Bill Mott (winning trainer of Harmonize)
On whether Harmonize is good enough to advance to the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf
“I think so. It’s nice to see that she’s versatile enough to come from back in the pack like she did. She struggled with ground early and once she got down the backside, she got a little better, a little better. When (jockey Junior Alvarado) turned for home, she turned on the after-burners and was good enough to run them down.
“I thought we could be laying third or fourth in the race. There looked like there were two obvious speed horses. I thought we would be laying right behind them. It didn’t work out that way, but I’m glad the filly took care of it.”
Junior Alvarado (winning rider)
On whether he intended to have her so far off the pace
Joe Sharp (trainer of runner-up Sapphire Kitten)
“We were really pleased with the race. It was her first time around two turns and the winner had already been around two turns. We were impressed with the way our filly was passed at the eighth pole and battled back inside. Hopefully, that was enough to get us in the Breeders’ Cup because I think we have a legitimate contender. She definitely moved forward today.”
Julien Leparoux (rider of Sapphire Kitten)
“We had a good trip. The winner is a very nice filly. My filly ran a huge race and fought back at the end. She’s a very nice filly too. (This race was her) first time around two turns today so she should get a lot out of this race for sure.”
Drayden Van Dyke (rider of third-place finisher Outsider Art)
“We were out in the 14 hole. She kind of sucked back at the break. I was going to try to get her in a good spot. But they went fast anyway so it worked out good. I would’ve liked to have covered her up more and saved a little more ground. She showed a good effort going against these horses. I’m very happy with our finish.”
