3 minute read

Trainer and jockey quotes following the Group 2 Ned Whisky Shannon Stakes won by Surf Dancer at Rosehill on Saturday.

Race Result:

1st: Surf Dancer (G Waterhouse & A Bott/R Bayliss) - $5
2nd: Old Flame (P&P Snowden/T Berry) - $3.60
3rd: Ellsberg (G Ryan & S Alexiou/T Clark) - $3.30F

Winning Time: 1:29.77 Last 600m: 34.11

Margins: 3/4L x 1L

Surf Dancer finds the line first in the Shannon Stakes! @GaiWaterhouse1 @Reganbayliss pic.twitter.com/ZKPlwLNhac

— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) September 24, 2022

Winning Trainer: Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott (Adrian comments)

On the future: "It was always the plan to get him back, give him a good freshen up and a couple of runs into the Big Dance. It's the first inception of the race this year, he's got the qualification and it's worth a lot of money. We'll look to go that way."

On the horse: "There is another run. Just have to weigh up what that is. Today was going to be the deciding factor on how forward we thought he was and how far up in grade we go. It's good to see him proven at this class. We through him at the deep end coming here today. He has responded very well."

On the prep: "He looked excellent. He retained plenty of residual fitness off that short turnaround. So we were confident he was forward enough for the 1500m. We were able to get to that nice spot outside the leader with the 53kg. Thought he was going to be hard to run down."

Winning Jockey: Regan Bayliss

On landing outside the lead: "Tim Clark knows how to rate them in-front so I was always happy to just sit outside him, my bloke had a good weight edge today on Ellsberg."

On the horse: "He's been flying at home, it's just taken him a couple of preparations to really sort of hit his straps and I think he is in for his biggest campaign yet.

Where to next: "He exploded today and showed a really good turn of foot, he's progressing nicely and he's going to be mighty hard to beat in the Big Dance."

Beaten Jockeys:

William Pike (Mount Popa): "Judge him on his next couple."

Tim Clark (Ellsberg): "Good honest performance. He had no excuses in the run but had to give the first two a bit of weight."

Brenton Avdulla (Kirwan's Lane): "He ran really well. Did everything right. Has come back in good order."

Sam Clipperton (Pinarello): "To the eye he might look disappointing but moving forward I thought it was a great run."

Jason Collett (Dr Drill): "Finished it off well from back in the field."

James McDonald (Bigboyroy): "He's boxing away well. Stepping up in trip will suit."

Jay Ford (Atishu): "She was honest. She fired up mid-race which left us exposed and left her vulnerable."

Tommy Berry (Old Flame): "I expected a bit more pressure in the race. They got away cheaply in front and proved hard to run down."

Rachel King (Fourhometwo): "He just over-raced and did a bit wrong today."