TORONTO, September 15, 2018 – Oscar Performance and jockey Jose Ortiz won the 22nd running of the $800,000 Ricoh Woodbine Mile, a Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup ‘Win And You’re In’ event, contested over Woodbine’s world-renowned E.P. Taylor Turf Course on Saturday afternoon. The four-year-old Kitten’s Joy colt is trained by Brian Lynch and owned by Amerman Racing LLC. Top three order of finish: Oscar Performance-Mr Havercamp-Stormy Antarctic Final time: 1:33.12 Jose Ortiz, jockey of Oscar Performance: “At the quarter pole, I saw somebody getting close to me but when I asked him to go, he really accelerated. He gave me a great turn of foot and he kept going.” “It’s very special. I’m very emotional right now. He’s my favourite horse. He gave me my first Breeders’ Cup, I’m just happy he’s back.” Brian Lynch, trainer of Oscar Performance: “It’s a very prestigious race. It’s nice to be able to put your name beside it. Throughout your career there are signature races you’d like to win and mine has always been to win the Woodbine Mile and it’s nice to accomplish that.” “I watched the race from my barn in Saratoga. I figured with the scratching of the filly (La Sardane) he’d be the speed of the race and he looked very comfortable throughout. I talked to Jose (Ortiz) earlier in the day and said, ‘I’m not going to tell you how to ride the race, but the only thing I can tell you is it’s a hell of a long stretch there, so be patient.'” “I thought he rode him beautifully and his last quarter was sensational. It’s nice to see him back and it’s a ‘Win and You’re In’ and we’ve got six weeks to the Breeders’ Cup. Now we can take a deep breath and do the best we can to have him right on that day.” “He gave us a lot of confidence going into this race from the way he’d been working. I think Jose (Ortiz) rode him very confidently, established an early and dictated the terms. I wouldn’t say he wasn’t pressured, he (Mr Havercamp) was sitting no more than three-quarters of a length off him at a real critical stage of the race, but obviously ‘Oscar’ was back on his ‘A’ game today. He gave us that signature move when he asked him to open up, and he maintained.” On being pulled up in the Arlington Million: “The good thing is that nothing ever came of it. He was fine after the race. We went in and had a full physical on him and Dr. Bramlage (Rood and Riddle) gave him the okay and we put him back in training.” Erin Lynch, assistant trainer to Brian Lynch: “After Arlington, he gave us a really bad scare so for him to come back and do this, it’s a big deal.” “We literally made a decision the Monday before entries. Brian put his last work into him and just made sure all systems were go and he was happy with him and decided let’s try, let’s give it a shot.” “It was discussed that if he could inherit the lead on his own then to go for it and just try and slow the pace down a little bit, but Jose knows this horse better than anybody.” Eurico Rosa da Silva, jockey of Mr Havercamp (2nd) “I’m so proud of him. He gave it his best. We went a very slow pace for this race. But I needed to make a decision. If I press the pace I probably lose second. Congratulations to the winner, he’s a nice horse, but my horse ran hard. I’m happy. I’m thrilled with the race.” On the pace set up: “Unfortunately (the scratch of La Sardane) happened last minute. But we will try next year again. I feel like this horse is coming up good and he’s only going to get better.” On his hopes of catching Oscar Performance: “No, not at any point. I was hoping but I saw he had a little more horse than I did. I’m very happy to finish second.” Gerald Mosse, jockey of Stormy Antarctic (3rd): “Lovely run. Not a good draw to be able to be behind the first two. Had an ideal scenario and was coming like he was going to do something, but the ground is a bit quick for him. If the ground was a bit on the soft side, he’d have been a solid contender. He still gave me his best, but he needed a little bit more give in the ground.” Javier Castellano, jockey of favourite Delta Prince (4th): “Really disappointing. He didn’t show up today for some reason. He was flat today. Had a nice comfortable rhythm behind the winner, but when I asked him at the top of the stretch, he just didn’t respond today.” *Additional quotes will be added here when available. Share This:Share
