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00:00Good morning, it is 913 Wednesday, August 25th.
00:27This is the TDN Writer's Room presented by Keeneland.
00:29My name is Joe Bianca.
00:30I'm the associate editor of the Thoroughbred Daily News, and it's only been two preseason
00:35games, but I'm feeling pretty good about my beautiful young quarterback.
00:39We shall see how the Jets will fare in this season.
00:42I'm Bill Finley.
00:43I'm a correspondent for the Thoroughbred Daily News.
00:44Gratuitous plug.
00:45My Sirius XM show, Down the Stretch, is back live now, 10 to 1, every Saturday morning
00:50on channel 211 after being stuck in COVID hell for 17 months.
00:55Very nice, Bill.
00:56I'm Green, general manager of DJ Stable, and Bill, I actually owe you an apology because
01:00last week when we did our 100th show, you gave us a very heartfelt story about how the
01:06first time you were at Saratoga, 50 years prior to that, and I kind of peed all over
01:11your Cheerios, and I do apologize.
01:13I actually spent last night looking up the Winner's Circle picture of Secretariat in
01:17the Sanford, and that's actually the Winner's Circle picture.
01:20Oh my goodness.
01:21In the Sanford?
01:22Well, wait, because right here, you see where the crowd is?
01:25Yes.
01:27Through technology, I had Patti and her crew kind of pull that out and repixelate and pull
01:32it out and repixelate, and Joe, to your point, there is an eight-year-old Bill with the lollipop,
01:41and he wants to be in the press, and that actually comes from right here.
01:45You'd be surprised.
01:46Who's the dude with the long hair there?
01:50Don't deflect.
01:51We're still on you and how adorably you look, and look, it's the same haircut as you have
01:56now.
01:57You put way too much effort into this.
01:58Oh my God, yeah.
01:59You have no idea.
02:00I was up at midnight trying to find it, but thanks to Patti and her crew, they actually
02:02found you in the crowd, and it was between this outfit, the Red Sox, your beloved Red
02:08Sox, which, ironically enough, you're still wearing a Red Sox shirt.
02:11It may be the same one, for all we know.
02:12He still needs a lolly before he'll do anything else.
02:14Let me remind you, when I asked who won the 1972 Sanford, your original answer was Man
02:19O' War.
02:20Man O' War, right.
02:21And I was actually, last night, I was looking at the Man O' War pictures.
02:23They don't have pictures back then, because they didn't have talkies back then, all right?
02:26But yes, there is living proof that Bill Finley was actually really there at the Sanford.
02:32What a collector's item.
02:33You've got to frame that.
02:34We'll put it on eBay.
02:35Put it up on the wall over here.
02:36Put it up on the wall.
02:37That's amazing.
02:38That's what I do in my spare time.
02:42Which obviously you have way too much.
02:45That's because we don't have a real job.
02:48Most of the day is photoshopping a bill with a lolly.
02:51Literally photoshopping.
02:52I literally, you know, Sue Patty goes, you know, you can do that online.
02:55I'm like, I know.
02:56I know.
02:57I'm old school, though.
02:58I want to cut and paste.
02:59Exactly.
03:01The TDN Writer's Room is presented by Keeneland, home of the World's Yearling Sale.
03:05Make plans to attend the Keeneland September Yearling Sale beginning Monday, September 13th.
03:09The catalog is now available at theworldyearlingsale.com.
03:14Just a couple of notes.
03:1554 yearlings out of grade one winners will be featured at Keeneland September.
03:19Dams include Champions Day at the Spa, Take Charge Brandy, Unique Bella, Desita,
03:24plus Kentucky Oaks winners Believe You Can and Catherine Sophia.
03:27Also, a couple of supplements of note.
03:29399B, HIP 399B is a half-sister to Nick's Go, who we just saw blow out the Whitney Stakes
03:36and is probably going to be a favorite for Horse of the Year, or at least older male.
03:39And it's from the first crop of Justify.
03:41That HIP 399B and HIP 399A is a Medaglia d'Oro half-brother to Dreyfon.
03:47I remember him.
03:48He was a very, very sharp sprinter for the Chews and Bob Baffert.
03:53John's got the catalog, and it's not just a prop.
03:55John is actually thumbing through this catalog during breaks.
