Glen Boss racked up Doncaster win number seven driving lightly raced colt Brutal to victory from a wide alley.
Find out what the jockeys made of their mounts after the $3 million The Star Doncaster Mile (1600m) at Royal Randwick.
Glen Boss (Brutal): “I’m in awe of the colt. I know they’ve got light weights and he got himself in a spot but he just cantered to the 1000m and I thought I was on the horse I wanted to be one. He gave me that real soft feel. He just felt confident underneath me.
“There was never a point in the race when I thought I was going to lose. He hit a few flat spots on the track but within one stride he came straight back underneath me. He has very good control of his body.
“I think back to the start, Sprint By kicked it all off. I’ve got grey hair and not much left but I’ve still got the passion to go the hard yards to do this thing. To get down to the 49.5kg shows I’ve still got the drive to test myself. Victories like this make it all worthwhile.
“The race was controlled from the front. I just let him do what he wanted. When you sit outside the leader you control the speed. We never gave those behind a chance. Tactically he was perfect.”
Damian Lane (Dreamforce): “So brave. John’s got the horse flying. I thought he gave a really good kick at the top of the rise, almost a winning kick, but Brutal was too strong. The horse is flying.”
Hugh Bowman (Hartnell): “Ran his usual honest race just Brutal was too good with the light weight. It wasn’t a testing race and that’s what we needed to win. All credit to the winner.”
James McDonald (Le Romain): “He went okay. Got in a lovely spot and he worked to the line nicely.”
Blake Shinn (Alizee): “She’s just not that effective in softish going so it was not her day today.”
Michael Rodd (Land Of Plenty): “Just didn’t handle it. He was stumbling out of the barriers, wouldn’t go early, struggled in the ground.”
Christian Reith (Dixie Blossoms): “She ran super. From the 600m we were just bottled up, needed to get out sooner than we did, but she was fantastic.”
Craig Williams (Shillelagh): “I was really impressed with her. She didn’t like that ground at all. To her credit she showed a lot of heart and finished off solidly.”
Tommy Berry (Kluger): “He went enormous. I think the speed of race is a little bit different here, probably 2000m would suit him better, but if he goes there he is going to run into the mare. So it’s a tough one for him but he acquitted himself really well today.”
Billy Egan (Widgee Turf): “He got to the line well.”
Kerrin McEvoy (Unforgotten): “I had to give them a bit of a start. She let down with a nice run for about a furlong and then was even home. Think she just wants better ground.”
Corey Brown (Life Less Ordinary): “Ran a really good race.”
Sam Clipperton (Eckstein): “Torrid run but probably not good enough here.”
Jay Ford (Aloisia): “Disappointing today. She was a spent force at the 400m.”
Robbie Dolan (Siege Of Quebec): “He actually ran really well. The heavy going might have slowed him down a little.”
Jye McNeil (Fifty Stars): “Did it a bit tough from the wide barrier. Just needed a bit of cover but still would have expected him to finish off a bit better.”
Karis Teetan (I Am Serious): “I had a perfect spot and she hit a flat spot around the 500m and she couldn’t get over that.”
Lachlan King (So Si Bon): “Just the track seemed a bit too bottomless for him. Didn’t really finish off.”
Ben Thompson (Fundamentalist): “I thought I found a lovely spot on the back of the quinella. She did just travel keenly in the middle stages when the leaders came back to us. Just laboured in the straight and obviously she is better than that.”
Andrew Gibbons (Violate): “Stepped slowly and was wide the whole way.”
