A little turn of foot in the middle of the race you like to see, and most good horses have it. It was something we hadn't seen in any of his previous races, so that was definitely a step forward. |
Going a mile, I didn't know if we could handle everything. Our horse wants to run farther. |
He galloped a mile and a half, as planned. I didn't think the track was that bad when he went. It was wet but it was in good shape. The track is not going to bother us regardless anyway. |
He has never been a problem at the gate. I just wanted to familiarize him with the gate crew and the crew with him. I don't want any surprises Derby Day. |
He's a pretty cool customer. We take him out after we train him in the morning and like to get him out in the afternoon. It's nice to have this because he enjoys picking a little grass. |
He's going to be a colt that is going to want to run all day. |
He's obviously a nice colt. But I can't see them having him all cranked up to win. Their objective is the Arkansas Derby and the Kentucky Derby, so I think they're using it for what it is — a prep. |
He's still the horse to beat. At a mile and a sixteenth, he's still the horse to beat. If it sets up like it did the last time, we're probably all running for second again. |
His energy level is real high and he seems pretty happy. |
I don't think we're far behind Lawyer Ron. We lost enough ground in the Rebel on the first turn and were a little wider than him in the second turn to make me think that he wasn't three lengths better than us. |
I think he'll be running at the end. Will that be good enough to beat Lawyer Ron? I don't know. |
I'm figuring we're probably going to be in the back half of the field the first part of the race and see if we can reel them in. |
I'm not saying he would have gotten to the winner, but had he had a good trip, he would have made the finish closer. |
I've never had a horse in the Kentucky Derby. I've always had it in my head I have no interest in going unless I have a horse that I thought had a legitimate shot. And I think this is a mile-and-a-quarter horse. |
If I can just get to Kentucky. |