| Saturday, August 16, 2014 Knob Creek Lake Placid (G2) Quotes Bill Mott, winning trainer of Crown Queen (No. 5): "To run down those fillies, it makes you wish you were ready to run a month ago [in the Belmont Oaks]. She ran well. She showed us that she really belongs at the top level." "It was [a rider's race]. In those cases, you're glad that you have a Hall of Fame rider in your court, and someone that has the experience that Johnny [Velazquez] does. He'll make the right call as the race develops, and I think he did. We planned on not sending her to the lead; I was afraid she might run off. She broke and grabbed the bit and she was a little bit anxious the first quarter-mile but relaxed well once she headed down the backside." John Velazquez, winning jockey aboard Crown Queen (No. 5): "Actually, it's more difficult [with a small field] because everyone knows where you are. Two really nice horses were behind me, and I let [Duff One] go to the lead and concentrated on the two horses behind me, so it worked out. It took about an eighth of a mile to get her going, but once she switched [leads] down the lane, and I hit her a couple of times, she responded really well the last sixteenth of a mile." Gary Contessa, trainer of runner-up Duff One (No. 1): "That would have been a beautiful upset. That would have been wonderful. With the scratches and everything, it looked like we were going to be lone speed. Even though my filly doesn't want to be on the lead, I said to Jose [Ortiz], 'If you're going to be there, be there as slow as possible.' And she ran great. She tried hard. She's always been a gritty filly. I don't think she's ever run a bad race, but she always seems to be a little over her head. She showed up today and enhanced her pedigree, to say the least." Jose Ortiz, jockey aboard runner-up Duff One (No. 1): "The gates opened and I broke really well. Instructions wise, if no one wants to go [to the lead], you go; you've got the one hole. And no one really wanted to go, so I went just as easily as I could. When I asked her to go, she responded very well. She ended up second and that was good for her." |
