Trainer and jockey quotes after Alsephina claims the Group 2 Ladbrokes Stocks Stakes at Moonee Valley on Friday.
Race Result:
1st: Alsephina (Grant & Alana Williams/Blake Shinn) - $3.70
2nd: Lady Jones (Stephen Brown/Ethan Brown) - $15
3rd: Grinzinger Belle (Danny O'Brien/Damian Lane) - $3.50 fav
Winning Time: 1:32.33 Last 600m: N/A
Margins: ¾L x 1¼L
That turn of foot though... br>
— Racing.com (@Racing) September 27, 2024
Alsephina gets the gap & goes BANG in the last race at The Valley @williamsracing6 @blake_shinn pic.twitter.com/bGBse4RWJE
Winning Trainer: Grant & Alana Williams (Grant speaking)
"Great bunch of owners, you can see how much they enjoy it. Yeah, there's no pressure over here; it's easy, isn't it?
"We've got one on the board early. Hopefully we can stay here for another month or so, headed towards the Empire Rose and we'll see what happens.
"She had been 600 odd days out since winning but also been runner-up in the Railway.
"We thought she'd go really good on a wet track and I thought a run at Flemington was really good as well.
"Obviously she's been on all sorts of tracks. We've been from Perth, we've raced on pretty firm tracks in the summer but if you run second in a railway you'll hold yourself a pretty good set over here.
"You're a pretty tough guy, this one looks like it means a lot to you. Yeah, it does. Got some really good friends involved, really good bunch of owners, and we're going to enjoy it long and hard."
Winning Jockey: Blake Shinn
On the horse: "Oh, 100% she put the riding on the on the wall with her first up run in the Lets Elope when she was wide, and look, Grant and Alana, they know a good horse to bring over and she's trained on lovely, and we had a bit more economical run today, albeit we were held up for a long way, but she likes to be ridden like that.
"When Willie Pike rode her in the West, she ran really effectively, ridden like that how she was covered up today, and when we got out, she exploded. So, bigger things in store coming."
Getting fitter: "I don't know how she likes this Melbourne weather, but I think she's starting to adapt to it; she looks really well, she's come a lot in her coat, and how her appearance is so. Grant was rapt in how she's come on from her first-up run, and yeah, it's just great to ride a winner for Grant and Alana."
Birthday yesterday: "It was yesterday, so yeah, it was nice to nice to cap off the night with a double."
