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138TH BELMONT STAKES

June 10, 2006

ELMONT, NEW YORK

THE MODERATOR: Okay. We're joined in the interview room down here with two of the key connections of this year's Belmont Stakes winner, Jazil. On the left is Rick Nichols, the vice president of Shadwell US. To his left the winning trainer. Kiaran McLaughlin. I'm told we'll be joined momentarily by Fernando Jara a little later on.
First of all, gentlemen, congratulations and Kiaran, we were you concerned at all, Jazil was treading his way through the field like the others were standing still on the far turn? Were you at all concerned he was making the lead too soon?
KIARAN McLAUGHLIN: It looked like he was moving easily. When he came next to Bluegrass Cat. It didn't look like anyone else was gaining quickly. I was happy to be there. That's what everybody talks about, deep closers can't win, so we had to be there with 3/8 left to go close.
THE MODERATOR: I want to remind people listening upstairs in the Press Boxes that you can ask questions to the representatives there, and they'll relay them down to me and we'll get them asked.
Since Fernando is not here, we can effusive about him without making him blush. A lot of credit was given to you, Kiaran, and for having the guts to give him the mount and then stick with him through the Belmont Stakes, which is always considered something of a rider's race. Obviously, Kiaran, I know you can't make a decision completely on your own, you've got to get the go-ahead from your owners. Would both of you talk about the decision to use Fernando Jara in the Derby and stick with him in the Belmont?
KIARAN McLAUGHLIN: Go ahead, Rick.
RICK NICHOLS: Be honest, wasn't much talking decision making to do. The way he rode him in the Wood, he fits the horse so well. The horse responds to him so well. Sheikh Hamdan believes when somebody is doing a good job, you don't try to fix it. We did discuss it with Sheikh Hamdan. He said, absolutely, he's the man to ride him. He's done a good job so far. Keep going.
THE MODERATOR: Anything to add?
KIARAN McLAUGHLIN: Nice. Rick and I spoke about it before the Wood Memorial. If he happens to win, we're going to be attacked by other agents and jockeys to ride, Rick didn't hesitate, said, if he wins or he's second, he needs to stay with the horse. He's very nice. He's a talented little rider. Rode a great race today and I'm sure he'll have a bright future.
THE MODERATOR: Do you know whether Sheikh Hamdan viewed the race at home and, if so, have you spoken to him yet?
RICK NICHOLS: Yes, he did get to see it. He had to stay in Dubai. I spoke to him briefly coming down the steps and he's very happy, very well done to everybody. But he did get to see it. It's 2:30 in the morning his time. He stayed up to see it.
THE MODERATOR: Worth staying up for, obviously. It was something of a family affair the last two-thirds of the Triple Crown with Bernardini owned by Sheikh Hamdan's brother, Sheikh Mohammed capturing the Preakness and obviously Sheikh Hamdan with Jazil. Obviously, you need to see how the horse comes out of the race.
Does the fact that the two owners are brothers in your opinion make it more likely or less likely that Bernardini and Jazil might race against each other later in the year?
RICK NICHOLS: They're very competitive amongst themselves and their horses in a race, and we want to go we will and vice versa. We run a lot of horses against each other in Europe. That's where most of our stables are. It's quite competitive. It's a loving, brother, friendly competition. And they really enjoy. You know, if we were to win or to run against each other and we finish one, two, or they finish one, two, they'll both be happy.
THE MODERATOR: And obviously they don't ride races any longer than a mile-and-a-half on dirt, really. Jazil seems like no distance is too long. Would it make sense, if he's healthy, he might target races like the next best thing, Travers, mile-and-a-quarter, Breeder's Cup Classic.
