Kentucky Derby and Oaks Post Position Draw Reactions

DORNOCH (Post 1, 20-1), Society Man (Post 20, 50-1) – trainer Danny Gargan – “Dornoch is going to come out of there running so it’s not the end of the world. It’s the new gate so a lot of people are saying the 1 hole is not what it used to be. So we’re not breaking into that funny turn and that will help too. I don’t think it’s the kiss of death. There’s no speed on our outside so hopefully he’ll break running and we’ll put him on the front end and see how it goes. We planned on keeping his face clean, now we’ll keep it real clean. And society man is a closer so he’ll just break and get over and sit midpack, maybe 10th or 10th and hopefully make a big run.”

SIERRA LEONE (Post 2, 3-1), DOMESTIC PRODUCT (Post 15, 30-1),– trainer Chad Brown – “Not that bad. Sierra Leone, he’s in just a touch farther in than I wanted but he didn’t get the 1 hole so I’m OK with that. With this particular horse, what I didn’t want was the 19 or 20. In fact, it would have been hard for him to drop over without losing ground, significant ground around the first turn. With Domestic Product, I thought it was a very good draw for him. He has a lot of natural speed, he should be in the second flight and I think that Irad (Ortiz Jr.) will have plenty of options from the 15 for that long run down the stretch the first time to sort of position himself hopefully behind the half dozen speed horses.”

MYSTIC DAN (Post 3, 20-1) – trainer Kenny McPeek – “I like it a lot. When you’re waiting for your number to come up, I told my wife that posts 3 or 7 was good for me. He can track right into the turn and he’s a horse that’s proven that he can run inside horses. So he doesn’t need the outside and he’s going to get a shorter trip from this post. So I’m very pleased.”

CATCHING FREEDOM (Post 4, 8-1), Encino (Post 9, 20-1), Just a Touch (Post 8, 10-1) – trainer Brad Cox – “Post positions are pretty over rated in my opinion. They all drew fine. If you’re a good enough horse you can overcome any post position. We can’t control posts so I like to keep things in perspective of what I can control, which is their training. They all worked well this morning and are training great going into the race. We’re looking forward to the opportunity to running all three horses.”

CATALYTIC (Post 5, 30-1) – trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. – “We drew well, so we can’t complain about the draw. We just have to get away clean and after that it’s up to Jose (Ortiz) to give him a good trip and for him to run the race of his life.”

JUST STEEL (Post 6, 20-1) – trainer Wayne Lukas – “It’s fine. I just didn’t want inside. I don’t care for the inside but anything from probably the 5 out is comfortable.”

HONOR MARIE (Post 7, 20-1) – trainer Whit Beckman – “It’s a great spot. We’re ready to go.”

WEST SARATOGA (Post 13, 50-1) – trainer Larry Demeritte – “I think it’s just fine breaking from post 13. We are so grateful to be here and enjoying every single minute.”

ENDLESSLY (Post 14, 30-1) – trainer Michael McCarthy – “Fantastic. I wanted to be anywhere between seven and 14, so this is perfect.”

FIERCENESS (Post 17, 5-2) – trainer Todd Pletcher – “I’m fine with the post. There’s a long enough run into the first turn to hopefully establish position.”

STRONGHOLD (Post 18, 20-1) – trainer Phil D’Amato – “It’s not the worst. He gets away from there pretty well so I think we can get a good spot.”

RESILIENCE (Post 19, 20-1) – trainer Bill Mott – “I’m fine with it. For me, I would have preferred to be in the outside half than the inside half. We have a certain amount of speed but not the speed that you would need to get away from the 1 hole or even the 2 hole. So you know, I think I’m happy enough being out there. Part of it is the trip and you have a chance from there to have a clean trip at least through the stretch and hopefully by the time you get to the turn, something works out in your favor, and you can track in a little bit.



KENTUCKY OAKS

GIN GIN (Post 2, 30-1), Tarifa (Post 8, 7-2) – trainer Brad Cox – “I think post positions are a little overrated. If you have the right horse you can really win from anywhere. I think both horses had a solid work the other morning so that’s most important at this stage to me.”

WHERE’S MY RING (Post 3, 15-1) – trainer Val Brinkerhoff – “I don’t like it, I love it.”

REGULATORY RISK (Post 4, 20-1), WAYS AND MEANS (Post 11, 5-1) – trainer Chad Brown – “Both of them good spots. Regulatory Risk is going to have to make up a couple lengths somewhere to get a piece of it and I think the inside draw was key for her to try and save ground. So that was really good. With Ways and Means, raw speed especially going 1 1/8 miles, I expect her to be very forward in the race. I’d rather her be outside most horses through that first run into the turn and have options out there. I’m very pleased, I didn’t want to be stuck inside with her. If she breaks clean, Tyler (Gaffalione) should have plenty of options to just choose his spot if he wants to go on or be just off the lead.”

THORPEDO ANNA (Post 5, 5-1) – trainer Kenny McPeek – “She’s got another good spot. You can let her run to the first turn. She’s fast, and has got enough early speed to put herself in a good spot (with jockey Brian Hernandez Jr.). It’ll be interesting to see what’s inside of her, I haven’t really studied all of that. But I’m pretty confident with her.”

JUST F Y I (Post 13, 9-2) – trainer Bill Mott – “She won the Breeders’ Cup from the 12. Hopefully she’ll have a good clean trip and have a chance to get over. If she’s on her game, she’ll break pretty good and hope it works out as well as it did in the Breeders’ Cup.”

LESLIE’S ROSE (Post 14, 4-1) – trainer Todd Pletcher – “It’s not ideal. We’ll have to overcome it.”

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