Russell Baze Quotations

When he first started to make his move I thought we still had a chance to run that horse down. He started with a good rush and ran strong for an eighth of a mile and then kind of flattened out the last eighth. At that point, he's usually running by all of them. He ran by all of them but the last one today. We needed that other horse to stop a little bit and he never did.

There are very few horses that can go with this horse for the first half-mile. He runs the second quarter as fast, if not faster, than the first quarter and he can finish from there. He's an exceptional animal, and it is really going to take an exceptional animal to beat him.

There are very few horses that can go with this horse for the first half- mile. He runs the second quarter almost as fast as the first quarter, and he can finish from there. He's an exceptional animal, and it is really going to take an exceptional animal to beat him. Getting on a horse like this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

My horse was a little lackadaisical early, ... I got him out to the outside where I wanted to be going into the second turn, and he started to make a pretty good move and flattened out on me during the lane.

My horse had no excuse. He broke sharp and sat right where I wanted him to be. The horse on the lead just ran too big today. In the last race when we caught him, he was getting tired. He didn't get tired today.

One thing: I'll probably get a new rider next year because this kid finally got this horse beat, ... Just kidding.

I was surprised I was able to go so slow the first quarter. Bobby (Gonzalez) was getting after his horse to show some speed but his horse wouldn't go. My horse relaxed so nice. When they started to run at him, he picked it up on his own. As soon as horses come to him, he leans forward and wants to go.

Give me some good news Doc, I've only got three weeks,

I think there'd have been a different outcome if I'd had a clean trip on the second turn. I was going for a hole on the fence and it closed. I had to steady her pretty hard. She's a big, long-striding filly, and it took her awhile to get her momentum back. I think she's going to be a nice filly.

I saw the other horse close to the rail so I moved out a little to give myself some room in case anything happened and, sure enough, it did. But I was going to gather him in anyway, I felt. I knuckled him and he started to pick it up on his own and when I asked him in the stretch he went on real well. He's developing into a real nice horse.

Past the quarter pole, he surged, got up in the lead,

I was hoping there would be a little more pace in there. Instead, they kind of walked around on the lead in front of us and those horses just didn't get tired.

I was hoping that there would be a little more speed in there. My horse ran his race, but he just wasn't good enough today.

It didn't seem like we were going too fast. He'd run fractions like that before and finished well for me.

Just inside the eighth pole, he had nothing.

I think this horse will only get better with more distance. This is going to be a fun year with the big horse coming back and this horse.

That was real hard, huh. He broke well and we sent him away from there because we didn't want anybody hounding him. I let him run a little down the stretch because I wanted him to get something out of it.

We needed the other horse to stop a little bit, and he never did.

When we hit the wire I wouldn't have bet money that we got there.

We turned for home and he kind of shook loose of those horses and pricked his ears, like he's known to do,

Boy, he made that exciting. He just walked out of the gate. At the half-mile pole, I reached back and hit him to get his attention. I thought I had a shot at the top of the lane because he was moving, but when we hit the wire, I wouldn't have bet money that we got there. That was tight.

I shook the stick at him and boy, he gave me a good little punch. About a dozen lengths later he just quit. Just inside the eighth pole, I had nothing left.

I've never been on a horse cooler than this horse, ... Nothing bothers him. The crowd was hooting and hollering and it didn't rattle him at all.

I tried to make him work a little more the whole way to make sure there was plenty of air in him.

It's like being a roadie for a rock star. Everybody knows Lost in the Fog. These kind of horses come along very seldomly. Its great being part of this team.

Once I got halfway through the hole, I knew I could make it and then he just ran away from that horse. But he started goofing around because he's not used to making the lead so early.

I love it when a plan comes together like that. Down the backstretch when Midwesterner came up outside of him, he grabbed the bit and didn't want him to get ahead of us. But on the turn when that horse dropped back, he relaxed and I knew we were all right.

He still has that brilliant speed. He was tugging me to the lead. I had a ton of horse down the backside and everything was fine until the turn. When he switched leads, the track came away from him. He was slipping on the turn, and that's when the other horse got the jump on him. Normally on the turn is where he puts them away.

He struggled with the track a little bit, he's still a little green, and his first start was a long time ago. About the eighth pole I'd asked him, and he wasn't picking up ground. I asked him harder, and he got up.

He struggled with the track a bit. It was a pretty game effort. He's still a little green. It was only his second start and that first one was a long time ago. I'm pretty proud of him because he was struggling with the track and he could have given up, but he didn't.

He broke well and we sent him because we didn't want to get into any trouble. I let him run a little down the stretch because I wanted him to get something out of it. People were hooting and hollering in the paddock before the race but it didn't faze him. All he does is keep making me look good.

This horse has handled so many tracks (seven to date), that I didn't see the track being a big factor, ... There are very few horses that can go with this horse for the first half-mile. He's and exceptional animal, and it is really going to take an exceptional animal to beat him. A couple of guys have said that he hasn't met the best, but we've taken on all comers and he's handled them pretty nicely.

The first time I rode him, he pretty much did everything wrong. He hated getting dirt in his face; he took himself completely out of it. I finally got him out in the stretch, and he came with this huge run.