|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
BREEDERS' CUP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPSOctober 30, 2015Kiki CourtelisLexington, Kentucky THE MODERATOR: Ladies and gentlemen, the winner of the Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff with Stopchargingmaria, trainer Todd Pletcher has a horse in the finale, so we'll hope to catch up with him later. But right now, we're joined by owner Kiki Courtelis of TOWN AND COUNTRY FARMS, as well as Shannon Potter, who serves as racing manager. Congratulations to you both. KIKI COURTELIS: Thank you. SHANNON POTTER: Thank you. THE MODERATOR: Kiki, tell us, first of all, about the experience of watching this race today and what you were feeling when you won the Breeders' Cup Distaff. KIKI COURTELIS: It was incredible. It's my first Breeders' Cup race that I've ever had a horse in, and just such an exciting experience. And to have all of my friends and my family with me just made it even better. THE MODERATOR: Shannon, can you talk about the ride that Javier gave this filly. He found an amazing spot early on and it was a much better trip than you all had at Saratoga. SHANNON POTTER: Yes. Speaking with Javier right before the race, he thought he would be somewhere between third and fourth right off the pace. That's where he really wanted to be. We didn't think we were the pace of the race. So if we could get a good trip, kind of set outside, if we could, stay tucked in, we knew that Wedding Toast was going to be close up there, so we wanted to kind of set right off of her. Javi has won a couple of races today, so it's not like you have to tell him too much. He's the pro. He's why‑‑ he makes the big bucks, you know. So that was as good a ride as she could have had. THE MODERATOR: Very good. Kiki, can you tell us the story of acquiring this filly from Mike Repole about this time last year. KIKI COURTELIS: It was this time. We were looking to buy a young filly who had some success on the race track, and could go on in her four‑year‑old year and put the name Town and Country into racing. She was very sound. She was three years old. She fit the mold perfectly, and Mike was nice enough to let us have her. THE MODERATOR: A Breeders' Cup win is always special. But you are based in Georgetown, Kentucky. We are here at Keeneland. Does that make it extra special for you? KIKI COURTELIS: I get to sleep in my own bed tonight [Laughter]. So, yes, it is wonderful to be in our hometown. My mom and I moved here eight years ago and we're never going back to Florida. We just love it here. SHANNON POTTER: We were actually talking on the way, walking from the saddling pack over and I looked at Kiki and I said, look at this, we're in the Breeders' Cup in our own hometown. I mean, what could be better? It's magnificent, what has actually transpired here. Keeneland looks like a different place, you know, but it's absolutely awesome. It's what horse racing's supposed to be. THE MODERATOR: Questions from the room? Q. Hi, Kiki. Can you talk a little bit about how long you and your mother have been involved in racing and kind of what got you started in it? KIKI COURTELIS: We started with Arabian show horses and my father is the one who started the Arabian Jockey Club. We started racing Arabians and Sheikh Mohammed had all of his breeding stock with us in Florida. So we were in charge of about 500 head of horses of his. My mom and I have always wanted to go to thoroughbreds and we just decided to make the move, and moved to Kentucky after four of our best mares didn't hold their pregnancy when we got them home. We just said, you know, if we're going to be in this, we've got to be here. Q. Congratulations. KIKI COURTELIS: Thank you. Q. How big is your broodmare band and are you equally interested in racing and breeding or what's the whole philosophy of the operation that way? KIKI COURTELIS: Yes. We have about 35 broodmares, about six of those we own with other people, partners and friends who we've made in the business. We are commercial breeders. We do like to offer everything for sale. But what doesn't sell, we've made the decision to keep and run ourselves. So it's good to help our broodmares and it's good to prove them. Q. Where do you board them? KIKI COURTELIS: We have our own farm in Georgetown. Q. You made an interesting comment after the race that the actual incident in the stretch, the bumping, it almost didn't worry you because you were just so proud of the filly's effort. Can you elaborate on that feeling? KIKI COURTELIS: Stopchargingmaria is the most extraordinary racehorse I've ever known. She gives 150 percent every single time. And I don't think she knows she can lose. I just think she goes after everything knowing she's going to win. She's such a cool customer. She was so cool in the Paddock. Todd has done such an amazing job with her. Her weight is perfect. She is at the top of her game. THE MODERATOR: There's a lot of interest here about plans for next year and whether Stopchargingmaria might continue to train. KIKI COURTELIS: She's going to come home Sunday and we're going to take her over to Haggard and get her checked out from top to bottom and let the tests show if she wants to continue. I know mentally she wants to continue. If she does, and she checks out fine, she will go back to Todd. THE MODERATOR: Very good. One more from Tom. Q. The personal incident at Saratoga, she went to the front and ended late. She was under pressure. Was a conscious decision made today to race her off the pace? SHANNON POTTER: Well, yes and no. Basically, it looked ‑‑ like I said, there looked to be some speed in the race. We didn't know if they would go or not. We thought they would. We just didn't want to get in the same situation we were at in the Personal Ensign. Untapable had a lot of speed. She was very keen. It was not the ideal trip for sure, because we'd battled on the rail. As you guys know, battling on the rail at Saratoga all the way around is a tough spot and hard to win and deep. So we just knew we did not want in that spot again. If we could get her clear, get her to the outside, have clear sailing, that Javi thought, hey, we'll kick on by if we don't have to make the lead. The only way we were going to make the lead is if everybody went really slow on the front end, going into the first turn. That didn't happen. Q. Given the fact she was very wide the entire trip, that was a remarkable performance. SHANNON POTTER: Thank you. KIKI COURTELIS: Thank you so much. Q. Going back to when you bought her from Mike, did you specifically seek her out or how did that come about, the purchase? SHANNON POTTER: I guess I could answer that for her. We were looking for a filly to race, just like her, that had shown a lot of great stakes potential. Maybe something to add to the broodmare band down the road. But Taylor Made had her in the sale and she RNAed and we'd bid on one other horse, and I kind of went into Todd and I said, Todd‑‑ and Todd was with us when we bid on the other horse. Todd said, hey, why don't we take a run at Stopchargingmaria. She's sound. She's a little bit younger than the other horse we were trying to bid on. He said, and I think she'll continue to just flourish. So we did. Struck a deal with Mike, and that's kind of how it came about. I mean, we were looking for a horse, not necessarily looking for Maria. But boy, were we glad when all of it came together and we were lucky we didn't get the one we bid on so we could get Maria. THE MODERATOR: Have you guys heard from Mike? He's always around Todd. Do you keep in touch? Have you heard anything from him about this filly? SHANNON POTTER: No. KIKI COURTELIS: Not yet. THE MODERATOR: Very good. Q. Any broodmares who are stakes producers or stakes winners who we would know about in the broodmare band? KIKI COURTELIS: Yes, we have Champagne Royale who has produced as well as Majestic Harbor. We have Lemon Kiss, who has produced Lochte, she's in foal with a full brother or sister right now, hoping to recreate the magic and‑‑ SHANNON POTTER: We have Upperline. We actually had her first War Front baby in the sale this year. She ran quite a bit here at Keeneland too. Another filly named Agave Kiss. She ran quite a bit in New York. That's‑‑ KIKI COURTELIS: Tap of the Day, she's a full sister to Tapit. I can only see Maria right now, sorry. I'd be happy to send you a list. THE MODERATOR: Kiki and Shannon, congratulations to you both. Thanks for your time. After the finale, we hope to have Todd come by. Congratulations again. KIKI COURTELIS: Thank you so much. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|