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141ST BELMONT STAKESJune 6, 2009Kent DesormeauxTim IceVilasini JayaramanELMONT, NEW YORK KENT DESORMEAUX: (Singing) Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you. All right, Timmy. Oh, that's some good water. THE MODERATOR: Okay. We'll be getting started in just a moment or two. We have the happy connections of Summer Bird. Left to right. We've got one in the back. Left to right we have the trainer, Tim Ice, who celebrated his 35th birthday in style with a Belmont Stakes victory. Now, seated next to Tim, winning rider, Kent Desormeaux. His first Belmont Stakes victory of an illustrious career. Of course the owners. Kalarikkal Jayaraman and his wife, Debbie. Congratulations to all four of you. First I'd like to start, Tim, your first year of training, you and the horse have come a long way in an awfully short period of time. Are you overcome by emotion after such a win as this, right? TIM ICE: Right now it's just unexplainable. I have to thank the Jayaramans both for sticking with me. At first it was a little rough, you know. We had a nice colt coming on the way here. Picked up. They sent him to me in January. I owe everything to them. THE MODERATOR: Kent, congratulations on your first Belmont Stakes win, something I'm sure a lot of people feel is long overdue. Were you surprised aboard Summer Bird to see Mine That Bird moving in front of you. KENT DESORMEAUX: I got to be honest with you. I didn't pick up Mine That Bird till the 5/16 pole. I was riding my horse, paying attention to details, making sure he was comfortable. Getting the others way around the track. I don't think there was a bias not saying that. Just saying with it being fair and equal throughout. I thought an inside trip might help me. When I did pick him up, I was a little bit disappointed. I was like, how am I going to catch him? He's already in front of me. I was under the assumption when I was allowed to present Summer Bird that, oh, my God, he is in front of me. But when I did get that opportunity, this colt just laid down and took off. He really exploded the last, probably 500 yards, and there was never any doubt turning for home after he changed his leads. The only way I was going to get beat if there was somebody behind me coming, he had dead aim on the leaders. THE MODERATOR: KK and Debbie, you ran Summer Bird in a $1 million race, the Arkansas Derby, off just a single maiden victory. Clearly you all knew your horse had some special talent. What gave you the confidence to make that this pretty significant step up in class so boldly? VILASINI JAYARAMAN: Summer Bird was well all along as two-year-old, took a long time to get to the races, not that he had any problems. He didn't have explosive speed of a sprinter. We kept him in the farm, trained him in the farm on the track. We thought he was a good horse. All the rest of the work was done by Tim Ice and I thank him. Thank you Tim, for Kent, for his beautiful ride. THE MODERATOR: Tim, in addition to all that hard work up front, you made a slight adjustment going into the race adding blinkers certainly seemed to pay off. TIM ICE: I think adding the blinkers let him focus. I think Kent Desormeaux helped a lot. With the blinkers and Kent, had they put it together and won the third leg of the Triple Crown. THE MODERATOR: Do you know what might be next for the Summer Bird? TIM ICE: I'm not sure. We'll discuss it, the owners and I. We thought about trying him on the grass, but after this, we may, you know, we have some options. We'll sit down and discuss it. THE MODERATOR: I want to throw open questions both upstairs in the Press Box and down here in the room, and I'll repeat the question for the benefit of those who are listening upstairs. Pat. Q. For Kent, if you could just discuss the difference in emotions from last year's Belmont to this year. KENT DESORMEAUX: Last year's Belmont was like swallowing a spoon sideways, what a pill to swallow. I go from a horse, in my heart, thought could not lose. He had some adversity and lack there of training. I still didn't think he could lose. Things happened the way they did, he didn't respond. I babysat him and now here today. Tim babysat me. I was mounted. I'm very fortunate to have the opportunity to ride for Tim and Dr. Jayaraman and thankful for Belmont for putting on a great show. Mother Nature treated us well and NetJets. Q. Not only did you have the Big Brown last year, you had probably the toughest beat in horse racing history, aboard Real Quiet. You were over six in the Belmont, had two disappointing races, were you starting to think there was some Kent Desormeaux? KENT DESORMEAUX: No, not at all. Especially after the first Belmont, I slept very well with Real Quiet. I thought that, given the opportunity, I'd do it the same way all over again. Hindsight is 20-20. Cornering for home, Real Quiet, I did not think I could lose. I don't know what he saw. I don't know why he gawked. For anyone thinks he got tired he was not, he gawked on the lead, and the only stride victory gallop was the head bob on the wire, because that's when Real Quiet saw, and three strides later, I was a length in front. So it just wasn't meant to be. With that being said, I did also try to, you know, maintain my confidence, know that when God had it in my plan, it would happen. Q. Dr. J and Mrs. Dr. J., you've bred a lot of good horses; could you describe anything outstanding about this horse as a foal and also as he progressed to his early training, did anything stand out to you from the get-go? VILASINI JAYARAMAN: I believe about 25 two years old last year, he was a standout in the room. He was strong. He never had any physical problems, but he didn't have that an explosive sprint. He was a standout. Q. Who trains at the farm? Who trains for you at the farm? VILASINI JAYARAMAN: I do that. Q. This is a question for