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BREEDERS' CUP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPSOctober 25, 2008Lanfranco DettoriJohn GosdenARCADIA, CALIFORNIA ERIC WING: We're joined by the connections of Donativum up, on the left, trainer John Gosden, who just recorded his second Breeders' Cup victory as a trainer. The first coming 24 years ago in the first edition at Hollywood Park with Royal Heroin. The Breeders' Cup wins have come a little more frequently for Frankie Dettori, who guided Donativum today. Frankie, guide us through the trip. You had an explosive run from your horse down the stretch. LANFRANCO DETTORI: Yeah, actually I was good through four, but most of the speed was from the outside. I was able to get in a decent enough position. You know, talking to John, he told me he had a pretty good turn afoot. I was concerned, actually just before the straight to find a way out. I could see John had the same probably in front of me. So I took no chances and I got him out whenever I could. It took, I would say, a hundred yards to find top gear. And once I got by Johnny's horse, I knew he was in full flight, and I knew that the job was done. ERIC WING: That was Breeders' Cup win Number 7 for Frankie. John, I know a crucial decision was made regarding Donativum not too long ago, the decision to geld him. What was he like before that process? JOHN GOSDEN: As I mentioned up in the Baldwin suite, he was a little bit of a menace to the other horses. We go out in quite big sets, and he would spend a lot of time on his hind legs walking around seeing where the fillies were. And I ran him three times and he spent most of his time snaking up the track, going left, and going right. Before I ran him at Royal Ascot, and he ran the Queen's horse over, he was really a complete hooligan. Sometimes with racing, you want him to settle down, but I must say you wouldn't want to meet him in a nightclub late at night. He would have been in dangerous company. So after running well in Royal Ascot, I decided we better geld him. He was not going to make a stallion, that's for sure. Q. Darley Stable, which John Ferguson, who represents Darley, and also Princess Haya of Jordan, who is Sheikh Mohammed's wife. Mr. Ferguson will be with us after the sprint, they have a horse in the sprint. So we can hear from John later. But speaking to John Gosden, any thoughts on what 2009 might hold for Donativum? JOHN GOSDEN: He's top draw. In a sense, the second horse Aidan trains is a very nice horse. He's a Grade 2 winner of the Champagne. So he's a pretty smart horse. The horse we beat in the big million dollars race in Newmarket the other day came out of one of the Grade 1, and won by three lengths today. That would probably be Derby favorite in England now, that horse. So you're talking top draw form. But you can't come, like I said the other day, Jack Van Berg once said it when he had Alysheba, you can't go hunting with a popgun when you come to these kind of races, you know. So he's a proper horse, and he's done well. I would like to say one thing, that I'm incredibly impressed with the job that the Breeders' Cup have done in developing this program into two fantastic days of racing we're in now. I thought the distaff yesterday and the fillies juvenile were exceptional. And the filly and the distaff was wonderful to behold. I think the whole program is developed, you can bring any horse here, any distance, colts, fillies, old or younger, they've opened it up and made a huge effort. And I think they do deserve enormous credit for that. It had slightly become static. It was in danger of becoming a little stale, and they really rejuvenated it. ERIC WING: The horse that John was referring to that won earlier today that Donativum beat last time out is Crowded House. Q. The point about Crowded House, you beat him at Newmarket. He ran away with the racing course exactly 7:35 a.m. California time. Before going into the race, even before you won, was your confidence level quite high? JOHN GOSDEN: Well, you knew you belonged in the race, really belonged in it. No matter what they threw at you, you knew you were going to be top draw 2-year-old. The only thing is first time out on the turf, how will they break? Will they get shuffled back too far? They're not used to leaving the gate at the speed American horses leave it. Secondly, how will they handle the bends? Will they switch their leads in the .2 mile, 2/10 mile, you need luck or you need to be Goldikova, and you can wait, and wait, and it doesn't matter how the gap comes because you're that good. So in that extent, you must have luck, and, therefore, it's a race that you can never take for granted. Q. Your 7th winner, and earlier in the week you spoke about how you used to ride here when you were much younger. So where does this fit in the other six? LANFRANCO DETTORI: Yeah, I love Santa Anita. This is where I started as a young boy. Coming back here to some really great friends has been overwhelming. And I knew I had a great book of rides. But when Diabolical got called to the line, it was very hard to swallow. So I'm double excited because of that. You know, winning a race here, it means so much to me and my friends. Q. John, Frankie was talking about wining this race at Santa Anita. You trained so long in Southern California, tell us the emotions of coming back here and what it feels? JOHN GOSDEN: The emotions are like Frankie, because the jocks' room here, right to say, was the greatest ever assembled. We only missed Eddie Acaro, occasionally, and he dropped by occasionally. But the jock room with Delahoussaye, Pincay, McCarren. It was just the