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132ND PREAKNESS STAKESMay 19, 2007Robby AlbaradoSteven AsmussenGeorge BoltonShirley CunninghamJess JacksonSatish SananBALTIMORE, MARYLAND THE MODERATOR: Mr. Jackson, let me start with you, congratulations, sir. First of all, would you introduce your crew up there at the four of you up at the table. JESS JACKSON: Mr. Satish Sanan on my right. On my left Mr. George Bolton. Mr. Cunningham is on the far end. We have lost one. He will be here soon. Our lovely wives are out in the audience. The power behind the throne is right out there. THE MODERATOR: You won big today, obviously, but prior to today's win, you bet very big so to speak in your decision to purchase Curlin -- or a majority in Curlin, your team from Midnight Cry Stables whose colors he carried today. Can you talk about the victory in light of the big risk or the big outlay you made earlier and to have your faith rewarded like that? JESS JACKSON: The reward isn't having a horse that brought us here. The horse is undoubtedly extremely talented. He beat a champion, Street Sense. We've all had faith in him from the very beginning. Luckily, the original owner stayed in and we wanted them as partners. We feel the horse has much more potential than he has even shown today. We are hoping that potential develops as he matures. As many people have observed, he was not as experienced as some of the other horses he has been competing with. We throw the Derby out in our minds because he was blocked and his momentum lost three times. We never lost faith in him. I think today that faith was justified and we are as pleased as we can be that he's won a classic Grade 1 race and his fifth race, and that is an exceptional performance given that he didn't even run as a 2-year-old. We are very pleased, thank you. THE MODERATOR: We are joined by Robby Albarado. Robby, congratulations. ROBBY ALBARADO: Thank you, guys. THE MODERATOR: First of all, describe your trip, conventional wisdom among the public thought that Curlin would probably sit closer to the paste today than he did in the Derby but he was a little farther back than a lot of people expected. Take us through the race. ROBBY ALBARADO: He stumbled pretty bad leaving the gates. My whole focus today was getting him away from the gates in order. I kept focusing on that, making sure he is wound up well enough and he stumbled. Obviously I had to go to plan B. I had to use him a little more than I needed to under the wire the first time, keeping him in contention. But I was always content where I was. I kept my horns spun and awaited the champ to come on by any time. Q. Street Sense was -- Street Sense and Circular Quay were next to last and last early, but you -- Street Sense moved first and you made the last and what proved to be the best move. Did that take you by surprise? Did you see Street Sense go by? ROBBY ALBARADO: Well, Curlin was negotiating in the short turns here at Pimlico really well. I was getting him out and trying to manage him and guide him around that. Street Sense run up inside of me very, very rapid. He just exploded away from him. I needed to get him in lead. He exploded for me. Q. The last question I want to ask before you we throw it open, I saw you on the Louisville TV station after the Derby and the interviewer was consoling after the third place finish and he said, I am sure your horse will go on to accomplish some nice things in the summer and fall, and you responded, he will accomplish some nice things before that. Can you talk about having your confidence rewarded in the horse and what was it about him that even after a disappointing, in your mind, Derby made you still so confident in him? ROBBY ALBARADO: Just the feel I get. Physically, he is a big horse to be in these classic races. Mentally he will get there eventually. I think has talent, overcomes a lot more than people are seeing and the confidence that the team gives you from the exercise ride to the groom to the assistant, Scott, to Steve. I mean, Steve has the utmost confidence in this horse and that instills it in me. I have always had plenty of questions about his inexperience but his talent overcomes anything. Q. Satish, Robby wasn't trying to reel in some cheap speed down the stretch; he was trying to reel in Street Sense. What were your thoughts when you saw who the last one was that you had to cash? SATISH SANAN: We could see the horse on the far end but I could see Robby's colors. And once he started moving and he changed gaits, I knew we were going to win, and we did. This is a tremendous horse as Robby said. He is very talented. Maybe mentally a little immature. I believe the longer he goes the better he is going to get. You can tell he was riding. I think it is a great horse. THE MODERATOR: Again, Steve Almussen will join us shortly. I