Callaghan puts on brave face after Firing Line's tough beat

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Trainer Simon Callaghan stood in the middle of the Churchill Downs racetrack calmly talking to a handful of reporters just minutes after his first Kentucky Derby starter, Firing Line, had suffered a heartbreaking defeat at the hands of the favorite American Pharoah. The rookie handled himself like a guy who’d done this sort of thing a dozen times before.

Callaghan, a native of Newmarket, England, who came to the U.S. six years earlier, said all the right things. He praised the winner, credited jockey Gary Stevens with a perfect ride on his horse, and offered no excuses for the narrow defeat, all the while holding back the emotions that come with narrowly missing a victory in the world’s most prestigious horse race.

“It’s awfully disappointing,” said Callaghan who left school at 16 to follow in the footsteps of his father, Neville Callaghan. “He ran great. We just got beat by a very good horse. He had no excuses. He relaxed. Gary did everything right. He got him in good position. It was very close at the end. It was a tough beat.”

Stevens, riding in his 21st Derby, knows as well as anyone the thrill of victory and the agony of Kentucky Derby defeat.

“The look on Simon’s face, man,” said Stevens. “People ask me what it’s like to ride for a 32-year-old. He’s wise beyond his years. When I came back, I was very excited about this colt’s performance, and he had some tears, man. You never know when you’re going to get this opportunity if ever again, and to come that close in his first Derby, it would have been, as he says, ‘mega.’ ”

Minutes later, a composed Callaghan said that for a moment, in the stretch, he thought his horse was going to pull off the upset.

“I know those other two horses well, and I could see it was going to be extremely close between the three of them,” said Callaghan. “I wish [Firing Line] drew away a little bit, but he tried all the way. Even though he got beat, he really did us proud.”

Callaghan did a terrific job preparing Firing Line for the big event. After suffering a pair of narrow defeats to Dortmund in the Los Alamitos Futurity and Robert Lewis Stakes, Callaghan opted to pass the prestigious Santa Anita Derby and another confrontation with his nemesis to take an easier route to Louisville. Callaghan shipped his horse to little Sunland Park to dominate the Grade 3 Sunland Derby and clinch himself a berth in the Derby field.

“This makes three close defeats by the Baffert horses, but that’s the game,” said Callaghan. “Obviously, it was good to see him finally beat Dortmund today, and the result of the race was a credit to racing in California. It’s a very tough circuit. I figured they were the three best horses. I knew we had improved a lot. Our horse did everything right. Unfortunately, he just got beat.”

Callaghan said his initial reaction is to go on to Baltimore with Firing Line for a rematch with American Pharoah and Dortmund.

“There are a lot of reasons to think it’s the right move to go to the Preakness,” said Callaghan. “It’s obviously very good for the sport to have three good horses like this, and I’m a pretty competitive guy, so I’d love to have another chance to go up against Bob [Baffert] and those other two horses again. It was all an amazing experience, running a horse in my first Derby, and this just makes you want to come back again and win it.”

– additional reporting by David Grening