2025 Golden Eagle Review: What The Jockeys Said

Autumn Glow proved she’s the real deal, digging deep to win a brutal Golden Eagle on heavy ground. Sepals and Evaporate chased bravely and look next-start winners when the tracks dry out. Catch what every jockey said in our full wrap — a must-read for punters looking for the next big run.

It is always important to hear what the jockeys say after the race as you can forgive a horses bad run or even find a winner next start so head to the post race comments below.

Dylan Gibbons (Mayfair  – 16th)

Really struggled in the ground. Hope he pulls up OK.

Joao Moreira (Lord Penman  – 15th)

Travelled OK half way through. From there on he was not comfortable with the going which is extremely soft.

Josh parr (Feroce  – 14th)

Speed went on in the race and unfortunately his wheels spun. Wasn’t able to quicken.

Tom Marquand (Seagulls Eleven  – 13th)

Found a great spot early. Took a couple of false steps on the loose ground. Probably lost some confidence.

Tyler Schiller (Shangri La Spring – 12th)

Really good effort from him. I know he hasn’t finished in the first bunch but I thought he did a great job sitting wide.

Regan Bayliss (Fully Lit  – 11th)

Didn’t provide a comment.

Rachel King (Perfumist – 10th)

Proud of her. She hated that track. Still stuck on well.

Tim Clark (Willydoit – 9th)

Got a squeeze out of the gates. Settled last and rode for luck. Continued to work through the line. Looking for further.

Chad Schofield (Modella – 8th)

Great run. Obviously an astronomical rise in grade for her but late she was running past better credentialed horses than her.

Zac Lloyd (Linebacker – 7th)

Wasn’t really himself today. Executed well and jumped well. Copped interference coming to the first bend and didn’t appreciate the going. Never dashed as he can.

Braith Nock (Cristal Clear – 6th)

Very proud of him. Had to do a fair bit of work early. Gave a good kick.

Kohei Matsuyama (Panja Tower – 5th)

Couldn’t jump as quickly as expected. Got further back than he wanted to with the leader coming back on his face at the top of the straight. Still ran well.

Jason Collett (Depth Of Character – 4th)

Really happy with his run. Just wanted to get the first half the race right which we did. He relaxed, found the bridle and was strong late.

Nash Rawiller (Evaporate – 3rd)

He went good. Still a big boy. Didn’t quite adapt to the Randwick way of going because he was awkwardly placed for a little while. Once able to flow on Autumn Glow’s back he started to put it together. Felt the way we raced early, it made it difficult but to his credit he really kept digging deep.

Ethan Brown (Sepals – Second)

Super run. Inexperienced the Sydney way first time. Showed a lot of courage running into a superstar.”

James McDonald (Autumn Glow – Winner)

She gives me that ooh la la feeling. I don’t think we’ve seen the best version of her yet either. So just incredible. We’re so lucky to have her. She can be out on her feet and she just keeps finding. She’s incredible, I’m telling you. She is fair dinkum. She knew she was in a race today and it was all due to the heavy ground. It was very testing out there for her. We had to ride her a certain way to obviously win, and she was good enough to do it. She’s incredible how you can give her a kick out of the gates and she just comes back, switches off and goes again. She absorbs pressure, she’s got an incredible turn of foot and we’re lucky to have her. That was her first run where she really had an acid test put to her and she came through it well, but she’s done a great job. She’s incredible.

View What the Jockeys Said After the Victorian Derby Here

View Our Melbourne Cup Best & Value Bets Here