrier draw and we wanted to offset that and have her in a really forward position. She was able to do that. She was amazing but she had to use petrol to get there. It was a gallant effort in the circumstances.”
Joao Moreira (Wicklow Brave) 12th : “He was a little slow out of the gate which made it a little bit harder for him. Unfortunately, I got a little bit of interference at the 600 metres which cost him places.”
Damien Oliver (Ventura Storm) 13th : “I had a nice run, I just got a little bump on the turn but I felt he was disappointing. His mind wasn’t really on the job today and he didn’t give us our best.”
Kerrin McEvoy (Bonneval) 14th : “I was going to grab a spot with cover but I just got bumped wide which wasn’t great. I still thought we were off the bridle and only average coming home. She moved fine but she never got into the race today.”
Dwayne Dunn (Inference) 15th : “Disappointing. He got back, didn’t run on .. he might have had an off day.”
Luke Nolen (He’s Our Rokkii) 16th : “He didn’t stay.”
Katelyn Mallyon (Sir Isaac Newton) Last : “He just didn’t settle. I had him early but he grabbed the “chewy” just coming over the hill and he over-raced.”
Credit: AAP