03:59I was flipping through it, and it's really amazing because you see the usual suspects.
04:02You see into mischiefs.
04:03You see gun runners.
04:04You see Medaglia d'Oros.
04:06But what I'm really excited about is there's almost 30 Justifies that are selling in book one alone.
04:12Wow.
04:13And starting off with HIP number one, Justify out of I Bet Tony Knows.
04:16So you're going to know exactly what the market thinks of Justifies on HIP number one of 4,000 horses.
04:23Yep.
04:24Well, looking forward to it.
04:25It's less than a month away.
04:26All right.
04:27So we had a pretty good weekend of racing.
04:28We had the main two races that I think were on most people's menu that week to bet and watch
04:34were the Pacific Classic and the Alabama.
04:38Alabama, not a great betting race, I guess, with Malathot as a prohibitive favorite in there.
04:43But I thought she, as someone who has been critical of her schedule and will continue to be
04:49because they were already saying after the race that she's not going to run again until the distaff,
04:53which I think is a little crazy.
04:54They're grade one races for fillies and mares.
04:56And between now and then, nevertheless, one thing that's very admirable about her
05:02is the way she shows up every time and kind of the way that essential quality does.
05:06I think that she's like an interesting analog to him that she stumbled a little bit coming
05:11out of the gate this time.
05:12She had to trail the field earlier than she moved up a little bit down the back stretch,
05:16had to go wide on both turns, and she just she grinds it out.
05:19She gets it done.
05:20You know, if you want to say this isn't the greatest crop of three-year-old fillies we've ever seen,
05:24I would agree with you.
05:25She only got a 95 buyer.
05:27But nevertheless, she is just she's a war horse.
05:31I think that she just shows up every single time and finds a way to get the job done.
05:35She's basically, you know, one nose away from being undefeated in her career.
05:39And I think she's locked up three-year-old Philly champion now.
05:42She's got three grade one.
05:43She's got the Kentucky Oaks.
05:44I don't see any way that anyone could overtake her between now and the end of the year,
05:49which is probably why they don't feel compelled to run her before the disc staff.
05:53Nevertheless, I thought it was it was a nice performance of her by her at Tripoli
05:57in the Pacific Classic.
05:58I don't know.
05:59It was was Dr. Post didn't show up in that race.
06:02I felt like it just it lost a little bit of its luster.
06:06And, you know, you had two of the top three horses from the San Diego
06:10battling down the stretch.
06:11Tripoli has come along pretty nicely.
06:13It's basically a turf horse his whole career until the last couple of races.
06:17He's run really well on dirt.
06:18So John Sadler's done a good job with them by kittens joy.
06:21So I wasn't like it was obvious to try this horse on dirt all along.
06:24But, you know, it's it's it's worked out for him.
06:26And it was interesting that Tiago Pereira only rode that race that day.
06:30That was I never heard about that.
06:31Just I never heard of that.
06:32Just to focus on that one race.
06:34But those are the main two results for me.
06:35I have a couple more I want to get to, but I'll toss it to Bill.
06:39Yeah, I would agree with you.
06:40I was on the other highlight to me.
06:42Maybe you were going to say this.
06:43I thought Mo Forza winning the Del Mar mile first start since October 3rd of
06:47last year.
06:48Obviously, he sharpened back and is going to be a candidate for the
06:51British Cup.
06:52I pretty much agree with everything you said, you know, mouth.
06:55That is what she is.
06:56And I afterwards there were some people on Twitter.
06:59So she ought to take on the boys and like, you know, I mean, come on.
07:02She's she's the best three-year-old Philly of what I would agree with you
07:06is, is a, you know, maybe just a pedestrian lot.
07:10She is kind of, you know, when I described essential quality is a
07:14grinder.
07:15And again, that's not folks a negative term.
07:18It's just how the style they went.
07:20She's like that as well.
07:21I thought some of the like the pre-race interviews with Richard Migliore
07:24and John Valeska is talking about that.
07:26You heard right before the race.
07:27How, you know, you really got to get after her.
07:29She, you know, she, you got to let her know that time to go.
07:32It's time to go.
07:33And she gets the job done.
07:34You know, of course, I agree with a thousand percent.
07:37I mean, she should be running five times between on the Breeders' Cup,
07:40which is what horses actually used to do in the day, you know, not all
07:44that long ago.
