Racing
Isti Star wins the Magic Millions National 2YO Classic: Post Race Trainer and Jockey Quotes
Trainer and jockey quotes after Isti Star claims the Magic Millions National 2YO Classic at Gold Coast on Friday.
Race Result:1st: Isti Star (Paul Shailer/Michael Rodd)2nd: Prince Tycoon (Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young/Blake Shinn)
3rd: Secret Sort (Donna Stainbridge/Angela Jones)
Winning Time: 57.39
Margins: 1L x ½L
"Thrilled to bits. So proud of her because she has been through a lot. Obviously she was identified early as a horse with immense talent and we thought we could win the Magic Millions with her but it went terribly wrong.
"She's a horse that suffers from some allergies and she went shinsore. We had to put her aside and be patient.
"I'm very thankful to the ownership group who have been so patient with her. It hasn't been an ideal prep. We had to run her first-up in the Calaway Gal and run her with the view of being here tonight.
"At Ipswich she was brilliant, and tonight again she proved she is a really quality filly. She's going to get better with age.
"She's versatile and I think she'll stretch out over seven furlongs-plus."
What it means to him: "A lot. I want to make special mention of Brian Hooper and Helen Hooper who are in this filly. Brian isn't in the best of health but he is here tonight with Helen and they have been great supporters of mine.
"It is really good to win a good race for him because he's got a lot of shares in a lot of horses in my stable and it is great to be able to share it."
Winning Jockey: Michael Rodd
"Paul has had a horrible run with barriers lately and for one to get a good gate over the last month, she was the one.
"It makes such a big difference. She is so quick. I was lucky to be able to let Darn Hot Lady cross me which gave me about 100-metres of rest which you don't often get in these races.
"She just kept coming up underneath me in the straight and I said I wasn't going to wait around so I got going.
"She's been racing really well and she is showing a lot of ability. She started favourite in The Debut race and she went really well. Hopefully this is just the start."
On Paul Shailer: "I'm so happy for him. He works so hard. I've been working with him over the last three months and you see the heartache sometimes when things go wrong. They've got really good staff which helps.
"He's got a bunch of good young horses coming through which you need and it is on the up and up for him."
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