39 Quotes by John Shirreffs

Mike said he was waiting for the call.

I would have preferred a little bigger field, obviously, and a little more speed. We were in a position of having to be the presser. Other than that, I thought he ran very well. Brother Derek is exceptional.

I don't know that you can compare it to anything else a person in racing could have. I think whenever you have a horse like this you always want to win the next race, but I don't know that you can duplicate the first Saturday in May getting in the gate with 19 other horses and winning. There is no other race in that category.

Giacomo was running third, second, fourth and hadn't won.

Giacomo as a two-year-old was a little immature physically. So we just -- we couldn't, you know, push him too hard until he physically developed a little more. Everything sort of snapped into place for him before the Santa Anita Derby. He came out of the Santa Anita Derby so well. Then he worked really well for the Kentucky Derby. So, you know, really felt good about that.

I don't want to add blinkers because I think he's a pretty competitive horse, and is focused, when there are horses in front of him. The one thing I've noticed about him is that he does seem to be a free-running horse. I don't think you want to mess around and play games with him. You don't want to take him back, or send him. Just let him do his thing.

He worked very well. He's always trained well. I think he's a pretty fit horse. I'm just trying to keep him there.

He went well, nice and even. It's a little early to say if he will make the San Fernando. There could be other options. This was only his first six-furlong work. He had worked four times at a half-mile, so he was ready to go an easy six.

He had been training very well for the race, and all indications were that he was going to run well. I had never watched him run but, from what I had read about him, it was exciting to get a chance to train him. I knew that if he brought his A game, he would be very competitive.