Grade 3 $200,000 Peter Pan Stakes
Belmont Park, May 13
Chad Brown (trainer, Timeline, 1st)
“The horse ran great. There was a little anxious moment on the turn there. I couldn’t really see if he lost the bridle a little bit or what. (Jockey) Javier (Castellano) said he kind of ran in spots a little bit at the end of the race. He kind of had to use him a little bit out of the gate to get his footing and then felt good. Then at one point in the race, again, he felt like he maybe he should’ve went with the going just a touch. Then he cut the corner and got on better footing and the horse gave him another good kick. I’ll speak to Bill Farish, who manages this horse, and we’ll go from there. We had spoken earlier in the day that if we had some success here, the Haskell is a race that we have a lot of interest in, with maybe one race between now and then. He doesn’t strike me as a mile-and-a-half horse, but I’m not going to declare him out of the race (Grade 1 Belmont Stakes). I’ll discuss that with Mr. Farish, but that wasn’t really my plan going in here. We’re still in the developmental stage with this horse.”
Javier Castellano (jockey, Timeline, 1st)
“He’s a really nice horse and the way he did it today was amazing. This kind of horse is very straight forwarded. All you have to do is push a button and he goes forward. The track was a good condition for him. He was really professional. I think he can improve a lot, too.”
Grade 3 $100,000 Lazaro Barrera Stakes
Santa Anita, May 13
Mike Smith (jockey, American Anthem, 1st)
“I think you have to throw that last race out, the Santa Anita Derby. I was scrambling the whole time and he got hooked pretty hard in that race. He was just really focused today. He jumped well and I eased him back. He eased back so nicely yet he was in the bridle at all times really. I heard the announcer say ‘And someone is flying to catch him on the outside!’ It made me panic and I probably didn’t need to ride him quite as hard as I did. He needed to go ahead and run through the wire so it was a good experience for him. Without a doubt stretching him out isn’t out of the question. I think his first time going long was coming off a sprint and also he hadn’t run in a while. In the Santa Anita Derby, I jumped well and put him on the lead. Gormley is such a nice horse, he pushed me so hard that day and maybe it took a little steam out of my horse for a while. I would see no problem with coming back and going long, even next time, if they decide to. He can do it, it’s there. He did that seven eighths pretty handy. I don’t see why another eighth would bother him.”
