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BREEDERS' CUP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

October 31, 2015

Lexington, Kentucky

THE MODERATOR: All right, ladies and gentlemen, the winner of the TwinSpires Breeders' Cup Sprint in track record time is Runhappy. We are very pleased to be joined by, from left to right, owner James McIngvale, winning rider Edgar Prado and trainer Maria Borell. Congratulations to you all and thanks for coming down to talk to us for a couple minutes.
MARIA BORELL: Thank you.
THE MODERATOR: Edgar, take us through the race to start. You got to sit back a little bit. Take us through the trip.
EDGAR PRADO: First, I want to say thank you to Mr.McIngvale and Maria for the great job and the great opportunity to ride this horse.
The plan was to try to go to the lead, come rolling out of there. Don't be bottled up behind horses. Unfortunately, he's not real quick out of the gate. We used Plan B, which is stay behind horses. He took a little kick back and that's where he dropped a little back in the turn.
Once he realized he's not in‑‑ it was going to hurt him, he started picking up and finishing, you know. He's a very nice horse and I think he's getting better and better every time.
THE MODERATOR: Maria, his natural speed has carried him to the front most of this year. Were you a little concerned that there was speed out in front of him?
MARIA BORELL: I was concerned mostly about getting out of the gate. I thought once we were clear, we'd be okay. We kind of thought once he had kick back in his face, he wasn't going to be a fan of that. I'll be honest, I was a little nervous around the turn. Once he got going, I knew that we were okay and in the clear.
THE MODERATOR: Very good. Tell us what was in your mind when you won the Sprint.
MARIA BORELL: Unbelievable, unreal. A thousand things that I probably can't put into words.
THE MODERATOR: We're going to try to get them out of you here.
MARIA BORELL: I know you will.
THE MODERATOR: I want to ask James for his reaction to the race. Mr.McIngvale, your thoughts on an incredible performance by Runhappy.
JAMES McINGVALE: It was great. This is like his home track, Keeneland. He loves the track.
Maria and Laura, the entire team, Cordell, and Omar, the exercise rider, have all done a great job of getting him ready. Then Edgar rode him like a champ, so here we are. We're very happy to be here.
I've been in the horse racing game for 25 years. It's certainly the biggest win of my career. My children are happy. My wife is at home, but she's very nervous about the money I spend on horse racing so she's happy today.
THE MODERATOR: The way this horse keeps winning, talk about his talent, which some people would describe as freakish, but we don't want to take anything away from him either or from the job that you all have done. Talk about his talent and what you've seen this year.
JAMES McINGVALE: Well, we knew he was going to freak on Halloween, so he did that, to coin a phrase. He's very talented. We're going to run him next year and see how he does and try to stretch him out. Should be a lot of fun.
My daughter runs the social media and there's a film about‑‑ a video about them trying to wake him up one morning. He was late for workout and they couldn't wake him up. That video has had four and a half million views, so he's very popular.
THE MODERATOR: Maria, this horse, he's a very interesting horse, not just the way he sleeps, but the way he runs and his personality. Talk about Runhappy off the track and what kind of horse he is.
MARIA BORELL: He's a really cool horse. He's got a great personality. He's very expressive of what he wants. He wants his mints. If you come off without them, he's very upset. He looks for them. He's a very affectionate horse. I mean, he has a special relationship with every one of us on the team. He's just a cool horse. I don't even think he realizes how talented he is. It's just him. He's just great to be around. He's not really like a colt. He bites a little, but not like most colts I've been around. He's definitely the best cost I've ever been around.
THE MODERATOR: It's been a big story these last few weeks, the faith you put in Maria, with a horse this talented. You could go to any trainer. Talk to us about the faith you've put in Maria and how she's put it back to you.
JAMES McINGVALE: Maria has done a great job with the horse ever since we brought him here to Kentucky at the Kentucky Training Center. Success is measured by results and results are pretty good.
THE MODERATOR: Very good. Questions for the connections of Runhappy?

