Ciaron Maher has had a huge day training the winners of both races while Harry Coffey’s rise from Swan Hill battler to Caulfield Cup winning jockey is a wonderful story.
Ciaron Maher import Duke De Sessa broke through for his first Australian win with a sensational performance in the Group 1 Caulfield Cup. It was a huge day for Maher who had earlier claimed The Everest with Bella Nipotina.
The Winning Run
Duke De Sessa and jockey Harry Coffey made their move 400m from home when leader Deny Knowlegde began to weaken after setting a strong tempo. His lead was as much as four lengths in the straight as runner-up Buckaroo chased in vain from after settling in the back half of the field.
“He had the right form going in. He had four 2000m runs and going into the mile-and-a-half, he loves a bit of cut in the track,” Maher said. “And how good Harry Coffey? Harry, I was talking to him there after his last run and he said he gets excited, he likes losing weight when he’s got a chance.
“Fair play to him. He rode him confidently, he rode him well. It was a pretty easy watch.”
A Touch of Chaos
The start was delayed after Warmonger crashed through the barrier gates and took off down the straight. This incident added a touch of chaos to the day.
Coffey’s Triumph
Coffey, who celebrated his birthday with the Caulfield Cup, was over the moon. “I don’t know how to describe this. How am I feeling? Spectacular! Phenomenal,” he said. “When I let rip, I thought maybe I’ve gone too early but one thing you can count on with Ciaron Maher and this amazing team he has, you can back their horses in.
“They’ll just keep running and because of Ciaron and this horse’s owners, his staff and more importantly the horse, I’ve been involved in a day I’ll never forget, on my birthday.”
Post-Race Reactions
First Place
Harry Coffey (Duke De Sessa): “Oh, I don’t know how to describe this. How am I feeling? Spectacular. Oh, phenomenal. When I let rip I thought maybe I’d gone too early. But one thing you can count on with Ciaron Maher and this amazing team he has, you can back your horses in. They’ll just keep running. So I couldn’t pull the horse up, to be honest. I just let him roll. And, yeah, me and him just had a little moment along the side here where I actually can’t tell you the love and the happiness I have for how well this horse ran today. And as you can see, he’s pulled up absolutely tremendous. And once again, I don’t want to harp on it too much. Just a phenomenal effort from Ciaron and his team to condition stayers the way they do. Amazing feat to win an Everest and a Caulfield Cup on the same day.”
Second Place
Joao Moreira (Buckaroo): “He run fantastic. He was a bit unlucky, he got checked twice during the race, that put him a little bit too far back, but he hit the line like a champion. Very proud of him.”
Third Place
Zac Purton (Land Legend): “He got really stirred up at the gates and then the horse going through didn’t help him. He was very agitated in the gates and just raced like that, I couldn’t get him to relax at all, and at the half-mile I couldn’t hold him any longer and had to let him go.”
Fourth Place
Andrea Atzeni (Zardozi): “She run well. We actually got a position from that draw; the pace was really strong and when the pace came back she was a little bit keen for a few strides and when the winner quickened it left her flat-footed. But she stuck on to the line and I thought she run well.”
Fifth Place
Craig Newitt (Deny Knowledge): “She run terrific. She stepped a little bit slow, so I wasn’t in that mad rush early but just just took me time to slide around, eventually got there and got into a good rhythm but when I went to build at the half-mile the winner just gave me windburn basically. He went and he went quick. I thought I was going to drop right out of it but she’s so honest she kept battling on.”
Sixth Place
Ron Stewart (Fancy Man): “He run super. We were in a nice position early and the horse three deep was just unsettling him a little bit through the race, racing quite tight, but at the half-mile I would have loved to have been on the (back of) the right horse. We just got held up momentarily for a couple of strides but once we got clear muttered well to the line. Really good run.”
Seventh Place
Tim Clark (Eliyass): “He ran honestly. He came off the bridle early when Zac went around but to his credit he stuck to his guns and never gave it away.”
Eighth Place
Michael Dee (Warmonger): “It definitely didn’t help springing the gates prior to the start, that just fired up a little bit and we ended up a little bit further back than ideal. He felt like he was coming into the race down the side really well but he just doesn’t have that turn of foot, he just sustains a good gallop.”
Ninth Place
Teodore Nugent (Valiant King): “Great effort. It was a shame he drew so wide. He began great out of the barriers for me, and I tried to take up a nice midfield position but just had to come back and find a spot. Three wide the majority of the way into it and it was shame he had to make his run from the half-mile because the horse in front of him stopped. I loved the way he finished off and two miles is hi go.”
Tenth Place
John Allen (Circle Of Fire): “His run was OK. We had a good enough run in transit, three-wide with cover, but we just got flushed a bit wide on the corner. For a moment on the corner I thought we might run on and run fifth or sixth, but I just thought he plateaued a bit up the straight. He still stuck to his guns OK, but I was still expecting him to finish a little better than he did.”
Eleventh Place
Luke Currie (Huetor): “He run well. He got galloped on though so that might have just found him out late.”
Twelfth Place
Jye McNeil (Young Werther): “Every position I tried to get in, it just didn’t work out for me today and he had no hope from that position.”
Thirteenth Place
Akira Sugawara (Warp Speed): No comment offered.
Fourteenth Place
Robbie Dolan (Knight’s Choice): “From the wide draw we rode him quiet, and he’s probably a horse that appreciates a drier track because he’s got that good turn of foot.”
Fifteenth Place
Karis Teetan (Coco Sun): “She was a bit disappointing, to be honest. I had her in a good spot three-deep, I had to use her a bit down the hill, but she just spat the dummy.”
Sixteenth Place
Ben Thompson (Sayedaty Sadaty): “We were aided a good run from the nice draw on the back of the winner, but he was just too keen today and pulled too hard.”
Seventeenth Place
Ben Melham (Kalapour): “Drying ground was not in his favour and he’s getting a bit old and cunning too I think.”
Eighteenth Place
Carleen Hefel (Berkshire Breeze): “Not his day today. Got bumped around a little bit in the run and when it was time to go his wheels were spinning on that shifty surface. Hopefully he can pull up (well) and bounce back from that.”
A Day to Remember
The Caulfield Cup was a memorable event. It’s a day that will stay with Harry Coffey and Ciaron Maher for years to come. As the dust settles on this incredible day of racing, we can only anticipate the excitement and drama that the upcoming spring carnival will bring.
