G3 Schuylerville Quotes

December 10, 2019

Todd Pletcher, winning trainer of Fashion Alert (No. 4): "I know that Wayne [Lukas] likes his filly [Take Charge Brandi] a lot. They got into a prolonged speed duel. You could tell they were both getting a little tired but she showed some guts. You always want to get that first [win] out of the way. We just missed in the first race, so it's nice to get it done in the Schuylerville, a race we've always held in high regard. We'll see how she comes out of it. I'm not going to rule out the Adirondack [August 10], but we'll likely wait for the Spinaway [August 31]. It's pretty hard to win your first two, especially both in stakes, so you have to give her a lot of credit for that. You hope those kind of efforts move them forward. Those two separated themselves from the field pretty much the entire race. Two very nice fillies."

John Velazquez, winning jockey on Fashion Alert (No. 4): "She's definitely very talented. We wish we had a better break and got a better position at the first part. She kind of recuperated right away and got a good position going to the half-mile pole. From then on, I wanted to give her a little breather and see how she did, and down the lane she started leaning into the horse on the inside. Finally, she started getting away from her the last sixteenth of a mile. She didn't break as bad as last time out, but today was a little bit bad. So, I knew she was going to be quick enough to be there anyway."

George Bolton, winning owner of Fashion Alert (No. 4): "She broke inward for the second time in two starts, but it was kind of nice we ended up on the outside in a duel like that. She ran hard the whole way, and so did Wayne's horse."

Corey Lanerie, jockey aboard runner-up Take Charge Brandi (No. 5): "It was good. She outbroke the field and just put me out there. I thought she was going pretty easy; she was well within herself. Coming to the quarter pole, I thought I had more than him [jockey John Velazquez on winner Fashion Alert]. I was kind of watching what Johnny was doing, and it looked like he was trying to nudge his horse a little bit. He obviously had more horse than I thought, but I thought I was going to run away with it. I think my filly probably needed the race. Last time she won so easy, and she probably got a lot more out of this race. I think the next race will be even better. She was in tight, and she ran professional."