07:45But, you know, it's look, it's everybody's drank the Kool-Aid.
07:48There's no going back now, you know, where I guess we're lucky.
07:51So what she's run, she'll have two races between the Kentucky Oaks
07:55and the Breeders' Cup.
07:56Did I just shake my head?
07:57And the other thing about Tripoli that I'll add is, you know,
08:00John Sadler, to me, was the story here.
08:02He is so good with these kinds of horses.
08:05The horse had 12 career starts and didn't, hadn't even run in a stakes race
08:11and then goes in the San Diego and then goes in the Pacific Classic.
08:15First stakes win comes in the Pacific Classic for the last five years
08:18for Sadler.
08:19His horses take their time to get good.
08:22But we see this over and over and over again.
08:25I mean, horses that when they're three or maybe even two,
08:27you think, ah, this horse is just, nothing's going to really,
08:30they're just another horse.
08:31And then, lo and behold, they get to this age and this point
08:34in their career.
08:35And, you know, again, he's no superstar, but he's now grade one winner.
08:38And I think Sadler has a lot to do with that.
08:41I love Royal Ship in that race.
08:43I was very disappointed in him.
08:45And Express Train, another one, didn't run much at all.
08:48So it was kind of a strange race.
08:50Yeah, and you guys hit on the major races.
08:52So I'm going to go a little bit offbeat and talk about, you know,
08:56a stake race, the Summer Colony, which was for fillies and mares
08:59that had never won a graded stake race in the current calendar year.
09:03And Harala just went gate to wire and just looked so impressive
09:06in that race.
09:07And I know she didn't run against any great shakes,
09:09especially once Dunbar Road scratched out of the race.
09:11But she's just a nice old mare and a Jersey bred,
09:14which is why I think she's near and dear to my heart.
09:17But now she's racked up, you know, well over $800,000 in earnings.
09:20And it's just nice to see because, you know,
09:23there's a horse that used to be trained by John Mazza
09:25before he passed away.
09:27And the owner continually, every time the horse wins,
09:30you know, gives an homage to the previous trainer
09:33and thanks him, you know, for bringing this filly into the barn.
09:38So that was just nice to see.
09:40You know, she ran 88 by her, which was fine.
09:42You know, it was a nice prep for her to kind of get
09:44on the winning ways again and start back up.
09:46Horologist?
09:47Horologist.
09:48She got 100.
09:49What?
09:50No, it was 88.
09:51We're looking at the wrong thing there.
09:53She won by so much.
09:54I thought it was going to be higher.
09:56And, you know, she won by almost nine lengths in a hand ride,
09:59you know, from beginning to end.
10:00It wasn't even in question.
10:02But it's just nice to see a horse like that that goes on.
10:05And, you know, she'll be pointed, I'm sure,
10:07for eventually for the Breeders' Cup fillies and mares
10:10to run against some of the big girls like Malthot
10:12that we're talking about in Clariere and Army Wife, et cetera.
10:15But I think that was a good decision to put her in a race like this,
10:18take advantage of the way the race was written
10:20and go off at even money and show why you're an even money horse.
10:24I know we're going to talk a little bit about safe conduct,
10:26so I don't want to steal anyone's thunder on that.
10:28I have some thoughts on that.
10:30And while we're staying north of the border,
10:32we actually ran in the Highlander in the grade one.
10:34And our big concern going into the race was Caravelle.
10:37And she was like one to five in the race.
10:39And not only did Caravelle run poorly,
10:41we ran poorly also.
10:42And it set it up for Silent Poet,
10:44who was just an old, hard-knocking horse
10:46that's now run 22 times and won 11 of them.
10:49And, you know, an old Stronach horse
10:51that, you know, he ran a 98 by her.
10:54But for a trainer, Nicholas Gonzalez,
10:56that had not won a race the entire year
10:58and jumps up and wins a grade one to break the schneid.
11:02So I thought that was an interesting story as well.
11:04Yeah, well, I mean, there are a lot of cool horses like that,
11:07I feel like, in Canada,
11:08that just stick around in hard-knocking wind machines.
11:11I think Mark Cassie's horse, Super Stonehenge,
11:13is starting to turn into that.
11:16Now he's kind of taking the mantle from Pink Lloyd
11:18in that way.
