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BREEDERS' CUP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

October 25, 2008

ARCADIA, CALIFORNIA

ERIC WING: The first Breeders' Cup race today, the inaugural running of the Breeders' Cup Marathon. And with us are the winning connections of Muhannak, that's left to right, trainer Ralph Beckett, in the middle, jockey Patrick Smullen, and on the far right, Richard Pegum, am I pronouncing that right?
RICHARD PEGUM: Pegum, that's fine.
ERIC WING: The first ever winner of the Breeders' Cup marathon. We'll start with Patrick, if you just take us around the journey. I know Sixties Icon had a little trouble at the top of the lane. You looked like you had a pretty clean trip out there.
PATRICK SMULLEN: Yes, I was pretty anxious before the race, that there was no pace early, and I wanted to just put myself in a position that I could go forward off the back turn. And then it worked out beautifully. I just got a lovely lead throughout the race. And then when I wanted to make my move out of the back turn, I had no traffic problems.
To be fair to the horse, he responded for me all the way down the stretch.
ERIC WING: Ralph, I understand you just had this horse, this is only his third start under your care. He had a lot of success, particularly on the all-weather surfaces, but what was it about him that gave you the confidence to ship him all the way over here for this race?
RALPH BECKETT: After he won his first start for us at Kempton, the guy who bought him for Richard Pegum, Alistair Donald of Lillingston sort of flagged the race up to us. So we thought the best thing to do was take him to Dundalk, and see how he coped, a, with the traveling, and b, with the step up in grade. He, you know -- because he was slightly on the figures, he couldn't really win at Dundalk, so he had to win there to come here.
Despite having a troubled trip around there, he didn't have the best of draws, and Pat had to work pretty hard on him to get him up, because it was a draw back in trip, as well. It was a mile two and a half.
So once he won there and came out of the race very well, if we were accepted here, and the horse was in form, we were always going to come, just because he's a specialist. The reality is that he's a poly track horse, and he is a mile-and-a-half horse. You know, the combination meant that it was slightly irrelevant whether we ran or not, or whether we won or not. The point was, the conditions for him were ideal if he coped with the traveling.
With the money they offer, and so on, we had to come. It's worked out.
ERIC WING: Your horse is a gelding, and the Breeders' Cup is at Santa Anita again next year. Is it fair to say you have the Breeders' Cup Marathon already circled a year from now for Muhannak?
RICHARD PEGUM: It's fair to say our tickets are booked and we're ready to come back. It's very exciting. It's our first time to Santa Anita. We're from Australia. We've raced horses in the Melbourne Cup Spring Carnival, in England, as well. It's our first time to the States.
We're very excited. This has not been an easy horse to train. Ralph and all of his team back home at Whitsbury Manor have done a top job. They've had a lot of quirks that had to be fixed and worked out. They've improved the horses, And Chester horses improve with time.
Great to have Patrick here riding the horse. They did everything right. Everyone was worried there wouldn't be enough pace on the race. He took initiative around the corner, he got clear, and he got the money. So we're very excited.

Q. If the race had been run on dirt, would you have still come?
RALPH BECKETT: I think that's a good question. The fact that he -- probably. But the fact that he, you know -- he was always best with a bit of cover, we felt, well, he has made the running in the past for his previous trainer. The fact that there's no kickback on poly track evens it out and makes it fair for all hold-up horses or speed horses. So, it's a 50-50 question. I don't know.

Q. The Oaks in June, the Breeders' Cup in October, how do they compare? I know this is a huge day for you, your first run in America, how would you compare the two?
RALPH BECKETT: With all due respect and apologies to the Americans, only winning the Derby will be winning the Oaks, you know. But here today is a very, very good second. It caps a wonderful year for us. A year that I never dreamed of, you know, so...

Q. Look here winning the Breeders' Cup Marathon, this has been a very special year for you. Now Kempton, you win there, then you go to Dundalk, the other all-weather surface in Ireland. You must be a master tactician. Did you think that the Dundalk surface would come closest to the ride at Santa Anita? And finally, in September 6, Seb Sanders, who also rode in Yorks, then you went to Dundalk, was it because Sanders was hurt?
RALPH BECKETT: Yeah, Pat's done a fantastic job, but I have to feel for Seb, because, you know, he would have been his ride otherwise: That's the way it goes. And unfortunately for Pat, Seb will get back on him when the time comes. But that's another day. That's another day.

Q. Did you talk about -- was the Breeders' Cup Marathon in your mind when you purchased the horse, or did this race become an idea after you guys purchased the horse?
RALPH BECKETT: We bought the horse through Alistair Donald in Lillingston bloodstock. Alistair imports a lot of horses to the States to run. We definitely had this pinned down. We were just having the horses good enough, so the answer is, yes, I think. In Santa Anita, you offer a fantastic prize money. We've been spoiled here. It's been so well organized. We had a bus here. There's people to lead you down when your horse is winning. It's just so easy to raise horses here. A lot of fun. And it's fair to say the weather is a little bit better than London.

Q. You have Winchester later on the turf. I wonder how you would evaluate your chances aboard him?
PATRICK SMULLEN: Yeah, he's got a big chance. Obviously, Soldier of Fortune is an exceptionally good horse. He's going to be very tough to beat. But Winchester was very impressive with the Secretariat, and he's training well. He likes the firm tracks, so I think he'll run a big race.

Q. Could you talk briefly about the conditions for European horses later in the day?
RALPH BECKETT: It's pretty miserable when he left home. One of the English pressmen said to me on Wednesday morning, he looks Willy, doesn't he? He actually did look a bit colder early in the week. He was just, you know, he was just climatizing. But the last couple of days, he really -- Thursday, you know, we really started to see a change in him. Then when Pat rode him on the track yesterday morning, he looked in rude health. So, you know.

Q. (Indiscernible)?
RALPH BECKETT: He left last Sunday. So the heat wasn't really an issue. We were training early enough in the morning. He's running 10:00 o'clock in the morning, the heat's not going to effect him this time of the day, is it?

Q. What is your schedule now? Are you going to celebrate tonight, go back tomorrow? Celebrate several days?
PATRICK SMULLEN: I have to get back home straightaway to train with the jockey's championship, so I leave tonight.
RALPH BECKETT: We'll certainly be doing a bit of celebrating tonight knowing the horse's owner, he wouldn't let me off the hook on that front.
Regarding me, I've got 20 horses to sell in Newmarket Wednesday and Thursday, so I'll be back home as well.

Q. Will you please give us an update, you were in a fight to the finish with Fran Berry and John Murtaugh for the Irish riding title. Where do you stand now and how many days left in the Irish racing season?
PATRICK SMULLEN: We've got ten racing days left, and on three winners in front. So it is a nail-biting stuff. But I couldn't give up the opportunity to ride a Breeders' Cup winner.

Q. But are you the favorite?
PATRICK SMULLEN: I'm the favorite, yeah (laughing).
ERIC WING: Ralph Beckett, Patrick Smullen, and Richard Pegum, congratulations, Richard, you'd like to say something?
RICHARD PEGUM: I just wanted to say one thing. Great friends of ours who are now related to Ralph, the Lillingston Family at Mount Coote that bred the horse, they bred the cup winner last week, and they bred this horse, so they're on a roll. Thanks very much to them.
RALPH BECKETT: I'd just like to say, you know, Richard, you know, is a huge supporter of mine, but the staff at home isn't to be underestimated what kind of a job they've done on this horse. Because he really, really has not been at all easy.
You know, my two headmen Adam Kite and David Crofts have done a fantastic job throughout the year.

End of FastScripts

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