GRADE II, $300,000 DK HORSE SAN FELIPE STAKES QUOTES

GRADE II, $300,000 DK HORSE SAN FELIPE STAKES QUOTES

JOCKEY QUOTES

UMBERTO RISPOLI, JOURNALISM, WINNER: “He broke really sharp. He is the kind of horse that for the first furlong he needs to adjust himself. The trip was perfect. I couldn’t ask for anything better, once I took him out and pressed the button he put on the beast mode. He ran really strong.

“Aron Wellman has been a great supporter of mine since I came to California. Michael McCarthy, Felipe and all the guys that work with this horse, they do an amazing job. I hope this is just the beginning of a nice and beautiful adventure with him.”

JUAN HERNANDEZ, BARNES, SECOND: “He was driving really well. He was comfortable and doing really well. Honestly, we just got beat by a great horse today. This is his first time going two turns and I think he ran great even after Journalism ran past me.”

TRAINER QUOTES

MICHAEL MCCARTHY, JOURNALISM, WINNER: “Obviously it’s nice to have a horse on the Triple Crown trail. The connections have had a lot of success, there are some new people involved with the horse. It is always great to have a horse that can take you places and he looks like he is taking himself and everybody else with him. I was fairly confident today. I wouldn’t say I was overly confident but I thought he was doing well enough to make some noise today. It is a little overwhelming to think of where this horse could go. “He was certainly ready. With a horse like Barnes, and how good he is, you wonder if he is good enough. Certainly, today it looked like he was.”

OWNER QUOTES

ARON WELLMAN, ECLIPSE THOROUGHBRED PARTNERS, JOURNALISM, WINNER: “I’m very gratified. I always had a lot of confidence in this horse. Michael has done a spectacular job developing him really methodically. I said before this race, this is the battle and we are going for the war on the first of May. We are not taking anything for granted but to see him continue to be on this upward trajectory has been really special to watch.”

NOTES: The winning owners are Bridlewood Farm, Don Alberto Stable, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Elayne Stables 5 LLC and Robert V. LaPenta.