$100,000 SANTA BARBARA STAKES QUOTES

$100,000 SANTA BARBARA STAKES QUOTES

JOCKEY QUOTES

UMBERTO RISPOLI, MRS. ASTOR, WINNER: “Last time I messed up and I have to totally admit that it was my fault when I got beat. I gave her so much confidence, she looked like a filly that traveled well and you think that once she comes off the heels of the other horse that she is going to have a turn of foot. But she didn’t. Today I kicked my legs out at the three-eighths and she had a long acceleration. But today she was much the best. She liked the track (which received light rain), it was a plus for us. But I definitely rode her better than last time.”

ON HIS RUNNER UP FINISH IN THE KENTUCKY DERBY ABOARD JOURNALISM: “I’m proud. I’m proud of everything that happened around me and how we handled those past three weeks. I had a good trip. The start was a little bit messy, but I was in a good position. At the first turn I saved some ground. Past the half mile pole I started to tuck him out and he just went on passing horses himself. I felt like I was dreaming when I came to the top of the stretch and I saw the clear run for me. I saw Junior (Alvarado) right there and I just said, ‘Okay, game on.’ I want to give credit to Junior. He is a friend and a guy who really deserved it. He broke his collar bone a month ago and he came back and won the Kentucky Derby. Also to Mr. Mott, who is such a great trainer, and Godolphin, which is so good for the industry. We got beat by the best horse yesterday. My horse didn’t really like the track, but that horse would have beat me no matter what. I don’t want to find any excuse. I’m proud and hopefully we are going to meet each other down the road and see if Journalism can try to turn the table around.”

TRAINER QUOTES

JONATHAN THOMAS, MRS. ASTOR, WINNER: “She really relishes a route of ground. There’s only a handful of opportunities, so we have to make the best use of them when we can.”

“Umberto and I both thought we left her too much to do in her last start (the Santa Ana). She kind of got shuffled back and we probably waited a little too long. The winner got the jump on us. But it’s always nice to get back in the winner’s circle. We came out of the race thinking if we moved a little sooner, we could have won. So we didn’t lose any faith in her.”

“I’m going to take a look at the San Juan Capistrano. I’m curious about stretching her out.”

__NOTES: __The winning owner/breeder is George Strawbridge Jr.’s Augustin Stables.