Photo By: Jeremy Lyverse   Jockey Rosemary Homeister, Jr. (above) will be the first female jockey to ride in the Kentucky Derby (GI) since 1995, when Julie Krone had the mount on Suave Prospect.

2003 Kentucky Derby Post Position Draw Quotes
Apr. 30, 2003

TOM AMOSS (Lone Star Sky, Pick 4, Post 10)
On taking Post 10 - "I picked the 10 because it is my youngest daughter's age and my oldest daughter's softball number. It was also the number of my all-time favorite horse, Secretariat, broke from. He wore the 1A, but he broke from 10."

BOB BAFFERT (Indian Express, Pick 9, Post 9)
On taking Post 9 - "Patrick Biancone (trainer of Brancusi) took my post (two), so I had to take nine. It doesn't really matter. I wanted a post in the main gate and nine sounded great. He'll load first, but he's a well-mannered horse and it shouldn't bother him.

On jockey Tyler Baze - "Tyler Baze (the 20-year-old jockey riding Indian Express) will be next to his idol, Gary Stevens (on Buddy Gil in Post 8), and he can just do what Gary does."

PATRICK BIANCONE (Brancusi, Pick 6, Post 2)
On the draw - "I picked it so I can't complain. The only problem when you choose you can't complain. I don't know what is a good post - it's my first Derby. I was watching Derby films the other day and I was watching and watching. I saw Affirmed was No. 2 and I do like Affirmed, so I said if I could have No. 2 that would be fine. So it's just (because of) Affirmed, that's all."

BILL CURRIN (Outta Here, Pick 3, Post 15)
On taking Post 15 - "I took the 15 because it is not so claustrophobic. We have a little less chance of taking a shot there and my wife picked me out when I was 15."

On being the only horse in the field to have raced a mile and a quarter - "That is true, but from the 15 post, he may go a mile and three quarters."

WALLY DOLLASE (Ten Most Wanted, Pick 14, Post 16)
On the draw - "It's fine. The speed is inside us, so that's good. That's going to allow us to drop over and get a good spot mid-pack. And my horse gets a little anxious (at the gate), so the late load will be good for him. Pat (jockey Pat Day) is fine with it. We didn't get the best of chances to select, but it worked out fine."

RON ELLIS (Atswhatimtalknbout, Pick 10, Post 4)
On the draw - David (rider David Flores) was sitting with me and he said - with our horse - it was better to be down inside than out. We did a mock draft of sorts beforehand and 4 wasn't our first choice, but it was one of our top ones. We thought between 4 and 8 would be OK. He (Flores) wanted to be near some speed so they could clear the way for him. I think we're going to be fine."

BOBBY FRANKEL (Empire Maker, Pick 7, Post 12 and Peace Rules, Pick 8, Post 5)
On the draw - "I called Jerry (rider for Empire Maker Jerry Bailey) and asked him what he'd like. We talked and figured that the posts between 6 and 11 would be taken by the time we got to go. So he said either 12 or 5, and he'd prefer 12. So I gave him 12 for his horse and took 5 for the other horse."

On Empire Maker's condition - "He (Empire Maker) is doing fine. He'll be fine on Saturday."

On Peace Rules' tactics - "If they go (the speed horses) we'll pick our spot. If they don't go, we'll take the lead. You can do that with this horse."

PATRICK GALLAGHER (Domestic Dispute, Pick 12, Post 11)
On the post position - "It's a good post. With 12 picks in front of me, I had a little idea where I was going to be. There were a couple surprises. That one guy (Bill Currin with Outta Here) picked out in there in the auxiliary gate. That left us with an extra choice in effect, and we knew we'd be out there around the 12 or 13. ... There's only so much you can do. Every race is different."

JERRY HOLLENDORFER (Eye Of The Tiger, Pick 13, Post 13)
On the draw - "I just didn't want to be down inside, so we're fine with where we wound up. Tactically, it's best to be clear and you've got your best shot to be clear out there. It's going to be OK. It's just how these things are. We got the best we could."

TEN CENTS A SHINE (Pick 11, Post 14) and SCRIMSHAW (Pick 16, Post 17)

Ten Cents A Shine owner KEN RAMSEY on taking the 14 - "Wayne (trainer D. Wayne Lukas) would have killed me if I took the one."

Scrimshaw co-owner BEVERLY LEWIS -"I knew after this colt ran such a big race in the Coolmore Lexington that we wanted to bring him to the Kentucky Derby. I was the lucky charm when we took this post with Charismatic (who won the Derby in 1999)."

JEFF MULLINS (Buddy Gil, Pick 5, Post 8)
On the draw - "We got where we wanted. He will be the last to load and I didn't want him in there a long time and I wanted the speed to our inside."

T.V. SMITH (Offlee Wild, Pick 1, Post 7)
On having the first pick - "When we found out there were 17 starters, and we had the first pick, we decided to take a post where we would be loaded near the end, but not last. The way they load here, two at a time, in Post 7, we'll be next-to-last, the 7 and 16 posts. I want him to have a little time to get settled in the gate, so I didn't want to be last in."

On the Derby - "I'd like him to get a good break and be in the first flight after the start. I don't want him to be too far back early."

BARCLAY TAGG (Funny Cide, Pick 2, Post 6)
On having the second pick - "When I found out we had second choice, I called Jose Santos (regular rider of Funny Cide and riding in his seventh Kentucky Derby) and he said anything between four and eight. Robin Smullen, my assistant who gallops the horse, said she had her heart set on six, and the owners wanted six, so I went with six."

On the Derby - "This horse deserves to be here. He has a great demeanor, he's training brilliantly, he's a determined horse and he loves to run."

MIKE TOMLINSON (Sir Cherokee, Pick 15, Post 3)
On the draw - "The beauty of this draw was it was not going to make a lot of difference, because in the early part of the race we are going to have a good view of the rest of the field. I just don't want to get pinned down on the rail."

MANNY TORTORA (Supah Blitz, Pick 17, Post 1)
On Post 1 - "Well, the number one post has won more Derbys than any other (12 winners have come from Post 1), so that's good. But if I had a choice, I wouldn't take it. He comes from behind anyhow, so he'll get a spot and then try to find room to run."

ROSEMARY HOMEISTER, JR. (Jockey, Supah Blitz)
On Post 1 -"I don't think it (Post 1) is so bad. The rail is the shortest way home and he won't be running until late."

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