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BREEDERS' CUP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

October 24, 2008

Garrett Gomez

ARCADIA, CALIFORNIA

THE MODERATOR: We'll have the winning connections with Stardom Bound with us momentarily, but we have to seize the opportunity during one of the rare moments that it exists when Garret Gomez does not have a Breeders' Cup race mount. The next race is his only break, so he was kind enough to join us here now to talk about his win aboard Ventura in the day's first Breeders' Cup event, the filly and mare sprint.
Garret, she really left no doubt about her performance beneath you?
GARRETT GOMEZ: We've always known she's a talented filly. I've liked her since day one. I was able to ride her coming down the hill, and I've always been high on her. And I thought by the end of the year, at least by the end of the year, she'd get a great one under her belt. I've always been confident in her. Just a matter if she would take to the surface and like it.
She's been working good, but in the afternoon it seems to be just a little bit different than it is in the morning. So, you know, it's always her question. And when you have pace and a horse that quickens, usually here lately, every time I want a horse that's got a nice turn afoot. When you go to use the turn afoot, the ground kind of gets away from them, and they just don't seem to show that turn afoot that they actually have.
You know, with her, I just was real patient with her today. She found herself in a good spot and tracked well. About the 3H pole, she switched leads. I sat for a second to make sure she was still kind of hooked up for me. Then in the middle of the turn, I kind of edged her out a little bit. And from there she, you know, you guys saw the rest.

Q. Indian Blessing, who is sitting in second, seemed to have a lot of horse herself around the turn. Were you able to keep her in your sights? Did you think she was the horse to beat going in or were you too far away from her to do that?
GARRETT GOMEZ: Well, there's nothing I could do either way about what was going on in front of me. I can move to them a little bit earlier, but it felt like the pace was fairly good. My main concern was just having my filly have a good rhythm and be striding well somewhere along the way early on in racing.
When I hit that nice stride that she has, my next concern was when it came time to run. She had the traction and it would track up for me and start to finish the way I know she can. You know, when I first started to turn for home, my main concern was because I had so much horse, the time before last when she run in the Cash Call Mile, you know, she pulled up on me. When I was getting to Baffert's filly so easy, that was my main concern, is that she just wouldn't pull up on me. That was the only reason I kind of got after her. Getting to her and a little ways by her, because she did pull that prank on me before. It was very costly to us.
But when I turned for home, I felt I had way enough horse to do what I needed to do.

Q. Did you mean the Woodbine Mile?
GARRETT GOMEZ: No, I meant the Cash Call Mile. Actually, it was the American Oaks, maybe. It was the Cash Call Mile, yeah.
She went by a horse really easy, and she was doing it well within herself. It felt like I was about three or four just pulling away. And I opened by half a length, she stuck her toes in the ground and maybe come up. I don't know if the ground was a little firm for her that day or something was niching at her. I don't know. But she's never did it again on me. I've just been very aware of the situation.

Q. Trevor said you had, in his call, a little problem leaving the gate. Was there such a problem? What was it?
GARRETT GOMEZ: She was just a little antsy in the gate. And right before they had kicked it, she had kind of hopped up a little bit. Just as I kicked it, she gave it a little crow hop. But she never seems to get away real well from the gate anyway.
My main concern, like I said, is just trying to find her spot early on where she's in a good rhythm and relaxing. No matter if she's two lengths off the lead or ten, it's just getting her into a good, nice, smooth stride, and having her breathe really well, and I was able to do that.

Q. Totally different conditions, but the powerful nature of her win today sprinting, remind you a little of Midnight Loot last year, the way they went about their business?
GARRETT GOMEZ: Yeah, because, I mean, she just inhaled them. Actually, I was at the 3/8th pole, just sitting there, biding my time. I got there, I was looking to see she was traveling as well as she felt. I went around the horse and started to edge out a little bit, and all of a sudden, I was, like, four lengths off the lead within a blink of an eye.
When I went ahead and moved her out, like I said, I knew I had her. That's when I felt it was Midnight Loot last year. Except I couldn't hardly see.

Q. What went into getting off Indian Blessing to ride Ventura? And did you think Ventura might have a shot in the mile tomorrow as well?
GARRETT GOMEZ: Well, you never want to give up a great one winner. But it was just one of those situations. As a matter of fact, I think it might have been the same day that I had to go ride Ventura up in Canada or something. I had to go up to Champs Elysees or something up in Canada.
You know, with the kind of business that Ron has gotten for us, and what we've gotten for ourselves, and the people have been so gracious to give to us, we run into problems every now and then. We can't be two places at once. Every now and then we run across a problem and we have to make a decision, whether or not that, you know, it comes back around to bite us in the tail or not. You know, we have to deal with what kind of decisions we make. When we make those decisions, hopefully we make the right ones at the time.
Like I said, you never want to give up a great one winner, but it was one of those times of the year where we had to make one of those decisions, and I was just glad to beat her today, though.
And as far as the second part of your question, yeah, I think she would have been very live in the mile. You guys saw her race in the Woodbine Mile against the males. So, running against the males wasn't, you know, a big or deal, I don't think. As a matter of fact, I think in the Woodbine Mile, I think she was almost carrying equal weights in the Woodbine Mile as all the males.
So I don't know what kind of conditions it was. It might have been a grade one sweepstakes or something. Why she was carrying so much weight, I don't know. But believe it or not, she was actually carrying, I believe, the same weight as Coupe Deville did in the Woodbine Mile.

Q. What did she show you in the Ventura's first race down the hill?
GARRETT GOMEZ: Just how agile she was. And I kid around with Bobby and stuff, and Juddmonte about how much I really love her. She's just the kind of filly that she's a very petite. I tell them she looks like a deer. She's just put together very light, but she's very strong. That's like a deer. They can jump ten-foot fences and stuff, and that's the way she is. She's very powerful, but yet very light on her foot.
The thing I really like about her is she's got a really nice good turn afoot no matter where I put her in the race. Going long, I can have her with the speed going back. She's very apt to do so. Just like this race, you guys seen in our sprint races, she could actually lay-up closer if I wanted her to. But it's just a matter of trying to get her to do what I want and have her shut off and travel well throughout the race and use that turn afoot she actually has.

Q. You have 13 horses, can you talk about the fatigue factor and the heat and all that?
GARRETT GOMEZ: We actually kind of took yesterday off, so we were fresh coming in to today. Tried to just come in with a really clear line and be ready to go. So far so good.
But the heat, I mean, a couple weeks ago, it was like 102 here and I rode quite a few horses. Out on the racetrack, it gets very hot. But I think the next couple of days, it's supposed to be in the high '80s, maybe low 90's. Not a big deal.
I think Belmont Day was one of the hottest days I've ever ridden in this year; it was hot, and I rode 11 that day.
When you have these big days, for some reason, you find energy. It comes from somewhere. Just the excitement, the people in the grandstands. It's very nice to have the crowd out here cheering you on and seeing all the good horses. It helps with the adrenaline.
THE MODERATOR: Garret, thank you for making a detour on the way back to the jockey's room to come talk with us. And good luck on your remaining, whatever it is, 11 or 12 more mounts today and tomorrow.
GARRETT GOMEZ: Thank you.

End of FastScripts

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