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THE HASKELL INVITATIONAL MEDIA CONFERENCE

August 3, 2006

THE MODERATOR: Welcome to the 39th running of the Haskell Invitational presented by Vonage, a race that has produced 10 champions in the past 16 runnings, including three Hall of Fame members, and remains the richest invitational thoroughbred race on this continent with a purse of $1 million. We're going to get started right away. I'd like to bring you up -- to welcome you all, the president and CEO of the New Jersey Sports and Exhibition Authority, Mr. George R. Zoffinger.
GEORGE ZOFFINGER: I'll be very brief. I want to reemphasize the welcome to Vonage as a sponsor this year. We certainly are very grateful for their support and look forward to working for you for years to come. I hope you have a winner on Sunday.
On a serious note, one of the things that I've said over the last couple days as we go through this, look forward to the best weekend in horse racing in New Jersey, certainly it's an extremely important industry to our state, the fact that we've got to do something about shoring up our business, making sure that we're viable for the long-term.
The one way we can do that is VLTs, slots, whatever you want to call them, in our marketplace at the Meadowlands. I know there's a lot of people of influence in this room.
As we look around at the competition that's going to occur in New York, Pennsylvania, certainly it's already in Maryland, Delaware, potentially in Maryland, we need to do something to make sure this industry is viable not only from the standpoint of the horsemen and horse racing, but also from the standpoint of all the farms that raise horses, all the breeders, the people that own the stallions, all the things that make this state the great place that it is in terms of some green space.
Anyway, I just want to say that the people in this room are very influential. Got to get behind this effort, because Yonkers is opening in the spring, Aqueduct is coming, Philadelphia Park is coming. We've got to do something. I want everybody in this room to be supportive of that effort. I know you are, but we have to use our influence to get this done.
With that said, I want to say, get on with the show. I hope the that the four horse is a strong horse, but you know I always bet on the four horse. And thank you very much for your participation and support, thanks.
THE MODERATOR: We're about to find out who the four horse will be at this time. We'll bring up the racing secretary here at Monmouth Park, Mike Dempsey, and Mike Melendez for the post position draw for the race. Come on up, guys.
Before we draw the entries, you have your race draw sheets. We need you to add one horse onto there, at the bottom. That's why we left a couple of lines. You can add Little Cliff. Little Cliff is trained by Nick Zito, and the jockey is Jose Lezcano. The other seven that you have are correct. We're going to add another horse here I've just been given. We're also going to enter Victory Lake, who is trained by Alan Goldberg. That will be Eddie Castro as the rider. We'll add in the Morning Line Price with that one after the draw. We should be ready to go. Nine horses set to go here.
Let's do it.
No. 2 is Awfully Smart.
No. 7, Deputy Glitters.
No. 5, Praying For Cash.
No. 4, Little Cliff.
No. 9 Bluegrass Cat, Post 9.
No. 8, Electrify, come out of Gate 8.
The rail, No. 1, will be Flashy Bull.
No. 3, Strong Contender.
No. 6, Victory Lake.
Okay, so let's go over that once again.
The No. 1 will be Flashy Bull trained by Kiaran McLaughlin.
Jose Santos with a Morning Line of 5-1.
2 will be Awfully Smart, trained by Alan Goldberg, with Ramon Dominguez, Morning Line 10-1.
No. 3 will be Strong Contender, John Ward the trainer, Edgar Prado rides. Second choice on the Morning Line at 5-2 by our odds maker Brad Thomas.
No. 4, Little Cliff. Nick Zito the trainer, Jose Lezcano, the jockey, 20-1.
5 is Praying For Cash, trained by Kelly Breen, ridden by Joe Bravo, 8-1 on the Morning Line.
6 is Victory Lake for Alan Goldberg, Eddie Castro, 30-1 on the Morning Line.
7 is Deputy Glitters, Tom Albertrani, René Douglas, 4-1.
No. 8 is Electrify, Eddie Plesa, Abel Castellano, 10-1.
Post 9 is Bluegrass Cat, John Velazquez is the jockey. 2-1 Morning Line favorite for the race.
