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BELMONT THEY SAID IT JUNE 7, 2008
"Both together. They both were surprising. Both gratifying." —Zito on which was more surprising, Birdstone's Belmont win at 36-1 or Da' Tara's at 38-1
"It's New York; it's our home; it's a mile and a half; it's one of the great races of all time, the Belmont Stakes; it's classic." —Zito on why he feels the Belmont is so special "Nick and I (have been) partners a long time. There's no question luck is involved in this game and there's highs and lows. But like anything else in life, it's a good plan with good team players. And we have a team that I think is second to none in the game, and I think it was Thomas Jefferson that said, the better you are, the harder you work, the luckier you get, and I think that's fitting for this team." —LaPenta on his partnership with Zito "You know, (War Pass is) not progressing like I want him to. When I say that, he is healing, he is getting better, but time's running out, because the right thing to do is give him all the time we can. If he's going to do any running, it's probably going to be next year. He is getting better, but I want him to heal faster, but what can I tell you? One thing Woody Stephens told me a long time ago -- if you don't wait on them, they will make you wait. So he's been a joy, he's been a great horse and he's one of the greatest horses I've ever trained. I just have to wait on him." —Zito on champion War Pass (Cherokee Run), who was sidelined after suffering a small fracture in his left front sesamoid, possibly when running second in the Wood Memorial (G1) "I think I'm numb, really. A little lost. Just feeling no emotion whatsoever; blank." —jockey Kent Desormeaux on how he felt after pulling up Kentucky Derby (G1) and Preakness S. (G1) hero Big Brown in the stretch of the Belmont "Well, we were just talking about that in the jocks' room. I can't fathom what kind of freaks those 11 Triple Crown winners were. It's unfathomable to me." —Desormeaux on what it takes to win the Triple Crown "We are very proud of our horse. We didn't have any help on the front end. He had to make up all that ground ourselves. (Jockey) Robby (Albarado) was very patient on him and we are looking forward to having a great second half of the year with him." —trainer David Carroll on Belmont runner-up DENIS OF CORK (Harlan's Holiday), who was the only one to make up any ground on Da' Tara
"He broke well, but I wanted to be closer. When we got to the quarter-pole, he emptied out. He's the kind of horse that will give you one run, and he gave it, but it wasn't enough." —jockey Garrett Gomez on Derby Trial winner MACHO AGAIN's (Macho Uno) finishing fifth in the Belmont "My horse has a big gash on his leg." —trainer Barclay Tagg on how TALE OF EKATI (Tale of the Cat) came out of his Belmont sixth "At the half-mile pole, (Desormeaux) hadn't asked Big Brown to go. I was expecting him to go by us between the half-mile and the three-eighths pole. I was surprised when I didn't see that happen. I knew something was wrong with Big Brown. After Big Brown, the Belmont was a wide-open race. Anyone could have won it, and that's what happened in the end. My horse gave me everything he had." —jockey Eibar Coa, who was aboard Tale of Ekati "This was a shock. I am saddened by this and I hope Big Brown is OK. I hope it is nothing serious. We had our game plan. He got hooked up with a couple of horses in the race and ran hard too early. " —Fred Seitz, owner and trainer of GUADALCANAL (Graeme Hall), who exits his Belmont seventh-place finish still in search of his first career win "I didn't see anything wrong with Big Brown during the race. He looked great out there. I was surprised to see what happened. It's heart-breaking, but that's racing." —Guadalcanal's jockey, Javier Castellano, on his view of Big Brown in the Belmont
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