THE HASKELL INVITATIONAL MEDIA CONFERENCE

August 4, 2005

Bob Baffert

Bill Bianco

Patrick Biancone

Lincoln Collins

Marianne Hesse

Greg Norman

Jim Ryerson

George Zoffinger

GEORGE ZOFFINGER: It's always a pleasure having this press conference. Every year I think the race is slightly different. This year we have a number of very exciting things. I think actually as one of the people said, this should turn out to be a pretty good betting race. But we have some local flavor to it. Charlie Hesse I know has a horse in the race. We have now Sun King signed up, Roman Ruler. I think it's going to be a very exciting day. That's part of the weekend that we have. As everybody knows, we had the Hambletonian on Saturday. More people will attend racing on this weekend, we hope, than have ever attended races in New Jersey ever. We're excited about it. This is going to be a great day. I just want to recognize some work that has been done by the chairman of our racing committee, the Board of Commissioners, Jerry Zaro. You've done a good job of working with our staff here. Also, we have great management here at Monmouth, up at the Meadowlands Raceway, in Dennis, Chris and Bobby, all of their staff. Have a good day. This should be very exciting. Hopefully we have a crowd that's going to be excited, too.

LARRY COLLMUS: One of the things I do well is be short. We're going to do that here at the press conference and go right away with Post Position draw for the race. I'd like to bring up our racing secretary Mike Dempsey and Mike Melendez. Before we get started, just a couple of things of note, a couple of jockey notes. For those of you who have the bio notes, Papi Chullo's jockey should be listed as David López. One other thing, on the draw sheet, the jockey for Golden Man, which is unlisted, is Chuck López. With that in mind, let's get right to it. Gentlemen, let's do it. Eight horses are in the box. No. 3 is Papi Chullo. Joey P will be No. 7. No. 8 will be Chekhov. No. 5 is Sun King. No. 4, Roman Ruler, Morning Line favorite in the race, No. 4 Post Position. Palladio will come from Post Position No. 1. Golden Man will be No. 6 in the race. Park Avenue Ball gets Post Position No. 2. Here are the Morning Line odds as well: Chekhov will be at 6-1. Next on your sheet is Golden Man, Chuck Lopez is the jockey, 15-1. Joey P, No. 7, with Aaron Gryder, 15-1. Palladio, No. 1, Richard Dos Ramos, Morning Line 10-1. Papi Chullo, Post Position No. 3, jockey David López, 15-1. Park Avenue Ball, Post Position No. 2 with Chris DeCarlo, third choice in the Morning Line, 3-1. Roman Ruler, Post Position No. 4, the Morning Line favorite, the odds 9-5. And Sun King drew Post Position No. 5, Javier Castellano, his Morning Line odds, second choice at 5-2. So that's the field of horses and their Morning Line odds for The Haskell. The next order of business is to talk to some of the people that aren't here in the room but will be joining us over the phone lines. We will be talking to various people in the race. The first person we're going to talk to is the trainer of the Morning Line favorite in the race, Roman Ruler. That is Bob Baffert. Bob, can you hear us okay?

BOB BAFFERT: Yeah, fine.

BOB BAFFERT: Yeah, that's fine. I'm fine with it. You know, we never want to be in the 1 hole. But, no, that's fine for him. He's a good gate horse. The most important thing is that he's doing well and he's on his way right now. There's no turning back.

BOB BAFFERT: Well, I mean, he had a pretty good foundation. He had a good foundation, he had a good two-year-old season. He's doing really well right now. We're really excited about it. He showed his brilliance last year. He's coming back to that form. His Dwyer race was fantastic off of a layoff, beat a really nice horse. That horse came back and won. He's doing better now than he was for that race, so we're really excited.

BOB BAFFERT: The feet are behind him. They're no problem. They're not an issue any more.

BOB BAFFERT: Yeah, I think he'll be able to handle it. He handled it in the Dwyer. He was wide the whole way in the Dwyer. He probably ran a mile and an eighth that day. The main thing about this horse is that if he's sound and healthy, he's a very good horse. If he gets the right kind of trip, he needs racing luck. That's half the battle right there. I feel really confident that with the right trip, he should get the distance easy.

