WHITNEY INVITATIONAL HANDICAP (G1) DRAW QUOTES

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

 

 

 

WHITNEY INVITATIONAL HANDICAP (G1) DRAW QUOTES

 

Hall of Famer Bill Mott, trainer of Ron the Greek (No. 6, 3-1 odds) and Flat Out (No. 7, 4-1): "I don't feel [posts 6 and 7] are a disadvantage at all. I don't see any reason for excuses coming from those posts."

 

"I think [Ron the Greek is] a real late-developing horse. He's a huge, gorgeous horse, actually, but a horse you could tell probably wasn't going to get good until later in his career. I think it's just a timing issue, as most things are in this business. He's starting to come around at the right time and just landed in our hands at the right time." 

 

"I thought [the Monmouth Cup] was a perfect race for [Flat Out]. He probably didn't get to run full out the whole way. He was kind of stuffed early in the race and got out late. He was closing on the winner. It was a useful race. I think it was the type of race you'd like going into a major race like the Whitney. It was enough, but it wasn't too much. I think sometimes we panic a little bit if a horse runs clearing the field and worry about him running a little too fast, but I think this was probably just right."

 

On not having won the Whitney: "I'm really not sure how many times I've run in the Whitney; I haven't kept track. I don't know if I've ever run in it at all, I can't remember. I know it's a great race, and it would be a great race to win, obviously. It's named appropriately for a race to be run at Saratoga."

 

 

Ian Wilkes, trainer of Fort Larned (No. 9, 7-2): "He really stepped it up. The blinkers really helped him. He just wanted to run a little bit. I went into the Stephen Foster with a pretty horse. I didn't have a racehorse. So, he didn't run much that day. The owner was willing to take a shot [two weeks later for the Cornhusker Handicap]."

 

On drawing the outside post: "It gives us a lot of options on what to do. He doesn't have to be in front. He can sit behind. He can do whatever he wants."

 

Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey, trainer of Hymn Book (No. 8, 4-1): "[The post position] doesn't matter with him. If he gets away good, he'll get a position going around that turn. With Johnny [Velazquez] riding him, you know you're going to get the best. If the pace is fast, he'll be laying back, and if the pace is slow, we'll be laying up fairly close. The post position doesn't bother me at all."

 

"I'm going to say he stumbled [last time out in the Suburban], and I think that's what he did. I think he just broke hard, and his right front went out from under him. When it did, [Velazquez] had to gather him up and sort of lost all position. I was pretty happy with the way he did finish. He came on against that group of horses. The winner is a very nice horse, Mucho Macho Man. He had a really good trip and been laying up there, and it's hard when you give up that much ground to catch up to that kind of horse."

 

Todd Pletcher, trainer of Rule (No. 1, 5-1) and Caixa Eletronica (No. 3, 15-1): "The post positions are fine. We'll be able to save ground around the first turn. There appears to be plenty of pace in there so hopefully we'll be able to save ground and work our way into a good position."

 

"I think the division is still very wide open. You have a couple of major players on the East coast who are not in here and will probably show up in the Woodward. It's a division that's waiting for someone to step up and take control of on the dirt. Maybe Game on Dude has taken control on the West coast, but it's kind of wide-open here, waiting for someone to reel off a couple in a row."

 

Rick Dutrow, trainer of Trickmeister (No. 5, 15-1), by telephone: "I'm OK with post position 5. The horse is doing good, training well. He's run once over the track and he won [2010 Pleasant Colony Stakes], so I hope he does it again."

 

Eoin Harty, trainer of Endorsement (No. 4, 20-1): "I think his best races are on the lead, or certainly very close to it. He had a lot overcome in his last race, mental issues more than anything else. I think he's changed; I think he's turned the corner, and I think he'll run a very good race on Saturday."

 

"I'm certainly going to use that post [post no. 4] to my advantage. It's certainly close to the rail and the closest way around there, and if he breaks sharp he'll be on the lead. He's been here for 2 ½ weeks. He's acclimating very well. He's been over in the paddock every day, every afternoon. He'll be over here again for the sixth race if you want to watch him. He's really adapted and really likes this environment, and I couldn't be any happier. This is the best he's done for me all year."

 

"He doesn't run on any medication, period. No Lasix, no bute, nothing. The owner wants to try it, he wants to bring him to Dubai next year for the World Cup, and this is how he thinks he's going to get him there. He didn't have any Lasix in him when he set a track record at Gulfstream, didn't have any Lasix when I took him to Texas [Lone Star Park, where he won the Grade 3 Texas Mile], and it was a hundred and sixty degrees that day. He's sound, so there's no reason to give him anything for that, and he doesn't bleed, so there's no reason to give him any Lasix."

 

Reade Baker, trainer of Hunters Bay (No. 2, 20-1): "I think he's getting better. His races in Florida last year and this year, except the last one last year, were good races, but he's finally getting to go as far as he wants to go. All those were sprints waiting to go two turns, and we never got to go two turns."

 

"He probably has his best works on the dirt."

 

On drawing the No. 2 post position: "I'd like a head start, really. The list of trainers you brought up here in front of me, I feel like a guppy in the shark pool. I would like someone to say they didn't like their post and are going to scratch, but everybody seems to love it, and this size of field, with these big turns, nobody is going to have trouble with the post."

 

On the decision to run in the Whitney: "It's a lot of money. He'd accomplished everything he needed to accomplish. There was a race at Woodbine for $125,000 or $150,000 on Saturday, but, obviously [Adena Springs] is standing Ghostzapper themselves, and they'd like to stand this horse at stud. Part of that deal is to win a Grade 1. Winning that race at Woodbine, other than the money, wouldn't mean anything to anybody. Winning the Whitney would mean a whole lot."

 

"We fit. Sure we do. Historically, 15 years ago, horses used to come from Woodbine and do good here all the time. They haven't recently run any good, but we were second last year in the Jim Dandy with a horse last year, Moonshine Mullin, so we think we have a real chance with a horse that wants to go this far."

 

"You're going to run for a lot of money in a Grade 1, you're supposed to run against good horses."

 

On why Hunters Bay never tried two turns last year: "He kicked himself last year in the stall, so he was out for the summer. We finally got a chance the other day to run a mile and a quarter, which is what he wants to do and was bred to do."

 

On the long odds: "I am [surprised], but like I said, it doesn't matter here or at Keeneland. Nobody is going to respect the horse unless they run with these horses on the dirt coming off the Polytrack. Those Keeneland horses that win the Blue Grass and those races, nobody respects them going to the Derby. They want to see it, right? I can say all I want about working good on the dirt."

 

"This would be the biggest race of my career."

 

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