Potomac River Rewards Longshot Players

Maribel Ruelas’ Potomac River, the longest shot in the field of 10 three-year-olds and up, made a bold five-wide move on the far turn and rolled to a two-length victory over Set the Sail in the 36^th running of the $116,300 River City Handicap (Grade III) on Saturday afternoon at Churchill Downs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SERGIO BAEZ, trainer of POTOMAC RIVER (winner): “It was a nice race. This horse is just getting better and better and better. He just loved this turf.”

“He’s faced some nice horses but he never placed in a stakes. I wasn’t really surprised. He was just doing good and trained good. He just got the job done today. We got a big run at the end. That’s how you win these races anyway.”

Q: Is this your biggest win? “So far, yes.”

Q: Why did you decide to run in the stakes? “It’s later in the year and we stable at Turfway so we don’t really don’t have many chances to run on the grass anymore. So we wanted to take a shot and it kind of worked out good.”

 

JUAN VARGAS, jockey of POTOMAC RIVER (winner): “He’s a nice horse. The last time I rode him I had him too far back so I didn’t want to do that again. The last three-eighths (of a mile), he ran hard today. ”

Q: Were you as surprised as the bettors were? “For me? No. I knew I had a chance because last time I was too far back. There were some nice horses but the field wasn’t too tough.”

 

CHARLIE LOPRESTI, trainer of SET THE SAIL (2^nd) and VILLANDRY (4^th): “I knew Set the Sail was gonna run big and he finished second, but Villandry was probably the best horse in the race. He just didn’t handle it (the course) the whole way down the backside. He made all kinds of ground up, if you look where he came from. He spotted the field 10 lengths.”

 

JON COURT, jockey on SET THE SAIL (2^nd): “I had a good trip. We settled off some of that speed. He (trainer Brian Lynch) told me he gets a little anxious, but he’s got him to where you can work him. He settled for me and made a big run. I thought I was home free and I had a bridle-full of horse, then that longshot came around me. But that’s horse racing.”

 

ALAN GARCIA, jockey on GRAND ARCH (3^rd): “He ran huge. He broke good and was in a good spot. We saved all the ground we wanted. He just got outrun, but he ran good and I couldn’t have been happier with him.”

 

JULIEN LEPAROUX, jockey on VILLANDRY (4th as the favorite): “The winner was actually with us in the back. The track is soft and a little slippery, too. It’s hard for most of these horses to handle this kind of track, but he did pretty good and he gave me a nice run at the end.”