Racing
Nation's Call wins the Treasury Collective Handicap: Post Race Trainer and Jockey Quotes
Trainer and jockey quotes after Nation's Call claims the Treasury Collective Handicap at Moonee Valley on Friday.
Race Result:1st: Nation's Call (R Griffiths/J McNeil)2nd: Presser (G Bedggood/B Mertens)
3rd: He'll Rip (L & T Corstens & W Larkin/B Allen)
Winning Time: 1:36.22 Last 600m: N/A
Margins: 1-¾ lengths x Half Length
Winning Trainer: Robbie GriffithsThe Valley Race 8 | Nation's Call
Nation's Call answers the call, racing away from his opposition in the straight
Ch. 78/68, Foxtel 529, Kayo or via our app
REPLAYS: https://t.co/ZIa4a02wC0 pic.twitter.com/IHZuNM9oRo
— Racing.com (@Racing) October 24, 2025
On the win: "We were really keen to get him here, and we've been really happy with him. But things have gone wrong with barriers, and when he drew 13, we thought we'd just scratch again, waste of time, and then he drew 7 after all the scratchings so we elected to take on the challenge, but there was good speed, and the track got upgraded to a (good) three, and he doesn't go on a three."
"Well, he does now. So everything was, he can't win, he can't win, he can't win, and there he is, he won well. It's no surprise the way he's been going. But luck's been going against him, but it was fantastic, special moment for me because this is my last runner. I've got no runners tomorrow, last runner at the Valley a winner, and with Dandy Kid holding the record here with 15 wins, it's been a special place for me."
On The Valley: "As a young fella, I just loved watching Kingston Town and Manikato. I didn't think I'd see horses as good as them, and then you see the Sunline's and the Winx's and Black Caviar, and there's just countless amounts of superstars that have been here, and some of those Cox Plates that we've seen with the Saintly and Bone Crusher's"
"I mean, it goes on and on and on, and the famous 92 Cox Plate. I mean, I'll be here forever telling you what I think, but it's special and it's great for this guy to win tonight because it's been a while.
"His owner, Alf Gauci, and his family, they're Alf's family colours, and he's very passionate, as his family are. I probably turned him away from coming tonight, so I'm hoping he'll forgive me now."
Suited here: "He's a good leader and he was getting carried away with his speed, and he went from leading to bolting so we had to spend time retraining him and it took us a while"
" And then finally when we got everything right, we took the headgear back off and he was ready to go and he went to the line unextended with Blake Shinn two runs back"
"Last start he drew wide and everything went wrong and then tonight Jye was the last one to win on him when he led all the way on him so we went back to that and it worked great."
Winning Jockey: Jye McNeil
Plan to lead: "That was Robbie's plan A, from that awkward draw get across and try and control the race and get into a role that he's been comfortable in in the past and it seemed to work really well for him."
Firm track didn't bother him: "Clearly it didn't. He seemed to move well on it, so hopefully that's great knowledge for us moving forward."
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