Much like his Preakness-winning colt Shackleford, few people expected trainer Dale Romans to be in the winner's circle at a Triple Crown race.
"It's unbelievable," the 44-year-old Romans said after Shackleford held off a late charge by Kentucky Derby champion Animal Kingdom to win the Preakness. "It's phenomenal."
"It shows that if anybody that gets started in the horse business can do this, because Lord knows, 25 years ago nobody thought I'd sit up here and talk about a classic race.
"We had a lot of horses, and some were the cheapest of the cheap. My brother and I were reminiscing today about some of the horses and how bad they were.
"It just shows that if you keep doing it long enough and you get the right horses in your hands, anybody can do it."
The colt's owners, Michael Lauffer and Bill Cubbedge entered Shackleford in the 2009 Keeneland yearling sale but bought him back when he failed to meet his $275,000 reserve.
But he made them look like geniuses by earning a $600,000 paycheck Saturday at Pimlico Race Course with a spirited win against 13 of the nation's top three-year-olds.
The Kentucky-bred chestnut galloped comfortably in second place for the entire race before assuming the lead at the top of the stretch and winning by a half-length.
Lauffer and Cubbedge sold the champion filly Rachel Alexandra two weeks before the 2009 Preakness only to watch her win the race.
"Two years ago, even though I didn't own Rachel anymore, we came up to the Preakness to watch her," said Lauffer. "We were just so proud of her.
"She was just a special horse that comes around once in a lifetime. I'm probably a little closer to Shackleford because we bred him and raised him, and we've been with him for three years now."
If Shackleford, a 12-1 underdog with only six prior races to his credit, and Romans were unlikely winners of the prestigious Grade I race, so was Mexican-born jockey Jesus Castanon.
The little-known 37-year-old looked like a master in holding off Animal Kingdom for his first career Triple Crown victory.
Romans said Castanon, who finished fourth with Shackleford in the Derby, does not get flustered.
"I thought he'd be nervous before the Kentucky Derby, and I went up to talk to him a little bit, and he looked like he was going out on a Wednesday afternoon," Romans said. "He ended up calming me down when I left the room.
"So it didn't bother him at all that we were going out for a classic. He knew he had ridden with all these jockeys before, and he could do it again."
"It's unbelievable," the 44-year-old Romans said after Shackleford held off a late charge by Kentucky Derby champion Animal Kingdom to win the Preakness. "It's phenomenal."
"It shows that if anybody that gets started in the horse business can do this, because Lord knows, 25 years ago nobody thought I'd sit up here and talk about a classic race.
"We had a lot of horses, and some were the cheapest of the cheap. My brother and I were reminiscing today about some of the horses and how bad they were.
"It just shows that if you keep doing it long enough and you get the right horses in your hands, anybody can do it."
The colt's owners, Michael Lauffer and Bill Cubbedge entered Shackleford in the 2009 Keeneland yearling sale but bought him back when he failed to meet his $275,000 reserve.
But he made them look like geniuses by earning a $600,000 paycheck Saturday at Pimlico Race Course with a spirited win against 13 of the nation's top three-year-olds.
The Kentucky-bred chestnut galloped comfortably in second place for the entire race before assuming the lead at the top of the stretch and winning by a half-length.
Lauffer and Cubbedge sold the champion filly Rachel Alexandra two weeks before the 2009 Preakness only to watch her win the race.
"Two years ago, even though I didn't own Rachel anymore, we came up to the Preakness to watch her," said Lauffer. "We were just so proud of her.
"She was just a special horse that comes around once in a lifetime. I'm probably a little closer to Shackleford because we bred him and raised him, and we've been with him for three years now."
If Shackleford, a 12-1 underdog with only six prior races to his credit, and Romans were unlikely winners of the prestigious Grade I race, so was Mexican-born jockey Jesus Castanon.
Romans said Castanon, who finished fourth with Shackleford in the Derby, does not get flustered.
"I thought he'd be nervous before the Kentucky Derby, and I went up to talk to him a little bit, and he looked like he was going out on a Wednesday afternoon," Romans said. "He ended up calming me down when I left the room.
"So it didn't bother him at all that we were going out for a classic. He knew he had ridden with all these jockeys before, and he could do it again."
