Trainer and jockey quotes after the Group 1 Asahi Super Dry Metropolitan at Randwick on Saturday taken out by Royal Supremacy.
Race Result:
1st: Royal Supremacy (C Maher/R Dolan) - $7.50
2nd: Soul Of Spain (C Waller/Z Lloyd) - $4.80F
3rd: Juja Kibo (C Maher/R Jones) - $19
Winning Time: 2:26.84 Last 600m: 34.54
Margins: ¾L x Short Neck
Royal Supremacy rules supreme in the G1 Metropolitan for @cmaherracing and @ZRKD! @aus_turf_club @Austbloodstock pic.twitter.com/t1cHJR5XJQ
— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) October 4, 2025
Winning Trainer: Ciaron Maher
On reversing the result of the Newcastle Gold Cup: "I was pretty confident that day, so I left Newcastle with my tail between my legs. This was obviously much better.
On the win: "Great steer by Robbie, and I can't thank our team enough, Australian Bloodstock, all the other owners, fantastic.
On the horse's improvement: "He just gets better with each run, he used to be a little bit aggressive in his races, but with each race, he's starting to relax a little bit better. And that's what I said to Robbie; it's just about getting the first half right, and hopefully the second half will take care of itself. I'm just thrilled.
Where to next: "He'll probably go towards the Melbourne Cup, I'd imagine, he did a mile and a half quite well, so we'll see if he can do two."
Winning Jockey: Robbie Dolan
On the win: "Racing's a funny game isn't it, yeah it's a real shame about Knight's Choice, you know that little horse changed all our lives forever, but his welfare is number one and I do believe things happen for a reason.
"He is probably the strongest horse I've ever ridden, my god I was bolting at one stage, I'd say he's a pretty talented horse because he over-raced pretty much most of the race and ran away from them."
"If he learns to relax, he'd be a serious weight-for-age horse."
Beaten Jockeys:
Tim Clark (Vauban): "I thought he ran really well today. Ridden a bit quieter and found the line much better."
Rachel King (Arapaho): "A bit of a below par run for him. Not quite sure."
Tommy Berry (More Felons): "Terrific run from him. I rode him on Tuesday morning and thought he was one run away. He showed that today, he peaked at about the 100m. The St Leger for him in a few weeks time is a perfect race for him."
Ethan Brown (Changingoftheguard): No comment
Dylan Gibbons (Athabascan): "Thought we had a great run. Just wanted to see a tad more from him late."
Kerrin McEvoy (Birdman): "He ran well. Wasn't beaten far. Had to go back from the gate. Levelled up and hit the line well. A better gate would have suited him."
Molly Bourke (Son Of Sun): "He didn't have a very great run throughout the poor bugger. He is a tough horse and there are better races for him ahead. A torrid run today."
Zac Lloyd (Soul Of Spain): No comment
Jay Ford (Etna Rosso): "He ran well. He got shuffled back when the move came. Lost his momentum. Got going late."
Andrew Adkins (Piggyback): "She was tough. Might have been a bit over the top today. Never wanted to relax. I thought she was gallant."
Anna Roper (Glory Daze): "He has gone really good. Race shape didn't suit when they took the speed out. We popped around them and he was happy out in front. Needs a wet track."
Louise Day (Wyclif): "Huge run. Just the slow tempo so pulled a little bit. Didn't get much clear running until very late when hit the line strongly."
Alysha Collett (Don Diego De Vega): "Brave run. He will benefit from that."
Brock Ryan (Flying Bandit): "Not a bad run. Tempo was muddly from the middle stage and over-raced a bit."
Ben Thompson (Travolta): "Great run in defeat. Afforded a lovely run from barrier one. It was against him at the business end. Needed the run to come sooner."
Reece Jones (Juja Kibo): "He was super. I thought he was going to get there and win. Credit to the winner, kept on toughing it out. Awesome effort."
Winona Costin (Sun 'N' Sand): "Just had to do too much work from the wide barrier. Took a toll late."
