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Find out what the jockeys made of their mounts after the Group One Heineken TJ Smith Stakes (1200m) at Randwick on Day 1 of The Championships.

James McDonald (Nature Strip): “He is a special galloper on his day. I’ve been saying all week, he couldn’t have worked any better on Tuesday. He has been faultless all preparation, the team has got him going amazingly well. When I got off of him on Tuesday, I was so excited to be riding him.”

 “He is executing so well. You get sick of all the talk during the week about how to upset him and this kind of garbage. They’re not going to upset him anymore. He is pretty push button. I can safely say WBS (World’s Best Sprinter) for him.”

Nature Strip going back-to-back in the TJ Smith

Hugh Bowman (Bivouac): “He was disappointing today.”

Brenton Avdulla (Eduardo): “He got control a bit easier than I thought he would. Tried hard. He’s obviously a top class sprinter but found a couple better.”

Luke Currie (Zoutori): “Good effort. Went back from the draw. He rounded it off very well.”

Kerrin McEvoy (Masked Crusader): “Ran really well. I had to duck and weave a little bit to get clear running. He finished off really well the last furlong.”

Damian Lane (Dirty Work): “Better over shorter trips.”

Damien Oliver (Order Of Command): “Had a nice run but they were a bit too good for him today.”

Keagan Latham (Eleven Eleven): “Overjoyed with the run. Thought he ran a great race. That was the strongest race he has been in. He needed today’s run but he’s in for a big prep.”

Tommy Berry (Libertini): “She just needs dry tracks. I thought that was dry enough for her today but it wasn’t.”

Check out the results and replays for Day 1 of The Championships.