(Mandella won four Breeders’ Cup races at Santa Anita in 2003)
Garrett Gomez (jockey, Beholder, 1st) – “We figured to be on the lead unless someone did something, and she ran just to her style. She’s super fast, and she relaxed as much as I wanted her to. I tried to sneak away a little on the turn for home, and at first she did it, but then she acted like she hit a wall and I got a little nervous. But when the other filly (Executiveprivilege) came to her, she kicked on and gave me another gear. I guess she was just playing possum with me.”
Todd Pletcher (trainer, Dreaming of Julia, 3rd) – “I thought she ran a little flat. She looked a little lost going to the first turn and she got shuffled back and pushed out around the turn. She put in a nice run down the backside to get into position, but just finished evenly from there.”
John Velazquez (jockey, Dreaming of Julia, 3rd) – “She just wasn’t into it. She lost her focus right from the start. She would run for a little bit, then she’d stop. She’d run on the turn, then back out of it. She just didn’t run her race today.”
Todd Pletcher (trainer, Kauai Katie, 4th) – “We got the trip we were looking for and had good position, but she couldn’t stay with the leader. We’ll probably look at sprints in the future for her.”
