What the jockeys said after the Group One $1.5 million Victoria Derby at Flemington on Saturday.

Craig Newitt (Tarzino) 1st: "He's outstanding. He's just an out-and-out stayer and he just gave me a terrific ride today. He just put himself in the right spot and when I got to the top of the straight, I had a lapful of horse."

James McDonald (Etymology) 2nd: "He ran super. You could almost make a case that he could have won the race if he got out and got going. He was a little bit held up."

Joseph Azzopardi (Kia Ora Koutou) 3rd: "He went really good. The one in front of us just dragged us back and I was a bit further back than what I would have liked. I had a little bit of trouble getting to the moving line coming to the corner and it would have been nice to get out a bit earlier. He hit the line good. It was a great run."

Opie Bosson (Red Alto) 4th: "He ran well. A bit of a surprise really."

Brenton Avdulla (Pay Up Bro) 5th: "He ran well. He's come a long way this preparation. I ran up on the back of the winner from the half mile onwards, but he quickened and my bloke was just one-paced."

Craig Williams (Colonel Custer) 6th: "He's done a great job in the circumstances. We had to do some work from the wide barrier."

Jim Cassidy (Scadden's Run) 7th: "He was never in it."

Blake Shinn (Lizard Island) 8th: "Just didn't see the trip out. He tracked up like the winner at the 600 but from the top of the straight he lacked that sprint he normally shows."

Hugh Bowman (Shards) 9th: "He didn't stay but he ran a gallant race."

Daniel Stackhouse (Palace Tycoon) 10th: "Probably went a lot better than expected."

Damien Oliver (Get The Picture) 11th: "He just didn't fire today. I couldn't come up with an excuse."

Darren Gauci (Ayers Rock) 12th: "He ran on tired legs today. He looked like he didn't run the distance but I think he was a tired horse."

Dwayne Dunn (Jadeer) 13th : "He slipped at the start which put us back a bit further than what we wanted to, then about the 700-800 metre mark he nearly crashed, so that was his race done and dusted."

Ben Melham (Extra Choice) 14th: "He pulled a plate and didn't finish it off."

Sam Clipperton (Man Of Choice) 15th: "He was probably a bit lost going around that way."

Tommy Berry (Iron Boss) 16th: "He just took charge of me ... his race was run by the 1200 or 1400."