Quotes from the $150,000 Myrtlewood

Click here for a replay of the race and the post-race interview with winning connections.

Carlo Vaccarezza (winning trainer of Sweet Dani Girl)

On winning the race with a filly co-owned by his son, Nick

“It’s a phenomenal experience. I’m very proud. This filly is a very, very nice filly. She has a future. I think she’d like to go probably, eventually two turns. She has a lot of speed – she reminds me a little of (his Grade 1-winning, $3.5 million earner) Little Mike; she has stamina and speed at the same time.”

Nick Vaccarezza (winning co-owner)

“This is a win for the small guys. You don’t have to be a big super trainer in the game to do well. You don’t have to invest the most money. You don’t have to buy the most expensive horses to be at the top of this game, and sometimes the small guys win. I want to thank my dad (trainer Carlo Vaccarezza) and his entire operation: Reynaldo Abreu, the groom Adrian, all the exercise riders that have been on this filly. She’s a really nice filly, so I’m expecting a big year from her next year. The future awaits.”

Martin Garcia (winning jockey)

“The position when everyone was going together, I couldn’t drop in a little, so I was playing how (the race) was coming. She’s a good filly. She was just doing whatever I asked. I think she showed a lot first time out; she beat some good horses. And then today the same thing. She’s a really good filly. I was just making sure I didn’t get in trouble, like behind horses and stuff like that, and then she just did the rest.”

Jose Ortiz (rider of runner-up Kant Believe It)

“She ran good. It was my first time on her, and she was very classy in the post parade. She broke well and put me in the lead. I think we set decent fractions, soft enough for her to win the race. She just got run down. She’s a nice filly, too (referring to the winner, Sweet Dani Girl). We were just second best.” 

Joel Rosario (rider of second choice and fifth-place finisher Jester Calls Nojoy)

“She did not have much speed at the beginning, so I wanted to get to the outside and make one run. For a second I thought she was going to go on. It took time to get to the outside, and it took a lot of momentum. She ran well. She tried, but we didn’t get the trip we wanted to.”