GRADE III, $100,000 SAN SIMEON STAKES QUOTES

JOCKEY QUOTES

JUAN HERNANDEZ, MUCHO DEL ORO, WINNER: “She tries all the time. Last time he came from a layoff, and they caught me right at the wire, he needed that race. Today Doug O’Neill had him ready, I asked him this morning and he said the horse was doing really good, training phenomenal and he was right. The horse showed up today. He went to the gate and he broke really sharp, I think that is his style out of the gate that’s how he likes to run. Turning for home when we crossed the dirt to the turf again, he responded really well. He was all heart today.”

TRAINER QUOTES

DOUG O’NEILL, MUCHO DEL ORO, WINNER: “He’s such a cool horse and all credit to Janie Buss and Joseph. The whole Buss family. This horse is super talented, Janie just took her time with him. He loved down the hill. We are thinking Laker Strong right now, we are going to pull this one out.

“Anytime you see 22 plus coming down the hill you know you’re okay, I saw he was training great and J.J knew him well, so I felt very confident. Today it worked out perfect.”

OWNER QUOTES

JANIE BUSS, MUCHO DEL ORO, WINNER: “At the top of the stretch the pace was slower, in his last race he got beat on the wire by another horse (Irideo) who was in this race. I had ultimate confidence in my horse’s ability and in J.J. getting him home because he knows what he is doing on this particular turf. Let’s go Lakers Let’s go Purple Rein.”

NOTES: The winning owner is Purple Rein Racing.