Kincaid said it was a surreal feeling after the race as the joy of victory was tempered by concerns for those involved in the fall.
“It’s a little bit hard to know what to feel right now as we are just so thrilled for Kylie and the horse but you never want to see what happened and all we want to know is that everyone is okay,” Kincaid said.
“This little horse has been so good to us. He gave me my first training win, our first stakes win when he took out the Canterbury Gold Cup [Group 3, 2000m] and now Kylie’s 1000th winner.
“He is such a fighter and just so tough. He wasn’t letting anything past him today and when he gets to the front you can just about see him grit his teeth and just fight for all he is worth.
“He didn’t start off his prep that well as I think he may have had a niggling injury that took some time for him to get over, but since his last start he has just been bouncing and he was more than ready for today.
“Our main target now will be the Spring Classic [Listed, 2000m] back here next month and then we will just have to see where we go after that.”
Stipendiary stewards provided an update on all riders and horses, with May (pelvis), Grylls (shoulder/arm) and Taplin (wrist) transferred to hospital for further observation and treatment, while Atchamah (possible concussion) and Murray were cleared of any serious injury.
All horses came through the incident relatively unscathed with just bumps, bruises and scrapes reported. Stipendiary stewards met with the remaining jockeys on-course and it was agreed the final two races of the day would be abandoned.
Bred by Phillip Jeffreys, who also shares in his ownership with Eade and Eade’s wife Patricia, Riviera Rebel is the first foal of two-race winner Chambon and comes from a family that includes Gr.oup 1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m) winner Sawatdee. He has now won seven of his 29 starts and more than $264,000 in prizemoney.
– LOVERACING.NZ News Desk