Those are the horses, trainers, jockeys, post positions and odds for the race. Now we're going to talk to some of the contenders in the race.
First we're going to go to the phone lines to start things out and we're going to bring on a former Haskell-winning trainer now on the other side as the racing manager for Wind Star, the owner of Bluegrass Cat, Elliott Walden.
Elliott, welcome aboard.
ELLIOTT WALDEN: Thank you. Seems like old times.
THE MODERATOR: It's nice talking to you. It's been a while since we've seen you here. You've had a lot of success over the years in racing. One of those fondest memories was when you were in the winner's circle with Menifee.
ELLIOTT WALDEN: It was one of the fondest. It was a tremendous week, quite honestly. Probably the best week of my training career, because we had Menifee win the Haskell; Ecton Park won the Jim Dandy, and Victory Golf won the Whitney the following week or the week before, I can't remember. We were on a roll at that point.
THE MODERATOR: Well, we just drew the post positions for the race, Elliott. You got the far outside. You're the Morning Line favorite at 2-1. What do you think about that? Good, bad, indifferent?
ELLIOTT WALDEN: Well, you know, we've driven that, I guess, heard you all draw it. You know, with nine horses in a mile and an eighth, I don't think it's a really super problem. If you had 12 or 13 in there. If we drew the outside, then it would be an issue.
THE MODERATOR: Well, he comes off of two very, very good races. Second in the Kentucky Derby, second in the Belmont Stakes. Since then, how has he developed physically?
ELLIOTT WALDEN: He's done well. Todd has had him at Belmont Park since the Belmont. After his work last week, he moved to Saratoga. He gave his final preparation at Saratoga on Monday. He's doing great. He has filled out.
The Triple Crown, as with most horses, will take its toll on a horse, just the daily preparation up to the Triple Crown. And then the rigors of going through the Triple Crown, even though we didn't run in the Preakness, we ran a mile and a quarter the first week in May, then came back in the Belmont going a mile and a half.
He lightened up a little bit. We were able to give him some time, fill him back up, and hopefully have a great latter part of the year.
THE MODERATOR: He's shown a lot of versatility in his career. He's won on the lead; he's won from just off the pace. How important is that in a race like this, especially when you draw the outside?
ELLIOTT WALDEN: Well, I think that's real important. I was getting ready to allude to that. You know, the post position isn't that big a deal for him because he is so versatile. You know, if he needs to be pushed along a little bit to get over, he can do that. Or if he needs to take back a little bit to get over, he can do that.
I think that's why I'm not concerned about the post position. It's a real asset to have a horse that's versatile. I know we ran in the Haskell with Victory Gallop. Victory Gallop was a little bit different. This horse is very similar to Menifee in the fact you can kind of place him where you feel comfortable. Victory Gallop, on the other hand, is a horse that needed to come from off the pace and make one big run. Sometimes those horses are victimized.
THE MODERATOR: When will we see Bluegrass Cat arrive for the race?
ELLIOTT WALDEN: He is going to arrive the day of the race. That is by design. The only bad race that he ran basically in his career, he had shipped to Kenneland from Churchill three days before the race, and had schooled in the paddock.
The only thing that we could come up with was the fact that he had kind of fretted, worried about running for three days. By the time the race was on, he was flat. He was very calm in the paddock. For the people that are listening, the fans that are going to be, this horse should be on his toes a little bit in the paddock; he should be feeling good, having a little bit of that storm cat attitude to him. And that day in the Bluegrass, he was very, very flat.
At the time, we thought that might be a good thing because he's settling down. In hindsight, when he ran so flat and poor, we decided that might be a possibility. He's going to ship out of his own stall the morning of the race.
THE MODERATOR: He's a very important horse to watch in the paddock.
ELLIOTT WALDEN: Yes.
THE MODERATOR: How about you, are you going to be here?
ELLIOTT WALDEN: Yes.
THE MODERATOR: When do you arrive?
ELLIOTT WALDEN: Sunday. I might ride the van down with him.
THE MODERATOR: Elliott, great to talk to you. We look forward to seeing you for the Haskell.
ELLIOTT WALDEN: Thank you. Good luck to everybody.
