Shipping a few days out has been my way of doing it, but for this race I'd have to think we'd do it a little differently and get him a work over the track.

It definitely changed our strategy. We got a small Derby prep at Laurel, the Miracle Wood Stakes, or we probably wouldn't be here.

When we got in the race, we knew what we had to do and knew what we wanted to do. Having three of four guys from the American record 800 free relay is a pretty solid relay, so we thought we could take a crack at (the U.S. Open record) tonight. We're all a little tired, but that's fifth-fastest American relay ever, so it's not a bad time. We ended tonight on a great note.

Coming into tonight, I knew it was going to be a great race, ... In the 400, Laszlo put up a 4:10.1 earlier in the year, and so you expect him to put up a good time in (the 200). I knew Ryan was going to be fast coming off his short course season, and he’s improved a lot since Athens, so I just wanted to go out there and relax a bit and go out there and do what I had to do.

It's not the right way to win my first race of the year

This race will be a test. This was sort of the plan for this horse all along. The timing was just right for his turf races. We've taken our time with him. Physically, he was ready before, but mentally, he had a lot of growing up to do.