11:20But, yeah, you know,
11:21just a couple other horses I wanted to mention.
11:23You know, Bill Rudd of Mo Forza.
11:25I thought that was very impressive.
11:27And especially because it was off the layoff
11:29and you have to figure
11:30he was not totally cranked for that race.
11:32He didn't get off all that great.
11:34He kind of, you know,
11:35made this one grinding run
11:36and ran down a pretty nice horse in smooth, like, straight
11:39who was not stopping.
11:40He really reeled him in.
11:42So that's a very, very interesting horse.
11:44And I think, you know,
11:45unless I'm forgetting somebody,
11:46that's the best American Hope in the mile,
11:49as far as I'm concerned,
11:50especially considering that you expect him
11:52to move forward off of that race.
11:55Also, Code of Honor had a big win in the Island.
11:59Got a 105 buyer.
12:00Definitely his best race in a while.
12:02We'll see.
12:03Maybe they'll try a little quick turnaround
12:04in the Jockey Club Gold Cup,
12:05but maybe they'll point to something else.
12:08And then, like you said,
12:09up north, north of the border,
12:11you know, Safe Conduct was a really cool win.
12:13And I did a story.
12:14I don't usually plug my stuff,
12:15but I did a story on Phil Serpy yesterday
12:18and just kind of how big of a win that was for him.
12:21You know, this being only his third win of the year.
12:24In fact, his second win was like a week or two ago
12:27in a maiden race at Saratoga with this horse, King Angelo.
12:30To have only your third win of the year
12:33and for it to be the Queen's Plate is a pretty big deal.
12:35And he talked a lot about, you know,
12:37the increasing consolidation on the backstretch
12:39and the monopolization going on and how he's lost,
12:42you know, the Bromans don't race nearly as much
12:44as they used to.
12:45Yeah, he used to train for Flying Z Stable.
12:48Carl is obviously died in the last 10 years
12:50and they had to disperse their stock.
12:52So it's hard and it's harder for now,
12:54for him now to compete with these huge stables
12:58of high-priced yearling and two-year-old purchases
13:01and private purchases.
13:02So it was, it's, I said, just checking it out.
13:04He kind of unprompted just spilled his guts
13:07about all of the kind of the issues
13:09with the industry in terms of squeezing out
13:11the small trainers.
13:12So I definitely would check that out.
13:14But yeah, Safe Conduct, a very likable horse over,
13:16you know, overachieving $45,000 weanling buy.
13:19And it was, you know, I was,
13:21he actually ran a really good race.
13:23He got a great trip under Irado Ortiz.
13:25He got him out from that rail,
13:27got him in the clear for the stalking two-path trip.
13:29But if you look at the race,
13:30the pace other than him fell apart.
13:32All the other horses that were second, third,
13:34fourth and fifth closed from well back in the pack.
13:37And I think the second, third and fourth horses early
13:39were like 10th, 12th and 13th or something like that.
13:42So he ran a really good race.
13:44He's not going to,
13:45he's probably not going to go in the Prince of Wales.
13:47He's not a dirt horse.
13:48He's, his two dirt races have not been good,
13:50but Serby said he's going to ship them back up.
13:52Most likely for the breeder stakes,
13:54which is the third leg of the Canadian triple ground,
13:57which is on turf.
13:58I think it's a mile and a half.
14:00It's a long race.
14:01It's a marathon, yeah.
14:02So that's at the beginning of October.
14:03So yeah, those, those are cool results.
14:05We always like to see the little guys get big wins.
14:07Cause you know,
14:08it just, it just plainly means more to them and their bottom
14:11line and their stables health and long-term success.
14:14So, so that was a cool result overall.
14:16Some, some interesting results from the weekend,
14:18but I think this weekend coming up and we're going to get to it.
14:21The Traverse card is going to be a absolute blockbuster star
14:25studded day of racing.
14:26We'll get to it a little later after this message from Keeneland.
15:07The TDN writers room is brought to you by Spendthrift farm.
15:33Obviously it was a very sad week in the world of Spendthrift and
15:36just in the world of racing in general, losing B. Wayne Hughes.
15:38Well, we're going to get into his life and his legacy in a little bit.
15:42We're going to do a whole segment on it.
15:43But on the track Intimus,
15:45we've had a couple of TDN rising stars on Saturday.