RICK NICHOLS: Obviously, you have to see how the horse comes out, see how Kiaran thinks, how he trains. Definitely that would be two targets we would want to look at.
THE MODERATOR: Kiaran, much is going to be made today of an 18-year-old riding and winning in his first Belmont. Let's not lose sight of the fact, this is your first Triple Crown victory; can you tell us how it feels to get that one under our belt?
KIARAN McLAUGHLIN: It's great growing up in Lexington, Kentucky, I'm living my dream training horses every day, but to be involved in the Triple Crown is what we all dream about and get up at 4:00 in the morning every day to try and accomplish and great to win our first time in a 1 1/2-mile Belmont. I say "we" because I have a great staff of people. I certainly don't do it by myself.
THE MODERATOR: Okay. As you can see, we're now joined as well by the winning rider, Fernando Jara, 18 years of age, just 15 years older than his horse. Fernando has been riding since age 14 in Panama, so he may not be as inexperienced as his age would tend to indicate. Fernando, congratulations, and before we get into the actual running of the race, your thoughts and aspirations on what such a momentous win might mean for your career, especially having accomplished this at such a young age. He had he had thank you.
FERNANDO JARA: Thank you for everything. I feel great. You have no idea how I feel right now. When I' a kid and I saw the race, I say, one day I gonna be there. Now I win the race. You don't know how I feel right now.
THE MODERATOR: Fernando, as an apprentice, you put up very solid numbers. It's not like you were Steve Cauthen or Kent Desormeaux setting records. You went about your business in a very businesslike fashion. You lost the bug and the business kept coming, thanks, in part, to folks like Kiaran; can you talk about the support you've gotten from the horsemen since you've been a journeyman?
FERNANDO JARA: I appreciate every time to Kiaran, when I lost my (inaudible) he start riding me a little bit. Now start giving me more horses. I going to appreciate everytime, he helped me a lot, you know, I said thanks.
THE MODERATOR: One of the criticisms of Jazil coming into the Belmont was that he had to clean a trip in the Kentucky Derby, didn't have trouble in that race compared to others. You obviously gave them two excellent rides and back-to-back, high-profile, high-pressure races.
Can you talk about the trip today and also Jerry Baily pointed out on television, a slight stumble at the starting gate, he said, could have thrown a lot of riders a lot older than you off their game or disturbed them. Can you tell us about the start and then the rest of the trip?
FERNANDO JARA: You know, when he broke, he come in a little bit and I curve my feet with the door. I can't put it back right away, the irons. But the trip, I tried to be all the way in the clear. I got, you know, clear race when I made my move and, you know, thank God, the best part of the race.
THE MODERATOR: And I asked Kiaran this before, and he said there was no problem, but were you surprised how quickly he was pulling you to the lead and you were in front by about -- turning for home. This is a horse that's supposed to be, in theory, so far back and he just kind of pulled his way through. Were you surprised he got you up to the front that quickly?
FERNANDO JARA: No, because I know much better the race, I got to be there, get him ready. (inaudible) I, you know, I try to put him more in the present and try to move a little more.
THE MODERATOR: Kiaran and Rick, any surprise how handy he was today?
KIARAN McLAUGHLIN: In his training he worked in 46 and change. He has speed, but Fernando gets on so well with him and switches him off and switches him on when he wants. That's why he's been riding him all along and responds well to him. We probably could have been real close if we wanted to but It seems like that suits him better.

