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DERBY THEY SAID IT
MAY 1, 2010
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| Lookin at Lucky was very unlucky to draw the rail post in the Derby
(Debra Kral/Horsephotos.com) |
"There are a bunch of variables: the 1 post, the mud, he's never had this
much stuff in his face, a mile and a quarter. There's all kinds of stuff. There
were too many things going on today. I got bumped two or three times. That's
what I worried about going in. He wasn't real willing to help me the first
sixteenth of mile and take some of it. After the first one, he wasn't willing to
take too much."
—jockey
Garrett Gomez on 6-1 favorite and sixth-place finisher LOOKIN AT LUCKY (Smart
Strike), who was roughed up early from his rail post
"I thought something went amiss with him because he just stuck them in the
ground (when he propped following a bumping incident along the rail.) When he
stuck them in the ground, I sat down on him and I didn't know what was going on.
By then, I started to figure out what he was doing. By then I knew I was in
trouble. You can't do that. You can't give up that ground."
—Gomez
on how Lookin at Lucky reacted to the mugging
"I felt like if I could have stayed where I was, in behind Willie (Martinez,
on Noble's Promise), I would have been in OK shape. But even then, he picked up
the horses, but not real willingly. I was having trouble even picking them up
going into the far turn. I didn't expect that. I figured that if I got shuffled
back where I was he would start to pick them up. He wasn't helping me a whole
lot. Then all of a sudden I picked most of the field up and I started splitting
horses. He started putting in an OK run. I thought if I can eyeball something
he'll come home. When we turned for home, at about the eighth-pole, he flattened
out."
—Gomez
on the rest of Lookin at Lucky's trip
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"I lost all chance at the post position draw when I drew the 1 (post with
Lookin at Lucky). Since then I haven't been able to really enjoy. Everything had
been going so smooth and great and then boom, right in the 1 hole. I had a bad
feeling about it."
—trainer
Bob Baffert felt doomed from the time Lookin at Lucky drew the rail
"'Lucky,' I quit watching him after the first bump. He was done. I wish
(Garrett Gomez) would have pulled him up. That's horse racing. You have good
luck and bad luck and I've been lucky to win this race and other guys have had
bad luck."
—Baffert
couldn't bring himself to watch after 'Lucky was slammed
"The other horse (Conveyance) is a good horse but I was just hoping Sidney's
Candy would leave us alone but he just kept pressing us. They were going too
fast."
—Baffert
on CONVEYANCE (Indian Charlie), who set the fast early pace before fading to
15th
"I don't know. I am going to look at
them over the next couple of days and think about it. I am not going to make any
promises over the next few days."
—Baffert
on whether he's contemplating the May 15 Preakness S. (G1) at Pimlico
"He is fearless. He rides with so much confidence and he
knows what he is going to do. He just gets on top of that rail, but he needs a
good horse."
—Baffert
on Calvin Borel, who rode his third Derby winner on Saturday
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| The Twin Spires gleamed in
the sun as the Derby field entered the sloppy backstretch
(Harold Roth/Horsephotos.com) |
"I couldn't get lucky enough to beat Calvin (Borel), but my horse (Ice Box)
did get me second. He ran a great race. I have to be happy with the way he ran
today. He put in a great run."
—trainer
Nick Zito on ICE BOX's (Pulpit) rallying
second in Saturday's Kentucky Derby (G1)
"I got stopped cold at the quarter-pole. If I got through, I would have won.
He stumbled real bad here at the sixteenth-pole. He must have stepped in a hole.
My horse, he ran his heart out. He just didn't have the luck."
—jockey
Kent Desormeaux his ride aboard Derby third-placer PADDY O'PRADO (El Prado
[Ire])
"I'm quite happy with him. He had me a little worried he was so far back, but
I saw him making up ground on the backstretch, even though it's so hard to see
the race. I'm delighted with his effort. We'll sit down with the owner tonight
and talk about the Preakness."
—trainer
Alexis Barba speaking about MAKE MUSIC FOR ME's (Bernstein) game fourth in the
Run for the Roses
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"I was comfortable and moving nicely. The 10 horse (Paddy O'Prado) kind of
stopped in front of me, then I gained the lead and he responded nicely for me.
The rest was all (Calvin) Borel. He had the horse."
—jockey Willie
Martinez on being passed after gaining the lead with eventual fifth-place runner
NOBLE'S PROMISE (Cuvee)
"We talked a lot about waiting with this horse and not passing horses until
the eighth-pole. Willie (Martinez) said he felt he was cruising, so he let him
take the lead at the quarter-pole. We passed the 10 horse (Paddy O'Prado) and
then he came back and passed us, so maybe we just need to admit he's a miler.
But a darned good one."
—trainer Kenny
McPeek on Noble's Promise Derby run
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| A mud-caked Derby 136 field powers around the turn
(Melissa Wirth/Horsephotos.com) |
"I have never ridden a good horse like him. He's so fast. I just let him do
whatever he wanted to. He took the lead easily but I don't know what happened.
He ran a good race but he was facing the best horses in the country."
—jockey Martin
Garcia, who was aboard early Derby pacesetter and 15th-place finisher CONVEYANCE
(Indian Charlie)
"Oh, man, we were in the right spot; just where I wanted to be. But when it
came time, he couldn't do it. It just wasn't his day."
—jockey
Joe Talamo on his first Derby ride with SIDNEY'S CANDY (Candy Ride [Arg]), who
ran 17th in the 20-horse field
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"I had a hard time seeing the race, so I don't know what happened. He
certainly didn't run his race."
—trainer Jeremy
Noseda, whose first Derby starter AWESOME ACT (Awesome Again) round up next to
last
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