134TH BELMONT STAKES

June 8, 2002

Bob Baffert

BOB BAFFERT: Well, I mean, before we raced. I told Victor the only thing that can beat us is a bad break. You know, I worried about this track. It was drying out. I wish we could have run this race yesterday, the way the track was. Looks like I lost his footing away from there, stumbled, got behind horses. This horse can't run like that. He needs to be out there free running. Victor did the best he could for what he was handed there. And so it wasn't his fault. He was stuck on the inside. I could tell. If I would have had a walkie-talkie on him, I don't want him going a mile and a half like that. That was a super disadvantage for him. You know, unfortunately, he came back. We'll freshen him up. I think it was great for New York, the morale or New York. I think it was nice to see, you know, 100,000 people here.

BOB BAFFERT: It was lost at the start. This horse, that's the only thing about this horse, you know, when you have a horse that's a front running horse, all speed in there, I knew that was going to be the problem. You know, we just feel fortunate we won the Derby and the Preakness, had some fun with him. Disappointed The Prince wasn't here. It was a great enjoyment.

BOB BAFFERT: What was that again?

BOB BAFFERT: They were in it from the start, you knew. You were in good shape the whole way. This horse from the start, I know we were doomed. It was just gut wrenching to have to watch the whole race, because I knew. This poor horse was trying so hard. You could tell he made that move down the backside, but, you know, when he gets behind like that, he has trouble. And I think he cuts his air off. And when you take too much of a hold of him, he couldn't go anywhere. And so it was like I just, you know, he'd have to be some kind of mechanical horse to overcome that.

BOB BAFFERT: That's what the bright side is. A month before the Derby I had nothing. And here I am and I think everybody did a great job. The media packed this place. I wanted to do it. But it's tough. Next time I win the Derby, I'm heading home.

BOB BAFFERT: I think it just -- it can be moving at the start or just, you know, it's a different kind of surface. He might have been moving or whatever. They lose their footing behind and when he loses the footing, took a couple of stumbles. You know, then he got up and he's got all the sand in his face. Poor Victor, I mean, that's like I said, it was like he was doomed from the start. You know, he's a courageous horse. He tried to run. He tried to make a race. You could tell the crowd was getting into it. You could tell they were disappointed at the end. It's a tough loss, because I really expected this horse to do it. I expected all of them to do it. I just hope he's fine, you know.

BOB BAFFERT: Very attached because he's such a mean, nasty personality, but he's mentally tough. He's a very light horse and so, you know, maybe, you know, he was doing great coming into this race and really felt confident. But like I said, I told Victor, you know, yesterday would have been ideal for him, ideal conditions. And when this track dries out with the wind, it dries out. It's a little looser, you know. You can't go that fast. But I mean, he was out of his game like that, that's why he had those tough races down in the Fairgrounds. He can't be behind horses.

BOB BAFFERT: I've got Jill.

JILL MOSS: I'm not much help right now.

BOB BAFFERT: I feel lucky to have found this horse a month before the Derby and to be here. Win, lose or draw. I should have been here with Point Given. I was disappointed last year, so it was reversed. But I felt empty last year. I feel empty. I feel I let the fans down. But he's still a courageous horse.

BOB BAFFERT: Confidence if everything goes well. Everything has to go well.

BOB BAFFERT: I think the hardest loss ever had compared to this when I got beat a nose in the Kentucky Derby. I thought I would never be back. I feel I can be back. We get it done, hopefully. But it was nice to see New York, really, getting into it. The crowd was great. I think it's great for the city. I think the Yankees and sporting fans, morale, great for the morale of New York. They need this. They were really buzzed. I could tell when I came this afternoon in the parking lot, I've never seen it like this before. That was exciting. I told Jill, you know, it's out of our hands the last two hours. Let's just enjoy. You never know when you're going to be back.

BOB BAFFERT: He kept stumbling a couple of steps. Sometimes they can hurt themselves doing that, you don't know. You worry about things like that. When he stumbled like that, I knew that it was just way too much for this poor guy to overcome.

BOB BAFFERT: Excuse me? When he stumbled, they stumble like that, sometimes they can pull a muscle. We won't know. When I saw the ambulance out there, it scared the hell out of me. You don't want to see that.

BOB BAFFERT: No, I just saw the horse out there. It bugs me when I see that.

BOB BAFFERT: I think I compared this loss with my Kentucky Derby. You know, the fans didn't get a chance to see the real War Emblem. We didn't get the breaks. We've been lucky the first two, lucky to find him, lucky to win the Derby, win the second one, and he's a great horse and he showed that.

BOB BAFFERT: Yes, I did. I was talking to Jill. I watched the last part. I saw Victor -- I thought, Kenny McPeek, he loses Harlan's Holiday and wins the race. Good for Kenny, that's great. Show those guys.

BOB BAFFERT: Main thing, got to get out of the gate. He's got to get out of the gate and clear sailing. He can't have horses in front of him. That's been his only chink in the armor. It's a bad break. It happened. I'm glad it didn't happen at the Kentucky Derby. You got to look at it that way. I've been up and down this road. The main concern right now, he's okay and I feel bad for Victor. Nothing Victor could have done, nothing at the break, the gateman nothing. That's just bad racing luck. And I'm happy for Kenny McPeek and his connections. He deserves it. He's been through a lot. Having the favorite for the Derby, it's a lot of pressure. The disappointments. Now he gets to at least taste it. They're very deserving winners. Like I said, all I can do is just reload and try to come back here next year.

BOB BAFFERT: Thank you.