Saturday, June 9, 2012
TRUE NORTH HANDICAP (G2) QUOTES
Mike Repole, winning owner of Caixa Eletronica (No. 7): “He’s an old knocker. He can win at six furlongs, he can win at 1 1/8 miles, he can win a million-dollar race [Charles Town Classic] and he can win a $16,000 starter handicap …. this is what horse racing is about. This is a throwback horse to the ‘60s and ‘70s. How can you not root for this horse? Running him back on 12 days rest after running against Jackson Bend, Shackleford, Caleb’s Posse … and he comes back here. He was flying. He was down by 22 lengths and I thought, ‘Maybe running back in 12 days after the Met Mile was not so smart.’ But Todd said he’d been galloping like crazy, drinking like crazy.”
Javier Castellano winning jockey aboard Caixa Eletronica (No. 7): “I had a great trip and the race set up perfectly for me. The fractions were what I was hoping for and when I asked him to run, he responded great. He never gave up down the stretch too.”
Steve Asmussen trainer of runner-up Justin Phillip (No. 8): “I'm proud of him. He ran hard, but he ended up second.”
John Velazquez rider of runner-up Justin Phillip (No. 8): Perfect trip. I thought I had it. I was so home free until somebody else got me. I couldn’t have asked for a better trip.”
Mike Smith, rider of third-place finisher Smiling Tiger (No. 3): “Great trip. Stumbled really bad leaving the gate, and it was just too much for him to do second race off a layoff, but it was a step forward. He ran a very good race against our best sprinters – some of our best sprinters anyway – so I was happy with him.”
Preliminary report on the injury to Giant Ryan (No. 6) who was vanned off: According to Dr. Larry Bramlage, American Association of Equine Practitioners, X-rays show that Giant Ryan fractured both left front sesamoids and sustained ligament damage in back of his left front ankle. His injuries are still being evaluated.
