BREEDERS' CUP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

November 1, 2024

Martin Garcia

Bob Baffert

Tom Ryan

Sol Kumin

Del Mar Fairgrounds

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: The FanDuel Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner, Citizen Bull.

Was it always the plan to send this horse to the lead, and were you surprised that you were able to get such kind of easy fractions?

MARTIN GARCIA: Well, that was the plan. So already because the last time when I win, going the distance, he was in the lead, and then today that was the instructions.

THE MODERATOR: That was your instructions, go to the lead. But it seemed like, compared to some of the earlier races in the fillies race, that the fractions were a lot slower and you had quite a bit of horse left.

MARTIN GARCIA: You're talking about the early fractions or --

THE MODERATOR: The early fractions in the race.

MARTIN GARCIA: They thought they were going six furlongs. They were going too fast.

THE MODERATOR: Bob Baffert, congratulations. We were asking Martin whether that was the plan, that he would go to the front with Citizen Bull, and were you surprised that the fractions seemed a little slower comparatively to the earlier races?

BOB BAFFERT: I told all my riders, your plan is to win the race. So they rode their horses the way they thought, Getaway Car, he has speed. We know Citizen Bull is very quick, very fast.

Gaming, I don't think he got away as good as he could have. I was surprised to see him laying second. And I figured they weren't going too fast because Gaming, he was wanting to go.

But they went fractions that they're supposed to run. It's not like in the filly, Juvenile Fillies, when I saw 22 flat, if I would have had a radio, I would have called Prat, you might want to slow down a little bit.

But in order to win these races, you need a good horse. And you have to have the right trip, the right luck. Like when I -- I don't know what happened to 1. I guess he didn't break. Stuff like that, I've been there.

I've been on the other side where you're the favorite, and actually I was surprised when I sat on my box, I was talking to one of my -- there was no camera guy in my box. I go, hey, that's not a good sign. But he showed up at the last minute, and I thought -- we just joked about it.

But Citizen Bull, he worked him last week, and he's getting better and better. And they're all improving.

I wish they could dead heat one, two, three, but it didn't happen. But I'm excited for the connections, for the group, all the owners involved, the Madakets, and Tom Ryan and these guys, they supported me. They've been with me all the way. They trust, they have trust in me.

I went to the bullpen, I got Martin. They were good with it, let's do it. And sometimes you have to do that. It's like baseball, it's like managing.

So you looked like Walker Buehler out there on the last inning.

MARTIN GARCIA: That was exciting.

Q. Bob, based on 30 points, that means you have a Derby horse. How does it feel to have a Derby horse again?

BOB BAFFERT: It means we don't have to discuss that situation again. That's what it means. Right now, it's too far out, and you really don't know if you have a Derby horse until about February, January, February. Things happen. So I don't get too far ahead of myself. I just focus on what's in front of me this week or next week. It's good to be in the conversation. But it's still a long ways off.

Q. Maybe the Derby is far away, but the Eclipse, the best two-year-old, is closer. Now two great ones, winner, undefeated, is the best horse of United States, of the world because we are talking about the Breeders' Cup?

BOB BAFFERT: He's not undefeated. He got beat. What was the question? The Eclipse Award. That's one of the things I love about the Breeders' Cup. It's like the playoff, and championships are given out during the Breeders' Cup. And that's what it's for. Usually you win the Breeders' Cup, you run against the best and you win, you have to be that good, it's like, it's who wins.

It's like the World Series. It's whoever wins. That's the horse. That's what I love about -- when they started the Breeders' Cup, that's what it was all about. Championships were determined on this big glorious day. I'm not a voter, but the horse speaks for itself.

Q. For Sol, for Tom, for both of you, we can hear in the background all the noise, the celebration from this large group of ownership. So, Tom, if you can just -- or, Sol, why don't you take us through, this horse, this group of owners and coming together and having a horse like this.

TOM RYAN: It's interesting. We actually all came together as a group of owners commingling just in that time when Sol was part of that journey along with Starlight with Bob.

After Justified did what he did and we all worked out that we work well together, we decided to really attack it to put together a solid group of horses every year to give to Bob to try to come out with results like we did today.

It's been amazing. We've won the Kentucky Derby and the Classic with Authentic. We've come back today, this is the first time I've been associated with a Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner, and I couldn't be more proud to be part of this with Sol and Bob and Jack. There's not only tens of people, there's hundreds of people around the world that feel the effect of this win. Couldn't make me more proud because horse racing is one of the greatest sports on earth and we need to share it as far and wide as we possibly can. In true syndication, we can do that.

Q. Sol, you've been involved in a lot of the large partnerships and how important that it is to have a horse like this but representing with so many people bringing them into the game.

SOL KUMIN: It's always more fun to win with your friends than it is to win by yourself. When you have a great group of partners that you like spending time together, you like rooting for each other, with a trainer that you all believe in, it's what it's all about.