Trainer and jockey quotes after the Australian Racing Hall Of Fame Trophy at Flemington on Saturday taken out by Declares War.
Race Result:
1st: Declares War (Patrick Moloney/Matt Cumani) - $7
2nd: Haky (Ben Allen/Archie Alexander) - $11
3rd: Hypnos (Teodore Nugent/Roger James & Robert Wellwood) - $2.90F
Winning Time: 2:05.29 Last 600m: 3x.xx
Margins: Neck x Long Neck
Very tough win from Declares War at @FlemingtonVRC. @CumaniRacing @pattymoloney
— Racing.com (@Racing) May 15, 2021
Winning Jockey: Pat Maloney
"I was confident without being confident because he has been up for a while. Things didn't work his way in the Warrnambool Cup when I got poleaxed by Heart Of Puissance. He's one of those horses who prefers to be on the outside of horses and building momentum.
"When I asked him for a sit and sprint the other day, he wasn't going good enough and he got in trouble because of that. Matt and I mapped out a plan pre-race to be positive and take up the lead as long as we don't have to burn ourselves too much.
"We controlled the race at our own tempo and a horse coming back in trip and having plenty of runs. He doesn't have a great turn of acceleration but with having had plenty of runs this prep I was happy to take off a little but earlier on him.
"They were at me pretty much from the 300 metre mark. It's the type of conditions out there, you've got the headwind, the Soft 7 in the straight to deal with. He held his gallop strong."
On the track: "I walked it after the last straight race and there's no difference really. I find it a lot harder coming off the back of them when there is a headbreeze. I was happy to lead because we had the wind at our back until we got into the straight."