BOB BAFFERT: Well, I think he stacks way up there. He had Point Given, I've had Vindication. I'd rank him about third right now just on his -- talent-wise.

BOB BAFFERT: Well, I mean, it's a good race. It's grade one. It's $1 million. They treat us very well there. It's a little hot, but I get to get in there. The fans are fantastic. It's such a great event for the fans. They really appreciate a really good horse running there. You got Max's Hot Dogs to go to. Always make a stop by there when I run. It's just a nice place. It's easy to get to, go in there. I've always had a -- win, lose or draw, I've always had a nice time there.

BOB BAFFERT: I'll be there Saturday night.

BOB BAFFERT: The horse is on his way. He'll be there this afternoon around 4.

BOB BAFFERT: Thank you.

LINCOLN COLLINS: Very well, thanks. And you?

LINCOLN COLLINS: Oh, I think we'd be perfectly happy with it. He's a versatile horse. Sort of in the middle of the field is where you want to be. I guess Javier will be able to keep a good eye on Roman Ruler (laughter). I think we'll be happy with it.

LINCOLN COLLINS: I don't think he necessarily needs to be on the front end. But I think in both cases, where he went to the lead, he went to the lead more because that's just the way the race happened than any specific plan. But I think he'll lie within striking distance and then we'll see where we go.

LINCOLN COLLINS: I don't actually attribute it to the blinkers. I think just after -- he ran to us, an unaccountably poor race in the Kentucky Derby, then obviously a much better race, although he never came close to Fleet Alex, in the Preakness. I think as one does, one is just looking for something to change a little bit. I'm not sure I'd put it all down to the blinkers. I think the horse was just doing better and happier and hopefully is back on the right track and improving.

LINCOLN COLLINS: He's a rider that Nick uses a lot. We have a lot of confidence in him. He's had a lot of success for us. So we're delighted to ride him.

LINCOLN COLLINS: I may or may not. I'm not quite sure. We have runners at Saratoga. I'm 99% sure that Mr. and Mrs. Farmer are going to be there.

LINCOLN COLLINS: Thank you so much. We greatly enjoyed it last year. Thank you very much.

PATRICK BIANCONE: Very good. Good morning.

PATRICK BIANCONE: I think the speed (inaudible) inside of him. I am just teasing you. But, I mean, he drew outside (inaudible), he drew outside last time he run in your place (inaudible).

PATRICK BIANCONE: He was second at Long Branch. We decided to aim him for The Haskell. I followed the program I followed last year with my other horse. He ran a good race in the Long Branch. He's improving now. Hopefully he'll do great on Sunday.

PATRICK BIANCONE: I don't try to be too smart. It worked well last year. Hopefully will work this year, too. You know, it's certainly a good thing to run on the track and see the horse appreciate the track. The track is so good anyway, we say any horse would like the track.

PATRICK BIANCONE: Sunday morning. Each time we run, we ship them in the morning.

PATRICK BIANCONE: Thank you very much.

GREG NORMAN: I'm doing well. How about yourself?

GREG NORMAN: Papi Chullo means 'handsome daddy', but in the Spanish vernacular, it translates into like a Playboy, very, very handsome, a guy who gets all the women. In the Spanish culture, when someone says Papi Chullo to a young man, that means he's handsome, attractive, a man about town.

GREG NORMAN: It fits him to a T. Once you get a look at him, he's a tall, really good-looking animal.

GREG NORMAN: That's right (laughter).

GREG NORMAN: Just the way he trained in the morning even before his first race. First couple of breezes, he really wasn't focused. But once we started to put him into company with some of our better horses, he was basically outworking them in the morning. And we felt that it wasn't a far reach to put him in that minor stake race as his first race. He did very, very well.

GREG NORMAN: Yes, it did. Like you said, we've had confidence in this horse all along. When he finished second in the Sham and Giacomo finished third, we felt we should have won that race with a little bit better racing luck. Yes, it was somewhat of a feather in our cap that Giacomo came back to win the Kentucky Derby.

GREG NORMAN: No. He's definitely a two-turn horse. The further the better with him. His forte is two turns. This is right up his alley.

GREG NORMAN: Perfect. He loves running on the inside of other horses. It makes him very competitive. We're hoping to get in a good position going into the clubhouse turn, track the leaders down the backstretch and swing to the outside and see what we have turning for home.

