I've been waiting two months to get to this race. I've been saying the mile and an eighth can't get here fast enough for this horse.

We just need to let our horse run his race and not worry about what anybody else is doing. At some point, you have to believe Lawyer Ron is not going to run out of the bridle.

I really think the race before (an allowance victory) was when he the light bulb went on, where he actually showed a middle-move acceleration, like he was getting it all figured out. I said six weeks ago I didn't feel like I could get to a mile and an eighth fast enough. Our main goal is still the Arkansas Derby and beyond.

The college teams race a 2,000-meter course, which is about a mile and an eighth. The adult, or masters, crews row 1,000 meters.

I'm figuring we're probably going to be in the back half of the field the first part of the race and see if we can reel them in.

Going a mile, I didn't know if we could handle everything. Our horse wants to run farther.