Tim. When I spoke to you the other day, we kind of talked about what this would mean to your young career to have a win in the Belmont Stakes. Now that you've done it, can you tell me what you think? TIM ICE: I don't know yet. I'm still taking it in and enjoying this right now. If my career goes nowhere from here, I've got a Belmont win. They can't take it away from me. Q. You also mentioned to me that you hoped you could sort of branch out of Louisiana Downs and you thought maybe within the next year or so you would look at some other locations. Do you think this will be sped up and what are those locations you're looking for? TIM ICE: Right now I'm settled at Louisiana Downs. Next summer we'll probably look at other places, maybe come up here on the east coast. Just, you know, right now we're going to enjoy this win and figure out everything later. Q. Last question, do you think you'll bring the horse back to the Louisiana Downs? TIM ICE: He'll go back to Louisiana Downs. Q. When will that be? TIM ICE: He's going to Churchill on Monday and Churchill to Louisiana Downs. Q. Tim, can you describe the process, how Kent ended up on the horse, and Kent, can you talk about with his connection to your brother, did you know him pretty well? TIM ICE: Well, we called Kent after the Kentucky Derby and he was already obligated in the Preakness. So we waited. I talked to Joe Talimo (ph) about riding him. We got up here. We talked to a few people. You know, they said, we needed a rider that knows the track. And nothing against Joe, you know, we found us a rider that knows Belmont and, you know, we got the job done. Q. Kent, your part of the question, did you know Tim very well because of his relationship with your brother? KENT DESORMEAUX: The answer is yes. I think I'm just thankful that we did have that connection. It's probably part of the opportunity. But I think personally, I think Tim, the phone will ring. He won the Belmont. His phone will ring and I want to congratulate him on doing the right thing. He had this horse here early. It is very, very different lay of the land here at Belmont. We don't call it the Big Sandy for nothing. The track is different. The sand is different and the horses probably get a little stoved up training here the first couple of days already. They're not fast like Churchill or Pimlico. And I think he needs a pat on the back for getting the job done. He did it right and that's why he's taking his picture and that's why his phone is going to ring. Q. Tim, when we talked to you Wednesday after the horse was on the track, you liked the way he moved and looked really good. You said if he keeps his energy up, we're going to be hard to beat. How was it from those days on? Was it an anxious waiting for this day? TIM ICE: We took it day-to-day. The horse was going great all week. Anybody that come up and ask me about him, I said this horse is going the run big. He's a good-feeling horse. He was fresh, you know. He had five weeks in between the Derby and the Belmont and that helped the colt a lot. He's still maturing, and, you know, he proved it today. We did the right thing by skipping the Preakness and waiting on the Belmont and bringing him here early. THE MODERATOR: Dr. Jayaraman, a question from upstairs in the Press Box. You've had a lot of trainers throughout your owning career here in Tim Ice. You have a man who's been training on his own for just a year. Can you discuss using Tim? VILASINI JAYARAMAN: I cannot say anything about the trainers I had in the past. Tim has been exceptionally good. Q. Kent, you had a pretty big day today. You had three wins earlier on in the afternoon in a row. Did that give you any extra confidence going into the Belmont Stakes. KENT DESOREAUX: Yeah, I was flying high as a kite until I rode Wesley and the bottom fell out. I was really hopeful that I thought I had a big chance in that race and I really would like to have a do-over there. It was unfortunate I had to go into the race after Wesley. It's what we do as jockeys, onto the next one, erase the board, move on. I tell you what gave me confidence, I watched this horse gallop a two-minute lick last week. He was going better the second time around than the first time. That's where I had had my confidence. It was enjoyable to watch. I thought he was doing very well. Not only that he definitely touted himself all the way to the game, he was toey the whole way, just means he was dancing, never stopped dancing. Q. Kent, you probably just answered the question I'm going to ask you, but how well did you know this horse before you rode him, and can you compare it to other Belmont's you've ridden, how confident were you, really, in his ability to win the race? KENT DESORMEAUX: Well, I'd like to tell you a story, but the reality is, I breezed him, boy I had to scrub on him just to make him do things he did work well, but he was a horse that needed a lot of encouragement. I got him to do what Tim and I wanted to do out out of the morning breeze. Like usual. Morning hours, there's nothing like afternoon horses. This horse drug me around the racetrack. I tried to use the track tactics that offered me wins in the past. Instead of staying three or four lengths behind a horse where his nose gets filled with sand, I tried to stick it up behind somebody so he could get his full breath, instead of the sand pelting him in the nose, it was going under his belly. Those little things I tried to accomplish at the Big Sandy here at Belmont. The reality, I mounted. Tim had the horse breathing fire. I was able to steer him around the racetrack. Everything worked out. I'm thrilled to be here talking to you about my first Belmont. Q. After last year's Belmont, did you ask yourself is there anything you could have done differently, or did you simply not have the same horse? KENT DESORMEAUX: I kind of think I dwelled on that a little bit, just the fact