Q. This is for the jockey, Edgar Prado. The saying goes, nice guys finish last. But you're ample proof nice guys are winners too. I remember the stories about you when you left Maryland. People were weeping. They wanted you to come back. But coming back to the race, the trip you had, you said your horse did not break alertly from the gate.
But the fact that various horses were engaging in a duel, did that help you? In turning for home at one point, you had three lengths to find on Private Zone. Did you think you would be able to catch him?
EDGAR PRADO: Yes. Like I say, he didn't break that quick out of the gate. But around the turn, he kind of back off a little bit. Actually, it worked out good for me, because those horses went head to head and I was able to sit right behind them.
In the stretch, I don't want to get real close to Private Zone because I know he's a very [indiscernible] horse, very game. So I tried to stay away from him. But I know my horse was gaining. Every time I hit him, I asked him for a little more, he was giving 100 percent.
THE MODERATOR: Maria, you all went to Edgar when you took Runhappy up to Saratoga. How did Edgar end up getting this mount?
MARIA BORELL: Edgar and I have been friends for a long time. Actually, when I found out the horse was going to be in my barn, I was like, Edgar, watch this horse. Watch out for him. When the time came to make a rider switch, I suggested it to Mr.McIngvale and Laura and they were on board to give him a shot.
He came down to breeze him and they got along really well. I don't think we could have picked a better rider. He's brilliant the way he ran that race. They couldn't have picked a better rider.

Q. Did you train him differently coming up to this, knowing he might have to sit behind horses?
MARIA BORELL: We didn't train him differently. I thought we'd have to go to the lead because that's honestly where the horse always wants to go. Of course worried about a speed duel, but he's the kind of horse it's kind of hard to fight him about going to the front. Even when's with a lead pony at home, when he's with a pony, he wants to be in the front. If we walk him back to the Paddock with a pony or a horse, he wants to be in the front of him. That's where his mind goes. I want to be in the lead. We pretty much trained him the same. We had a Plan B, we had to use it and thank God it worked.

Q. So with a cleaner break, you would have expected him to be ‑‑
MARIA BORELL: I think he probably would have gone to the lead, yeah.

Q. Jim, when you bought this horse, as a Super Saver did you expect him to be a champion sprinter?
JAMES McINGVALE: I liked the fact that Cordell was holding him in the sales ring.
My sister‑in‑law, Laura Wohler, picked him out. She loved the horse. We really didn't want to spend that kind of money, 200 Gs, because I'm way into this game and a lot of money. She bought him and he's turned out to be a great, best horse we ever had.
So the horse has got tremendous support from Maria and Cordell and Laura and Omar and all the people. We treat the horse like, almost like a pet and he responds.
MARIA BORELL: Yeah, he's a pet.
THE MODERATOR: He won so easily as a three‑year‑old. Can this horse improve?
MARIA BORELL: I think so. I think he's going to be a brilliant miler. Our plan is to stretch him out. I think he'll be a brilliant miler. I also want to say we won Lasix free, drug‑free. You guys don't need to run on Lasix.
THE MODERATOR: Tell us why that was important to you.
MARIA BORELL: I am just very pro‑‑ I guess I should say anti‑drugs just because I think it's better for the integrity of the breed. I want us to have stronger horses that can run 30, 40 times in the future, like they used to be able to, and not be masked by drugs.
THE MODERATOR: Jim, you're fully supportive of‑‑
JAMES McINGVALE: My favorite words are authentic, genuine, real and transparent. I think if we're going to talk the talk and walk the walk, we've got to do it. No Lasix for us. No drugs. Just hay, oats and lots of water.
MARIA BORELL: And some mints.

Q. Trainer Maria, given your head gear, it's possible you should run at Ascot next year.
MARIA BORELL: We've been asked.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you all very much. Congratulations, Runhappy the winner of the Breeders' Cup Sprint.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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