Jockey and Trainer Quotes from Cal Cup X

Classic

Chris Antley, Bagshot, winner: "It was a slow pace and I let him go ahead and run his race the whole way down the backside. When I got into him left-handed, he fired. He really fired. I know it has been a while since he last won a race, but I'd never been on him before so I can't compare. Paco Gonzalez told me to ride him aggressively, and that's what I did."

John Toffan, co-owner, Bagshot: "He's run against them all. I thought today would be his day. His last few races, he's shown some speed. Paco told Chris to stay outside because he likes it outside. It didn't turn out that way when he got the jump on them…It's nice to win this race. This is the California breeders' day. This is where we race."

Paco Gonzalez, Bagshot, winner: Chris rode him great. I saw on the backside he had a lot of horse and I said to myself, "It's too soon.' I thought he was going to take the lead at the half-mile pole. But he waited and it worked out. The blinkers helped. I hope he keeps winning. This is the third time he's run in the Cal Cup. He finally got a win."

Mile

Garrett Gomez, Native Desert, winner: "I rode this horse for the first time in the Pomona Invitational, and the way he ran over there, it was like a typical grass horse. It took him a while to get in stride. Today, I just left him alone and let him do his thing. I never had to move my hands on him until the quarter pole. He did everything as perfect as I could ask a horse to do."

Juan Garcia, Native Desert, winner: "He is an iron horse, it's unbelievable. This horse has continued to train and race well and he had a clean trip today and got it done. The older he gets, the better he seems to get. He carried a lot of weight today, but this horse seems to handle it."

Sprint

Garret Gomez, Love That Red, winner: "He relaxed very nicely today and that's what he needs to do. In his last race up north, I was never really able to get him covered up behind anybody and get any dirt in his face. He kept pulling me along and still finished up well. Considering that race was off a layoff, he didn't run bad at all. In my eyes, I really expected him to win today just because I know him and he has trained so well.."

Leonard Duncan, Love That Red, winner: "He loves this track, it's his home track. This is exactly the scenario we saw happening…He's just a free-running kind of horse. When you just sit on him like Garrett does and just ask him for his run, he'll just give it to you anytime."


Matron

Eddie Delaoussaye, Feverish, winner: "This filly has a tendency to ease up a little bit. She's not easy to ride. When I switched sticks to the left hand and got after her late, she really dug in. She saved enough to come back and win. She was going very easily up the backside and I thought that there would be more speed than there was, but I just let her keep cruising because we were going so easy."

Dan Hendricks, Feverish, winner: "Supercilious sure came up strong and fast, but Eddie was saving like he does and he had enough in the tank. It really helped to have a target that wasn't out in the clear that she could run by. She's a fighter…She's won four in a row. She's tripled her value in two months and made her family worth a whole lot more."

Distaff

Garrett Gomez, Chichim, winner: "Every time I've ridden this filly, I've enjoyed her (two wins, two seconds in four rides). I don't think she's run one bad race for me. So going into the race, I was confident. I know she loves 5 ½ to 6 ½ furlongs, and the grass seems to suit her just fine. She doesn't like getting dirt kicked in her face, so she might be just a little but better on grass. I couldn't remember if she had ever run down the hill here, so I warmed her up back and forth across the dirt just in case. When she crossed over during the race, it was like she had done it hundreds of times. So maybe the warm-up helped. Or else she ran across it and we didn't know about it."

Juan Garcia, Chichim, winner: "She ran well. I knew I wanted to point her for this race. Luckily, the horse to our outside (Iza Bon Bon) broke quickly, and (Gomez) sat right in the middle. She had no trouble in the race. Everything went her way. I told Gomez to get her outside ad stay out of trouble and he did. I knew he'd have plenty of horse. She was full of run when they straightened out. I don't know what we'll do next. We'll see how she comes out of it."

Juvenile Fillies

Gary Stevens, Cover Gal, winner: "That was eventful trip…She did most everything beautifully except she didn't change leads with me going into the far turn. Sometimes horses will do that when they're still a bit green. I thought I'd leave her alone on that because when a horse does switch leads, it gives you new energy. But she was traveling comfortably, so I decided to leave her alone until she switched on her own. All of a sudden, I'm at the five-sixteenths pole, and she still hadn't switched. By then, it was too late to make her switch, and she was really getting leg weary the last eighth while still being on her right lead. But I'm convinced she can get a distance. The tongue tie fell off on the way to the gate. We couldn't get it back on her. She was starting to get a little upset by trying to put it on. She did everything like a professional despite the adversity."

Lance Stokes, Cover Gal, winner: "It's always a question when you go two turns for the first time, and I'm glad it's over…We know she's bred to sprint and that's what we'll point for. We'll give her a little break now and point for the Cal Breeders Championship Stakes on New Year's day going seven furlongs."

Juvenile

Chris McCarron, Spacelink, winner: "He had a lot cleaner trip this time around. He improved quite a bit. I was expecting some improvement, but there was no way I would envision him winning this way. He improved a lot."

Paco Gonzalez, Spacelink, winner: "I'm just glad we got into the race…I knew this horse came out of his last race in really good shape. Sometimes two-year-olds get nervous when they come out of trouble like he did in his first race, but nothing bothers this horse. You can do whatever you want with him, he really has a lot of class…He is a nice horse and the further the distance, the better for him."