that I think I say I hope that through this horsemen will understand and have the confidence, as usual, that if I'm given the opportunity, I try not to bail. And usually if it's not an ending result of success, I hope that the end result, once it's dwelled upon, the blame finds itself elsewhere. I can put my finger on Big Brown. And I know exactly what happened in the other instance. So I sleep well at night. This certainly, for me, after having the luxury of being inducted into the Hall of Fame, and to have to go away from this game and not have a Belmont, I think that would have been a little scratch in my cloth, and I think having holstered it now. I can't tell you how much I'm going inside, how well it feels to have that contentment and to be able to go home and rest at ease knowing I've won the three American classics. Q. Kent, you've ridden horses going for the Triple Crown the Belmont, now you're on one that had the five weeks rest, being on both types of horses, how different was the feel on the fresh horse and what does that say about the attempt of these guys trying to win the Triple Crown and with the new move of horses than waiting the five weeks? KENT DESORMEAUX: It's a very good question, and it's a emphatic obvious. It's so dramatic to me because all of the previous mounts walked to the gate and pretty -- to me, I thought it is was maturity or whatnot, but this horse showed me the difference. I mean, he was toey, dancing, just that bit of energy that tells you, "Let me at 'em, let me at 'em, I can't wait to get to them. I want to be a racehorse." Whereas, the other ones, they all were kind of just here we go again. Q. To either of Dr. Jayaramans, you guys took a big chance on an unknown trainer that had not much experience on his own; tell us why you chose Tim and what did you see in him to give him your horses and did you have any reservations that maybe he hadn't had any experience, as a head trainer at least. VILASINI JAYARAMAN: I knew Tim for three or four years when he was working as assistant for other trainers, and I thought he was doing a good job. In the past I've done that also without knowing the trainers very well. Q. Kent, was there a point where you perhaps you were deciding to go inside or outside or were you always waiting to pull him outside. Were you thinking of a bull rail ride up the inside? KENT DESORMEAUX: Well, I actually was thinking if Borel is going the beat me, eh's going to have to come around. It's a Louisiana life-long lesson. With that being said, I actually was a little disappointed. I thought I had waited too long, because by the time we got to the three-eights pole, I was still covered up, and we quickened, the entire field quickened, and I went from being drug behind the flight in front of me, to being just allowing him to float, and they were opening up on me. They actually had a better turn afoot than I did at that instant. It was only for maybe 15 strides I'd say, at least a 16th of a mile I couldn't keep up and they no longer progressed away from me and I started eating the ground up and catching them. That's when I looked for a path and found a seam, and he took off had even faster after I was able to clear his face up and get him clear sailing where there was no objects in front of him. Q. Tim, can you talk about your decision in training for you've been training for 15 months what was it that made you realize it was time to go out on your own? TIM ICE: I was an assistant trainer for 15 years, I put in all the hours and hard work and I thought I might as well do it for myself. It took a little longer, but I think I got a thorough knowledge of the sport and what it's about. I worked for Keith Desormeaux, great guy, with him five years. Cole Norman three years, Morris Nicks for two years, a few other in between. But those are the three that influenced me the most and, you know, I have to thank those guys as well where I'm at today because they showed me a lot, taught me, they had a lot of confidence in me to hire me. It was just a matter of you know, turning 34, it was time I working for myself. Q. Doctors, could you describe your emotions during the race when the horse started to make his move and also your emotions at the end of the race, please? VILASINI JAYARAMAN: It was great it was like a dream winning the Belmont. Q. Were you yelling? VILASINI JAYARAMAN: Oh, yeah, we were yelling. THE MODERATOR: Same question for you, Tim. TIM ICE: All I could hear was my hollering, I couldn't hear anybody else. It was surreal to see the red cap, blue blinkers coming the outside, it was just a thrilling, exciting finish. Q. Kent, you've been in this business a long, long time, do guarantees ever work? KENT DESORMEAUX: I've given them out before and had some success. You learn in the end you usually just shoot yourself in the foot. Q. Were you surprised Calvin guaranteed? KENT DESORMEAUX: No, not at all, and I can't blame him for it. I think that you start to feel like superman, you feel invisible. I guarantee you he went into the race with that utmost feeling he could not lose, and I wouldn't want anybody any different on my horse. Q. You had that feeling you said before Real Quiet but not before Big Brown, what was the difference between those two races? KENT DESORMEAUX: Big Brown was dealing with a lot of adversity, everyone knows about the foot. No foot, no horse. There was the lack of training in the three weeks. I mean, you know after the Preakness moving onto this race. There were several moments we didn't even know if he was going to run. That's the answer. THE MODERATOR: Anything else for team Summer Bird? All right, well, Tim Ice, Kent Desormeaux, Dr. Jayaraman and Debbie, congratulations on a terrific berth day and happy birthday to you, Tim. TIM ICE: Thank you. KENT DESORMEAUX: Thank you all. End of FastScripts |
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