BREEDERS' CUP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

October 30, 2004

Johns Martin

Todd Pletcher

Paul Saylor

Jack Wolf

TODD PLETCHER: Without a doubt. I felt like this filly has delivered for us basically every start of her life, but I thought the Kentucky Oaks (inaudible) through Wednesday we needed a catapult in our position.

JACK WOLF: I guess he owes me everything. It has been fun, and it's fun to have horses that -- we have some that don't do so well and some that do well, but it's nice to have a guy like Todd when you go out there, you know we are placed in the right spot. The horse is ready to do what, in this case, she can do.

TODD PLETCHER: It's one of the things you never know until you run on it. All along we thought this filly moved up, if that's possible to move up from the highest level anyway. We were really optimistic in the Alabama when it rained and it worked against us. It rained early in the day. As the track dried out during the course of the day, it went from sloppy to what I call sticky. She wants a tighter track that she doesn't have to work real hard to get in and out of. I think that was the case today. It was labeled good, but for all intents and purposes, it was basically wet fast.

JOHNS MARTIN: I saw what you were talking about, especially the top of the stretch. Johnny had worked himself in 3rd, 4th position, a tight turn, and I was afraid she would be locked. Johnny was patient, I think, and she got through. I thought it was obvious about the 16th of a mile down, she had gotten out and was fine. I was very concerned at the top.

TODD PLETCHER: We had all talked about it beforehand. The one thing I felt strongly about was the one in four weeks or five weeks, preferably more than less, and you look at the calendar after the Alabama, there were really no alternatives that I really liked, with the exception of the Cotillion. I was a little concerned about shipping to Philadelphia Park, little concerned it was a handicap and we would get (inaudible) with the weights, but the main objective was we talked about the fact that it was possible to (inaudible) Belmont, Lone Star and also the possibility of Azeri running the Classic. We thought with those two possibilities that our main focus was the Breeders' Cup Distaff and we would work our way back. In order to do the very best for the Distaff, we thought the Cotillion was our best option. She was 124 pounds, I was a little worried about that, and all the other things that go along with being 1-9 preparing for a race like this. This filly does everything you ask her to do all the time, so we felt like that was a good springboard. She came back and trained very well, settled beautifully and got through at the right time and delivered.

TODD PLETCHER: I think before everyone says I am 0-12, they need to go back and look at the first 8 or 9 I ran, and the smartest thing, probably, would have been to stay at home. With the exception of Ashado last year who achieved 13 over 1, I didn't feel like the horses we were taking to the Breeders' Cup were horses anybody fancied very much, so you look back and Balticzar [ph] was 9-1, and he was the shortest (inaudible) of the horse. Look back at him, I think (inaudible) was something along the lines of 80-1. We had 50, 60 long shots. We were supporting the Breeders' Cup, some owners that wanted to take a shot, and I am happy to do that in big races. I think it's unjust to look at our Breeders' Cup records and say, is that bad? We did good with horses that maybe outran their odds a little bit.

JOHNS MARTIN: He was on cloud nine, like we all are. John rode perfectly. If you saw the Lone Star Derby, yesterday, John did fantastic, but as Todd once said, he is the main man, go-to guy, and showed today why he has the top jockey. We always have problems with John's horse (inaudible).

TODD PLETCHER: Well, like I said, I was going to be happy wherever I won a Breeders' Cup race, particularly gratifying, I have a lot of family here, so that's always extra fun when you get to share it with people. One of the most exciting things for me was having my mom and dad here, my wife, seeing them get excited is part of the fun.

JOHNS MARTIN: Let me try that.

JACK WOLF: We have three different answers.

JOHNS MARTIN: Jack is coming out because he is the heaviest camper. There was something in me that really wanted to run against Azeri probably for the same emotion with the connection Azeri wanted to run the Classic. Our horse is a superstar, but how far off the charts would she have been if we had won this one with Azeri in. I was probably more disappointed than not that she scratched.

JOHNS MARTIN: I tend to agree with what Paul is saying. Mine is a little different. I felt like Ashado over the year (inaudible) the horses were starting to run off Ashado, and she was forced to take the lead in a couple races and she did. We had some races, the Alabama, that I thought maybe Azeri would make sure there was good speed. I thought from that standpoint that Tamweel was able to give enough speed. I am with Paul, I really wanted to race against Azeri. I thought a good effort against Azeri would have been very special to win the race.

JACK WOLF: Any time you can move a 3-5 horse out of the race and become the 2-1 favor, and Todd is an expert at this at placing these horses in the right spots. Most of our horses are short even for running for (inaudible) you would welcome the challenge I understand what you guys are saying, but I was pretty pleased when she ran with the boys.

TODD PLETCHER: I think it is bold to beat Azeri. I wasn't saying that. First of all, I was not surprised Azeri won in the Classic. We had talked about that in Saratoga. I was getting the vibe from Wayne, I was getting the vibe from the owners, and just knowing the whole set-up, I think everyone called on it like Azeri is going to the Classic. I wasn't taken aback by it because I kind of expected it and, look, anytime, like Jack said, anytime you take the favorite out of a race and you become the favorite, that's a good thing. We can all go home and speculate whether we would have beat Azeri or Azeri would have beat us. Who cares, you know. We got the trophy and we will worry about that kind of stuff later. Still get the same check. Anyways, whether or not we could have beat her, the point I was making is when you look at the numbers, you know, and you look at the rags and sheets, and see where our horse belongs, 3-year-old fillies are very good this year. If you look at the numbers, I think people think she ran in an easy spot in the Cotillion, but if you look at those numbers and 3-year-old fillies, they fit very well with Azeri. They fit very well with all the older mares that are running good this year.

TODD PLETCHER: Todd did bust my chops earlier.

JACK WOLF: I called Todd and it was an Ozzie and Harriet story, he was 0-12 in the Breeders' Cup, and I asked if he could send me to a trainer that has a little better track record. He wouldn't give me a name.

JOHNS MARTIN: Let me see. We are at thrilled for Todd and his organization as we are for ourselves. To give you an example of what kind of organization it is, if you don't know already, Ashado's exercise rider is Angel Cordero Jr. He actually had tears in his eyes in the Winner's Circle. To have that kind of emotion over this race, he has been here a lot of times, and I am sure a lot of that was he was happy Todd did win the race.

JOHNS MARTIN: Don't tell him.

TODD PLETCHER: Well, obviously, this is it for this year. The filly will fly to Florida on Tuesday, probably have a similar program that she did last year, which was an easy 30, 40 days at Palmetto. We will play it by ear next year. Jack will probably want to get a buyer or something like that.

TODD PLETCHER: As far as I know, she is definitely racing next year, unless they tell me differently.

JOHNS MARTIN: We can vote right now, if you want.