THE MODERATOR: Now we're going to go back to the phone lines and talk to the trainer of Strong Contender, who is the second choice in the Morning Line. That's John Ward. John, how are you?
JOHN WARD: I'm great. You?
THE MODERATOR: Doing fantastic here. It's going to be nice and cool for the weekend compared to what we've had. We're looking forward to that.
You've got Post Position 3 for the race here. You were listed in the Morning Line at 5-2 odds. What about the post for Strong Contender?
JOHN WARD: I think it's a perfect draw for us. It puts us, you know, down close to the fence. This horse has got some lick when you want to use it. You know, it gives Edgar Prado the ability to do with the horse what he feels best.
THE MODERATOR: Do you think it's an advantage or a disadvantage that you didn't go through the Triple Crown races as opposed to some of your rivals on Sunday?
JOHN WARD: That question will be answered about 6:30 on Sunday (laughter). So far, you know, we are lightly raced. That is an advantage to me because this is a May the 15th foal. We've been able to kind of, since we didn't go in any of the Triple Crown races, we've been able to pick our spots.
You know, I think this horse is coming up to this race just about as good as we can get him there. He's just going to have to show us, just as everybody else, whether he's got the talent to compete in the grade one company or he's just a notch below. It's going to be an interesting day to watch.
THE MODERATOR: Seems like he's done everything right so far. The one thing that he hasn't done, looking at the past performances, is one a two-turn race. His victories at a mile, mile and a 16th, were one-turn races. Any concern for you on that?
JOHN WARD: Not really. The horse was probably most comfortable training at Gulfstream this winter, which was a two-turn configuration racetrack, a mile and an eighth. I think if anything, the training at Belmont has probably been a little bit against his grain because it is a big one-turn racetrack.
He seemed to overcome that. He seemed to get stronger because of that. I kind of think that dropping back to the true two turns is going to be somewhat of a plus. Also the mile and an eighth racetrack is a little quicker racetrack, firmer, get ahold of it. He tends to like to have something a little bit harder underneath his feet.
THE MODERATOR: You've twice been the runner-up in this race, certainly come close. Do you think this is the year that you have your best chance of winning it?
JOHN WARD: Well, you know, there's some formidable horses in here. Bluegrass Cat has certainly done all anybody can ask him to except win the Classic. I think he's going to be on his game. The other horses, Deputy Glitters, is a good horse. I think it's not -- I think it's a good field this year, very competitive.
I go into it very reserved. My pluses are the fact that Edgar Prado is back on him again. He really knows him like the back of his hand, has a lot of confidence in him. I think y'all have done a good job of putting together a very nice field.
THE MODERATOR: When are we going to see Strong Contender here, and when are you coming?
JOHN WARD: We're all going to be there on Sunday morning. Bluegrass Cat and Strong Contender will probably race each other down the New Jersey Turnpike. We're going to get there pretty early on Sunday, try to beat the heat, just kind of rest the rest of the day, go on over for the race.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you very much, John. We appreciate it. Looking forward seeing you on Sunday. Best of luck.
JOHN WARD: Thank you.
THE MODERATOR: Now the trainer of the third choice, Deputy Glitters, Tom Albertrani. Tom, how are you?
TOM ALBERTRANI: Good.
THE MODERATOR: Congratulations on that big win last week.
TOM ALBERTRANI: Thank you very much.
THE MODERATOR: You have a nine-horse field in the race. You drew Post Position 7. You're the third choice on the Morning Line at 4-1. What do you think of Post 7?
TOM ALBERTRANI: Well, it shouldn't bother us too much. He's got some early speed. He'll probably be running through the first turn trying to get a little position. If we were down a couple more post positions, may have suited us a little bit better. Seven is not a bad draw for us.
THE MODERATOR: Your horse beat Bluegrass Cat back in the Tampa Bay Derby, and he came back in his last start at the Ohio Derby. What is different about him now than we saw in the Triple Crown races when he wasn't really competing quite as well?
TOM ALBERTRANI: Well, I think we hit a couple obstacles with this horse. We had him going in the right direction. When he ran second to Bluegrass Cat in the Sam Davis Stakes, was the first time we were able to run him two turns.
