JOCKEY QUOTES

UMBERTO RISPOLI, JOHANNES, WINNER: “The two horses in front of me had good gate speed Genius Jimmy and Air Force Red. I knew they wanted to be forwardly placed but today, I wanted to be sure that we bounced out of the gate and got in a good position. I understood that we went fast the first part of the race that’s why I took my gap, I wouldn’t be surprised if that speed went straight to the wire. My horse just responded really well and I knew he was loaded and I took my time. I thought about staying in the inside for a second, but I said, ‘You know what? Let’s play it safe.’ And once I took him out, I think it was an incredible effort after 11 months off of a layoff. He is such a nice horse. I can’t thank the owner and trainer for the support. He’s a good horse so let’s see where we go next.

“I have a lot of faith in this horse. I knew I gave him a bad ride at Churchill and that was weighing on me. By owning that you learned from your mistakes. Sometimes the race doesn’t come up in the way you want and I knew the potential in this horse and I know how good he can be.”

TRAINER QUOTES

TIM YAKTEEN, JOHANNES, WINNER: “It was just getting the right trip and just knowing that he’s back facing all of this for the first time, you just don’t know. We had high hopes for him last year and we were able to take care of him really well. He came back the way we wanted him to.”

        NOTES: The winning owner/breeder is Cuyathy, LLC.