What the jockeys had to say after Saturday’s $2.5 million Caulfield Cup.
SOUTHERN SPEED Craig Williams 1st: “I had a lovely run and was able to relax. She had a good, tough horse in Green Moon to chase down, he gave me a good fight for 150 metres, but she ran away and she was really dominant.”
GREEN MOON Nicholas Hall 2nd: “Fantastic run. From the barrier (17), he didn’t get much luck. He gave me a real good kick but just felt it in the last 200 (metres).”
TULLAMORE Craig Newitt 3rd: “Went really good. I reckon I was a little bit stiff. I just needed to get rolling a bit earlier. Everyone made their runs a long way from home and I was jammed up. When he got out into the open, he hit the line really good.”
MANIGHAR Damien Oliver 4th: “I had a lovely run in the race. I followed the winner but when she quickened she just went a bit too quick for me. He ran home well in the straight for a nice fourth.”
LUCAS CRANACH Corey Brown 5th: “I thought he ran really good. Obviously got back a little further than I wanted to but he’s one of those European horses, he just wanted to fall out of the barriers. He’s going to love getting around Flemington in the Cup. He peaked on his run about a hundred (metres) out but I thought his run was terrific.”
UNUSUAL SUSPECT Nash Rawiller 6th: “It was a promising run. He had a bit of a checkered passage in the home straight. I think 3200 metres will be right up his alley.”
DRUNKEN SAILOR Dwayne Dunn 7th: “I got a great run in transit. I was really happy with the way he went. Probably that will improve him a lot fitness-wise going into the Melbourne Cup.”
MACEDONIAN Luke Nolen 8th: “He just didn’t want to take part early so we had to start a long run. All he wants is the two miles (3200m) and a bigger track.
SHOOTOFF Kerrin McEvoy 9th: “Probably could have finished closer. We ended up on the back of Dream Pedlar and he didn’t take me anywhere. We got shuffled back between the 800 (metres) and the 500 and he ran on well after that.”
PRECEDENCE Steven Arnold 10th: “He travelled wide, but had cover. I was following the second horse (Green Moon) but he couldn’t find any zip when we needed to.”
ABSOLUTELY Brad Rawiller 11th: “She ran well. From a bad gate, I got to where I wanted to and tracked up to be in the right spot at the 1000 (metres). I think she’s 12 months away. I can’t wait till next year.”
NIWOT Dean Yendall 12th: “I was probably a little bit aggressive early. I probably should have waited for a furlong (200m) before I asked him to quicken at the 600 (metres). It was a good effort.”
HAWK ISLAND Glyn Schofield 13th: “Had a nice easy run and had cover all the way. Didn’t really let down when I asked him and would probably appreciate more give in the ground.”
SAPTAPADI Mark Zahra 14th: “I tried to go forward but we got shuffled back. He just had no turn of foot.”
DREAM PEDLAR Chris Symons 15th: “We ended up having a nice enough run from the barrier (15). I had to use a bit of gas to get where I wanted to be. I got him out and running from the 700 (metres) but he was just outclassed.”
DOMESKY Brenton Avdulla 16th: “He just seemed to lose interest from the half-mile (800m). He didn’t finish his race off at all.”
MIGHTY HIGH Darren Beadman 17th: “I got a nice soft lead and he travelled well. When the pressure came on, he came off the bridle very easily.”
DECEMBER DRAW Michael Rodd 18th and last: “It feels a bit hollow for him to run like that so something has to be wrong. We had a lovely run, the pace was nice and solid for us and he travelled really sweetly. I was really happy where I was. At the half-mile (800m) I was able to come out and get behind Precedence. I just bided my time for a little bit there and just waited for another one to take off but there just wasn’t anything there. It’s not like him. He just went back through the field. I probably eased up on him about the 200 (metres) because I didn’t want to bash him and he still ran a long last. He just wouldn’t go forward, he got galloped on but we’ll just have to see how he pulled up.”
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