LOUISVILLE, Ky (WDRB) - "Hell Yeah."
That was Jason Servis' response.
The question was whether the trainer was concerned he might lose his horse, Maximum Security in a $16,000 claiming race last fall.
That meant, another trainer could have claimed the horse afterwards for what is considered quite cheap.
"When I entered him into the 16 did I think he'd win? Yeah, I thought he'd win," said Servis.
Maximum Security did win, and nobody claimed him, because nobody could have expected the colt to blossom into a Derby entrant.
"I didn't think I'd lose him, and who is to say he'd still be here if I did?" said Servis.
Jason wonders if he played things perfectly with Maximum Security, keeping him successful against softer competition leading up to a win in the Florida Derby. Would that have happened had someone claimed him?
"Maybe they would have jumped into tougher company right away and he would have run second or third, and maybe they'd do it again and he runs fifth, and now he ends up, like I said, they get where they go through the motions and get a little tired," said Servis.
Jason hopes to join his brother as a Kentucky Derby winner. John Servis trained Smarty Jones in 2004.
"I want to be the first brothers to win the Derby," said Servis -- and he still has faith that it could happen.
"I was raised Catholic and I was an altar boy: I did Easter and Christmas," said Servis. "My brother and I together because we had the blonde hair. I say my prayers on the way to work and that's the way it is."
With 8-1 morning line odds, Servis has one of the top contenders heading into Saturday.
"I'm not all that confident," he said, laughing. "There's 19 other trainers out there and they're damn good ones so, we got in, we're here. Give it a college try."
We'll see if that's good enough on Saturday.
The winner of the Derby gets $1.8 million. Not long ago, nobody thought Maximum Security was worth $16,000.
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