Santamaria has 'a lot of confidence' in Firing Line

Santamaria emigrated to the United States when he was 16 and picked up the job at the training

center because his mother's husband was working there.

"I said I would

try that job and see what happens," he said, laughing as he told the story. "I

was afraid of them because of having never been with horses, but I still loved

them because they are beautiful animals. Since the first day, I knew this was

going be to be my job. I definitely fell in love with horses."

Santamaria said he was timing Carava's horses one morning in March at Santa

Anita when Callaghan, 32, asked to talk with him for a second. The British-born

Callaghan, who has been training in the United States since 2010, proposed that Santamaria become his assistant.

"I knew who he was,

but I didn't know he was going to ask me that," Santamaria said. "When he came

out with the offer I was like, 'Whoa.'"

Santamaria said he

told Callaghan that he would think about it and he could suggest some other

people to consider.

"He said, 'No, it's

just for you. If you can't, it's no problem. Just let me know,'" Santamaria

said. "It makes me feel great to know that he was watching me and liked the way

I do my job. That's something good for me."

Santamaria told

Callaghan, that he needed assurances that if he took the job he would have a

regular day off and time to spend with his young teenage daughters, who live

with their mother. He said Callaghan supported his need to have that family

time, to take them to school at least once a week and be active in their lives.

"I told Simon

that's going to be one of things that's going to help me make up my mind about

this offer from you," he said. "This way I can spend more time with my girls. I

love to do that.

"For me, working

with the horses, I don't call it a job. It's more like a way of living. If you

take this job as a job you're going to turn crazy. You know what time you have

to be at the barn, but you never know when you're going to get out of the barn.

You have to love it."

Firing Line's

runaway victory in the Sunland Park Derby (G3) on March 22, just a few days after Santamaria joined Callaghan, earned him the qualifying points he needed to get

into the Derby field and stamped him as one of the better three-year-olds in the

land. He turned in a big performance in the Derby under Hall of Fame jockey Gary

Stevens, finishing second by a length after having the lead in the stretch. Santamaria says he expects the colt will be just as game in Baltimore.

"I have a lot of

confidence in him," Santamaria said. "A lot of people were talking about how

easy American Pharoah had been winning. This time, I think he had to run his

guts out to beat us. I think we have a pretty good chance in the next race

because he is competitive and he came out of the race good. His attitude is that

he thinks he won the race. That will be a nice race."

Firing Line is

hardly an overnight sensation. Before his Sunland Park triumph, he gave

Dortmund (Big Brown), the third-place finisher in the Derby, everything he could handle in

two races at Santa Anita. Santamaria was confident that another gritty effort

was coming in the Derby.

"Everybody who

knows the horse knows he's going to give everything he has. Everything,"

Santamaria said. "The only thing you have to think of before the race is you

have to wish for is he breaks good and gets a good position. After that, we knew

the horse was going to do his job.

"When he was laying

second to Dortmund, I knew he was going to be there. He was going to end up

right there. One-eighth of a mile before the wire I thought we had the race. For

one moment, I thought we've got it. We know the other horse is really good

horse, but we knew our horse wasn't going to give up at all."

Though they haven't

worked together for very long, Santamaria likes the way he has been treated by

Callaghan.

"I've been telling

everybody about Simon. I always call him a kid because he's younger than me,"

Santamaria said. "Working so long for guys older than me and now working for

Simon, I feel like he's a kid. But he's such a great guy. I always say thanks to

him because since the first day working for him, he's never told me to do this

or that. He's given me the chance to run the barn like however I think it should

be done

"It's been

super great. He went back to California and he was like, 'I know you're going to

be there. I don't worry.' All the things he says make you feel good, super

good. He trusts me, so I'm really happy to be working for him."

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