JOCKEY Harry Coffey says he's appreciative the connections of Bubble Palace have kept faith in his ability instead of ditching in favour of a high-profile hoop.
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Coffey said the calibre of jockey at the Warrnambool May Racing Carnival "is great for racing, but makes it bit tough for fellas like me."
The odds-on favourite, trained by Warrnambool's Daniel Bowman, was a $180,000 purchase at the Classic Yearling Sales.
She defeated Dusse and Soju Session in race five over 1000 metres on Tuesday.
Coffey said it was a delight to ride the talented filly.
She's pretty brilliant actually. She's a pleasure to ride. I actually haven't ridden many two-year-olds that are as intelligent as her. She jumps out, she gets into gear quickly and she wants to own the race herself
- Harry Coffey
"She's pretty brilliant actually. She's a pleasure to ride. I actually haven't ridden many two-year-olds that are as intelligent as her. She jumps out, she gets into gear quickly and she wants to own the race herself," he said.
"That's going to take her a long way, especially in these early years where horses are inexperienced, even in her early three-year-old year next season, she's just going to be dynamite being able to race the way she does.
"She's pretty brilliant and it's awesome to partner her."
Coffey thanked connections and Bowman for backing him in. "I've got to send a shout out to connections sticking by me. I don't think I've seen a Warrnambool carnival where there's this quality of riders coming to the meeting, so for me to ride a filly like her in a big race and then reward them for the faith I'm absolutely chuffed," he said.
"It's great for racing that these riders come out to Warrnambool but it makes it a bit tough for fellas like me, so I was rapt to reward the connections."
Bowman said the victory was a "relief".
"I don't get nervous very often, unless i think they're pretty serious, and I was toey at Ballarat and I was probably toeyer today," he said.
"It's just a relief. When you've got Frank and Christine Cook buying a yearling for this price ($180,000), and they could have given it to anyone, but they gave it to me and Denita and our staff and entrusted us so it's just good to be able to repay them."
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