Sunday, September 5, 2010
SPINAWAY (G1) QUOTES
Todd Pletcher, winning trainer of R Heat Lightning (No. 7), third-place finisher Valiant Passion (No. 4), sixth-place finisher Stopspendingmaria (No. 1), and eighth-place finisher Sky Hosoya (No. 1a): “R Heat Lightning had been training very well in her last couple of breezes and got a good, favorable outside post. I was trying to get her to settle a little bit and make a run, and I thought it was a big performance. I think to anybody who had seen her first two races, particularly the Colleen where she continued to close and close and close, it looked like more ground was going to help her, so it wasn’t a surprise to any of us. I think we’d have to take a look at the Frizette [Grade 1,
“I thought [Valiant Passion’s race] was very good. She was a touch closer than we wanted her to be, and Julien [Leparoux] said she was a little bit fresh. I thought she ran a real big race to the sixteenth pole, and as you can see she got a little tired. With that being her second start, that should help her move forward.
“Sky Hosoya just went too fast early and paid for it, and Stopspendingmaria I thought was in a good striking position but flattened out.”
Garrett Gomez, winning jockey aboard R Heat Lightning (No. 7): “I was trying to keep her relaxed. Turning for home, I was a little concerned. My filly was doing more than I wanted her to do. But just as I came off the turn, Bob’s filly [Alienation] came back to us and my filly went on.”
John Terranova, who saddled runner-up Alienation (No. 3) for trainer Bob Baffert: “We didn’t necessarily want the lead but we wanted to let her run her own race. She ran well. She’s got speed, as we saw in the
Channing Hill, rider of runner-up Alienation (No. 3): “Looking at the race I knew there was a lot of speed so I really didn't want the lead. But she broke so well and she was traveling very nicely, so I just decided to take a nice long hold of her. The leader [Sky Hosoya] just dropped out of it on the turn so I just inherited the lead. She's the type of filly that I didn't want to choke down and make her take back. She actually ended up running a huge race. The winner's pretty nice, but this was my filly's first seven-eighths. I think she is really nice, but she does still have a lot of growing to do.”
Julien Leparoux, rider of third-place finisher Valiant Passion (No. 4): “She was a little rank and keen during the first part, so she got a little tired at the end. I think she’ll improve on that, fitness-wise, and she’ll be better next time.”
