RUFFIAN INVITATIONAL (G1) QUOTES

Sunday, August 1, 2010

 

RUFFIAN INVITATIONAL (G1) QUOTES

 

Tristan Barry, assistant to winning trainer Todd Pletcher, of Malibu Prayer (No. 1): “She ran a great race. When Unrivaled Belle stumbled at the start, that gave us a bit of an upper hand. She was able to get into a rhythm and just took it from there.”

 

John Velazquez, winning jockey aboard Malibu Prayer (No. 1): “I figured I would let her break and do it nice and easy, whatever she was comfortable with. When I asked her at the quarter pole, she responded very well. She did it very easily.”

 

Bill Mott, trainer of beaten favorite and runner-up Unrivaled Belle (No. 2): “She took a pretty good shot at the start. It was decent enough where she had to recover from it. We might have been a half-length closer to [Malibu Prayer] going into the turn instead of having daylight in between us. We might have been able to put a little pressure on her earlier than we did. As for the rest of the trip, it was fine.”

 

Kent Desormeaux, jockey aboard beaten favorite and runner-up Unrivaled Belle (No. 2): “She overextended herself at the start and grabbed her quarter. We had dead aim at the winner, but the winner ran too fast for us at the end.”

 

Gary Contessa, trainer of third-place finisher Classofsixtythree (No. 4): “I didn’t have any illusions – I just wanted to get a piece. What Castellano did for her pedigree is excellent. The connections have to be thrilled. Finishing third in a Grade 1 will really help her when it comes time to send her to the breeding shed.”

 

Javier Castellano, jockey aboard third-place finisher Classofsixtythree (No. 4): “There was a lot of speed in the race, and we were able to take advantage of it. I just took my time and waited. Gary told me not to hurry. She made one quick move at the quarter-pole and she was able to get up in the last jump for third.”