3 minute read
Trainer and jockey quotes after Tradewind wins the VOBIS Gold Eureka Stockade at Ballarat on Saturday.
Race Result:
1st: Tradewind (J McNeil/R Balfour) - $31
2nd: Sirileo Miss (J Mott/A Wilde) - $5.50
3rd: Super Yulong (B Melham/M Laurie) - $14
Winning Time: 1:25/29 Last 600m: N/A
Margins: Short Neck x 1L
Tradewind went back to the fence and proved too strong at $24!
— Racing.com (@Racing) November 21, 2020
Hot-favourite Shelby Cobra was disappointing today, finishing second-last.@BalfourRyan @JyeMcNeil pic.twitter.com/fVv6N4nWqP
Winning Trainer: Ryan Balfour
"Fantastic. I'm just sorry I couldn't be there. I was there last year when we just got rolled with Little Contra but this was great.
"The trip away has done him a lot of good. When he arrived (in Victoria) a couple of days ago , Patrick Payne said that he'd travelled well and eaten up so I wasn't surprised to see him go so well. We knew the favourite would be hard to beat but we've got a really good opinion of this boy. He had to show me he was ready when he worked last Tuesday and he was.
"He's leggy and he's still got heaps of improvement to come. We've had to take our time a little as through COVID we haven't had any jumpouts here (in SA) and having to improvise he was getting little lost in his hit outs down the back straight (at Morphettville).
"At his first start he drew bad. His second start he looked like the horse we thought he was and he savaged the line. He was good last start as well.
"This says something about our three-year-olds in Adelaide. They've been going really well as we say during Cup Week.
Future: "We'll let the dust settle but we will dare to dream. He is a VOBIS horse and there's a lot of good incentives there. There's good mile races in SA and Victoria and I think he'll get up to the mile.
"After that we'll see. The sky could be the limit."
Winning Jockey: Jye McNeil
"Obviously we were worried about the favourite. I was next to it in the run and it was going to be the one to beat, but I was happy with where I was in the run, travelled really nicely. I thought at one stage I wasn't going to be able to secure some space but ended up getting up the fence and he was really strong through the line first time around this trip, I think. Good effort.
Asked if there is such a thing as being 'in the zone, and if there is, is he in it: "Yes. It helps when you've got the confidence too, I think. Everything seems to happen. I'm really enjoying my riding and that's showing in the results."
Mike Moroney on unplaced favourite Shelby Cobra:
"Really disappointing, obviously. He (Zahra) just said that he had to give him a little dig to get to where he wanted to and the horse got overracing for quite a while. But he said he thought he relaxed for long enough to give himself a chance to do better than that. He just felt that he might've had enough. We'll go to the paddock now anyway."
** MOONEE VALLEY NEXT SATURDAY **
Simon Zahra looking to Carlyon Stakes with Prezado:
"He had a jumpout yesterday and probably trialled the best he's trialled. He went around the corner quite well for him which is something that we've got to try and teach him. We can't just keep him to (racing) down the (Flemington) straight.
"If all is well we might run him at Moonee Valley on Saturday but if he needs another week he might go up the straight and look to claim on him. We might get a little bit of weight so we'll see how the wek pans out.
Have to teach him to go around a corner: "Everytime he goes around Caulfield he doesn't quite get around corners. We took him to Bendigo and he was average. We've kept him to the straight for the last four starts and won them all. He's such a big brute of a horse and it is hard for him to get around them. It is something that we've got to try and work on in the next twelve months.
"If he's going well enough maybe he's a lazy little fluke at the Lightning in the autumn. His straight form is good, his winter form and times suggest that he can be competitive. That's obviously a bit far away but something we've got our eye on down the track.
Unusual to have to teach a horse to go around a corner, usually have more of a task teaching them to go in a straight line: "He likes to build momentum so when you see him he's just a massive horse and he just struggles for some reason. I think he's run last every time he's gone to Caulfield. Horrible at Bendigo and at Mornington he was even worse. That's when we decided to keep him up the straight. It has turned him around, he's got his confidence up and we'll see how The Valley turns out on Saturday."
