JOCKEY QUOTES

            ABEL CEDILLO, ESSENTIAL WAGER, WINNER: “It’s great to ride for Bob.  I just wanted to make sure we broke clean.  I know this horse has a lot of speed, so I tried to make sure he was standing good in the gate and he did all the rest.”

TRAINER QUOTES

          BOB BAFFERT, ESSENTIAL WAGER, WINNER: “This horse is getting better and better, he had trained really well.  With Cezanne, I think it was a little too short for him…All of Essential Wager’s races have been pretty impressive and actually, he’s bred, not to be a sprinter.  Abel did a great job, got him outta there and held off those horses pretty well.  You know, he took a lot of heat early and kept going.”

Would the San Carlos (Grade II, $200,000 at seven furlongs on March 5 make sense?  “Yes, I think that would be a good spot for him.”

OWNER QUOTES

          MIKE PEGRAM, PART-OWNER, ESSENTIAL WAGER, WINNER: “We started together and it’s always special to come back to Santa Anita. This is my first time back in two years and we know why we call it The Great Race Place. It’s very special and we always love to come back to Santa Anita.

“We’re going to let Bobby do what he wants with him, but I think he could probably get the two turns, it looks like.”

            NOTES: The winning owner is Mike Pegram, Karl Watson, Paul Weitman.