Racing
War Machine wins the Stradbroke Handicap: Post Race Trainer and Jockey Quotes
Trainer and jockey quotes following the Group 1 The Star Stradbroke Handicap won by War Machine at Eagle Farm on Saturday.
Race Result:1st: War Machine (B, W & J Hayes/T Clark) - $3.20F2nd: Yellow Brick (T & M Sears/A Mallyon) - $41
3rd: Private Eye (J Pride/N Rawiller) - $11
Winning Time: 1:21.17 Last 600m: 35.27
Margins: ¾L x 1L
Winning Co-trainer: Ben HayesWar Machine WINS the G1 Stradbroke Handicap!
Tim Clark with a flawless performance in the saddle! pic.twitter.com/oDuyB1gLJN
— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) June 14, 2025
On the emotion of the win: "We're very proud. It was an amazing result today. Firstly, before we go into anything, the Wallace family is in the ownership group. They've had a really tough time lately and hopefully his win today will make them feel better.
"Also Mike Moroney, we're fortunate to be able to get that horse, and he's an amazing, exciting horse; and to be able to have a horse like this to train is just amazing. To be able to get a result like this for Will, JD, the whole team, Mike Moroney, their family, the Wallace family, it's really, really exciting."
On the win: "He just paraded beautifully today. He did everything right. 10 out of 10 ride by Tim Clark. We had a lovely smooth run into the race, and luckily we got the right run. Great ride by our jockey, and he performed for us, so we're so proud of him. My heart's going 100 miles an hour."
On racing wide: "That's actually exactly where we thought we'd be. So we're really happy. The horse had just done everything right."
On the horse: "It's funny, a lot of people expect him to be a big, powerful horse, but he's got a physique like Mr. Brightside, so hopefully he's the same."
Winning Jockey: Tim Clark
On picking up the ride: "Thrilled to get on him, obviously. He put the writing on the wall a few weeks ago and it was a pleasant surprise on Sunday morning when I got the news."
On the run: "He got away okay. He was just laying on the side of the gates a little bit, but he got away okay and it worked out pretty well from that draw.
"Myself and Ben, we spoke before the race. Just wanted to get on a three-wide line with a bit of cover. He found Transatlantic's back, who I knew was going to take him far enough.
"He travelled so well, I probably let him loose a bit early. But this was the grand final, there's no tomorrow, so I wasn't going to die wondering.
"He let rip, really let rip. Maybe just wandered a little bit late. He could feel Yellow Brick coming late and sort of surged again.
"I can't take too much credit for it. What a great job by Ben and his brothers to just have him spot on for today. I was just the lucky one to get the call up.
On the thrill of a Stradbroke win: "It's been a wonderful carnival. I love getting up to Queensland. To win the Straddie and just ice what's been a great carnival is a great result."
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