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“Yes, we are disappointed but there were no regrets that we picked this race,” said Juddmonte’s U.S. racing manager Garrett O’Rourke. “The options were limited. If we had tried to get him into an allowance race, it might not have filled and then our whole schedule would have been thrown off. I’m disappointed we got into a duel with a 100-1 shot, but that sort of thing happens. As Bill said, let’s turn the page and move on. Everybody felt he acquitted himself fairly well. We’ll just regroup and see how he comes out if and then discus the options.”

While O’Rourke said there are no definite plans to go on to the GI Florida Derby or to stay on the Kentucky Derby trail, he made it clear that the temptation to do so will probably win out at the end of the day.

“Prince Khalid is at a certain stage in his life and he has not won the Derby and neither has Bill,” O’Rourke said. “You don’t want to commit too early to not staying on the trail. The horse could show us a complete turn around in the next few weeks, so I think we’ll just stay the course of what we felt beforehand and just keep on following it along. Everyone totally trusts Bill and he knows there’s no pressure from us. If there are any ‘ifs’ we will back off, but if the horse drags us to the Derby it’s an option we want to keep open.

“Yes, for the time being, we are leaning towards staying on the Derby trail. Why would you not? The Derby is the Derby. With the Derby, you’ve got to get right down to the deadline before you pull yourself out. There is a feeling of disappointment that we got beat, but a good feeling that we still have a potentially special horse. We’re very confident we have a very good horse.”

http://www.thoroughbreddailynews.com...n-derby-trail/

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