Saturday, June 9, 2012
Michael Matz, winning trainer of Union Rags (No. 3): “I think he showed a lot of gameness today. Believe me, it’s sure a lot nicer walking back after the races than it was in the Kentucky Derby, I’ll tell you that.”
“He came up to both races very, very good. He couldn’t have trained any better going into the
“I talked it over with Peter Brette, my assistant, and the second dam was Terpsichorist and she was by Nijinsky, and there’s some distance right there. I know Dixie Unions haven’t gone more than a mile and an eighth, but the way he trained and big as he is and his stride, we’re in the same boat as everybody else in there. They didn’t know if they could go mile and a half, either.”
“We always thought this horse had Triple Crown potential. When we trained him, we gave him four races as a 2-year-old and gave him a rest and had a good plan. He never missed a beat. His first race couldn’t have been any easier. He had trouble in his second race and his third race. I do really think that this horse, when he has a clean trip and can show himself, is one of the best 3-year-olds in this crop. Whether he could have done something against I’ll Have Another, I don’t know, but it sure would have been fun to see.”
“I thought it was pretty exciting, and I’m sure John did, too.”
“Johnny was going to ride his race. I didn’t tell him anything. I’ve never ridden a race in my life.”
Does this make up for the tough losses in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, the
On the ride John Velazquez gave Union Rags: “I thought he rode a brilliant race today. Whether he got up there or didn’t, he still rode a great race. He got the horse away from the gate cleanly, got settled into stride, wherever he was. Johnny came up to me and I didn’t say a word, I just said, ‘Break and get into a nice rhythm.’ He’s a strong rider. To be quite honest, when Javier took off the horse, we asked John to ride the horse, but he could not give us a three-race commitment at the time because he was [going to ride] Animal Kingdom in
John Velazquez, winning jockey of Union Rags (No. 3): “I wanted to break well out of there and get a good position. Like Michael said, I wanted to get him into a good rhythm. I didn’t want to get him stopped. I just wanted to get him in a good rhythm that he felt comfortable wherever he was. He did everything really well behind the horses. Coming down the stretch, it wasn’t my intentions to come in there, but when the other horse came over and went out next to me, I said, ‘This is my opportunity to get through on the rail.’ I waited for a hole to open up and I got lucky. The horse did it all. At first, the hole was pretty tight, I engaged him to get into the hole – I didn’t know it was going to open up – I anticipated it was going to open up, and he took it. Once he did, he put in a good fight.”
“I was very impressed with the way he did it. Pulling up, I said to myself, ‘He’s really strong.’ I loved the way he handled everything. When I asked him to do something, he did it. He did it very easy, and he gallop out very, very well. That’s where I was really impressed the most.”
“[I’ll Have Another] was not in the race, but I thought it was a very salty race. It was a very good race, a very competitive race. Even if he was in the race, we didn’t know if he was going to win or if he was going to handle a mile and a half. Would he have been ready? I thought it was very exciting race. I think the public should be happy with it. I want to thank the media and everybody who came in and put the race out there. I think it was an unbelievable race.”
“I thought I’ll Have Another would be close to the pace and I would follow him or Mike Smith’s horse [Paynter]. The only thing I didn’t want was to do too much early in the race and not have enough left to fight Dullahan. That was the horse I was worried about today. Obviously, he didn’t show up, but that was my plan. I wanted to get a good rhythm with him and then be watching out for those two horses. When [I’ll Have Another] wasn’t in there, it made it easier. I just followed the horse in front, and it worked out for me. I’m very proud of him.”
“It’s hard to separate [my
-30-
