Chad Brown (trainer, Stephanie’s Kitten, 1st) –"She's tough, I'll tell you. Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey deserve a lot of credit because they had a chance to sell her last year and they bought her back and raced her as a six-year-old, which isn't a popular thing to do. They were rewarded today. She won here today just six miles from where she was born and raised and I am so happy for them. I was quite concerned when I saw that Irad had her last in a race that had no pace, and when he chose to go up the inside to get through, I thought that he was going to have to get real lucky, and I'm glad he did. But I have a lot of confidence in Irad (Ortiz Jr.). We have a perfect record together so I have a lot of confidence in him. He rode the filly like she was a winner the whole way. I'm so proud of them today. This victory means so much to me. Mr. Ramsay chose to give me this filly after she already won a Breeders' Cup race (The Juvenile Fillies Turf for Wayne Catalano in 2011), which is a risky thing to do. Her form hasn't always been good, but he stayed with me and believed in me and my staff. He has a farm, like I said just six miles from here and this is her last career race. What a story!"
Irad Ortiz Jr. (jockey, Stephanie’s Kitten, 1st) – “I broke from the outside so I was trying to save some ground. I found a hole to go through around the quarter pole and then when I asked her she just took off.”
David Wachman (trainer, Legatissimo (Ire), 2nd) – “She ran a good race, but she’s had a long season. I was pleased with her run. She met a good horse today. No excuses.”
Freddy Head (trainer, Queen’s Jewel, 3rd) – “I’m really happy. She’s run well and finished very well. She seemed to be a bit unbalanced.”
Maxime Guyon (jockey, Queen’s Jewel, 3rd) – “She needs a bit more time to keep up with pace and find her stride. She struggled a bit on the turns, but made up a lot of ground on the straight.”
Florent Geroux (jockey, Secret Gesture, 7th) – “I was able to break well and get a good position. She needs to be up close to the lead. I was able to set sensible fractions, but when I asked her to give me something, she didn’t respond.”
Joel Rosario (jockey, Setiero Italia, 4th) – “Good trip. I saved a lot of ground. When I asked her to run at the end, she responded. (Stephanie's Kitten) was just a little quicker. She tries hard and that was a good effort from her today.”
Stephanie’s Kitten’s victory was the seventh Breeders’ Cup victory for trainer Chad Brown, who won the Filly & Mare Sprint with Wavell Avenue on race earlier. This was the second Breeder’s Cup victory for jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr.
Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf Quotes
December 10, 2019