He was disappointing before that race because he kept seeming like he just wasn't finishing up his races going short. Since we started going through turns with him, he actually started to run better. He came back in the Tampa Bay Derby and certainly put in a huge effort that day to beat Bluegrass Cat.
At that point, we had him going in the right direction. We hit a sloppy track going into the wood. We went two steps back after that race going to the derby. His derby run, we had a horrible trip that day. He got off a bit slow. He was further back than we wanted to be. He came 11, 12 wide. He really had no chance.
We lost a lot of ground, getting beat only about -- I don't know what the exact distance was -- not more than nine lengths I think on the race. So he didn't run a really bad race in the Derby considering.
And then back to the Belmont, for some unknown reasons, he just didn't finish up. Didn't know if he was coming down with a virus of some sort. His skin coat didn't look great. Maybe he was just coming down with something. He didn't put in a very good effort that day.
After the Belmont, he came back, he was firing. He trained well leading up to the Ohio Derby, was able to put in a huge effort that day.
THE MODERATOR: Your horse is the only horse in the race to win at a mile and an eighth as a three-year-old. Do you find that any advantage as far as coming into this race?
TOM ALBERTRANI: Well, it gives you maybe a little advantage. Strong hope, I think he's going to be able to get the distance, I don't question that. Bluegrass Cat can certainly get the distance. Those are the two horses I have great respect for.
THE MODERATOR: Just looking into the future a little bit, will a big race from him on Sunday, if he runs really, really big in the Haskell, wins it, would you consider going to the Travers and running against your own big horse?
TOM ALBERTRANI: He would have to win impressively, I think. Also, depending how he came out of the race, would give us three weeks back. I don't think we'll make any decisions until we actually saw the running of the race, see how he did.
THE MODERATOR: When is your horse going to arrive on the grounds for the race?
TOM ALBERTRANI: He'll be leaving Sunday morning from Belmont.
THE MODERATOR: All right. Tom, thank you very much. Best of luck with Deputy Glitters in the Haskell.
TOM ALBERTRANI: Thanks very much.
THE MODERATOR: Now we're going to bring in the trainer of Flashy Bull, Kiaran McLaughlin, the only horse in this race sired by a Haskell winner. He's by Holy Bull, who won the race in 1994. Kiaran, how are you?
KIARAN McLAUGHLIN: Great. How are you?
THE MODERATOR: Doing very well. You drew the rail here in this nine-horse field. What do you think of your post?
KIARAN McLAUGHLIN: Well, I like it. I mean, I would much rather be down close to the rail than in the eight or nine hole. We have enough speed to leave there running and get some position into the first turn being that far inside we might actually have to send him away from there and get position. We'll be probably first, second, or third into the first turn, go from there.
THE MODERATOR: I know I've read that you thought with an outside run in the Ohio Derby, in the stretch, you could have won that race. Do you think a mile and an eighth is the best distance for Flashy Bull?
KIARAN McLAUGHLIN: Well, he seems to, you know, not do well inside the red zone, as Terry said. It's down to the 20 yardline; we can't quite score. He does everything right to that point. We've been second, third, second in some nice races. We need to get through and get to the winner's circle.
The last race, the jockey did a good job, really did do a good job. Looks like the horse resented trying to go inside the last three-sixteenths. Finished third, ran well.
We were second to Bluegrass Cat in the Ransom last year. We ran and got beat by Minister's Bid. In the Kentucky Derby, 20 of 20, had no chance. So he's run very well in most of his races and hopefully we'll get lucky on Sunday.
THE MODERATOR: Now you mentioned Terry Findley, West Point thoroughbreds, the owner of Flashy Bull, some New Jersey folks involved in that. Any extra pressure for you trying to win New Jersey's biggest race for New Jersey observers?
KIARAN McLAUGHLIN: Not more pressure. It would be nice to do it. Like I said, the horse deserves to win a nice race. He's a very nice horse. I like you bringing up his sire won the race. We need all the pluses we can think going into a big race.
