[Kasept]

MARK ALLEN

Conley: Right now we have Mark Allen joining us by telephone. Mark, nice to talk to you again, welcome to RaceDay America.

Mark Allen: "Thank you."


Conley: "Great to have you here and last I saw you we were all standing around the Barbaro statue as you all handed out roses from the blanket. That was a very sportsmanlike gesture."


Allen: "Yes ma'am, it was fun."


Conley: "I'm sure the whole experience was mind-boggling to say the least. Today the revelation that Ahmed Zayat gave us here on RaceDay America was the fact that y you would enter not only Mine That Bird in the Preakness Stakes but perhaps a colt as well, as he would enter Pioneerof the Nile, the idea being to perhaps exclude Rachel Alexandra from the Preakness field because she is a supplemental entry."

Allen: "Yes ma'am."

Conley: So you will in fact enter Mine That Bird plus one other colt. Who is that colt, Mark?

Allen: "He's an A.P. Indy horse me and Joe Merrick are partners on. You know he's still a maiden but this horse does have talent. He's just coming into himself like Mine That Bird was."

Conley: What's his name?

Allen: "It's Indy Express."

Conley: Indy Express?

Peter Lurie: Mark, as far as Mine That Bird goes, how did Mine That Bird come out of the race and what is the projection for Pimlico?

Allen: "You know he came out of that race better than when he went into it. He's training better. He acts like he needed that race to really be on top of his game. Chip's done a heck of a job with this horse."

Conley: Ahmed Zayat also told us this morning that your trainer, Chip Woolley, not only has the broken leg and foot that he received from that motorcycle accident but that he is sick from that, perhaps from an infection. What is in fact the situation with his foot, Mark?

Allen: "You know, he does have an infection in it. We're trying to get him to lay up and take care of it but it's hard to do 'cause he wants to be down there all time with this horse. You know, I mean it ain't like it's gonna kill him or nothin' but he does have an infection."

Conley: Mark when did that start? When did the infection begin?


Allen: "I think it began two or three days ago. I seen it yesterday; it ain't something you want to look at."

Conley: Yeah, and I'm sure very uncomfortable as he tries to manage things in the barn. Where is Chip right now?

Allen: "He's here in Louisville."

Conley: "In Louisville? Will he then drive the horse down to Pimlico on Tuesday with a police escort as we've read about?"


Allen: "Yeah, you bet. You know and we'll have a truck following him in case something happens to one truck we've got another one to back it up. So, uh, we'll have that trailer being pulled and a truck following him."

Lurie: Mark, last week when we were here in Los Angeles, and again congratulations from everyone here in Los Angeles for your victory, we were discussing the idea of higher elevation at where he was training. Do you feel that played anything in a way in giving him extra oomph down the stretch where a lot of the other horses were getting tired?

Allen: "You know, I think that had a little bit to do with it. If you're coming from a lower elevation and going up, I know it definitely affects you 'cause I've done it a lot with Quarter Horses. And training in higher elevation and coming down I truly think it helps, I truly think it helps."

Conley: Mark how do you respond to allegations that this perhaps is not a sportsmanlike gesture to exclude Rachel Alexandra from the field by entering more horses that are Triple Crown nominated?


Allen: "Well, um, I'll tell ya'. I don't think that we caused the uproar. I think that...this filly being bought and them supplementing her into this race caused the uproar. You know and I'd just like Calvin back on my horse 'cause it's his horse and I'd like, you know, Pioneerof the Nile and Papa Clem and them, they think they can outrun me on a good track and they want a shot at it. With the same, you know, with the same riders and everything. Heck, I'm glad to give 'em a shot at it.

Lurie: Mark, have you had an opportunity or at least has your trainer had an opportunity to talk to Calvin Borel since this thing went down?

Allen: "No we've talked to his agent, you know. You know, Calvin... Calvin's in a bad spot, he's in a bad spot and, you know, hopefully he'll ride this horse and I'm pretty sure that if she ain't in it he'll ride this horse."


Conley: Mark, if he doesn't who will? Mark?

Allen: "If he doesn't, probably Mike Smith."

Conley: Thanks. alright, well thanks for joining us today on "RaceDay America." Interesting as we are just six days out of the Preakness Stakes. We'll keep in touch and see how this all plays out.

Allen: "Thank you ma'am."