Q. Kiaran, in the Preaness, you took Fernando off a different horse. Could you go through that scenario? I know it's a different owner. Fernando, I'd like you to follow up why you, if you were disappointed.
KIARAN McLAUGHLIN: It was simple, one sentence from the owner like now: I would like a more experienced rider. And I tried to argue a little bit, but he pays the bills and he's the owner, and I said, no problem, we're 20-1, it's not like we can take him off a 2-5 shot. It worked out well for Fernando, I think, and he'll end up back on the horse.
THE MODERATOR: That last question was about the decision to take Fernando off like now.

Q. Fernando, when you lost the mount in the Preakness, were you pretty disappointed, pretty upset about that?
FERNANDO JARA: No, no. You know, I'm a young rider, and I understand that, but anyway, I going apprecaite taking me the opportunity to give me my fair grade, stay winner and I appreciate that.
THE MODERATOR: Any questions down here I'll repeat for the benefit of those listening upstairs. Tim.

Q. You talked a little bit about the atmosphere here today, a lot of people going into this race were saying that it's not going to be like it normally is for a Belmont Stakes. What was it like for you, I mean, other than the fact that you won it.
THE MODERATOR: Other than the obvious fact you won, can you talk about the general atmosphere at Belmont?
KIARAN McLAUGHLIN: It was a great atmosphere to win a Grade 1 with such a well-bred horse with such key people. It's a great win and I'll never forget it. As long as I live, it was a great win. Sorry that we weren't going for a Triple Crown. I told the press yesterday, I thought we were going for the Triple Crown, the OTB Triple Crown; eight, eight and eight. Eight won every leg of the Triple Crown.
THE MODERATOR: But for the first time the horse's name did not begin with "B."

Q. Can you talk about what appealed to you at the sale in terms of buying this horse, what was it that attracted you to him?
THE MODERATOR: What appealed to you when you bought him about Jazil?
RICK NICHOLS: We buy it kind of like a committee; myself and some of my assistants on the farm, and Kiaran. We go to the sale and we look at the horses and we come up with a short list for the boss. And ones that Sheikh Hamdan likes, is the ones we buy. He liked this colt. He's an athletic colt, neat. Had a good walk to him, was correct. He was fortunate enough to be able to purchase it.

Q. Pedigree enters into it.
RICK NICHOLS: It's a great pedigree, especially for us, since we do a lot of running in Europe. He has some distance in his pedigree. That whole Raise a Native line has been a great line in our breeding program. You'll see him in our stallion barn in Shadwell in Lexington some day. Hopefully, won't be this year. Whenever he gets around to it. He'll be smiling like we are.

Q. Fernando, can you tell us when you began your career in Panama, what age, and why did you decide to come to United States to ride?
FERNANDO JARA: 14. 14 and I come to New York when I got 16.
THE MODERATOR: What made you want to come to the United States?
FERNANDO JARA: When I was a little kid, I see all the races, you know, I see the big jockeys and I say, one day I want to be there, and I'm here.

Q. Do you have any idols like Braulio Baeza or anything?
FERNANDO JARA: Laffitt Pincay, Tim (inaudible) and Jerry Bailey.
THE MODERATOR: Is it basically the attitude of every young rider in Panama to come to the United States if they're good enough?
FERNANDO JARA: Yeah.

Q. Kiaran, at the draw on Wednesday, you said the horse was going to be closer because that's what the Sheikh had asked. How insistent was he?
KIARAN McLAUGHLIN: Rick and I spent a lot of years with him and you don't have to let him say it twice. When he says it once, we hear him loud and clear.

Q. For those of you who are new to covering horseracing, before this race you said the pace had to be fast-paced so he could get a good run. Going down the backstretch with the wind, it looked like it might be kind of slower than you might have liked. Could you talk about the pace and how it suited your horse?
KIARAN McLAUGHLIN: The faster the better for a come from behind horse; 47 and change was fine. It was great. We were worried about a 50, 49, 50, 51. That's happened before. So, we were happy with a 47 and change. And he wasn't very far back.

Q. Kiaran, maybe you talk about the three-year-old division now with Barbaro out, how would you look at the race for a championship? I mean, is Barbaro still a factor because of Sentiment? How do you look at what's ahead?
KIARAN McLAUGHLIN: I'm sure Barbaro will probably end up being a championed three-year-old and unless we can pull off the Travers the Breeders Cup Classic, still it would be tough for him not to get it for what he has done.

