Thursday, January 1, 2015 Affectionately Quotes Leanna Willaford, assistant to winning trainer Bill Mott, of America (No. 4): "There was plenty of pace up front. Normally, you have to really pedal on her to get her going, but [jockey] Junior [Alvarado] said she really took him today. You could see in the turn, she ran around the turn a little better than normal, and continued to finish well from there. It was great to get her a stakes win; that's obviously what we've been shooting for, for many starts." Junior Alvarado, winning jockey aboard America (No. 4): "She broke and got a little bit squeezed at the break, I just let her relax and get in a nice rhythm. She's actually a filly where previously at the half-mile pole you had to start riding her hard because she didn't have a strong kick and would start to drop back, but today as soon as I started to pick it up with her she was ready to go - picking it up real fast. As soon as we turned for home I didn't know if we would get there, but I knew it was going to be close because she was responding well for me."
|