THE MODERATOR: Holy Bull, he was something else for sure. When is Flashy Bull going to be arriving for the Haskell?
KIARAN McLAUGHLIN: Well, now that I heard Tom Albertrani is going Sunday morning from Belmont, maybe we'll share a van because we're also at Belmont and going Sunday morning.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you very much, Kiaran. Best of luck with Flashy Bull on Sunday.
KIARAN McLAUGHLIN: Thank you.
THE MODERATOR: Now we're going to the trainer of Electrify, who is at 10-1 on the Morning Line. Eddie Plesa. Eddie, thanks for joining us.
EDDIE PLESA: Good morning.
THE MODERATOR: You're going to be making your Haskell debut in this race. You've actually had some horses stabled at Monmouth Park with us this morning. Are you excited about coming up here for the Haskell?
EDDIE PLESA: Absolutely. I'm a big -- I've always been a fan of Monmouth Park. It's exciting to be able to run in this race. We think we have a chance.
THE MODERATOR: How about the fact that your horse is actually stabled on the grounds? He's been here this summer. Is that an advantage, do you think?
EDDIE PLESA: I would have to think so. He doesn't have to go through the rigors of traveling, whether it be from Belmont, Saratoga or elsewhere. In our last race, we had to fly out to Iowa.
Any time you have to travel, there's not a lot of good (indiscernible). Needless to say, it sounds strange for me to say this, but it's almost a home court advantage for us being here at Monmouth.
THE MODERATOR: You talk about that race in Iowa, out at Prairie Meadows. If you read the chart of the race, it says he was wide, four-wide, on both turns in the race. Was that race deceptively better than it appears on paper?
EDDIE PLESA: I believe so. Again, you know, being wide on both turns certainly cost him, you know, some ground. He ran a good race. Needless to say, there's one way to win and a thousand ways to lose. That was one of the ways of losing, drawing a bad post position, getting hung up on the outside, never having an opportunity to save any ground.
THE MODERATOR: Your horse is already here for the race. When are you going to join us?
EDDIE PLESA: Actually, I'm leaving Saturday night out of Fort Lauderdale to come up here. I have some horses running in some stakes at Calder. Big day racing at Calder. We'll be there Saturday night.
THE MODERATOR: Thanks and best of luck to you.
EDDIE PLESA: Thanks very much.
THE MODERATOR: We're going to go back to the phone lines now and bring in a big famous guy who is involved with Bluegrass Cat, Hall of Fame jockey, Angel Cordero, Jr. Angel, how are you?
ANGEL CORDERO: Very good. Very good.
THE MODERATOR: Glad to have you along here to talk a little about Bluegrass Cat. You had a chance to get on this horse a good amount. You breeze him. How about since the Triple Crown, how has he developed?
ANGEL CORDERO: I'd say he has changed a lot since the Derby. He filled up a lot. He's training very, very good. Belmont was an excellent race. Seems like he's just getting better and better.
Probably going to do his best. The older he get, the better he get. He's solid and he's very willing to do a lot of stuff. So he's coming into the race as good as he's come into any other race.
THE MODERATOR: Have you talked to Johnny Velazquez about some strategy for the race?
ANGEL CORDERO: Well, Johnny rode him this colt and knows him very well. He knows him very well. I don't think the post is going to be any problem. I don't think the track condition is going to be any problem.
You know, he's the type of horse that he can handle any kind of track. He's a little more mature than he was earlier in the year, so he's easier to train now than he was before.
You know, he's answering every question that we ask him. He'll go two turns, he can go to the lead, he can come from the behind, he can run on the mud, he can run on the dry. I just a big believer that the older this horse, the better he's going to get.
THE MODERATOR: What is your fondest memory of Monmouth Park?
ANGEL CORDERO: I won my 6000th race there in Monmouth Park. I was able to win 6000 there when I went to Monmouth Park to ride on two- and three-year olds. I always remember that.
I didn't rode a (indiscernible) in Monmouth Park, but I did a lot of flying from New York to Monmouth to ride. (Indiscernible) the management are very nice to everybody. They could be the nicest when you go there. They go out of their way trying to make everybody comfortable.