want to throw it open to questions here. I will repeat it for the benefit of those listening upstairs. Q. Can you describe the last few jumps, did you know you were going to get there? ROBBY ALBARADO: Finally, inside the 1/8th pole he turned over in his right lead and my peripheral vision sees the wire and I see him gaining. I think I got enough time to get to him. I thought he would offer -- Street Sense would offer me something when I got to him and he did. Curlin he just has his way about him, the last part of the race he wants to win. He did this in the Derby. He in the 1/8th pole and he covered four or five that people didn't see. I was 11, 12 lengths going by the 1/8th pole, I was beaming 7/8 length. He did a lot of things that people couldn't see and he showed it today because I was. Q. Did you know when you had it won? ROBBY ALBARADO: That goes back to my quarter horse days when I was riding quarter horses (smiling). Q. Was there any conversation between you and Calvin after the wire? ROBBY ALBARADO: He just said, you got me, and he congratulated me like a true professional he is. Q. When you bought into Curlin, what was behind your decision to bring in Steve Almussen as your trainer? Did you consider any other trainers along with Steve? GEORGE BOLTON: We have all had horses with Steve Almussen and his terrific staff of people, and our first decision we bought the horses to get them out of Gulf Stream and get them to we think fairer surface at the fairgrounds. And Steve has done such a good job for all of us with the horses. That was a decision we made collectively very easily. Q. Robby, can you describe what happened in the Preakness? It looked like you were going go down? ROBBY ALBARADO: He just stumbled out. I thought we had him standing well. That was my main focus. I wanted him to get away in the order. The last start and the start before, he got away in a tangle. Today he stumbled. It showed his talent, his athleticism by getting up, and still wanting to do it after that. Q. How did you change the tactics? ROBBY ALBARADO: I had to get on him a little more leaving that. I had to leave him for the first time under the wire. I knew he had enough talent in that I can do that and still have enough to get up and win and he showed it. He showed it today. Q. Can you describe the thrill of winning your first Triple Crown race and how do you think it might affect the future, your in the future? ROBBY ALBARADO: It is amazing. I have been second and third in the Preakness before and fourth. I always wanted to win a Triple Crown race. Steve and Scott Blasie, the assistant trainer, told me from the beginning of the year, we tried to get in the same direction, run the same level in our careers and we will win us a big one and we did it today because part of the team. Steve's team did a wonderful job. Q. Steve, I will say the same thing I said to Robby: Congratulations on your first classic win. Has to feel great. STEVEN ASMUSSEN: Thank you. Q. How did his experience in the Derby help him today in the Preakness? STEVEN ASMUSSEN: I think Mr. Gallion pointed out a good point, every day this horse has run he has done something like this. This is the norm for him. In the Derby we were third, hats off to the winner. He deserves the credit for winning the Derby just like Curlin deserves credit for winning the Preakness. He stumbled away, he was a little further back than we want. Robby had to guide him around the tight turns here. He does have a tendency of getting out. And once he went to hit right lead he was good enough to win a classic and that's who he is. It puts him in -- now everybody feels about him the way we always have. Q. Did your heart sink a little when he stumbled out of the gate? STEVEN ASMUSSEN: Probably a little bit more than a little (smiling). Robby was nudging on him early. I was worried about a replay of the Derby at that point. Q. Steve, I'm sure you want to discuss this with your owners, but to see how your horse comes back, he has accomplished an awful lot in a relatively short period of time. Have you given any thought to a possible run back in the Belmont Stakes? STEVEN ASMUSSEN: We hope that's possible but, of course, the horse comes back well. This is the stage this horse was meant for and I think that his races will be used in that caliber of race. Q. When you got interested in Curlin and thought you might like to buy him, what was it -- where did you first spot him? Were you watching television? Were you at the track? JESS JACKSON: No, no, Steve saw him on the day he won his maiden and he won it impressively by 12 or more. Steve immediately contacted John Moynahan who I believe is the one of the top blood horse agents in the world John, said, wow, called me. I looked at the tape -- we tape every race -- and that race impressed me so much I