15:48It seems like a broken record.
15:49Ain't easy.
15:50Who's a legacy grad,
15:51a sponsorship crossover at Delmar and my prankster at Saratoga,
15:56who was incredible.
15:57We didn't bring him up in the, in the recap,
15:59but he was very,
16:00very impressive top watch out a couple of nice two year olds,
16:02but my prankster,
16:03especially very impressive TDN rising star.
16:05And he just joined tap it.
16:07And giants causeway is the fastest ever in North America to reach the
16:11hundred million dollar mile milestone for a sire,
16:14which is incredible.
16:15And I just wanted to hat tip,
16:17first of all,
16:18to Katie for finding this,
16:19but also for out to Alan Carrasco had a tweet earlier this week
16:22between them into mischief and the late Malibu moon from Spendthrift
16:25have a combined 49 TDN rising stars.
16:29That is an incredible stat.
16:31And obviously with intermissive,
16:33that number is only going to grow exponentially.
16:36So my story on,
16:37on safe conduct,
16:38I think it,
16:39it blew up a little bit because it has like seven retweets and 20
16:43likes,
16:44but no,
16:45it's a,
16:46I think it resonated because of the stuff that Phil Serpy was
16:47talking about.
16:48Something we talk about on the show is something that's on the
16:49mind of a lot of smaller trainers and them getting squeezed out
16:52of the game.
16:53But I know Bill and John have some thoughts on this too.
16:54Yeah.
16:55I mean,
16:56he did make some good points in there.
16:57I think Phil Serpy is,
16:58is a very competent trainer who you know,
17:01there's no reason why he should have been going into the Queen's
17:03plate with the two wins on the year,
17:05but he's not alone.
17:06As he said,
17:07I mean,
17:08there are dozens and dozens of dozens of guys in the,
17:10in his shoes to the point where I actually wonder how somebody
17:13like in that situation may actually makes a living,
17:16you know,
17:17winning three or four races a year.
17:19But the problem with this is what do you do about it?
17:21You know,
17:22you can't go to Seth Claremont and say,
17:23Seth,
17:24you have 80 horses.
17:25You can only give 40 to Chad Brown.
17:26You have to spread the other 40 around among other trainers.
17:29I mean,
17:30it's still,
17:31this is a capitalistic system and there's,
17:33you know,
17:34you,
17:35any kind of artificial caps you would put into this would be
17:38probably illegal to begin with as well as stall limitations.
17:41I mean,
17:42that's the one thing that has changed.
17:43John,
17:44you remember back in the day,
17:45a guy had 35 stalls and that was it.
17:46No having,
17:47you know,
17:4875 horses here and another 75 at this place and another 75 at
17:51that place.
17:52But you know,
17:53that ship has sailed.
17:54We're not going back to that.
17:55So while I am sympathetic to what he said,
17:58I really don't see how this is ever going to change.
18:01And you know,
18:02it is,
18:03it's,
18:04you know,
18:05kind of,
18:06it's a big bad world out there,
18:07you know?
18:08And I can't believe I'm saying this,
18:09but Bill,
18:10I agree with you a hundred percent.
18:11I really thought you were going to go in the other direction.
18:12And I was,
18:13I was all,
18:14you know,
18:15getting some information together as to,
18:16as to the problem with what Phil said,
18:17the underlying theme of super trainers are,
18:20you know,
18:21taking over the industry and this is going to be the end of
18:23the world.
18:24You know,
18:25take out super trainer and put in Amazon,
18:27put in other big business.
18:28And,
18:29and that's what the mom and pop,
18:30you know,
18:31businesses of the world have always been railing against.
18:33And I understand that.
18:34Cause I,
18:35you know,
18:36again,
18:37before I did this,
18:38I started my own business with no clients and no money under
18:39management and you have to build and build and people would
18:41always come back and say,
18:42well,
18:43I have my accounts with Morgan Stanley or Bear Stearns or fill in
18:45the blank.
18:46You know,
18:47why should I go with a small,
18:48you know,
18:49boutique operation like yours?
18:50And you had to prove why you were better or why you were
18:52better for that person at least.
18:54And,
18:55and Phil,
18:56you know,
18:57I'm going to talk to you directly.
18:58If you're listening to this podcast,
18:59nothing made me happier than seeing an old mammoth trainer,
19:02win a grade one like this.
