Photo: MEC
RAMPART
Stakes
Quotes and Charts
Bill Mott (trainer, Unrivaled Belle,
1st) – “She can be the most docile horse around
the barn, but when she goes to the paddock it can be a battle. She’s
actually pretty good when she does get in the gate. We (Mott and Desormeaux)
didn’t have much time to talk about strategy in the paddock the way she
was acting, which is probably for the best. I haven’t seen the replay
yet, but it pretty much looked like she went on out to the lead on her own. She
was a still a maiden at Keeneland last year and had some minor issues, so she
had kind of a limited campaign. She ran well in the Gazelle and we were looking
forward to this year. She’s been invited to the Apple Blossom (Oaklawn Park
on Apr. 9) and then there is a race Derby
weekend at Churchill. We’ve also got another nice filly in
Justwhistledixie, so we’ll look at the options.”
Kent Desormeaux, (jockey, Unrivaled
Belle, 1st) – “She froze going into
the gate, but that’s all it was. It’s not a simple thing to
explain, but hopefully it’s something she gets over. The last couple of
times we tried to hold her off the lead and I was a little disappointed with
the way she ran, so I thought maybe we should employ a different tactic today
and go for the lead. Thankfully that change in the plan was successful. At no
point late was I worried that the other horses were going to come get her, she
still had plenty left at the finish.”
Javier Castellano (jockey, Champagne
Eyes, 2nd) – “The way my filly ran
today, everything was just about perfect. The trainer (Marty Wolfson) told me
exactly what to do, and I kept track of the winner all the way around. And my
trip worked out the way I wanted, the winner just got away.”
Pablo Andrade (trainer, Bambera, 9th)
– “She cut her tendon. (Jockey) Edgar (Perez)
told me that it happened when she was coming out of the gate. It doesn’t
look too bad and my vet is looking at it now.”
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