said, wow, and said, let's go get him. I told John to put a team together because we don't need -- I enjoy sharing racing with other people and not just the family. I think it's a sport that brings people together and we as a team owning this horse are sharing the excitement of a lifetime dream and that's what really is pleasing here now, that everybody here that has had faith in the horse has been rewarded with our initial faith, thinking that this horse was so extraordinary that we would have to have him and give him a chance and here he is. So we all had that same feeling, I'm sure. We had Satish over in India at the time we contacted him. We had George in San Francisco. John did all the work. John, stand up so people can see you. There you are. Stand up. (Applause). We are all here because of Curlin, of course, but we are also a team because of John's work. Thank you. Q. Kind of in the same vein that we were talking to Robby about earlier, you and Robby in some respects are at similar points in your careers, still young, had never accomplished a Triple Crown win before. How do you see the future unfolding from here? STEVEN ASMUSSEN: I think that I was the right person for this horse at this time, and I think Robby was the right rider for this horse at this time. It fell together that well, just as his career did from his first race. We were just the right people at the right time and very fortunate to be sitting up here after winning a classic. Q. You took a tumble in the Dixie aboard Einstein. Were you hurt at all from that? Did it affect you in any way in your races or thereafter? ROBBY ALBARADO: I was very, very lucky I didn't get hurt. Actually, I was on the grass course so I kind of slid for 10, 15 feet. It was unfortunate for the horse that did break down. I was unable to avoid him. I leaped over him and leaped to the left and I lost my balance because I didn't know which way he was going to go. Obviously, we always try to avoid the jockey. A falling horse -- your own horse would try to jump them. That's what I tried to do. It is unfortunate the horse broke down. I was uninjured and I was lucky. And Steve came to the room to check on me. I know that's why he was up there. He wasn't there to talk about the race. He was up there to check to make sure I was okay. When he seen me in the muscle shirts, he knew I was good (smiling). Q. You have won hundreds and hundreds of claiming races; how does it feel to win the Preakness and do you think this might help you become a regular and major player in these Grade 1s going forward? STEVEN ASMUSSEN: Horses like Curlin put you in this race. It is the same approach. You put them where they belong. This horse is good enough for this, and this is where he belongs. Q. After this one, he is presumably worth more than you paid for him. Would you feel comfortable confirming what it was that you did pay for him? JESS JACKSON: Not really because it is a private matter and we have to have a partnership agreement on almost everything. The one thing we're totally united on is that this horse is a classic horse. He is going to be a champion and Steve Almussen and Robby are going to get him there. Q. How much room for growth is there in this horse? STEVEN ASMUSSEN: I am extremely pleased where he is right now. He has been very healthy, very sound, very sound of mind as well as body and that's what we are looking to continue with him. Thought that he came out of the Derby in great order or in an order of nothing that I had previously run in the Derby did, in a freshness and soundness way, both of mind and body. That's what we look to continue with. I think it was brought to my attention that that was equal of the fastest Preakness run and that's pretty good company. Q. Could you break down the ownership percentages? JESS JACKSON: We've never given the breakdown and I don't think it is really relevant. We are one team. It doesn't matter. We're together on where we're going, and it doesn't matter whether we have one half of one percent of control. That's not the idea. The idea is to have fun and watch this horse develop to be the horse he is going to be in the future. Yes, he is worth a lot more but that's because he is the horse he is and that, therefore, will take care of itself. Q. The partnership has been very fair, everyone has taken turns wearing colors. Mr. Cunningham is wearing Midnight Cry's colors today. SHIRLEY CUNNINGHAM: We are going forward as a team. We are making decisions as a team and we fully support Robby Albarado and Steve and we look forward to bigger and better things. Q. George Bolton, as a Baltimore native, can you discuss your feelings winning the Preakness? GEORGE BOLTON: It is a dream come true. I grew up on a farm that my father owns, only about ten miles from here across from St. Timothy School on Greensboro Avenue. So