JOCKEY QUOTES

            VICTOR ESPINOZA, QUEEN GODDESS, WINNER: “We were very comfortable. Nice and relaxed, she was doing it so easily. I was getting a little bit excited. I knew that she was going to have plenty until the end, and they were going to have a hard time catching me. Sure enough she really ran hard. Good job to Michael and his team with this filly. This is the second time I rode her, I worked her last work and I was really impressed the way she worked. I was really happy to go into this race. I know that she would be challenged with the distance, but I think it was a bit better for her and she proved that she is great.”

TRAINER QUOTES

          MICHAEL McCARTHY, QUEEN GODDESS, WINNER: “She’s exceptional at these added furlong races.  Her race in the American Oaks here (Dec. 26) was very good on a drying out, wet fast dirt surface that day.  I just think in these stamina-laden races, she’ll be quite effective all year long in these types of spots.  We gotta get through the summer first, but you know, you start thinking about a filly that handles the 10 furlongs like this, you’d have to be thinking about it (the Grade I Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf).”

CHIP KELLY, UCLA HEAD FOOTBALL COACH: “Spring training actually starts on Tuesday, so we wanted to get out here and see (Santa Anita). We have never been here before and what a beautiful racetrack.

“We go (to the tracks) back home, I’m from the east coast, so we took a trip every summer to Saratoga and we’ve been to Del Mar once, so getting to see the courses on the west side has really been a lot of fun.

“We are excited. I think the PAC-12 is starting to make a comeback here and so I think everyone is excited to get back into spring ball and seeing what our team will look like next year.”

  NOTES: The winning owners are Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and TOLO Thoroughbreds, LLC.