Post-race jockey reports from the 2024 Golden Eagle

This is what the jockeys had to say after the running of the Golden Eagle at Rosehill on Saturday.

Cieren Fallon and Lake Forest after winning the Golden Eagle. Photo: Jeremy Ng/Getty Images.

UK galloper Lake Forrest charged home at a rate of knots to claim the $10 million Golden Eagle (1500m) at Rosehill on Saturday.

👏 @WilliamHaggas has done it again!

Lake Forest wins the $10 Million Golden Eagle with Cieren Fallon in the saddle!@aus_turf_clubpic.twitter.com/Hr3IR1vG2x

— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) November 2, 2024

The victory was Lake Forrest’s third from eight starts and took his earnings to more than $5.9 million.

Lake Forrest is a four-year-old entire by No Nay Never (USA), he was ridden by Cieren Fallon and is trained by William Haggas.

This is what the riders thought of their mount’s performance in the Golden Eagle.

1st - LAKE FOREST (Cieren Fallon) Unbelievable. Wow, I can’t believe it. Lost for words. Everything went to Plan A. Tuck in, we knew we had a lot of speed and had to save his turn of foot. I thought if we used too much energy early on we’d have been taking away our turn of foot. So I had to ride him quite brave and hope we got a bit of luck. And we got a few gaps up there. Obviously Stefano helped me get a few gaps there and, you know, what a horse.

2nd - LAZZAT (Antonio Orani) Very good.

3rd - TOM KITTEN (Ben Melham) He had a great trip from a good draw. Presented to win the race. Just ran into a couple better on the day.

4th - MAKARENA (Tyler Schiller) Special run. I don’t know if she would have been suited drawing inside but inside 10 she is awfully hard to beat. She has been very gallant up the straight.

5th - STEFI MAGNETICA (Zac Lloyd (a)) She should have won.

6th - PORT LOCKROY (Adam Hyeronimus) Horse has gone extremely well. In all fairness he was very poorly weighted in this race. But to run as well as he did and get beaten that margin was fantastic.

7th - JOLIESTAR (Kerrin McEvoy) She ran a great race. Midfield and travelled well. Had to make my run on the outside as we turned for home. Just probably cost us getting into the race. She wasn’t beaten far and ran well.

8th - WAR MACHINE (Jay Ford) He ran a really good race. Found a nice spot travelled well but lacks the seasoning of others. Will improve as he gets older.

9th - SOUTHPORT TYCOON (Craig Williams) Nothing went right. Jumped out awkward and I lost my iron when making contact with the horse outside of me. Got that back but was back a lot further in the race. He needed more speed. Followed the eventual winner but just wasn’t effective on today’s ground.

10th - SKYBIRD (Beau Mertens) She ran exceptionally well. Just back from the gate as per usual there. I thought her last 200m was great. She really sprinted through the line strongly.

11th - ENCAP (Jason Collett) Flat out most of the way. Stuck on well.

12th - ASCOLI PICENO (Joao Moreira) She didn’t bring her very best.

13th - OSTRAKA (Chad Schofield) We had a good run. Travelled very well. Found the distance too far.

14th - KINTYRE (Reece Jones) Probably found it wanting late but had a good run. Got into a good spot.

15th - CRAIG (Nash Rawiller) He is a lovely horse. It’s a bit shifty now and never gained a lot of confidence in the run. Couldn’t travel to capitalise.

16th - GRIFF (Dylan Gibbons) Got into a lovely spot. We were just playing dodgem cars most of the way so forgive him.

17th - XIDAKI (Tom Sherry) Began OK and got into a decent position with some cover. Just failed to finish off as well as he did first up.

18th - CHRYSAOR (Regan Bayliss) He was honest.

19th - VEIGHT (Harry Coffey) He was disappointing. He didn’t bring his best today. It sort of has been the case the whole prep. Just not going as well as he can. Back to the drawing board and see where he is at.

20th - CORAZON BEAT (Tommy Berry) Track was too shifty for her in the end. They are used to running on firm tracks and unfortunately we didn’t have that.

Originally published as Post-race jockey reports from the 2024 Golden Eagle