Monarchos, trained by John Ward, won the 2001 Derby over Invisible Ink. Andy Lyons/Getty Images
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In this week's SI Players, Kentucky Derby veterans reflect back on their favorite race moments. Here are more of their fondest memories.

John Ward, trainer of 2001 winner Monarchos
"[Owner John] Oxley owned 25 percent of the second-place horse, Invisible Ink. John Velazquez was riding Invisible Ink and he called foul on Monarchos; said he interfered with him at the top of the stretch. And so for a period of about four or five minutes an inquiry delayed the race from being official. But the only thing I could think of while standing there in a void of silence with the horse, waiting in front of a hundred thousand people on live TV was, Mr. Oxley is going to win the Kentucky Derby with or without me. I've done everything I can possibly do to get here, and look at what could knock me out of the picture."

Jorge Velasquez, jockey of 1981 winner Pleasant Colony
"When it's meant to be it's meant to be. In 1981, I had been riding Lord Avie, a heavy favorite for the Derby. I had a spill and broke my collarbone and watched Chris McCarron ride Lord Avie and win the Florida Derby and the Flamingo [Stakes]. When I came back, the owners kept their word and put me back on Lord Avie. Then the horse got hurt. He couldn't make the Derby and was scratched. My agent [got me] on Pleasant Colony ... From there, we went to the Derby. And what happened? I end up winning the Derby.

"When I passed the wire, I was so excited I didn't know what to do. When the people started cheering and screaming and all that, then I realized what I did. I felt like crying. I had to compose myself. I had to stop myself because I couldn't let people see me crying."

John Servis, trainer of 2004 winner Smarty Jones
"Two days before the race, my wife and I met a gentleman in the hotel who was in a wheelchair. We started talking to him, and he was telling us that they were having the national wheelchair rugby tournament about 10 miles from Churchill [Downs]. The next day, after I got done at the barn, we drove over there and ended up watching two games. Let me tell you, this was unbelievable. You're talking about guys who had no legs, arms cut off at the elbows, and they're working these wheelchairs. When someone was on a breakaway, the defender would come flying across the court and slam into him at full speed. And they were knocking the hell out of each other; they were flipping wheelchairs over. You see that thing and you see what kind of courage those guys have and what they're going through, and it makes you realize that what you're going through isn't that big of a deal."

Patrick Biancone, trainer of '04 runner-up Lion Heart
"The forecasters said it would start raining between 4:30 and 5 p.m. and I swear the sky opened up at 4:30 sharp. I had never seen so much rain. So my old friend from France, Jean-Claude Francon, started running around the barn grabbing plastic bags from every corner. After he has them all collected he makes us lift our feet up and puts the bags over them and then he wound tape 'round and 'round our legs like the horses. It worked really well. The mud was unbelievable, but our feet stayed dry."