VRC Oaks Day (Flemington) – November 3rd

TCL TV Stakes

(3&4yo F&M BM70 Handicap - 1700m)

Post Race Details & Comments

Winning Horse: Matron Bullwinkel (Aus)

4yoM So You Think (NZ) - Erika (Aus)(Blackfriars (Aus))

5 starts - 2 wins 2 seconds $129750

Other Wins

1st Cranbourne Nzb Karaka Yearling Sale Mdn 1400m (2022) (Debut Run)

Other Placings

2nd Sandown-Hillside Ladbrokes Easy Form (Bm70) 1600m (2022)

2nd Sandown-Lakeside Ladbrokes Blended Bets (Bm64) 1600m (2022)

Race Result:

1st: Matron Bullwinkle (C Maher, D Eustace/James McDonald) - $4.60 fav

2nd: Chandon Burj (T Busuttin, N Young/Damien Oliver) - $21
3rd: Madame Du Gast (Trevor Rogers/Mark Zahra) - $26

Winning Time: 1:43.50   Last 600m: NA

Margins: ½ Length x ½ Head

Winning Trainer: Ciaron Maher & David Eustace (Ciaron interviewed)

On the way the race played out: “He had to really ask her for that effort late in the race - there’s no one better than J-Mac - and she was super. It’s fantastic.

On future plans: “She was just going to work her way through the grades, I thought that was a very winnable race for her today and it’s fantastic for the owners. There’s a great bunch of people in her and the team have done a really good job with her.”

Winning Jockey: James McDonald

On the performance: “She gave me a beautiful ride, she just took a little bit to muster into that spot (behind the leader) but she got the lovely run and she soldiered it out really well.

“Obviously we needed a little bit of a luck at the top of the straight and we got it.

“She’s trained by the Melbourne Cup-winning combination, so you know you’re on a pretty good horse, and she had to be good. She had to sprint off a dime and waiting for a run is not ideal on a horse that needs momentum, but she was good enough.”

On having to wait for a gap: “I would have loved to have built momentum into the straight, she felt pretty one-paced and it wasn’t probably ideal being bottled up, but I had no real options. I had a lonely economical trip in transit the first half and she was always going to sprint well but she took a little bit to wind up and she only got there the last little bit. It was a good effort.”