Kentucky Derby 129 -- Quotes From Losing Riders

JERRY BAILEY (Jockey, Empire Maker, 2nd) - "My horse ran hard and he was extending. He ran a good race. I'm going to get criticized for this, I'm sure, but I still think that my horse is much better than those other two (Funny Cide and Peace Rules). But that doesn't matter at all today. He didn't exactly struggle with the racetrack, but he had to work harder today to get over it."

EDGAR PRADO (Jockey, Peace Rules, 3rd) - "He tried really hard. We got a beautiful trip and settled in very easily. He tried very hard, we just got beat."

DAVID FLORES (Jockey, Atswhatimtalknbout, 4th) - "I think we were last at one point. All the way around, I kept looking for room; for some hole to open up for him. When we started to turn for home, he was in behind a wall. But he kept trying and when he finally got room, he gave me everything he had. The blinkers made him a completely different horse, and he was very tough. I just couldn't get the room for him to run."

EIBAR COA (Jockey, Eye of the Tiger, 5th) - "I had a very good trip. He broke sharp and we had a good position going into the first turn. On the backside I was where I wanted to be, just following the horses in front of me. I wasn't sure about him making the mile and a quarter. I waited to make my move, waited for (Jerry) Bailey to go by me. Finally in the end somebody came by me to beat us for fourth. He will be OK going a mile and a eighth. Next time he should have some more gas. I didn't know how much horse I had so I tried to save some for the end."

GARY STEVENS (Jockey, Buddy Gil, 6th) - "He didn't break very well and all I could do was save ground. I really only got him to run an eighth of a mile. My trip was over after the second stride out of the gate, so we'll wait for the Preakness."

KENT DESORMEAUX (Jockey, Outta Here, 7th) - "My horse was never comfortable but he showed his true class down the lane by putting his head down and driving to the wire."

CALVIN BOREL (Jockey, Ten Cents A Shine, 8th) - "I was running fourth or fifth coming into the lane but then he got tired. I don't think he got much out of his last race at Keeneland (the Toyota Blue Grass on April 12). He ran all right and the owners were happy." PAT DAY (Jockey, Ten Most Wanted, 9th) - "I got pinched back a little bit at the break, but moving down the backside I was about two lengths off Empire Maker and I thought I was all right. When I asked him to go, he struggled; he had no punch. He didn't show what he was capable of. He just didn't show up today."

ALEX SOLIS (Jockey, Domestic Dispute, 10th) - "My horse really tried and tried, but he was struggling to get over the track. He's a nice horse and I thought I was going to be fourth or fifth, because he did keep trying."

CORNELIO VELASQUEZ (Jockey, Scrimshaw, 11th) - "What can I tell you? We had a good position, but maybe the distance was just too much for him at this point. At the quarter pole he made a move, but the final three-sixteenths he just didn't have enough to be competitive. He got a little tired in the end. D. Wayne Lukas said he's going to get better and better, so he should have a good future."

ROBBY ALBARADO (Jockey, Offlee Wild, 12th) - "He just got tired the last eighth. I was laying right behind Empire Maker on the backside and he was moving good, but I ran out of horse. He got tired."

ROSEMARY HOMEISTER JR. (Jockey, Supah Blitz, 13th) - "We had a sharp break and going into the first turn had plenty of room. I can't remember which horse it was, but there was somebody in a little bit of trouble right next to me so I was trying to give him plenty of room. I didn't want him to clip heels. But my horse was relaxed and I had all the space in the world. It was beautiful, we had a good position early.

"On the backside, he never got too far out of it. We had a clean trip and never got shut off and all I knew was that I had to be patient and wait. At the five-eighths pole he started moving and at the three-eighths made a nice move. But by the final eighth, he just couldn't do it anymore. He was slowing down and I felt him say to me, 'Please don't push me.' He came back sound and we'll be seeing more from him...he'll see another day."

"Supah Blitz was so calm, so relaxed, he made me confident and relaxed. To walk out of that tunnel on the one horse, what an experience. It was then a long post parade and I had such an emotional feeling. But once we were in the gate, I was fine."

"I've had the experience of a lifetime. I've never experienced so much from fans, the energy, the press, the TV, the people - all first class in Louisville. You never know when you're going to get here (the Kentucky Derby). I'm just so glad I got to do it. The energy from the public was incredible...just being on the one horse, the first out on the track out of the tunnel...I was waving at everybody. I want everybody to feel the same experience I'm feeling. I'll remember this forever. And I'd love to be back someday."

TYLER BAZE (Jockey, Indian Express, 14th) - "The trip wasn't what I expected. He got stupid right out of the gate and we were left behind, just where I didn't want to be. We rallied and I hope Bob (trainer Baffert) will let me ride him back."

SHANE SELLERS (Jockey, Lone Star Sky, 15th) - "He broke good, about fourth, and I took a little hold of him to get him back where he is comfortable and that is at the back. I tried to move up with him, but I never had any horse at any time."

TONY FARINA (Jockey, Brancusi, 16th) - "I felt I was in good shape at the half-mile pole, but when I asked him to go he didn't respond."

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