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PEGASUS WORLD CUP INVITATIONAL

January 25, 2020

Michael Hui

Hallandale Beach, Florida

Zulu Alpha

THE MODERATOR: Very happy to have owner Michael Hui of Zulu Alpha, Pegasus Turf winner. Congratulations, Michael. How does this feel?

MICHAEL HUI: It feels phenomenal. It feels like I never dreamed I'd be sitting here.

THE MODERATOR: Take us back through the race, the ride Tyler put forth. I mean, it just seemed like everything worked out perfectly with the horse today.

MICHAEL HUI: After watching the replay, it was a phenomenal trip. No, it was the perfect trip, absolutely the perfect trip. He broke out of the gate, looked like coming around the first -- the finish the first time, he got bumped around a little bit and checked. Then it was a waiting game, and I can't remember the name or the number of the horse that was on the lead. I really thought that he might back up into us, and it opened up, like the sea parted.

THE MODERATOR: Continue on, sir.

MICHAEL HUI: The sea parted. Zulu does what Zulu does in the stretch. He finishes very strong, and we have a winner.

THE MODERATOR: How about your -- like this is the culmination of you owning horses for a long time. Tell us how you got into the game.

MICHAEL HUI: Oh, boy, I think I might get in trouble with Paige back there, but approximately ten years ago, in 2010, I made a decision to gain the feel from the racetrack from the back side. I'd always attended as a spectator, as a teenager.

THE MODERATOR: I'm going to sit next to you. Let's do this.

MICHAEL HUI: Yeah, I started off as a teenager going to Oaklawn Park. College, Oaklawn Park. I had a career that kind of took me away from Arkansas. When I transitioned back, started going to Oaklawn Park, experienced the front side, I don't know, the entertainment side of it, but made a decision to claim our first horse. It was Diablo's Holiday in about 2010.

I don't know if it was fortunate or unfortunate, Paige, but claimed him for 30, got out for 30. Within six months, we had 12 horses, and that was too many.

THE MODERATOR: Well, it becomes an obsession, and when the game's in your blood, I think it's in there for life, it is with me. And how about -- tell us a little bit of the back story with you hooking up with trainer Mike Maker because you guys have had quite a lot of success together.

MICHAEL HUI: Absolutely. It's been a great one. Hope it continues. I guess it was 2015, I just had met Mike through mutual acquaintances, trainers, kind of an analytical guy, but I never applied it to horse racing. It was more emotional. I got on the Internet, and I - this is going to sound scary, but I googled Mike Maker claiming horses to stakes.

Around that time frame, he had a horse that he claimed, I think, for Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey by the name of Acclaim, and that popped up. I said, okay, I'm going to call him. We had a brief conversation -- if you know Mike Maker, there's no extending conversation.

THE MODERATOR: No, it's very brief.

MICHAEL HUI: We had a plan where we'd claim a horse, which would ultimately be Hammers Terror, and he purchased one through a bloodstock agent Alistair Roden. That was serious talk. Within three starts, a serious talk, won a black type stakes at Woodbine. And then the rest is history.

Mike is a man of very few words, but when he speaks, you listen. I think we -- it's been a good match.

THE MODERATOR: Is this, like today winning the Pegasus Turf with Zulu Alpha, I mean, is this the pinnacle of your horse ownership so far?

MICHAEL HUI: I never envisioned winning a Grade I or a Grade II or a Grade III, but it's just -- you're right. It does get into your blood, and you take the next step. Well, it's the -- I told Mike, I've always told Mike that, when we claim a horse, I says, you've got to get me out. I have to answer to Paige.

THE MODERATOR: Paige, your wife?

MICHAEL HUI: Paige, my wife.

(Laughter).

So this has been a lot of fun, but, no, to answer your question, I never dreamed of being here. So I'm just going to enjoy the moment. We have a horse at Oaklawn Park tomorrow in a 12.5. I'll be cheering her on too.

THE MODERATOR: Should I get down a bet? Are you live in that spot or what?

MICHAEL HUI: Afraid not.

THE MODERATOR: I'm going to bet anyway. Last question, Mike, before we open it to members of the media. Here with your wife Paige, family, friends, getting to win a race of the magnitude of Pegasus with Zulu Alpha, describe that experience.

MICHAEL HUI: It's an out of body experience when he cleared in the stretch. I'm a very moderate, soft-spoken guy. I stood there and screamed my lungs out.

THE MODERATOR: Very cool. You know what, before we turn it over, one final question. How about your maybe sense of pride hooking up with Tyler Gaffalione, who was coming to Gulfstream Park when he was in a baby stroller. He's the local kid around here, done good, and getting to win a race here at Gulfstream like the Pegasus?

MICHAEL HUI: This wasn't our first big win with Tyler. A couple years ago in McKnight, he rode Taghleeb for us. That might have been the first Pegasus.

THE MODERATOR: That would have been the Pegasus undercard in 2017 with Arrogate against California Chrome. So you won the McKnight that day with Tyler, and obviously there's a relationship there. Again, with me as a fan, I think it's pretty neat seeing his success with the fact that, again, he's a local kid around these parts.

MICHAEL HUI: Absolutely. He would be very familiar with this track and became very familiar with Zulu Alpha in his last few works. So I guess in Maker I trust and in Tyler trust I now.

Q. How optimistic were you going into today?
MICHAEL HUI: Moderate. It was moderate. I guess the no medication, Lasix wasn't an issue, but it was in the back of my mind. He's performed the last several years with it, so to race without it, Mike Maker felt that it wasn't an issue.

The other was the distance. It was 9 1/2 furlongs. I would have felt a lot -- the comfort level would have been substantially higher at 11 or 12 furlongs, but the trip worked out.

Q. I believe in an earlier post, you said you had a member of the family who passed and you felt him with you today. May I ask you the name of that person and your emotions there?
MICHAEL HUI: Yes, that would be Darren Bryant. That is a brother-in-law, who passed away suddenly this past August. It just felt, when the rail opened up, I had conversed with Paige just shortly after the race like he was with us. I'll also give you a little personal note about Darren. He loved Zulu Alpha to the extent that it was his smartphone that was his default picture, yeah.

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations, Mike. All the best moving forward with Zulu Alpha.

MICHAEL HUI: Thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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