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BREEDERS' CUP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPSOctober 25, 2008Bob BaffertARCADIA, CALIFORNIA ERIC WING: We're now joined by trainer Bob Baffert, conditioner of Midshipman, who just won the 2008 Breeders' Cup Juvenile. Bob, congratulations. I know you were quoted earlier in the week saying you expected Midshipman to be put into the race, put a little bit more into the race today. Did you think he had too much to do in the Norfolk? BOB BAFFERT: No, Tyler, he rode him well. When he -- he taught him something that day. He taught him how to relax, he wanted to go, and he taught him how to relax. So Tyler did a good job that day. The only reason I made the jockey switch was because I was going to put Garret on him in the beginning, but his horse was a little bit green, and he was, you know, scared of things and always dropping riders in the morning, and just ducking and diving. So I wanted to put somebody that -- you know, sometimes you have a horse like that, you know, put somebody younger on there that, you know, they're aware of it, and they ran two great races, so... But Garret, always thinking Garret when I was putting him in the big dance. Q. Sixth Breeders' Cup winner for you. Possibly your 10th Eclipse Award Champion, depending on how the voting goes. Do you think he deserves it today over a horse like say Vineyard Haven? BOB BAFFERT: Yes, he did go in two turns, beat the best, that's what it's about. I could have easily, Indian Blessing, kept her out. You know, she didn't like synthetic. But it's a Breeders' Cup, and you have to run in it. They have to make, you know, even though it's a championship, all the good horses should show up, and that's what it's all about. Q. Talk of new ownership situation with Darley Stable. Can you just clarify for us. I know he was purchased by Darley somewhere around the Norfolk. Can you just pinpoint it when the horse came? BOB BAFFERT: You know what, those details are -- there was a lot of paperwork going on. And today was the first day with his colors. They had to jump through a lot of loops, I really can't comment, because I don't know the details. Q. Is it safe to say you're not sure of the details of the horse's next move geographically? BOB BAFFERT: I have no idea. I have no idea. I'm just enjoying the moment. You know, after Midnight Lute and him, my wife and I went to Beverly Hills and bought ourselves a nice outfit for today. We said lucky that he just paid for it. Q. Did you expect him on the lead, and when you saw the other horse, did you think we can go wide in to go wire to wire on that track? BOB BAFFERT: This track is a little different than yesterday. The speed was difficult to hold. It was a little different today, I've been watching it. But he's a fast horse. All I said to Garret is, He breaks well every time. You worked him the other day. You know how he is. If he leaves, just get over, you know. Get your good spot and get him in a nice comfortable cruising spot. He's a high cruising kind of horse. And he's getting smarter. This horse is getting smarter with every race he's learning. And at the half mile pole, I just loved the way he looked. All you can ask for is when they turn for home, you find out what they're really made of. You know, sometimes they turn for home. They don't kick on, that means they can't go long. But when he kicked on for home, he showed he's the real deal. That was probably the most exciting part. Because it's hard to come along with a horse like this. I mean, he's the kind of horse that's taken the Kentucky Derby, and he's just getting better and better. And he's going to get much better as he gets older. Q. Assuming that he stays in your barn, what would be your plan for over the winter? BOB BAFFERT: I'm not even going to think about that right now. Because I'm working for an organization that I don't want -- they do a lot of the planning, and they like to discuss things before anybody knows. So I'm going to -- you know, totally different situation here. I'm in zip mode. Zip it. Q. Any reason he wouldn't handle dirt as effectively as he's handled the synthetic? BOB BAFFERT: Well, I mean, that's a big question, you know. But the way he travels, you know, that's a question you never know. But if I ran him in the Kentucky Derby, then I would run him on dirt before synthetic. I would run him on a dirt track. I would ship him. I like shipping my horses anyway, because they need to ship to see how they're going to handle it. Q. Particularly one named Ship? BOB BAFFERT: Yeah, I'm going to ship Midshipman. Q. You -- BOB BAFFERT: By the way, Bode was not in the picture, because he was a late scratch last night. He's got the flu. So he loves Midshipman. Last week he went -- I picked him up from school, and went to lunch, and he said, Are we going to go to school, see Midshippaman. He would go with me everyday. That's the only sad part about it. But the thing is, it's just great not only to win for Darley, I get to win a big race for them. It's exciting to have a horse like this. But also, Janice and Robert McNair, and John Adger, and the whole team at Sunnyside, they raised this horse and did a great job. And