Read what the Jockeys and Trainers said following the Coolmore Stud Stakes 2025.
Winning Trainers: Anthony & Sam Freedman
Anthony Speaking
Being in Melbourne: “I came today, really only to support Sam. He’s been here all spring and we really haven’t had, what you would call, a great spring. This was the horse we had so much faith in and he prepared him perfectly. I just wanted to be here and sit in the background and say well done. Credit to the horse, Godolphin, obviously great supporters and our staff have done a great job.”Sharing success: “I’m particularly impressed as we haven’t had a great spring and it hasn’t been straight forward and he has struggled with that a little bit. I said ‘hang in there’ as when you’ve got the right horse, it will do the job and this is the one.”
Back-up next week: “We’ll see, we’ll definitely look into it. We’ve said that from day dot. If he has a good three-or-four days, there’s no reason why he will not turn up next week.”
Winning Jockey: Mark Zahra (Tentyris)
Ducking and diving: “Anthony said don’t panic, just trust the horse. He was right and I just trusted the horse. I got on the back of Beiweicht and that other Snowden horse (Racing Force). The way he improves each start and the further the race went, the more he came up underneath me. He let rip when I first let go and then he thought ‘where am I’ and he started to stargaze. He’s a very good colt and what a win”
That trust: “I had the pick of a few early, but I have ridden a lot of big winners for them and I trust them and we’ve had a lot of luck, so I was happy to stick for sure.”
Beaten Jockeys:
Adam Hyeronimus (Beiwacht): “He left the gates nicely and relaxed but he got quite competitive in those couple of furlongs leading to the course proper. I felt once we got onto the course proper he really lost his action and it took him a long time to recover but it wasn’t until the last 100 metres that he really worked through the line.”
Lachlan Neindorf (Mcgaw): “We had a plan to keep him out there by himself and get him into a rhythm which he did do. Felt the winner at the 300 (metre mark). At the 200 he was feeling the pinch too much.
Michael Dee (Tycoon Star): “He just isn’t the same horse as what he was earlier in the prep. He might be looking for a bit of a break now.”
Craig Williams (Skyhook): “He’s a high quality horse but for a horse that was flat out halfway down to still run fifth, it just shows that he’s not doing everything right but he’s definitely a high potential horse.”
Ashley Morgan (Hidden Motive): “He was disappointing. I thought he’d run up better than that. He wasn’t that quick away, probably a different situation in behind horses today. He might’ve just felt the ground, he’s a horse that wants good ground but wants a little bit of sting out.”
Tommy Berry (Raging Force): “Should have been right in the finish. Travelled into the race well, got a split at the right time, and then the run got taken from us a little while after.”
Ben Allen (Jimmy Recard): “The horse ran well. The track is firm. I just felt that he didn’t let down to his best. He felt like the winner when he was on the bridle but he just didn’t give us his all.”
Jye McNeil (Legacy Bound): “Absolutely enormous run from him. He is going really well at the moment.”
Blake Shinn (Beadman): “He got stirred up going to the gates before the race and raced similar. He didn’t give himself a chance to finish.”
Kerrin McEvoy (Skyglider): “He handled himself well on the quick back-up. Up the straight first time and got into a sport. He wasn’t beaten far.”
Jamie Mott (My Gladiola): “Really proud of her. Obviously disappointed not to win. Super proud of her and she’s run a really good race. The winner was just too sharp when he showed his acceleration but she was really strong late and couldn’t be more proud of her.”
