Breeders' Cup They Said It

Last updated: 10/26/07 9:19 PM

BREEDERS' CUP THEY SAID IT OCTOBER 26, 2007 "I just gained so much confidence moving down the backside because (Corinthian) stayed in the bridle even though he was getting pummeled with sand. And when I loomed up to the leader, the sand stopped hitting him in the face and was going underneath his chest and he got stronger and stronger. It seemed like the longer I was able to sit the more he grabbed the bit." jockey Kent Desormeaux on Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner CORINTHIAN (Pulpit) "This red colt, he was a fireball down the lane. He was certainly trying to dry his path; he was a rocket down the line." Desormeaux on Corinthian "I was having to work with him to get him off the bridle. He was a little keen with me. Once I got him outside, he was nice and relaxed and traveling well. About the half-mile pole, when I needed horse, he just kind of stayed. I thought he was completely done. I just kept scrubbing away and he hung on and ran third for us." jockey Garrett Gomez on 3-2 favorite DISCREET CAT (Forestry) running third in the Dirt Mile "He's had some setbacks, a throat surgery and stuff like that. We're trying to figure it out. We know (the talent) is still there. We don't know exactly what the problem is. He's traveling well and he feels good underneath me, but there's something missing, and we're going to try to find it." Gomez "I don't like to make excuses. There's nothing we can tell right now. Maybe it was the ground, or maybe his throat. We're headed back to the barn now." trainer Saeed bin Suroor on Discreet Cat's run "It's muddy out there. He never got in the race. He didn't like that slop at all. It wasn't a matter of the trip; I had a good trip. He just didn't want to do it out there today." jockey Joe Talamo on LEWIS MICHAEL's (Rahy) fifth-place finish in the Dirt Mile "He got bumped out wide going the first turn, and only had one horse beat, and that's not him. He just didn't run a lick." Jim Ryerson, trainer of PARK AVENUE BALL (Citidancer), who finished seventh "She's so amazingly gifted with speed. When we claimed her, we just assumed she was a filly that had to be up near the front end, and she's such a tall, big, good-looking filly, it's amazing. It took us about seven starts for us to figure (her running style) out. But she's so big that by rushing (her) off her feet, it just takes a lot of run out of her and just letting her break and settle, she's so much more giving late in the race. I wish we would have figured that out a while back. But at least we finally figured it out." winning trainer Doug O'Neill on Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint winner MARYFIELD (Elusive Quality) "Every exercise rider has commented on how sure-footed she is. We knew if the going was a little slick, she would not lose her confidence. And as it rained, even though it was a nuisance walking around, we knew it would be a bonus for her." O'Neill on the sloppy conditions that Maryfield had to contend with in the Filly & Mare Sprint "It's incredible. I think last year, being part of the Kentucky Derby festivities was just a real eye-opener of how many great horsemen there are. And just to sit down there, having dinner with Carl Nafzger and Steve Asmussen, and you know, just to be doing something that I absolutely love with people that have been doing this a lot longer than me, I just feel very fortunate. I'm learning something new every day and been very blessed the last three years and hopefully we can keep it going." O'Neill "She always breaks slow so I was expecting it. I knew if I tried to take hold of her, she would try to run off with me. I stayed on the rail, came to the middle of the track on the turn, and (Garrett Gomez aboard Oprah Winney) kind of cut in front of me a little bit. I had to check slightly there. I don't know if it cost me the race, but she finished real well." jockey Eusebio Razo Jr. on MISS MACY SUE (Trippi), who ran third in the inaugural Filly & Mare Sprint "I think the one-hole hurt us just a little bit because those other fillies were a lot quicker, and she got shuffled back some, and bumped around a little bit. I don't know whether it cost us a placing or not. I thought she ran very well. I am very proud of her." —trainer Kelly Von Hemel on Miss Macy Sue's run "We didn't really catch our best track today. She's a fast horse, but it was very tiring out there. She always runs :44, but with a fast track she would have kept going." —Eibar Coa on Filly & Mare Sprint favorite DREAM RUSH (Wild Rush), who finished fifth "Forty-four flat, well, she can handle that. I just don't think she loved the track. Eibar said she just didn't give him the same feel as on a fast track. What are you going to do? It's an outdoor game. She leaves next week for Kentucky. She's going to be offered at the Fasig-Tipton November sale. You can buy her." —trainer Richard Violette Jr. on Dream Rush, who will show up next in Fasig's sale's ring "She didn't really like the track at all. She lost her action." —jockey Julian Leparoux on LA TRAVIATA (Johannesburg), who ran sixth after contesting the early pace in the Filly & Mare Sprint "These are very tough conditions for a two-year-old." —jockey Johnny Murtagh, who rode ACHILL ISLAND (Ire) (Sadler's Wells) to a near-miss in the inaugural Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf, on the yielding ground "The grass is really soft. There were ducks on the course around the half-mile pole, about four or five of them." —jockey Elvis Trujillo describes the view aboard third-placer CANNONBALL (Catienus) in the Juvenile Turf "I feel like I rode a mile and a half race. It was a marathon out there, and I had a miler. I put away the horse on the inside and had what, at the time, was a comfortable trip, but at the quarter-pole, I had nothing left." —jockey Kent Desormeaux on PRUSSIAN (Danzig), who tired after setting the pace in the one-mile Juvenile Turf and wound up 10th "The ground is very heavy now. It's really changing. Obviously, it's not to his liking right now, not his cup of tea." —Bill Mott, Prussian's trainer, echoes the comments about the testing turf </div></body>

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