Monday, May 31, 2010
METROPOLITAN HANDICAP QUOTES
Todd Pletcher, winning trainer of favored Quality Road (No. 7): "It was very impressive, and watching him come back and seeing how he hardly took a deep breath, it's unbelievable how talented he is, especially when you consider he was spotting the runner-up seven pounds and coming off a four-month layoff. John said he kind of spanked him one time, to give him a friendly reminder to keep to the task to the finish line, but it seemed like he had something left and galloped out really, really well.
"He's such a versatile horse. He set a track record at Saratoga at 6 ½ furlongs and two track records at Gulfstream at 1 1/8th miles, and he showed today he's a brilliant miler. He took the race to everyone and kept on. Just brilliant.
"We'll see how he comes out of this. There might be a race between now and the Whitney [Grade 1, Saratoga, August 7], or not. We could take a look at the Suburban [Grade 2, July 3, Belmont Park], but you want to make sure he's still peaking in November, too, so you want to be careful how many times you take him over there. But my first impression was that this was not a taxing race."
(On winning his first Met Mile): "It's been a year of firsts."
John Velazquez, winning jockey aboard favored Quality Road (No. 7): "The first quarter was easy enough for him, I thought 'let them come and get him.' After that we picked it up, and I felt that we picked it up pretty quick, but he just kept going. I encouraged him going to the quarter pole, just to kind of get his mind on running. He was game today."
Derek Ryan, trainer of runner-up Musket Man (No. 3): "I thought I had a real chance – I just need to figure out a way to make up two lengths. [Quality Road] is a real horse."
Ramon Dominguez, jockey aboard runner-up Musket Man (No. 3): "I had an absolutely great trip, my horse settled great and made a huge run. I got a little excited turning for home, but of course the winner didn't really come back at all. I'm very proud of my horse. He ran hard, and he tried hard every step of the way. He ran a winning race, but he just happened to run into a monster today."
James Bond, trainer of third-place finisher Tizway (No. 2): "He's a good horse; unfortunately, he came around in the wrong year! The glue-on shoes made a big difference this year. If he keeps improving, maybe one day we'll catch this horse [Quality Road] but that's going to be a tough task."
Rajiv Maragh, jockey aboard third-place finisher Tizway (No. 2): "He ran a good race, and tried hard all the way to the wire."
