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FIRECRACKER & BASHFORD MANOR THEY SAID IT JULY 1, 2013 FIRECRACKER "It was really tough (on me). I'm just glad he got it done. I was really worried about it. I had been worried about the weights. It wasn't so much the weight on him, but the spread. The first thing I said to (jockey) Johnny (Velazquez) was, 'Is he OK?' because it wasn't a pretty race. We got to hope he comes back good. Now that it's over I can tell you I was worried. I'm proud of him. He's a pretty amazing horse." —trainer Charlie LoPresti after reigning Horse of the Year Wise Dan captured the Firecracker on Churchill Downs' Downs After Dark night program Saturday "I have to give (Racing Secretary) Ben Huffman credit. He's a good friend of mine and I know he was in a tough spot. It worked out good." —LoPresti speaking of Wise Dan's 128-pound impost, where he gave 11 to 13 pounds to his rivals "When he was coming down the lane, Corey (Lanerie on Seruni) was laying all over him and I thought, 'Get off him and let him through.'" —LoPresti about watching Wise Dan squeezing through on the hedge, where he was pressed into the shrubbery by Seruni "He needed to with the weight on him and the adversity of the weather and the way the race was run. They rode against him. They rode to beat him." —LoPresti saying Wise Dan needed to run to his Horse of the Year status to overcome all the obstacles in Saturday night's Firecracker "I was in the right spot the whole way and he was going well the whole way. I didn't want to make a premature move. I decided to wait. I had to work my way out. If you watch the head-on, he brushes up against the bushes and he even jumped right at the eighth-pole. By the sixteenth-pole, though, he got through. He's just a very good horse. I know he can handle it when things get tight. He's big enough to push his way through. I've ridden him that way before and I wasn't worried about it." —jockey John Velazquez on his eventful ride on Wise Dan "It was a great race. It set up great and we had Wise Dan right where we wanted him the whole way. Going around the second turn he bobbled on the inside of us a couple of times and I thought we were going to be able to beat him. But he got lucky and got through on the inside. My horse ran an amazing race. Anytime you get beat a length and a half to the Horse of the Year, you ran a big race." —Brian Hernandez Jr., who kept Wise Dan boxed in on the inside while riding eventual runner-up Lea "We were happy with how he ran. It was his second race off the bench and he was actually turned-out and enjoying himself in South Carolina during the winter. So after an easy one-turn race on the dirt to go to a very salty Horse of the Year in a two-turn race on a boggy course, I thought he showed himself pretty well. I think we're on schedule for the rest of the season." —trainer Al Stall Jr. praising Lea's effort in the Firecracker "I'm not a 100 percent sure, but I imagine the (Grade 2, $500,000) Fourstardave (on August 10 at Saratoga) is what he's (Claiborne Farm's Seth Hancock) thinking of and what we're thinking of, also. So we'll just keep on going." —Stall on Lea's next possible start "He ran huge. I found myself on the lead -- I really thought I'd be sitting second or third, but he really got out of there at the gate. He was going nice and easy. I really didn't think the hedge was the place to be, but I was pretty close to it and I never knew Wise Dan was right behind me. I didn't expect him to be there. I thought (Velazquez) would just keep him out in the clear. So I just went on and rode my horse down the lane and when he switched leads, he came off and gave him just a little room to get through. The best horse won." —jockey Corey Lanerie describing his ride aboard Seruni BASHFORD MANOR "You know when you're a little kid and you have dreams? My dream was this. I don't think you can put a price on it. The price would have to be something that boggles the mind to quit this dream right now." —Tim O'Donohue, who owns Bashford Manor romper Debt Ceiling "It's absolutely amazing. I was lucky enough to come here in 2007 when my brother-in-law (Mario Pino) rode Hard Spun in the Kentucky Derby. That was as close to the dream as I've gotten. My wife and I both said that we're not coming back to the Derby until we have our own horse in it. Who knows? It's a little early, but you can always dream." —O'Donohue on winning with Debt Ceiling at the home of the Kentucky Derby "This is my second stakes horse, but I have a feeling this is going to be the best horse I've ever owned." —O'Donohue "The first race, I didn't expect him to win. He did it on raw talent. The last two races, we went in feeling very confident. There were really no other races on the East Coast for him. This was the closest around and I'm glad we came." —Debt Ceiling's trainer, Jerry Robb "Well I was watching the races earlier and speed was winning everything. So I figured the rain could only help us. He's done everything I've asked him to. We'll probably go to Saratoga with him." —Robb "We've always known this horse has had talent. The plan today was to let the two speed horses (My Corinthian and Hollywood Talent) go and sit off them. So I just sat back and took my time. When it was time to go, he told me when to go. I passed them so fast. I was a little worried that I moved too early, but I had so much horse that when it was time to go I had to go." —jockey Eric Camacho, who had piloting duties on Debt Ceiling "He ran very green, with the track obviously being wet and the shadows from the poles and everything. He ran a good race, but I thought he could have run better than that. He was going fast, but he was not really paying attention to what he was doing." —Velazquez, describing his ride aboard Bashford Manor runner-up Hollywood Talent "I was super impressed. This horse is not very focused in the morning and he's done everything so easily. So it was his first experience to actually realize what's going on in his races now. So I expect him to move forward leaps and bounds after this race. He's naturally a very fast horse. I didn't know he was that quick. I knew he was quick, but I didn't know he was that quick. So I'm happy." —Dane Kobiskie, trainer of Bashford Manor third My Corinthian "He's a nice horse. It was his second time out and on the mud, and he didn't feel like he was going that fast. But he's a real nice horse. He's still getting his mind in the game and all that, but at this rate he'll be tough." —jockey Luis Garcia, who recorded his first mount at Churchill Downs when getting the leg up on My Corinthian
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