| Saturday, September 20, 2014
Gallant Bloom Handicap (G2) Quotes
Michael Hushion, winning trainer of Artemis Agrotera (No. 1): "I didn't expect [Artemis Agrotera to be that far back]. I did something very smart: I didn't say anything to Rajiv [Maragh]. He's riding like that - he's making all the right decisions. I'd hate to have him think I wanted something, and he made a great decision here."
"Now we have six weeks [to the Breeders' Cup]. We can take our time. She has this under her belt. Like Rajiv said, he learned a lot about her today."
Rajiv Maragh, winning jockey aboard Artemis Agrotera (No. 1): "She really didn't enjoy being that far back. Early on, I tried to keep her in her rhythm. I had a lot of confidence in her and tried to be a good passenger and let her finish strong. I assumed they were going that fast [43.78] because my filly is naturally quick, and if she's 10 lengths off the lead La Verdad had to be going fast to be that far in front of her. In the stretch, my filly found a second wind and a third wind. Even if she had run second or third it would have been a good performance. It shows what kind of filly she is to get up and win the race from where she was."
Linda Rice, trainer of runner-up La Verdad (No. 6): "We talked about it in the paddock. I said, 'Go to the lead if you can; if you break a step slow and have to stalk the other one, do it.' We just had to get her back in the game and let her run her race. The :43 half might have got us beat at the wire, and that's a very nice filly who beat her. I thought she ran great. We're proud of her."
Jose Ortiz, jockey aboard runner-up La Verdad (No. 6): "She ran two disappointing races in Saratoga. Today, she ran 110 percent. Linda had her ready, and she ran her race. She went at a good pace and kept running. What can I say? Artemis Agrotera is a very nice filly, too."
"My filly broke so sharp, so I put her on the lead. No more Bridgehampton; if [Bridgehampton] doesn't get the lead, she doesn't try. I was on the lead, just waiting and waiting. When I asked her to run, she responded very well. We got beat by a nose."
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