The fractions were a little soft and I thought Stevie was a little closer than I wanted him to be but it worked out. Alex had a lot of horse. He knows the horse and he rode him perfect.

It looked like he was galloping, and I thought he was going way too slow. But he went :49 1/5, and I asked him to go :49, so he got it pretty close. We just wanted to stretch his legs, get over the track, and do a little something because it's been a week since we worked him at Santa Anita. He's fit from his races; I didn't need a lot. It was just a little something as much for us as for him.

He was a very soft-spoken, quiet guy who thought deeply. He was a very kind colleague who didn't try to lord it over other people. It was a kind of respect you don't run into a lot in academia.

I wish I had something like it to teach adverbs and fractions.

You have Dallas who's an All-American, you have an All-American closer in Gunderson, and you have Nickerson who pitched on the National team and is an All-American in his own right. With him going on Sunday you really feel like your guy, at least on paper, is better than their guy.

He's got good speed, but it might be a good race for him to sit off the pace a tiny bit.