Saturday, June 23, 2012
MOTHER GOOSE (G1) QUOTES
Tom Albertrani, winning trainer of Zo Impressive (No. 5): “Going into the race, she was very sharp. We had a great post and everything worked out exactly as we planned. We wanted to be in a position where we could eyeball Contested, you know, be just sitting off her and everything just worked out beautifully. You could definitely see she was a lot more focused today going into the race, that’s what probably made a difference. Timing means everything, and she was training well coming into this race so that meant a lot.”
“It wasn’t a big [field] but it was probably the four best fillies you’ve got in the country right now, so that’s what made the race pretty special. We always had confidence in our filly, and she was just very sharp today and gave us a lot of confidence going into the race. She came out running and she’s so easy to place, that Rajiv just took her back as planned, just to give her a target and wait, wait, wait until the right time.”
“I don’t think [more distance] should hurt her any, we’ll see when we get to Saratoga with two turns again, try to stretch her out to a mile and an eighth [in the TVG Coaching Club American Oaks (Grade 1, $300,000 on Saturday, July 21 at Saratoga Race Course)]. We’re just happy to get the Grade 1, that’s important, and as long as she comes out of the race healthy, that’s really what we want.”
Rajiv Maragh, winning jockey aboard Zo Impressive (No. 5): “Maybe the biggest difference was the Acorn had a very speed-favoring track, and Contested got an uncontested lead. [Today] several horses gave her more respect and put on pressure, and that help me beat her. The pace was a little hot [in the Acorn] and they got away from me more than I wanted. I had too much ground to make up. We wanted more of a tracking position today.”
Todd Pletcher, trainer of runner-up Disposablepleasure (No. 3): “I was looking forward to stretching her out to 1 1/16 miles. It was a lot different track than we saw on Acorn day. She’d been training very well and I wasn’t surprised by the way she ran.”
Larry Jones, trainer of third-place finisher Believe You Can (No. 1): “It’s my Mother Goose jinx – I’ve never had any luck in this race. I was second with [favorite] Joyful Victory last year, Proud Spell didn’t win [DQ’ed from 2nd to 3rd in 2008] and neither did Island Sand [third in 2004]. I think maybe next time we’ll skip the Mother Goose and go straight to the Coaching Club American Oaks.”
Jim Barnes, assistant to Bob Baffert, trainer of beaten favorite and fifth-place finisher Contested (No. 2): “I think the track she ran on in the Acorn was just a much different track. This was kind of wet down deep inside and kind of a dead track, didn’t look like it had life to where they were bouncing over it. She looked to be running fairly easy early, but I knew at the top of the stretch, or even before then, that we were in serious trouble.”
Javier Castellano, jockey aboard beaten favorite and fifth-place finisher Contested (No. 2): “I’m not disappointed with the way race unfolded. She made the lead. At the quarter pole, I was dead. I didn’t have a horse. It really surprised me because she had been working so good. It could be the track. I was inside, and the track is very deep inside.”
**Please note that there was a jockey’s objection from the #3 Disposablepleasure (Ramon Dominguez) against the winner # 5 Zo Impressive (Rajiv Maragh) for alleged interference in the stretch run. After reviewing the video the objection was disallowed by the stewards.**
