Post-race jockey reports from the 2024 Manikato Stakes

This is what the jockeys had to say after the running of the Manikato Stakes at The Valley on Friday.

Southport Tycoon (orange) grabs Growing Empire in the shadows of the post to win the Manikato Stakes at The Valley on Friday. Photo: George Salpigtidis/Getty Images.

Southport Tycoon surprised everyone when pouncing in the last stride to win the $2 million Group 1 Manikato Stakes (1200m) at The Valley on Friday.

SOUTHPORT TYCOON FROM THE CLOUDS! 🔥

The Written Tycoon 4YO wins his 2nd Group 1 ⭐️ @cmaherracingpic.twitter.com/Gz97Lfbadq

— Racing.com (@Racing) September 27, 2024

The win was Southport Tycoon’s fourth from 10 starts and took his earnings to more than $2 million.

Southport Tycoon is a four-year-old entire by Written Tycoon, he was ridden by Mark Zahra and is trained by Ciaron Maher.

This is what the riders thought of their mount’s performance in the Manikato Stakes.

1st SOUTHPORT TYCOON (Mark Zahra) I just rode him for luck. I mean seeing my other horse in front like that, geez, he gave such a good chase. Me and Ciaron (Maher) were quietly the confident like he was going really well and I didn’t even have a chance to pull the whip, you know. I was coming through that quick and just got the stride in the right time.

2nd GROWING EMPIRE (Craig Williams) He was certainly gallant in defeat. First time up against those horses. You can see why Ciaron (Maher) brought him here. The blinkers have worked to switch him on. There’s a bit of pressure early. Probably made us a little bit vulnerable late. It was a good, tough, strong horse, an older horse that beat us in the wire, but he’s only going to improve from that experience. He was very gallant in defeat. It’s a shame we didn’t hold on.

3rd I WISH I WIN (Luke Nolen) Terrific. We just didn’t get a drag into the race like we probably thought, well, like we hoped we wouldn’t win pre-race, but he’s run sensational. Bring on the Everest. Karen McEvoy, Coleman. He ran well. He showed nice improvement in his first up run. He’s going to enjoy getting back on a bigger track than mine, so he’s handling himself really well.

4th KIMOCHI (Jason Collett) Brave. She had a wide run, but stuck on really well.

5th CLIMBING STAR (Daniel Stackhouse) Super run, really happy. We’ll see her return tonight. She’s run really well.

6th COLEMAN (Kerrin McEvoy) He ran well. He showed nice improvement in his first up run. He’s going to enjoy getting back on a bigger track than mine, so he’s handling himself really well.

7th ESTRIELLA (Blake Shinn) Looked disappointing on face value. Had to use a little bit of petrol to cross but I was happy to be in the race, travelled well, didn’t find as much as I thought, laid in a bit in the straight. May be better suited like Flemington or a bigger track.

8th RECOMMENDATION (Michael Dee) I’d say he’s probably come to the end of his prep. He’s had a great prep on top of the ground tonight. Probably didn’t suit him, but I still thought he ran well enough.

9th HAYASUGI (Jamie Kah) Just an off day for her.

10th JOHNNY ROCKER (Ben Melham) Just reared as the gates opened and it was pretty much game over for him. Ran well.

11th VEIGHT (Damian Lane) He ran a lot better than where he finished, just too sharp for him at this level, 1,200. Up in troops slightly, he’ll be much better.

12th CABALLUS (Joshua Parr) He flew the gate, we sat in the one, one in a good position and he wasn’t able to take advantage of that.

Originally published as Post-race jockey reports from the 2024 Manikato Stakes