Jockey Quotes From The 147th Kentucky Derby

May 02, 2021 Churchill Downs Communications

MEDINA SPIRIT Jockey John Velazquez, (First): “Every time I asked him to give more he kept fighting on. You couldn’t ask for more of a horse. When you ride a horse like this who is competitive you can’t ask for anything else.'

MANDALOUN Jockey Florent Geroux, (Second): “He absolutely ran his heart out. Words can’t describe how proud I am of him. What a race and what a horse. Well done to trainer Brad Cox. He got him ready to run off the Louisiana Derby effort. He showed us he is the horse we always thought. We just got beat.”

HOT ROD CHARLIE Jockey Flavien Prat, (Third): “He ran great.”

ESSENTIAL QUALITY Jockey Luis Saez, (Fourth): “He bumped pretty good (with Rock Your World) out of the gate. We ended up getting pretty wide the entire trip which didn’t help either.”

O BESOS Jockey Marcelino Pedroza, (Fifth): “He got a little head strong in the stretch for the first time but I got him settled into the perfect spot. He was moving so comfortably around the turn and we got in the perfect spot to make a run at the leaders. He’s a phenomenal horse.”

MIDNIGHT BOURBON Jockey Mike Smith, (Sixth): “We simply missed the break.”

KEEPMEINMIND Jockey David Cohen, (Seventh): “I have to be proud of his effort. He ran a good race and I’m very thankful for Robertino (Diodoro) for being so loyal to us.”

HELIUM Jockey Julien Leparoux, (Eighth): “I got him in a good spot out of the break and he just flattened.”

KNOWN AGENDA, Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr., (Ninth): “We made a move on the backside but just sort of flattened.”

HIGHLY MOTIVATED Jockey Javier Castellano, (10th): “We got into a good spot but just didn’t fire.”

SAINTHOOD Jockey Corey Lanerie, (11th): “I couldn’t have gotten into a better spot but he just didn’t have enough to get it done.”

LIKE THE KING Jockey Drayden Van Dyke, (12th): “He didn’t really handle the dirt.”

BOURBONIC Jockey Kendrick Carmouche, (13th): “I just never could get a good run at them.”

HIDDEN STASH Jockey Rafael Bejarano, (14th): “I didn’t want to try and get him out of his rhythm too soon but when I needed to go he was just flat.”

BROOKLYN STRONG Jockey Umberto Rispoli, (15th): “He broke a little slow out of the gate but he tried.”

SUPER STOCK Jockey Ricardo Santana Jr., (16th): “Didn’t have it today.”

ROCK YOUR WORLD Jockey Joel Rosario, (17th): “It was pretty much over after the break. We got out of position from there and it was a tough trip to overcome in a race like the Derby.”

DYNAMIC ONE Jockey Jose Ortiz, (18th): “Didn’t fire.”

SOUP AND SANDWICH Jockey Tyler Gaffalione, (19th): “We got away from the gate good but he faded late.”

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