Tim Ritchey Quotations

I don't know when and where, but he will return to racing somewhere this year.

When we started jogging him, he was ready to turn around then, so we had to go real easy with him. He didn't want to come off the racetrack a few times. He had been walking for two and half to three hours a day, and then we started to jog him, but I'll know more as to how much fitness he's maintained once he starts galloping on his own, and once we get a breeze underneath him. But he looks really good.

So I think it's worth trying, and if nothing else he'll get a little battle-tested and a little more experienced. He'll either regress or go forward to bigger and better things.

Kid Lemonade has enough seasoning; he knows what he's doing.

I don't anticipate any more problems because it's 99.9 percent healed. He still has a lot of muscle on him. He doesn't have a big belly. That was the point of walking him two hours a day -- keeping him fit and maintaining muscle tone without putting stress on his legs.

I didn't have anything running that day. It worked out real well.

I can't see a speed horse getting away on his own.

I feel privileged to be able to speak for this cause and raise money for it. It'll be a great horse race, but there's more to life than just horse racing ... and this is part of it.

I expected him to be blowing much harder than he was after pulling up, being that it was his first work in two months.

I look forward to Alex's return to the races. The book isn't over ... there are still more chapters to be written to this story. As always, the health of the horse is most important.

He went to the track and jogged a mile, and he was very happy to get out,

He won first time out around two turns at Delaware and then ran fourth in the Champagne. He's the best 3-year-old I have here as far as distance goes. He's got a lot of potential.

Hes a very laid back and very easy going horse and he took it better than most horses would have,

He'll probably go a half-mile or five-eighths, ... Jeremy Rose will be on him. I'll tell him to go a half, and if he's feeling fine to go five-eighths.

I watched him work and he looked fantastic. I mean, he's the real deal. As long as he stays healthy and they get him to relax like they did last time, I see him being a force definitely in the Arkansas Derby and probably through the whole Triple Crown.

I said before, hopefully, Belmont day, I would move for every racetrack to have a lemonade stand on Belmont day throughout the entire United States and give a dollar to the lemonade stand or their local juvenile cancer fund. And, like I said earlier, everybody who was fortunate enough to bet on this horse, makes a little money, just take $1, donate it to Alex's Lemonade Stand or local juvenile cancer fund, and maybe we can make the world a better place.

When I saw him this morning, he said 'hi' to me, and I said 'hi' to him.

We're not going to put the cart before the horse. We'll nominate him to a lot of things between now and the end of the year, but our focus is getting him back into a routine and then a work schedule.

Dr. (Larry) Bramlage came on Friday and we did the digital X-rays again and it showed the healing is taking place,

At this point, he's only going out once a morning anyhow because the race is coming up.

Congratulations Barclay. You've got yourself the real thing there.

(Cordero's) been bugging me for a year, ... He always wants to get on him, always wants to get on him. I think it was a little something extra for the fans.

I've been a trainer over 30 years, so you put your time in at the small tracks, you finally get an opportunity to find a horse of this ability, believe me it's the horse,

As soon as we get the results of the X-rays, we can develop a plan for getting him on the track. He has continued to walk three or four times a day and seems to be fine.

I spoke to Dr. Hogan and Dr. Bramlage yesterday, and they said the X-rays were really good, ... Dr. Bramlage gave us the OK to start galloping him. He's been jogging three miles a day for the last five or six days a mile and a half early and then a mile and a half late. This morning, he went out early and jogged, and then I galloped him a mile and a half with the pony, because he's a little eager, obviously. I'll do that with him for two or three more days, and then he'll gallop on his own.

There are a bunch of different spots that weekend. We're definitely further along than I thought we were, which is good news.

There are a couple of races that weekend for us to look at, ... If we can get a prep in, I wouldn't want it to be any closer than two weeks before the Breeders' Cup. The 14th or the 15th would be an ideal scenario. It's just a matter of figuring out if he's ready to do it, and, if so, what race we want to go in.

We will know more after he starts galloping,

Angel has been bugging me for a year. He has always wanted to get on him. When they asked me to do this, and the X-rays were fine and everything was OK to go on the tack again, I called him up and said I've got something for you on Saturday. He was more than glad to do it. I think that it was something a little extra for the fans.

The work was faster than what I was hoping for. But I thought that was a good sign because it means we're more forward than I thought we were.

After about two weeks, we'll take X-rays again, and he should get the OK to start to gallop. It's not totally healed, but Dr. Bramlage was very pleased with the amount of healing that's taken place the last two weeks. I'd say it's probably 99% healed, and with the little bit of added jogging to his regimen of rehab, that will stimulate the remaining amount of healing. It's a fine line; you don't want to gallop, because that would retard the healing. But the jogging will stimulate that bone a little more, and that should heal it up the remainder of the way.

After the breeze, we'll see how it goes.

Although perhaps a disappointment for racing, it is only a temporary one. The prognosis remains excellent for a return to Alex's elite level of competition.

Right now, we want to run in the Cigar Mile if he is 100 percent,

Running in a Grade 1 in his second race is not ideally what you want to do, but Menacing showed me a lot off the first race,

(Afleet Alex) likes doing things and he likes people. So, he had to enjoy this. His ears were up for almost the whole time. It was something different for him to do and I'm glad we were able to fit it into our program. Saratoga asked us if we would do it, and we were more than glad to -- anything to help support the sport that is my livelihood.

That is the race I've been pointing for.

It's been exciting. The Steelers got healthy at the right time, and they are playing great.

It will be interesting to see what reaction we have and how many fans walk over to the paddock to see him. The fans support our sport. If we can do any little things to help them have interest and have a good time at the races, it's something that everybody has to step up to the plate and do.

He said everything was finethat the horse felt 100% sound. He likes being out of his stall and doing things, and when he went to the track he had his ears up. He was glad to be back.

As far as I know they'd only sell him for breeding, and even that would not be a 100% sale.

The bottom line is that since barn 14 was no longer a security barn and he would have to be moved on race day anyhow, I thought it would be a better situation in Barn 5. Since there were three stalls available there, it worked out perfectly.

The horse is doing very well clinically and has progressed remarkably well ... We feel it is in Alex's best interests to miss the Breeders' Cup races,

It's not 100 percent healed, ... It's better than previous X-rays, but there's still a small area there.

You can't make that big move when you normally make it, because you won't get to the finish.

We expected this kind of performance. I wasn't surprised he was that far back, but when he got rolling, it was a lot of fun.

I told Jeremy to start him off real easy,

It made me feel very good. It was a very nice thing for him to do. I've never met the man, and he was thanking me for being a team supporter.

I believe he will overcome this bump in the road. I believe we can formulate a plan that will have Alex back racing at his previous level.

If I can do that it would be the ideal way, but Ill know more after a week of gallops and after I get a breeze into him, ... Hopefully, it can be the Breeders Cup, but if its not well find another race for him after the Breeders Cup. There are plenty of races out there. My job is to get him back to winning form.

An amazing story. I'm proud to be part of it.