Saturday, September 8, 2012
BOWLING GREEN HANDICAP (G2) QUOTES
Shug McGaughey, winning trainer of Air Support (No. 1): “I knew it would be a walking race. Johnny said he ran a little spotty. At the three-eighths pole, he said, ‘I’m just gliding along, I got this under control’ and when he pulled [Air Support] out, he started looking around. When he got up to the horse on the lead – let’s give [Bombaguia] some credit, he was on an easy lead and we had to run and catch him, he ran a great race – when we got next to him, he didn’t want to run by him when I thought we would. I’m glad he won. I thought he ran a good race. I’m pleased with him. It’s the first race he’s won in a while. The field was pretty decent for a five-horse field; he beat Brilliant Speed, and the runner-up was on an easy lead. I don’t know yet what’s next. There’s a race at Keeneland, or the Red Smith [Grade 2, November 3, Aqueduct Racetrack]. I haven’t discounted the Breeders’ Cup, either. I just have to wait and see.”
John Velazquez, winning jockey aboard Air Support (No. 1): “My horse was going really easy the whole way. I pulled him out at the quarter pole, the other horse [Bombaguia] opened up two lengths on him, and he forgot he was running. When [Edgar] Prado [aboard Bombaguia] started coming out to me, that’s when he started getting serious and trying to get competitive. Still, he got next to the other horse and he didn’t really put up too much of a fight. I think he’s better than that.
“It’s funny, because I’ve been looking all the way back at the way he wins and he always wins by [a small margin]. It’s my first time riding him, so I didn’t know him very much, but he surprised me that he got to the quarter pole and all of a sudden he was up in the air. Behind the horses, I’m thinking ‘Oh, he’s going to win easy.’ Pull him out, ‘Oh, I guess not.’ Big surprise! He’s competitive, definitely competitive; he just needs to put everything together on his way though. I’ll talk to Shug, maybe little blinkers just to make him focus on what he needs to do. He’s behind horses, he’s a different horse. You put him outside of the horses, he forgets that he’s running.”
