Kentucky Derby 138 Losing Trainer Quotes
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138th
KENTUCKY DERBY LOSING TRAINER QUOTES
BOB BAFFERT (Bodemeister, second) – “He was doing it easily. He was
within himself. He was being pressed, but he’s a brilliant horse. That’s the
way he wanted to run. We talked about it before. I told Mike (Smith), ‘Look, if
he breaks great and feels like running, we can win it.’
“He ran his race. He was there and
he just got tired a little bit. He’s only run four times. I was really proud of
him. He’s a super impressive horse.
Thoughts in the stretch: “When they were coming for him I was thinking about War
Emblem, except War Emblem got :46 and change. If the half could have been in
:46 it would have been good, but Mike rode him perfect. I have no complaints
there. We got beat. You get beat. But he showed up and that’s all a trainer can
ask for is that his horse shows up on the big days, and he showed up.”
On the way the race played out: “I wasn’t surprised. He’s a very fast horse and I didn’t
want to change his style. Actually the jockey of Trinniberg had a hold of his
horse as best he could, but I knew he was there. That’s horse racing. The
reason I didn’t get pumped up all week is that in a 20-horse Kentucky Derby
anything can happen. He ran his race and that’s all you can ask for.
“That’s the only time I’ve run
second where I’ve been happy because he ran his race.”
DALE ROMANS (Dullahan, third) – “I told (jockey Kent Desormeaux) to
get out in the clear, and he came running. He had to go a lot wider than he wanted
to, but he finished strong. It was just an unlucky break.”
GRAHAM MOTION (Went the Day Well,
fourth) – “Johnny
(Velazquez) said he just had a tough trip. As good a trip as he got last year,
he had a tough trip this year. He galloped out in front.”
MIKE HARRINGTON (Creative Cause,
fifth) – “It
didn’t look like he had any trouble. He just got outrun, I guess.”
BOB BAFFERT (Liaison, sixth) – “He ran like he was training. He got
back in the groove. He ran a great race."
MICHAEL MATZ (Union Rags, seventh) – “Julian (Leparoux) said he just didn’t get a good break.
He just had a rough trip, he said.”
JERRY HOLLENDORFER (Rousing Sermon,
eighth) – “He
ran all right. He had a decent trip, we just didn’t get there. The Derby is a
tough race to win.”
MIKE MAKER (Hansen, ninth) – “We didn’t have the best horse.
Ramon (Dominguez) had him in a great spot and he had every chance if we were
good enough. We weren’t good enough.
“Turning for home it looked like we
were in a good spot bout couldn’t make up any ground at the eighth pole said
‘I’ve had enough.’ “
STEVE ASMUSSEN (Daddy Nose Best, 10th) – “He had position, he just didn’t do
anything with it.”
D. WAYNE LUKAS (Optimizer, 11th) – “I know we stayed on the rail more
than we needed to. I know that’s the shortest way around, but I didn’t want to
be down there that long. I knew the trip was going to be key for us. They run
it every year; I’m not going to worry about it.”
KIARAN MCLAUGHLIN (Alpha, 12th) – “It’s disappointing. He really kind
of lost it in the paddock. I felt like he was really hot and bothered. It’s
tough on horses, the preliminary stuff. He was great in the gate, but he did
get very hot in the paddock and he just ran dull. Not a good effort.”
TODD PLETCHER (EL PADRINO, 13th) – No quotes available.
HAMILTON SMITH (Done Talking, 14th) – “He had a good trip. They went fast
up front but they weren't backing up none too much. Speed held well the last
two days and track was hard and fast by Derby time. He sure didn't close much.
We won't go to the Preakness. We'll let him get over this one and maybe
thinking about trying him on grass or something. We'll see."
STEVE ASMUSSEN (Sabercat, 15th) – “He just got a little wide into the
first turn and that’s it.”
ELLIOTT WALDEN, President/CEO of
WinStar Farm, owner (Gemologist, 16th) – “He
didn’t run much. It’s very disappointing. He broke extremely slow and then got
into the bridle way too much, pulling hard under the wire the first time. From
the backstretch on he just backed up and didn’t show up.
BISNATH PARBOO (Trinniberg, 17th) – “The jockey said he didn’t like the
going. He likes an easier going.”
MARK CASSE (Prospective, 18th) – “We never had a shot. He clipped
heels and almost went down about 10 jumps out of the gate. I didn't see it live
with the craziness, and then I went to talk to Luis (Contreras) and asked if he
had any excuses. He said 'Are you kidding me? I thought I was going down and
lucky to stay on.' It's just disappointing to bring him along to such a big
race and lose your chance right away."
PAT BYRNE (Take Charge Indy, 19th) – “He was walking good when he first
got back, but he’s walking a little gingerly on his left front. Dr. Bill
Baker was here to look at him and felt we probably needed to X-ray the left
front ankle and the left front fetlock so we’re going to send him over to Dr.
Baker’s at the first of the week for further evaluation.
“Obviously something went wrong.
He’s not 100 percent cooling out. It looks like we need to further examine him.
We don’t know what’s exactly wrong with him at this point in time.
“Calvin (Borel) thought he bled, but
we scoped him and it doesn’t appear that he bled.”
“It’s disappointing, but we’ll move
on. We know it wasn’t a talent issue. Something obviously went wrong.”
T. J. COMERFORD, head traveling lad
for trainer Aidan O’Brien (Daddy Long Legs, 20th) – No quotes available.
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