Grade 3 $100,000 Arlington Classic Stakes
Arlington Park, May 27
Ricky Giannini (assistant trainer, Cowboy Culture, 1st)
“The time off might have helped him. That just goes with mental and physical maturity, especially a young three-year-old old like that. You give them time between races and they develop into something. He was always training good, but good horses train good. We were just glad to see he showed he’s still a good horse.”
Shaun Bridgmohan (jockey, Cowboy Culture, 1st)
“I watched some replays on him. I kind of had an idea what I wanted to do out there. I thought I’d be laying a little bit closer, but the other horse got a little aggressive and I got shuffled back. I worked him last week, and he actually has a very, very good turn of foot. He showed it today. The last part, I just hand-rode him.”
$100,000 Paradise Creek Stakes
Belmont Park, May 27
Tony Dutrow (trainer, Big Handsome, 1st)
“I was so impressed with him. I didn’t think I’d see that today. I have to be feeling very good about this horse’s future. I’m excited. (Jockey) Javier (Castellano) thought he would relax and stay off the pace like he did. I didn’t know, he’s been running so fast, but Javier was confident he would listen to him and that went well.”
Javier Castellano (jockey, Big Handsome, 1st)
“I had a great trip. Something told me to rate the horse. I saw those two on the inside and my plan today was to see how far he can go. I wanted to test just a little bit how much farther he can go. If he rates, I think he’s going to get farther.”