most fantastic atmosphere, and Shoe, used to. They couldn't wait to get in there and play cards in the morning and play games. And that all seeped through, and the camaraderie, and the closeness is something that I've never, ever experienced again. And it is something I will miss all my life because it was so much fun. But to come back here and bump into the feed straightaway and laugh and joke, and have a crack, that's what it's all about. Sometimes in life without being sentimental, that means more to you possibly more than winning a race. ERIC WING: Thank you, Frankie, for stopping in to join us. Q. Considering that the last two Kentucky Derby winners started their careers on grass, might that be a possibility of Donativum? JOHN GOSDEN: He's probably a sprinter. He's got the mile well here. He can definitely go further. He's a horse that's likely to possibly switch, but with a gelding like this, let's be honest, you go for the money, and you go for the nice races and you take chances. It's no problem. So I would never be frightened at looking at anything, no. I never would. The Kentucky Derby, you do have to get the mile and a quarter, you know. Q. You've been involved in the Breeders' Cup since the beginning, how is the European contingent of horses evolved over those 25 renewals? JOHN GOSDEN: Well, I think we're a lot more savvy than we used to be. Though I do remember stabling Lashkari, when he came over and he won the turf with a brilliant incomparable Yves Saint Martin. And I remember Last Tycoon winning here, again with Saint Martin, who could give anyone a race right. I think when we've gotten a little smarter, we tend not to drain them too hard through the season, into the fall. We try to freshen. The French are already better at that, because they have a meet at Deauville, and that's like Saratoga. Oftentimes they'd miss it with good horses and they would come fresher. Which we have such important racing through June, July, August, September. It's very tempting to go for those Grade 1s, but you want to try to come here with a fresh horse, if you can. And not easy, if you can. That's probably number one. Number two, the whole game is opened up for us now because of the synthetic surfaces. I would normally run in the mile, but we were just tempted to try for the big one, you know, because it's a level playing field to us. It's neither dirt; it's neither turf. It seems to change. Yesterday you could come from way off; today the speed is holding, I don't know. But at least it's something we can race on. I think it's made it more fascinating for the whole breed of the thoroughbred. Because in a sense, you're bringing them together with the introduction of synthetic surfs. I'm not saying they're going to be all over America. But there are certainly quite a bit about already. Q. What about the heat? JOHN GOSDEN: The heat here is an issue. But it is semi desert Californian heat. It's arid heat, dry heat. I like Florida, but that is brutal on European horses with the humidity. And we don't have that here. Sure, we'd prefer to race at 6:00 o'clock tonight, but there is something called East Coast time and college football games, you know. Q. What about a gelding, will that be trickier to place in a European program? JOHN GOSDEN: Yes, it will. That's a good point. Geldings are welcomed here. John Henry was welcome at any track he went. That is true. That slightly restricts opportunities for him. He could well be a horse to transfer to the states. He could well be a horse to do that with. It is something I'll discuss with the owner, and it is something I may well recommend. I think it might be a smart move, and thanks for pointing it out to me. Q. As a follow-up to Kentucky Derby possibility. What might be the best way to approach him in a situation where he might impact player in a challenge like the American Triple Crown? JOHN GOSDEN: Well, I think for any horse like that, you'll be better trained here, you know. I don't think you can just wing in and land at Churchill on the day. I know that race long enough. I flew with Charlie the first time. And I made the running for him. He went 9 and change, and sat in last on Ferdinand. But it's a race that it's a tough race. I think a horse, if you were ever planning such a thing, and I wouldn't know whether anyone would plan it, but it's something where you'd want to be in America for at least two months beforehand. I don't think you can wing in and run. Q. Martin Dwyer won for you at Newmarket. Why replace him with Dettori, and how is Rainbow View going? JOHN GOSDEN: Well, Martin got it as a chance ride. It was a big race. And my jockey was unable to do the weight, and one couldn't do the weight. But, you know, Frankie Dettori is a highly experienced jockey in the Breeders' Cup. I think to throw a jockey into the caldron of this racing, speed racing from the gate, tight turns, who has never had previous experience, is probably not the fairest thing on the horse, nor the jockey. Subsequently, Frankie was available. He is, as you know, retained by Sheikh Mohammed. This is ostensibly Sheikh Mohammed's horse, it's in his wife's name. And Rainbow View is in great form. I would have brought her for the juvenile, but five days after Ascot, she just turned into a little woody bear. And I thought if I bring the top 2-year-old filly here and clip her and she's sweaty, they'll say that John is a greedy so-and-so. So we left her at home, and she's very happy at home. ERIC WING: John, already a great day for you. Could become even greater. Congratulations on Donativum's performance, and good luck later on. 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