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BELMONT THEY SAID IT

JUNE 5, 2010

Drosselmeyer gave owner WinStar two-thirds of the Triple Crown along with Super Saver (Jim Tyrrell/Horsephotos.com) "I thought our horse would probably improve to just having had the race. I think he had been dormant for seven weeks, and I think he does a little better with a little more racing. The race, obviously, moved him forward. You saw the result today. He got a nice clean trip today. Didn't have to check. You know, Mike gave him a nice, smooth ride. He trained well. The horse trained well since the Dwyer." —trainer Bill Mott on DROSSELMEYER (Distorted Humor), who exited a runner-up effort in the Dwyer S. (G2) to take Saturday's Belmont S. (G1) "About eight days ago, it looked like they may become a little bit of a problem. He had gotten the frogs in his feet, had gotten a little sore. The sand is a little abrasive here at Belmont, and it was kind of abrading on the frog, and we just put a simple aluminum bar shoe on him to give him a little protection during training during the week. And as soon as we put those on, he got quiet. We soaked him in hot water, Epsom salts a couple times a day, and he was not a problem all week. We took the bar shoes off today, this morning after he trained, and the feet looked great." —Mott when asked about why he put bar shoes on Drosselmeyer when training up to the Belmont

"It was no reflection on Kent. Kent's a Hall of Fame rider, won this race many times. In fact, you know, when I talked to him after the Dwyer, we kind of texted back and forth. He said this horse would win the Belmont with him or without him. And he was right. Kent's a great rider. We had breakfast this morning. We're going to use him plenty in the future. Mike did give (Drosselmeyer) a great ride. Kent probably would have, too. It was one of those things where the horse had struggled getting over the hump and just felt like, you know, a little shuffling might do the trick."

—Elliott Walden, vice president and racing manager of Drosselmeyer's owner, WinStar Farm, on why they switched jockeys from Kent Desormeaux to Mike Smith for the Belmont

"It's very good. This is, by the way, the second Belmont winner I've saddled. People probably don't know it. I saddled Victory Gallop for Elliott when he had a broken leg. I actually put the saddle on. I just tried to repeat that effort again today and put it on the same way and it worked. It's a great feeling and, you know, it's nice to be able to train good horses and for good people and that give you the opportunity to do this. And it all came together and I think it was just a matter of time with, you know, some of the good horses that I do get the opportunity to train that it was going to happen."

—Mott talking about winning his first Belmont

"When I got the phone call and Bill asked if I'd be interested in riding him, the first thing I thought was, 'I'm going to win the Belmont.' I felt that from that phone call on to this morning. I got up and ran four miles this morning. I felt so good. I took the edge off a little bit. It means everything in my career. I feel complete."

—Smith relating his confidence prior to taking his initial Belmont score

"You know, it's nice to kind of join up with an old friend that you had a lot of success with in the past. I mean, we both kind of came to New York about the same time and cut our teeth here, and it's nice to join up in the Belmont and get it done together. It's special for a lot of reasons, but that's a big reason that it will be special."

—Mott on teaming up with Smith

Walden (far right) congratulated Smith following Drosselmeyer's win (Debra Kral/Horsephotos.com) "I was extremely excited to look down that grandstand and see wall-to-wall people. I was concerned, probably like everybody else three weeks ago when Super Saver (Maria's Mon) got beat, it might have taken a little bit of the luster off the Belmont. I thought it was a good crowd today, an energetic crowd. It was a lot of fun without having quite as much pressure as it is when a Triple Crown is on the line." —Walden on not having a Triple Crown on the line while going for the Belmont "You know, we just feel blessed all year with the opportunities that we've been given. We've been given great opportunities at WinStar with the resources with the Troutts and the Casners put into the business, and so, you know, it's just nice to see your hard work come together and it's been such a team feeling all spring, you know, you go into a barn, a yearling barn, you go into the stallion barn, you know, our stallion manager, Larry McGuinnes is walking on clouds right now with his Distorted Humor being the daddy of this one. We have a great team in place, starts at the top with the Troutts and the Casners, and it's just a real blessing." —Walden describing his feelings toward the current WinStar three-year-old crop "We'll probably maybe look to separate them in the next start, but probably come together in the Travers (G1) and see what happens, but, you know, it all depends on how they both come back. The rest of the year will play out the way it's supposed to. We won't try to manipulate it any way." —Walden when asked if Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Super Saver and Drosselmeyer would face off

"I was telling Elliott this morning, we both, I think you were 15, too, weren't you, or 16, we came and one of my first jobs on the track was up here. I was driving horses for Laz Barrera and P.G. Johnson and working for Dr. Pendergrast. I thought I had gone to heaven when I showed up on the Belmont Park. It is a beautiful facility. If you love horses, this is the place for horses to be, it's special. So it was kind of great to look around and see it, and Steve (Cauthen) and I spent a summer up here living together. He was riding. I was working and, you know, we were just living the dream and both my parents definitely were very involved in the business on a smaller venue, they've always loved it and enjoyed coming here. I remember walking around after Steve won the Triple Crown with Mom and Dad, my little brother, Kerry. It was a special moment and today was pretty special, too."

—co-owner Doug Cauthen, whose brother Steve Cauthen rode Affirmed to Triple Crown glory in 1978

"You know, I'm really not good with computers, but those things are amazing. I got one of the kids, I swear to you, back at the Hollywood Park, I said, 'How do you run that machine? I want to see all these past races.' I saw all of his races."

—Smith on familiarizing himself with Drosselmeyer

"It's hard to really differentiate between them until we get into the Haskell (G1) and the Travers and the Breeder's Cup Classic (G1). I think the rest of the year will decide who the best is. As we sit here today, I've got to believe that we have two of the top three in Drosselmeyer and Super Saver and watching Super Saver train all week, being up here, he's doing great. I'm excited to see him get the opportunity to get back and redeem himself. We'll see."

—Walden when asked who is the top three-year-old; he included Preakness S. (G1) winner Lookin at Lucky (Smart Strike) with WinStar's two classic victors

More They Said It:

Breeders' Cup Saturday They Said It

Breeders' Cup Friday They Said It

Downs After Dark TSI

Travers TSI

Firecracker & Bashford Manor TSI

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