GREG NORMAN: Well, David was Papi's pilot for his first race at Golden Gate Racetrack in Northern California. He rode him very, very well. He was flying at the end. He seemed to have the ability to motivate Papi Chullo. That's pretty much the only concern with Papi, is that he needs motivation. Certain jockeys fit him well. So when we were looking for a jockey for this particular race, I know that Rafael won with him, Bejarano won with him at Belmont, they were going to ride Nick Zito's horse even before he got injured. We went back to some of his previous races and thought, hey, let's give David López a try. When we called his agent, they were very, very enthusiastic and looking forward to coming and riding such a prestigious race.

GREG NORMAN: Absolutely. I will be driving behind the van tomorrow morning. Papi will van from Saratoga to Monmouth approximately around 9:30 in the morning and depending upon traffic, we'll get there, I'll be a couple paces behind him.

GREG NORMAN: Thank you very much.

JIM RYERSON: Absolutely. We actually thought we had a -- our horse was doing great. But, you know, to beat Holy Bull, it wasn't in the cards that day. We were very proud of our horse that day. It's great to be part of the race.

JIM RYERSON: I think the mile and a eighth races he ran in Florida, he had too much to do. He didn't get off great. Got in trouble. The Florida Derby he broke terrible. It wasn't just the type of track you can make up that kind of ground. I think part of the reason for his races was he didn't get any position. He still, though, has to answer whether he can win a mile and an eighth. He hasn't done it yet. Based on his Long Branch, he sure looked like he could do it the other day.

JIM RYERSON: Well, it's not a huge field. I think he has a Post 1 I think the other day. I'm not even sure. But he was inside. He was able to get out the other day. I don't think it will be much of a concern. The other speed horses will be to his outside. But he's run inside and outside on a number of occasions. I don't think it will bother him.

JIM RYERSON: Yeah, we hope he lays up a little bit. I think The Withers is the race that kind of showed how he could run if he did lay up. The mile and an eighth races in Florida, he had a short run into the first turn, that really hurt him. Here he'll have little more run into the first turn and I think he'll be able to get the position he needs.

JIM RYERSON: He loves Monmouth. That's evident. But I think not having to ship him is a big help to us. He shipped to some races and competed well. The Withers was a good race. He won (Inaudible) last year. What it takes out of him is a concern of ours. I think he's better off being here at Monmouth and not having to ship, more than the surface. I think he can run on anything. I think it's just more that he doesn't have to ship. It's a little stressful to him.

JIM RYERSON: Well, I mean, as you said, if you grow up down the street, you do this for a living, the owners are from Jersey, they raced here forever. We trained here forever. Chris has ridden here. I mean, this would be a great race to win.

JIM RYERSON: Thank you.

MARIANNE HESSE: I've been here too long. No, I've been around Monmouth Park for 46 years. I used to be chairman of the Monmouth Park charity ball committee, which is how this horse actually got his name. It goes all the way back to Ms. Charity Ball which, Charlie, I named after myself. I wasn't allowed to name horses after myself, so one day what I did with Ms. Charity Ball, then Road to the Ball, and now Park Avenue Ball.

MARIANNE HESSE: Absolutely. We're always thinking Haskell. That's been our dream for years and years. I've even stood at this podium before and said it means more to me than, really, winning the derby.

MARIANNE HESSE: It really would. It really would. I mean, we have great faith in the Jersey-bred program. We always have supported it. This would be even a wonderful thing for Jersey-breds to win this. We're looking forward to this. I know Jimmy and Chris and everyone is trying real hard. We're going to be trying, everybody.

BILL BIANCO: I used to live out here in the summers 45 years ago. My dad and mom used to come. We used to live in Westchester County, New York. We used to come out for the summers. I always remember taking the ferry out rather than driving in those days. It feels like I'm coming home being here because it's 45 years the last time I stepped into the grandstand area.

BILL BIANCO: Well, I hope every horse runs to its capabilities. We picked this race number one because of Afleet Alex, I'm sorry he's not here, but there's some quality horses here. I just hope everybody runs up to their best capabilities. I think we have something that we think is special and we'll find out.

AARON GRYDER: No, I've won more than that, but I don't know what the numbers are. Get your numbers straight, Larry.