Q. Can you talk about your first impressions of the first time you saw Fernando ride and what struck you about him and why you've stayed with him for so long?
KIARAN McLAUGHLIN: I was an agent a year and a half for Chris Antley. I watched a lot of riders. I think he has a raw natural ability, just fits a horse very well. He's confident, cool. You know, he's done everything right. I like the way he fits a horse and he's a very good kid.
THE MODERATOR: Does Fernando ride him in the mornings or do you have different --
KIARAN McLAUGHLIN: We're afraid he might go too fast on him in the mornings.
THE MODERATOR: You know so often coming into the Belmont we're used to seeing horses work 6 furlongs, work a mile, build their stamina. With Jazil, you only worked him half miles, 5 furlongs; is that because his stamina is not in any question whatsoever, are looking to keep the sharpness up?
KIARAN McLAUGHLIN: Once they're fit, it's hard to try to push past they're fitness. You're just trying to keep them happy and maintenance works and we had a tough decision to work or not to work. We walked the track, watched closely. We decided not to work when most everybody else did work. So it worked out this time, but he's very fit horse and doesn't require a lot of training.

Q. Rick, you talked about the rivalry of the brothers the competitive rivalry; how big is it for Sheikh Hamdan to get this classic victory?
RICK NICHOLS: Well, it's a great victory. You have to understand that, like I said, we've always, in the last 21 years, always concentrated running in Europe and run many classes with homebreds and so forth, but Kiaran pulled off our first Grade 1 victory a couple of weeks ago with Invasor, and this is our second Grade 1 victory and our first American Classic. We've got ten English classics or European classics. So it's very, very important, not only to Sheikh Hamdan but to Shadwell Farm, our breeding program, to Kiaran and his staff, all the staff own Shadwell that helped us get us to this point. So it's really going to boost his interest in American racing and I think instead of having 10 or 12 2-years-olds every year for Kiaran, we might have a few more.

Q. Fernando and everybody else congratulations. Tell us, Fernando, what your strategy was for Jazil, considering, obviously the kind of horse you had and the kind of length of the Belmont Stakes. Just your general strategy as he was going around and as he fired in the turn for home?
FERNANDO JARA: With him before the race trying to do the same in the Kentucky. Trying to stand clear. When I go to make my move, try to trouble (inaudible)

Q. You look and you sound so calm now but what was going on inside of you during the stretch run?
KIARAN McLAUGHLIN: It was a long damn way to the wire. Once we got to the lead, I was looking for the wire.

Q. I mean, were you jump --
KIARAN McLAUGHLIN: I was very excited. Obviously wanted to make the lead and no one's gaining on you with a 3 1/6 to go, it's very exciting.
THE MODERATOR: Some trainers the paddock just give their jockeys a leg up and say good luck and that's it; you and Rick both mentioned Sheikh Hamdan has no problems getting his points across when he wants to. Was the prerace strategy with Fernando lengthy? Did you go out to dinner or something? Was it just a restricted to the paddock? How?
KIARAN McLAUGHLIN: I went down to visit with him earlier in the afternoon, like after the seventh race or something. I just wanted to talk to him a little bit and he's just always so cool and comfortable. I didn't want to say, lay fourth, lay eight. I just wanted to see how he was feeling his mood he was confident and cool, so I didn't talk but for about three minutes with him, just talking and chatting and we had a lot of confidence in him.

Q. You mentioned that you suspected after the Wood Memorial you'd get calls from Jockey agents. Did you, and through the whole process, did you get calls Wood time, Derby time, Belmont time, can you estimate how many and what were they saying to you?
KIARAN McLAUGHLIN: Well, quite a few after the Wood Memorial, there was probably six or eight different agents that wanted to ride him just because of the experience and the age and then going into the Belmont there were one or two or three, not 10, but there were three or four probably and I'm sure that had we ever wavered at all and showed weakness or thought we were going to make a change we might have had 25 phone calls.
THE MODERATOR: Guess you won't be getting any before the next race.

