Birdstone Quotes

December 10, 2019

Todd Pletcher, winning trainer of Micromanage (No. 5): "We always felt like he was a horse that would handle the longer distance.

"It kind of unfolded a little bit like we thought. We actually thought we might be laying third, stalking two horses instead of one. The main thing Javier [Castellano] and I talked about was getting him into a nice, comfortable gallop, in a nice rhythm.

"One thing we've kicked around is trying him on the grass at some point. There's a lot more opportunities on the turf at these type of distances, so at some point we might give that a whirl."

Javier Castellano, jockey on winner Micromanage (No. 5): "At the three-eighths pole, my horse took off again. I had to ride a little bit to go for the front-runner. He did a magnificent run when I asked him. He took off again. I give him all the credit because you don't see those kind of races, those long distances, and he got it done. He won so easy."