17-05-2025
What the jockeys said: 2025 Doomben 10,000
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Star mare Sunshine In Paris prevailed in a thrilling conclusion to the $1.5 million Group 1 Doomben 10,000 (1200m) at Doomben on Saturday.
The Annabel and Rob Archibald-trained mare was never on the track but she called on all reserves to outgun the gallant local veteran Rothfire with the outsider Payline charging home to grab third.
A daughter of Invader, the win was Sunshine In Paris's third Group 1 success and seventh from 17 starts, taking her earnings to more than $6 million.
James McDonald was the winning rider and the victory was his 18th Group 1 win of the season.
This is what the riders thought of their mount's performance in the Doomben 10,000.
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1st – SUNSHINE IN PARIS (James McDonald) She thoroughly deserved this win. She's been comparing against the best horses all the way through the autumn. She was very tough and it's great to get a big result for the Archibald team. They've done an extremely good job with this mare. Rothfire was as tough as they come. I was worried at the furlong that we weren't going to get to him, but he probably had a tougher run than we did and my mare kept on surging. He gave us one heel of a fright.
2nd – ROTHFIRE (Tim Clark) He was fantastic. He was very brave and made a big improvement from his first-up run, it was an excellent performance.
3rd – PAYLINE (Justin Huxtable) He went really well.
4th – BENEDETTA (Jamie Melham) No comment provided.
5th – SCHWARZ (Craig Williams) I was really proud of his performance. He didn't really love the ground at all, but he did a good job to fight on. He dwelt a little bit at the start so that probably cost us a position I would've loved to have landed in. So under those circumstances I thought he acquitted himself really well.
6th – MAZU (Rachel King) The bad gate didn't help him today, but he was really tough and honest.
7th – LIBERTAD (Jamie Mott) He ran really well. He went well on a heavy track as a three-year-old, but I'm not sure he handled it that well today. He gave a small kick but was found wanting.
8th – JEDIBEEL (Tyler Schiller) He didn't get too much luck today, but I thought he still did a good job. He ran up some backsides and didn't get any clear air at any point, so it was a bit of a forgive run.
9th – OVERPASS (Joshua Parr) It's unfortunate that we got such a putrid track here today. He tried his hardest but he couldn't go on the ground.
10th – DESERT LIGHTNING (Thomas Stockdale) He was feeling quite fresh today. He was a bit handier than I imagined him to be, he travelled well throughout and I was happy with his last 100 metres so it should bring him on nicely for his next run.
11th – LADY LAGUNA (Mark Zahra) She wasn't up to it today.
12th – HIDDEN WEALTH (Tommy Berry) He probably just drew too well on a track that is very hard to be on the inside of. We controlled it quite well early but we ended up stuck where I didn't want to be.
13th – VEIGHT (Andrew Mallyon) He struggled to get into the race.
Originally published as Post-race jockey reports from the 2025 Doomben 10,000