Q. Did you buy the horse with American racing in mind or something you decided after?
RICK NICHOLS: Not necessarily. We buy a horses in general and then at the end of the sale season Sheikh Hamdan selects the ones to stay in American and the ones that go on to England or Dubai to be broken.

Q. Rick and Kiaran, if you both respond, please: With the brothers winning the Preakness and the Belmont, does it say anything maybe about their getting a better handle on the American classics or the people who work for them knowing a little better what it takes? What does it signify?
THE MODERATOR: Does the fact that Sheikh Hamdan and Sheikh Mohammed each won the last two Triple Crown races does it indicate to you in any way maybe they're get ago better handle on this Triple Crown thing?
RICK NICHOLS: I can't speak for Sheikh Mohammed but for Sheikh Hamdan, he is a tremendous horseman, he's got tremendous knowledge of European racing. He understands our American racing but he's always been for focused on the English racing but he's getting moreover the last four or five years, getting more and more focused on winning the big races. He came to the Kentucky Derby and he had a great time and he was really impressed with the American fans how walking out in the paddock they'd say "go Jazil" and wish him luck. At the end of the day he said, "Rick, we need to win this one." I think we'll be focused on doing that in the future.
THE MODERATOR: Rick, it wasn't too long after the Preakness we heard that Bernardini was going to be freshened up for a little bit. Is it too early to tell for Jazil where we might see him next or do you have a master plan plotted out if all things went according to your hopes?
RICK NICHOLS: Here, again, I think it would be up to Kiaran, see how he comes out of the race, see how he feels and probably would be have to speak with Sheikh Hamdan what he thinks as well, what his wishes are, probably take a very good look at the Travers and onto the Classic the Breeders Cup.
THE MODERATOR: Sheikh Hamdan good at taking advice if either one of you two guys feel strongly about something?
RICK NICHOLS: Yes, he's very good. He listens and then he'll make a decision. And like I say, he is a great horseman. People don't realize, the man in his position in life how he has time to be a great horseman is unbelievable but I mean, as far as pedigrees and knowledge of an individual horse by looking at it, and strategy of how a race is run, he's unbelievable.
THE MODERATOR: Sherry.

Q. Fernando, can you tell me about your family back in Panama do you have brothers and sisters, is anybody else involved in racing?
FERNANDO JARA: I got two sisters and one brother and my dad he was a trainer in Panama. My grandpa was a trainer in Chile. I got all my family from my dad come jockeys, trainers.

Q. What your dad's first name? A. Jorge.
KIARAN McLAUGHLIN: He was here today, wasn't he?

Q. He was here for this?
THE MODERATOR: Fernando, are you riding the 13th, do you have to leave?
FERNANDO JARA: Yes.
THE MODERATOR: Any last questions for Fernando specifically?

Q. Did you ever worry they might take you off the horse?
RICK NICHOLS: He shouldn't have. We never mentioned it. Never even thought about it.
Q. You said you rode at 14, is that unusual in Panama? In the United States you have to be 16 to ride. Is it common for riders to ride that young in Panama?
FERNANDO JARA: Excuse me.
THE MODERATOR: Is it normal in Panama for 14 years old to be riding.
FERNANDO JARA: They start riding at 14.
THE MODERATOR: Is that the youngest you can be?
FERNANDO JARA: Yes.
THE MODERATOR: How many races did you win when you were 14?
FERNANDO JARA: 60, 59, 60 races.
THE MODERATOR: As a 14-year-old. That was 60 races he thinks he won in Panama as a 14-year-old. We've got to let you go if you're going to ride the 13th. Congratulations on a great performance today. Continued success to you.
FERNANDO JARA: Thank you, very much.
THE MODERATOR: Anything further for Mr. Nicols or Mr. McLaughlin?
All right. Well, if you guys want to pick up a mount in the 13th, you can, too. Congratulations and best of luck with Jazil. Well done today.

End of FastScripts...

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