GRADE II, $200,000 SANTA ANITA SPRINT CHAMPIONSHIP QUOTES 2025

GRADE II, $200,000 SANTA ANITA SPRINT CHAMPIONSHIP QUOTES

JOCKEY QUOTES

JUAN HERNANDEZ, IMAGINATION, WINNER: “He broke really good, I was trying to grab him and drop in. As soon as I was trying to set him down, he got off the bridle. I was really wide. I didn’t want to be that wide but I had no choice after that. I just decided to stay over there and then wait for the straight to make a run. When I asked him to pick it up, he swung out and he passed everybody. This horse has talent. Bob told me to ride this horse with a lot of confidence. He was working really good and he was right. He did it really easy. He’s just a little hard-headed. Sometimes he likes to lug in and lug out, but today he was lugging in. But he was running so that was perfect.”

JOHN VELAZQUEZ, STRAIGHT NO CHASER, THIRD: “I thought he ran good. It had been a long time. Hopefully he’ll be ready for the Breeders’ Cup.

TRAINER QUOTES

BOB BAFFERT, IMAGINATION, WINNER: “We freshened him up. He needed a freshening. We gave him a lot of time. He looks beautiful, he has filled out and his work was just sensational the other day. I just thought, you know what, I am just going to run him in the Sprint. There is not a race for him for another three weeks, but this will set him up. He’s always been a good horse. He’s a little quirky but that is his thing. Speed Boat Beach, I don’t know what happened to him. He didn’t want to run today, but Juan came to pick up the pieces and the horse ran huge. It’s a great win for the team.”

NOTES: The winning owners are SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, Stonestreet Stables LLC, Dianne Bashor, Robert E. Masterson, Waves Edge Capital LLC, Catherine Donovan, and Tom J. Ryan.