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Photo Credit: Jim McCue/MJC
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BALTIMORE, MD. 5-17-08 – Puglisi Stables and Steve Klesaris’ Roman Emperor earned a hard-earned victory Saturday when he turned back Da’ Tara and three other 3-year-olds to win the $100,000 Barbaro Stakes.
Jeremy Rose was marking his second win of the afternoon, this time aboard the bay son of Empire Maker for owner/trainer Klesaris. It was not an easy outcome for the 8-5 post-time favorite as he had to fend off a determined Da’ Tara to win by a half-length in 1:42.10 for the 1-1/16th-mile distance on the fast main track. Spurrier closed to finish third.
Roman Emperor paid $5.20 while scoring his first stakes.
Trainer and Jockey Quotes
Steve Klesaris (trainer, Roman Emperor, winner) – “The race went perfect for us. It was a little tight down the stretch, but it turned out perfectly. We’re not sure where we’re going to run next.”
Jeremy Rose (jockey, Roman Emperor, winner) – “They tried to slow it down a little bit in front of me. I got a hole to go in and moved out. I got up on that horse in the last part of the race and my horse was just faster than him.”
Nick Zito (trainer, Da’ Tara, 2nd) – “The winner was tough. My horse ran good. In fact, he ran great and has a good future. He was inside of that horse. Maybe if he got outside of that horse, it might have been different.”
John Velazquez (jockey, Da’ Tara, 2nd) – (About hooking up in a tight stretch duel with Jeremy Rose for the second race in a row) “It can happen a lot in these races. I got one and he got this one.”
Todd Pletcher (trainer, Spurrier, 3rd) – “He really didn’t get going until it was too late. We’ll look for a spot like the Ohio Derby or something like that in the future.”
Garrett Gomez (jockey, Spurrier, 3rd) – “He showed some late run. I really couldn’t get him to get involved early. It’s always a little more difficult to try to get a horse like this to get going in a field this size. I’m sure it did not help. He just gave himself too much to do late.”
-MJC-