John Adger sent him to me, he picks them out, and deals them out to all the trainers. I'm just fortunate to John Adger that I got this horse. I got the diamond. Q. You said the other day that he was a timid kind of horse. What specifically did you do with him to kind of get him to mature a little bit? BOB BAFFERT: He was timid, but he's immature. He's like a teenager. He learns quickly. We've just been doing a lot of work with him. A lot of schooling, a lot of -- his galloper in the morning, Manny, we take our time. We go out there and put him in positions on the track. Get horses grouped near him. So he's had a lot of schooling. Q. How does this horse compare to your past juvenile winners like Vindication, and does he have a nickname around the barn? BOB BAFFERT: Midshippaman, that's what Bode calls him. It's exciting. You can't compare. They're all different types. Like Vindication, when he won, he was strictly one dimensional, fast horse that would just keep on. He'd carry the speed. But what I love about this horse today, and that's what I loved about him at Del Mar, when he won the Del Mar Fraternity, I could tell, like at Del Mar when they ran 7/8, and they come back blowing, they're hog tired. He wasn't blowing. When they won that, I knew, Hey, we're not going to the derby with this one. You know, today he came back and he was not exhausted. He wasn't blowing, so he's got a good set of lungs. He must have a great cardiovascular. You know, that's what the good horses have. They're born with it. It's something that you don't see it until you put them on the racetrack. I was worried about that Square Eddie, when Square Eddie was up there with him, because I think he's a good horse. When he put him away. And Street Hero is a good horse, he was laying there. And during the race, I have to tell my wife exactly what's happening in the race. And I kept telling her, We're looking good, honey, we're looking good. And all of a sudden turning for home, we're looking around to see if anybody's coming. It's such an exciting, thrilling moment. You don't get these chances very often. When you feel them, you know, it's like I've had to wait a long time, but it really gets your blood pumping. Q. Were you surprised by Square Eddie's presence as late in the race as that was happening? BOB BAFFERT: I was surprised he was up close with us. But I'm glad he was there. He slowed it down. He didn't get crazy. You hate it when there is a 9-1 shot out there just going for gold. You know what I mean? It was very well run. The fractions, I didn't see that half. I saw the first fraction, and I thought they were decent. But he's just a really good -- just the way he moves, you can see the way he's covering the ground, effortlessly. The first time I saw him, I knew -- my wife was so mad at me because we should have bet on him that day, because he paid $25. I said he'll never pay $25 again. But somebody knew something about him, because they were betting on him today. He was a hot horse, so... Q. You said that you knew you wanted Garret for this race. Could you elaborate on what he brings and why you would want him for this race? BOB BAFFERT: I really thought he would fit this kind of horse. He's got a lot of experience in these big races. I wanted somebody with experience. When you run for the big money, I want experience on my side. Young riders, they can get rattled. I didn't want to leave a stone unturned. It's a one-shot deal. I didn't want to walk away, I should have done this, I should have done that. Yesterday, with Johnny Velasquez, you know, I saw him today. I didn't talk to him today. He said, You didn't come down to say anything after the race, like I gave him a bad ride or anything. No. If I get outrun, I only go down there to scream at a jockey, you know. You know, the Breeders' Cup, the cream always rises to the top. Q. How satisfying to win on synthetic? You've had to make the adjustment out here? BOB BAFFERT: Well, I've learned to cope with it. I've learned to cope with it. But I'm still conventional dirt, so this is a really outstanding individual, this horse. Q. You said this horse was to go in the Derby, you said you would run him on a dirt track before the derby? BOB BAFFERT: Yeah, you know, try him on the dirt whatever, you know. It depends. That's so far off, so I'm not really thinking about anything right now. Right now, I want to savor the moment. I want to thank Sheikh Mohammed for letting me be part of the team. They could have easily taken him away from me and put him in the blue colors. But I'm willing to train for the blue colors, too, but it's like Sheikh Mohammed, we go way back. We see him at the sales, and he was always asking me, What's it take to win the Derby? How many horses? I have what it takes to win the Derby. Q. Do you have any idea when they'll make a decision to either keep him here with you or go somewhere else? BOB BAFFERT: I don't know about that. They didn't discuss anything like that. I guess when I go to the barn one day and that stall's empty, that's when I'll know. Hopefully not. ERIC WING: Congratulations on the big win, and good luck the rest of the day. End of FastScripts |
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