Thursday, July 24, 2014 Jonathan Kiser Novice Stakes Richard Valentine, winning trainer of Awesome Pearl (No. 9): "His run in the Queens Cup [second on April 26] was huge. I was very, very proud of him. Then, I probably ran him back a little quickly. It was nice to be in a photo with [Kingdom]; Elizabeth Voss has done such a wonderful job taking over for her father [the late Tom Voss]. I thought this race might be a little too short for Awesome Pearl, actually. We hope to see him again at the end of the meet here." Kieran Norris, winning jockey aboard Awesome Pearl (No. 9): "He's more of a hunt-meet horse who likes a mile-and-a-half track, not seven furlongs. It took him a while to adjust to the tightness of the track, but the farther we got into the race, the better he got. I was stuck in traffic, and once I got an opening I let him go. He just went away from me. He's a very versatile horse, but I didn't expect him to win the way he did today." **Note: The Jonathan Kiser was the first victory at Saratoga for Kieran Norris. |