JOCKEY QUOTES
JOEL ROSARIO, NADAL, WINNER: “He broke sharp and he handled the pressure from the outside. I was never worried about it. My horse was moving very well and I was confident because I could feel I had a lot of horse under me. He was very impressive. He ran very fast today and he runs like he’ll like two turns, but you never know until they do it.”
TRAINER QUOTES
BOB BAFFERT, NADAL, WINNER: “Today, I told Joel, don’t get cute, just go. We can rate him some other day. They took it to him, but if we’re gonna get beat, get beat. I trained him light for this, so this is my serious work…I thought he was gonna get beat. He got to gut it out today, so he’s got a good foundation now. This should set him up pretty good and I think we’ll go to the Rebel (Grade II, 1 1/16 miles at Oaklawn Park March 14).”
RICHARD BALTAS, GINOBILI, SECOND: “At the quarter pole, I thought I might get him. We’ve got a nice colt, I just don’t think he wants to go very far. He ran great and I’m very proud of him.”
GEORGE BOLTON CO-OWNER, NADAL, WINNER: “I actually found out about Nadal through Kerri Radcliffe who bought the colt for us at the Fasig Tipton March sale a year ago. I think she bought a great horse for us and we hope Nadal is as proud of us as we are extremely proud of him today.
“It is a huge step up and when you go to the Paddock and you’re one to nine, you are thinking of all the downside in the world. There were some nice looking horses in the Paddock, the six (Ginobili) looked fast and was fast. He really had to go the whole way and never got a breather. Going further (in distance) should be fun for Nadal.
“This horse looks like it could be a special horse. You just want him to be happy and hold together. He will be on the road now. He’ll be on different surfaces and he’s going to go a different distance yet again, so he will go maybe go to the Rebel (Grade II, 1 1/16 miles at Oaklawn Park March 14). I’m proud we got that chance. I’m extremely happy about everything that has happened here.”
NOTES: The winning owners are George Bolton, Arthur Hoyeau, Barry Lipman, and Mark Mathiesen.
Via Santa Anita Press release
