Racing
Attica wins the Spring Champion Stakes: Post Race Trainer and Jockey Quotes
Trainer and jockey quotes following the Group 1 Moet & Chandon Spring Champion Stakes won by Attica at Randwick on Saturday.
Race Result:1st: Attica (J Pride/A Hyeronimus) - $42nd: Shangri La Boy (Waterhouse & Bott/N Rawiller) - $3.20F
3rd: The Pearls (C Waller/T Clark) - $21
Winning Time: 2:03.47 Last 600m: 36.28
Margins: Sht Nk X 2 1/2L
Winning Trainer: Joe PrideThe race cut early... Here is the full final 400m of the Spring Champion Stakes! pic.twitter.com/ZP4ltiAha4
— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) October 25, 2025
On the win: "We're part of the way there. Spring Champion, you know, is a very nice race - a Group 1 - but there's still a lot to be done with him. Bear in mind it's his first preparation. I thought he just had too much to do at the furlong. He was chasing the favourite, but just the way he pinned his ears back and attacked the line, 2000 metres, no problems at all. A very exciting horse!
"They were going 12.5 the furlong midway through, and he was way back there. Did you think he would be able to rattle over the manner he did because of the tempo up front? I've got a lot of confidence in the horse, but it was going to be a big ask from there, and just maybe the track's playing a little bit more on pace than I would have liked today, but gee, you know, for him to do this in his first preparation is really exciting."
On what's next: "He'll go straight to the paddock now, absolutely no doubt about that. He'll go to the paddock, and he's just a really exciting horse, and I can't wait for the autumn."
On the team: "Yeah, look, it's a big effort from everyone at home to get this horse here today and this is just a culmination of, as I say, a lot of hard work.
"I've been handed a beautiful horse by the Godolphin and horses like this, they weren't on my doorstep a couple of years ago. So it's nice to be working with quality and yeah, it's a great result. It'd be nice to think we could get him a bit sharper for the autumn and aim at races like the Randwick Guineas, but we'll worry about all of that later on."
Winning Jockey: Adam Hyeronimous
On the run: "Well, that was my plan. Truth be known, I had a lot of plans, and at the end of every plan I'd made, he was always the winner. And it's just a matter of how it panned out. Just keep it simple, that was the biggest thing out of my 85 plans. He was still the best horse and I felt he was always going to win, it was just a matter of how it unfolded for us.
"I've ridden the second horse and I don't know if Adrian was trying to play mind games with me through the week but I galloped him and I was like oh geez and when I looked up and he dashed away I was like oh wow. I just kept edging and then at the 150 metres I knew I was always going to pick him up, but for him to do that. and the way he's won in that fashion. and the times that he's run, this early in his career it's very exciting. Very exciting.
On current form: "Things are going fantastic and I'm getting on quality horses like this horse. I've won this race before for Godolphin, and I'm thrilled to ride another Group One winner for them. I find with this race, it's very much the same every year, the best horse generally wins, and it's one thing my dad instilled into me when I started my riding career: it's just to keep things simple, keep it basic, and before I come out for the race, I've got that to set in my mind - this is the big thing is to make sure you jump make sure you travel and make sure you win."
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