Saturday, September 22, 2012
GALLANT BLOOM (G2) QUOTES
Toby Sheets, assistant to Steve Asmussen, winning trainer of Dust and Diamonds (No. 3): “We’ve spent a lot of time with her, and she’s done really well and blossomed here. [Asmussen and I] haven’t discussed [plans beyond this race]; we were just focusing on this race and this moment. We’ll see how she comes out of it and go from there.”
Julien Leparoux, winning jockey aboard Dust and Diamonds (No. 3): “Nice trip. She broke very sharp, as usual, and she was very relaxed the first quarter. Then she just took me into the race and finished up strong. The only time I rode her [previously, third in a Churchill Downs allowance race last November], we went very fast and we were pressed all the way. Today we got a pretty easy race, nobody really bothered us.”
Todd Pletcher, trainer of beaten favorite and fourth-place finisher Turbulent Descent (No. 10): “Our biggest concern was the track seems to have been super fast since we’ve come back. I wouldn’t know if she likes the track this firm. It seems to be kind of speed-favoring and she got further back than we had hoped. She kind of flattened out the last part. We’ll regroup.”
John Velazquez, rider aboard fourth-place finisher and beaten favorite Turbulent Descent (No. 10): “Nobody made up any ground, and I kind of had to use her a little earlier than I wanted to. She came up with nothing, though. A little too much to make up. She seemed to handle the track well; she just was not there. I had to take her out of her game to catch up, and I think she didn’t like that.”
