WHITNEY (G1)
QUOTES
Al Stall, Jr., winning trainer
of Blame (No. 2): “I’m thrilled to death for everyone involved. The fact we
were within four or five lengths from the three-eighths pole to the wire – he’s
pretty tough. He’s got a great turn of foot. If he’s within striking distance of
a horse, he usually gets there. That’s what I’ve learned about him in the last
six months or so.
“The first half in :48 was a
little nerve-wracking, but it kept us close. If he [Quality Road] goes
in :46 and going just as easily, we’re 15 lengths out of it.”
On Blame’s next start: “There
will be one race between this and the Breeders’ Cup Classic. It might be the
Woodward [September 4, Saratoga], the Jockey Club
Gold Cup [October 2, Belmont Park] or the Hawthorne Gold Cup. The
breeders want to do the New
York stuff, which I do too.”
Garrett Gomez, winning jockey
aboard Blame (No. 2): “We were super confident. It’s just one of those
things you don’t want to say too much so you can let the horse do the talking.
He’s been trained magnificently for this race and every other race I’ve ridden
him in. He’s a magnificent older horse and I can’t wait until we go farther. If
you watched me ride him, I never hit him. I actually moved up at about the
three-eighths pole and I felt pretty confident then. I was just biding my time
until we turned for home. I just didn’t want to sit too long because he’s got a
long consistent run and just keeps coming. I just wanted to make sure that when
we turned for home I did have him in a good place. He kept staying on and in
that last eighth of a mile, when I finally got right to [Quality Road], I
said ‘I got him’.”
Todd Pletcher, trainer of
favored runner-up Quality
Road (No. 3): “We had a comfortable trip, set
reasonable fractions, and just got run down at the wire. He [Blame] ran a big
race.”
John Velazquez, rider of
favored runner-up Quality
Road (No. 3): “I tried to put him into the
bridle, but he was just going through the motions, which is strange for him. I
was hoping there’d be nobody there, so I got to drifting. I was trying to make
it more difficult for the horse on the outside.”
Derek Ryan, trainer of
third-place finisher Musket Man (No. 6): “This was a tough finish. It looked
like Quality
Road and Haynesfield would go out there, and we would
be sitting third. For some reason, I don't know why, the other speed didn't go.
Rajiv [Maragh, jockey] said, 'They were crawling and I couldn't let them go.'
Rajiv rode a great race. He did the right thing. He didn't want the speed to go
alone on the lead. We were only two lengths behind at the end. He's an honest
horse and tries hard every time.”
Rajiv Maragh, rider of
third-place finisher Musket Man (No. 6): “The pace was slower than anticipated, so I
put my horse closer to the pace because I wanted to be in a winning position
turning for home. I thought I was in the right spot if I was going to win the
race, and my horse tried hard all the way today, he just couldn’t get
there.”
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