FOUNTAIN
OF YOUTH
Todd Pletcher (Eskendereya) –
“You’ve got to be excited when they perform like that in these kind
of races at this time of year. I was particularly pleased with the way he
finished. I don’t think we’ve ever gotten to the bottom of him. We
threw a lot at him in the Breeders’ Cup (Juvenile) in just his third
start and first on synthetic. In the first turn I knew he had no chance. He was
jostled badly and sandwiched between horses. At one point I don’t think
any of his feet were touching the ground (finished 9th beaten 6 ½
lengths by winner). He’s had two wins over the track here now, so the
Florida Derby would seem logical for him, but we will consider all the
options.”
John Velazquez (jockey, Eskendereya,
1st) – “I didn’t want to take
too good a hold of him out of the gate, and I got to a point early on the
backstretch where I started to move forward with him. I was hoping that I
didn’t take too much out of him. Obviously I didn’t, because he
went on, and did it very well. It was great feeling when he kicked in and
accelerated away from them. He galloped out really well, and I hope he can
learn to relax just a bit more in the first part of the race. If he does, I
don’t think he’ll have any trouble going further.”
Jeremy Rose (jockey, Jackson Bend, 2nd)
– “My horse ran his heart out. The two-horse (Buddy’s Saint)
never got in our way, he sort of just bounced off the rail but we stayed clear
of that.”
Jose Lezcano (jockey, Buddy’s
Saint, 9th) - “The other horses came in like
nothing (on the first turn). I was already in a spot, and they came in and
killed my horse; put him into the rail. He came back a little bit to run, but I
was out of the race by then because of what happened.”
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