Saturday, April 7, 2012
CARTER HANDICAP (G1) QUOTES
Nick Zito, winning trainer of Jackson Bend (No. 2): “As fast as Emcee is, and when he did that [miss the break], I was kind of happy. I said, ‘Keep going now, keep going and put something on Shackleford, because we know how game Shackleford is.’ You know, I was watching the race, and I basically said, ‘It’s your race to win now, Jack’ when he got up with Shackleford. That was some thrill, I tell you. It’s amazing, this business. You know, as a groom, I grew up around here, and I watched [the race] from right over there, where I used to watch it when I rubbed horses. I put my foot under a lucky spot from when I used to rub horses. It’s just a great feeling. I have to thank God and thank everything.”
On running in the Metropolitan Handicap on May 28 at
Corey Nakatani, winning jockey aboard Jackson Bend (No. 2): “The way he was moving, I felt I’d get next to Shackleford, let Shackleford do a little of the dirty work and go, get near on the turn, and once I got around the turn I was going to see where I was at. When Caleb’s Posse started coming at me … this horse has so much heart. It brings a tear to my eye. He’s Mighty Mouse. He’s so little, 15 hands, but he’s got so much heart.”
On his four winners on Saturday’s card: “This is my second home. I’ve always loved
Donnie Von Hemel, trainer of runner-up Caleb’s Posse (No. 3): “Good performance. He came up a nose short today, so we’ll have to come try him again, I guess. Most likely Met Mile. Things changed a little when [Emcee] broke bad, Jackson Bend kind of made a little earlier move than we did and we just couldn’t get him rounded up there. That’s horse racing. The horse ran well and we’ve giving weight to everybody, too. If weight means anything, it means a nose.”
Rajiv Maragh, rider aboard runner-up Caleb’s Posse (No. 3): “The pace didn’t materialize. I had nothing to run at, but I had a great trip. I was close, sitting easy, but there was no speed, though. [Emcee] was two, three lengths off the lead and I was like ‘what?’” At the eighth pole I thought I was going to be able to get by [Jackson Bend] because I kind of drew on even terms, but I drew even on a fresh horse, so it was really hard to get by him. [Caleb’s Posse] ran amazing, but it’s a tough beat.”
Dale Romans, trainer of third-place finisher Shackleford (No. 5): “I thought that the horse that got left [Emcee] would be on the lead, and then we’d have a target, which would be better for us. The way it unfolded, he ran a nice race, they ran really fast for this racetrack today, and it looked like he was back on his game to me.”
Jesus Castanon, jockey on third-place finisher Shackleford, No. 5: “I let him do his thing. He ran his race, and he’s back to being himself now. That was probably the fastest time of the day. He’s back.”
