Thursday, August 19, 2010
WEST POINT (NYB) QUOTES
Alan Goldberg (by phone), winning trainer of Straight Story (No. 7): “I was hoping he would settle a little more than he did. Last time we shipped up there, he was a mess, but they said he was good all day today. He was good in the paddock, but he started to get a little excited toward the end of the post parade and in the gate. He's actually a pretty laid-back horse, he just gets keyed up for racing. He never got covered up today, but it worked out. I'm not sure where we'll go next, we'll see how he does from here.”
Javier Castellano, winning jockey aboard Straight Story (No. 7): “It worked out great. On the inner turf, the ground is kind of firm, and the speed was holding. I was able to take advantage of that. Turning for home, he was very comfortable and was looking around a little bit. I didn’t want him to wait on horses; I wanted him to open up a little bit. He’s a nice horse. [In the gate] he was very tense; he had to wait a little while because he was the second horse to load. He’s a very sharp horse; he thought it was time to go.”
Scott Schwartz, trainer of runner-up Pocket Cowboys (No. 4): “He ran a very big race. We knew there was going to be some speed out there, so we just wanted to tuck him back. He got a perfect trip. The longer he runs, the easier it is for him. Edgar [Prado] said he was on a very good horse, but he couldn’t run down [Straight Story]. But he tried.”
Edgar Prado, runner-up jockey aboard Pocket Cowboys (No. 4): “We tried to do something a little different today by breaking and rating a little bit off the pace. And it really worked out beautifully, sitting right behind the winner most of the way with a lot of horse. But at the end the winner just had a little more kick left. My horse ran really well and I’m very proud of him today.
Graham Motion, trainer of third-place finisher Icabad Crane (No. 9): “It seems like we've got a versatile horse. Julien [Leparoux] was positive about him after the race. The turf is so firm that it’s difficult to make up that kind of ground. I didn’t want to change or alter his style of running for that reason. I was thrilled to see him run hard to get a piece of it.”
Julien Leparoux, jockey aboard third-place finisher Icabad Crane (No. 9): “We had a good trip and he finished up nicely. It was just that speed, right now, is too good for us. They went very fast in front and [Straight Story] never stopped. [The course] has favored speed like that the past couple days. My horse cannot show that much speed in front.”
