	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

BREEDERS' CUP WORLD THOROUGHBRED CHAMPIONSHIPS

November 5, 2010

CHURCHILL DOWNS, KENTUCKY

ERIC WING: We are joined in the interview room with the happy winners of the just concluded Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. Left to right are co-owners Stephanie March. In the center, Bobby Flay. And on our right, trainer Todd Pletcher for Pletcher Breeders' Cup win No. 4 on his career. He had a double back at Lone Star in '04 with Ashado and Speightstown; English Channel in 2007. Now he can add More Than Real to that list.
Easier to count Bobby Flay's Breeders' Cup wins. This is number one for you. Congratulations, Bobby. Your filly gave them a smackdown out there. Can you describe the euphoria of victory and how it compares with some of the other great things and great excitements you've had in your career.
BOBBY FLAY: This is obviously the biggest win I've ever had in horse racing by a magnitude of a thousand. It was just an amazing feeling. In fact, I don't remember the last 1/16 of a mile because I couldn't see. I mean, it was just -- I knew she had a shot. I knew that she was running really well. She got clear, and I was just hoping that somebody wouldn't come from behind and catch us.
You know, I had, you know, obviously, my wife with me, Stephanie, and friends, and everybody was jumping all over each other. So basically, the last 1/16 of a mile was a blur to me, and they just kept telling me, you just won the Breeders' Cup. Anybody wants to tell me that any time is fine with me.
ERIC WING: Stephanie, anybody who's involved in racing knows how passionate Bobby is about this sport. Do you share that enthusiasm for horse racing?
STEPHANIE MARCH: I do, but I have to say for Bobby, it was the ultimate throwdown. I don't think there's any victory he would prefer more than a Breeders' Cup win. He's on cloud nine. How can I not be excited by that?
ERIC WING: The ultimate throwdown.
Todd, you were telling people earlier in the week that, looking past some of your higher profile starters in the Breeders' Cup, that More Than Real was training as well as any horse in your barn. What was it that tipped you off about her?
TODD PLETCHER: She's just a very straightforward and willing filly to train. I thought her breeze on the turf here just indicated to us she really got over the ground well and finished strongly. Just, you know, that vibe you get when you have a horse that's just in the zone and doing well and everything's going right.
So she just kept giving us all those positive indications.
ERIC WING: Bobby, what was it like seconds after the exhilaration of winning a Breeders' Cup race to have to sweat out an inquiry?
BOBBY FLAY: I didn't hear it. Actually, Barry Weisbrod, who helped me acquire the horse actually, said to me -- I was just going on ESPN with Jeannine Edwards, and he said objection. I was like, oh, what a bummer.
I mean, it's just -- talk about a killjoy. Then you have to sweat out the -- sweat out the objection and wait. And I looked at Todd, and he -- he could see the worry in my eyes. And he said, I think we're going to be all right.
Todd is almost always right. So I was happy to hear that.
ERIC WING: Okay. Right now, since he has an open race, we're happy to be joined by jockey Garrett Gomez, rider of More Than Real. Garrett suffered a spill yesterday. Garrett, I imagine winning a Breeders' Cup race is the perfect tonic for whatever might ail you. Congratulations and take us through the journey.
GARRETT GOMEZ: Thank you. She traveled well. You know, she left the gate good. I actually -- I thought Javier's filly would break a little better than she did. And a couple down on the inside were able to push on forward.
I would have liked to save a little more ground going into the first turn than we did. We just couldn't quite get over. We were three wide. But she shot off and traveled well behind them and outside in the clear. Didn't mind being out in the clear.
You know, I squeezed her by the three and told her to move up, and she did so willingly. Then when we turned for home, I asked her to go ahead and kick in and give me what she had, and she did so and come home great for us.
ERIC WING: Were you confident your number would stay up after the objection was lodged?
GARRETT GOMEZ: Yeah, I did. I felt like, if I did anything, I actually came out the turn for home. I was holding my ground round the turn when he was trying to push his way out.
Like I said, when we turned for home, I actually pulled her out a couple steps because I heard some hollering. You know, and then kicked on and minding my own business and then tried to get to the wire first.
ERIC WING: Questions either upstairs in the press box or here in the room for the More Than Real team? We'll start with Tom.