But I'm looking forward to see Johnny win the Haskell because I never did it. I would like to see him win that one.
THE MODERATOR: Are you going to come down for the race?
ANGEL CORDERO: I'm going to try. If they have room on the plane, I'm going with him. Otherwise, I'm going to stay home and root for him.
One thing I have to tell you, the horse is doing the best. You know, he might act a little hyper in the paddock. That's him. It's that breeding that comes through. When he's like that, that's when he runs his best.
THE MODERATOR: All right. Angel, thank you very much. Hopefully we'll see you here on Sunday. Good luck with Bluegrass Cat.
ANGEL CORDERO: I wish all your fans have a good day, and may the best horse win.
THE MODERATOR: Before we bring up the connections that are here with us today, we'd like to once again recognize the fact that the Haskell this year is proud to have a presenting sponsor in Vonage. Joining us today from Vonage, is a New Jersey-based company with headquarters in Homedale, is the president and CEO of the company, Mr. Michael Tribolet. I want to recognize Michael here in the room. How about a big round of applause from the folks of Vonage, sponsoring the Haskell this year.
(Applause.)
THE MODERATOR: Let's get back to the horses in the race. At this time, I'd like to bring up the trainer and jockey of Praying For Cash, Kelly Breen and Joe Bravo. Come on up, guys.
Let's talk, first of all, Kelly, you are making your first debut in the Haskell, your first start in the Haskell. Have you been in a grade one race before?
KELLY BREEN: We actually ran in the Haskell when I was assistant trainer for Ben. I was getting ready to run in the grade one in the Breeders Cup last year, fell short with a horse getting sick. You know, this is the biggest race I've been involved in. I'm just happy to be here.
THE MODERATOR: How about the post position? It was the five post. What Duke about that?
KELLY BREEN: I think it's a great post position. I figure we'll come out, we'll float out Bluegrass Cat a little bit, come back over, get Strong Contender, and just go wire to wire, make it look easy (laughter).
I do believe it's a great post position. Joe can see who is going to do what, who is going where. I believe we'll be close to the front end.
Joe can make up his own mind if he wants to really go to the front end. You know, the horse can race. We're not going to get trapped down inside like we were last time, although the horse showed a lot of grit and kept on running.
But, you know, just to be in with this quality of horses, we're going to have -- a lot of the horse's ability is going to come through Joe. I put my faith into Joe. We're going to give 'em hell.
THE MODERATOR: What about the advantage of being a winner over this racetrack with a horse?
KELLY BREEN: The horse loves the track. We knew it from last year as a two-year-old. He just excels over it. He really -- you can tell a difference. I was on him, I gallop him, I was down in Florida. He got back to Monmouth Park, it was like we put springs on his shoes. He loves the track. We got that going for us. He's here every day. We don't have to ship. This is our house. Bring it on. We'll try anybody. It's a million dollars. We'll do whatever we got to do to try and win.
THE MODERATOR: How about the tough race in the long branch, had to fight hard in that race, coming back. How has he done since then?
KELLY BREEN: He was tired for a couple days. You like to see that. You like to see a horse that gives it at the office. He laid down, he relaxed. Sure, it took something out of him. I think there was enough time after that race coming into this race.
Tried not to knock him out, didn't give him any hard workout after the race, tried to prep him the same as difficult for the last race as this race, long, slow gallop, trying to get him fresh again for Sunday.
THE MODERATOR: Let's talk about you. You're a local guy here in New Jersey. You've been here at Monmouth as long as I've been around. I know that. What would a Haskell win mean to you?
KELLY BREEN: I said it before, this is like our Kentucky Derby. Jersey people, the owners are all Jersey people, born and raised 25 minutes north of here. I have my mom and dad out here. They're all proud. I guess my brother has been yelling at me that I don't say anything about my family. My family will be here.
You can't describe it. You come here as a little kid. You talk about the Haskell, coming here to get a Haskell hat, now I'm trying to get the Haskell trophy. It's a good feeling.
THE MODERATOR: The hat is easy. The trophy is a little bit harder.
