He's obviously a very talented horse. Whether he carries the class he shows on turf over to the dirt, we just don't know yet. But his mother and half-brother (Holy Ground) ran well on the dirt. |
He's the real deal. I think I have a very good horse. He's the type of horse that gives me that confidence he can do it. My job right now is to do the very best I can for him. One thing that's different from my Olympic experience, I was on the horse and had to do it myself. I have no control once the race starts now. |
He's trained well on dirt. There's no reason to think he will not run well unless he has traffic trouble. And he has enough tactical speed to keep himself out of trouble. |
I don't like to do too much on a track like that. |
I feel very fortunate and thankful that we were OK. That's all you can be. You go on with life. |
I have no reason to think he won't run as well on a dry track because he trains really well on the dirt. I have no reason to think he won't do the same as he has in his training. |
I hope we have a fresh horse come the first Saturday in May. |
I think he can do whatever he's asked to do until he shows he can't do it. |
I think it is his ability and his heart. He's got a great attitude and his heart is a tremendous asset. He is a terrific athlete. |
I think it will suit this horse. I want to make sure if we get to Kentucky we have a good chance. I don't want to go there and (just) say, 'Well, we've got an entry in the Kentucky Derby.' That's no fun. |
I try not to think about it. The times you think about it are when you are on a plane and you hit some turbulence and you hope it doesn't happen again. Right now, you can't help but get on airplanes and fly. I'm just thankful my wife and I were OK. Then, you go on with life. You can't use that as a crutch not to do anything. |
I was nervous about it, They're all in the same boat. |
If people wouldn't try to cheat, this would never happen. I don't want to be starting here when the other guy is starting up there. |
It just so happened his first race was on the grass. [His breeding] had a little bit to do with it. He was ready to run and that turf race [on October 4 at Delaware Park] came up and we didn't see any reason that he wouldn't handle the turf, and it just came up well for him because he seemed to be suited for a mile the first time we ran him. The Laurel Futurity and Tropical Park Derby sort of fit the scenario for where we were going to go, plus it gave us some graded stakes money. |
It was just a real good horse race. |