GRADE II, $200,000 SANTA ANITA SPRINT CHAMPIONSHIP QUOTES

JOCKEY QUOTES

MIKE SMITH, HOWBEIT, WINNER: “Mark was really confident, quietly confident in this horse. Told me, ‘Listen, I know we are up against it just a little bit, he’s had some unlucky trips. With a good trip he’s going to give you a good shot at it. Just see if you can get him in the clear early and give him every chance you can.’ And, we needed every bit of it. I think he jumped past the wire and I wasn’t too sure I was in front.

“I jumped past the wire and it looked like the inside horse was in front of me. I was just hoping at the wire I got the nod.

“It was my first time on the horse, but they gave me a lot of great insight on him. Everything they told me was right on. He’s big. He might be a little slow leaving there. You got to help him leaving there, get him in the clear. He doesn’t like dirt in his face. If he gets to the front, he’ll pull up. So, everything they told me was right. We needed just every bit of that race to hang on and win.”

TRAINER QUOTES

MARK GLATT, HOWBEIT, WINNER: “He’s a really nice horse. Since we claimed him, he’s been very unlucky in his races. There was always something going wrong. On paper, I was confident he fit with this field, the competition and the numbers. So I felt we should supplement him and take a shot. I told Mike (Smith) he doesn’t like to get dirt in his face. I thought in breaking from the three hole we could get outside in the clear. The one thing I forgot to tell Mike is that when he makes the lead, he has a tendency to pull himself. Luckily, we got there at the wire.”

__ NOTES:__ The winning owners are It Pays to Dream Racing Stable, Inc., Saints or Sinners, Danny Haramoto, Sheldon Kawahara, and Gregory Yamamoto.