3 minute read
Trainer and jockey quotes following the Group 2 Sportsbet Herbert Power Stakes won by Herman Hesse at Caulfield on Saturday.
Race Result:
1st: Herman Hesse (C Maher/D Bates) - $16
2nd: Okita Soushi (C Maher/B Egan) - $41
3rd: Fancy Man (A Neasham & R Archibald/D Stackhouse) - $9.00
Winning Time: 2:29.03 Last 600m: N/A
Margins: 1-¼ lengths x 1 length
Herman Hesse ($16) takes out the Herbert Power for @cmaherracing & @decbates pic.twitter.com/QNxIgsFn3t
— Racing.com (@Racing) October 12, 2024
Winning Trainer: Ciaron Maher
Getting fit: "Herman can mix his form, but credit to the girls, Aaron, and the team down at Fingal. He was about 50 kilos, 60 kilos overweight, and just bowling up and down the sandhills there. You know, he's a big, strong horse that takes a lot of work, and he just found his niche down there, can't thank them enough.
"He's a horse that requires a higher level of work as a big, strong gelding, you know, and he gets that. They just do more work there. Every day they do less galloping, and he seems to be thriving on it."
Big ownership group: "Australian Bloodstock, we've scaled the heights. Hopefully Herman's on the way to scaling some more heights, but, yeah, they're just a great team to work with. They've got a big, massive ownership group, can't thank them enough as well."
"He can just chip his way through…there' s been plenty of times where the owners have been like, oh, Herman this and Herman that. But, you know, I'm glad he's put a couple together. He's probably in career best form. He looks fantastic annd they're going to have a great rest of the spring carnival as well."
On Okita Soushi: "He's a dour, dour stayer. Two miles is his go. And I said to his owner he will run a better race today. I just changed the gear around, took a noseband off, put a Norton bit on, nice positive ride by Billy. If we can sneak him in, he'll run a race in the (Melbourne) Cup."
Winning Jockey: Declan Bates
On the win: "Look, he's a lovely horse. He has his quirks, but he's hitting some good form now. So when these stayers of Ciaron's, when they're up and about, they really hold their form well. So I was really confident from the good gate he'd be right in the mix here. And as it happened, he won really well.
Fit horse: "No, to be honest, I think I'm blowing more than him. He can get a little keen in the run, so it's a bit of a balancing act just getting him to switch off. But as you said, he could have done another lap. But yeah, he's a nice horse. And even though he's eight years old, he's almost improved his prep, you know, so a good win."
