JOCKEY QUOTES FROM THE 144TH RUNNING OF THE LONGINES KENTUCKY OAKS

May 04, 2018 Churchill Downs Communications

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (Friday, May 4, 2018):

Florent Geroux, rider of Monomoy Girl (1st) – “This is an unbelievable feeling. The filly was sharp early and I just hustled her out of the gate to get a good position. From there I was pretty confident, but when I hit the quarter pole, her ears were flopping back and forth and she tried putting the brakes on me until she saw Wonder Gadot. When the other filly got head to head, I gave her a few slaps to keep her interested, but she can be quirky. You can get after her too much and she stops. I kept hand riding her and she pulled away at the end.”

John Velazquez, rider of Wonder Gadot (2nd) – “We were battling head and head down the stretch. When they came out and knocked her sideways, she went back to the left lead. At least I have to take a chance on it. I mean, I’m fighting the whole way around and all of a sudden the last sixteenth of a mile she goes back to her left lead because she got bumped.”

Mike Smith, rider of Midnight Bisou (3rd) – “The inside horses made a right turn leaving the gate and ran right into me. It cost me quite a bit. It cost me position. I don’t know if the bad start cost me the race but it cost me enough. We will never know.”

Corey Lanerie, rider of Eskimo Kisses (4th) – “We had a great trip. I thought we could have almost gotten third. I had a great run at the top of the stretch but got stopped for just a second. She ran awesome.”

Javier Castellano, rider of Chocolate Martini (5th) – “I had a perfect trip. It was what I was looking for to come from off the pace, because there was a lot of speed and my filly is so big with a long stride. We saved all the ground. Turning for home, I thought we had a chance, but just the last part she couldn’t keep up.”

Gary Stevens, rider of Sassy Sienna (6th) – “I had a great trip, laying third on the inside, saving ground the whole way.”

Luis Saez, rider of Coach Rocks (7th) – “She was traveling good when we were getting close to the stretch, then a horse came out so quick, and I clipped heels. My filly was moving pretty nice, she lost her momentum.”

Irad Ortiz Jr., rider of Kelly’s Humor (8th) – “I thought my filly was too close. I didn’t want to be that close but she was coming off a seven-eighths race and put me close early. I tried to wait to make my move but she didn’t respond. I think she will be a better sprinter.”

Calvin Borel, rider of Heavenhasmynikki (9th) – “I thought she ran OK. The first sixteenth of a mile, she didn’t come out running like I thought she would have. After all was said and done she didn’t run a bad race. She tried and didn’t get beat that bad. I think (running on) the grass will be good for her.”

Brian Hernandez Jr., rider of Classy Act (10th) – “We had a fairly good trip. They took the blinkers off her. We were trying to get her settled and she settled pretty good. The horses that ran one-two took off a little faster than I thought. We got bounced abound a little bit, but all and all we had a fairly good trip.”

Joe Bravo, rider of My Miss Lilly (11th) – “We got into a good position on the backstretch after a tough break. I started asking her a bit around the half-mile pole but she didn’t really kick in. We’ll get them next time.”

Ricardo Santana Jr., rider of Patrona Margarita (12th) – “I got banged around out of the gate a bit and when I asked her to respond around the far turn she didn’t fire.”

Drayden Van Dyke, rider of Rayya (13th) – “I don’t think she got to show what she can do. She hopped at the start and once she did that, I lost all chance. She’s a frontrunner and doesn’t like to get hit with the kickback. It was all downhill from there. She’s still a classy filly and I hope to get another chance with her again.”

Jose Ortiz, rider of Take Charge Paula (14th) – “My filly had a poor performance today. I was in the right spot the first part of the race. I broke very well, the three (Class Act) and the one (Sassy Sienna) didn’t want to go (early) so I went ahead. It was a decent pace for these horses. She went a half a mile and then folded.”