| September 28, 2013 Jockey Club Gold Cup Invitational (G1) Quotes Bill Mott, winning trainer of Ron the Greek (No. 1) and third-place finisher Flat Out (No. 6): "You gotta love Ron. Everybody loves Ron the Greek! This is the Ron the Greek today. This is the same type of race he ran in the Sunshine Millions, the same type of race he ran in California when he won the Santa Anita Handicap. Every once in a while, he'll throw one of these. I can't determine when, but he did it today." "I had a flashback to the race in Florida this winter when he won the Sunshine Millions. I said, 'Man, oh, man. He's up there close to the pace today.' We didn't try to plan that. I just told Jose [Lezcano] to let him place himself, the way we always do. He's old enough - he knows how he wants to run, and he wanted to run big today." What are your preliminary Breeders' Cup plans for Ron the Greek, Flat Out, and Royal Delta? "We always think about [running Royal Delta in the Breeders' Cup Classic]. From my perspective, it looks like I have maybe a pair [Ron the Greek and Flat Out] to run in the Classic. I'd like to cover the Distaff as well. That has to be talked about with [Royal Delta's owner] Mr. [Benjamin] Leon." Jose Lezcano, winning jockey aboard Ron the Greek (No. 1): "He broke good and seemed like a different horse today. I put him in position, and when I asked him he took off and was gone. He never stopped. It was unbelievable." Todd Pletcher, trainer of runner-up Palace Malice (No. 7), fourth-place finisher Vitoria Olimpica (No. 4) and seventh-place finisher Cross Traffic (No. 8): "I thought [Palace Malice] ran great, you know. He showed his 3-year-old form was legit. He ran well against older horses; he beat a lot of nice older horses today. Ron the Greek is one of those horses that on occasion runs a monster race, and today he did." Mike Smith, jockey aboard runner-up Palace Malice (No. 7): "He ran brilliant. When Ron the Greek jumps up and runs a race like he ran today, no one's going to beat him, and that's what happened today. Palace Malice ran very well. I'm very proud of him." Junior Alvarado, jockey aboard beaten favorite and third-place finisher Flat Out (No. 6): "The way that horse [Ron the Greek] ran today, nobody was going to get him. My horse was sprinting for home from the five-sixteenths pole. That horse, though, was something else." "I was where I wanted to be the whole way, tracking behind the speed, just waiting for my moment. I was outside; that's where he likes to be. When I asked him he gave it to me. He gave me a nice kick and he was running hard at the end." John Velazquez, jockey aboard seventh-place finisher Cross Traffic (No. 8): "He just didn't break, and that was it. The race was lost right there. It wasn't his style. We tried to make a run, but it was too much to make up." Shug McGaughey, trainer of eighth-place finisher Orb (No. 2): "He was going down the backside fine and just dropped the bit and didn't do any running. It's pretty puzzling. He'd been doing well. He broke good and was sitting in a good position, but at the five-eighths pole, I could see that he dropped the bit, and that was the end of it. He never tried to run after that. I don't know."
Javier Castellano, jockey aboard eighth-place finisher Orb (No. 2): "The only thing I can tell you about the horse is that on the backside, I didn't have any horse early in the race. He come up flat and empty today. I never rode him before but he was in great position today. He was in hand and just galloping along, but he didn't fire today."
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