Tropicus wins Group 1 Oakleigh Plate

Winning Trainer: Sam Freedman

On the horse: “He’s a proper horse, he deserves that. As a three-year-old he raced against some of the best, Broadsiding and a few really proper colts. He’s got better as an entire and one of those horses that just trains on and on and on, we’ve seen him get better this prep, you wouldn’t rule out him going to another level again.

Next run: “I don’t think he’s a straight horse, to be honest. He’s generally good around a bend, he’s so good here.

“So we’ll chat to the team at Kia Ora, they’ve been great supporters of ours for such a long time. Luke and Shane and the whole team, they’re leading an amazing group of horses. This horse was largely unwanted as a yearling, Brett Cavanagh did a lot of his early work as a yearling and a two-year-old, he’s ultra tough.”

“I’d say we may end up in a William Reid, something like that, but we’ll have a chat and let the dust settle.”

Long range target: “It’s no easy to ask for setting horses for these races first up, but particularly this horse. Looked at him Monday afternoon, thought he looked a little bit round, so he had a pretty solid hit out on Tuesday with Palaton, actually, and Palaton idled up to him and had him the last 50, but like he does every time he goes to the races, even in the gallop he finds again, and just ultra tough, consistent, all the attributes you want in an entire.

“He puts himself up there, pins his ears back and has a crack. They don’t always do that as entires, as you know, but he’s one horse he’s got better – two, three, four, he just continues to improve.

“He carried a big weight today. Next in store would probably be a weight for age race. I don’t think we’d see him in a Newmarket, probably go to a William Reid – he’s so good at Caulfield and so good fresh.”

Tactics: “We spoke pre-race, and he’s a horse that has a high cruising speed, but you don’t ride him in a sit and sprint. You put him up there, his best attribute is when they come around him, he pins his ears back and he won’t lie down.

“So, once he was in the firing line at the point of the turn, and I sort of thought, anything coming to him, good luck getting past him. There’s only one filly I thought might have been able to get past him, but unfortunately she found a bit of trouble early on.”

“He’s a pleasure around the stable. He’s an absolute dude, so hopefully we’ve got him for a little while longer.”

Winning Jockey: Craig Williams

First Oakleigh Plate: “I didn’t realise until they mentioned it. My father was having a chat with me the other day and he’s trying to realise that he’s not getting too old about how many group ones I’ve won and all the races. And he said, ‘Oh, you’ve done at all?’ I said, ‘No, Dad, there’s never all.’

“I’ve still got tomorrow at Caulfield, the next day at Pakenham, and just love riding winners. And, again, I can only do it when I’ve got the right team around me, so my manager, Jason Breen, my family. Everyone in my team does an amazing job to keep me on the track and focused, and I love what I do.

“And then again, I’ve got to have the horses underneath me, so Sam and Anthony Freedman have done a great job. I love the way, he’s a lovely horse to ride.

“So I got given a really good gift today. They rang me up early and said, ‘We think he’s the right horse for the race.’ Manager agreed, so he gets credit for that and even his jump outs that I haven’t been a part of, but watched him, they’ve left the headgear off him and just saved it for the race day today.

“I had a horse that I could do so many options with. With the barrier draw and the way the race was run.”

First sit on the horse: “Beginners luck maybe, first time on him— but he seemed pretty good to ride. He’s pretty cruisy. I can see why Mark Zara and Damian Lane really enjoyed riding him in their time, and he gave me a lovely ride today, so the race worked out really well for me.