Saturday, October 6, 2012
FRIZETTE (G1) QUOTES
Todd Pletcher, winning trainer of Dreaming of Julia (No. 7): “We knew that the filly that finished second [My Happy Face] was very talented. You’re talking about two fillies that have won their last couple of races by a long way. They were running into a headwind down the backside and it was pretty fast fractions. With the track is starting to dry out a little bit and with the long wait [at the starting gate], it was demanding. I think with the scratches, on paper, it turned into a virtual match race. Most match races, the speed horse has the edge, so we had to kind of take it to her a little bit. We hope [to run in The Breeders’ Cup]; we were looking at today as a prep, so we hope she comes out of it well.”
John Velazquez, winning jockey aboard Dreaming of Julia (No. 7): “Not as easy as the last two, not at all. The other filly is a nice filly, she won [her last race] by 21 lengths. I had to put pressure on her the whole way around to make it a match race and it ended up being a match race, anyway. But she’s gutsy, that’s what she is. The scratches changed the race; it went from being a lot of speed to me having to do the dirty job and not let [My Happy Face] get away.”
Rudy Rodriguez, trainer of runner-up My Happy Face (No. 2): “She ran very, very good. She got the worst part of the track, and Johnny’s filly got a perfect trip. But she ran very, very good.”
Ramon Dominguez, rider aboard runner-up My Happy Face (No. 2): “She ran hard, just a head short from winning, but she did everything right.”
Did being drawn inside Dreaming of Julia make a difference? “[Owner Michael Dubb] pointed that out to me. Of course, I would have liked my chances if it was reversed. It was tight along the inside; there wasn’t much room to work with, but I can’t take anything away from the winner, either. No regrets.”
