ESPN Zone: What was the most memorable moment of your racing career?
Gary Stevens: Riding Winning Colors in the 1988 Kentucky Derby. [It was Stevens' first Triple Crown win]

ESPN Zone: What is your favorite sports movie?
Gary Stevens: I watched it last night - The Longest Yard with Burt Reynolds.

ESPN Zone: Do you have any pre-race rituals or superstitions?
Gary Stevens: Actually, my pre-race rituals for big races start about a week out. I flew into Baltimore on Wednesday. I usually like to get to a big race four or five days ahead of time, just to get comfortable and feel that I'm in my element. I basically just like to feel wherever I'm riding is my home. I want to get there, get comfortable and get settled in.

ESPN Zone: If you could be a super hero, who would you be?
Gary Stevens: I guess Superman. If my horse wasn't running fast enough, I could pick the horse up and speed him to the finish line.

ESPN Zone: - If you could meet one person from history, who would it be?
Gary Stevens: Jim Morrison [laughs]. I love his music; I love his lyrics - there's a lot of meaning to the words his sings.

ESPN Zone: Is there a particular song that could relate to your career or your life?
Gary Stevens: Riders on the Storm.

ESPN Zone: Who has had the biggest impact on your career?
Gary Stevens: Definitely my mom and dad and my older brother Scott who is also a jockey. When I got in the limelight and was riding all the big races a lot of your peers look at you as bigger than life. It's really hard to get advice from your peers, but my older brother - he's not afraid to call me up when he sees that I'm in a slump and tell me what I'm doing wrong. Being a jockey is very similar to any other professional athlete - you can have talent, but when it comes down to the big day, it's 90% mental. If you're not mentally focused, you're going to make mistakes and it going to make you pay in the long run.

ESPN Zone: People don't realize that jockeys, like baseball players or other athletes go through slumps do they?
Gary Stevens: Baseball season is so long. A batter may start the season hitting .480 or something phenomenal, but in saying its a lot mental, you can't stay physically 100% and mentally 100% with the stress you put on yourself for a long season. If I get tired or mentally fatigued, I'm going to take time off. I'm getting close to that right now. In mid-June, we're headed to England for about three weeks. I'm going to ride for a week, and then I'm going to take a 2-week vacation. So I think it's really important and for the young people out there to know, you can't keep up that pace year-round. You just can't do it.

ESPN Zone: What athlete would you pay to watch play?
Gary Stevens: After watching Felix Trinidad the other night, I'd pay big-time to watch him. I'm a big fight fan. I was a big fan of Sugar Ray Leonard and haven't really had a favorite fighter since he retired. Watching Trinidad fight the other night, he's got a new fan. I'd love to watch Trinidad fight live.

ESPN Zone: You've been selected to play "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" and you're stuck on the $1 million question - who are you going to call as your phone a friend?
Gary Stevens: Ron Anderson, my old agent. He works for Jerry Bailey now. When I retired, he moved to New York to work for Jerry, but Ron is a guy who not only knows a lot about horse racing, he knows a lot about a lot of different things - or so he says he does! [Laughs]. I don't know though. If it came down to $1 million he might choke! [Laughs]

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