Belmont 141 Draw They Said It

BELMONT 141 DRAW THEY SAID IT

JUNE 3, 2009

"The No. 7 is fine with me. My horse is going to back out of it anyway,

so it's not going to be a factor."

—trainer

Chip Woolley commenting on Kentucky

Derby (G1) winner MINE THAT BIRD (Birdstone) drawing the 7 post position for

Saturday's Belmont S. (G1)

"If you watch Mine That Bird run, his stride is bigger than most horses.

He has a huge stride and gets over the ground real easy...With his running

style, we're going to have to let him run his race. But the good thing here is,

when you start slowing the fractions down, if you let him run his same race,

he's going to move way up. If we can just be within 10 to 12 of them, I'm

confident he'll have enough kick left."

—Woolley

describing Mine That Bird's running style

"When I watched the replays of his races last year, he'd stop and

restart like it was nothing. One win, he was on his left lead the whole

way...before the Derby, Calvin (Borel) watched the replays and saw this horse

had a lot more to give than appeared (on paper)."

—Woolley

"That's just Calvin. I'm fine with that. I love a man who's confident

and he'll be comfortable when he gets on the horse, because he won't be afraid."

—Woolley

on jockey Calvin Borel guaranteeing victory aboard Mine That Bird in the Belmont

"I think they're live longshots. They've had two good races in a row. I

think they're going to run well. The only thing, sometimes leading up to the

Triple Crown can take a lot out of the horse. These two particular horses may

have that in their favor -- they might not be as good as the Mine That Birds or

Charitable Mans, but on the other hand, they didn't have the rigors of the

Triple Crown (prep) races leading up to the Derby...If we have them the way we

think we have them, and they're strong, who knows, maybe lightning strikes

twice. We've been lucky in this race, and hopefully everything will work out OK."

—trainer Nick Zito

on his two charges, BRAVE VICTORY (Lion Heart) and MINER'S ESCAPE (Mineshaft),

who drew posts 10 and 9, respectively, for the Belmont; Zito trained Mine That

Bird's sire, Birdstone, to victory in the 2004 Belmont

"Our horse couldn't be doing any better. We're very excited. Charitable

Man should be on or near the lead. We'll let (jockey) Alan (Garcia) decide where

he's going to lay early. He's a young jockey with a lot of success."

—conditioner

Kiaran McLaughlin speaking of Peter Pan S. (G2) winner CHARITABLE MAN (Lemon

Drop Kid), who will break from post 6 in the Belmont

"After all the dust settled after the Derby, we looked at all the

possibilities. We felt like John Velazquez has been our go-to guy for a long

time and we've had a lot of success together, including this race, so we made

the choice to go with him."

—trainer

Todd Pletcher on tabbing John Velazquez to take over riding duties aboard

DUNKIRK (Unbridled's Song) in the Belmont; the Florida Derby (G1) runner-up ran

11th in the Derby and will break from post 2 in the Belmont

"I think it takes a special horse (to win the Belmont). All of them run

a mile-and-a-half, some take a little longer. The thing about it is, I think

it's the style of the horse, and of course there's a gut-check with the pedigree

about the quarter-pole, too. We think we have a couple of horses that fit the

mold, at least in my opinion, to be competitive."

—trainer

D. Wayne Lukas on his Belmont starters, FLYING PRIVATE (Fusaichi Pegasus) (post

8) and LUV GOV (Ten Most Wanted) (post 5)

"I have no idea (how he will handle the surface). We'll throw him in there

and see what happens."

—conditioner

Eoin Harty on MR. HOT STUFF (Tiznow) (post 3), who ran 15 in the Kentucky Derby

in his first try on a conventional dirt surface

"The Arkansas Derby (G2) was his third race, and he showed enough to give him

a chance. In the (Kentucky) Derby, he had a wide trip. There were 19 horses in

the field, and two birds were trying to surround everyone -- Mine That Bird on

the inside and Summer Bird on the outside."

—trainer

Tim Ice on Arkansas Derby third SUMMER BIRD (Birdstone), who will enter post 4

for the Belmont