2016 Kentucky Oaks Jockey Quotes

May 07, 2016 Churchill Downs Communications

Javier Castellano, rider of Cathryn Sophia (winner) – “She felt like she belonged with this group. What a filly! It feels great.” 

Mario Gutierrez, rider of Land Over Sea (second) – “She broke just a little slow, but otherwise I had a good trip. She came running. It was a good race for her.”

Irad Ortiz Jr., rider of Lewis Bay (third) – 'She surprised me. She was very keen. She was on her game today. She was pretty close, I didn't think she'd be that close. But, that's racing. She broke aggressive. She relaxed nicely. I had to move a little early for her style. Maybe could have run second, but she still ran a beautiful race. The trainer (Chad Brown) did a great job with her. She's a nice filly.'

Luis Saez, rider of Go Maggie Go (fourth) – “It didn’t go very good. There was a lot of trouble in the race. I expected her to be a lot closer early, but she finished good.”

Joel Rosario, rider of Mo d’Amour (fifth) – “She broke well and I had a good trip. At the three-eighths pole, I asked her and she had a little trouble getting going. We lost some position, but then she fired and we started really going. I think she ran well.”

John Velazquez, rider of Rachel’s Valentina (sixth) — “We were in a good spot; she was cruisin’ for me early. Then when we hit the three-eighths (pole), she started jumping up and down. She just didn’t have it.” 

Corey Lanerie, rider of Weep No More (seventh) – “She broke OK and then down the backside she got pushed around a little bit, but I don’t think it really compromised her. We got bounced around a little bit, but she still got out and in the middle of the turn and I got to angle out, and then turning for home I had clear sailing. The track might not have played in her favor to close, but I thought she ran a great race.”

Brian Hernandez Jr., rider of Dream Dance (eighth) – 'I thought my filly ran great. She settled in behind horses pretty good. We had a little traffic issue around the second turn, which you're going to have in these 14-horse fields like that. When I finally got her back out in the clear she ran on from there. She closed even more ground. She dug in and she impressed me for a young 3-year-old filly like she is. She ran against the best in the country and didn't disgrace herself. I thought she ran her race and she showed up.'

Emisael Jaramillo, rider of Paola Queen (ninth) – “She was running near the leaders until the stretch, but she wasn’t able to make a run in the stretch.”

Ricardo Santana Jr., rider of Terra Promessa (10th) — 'She was really sharp today. She broke really sharp. I sat her down and she relaxed a little bit. She doesn't run like that (on the lead). It was pretty hard on her. No one broke with her.'

Florent Geroux, rider of Royal Obsession (11th) – “I got bumped at the start and from there I got too far back. I was able to save ground on both turns but was not able to accelerate down the lane.” 

Shaun Bridgmohan, rider of Venus Valentine (12th) –“I was basically last. My filly gave me what she’s got. I didn’t have any issues. I was last throughout and she picked up some horses and she tried.”

Flavien Prat, rider of Mokat (13th) – “I got a good trip but she just didn’t handle the dirt. She was swimming out there and never picked it up. I think she’s much better on the turf.” 

Mike Smith, rider of Taxable (14th) — “I’m at loss for words to be honest. She didn’t show up at all. We got away well, got around the first turn OK. After that, she was kind of lost. I tried to pick her up and get into the race and she wanted to part of it.”