Post-Race Quotes -- Golden Rod Stakes (GIII)

Chester Porter (Stoneledge Racing), co-owner of My Boston Gal (winner)

"We're really excited. Obviously I've been in the business for a good while and we haven't had anything hardly this spectacular. I was telling these two guys (Phil Milner and Randall Bloch) that they have to stick with me because while I was doing it on my own we didn't have any winners of this type. So we think they've brought us excellent luck and we're going to get to know them better."

Q: She had to do some things today she had not been asked to do before -- were you concerned at any point during the race?

"Not really. I was watching the first quarter and I thought it was a little slow for a horse like ours that wants to come from off the pace. But all those fears were relieved a few seconds later when she started making a move. We thought we were going to be alright."

Q: Are you thinking about the first weekend in May for this filly?

"If we keep this horse healthy, we obviously plan to go to the (Kentucky) Oaks, at this point in time."

Phil Milner, co-owner of My Boston Gal (winner)

"This is something, quite frankly, that I just read about in the Racing Form. This is something that happens with big farms with hundreds of horses. To read in the Racing Form that we may have one of the top fillies in North America is unimaginable. You have to pinch yourself -- and also realize that tomorrow she could take a bad step and we might have a good broodmare. It's exciting, it's thrilling and you do let your mind wander off to the Oaks and big races. We were out at the barn this morning and she's such a kind filly and Carl and Ian work so hard, I'm glad for them."

Randall Bloch, co-owner of My Boston Gal (winner)

"She was incredible. Unbelieveable."

Q: She had to do some things today she hadn't done before...

"Obviously we were concerned about moving into stakes company for the first time, but she's just done everything so easily. But Ian and Tracey (Wilkes, Ian's wife and exercise rider for My Boston Gal) and Carl have done such a great job with her that I was pretty confident."

Ian Wilkes, assistant trainer to Carl Nafzger, trainer of My Boston Gal (winner)

"She passed the test. She got a little confused, but you're always grateful that you're still able to win. You're very grateful to win the race when you could see her just confused and not quite understand it. It's a good learning curve and now we've got time to give her a break and put her away and bring her back next year. She could be alright."

Q: Calvin still rode her with a lot of confidence...

"He's very confident. He believes so much in the filly, you know -- which helps, too. But he was very patient early."

Q: Were you surprised at all that she broke from the gate in front?

"No, I knew she was quick out of the gate. There were a lot of positives out of the race. She was confused, but there were a lot of positives. She dropped back off the pace, she wasn't rank and she was able to relax off the pace. Then she rated nice and, when he asked her, she kicked in. She was even then still struggling a little bit. You could see her struggling -- the track's a little looser today and that's not her. With a little tighter track, her acceleration is unbelieveable."

Q: Belterra won this race a year ago in a similarly emphatic style -- did you have a similar experience watching it through your eyes?

"Yeah, it's just great. You get back to the whole thing of how lucky, how fortunate are you to get two fillies in two years to be quite that good. Everybody keeps asking me to compare the two fillies. You can't compare them because we've never seen the best of Belterra yet. That filly's unbelieveable and this filly is still coming. She's unbelieveable, too. We've got Belterra back, so we should have a great year. I'm just touching wood that this turns out to be a great year."

Calvin Borel, rider of My Boston Gal (winner)

"She broke sharp and Mr. Carl wanted me to just play it by ear and do what I thought was best. I laid right off of them and she kind of cross-fired -- she'd never been around two turns and I eased her off them and she came back to me and I was very satisfied. When we went to the far turn she was looking to the gates a little bit. She was just kind of confused today. She won today, but I think she's a little bit better filly than that. She didn't really handle the track that good. The track's kind of drying out and is kind of powdery. But I think she's a tremendous filly and she'll do anything you want her to do and that's what will make her win races. I'd like to thank Mr. Carl and the owners for giving me the opportunity to ride her.

Q: You've ridden her with incredible confidence and did again today -- but you had to ride her a little harder...

"I wanted to make her finish up today. But I didn't when she was going around the first turn and got a little confused. She kind of played a little trick on me, but I wanted to see her finish up and do it right -- like she's supposed to."

Q: She broke on top, but you took back on her...

"I wanted to ease her back off the pace because Carl likes his horses coming off the pace. He doesn't like to be in front at all times and that was the plan. If she was as good as we think she is, she's supposed to overcome it -- and she did."

Q:You were pretty wide with her on the far turn -- were you just trying to keep her out of trouble?

"I wasn't going to get stopped today. She'll do it if I want and if I don't have to, I don't need to do it."

Q: You used your whip for the first time today?

"Today was the first time I hit her."

Robby Albarado, rider of Holiday Lady (runner-up)

"I had a great trip. I was on the inside of the eventual winner and she just got outrun today. That's a nice filly that won it and she's done all the right moves so far. I think my filly is going to get better as a 3-year-old because she's a little immature, but she'll get better. Nick knows how to show up with those kind."

Nick Zito, trainer of Holiday Lady (runner-up)

Q: Your filly improved off the Pocahontas...

"No question, she did. She had just broken her maiden before that race. That's why this winner's so impressive. I don't like to talk about the winner, but when you break your maiden and you have to come back against that type of field, it's really hard. So we're really proud of our filly because the second (in a stakes race) she showed she was for real." passed the test. Pat (Day) said she would improve and Pat was right. She did."

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