AARON GRYDER: It would be great for my career. This is one of the main reasons I came back to Monmouth Park not necessarily just The Haskell, but to get opportunities and chances at quality races. I'm happy that my services were called upon in this race. I was very happy the other day when Joe Rosen called me and said he spoke to Mr. Petrini and Frank Costa. I'm looking forward to it.

AARON GRYDER: No, I haven't. I watched him train, watched all his races, like everybody has. He has a lot of positive things. He's obviously shown he's got quality, talent, speed, durability and a lot of toughness. I think the question everybody's asking is: Can he go the distance? Nobody's going to know that till we run a mile and an eighth on Haskell day. As soon as I found out I had the mount, I picked up the phone and called Joe Bravo. I think he knows the horse as well as anybody. He assured me he's got the utmost confidence he'll go a mile and an eighth with quality horses.

AARON GRYDER: They're all individuals, but you definitely want to throttle them, just see if you can get him in a high gallop. The less energy they spend the first five-eighths of a mile, the more you are going to have the last part of it. He did have a good race going a mile and a 16th against older horses that were tough older horses. A lot of people look at it and say it was an option claimer. It was tough older horses in the race. He got beat a half length, three-quarters of a length to two nice horses. But he showed a lot of courage that day. He broke, looked like he was a little bit anxious that day. If he can settle a little bit better, maybe even stalk a couple horses, I think he can have some turn of foot that could be reckoned with down the line.

AARON GRYDER: I think it's perfect. If it's a horse you're wanting to stalk horses with or even if he happens to make the lead on his own natural speed, I think it gives him a chance to break out of there and not be committed to anything. Just get in stride, get comfortable. If somebody makes the lead, he can just stalk behind them, that's great. But if you're in on the inside, sometimes your hand's forced a little bit. This gives him a chance to do whatever he needs to do.

CHRIS DeCARLO: Yeah. It downpoured I think two races before. Everything that day was -- speed was holding that day prior to that. I knew this horse loved the mud. When it started to rain, I knew I had a good chance to win it. During the race, I was about 15 lengths behind the leaders when we hit the five-eighths pole. I reached down, hit him one time, stayed on the fence, wound up getting through till about the quarter pole. I angled out, made the lead, just hung on.

CHRIS DeCARLO: I think I went to one of the restaurants right here on the corner, I forget the name of the place, right over here.

CHRIS DeCARLO: There you go. I think we went there.

CHRIS DeCARLO: Yeah. I knew he was a nice horse. Jimmy said his race prior to The Withers he had broke slow. He thought he might have had too much ground to make up in those races. The other day he ran like he belongs in this race.

CHRIS DeCARLO: You know, going a mile and eighth in a short field, it doesn't really matter. I guess play it off the break. Had it within a 12-horse field, I might have had to use him a little earlier. But I think pretty much the way the race is going to set up, everybody is going to break and see what happens, take it from there. I have enough speed to where I can either be on it or sit off a bit.

CHRIS DeCARLO: Oh, it would be put a cap to a great season I've had here so far. It would be nice to win the Molly Pitcher and The Haskell in the same year and a few others (laughter).

FRANK COSTA: Fine.

FRANK COSTA: Oh, 1953.

FRANK COSTA: Yeah. Used to work for Kelly. Then I came in 1972. I went to California for 20 years, been here ever since.

FRANK COSTA: Yeah, this is the best horse I ever had, yeah.

FRANK COSTA: Well, I know last year she run. Ran twice, win twice. Ran three times, win three times. Then he got a little tired. But he tried hard. He's a nice horse. He like to run.

FRANK COSTA: That horse, you know, he liked to run. He love to win. He didn't want to get beat. You know, even in the morning when I train him, he always want to beat the horse he run with. So, you know, I told him to lay off the pace a little bit. When you see a horse in front of you, he run. He run really good.

FRANK COSTA: Yeah, that's why I put him in there, you know. I didn't really want to run against the horse, but only chance I had to try him in that race.

FRANK COSTA: It's good. He got enough speed to go anyplace he wants.

FRANK COSTA: I think he got a shot. You never know, you know. If he can go that long, he'll win it. If he don't, then he don't. I don't know if he can really run that far. We're going to try.

FRANK COSTA: Thank you.