Joe, come over here for a second. Joe, obviously the man here at Monmouth Park, 11 riding titles. You got it done two years ago with Lion Heart. Not only have you won a ton of races at this racetrack, you've won the Haskell. What kind of advantage is that for you in this race?
JOE BRAVO: I tell you right now, I'm going to start off by saying, I want to congratulate all the trainers in this race for developing these three-year-olds for coming into this race. Every one of these horses are some really class acts.
It's really nice to be sitting on Kelly's horse, first of all. Because we're looking forward -- this horse broke his maiden last year. He's coming along. When you're looking at a horse like this, two-year-olds, three-year-olds, we already had the Haskell in mind.
We knew he was a nice horse, developed him and bringing him around. Nothing greater than to be able to knock it out. It's going to be one hell of a race. To sit here and try to talk strategy about the race, we have three days to sit through, guys. Let's wait till the last minute, get as much information as we can and see what everybody else is doing, then get it done.
THE MODERATOR: Best of luck to Joe Bravo, Kelly Breen, and best of luck to the owners as well who are joining us in the room today. Of course, we'd like to recognize them as well. You have Bobby Hurley here, former Duke basketball star, one of the owners of Praying For Cash, as well as Ricky Gallo and Pat Scire. We'd like to recognize them in the room as well. Best of luck to all of you.
Now we'd like to bring up also in the room with us Alan Goldberg, who is the trainer of Awfully Smart, and now Victory Lake, who also has been entered in the race. Alan is, of course, a guy that has had tons of success over the years as well.
Victory Lake is in the race. We knew about Awfully Smart. Why the decision to run Victory Lake, too?
ALAN GOLDBERG: We didn't make the West Virginia Derby. That's an easy decision.
THE MODERATOR: You have a farm, you're not here on the grounds, you're about 10, 15 minutes away. Is that an advantage, to have your own operation like that?
ALAN GOLDBERG: Very much so. Quiet. Especially for the older horses. The younger horses need the track at some point. The older horses, it helps them a lot.
THE MODERATOR: Talking about Awfully Smart, what about the versatility for that horse? Seems like he's done well on the pace, off the pace. Is that a big edge for you to have a horse with that much versatility?
ALAN GOLDBERG: I think it's a big edge having Ramon Dominguez. He's a wonderful rider. He said he fits with these horses. That's why we're in here.
THE MODERATOR: What about the fact that Awfully Smart, all of his wins came at Delaware Park, but his wins have all been at Delaware. Do you think he's a horse for course at all? Is that a concern to you?
ALAN GOLDBERG: A little concern. I think he would have won here when he ran in the Stakes. It was just a bad trip. Nobody's fault. The whole way, things happened. He ran at the end. He might have been the best that day.
THE MODERATOR: What about the post for Awfully Smart, Post Position 2?
ALAN GOLDBERG: I'd rather switch the post and have 6 with him and 2 for Victory Lake. But Victory Lake is going to come from out of it. This way Ramon can get position on the outside. It is what it is.
THE MODERATOR: All right. So you have a couple of horses in there. Two chances in the race. Good luck to you.
ALAN GOLDBERG: Thank you.
THE MODERATOR: Those are the connections for this year's race. We'd like to give you a few particulars involved in the race. Gates are going to be opening at 10:00. The first race will be at 12 noon. We have a 14-race card with the Haskell going as race No. 12 at 5:45. There will be live coverage of the race and the TaylorMade Matchmakers Stakes on ESPN from 5 to 6. We'll also have a $200,000 guaranteed All-Six Pick Four on races nine through 12; a $10,000 guaranteed Choose-Six pool; and of course the official beverage of the Haskell, the Level Vodka Summer Wind, which will be served today and all day on Sunday as well. Thank you to all for their participation and to the media for joining us for today's coverage of the Haskell Invitational, presented by Vonage. And lunch is served. Thanks, everyone.

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THE HASKELL INVITATIONAL MEDIA CONFERENCE

August 3, 2006

Tom Albertrani

Kelly Breen

Angel Cordero

Kiaran McLaughlin

Eddie Plesa

Elliot Walden

John Ward

George Zoffinger