Q. For jockey Gomez. What defeat was there? Two, has this filly shown you enough that she's Oaks bound next year?
TODD PLETCHER: You know, I thought -- and I told Bobby this after the race that, even though we lost at Woodbine, I thought we gained a lot of experience. Garrett did a nice job that day of getting the filly back off the pace, covered up, relaxed, and she actually kicked home very well.
We probably lost the battle but won the war by doing that. You know, if we'd have ridden her a little more aggressively that day, she might have been closer to the pace and been able to win. But we're trying to teach her the correct way to run a turf race and settle and make a run.
We'll see how the filly trains moving forward, but right now she's showed us she's a superior turf filly, and there's plenty of opportunities on the grass for her. Right now we'll focus on that.
If she tells us in the morning that she's a dirt horse, we might consider that sometime down the road.

Q. Can Bobby talk about how he found the filly and the process on that and what you liked about her.
BOBBY FLAY: Sure, yes. Actually, I saw her win up at Saratoga when she broke her maiden, and Mike Smith -- I'm sorry. Mike Ryan owned the horse. I had actually purchased a horse from Mike prior. Another -- actually, another More Than Ready named Grace and Power, who was Grade 1 place.
And Barry Weisbrod, who is the publisher of the TDN and a really good friend of mine and my most trusted thoroughbred adviser, said, you know, I think Mike might want to sell that filly. This is right in your wheelhouse. You like to buy fillies that can run, and especially on the grass.
So I talked to Mike, and he was interested in selling her. So we purchased her right after her maiden race.

Q. You're not going to say how much, I guess?
BOBBY FLAY: No, I can't do that. You'd have to ask Mike Ryan that. I asked Todd to come over and take a look at her in Chad Brown's barn, and he said, you know -- he watched her train a little bit. He said, she looks like she's okay.
ERIC WING: Garrett, the even money favorite out there was Winter Memories, who was certainly impressive in her own right coming into this race, also a very easy horse to see, great coloring. Did you keep an eye on her at all, or did you ride oblivious to what she was doing?
GARRETT GOMEZ: No, she was behind me. I knew she'd be running. It was just a matter of when she would come. I was more concentrating on what was going on in front of me, trying to keep her into a relaxed mode. Then when I asked her to pick it up, I wanted to make sure I didn't over squeeze her and empty the tank before we actually turned for home. The ground is a little soft out there for American standards, but it's good ground.
You never know how they're going to quicken and how they're going to stay after you ask them to do a little bit. She did everything I asked her to do and came home wonderful.
ERIC WING: And a lot has been made about the lack of rain here, particularly perhaps where the Europeans are concerned. You think it's a fair course?
GARRETT GOMEZ: Oh, yeah, definitely. For American standards, it's on the soft side. You know, I mean, it's got some nice cut in the ground. I hit it yesterday. So I know it's a little soft.
You know, it's good ground. It's got a good bottom to it and everything. It's very fair.
ERIC WING: Todd, what's your typical procedure with a horse? She's obviously had a very accomplished 2-year-old career now. What's your typical routine with a 2-year-old filly going from 2-year-old year into the 3-year-old year?
TODD PLETCHER: Well, you know, she's -- this will be her last run for the year, and we'll take her down to Florida and give her a little freshening and look to maybe start back in February or something like that. Knock on wood, she's been a very healthy filly and no issues. But she'll deserve a little bit of a freshening off this and obviously there's no big opportunities left on the grass after this.
So we'll just look to take care of her and start focusing on her 3-year-old year.

Q. Bobby, when did you buy your first horse?
BOBBY FLAY: When did I buy my first horse? The first horse I owned outright, I bought at OBS March -- I'm going to say six years ago. Sophie's Salad, she must be 6 years old. Six years ago. Sophie's Salad.
ERIC WING: Stephanie March, Bobby Flay, Todd Pletcher, and Garrett Gomez, congratulations on an outstanding and convincing performance today by More Than Real and the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Filly Turf.

End of FastScripts

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297