Imperatriz, right, scores a second straight G1 William Reid Stakes win at The Valley. (Image: Racing Photos)
WILLIAM REID STAKES – JOCKEY COMMENTS
Opie Bosson (Imperatriz) From the draw: “I seemed to get in quite nicely behind Bella Nipotina and I thought she’d take me into the race, but she didn’t.
“I had to make quite a long run, to be fair to her, down the side and when we turned in and she gets on that right let going down the straight she is amazing.
“You can feel her picking up underneath you and once she balances up, she is all class.
To win after getting beaten in the Newmarket: “I got off her that day and said to Mark that she’ll be hard to beat at weight-for-age in any race from now on.
“I’m glad she came out there and won the way she did.”
Rhys McLeod (Johnny Rocker): “Unbelievable effort by him. We wanted to follow the mare throughout, we did, and he just kept coming up underneath me. I thought we were a real shot at the top of the straight, but she’s a real tough mare.”
Ben Melham (I Am Me): “Terrific run first-up. It’s her toughest assignment first-up, 1200 metres at Group 1. She’s only going to improve off that and the winner is a freak.”
John Allen (Bella Nipotina): “She was honest. She ran well.”
Jake Noonan (The Inferno): “It was a good return and he’ll take some good improvement off that and hopefully he’ll improve off that.”
Michael Dee (Hypothetical): “Probably conditions at weight-for-age were a bit too tough for her. She loves the rail and down the side is very average at this stage of the day, but she still tried hard.”
Harry Coffey (Queman): “He rounded out the race good. He missed the start and that put us back in an awkward spot, but he finished off well.”
Billy Egan (Queen Of The Ball): “She did what she did, but she landed in a handier position than we probably thought she would.”
Declan Bates (The Astrologist): “He was a bit slow out of the gates today which cost him his chance. He finished off OK, but he lost it at the start.”
Beau Mertens (Cylinder): “He jumped well, travelled nicely. We landed exactly where we would have liked to be. He tracked up and I thought when the pressure came on, he just struggled to pick up with them and, unfortunately, he wasn’t there today. He more a class horse than he showed today.”