very close. The team was all there last night. You never think you are going to ever be in a race or win a race like this. This is something that is very surreal. The Derby was surreal. The Arkansas Derby was surreal. I am just very proud to be associated with this group and to win a race ten miles from my father's farm is a great, great honor. But I think the most important thing for all of us is that Curlin won a great one and he won one of the three classics. If I had anything to prioritize in my head, it is just great to win a big, big race with a horse that has got the talent he does. Q. Steve, can you discuss why it is that Robby fits this horse so well? STEVEN ASMUSSEN: I think with the amount of time that we had to get where we wanted to, my using Robby a lot in the past, him being very capable but understanding terminology, knowing what I mean when I say something, there is just no doubts. He knew where the horse was by what we were saying and the horse had a lot of changing to do in a short period of time. Just from a two-turn race, different racetracks, I don't think there was any doubts in his mind with what I was saying. Mine and Robby's success, my first Grade 1 winner ever was ridden by Robby, the Mother Goose in '99. Q. What horse was that? ROBBY ALBARADO: Dreams Galore. So our success goes way back. So we conquered -- he has conquered a few hills for me, he has. Q. Those of you that haven't already talked about it, talk about your emotions at the finish and did you think you had it? ROBBY ALBARADO: Me being on top of him, I knew I had it. (Laughter). I wish I had this microphone when I crossed the wire and told you guys. It was an overwhelming feeling. JESS JACKSON: As an owner, I rarely get excited, but this last stretch run, I was jumping up and down six inches at a time yelling "go, go, go." And I saw him getting to and then passing Street Sense. It was a great race. It is a classic. It was almost a match race at the end, if you know what I mean. We had one champion with another potential champion challenging him. It couldn't be better. And to miss by that much, Street Sense deserves a lot of credit as well. SHIRLEY CUNNINGHAM: I want to say, I have been thinking all day and wondering if my great grandfather was looking down at this horse and pull him across the line, I think that's what must have happened because we named him after my great grandfather. This is my mother's maiden name, Curlin, so I think he must have reached down and grabbed his nose at the last second. Q. Robby, can you give a sense from your perspective, in the short time that you have been able to develop this horse, did -- can you describe how he developed into the horse he is today? ROBBY ALBARADO: Well, when I first rode in the Rebel, we were all optimistic, he was a great horse. He looked good in one of the main races. Had he a lot thrown at him in the two turns. He ran a huge race that day. That one and the Arkansas Derby really turned the corner for me in my confidence in him. That was an amazing race. Looking at it, it was good. It was a great race from everyone's perspective. From me being on him, I thought there was so much more to this guy, there was so much more to him. Going back to Steve's team over there, they do an exceptional job with him. I don't get on him in the morning. I don't even want to mess nothing up there. Carlos gets on him and does a great job and manages him well. They are part of the reason he is where he is at today in his mental state today. It is so much going. The last five or six weeks for him to even accept that and run this well, it shows he is going to be -- going to be a champion. STEVEN ASMUSSEN: If I may say, as Robby touched on, Scott Blasie and Carmen Rosas goes by the name of Carlos, have worked with him every day since and have done a magnificent job with him and continue to do so and they deserve as much credit as anybody. It wouldn't happen without a horse as good as Curlin. The hands-on job that Scott Blasie and Carmen Rosas have done with this, the outcome speaks to that. Q. You have operations in various parts of the country. Where exactly does Curlin go when leaves Baltimore? STEVEN ASMUSSEN: He will fly back to Churchill in the morning. Under these circumstances you want the most familiar -- how is he doing under something he is familiar watching him under. Think we want the truest read possible, not let optimism get in our way. I want to observe the horse and make sure it is quite obvious what he deserving from here forward. Q. Do you know what time he is leaving tomorrow? STEVEN ASMUSSEN: He is scheduled to leave at 6:00 in the morning. Q. Congratulations to the whole job involved with Curlin. Terrific race, safe race and continued success going forward. End of FastScripts |
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