GRADE III, $100,000 AUTUMN MISS STAKES

JOCKEY QUOTES

DIEGO HERRERA, WATCHTOWER, WINNER: “It’s pretty exciting, I wake up every morning and work hard. These are the moments I dreamt about as a little kid and now I get to live them so I’m excited. “I think the pace helped today. We ran into really slow paces the last two starts and today, given the quick pace, I had a perfect trip. I had a little bit of traffic, but I overcame it and the filly did her job. She showed up for us and she has a big future ahead of her.”

TRAINER QUOTES

RICHARD BALTAS, WATCHTOWER, WINNER: “She is getting better. With that being said, she got a good setup. Diego gave her a good ride. She’s kind of a one-paced filly. I told him, ‘Don’t rush her.’ She broke really well, but he did a great job getting her to settle down. I think last time she was a little too close because there wasn’t much speed in there. You can’t really change her style. She tries really hard. She has a lot of grit. I think she has a future. She’s only 3 and still young.”

OWNER QUOTES

BING BUSH, JR. ABBONDANZA RACING, LLC , WATCHTOWER, WINNER:“Absolutely unbelievable, for Medallion racing, Omar Aldabbagh, our partners on Watchtower and for Diego winning such a great race with her. Ritchie has done just a great job with her. This time we had a little pace and we were able to close into it and it worked out perfectly. Diego rode an amazing race. It could not have been more exciting. It’s kind of like the Dodgers hitting a grand slam home run at the end of the game. We’re just over the moon.”

NOTES: The winning owners are Abbondanza Racing, LLC, Omar Aldabbagh, and Michael Iavarone.