19:04That was awesome.
19:05It was great.
19:06It was,
19:07you know,
19:08it's a feather in your cap.
19:09It's your third grade,
19:10one of your career,
19:11and you should be really,
19:12really proud of it.
19:13But if you want to have a great one,
19:14it's not,
19:15it's not even graded.
19:16It's a state.
19:17I'm sorry.
19:18It's a million dollars.
19:19It's a million dollar race.
19:20Excuse me.
19:21It's a million dollar race.
19:22And you should be very,
19:23very proud of it.
19:24But the bottom line is if you want new owners,
19:25and you want to stand on your resume,
19:27it can't be that you have a 7% win percentage this year,
19:3011% last year,
19:3112%,
19:3213,
19:3314,
19:347%.
19:35And even when you were,
19:36you know,
19:37in,
19:38in your,
19:39the great days at mammoth park,
19:40when you would,
19:41you know,
19:42when you were,
19:43you were one of the leading trainers there,
19:44your percentages were still 13% win,
19:4518% win,
19:4613% win,
19:47and 16% win.
19:48So even when you were running 500 horses a year,
19:49you weren't winning enough.
19:50So you can't rail against people that are winning at a higher percentage and say,
19:54you're doing better because historically that's not true.
19:56Now,
19:57what you can say is I'm winning at a,
19:59you know,
20:00with,
20:01with the best that I have,
20:02or maybe you shift gears and you say,
20:04I'm not going to run these major racetracks anymore with these horses.
20:06And you go to a racetrack where,
20:08you know,
20:09you can be a leading trainer or you can have an opportunity to,
20:12to put horses in the right places,
20:14but you can't sit here and say,
20:15it's the other guys that,
20:17that are killing me when you're not winning and you're not doing what's best for
20:23yourself or going out and soliciting and maybe you are,
20:26but,
20:27and I don't know about it,
20:28but I can tell you that other smaller trainers and I'll use,
20:31you know,
20:32Jim Bond as an example who also has a,
20:34you know,
20:35a long resume and,
20:36and as one major racist,
20:37you know,
20:38throughout his career,
20:39they went ahead and they've started advertising on on TVG.
20:42And you know what,
20:43in talking to Tina and Jim Bond,
20:44they have a lot of owners now that are getting,
20:47you know,
20:48they're getting recognition for that.
20:49And a lot of owners are coming to them now and starting stables and,
20:52and,
20:53and,
20:54you know,
20:55starting their relationships with,
20:56with those types of trainers.
20:57So this is a great opportunity for you to springboard and be able to say to
21:00people,
21:01I just want a million dollar race out of town.
21:03And that's what you should be promoting.
21:05Not the other guys who are bigger than me are,
21:08are suffocating me because they have more horses.
21:10That may be true,
21:11but then instead of complaining about it,
21:13go out to their eighth,
21:14ninth,
21:1510th,
21:16best owner and start telling them why you're a better fit for those owners.
21:19Well,
21:20I mean,
21:21that's kind of what he was trying to do in this story.
21:22Cause like I said,
21:23I know I called him just basically to do a story on a,
21:27on a nice,
21:28you know,
21:29Ontario bred horse from a small New York trainer that went up and won the
21:32Queens plate.
21:33I mean,
21:34most of this stuff was,
21:35was kind of unprompted,
21:36which I think was made it,
21:37what made it interesting.
21:38And you know,
21:39I,
21:40I,
21:41I kind of feel two ways about it.
21:42You know,
21:43I,
21:44I agree with him that it's not,
21:45it's not good for the game to keep having this constant,
21:47you know,
21:48snowballing consolidation in only a handful of trainers,
21:52Barnes.
21:53And he's also right.
21:54That a regular,
21:55like a,
21:56a,
21:57even if a guy who's winning at 7%,
21:58it doesn't mean he's completely incompetent.
21:59Like there are circumstances and he can still get a good horse to win a big
22:02race.
22:03Like there are so many people at that men and women,
22:06guys and gals on the,
22:07on the backstretch who can do this kind of stuff.
22:10And they just aren't afforded the opportunity.
22:12And,
22:13you know,
22:14I don't know.
22:15It's,
22:16it's struck me more so in recent times with like the Baffert stuff,
22:19because it's like,
22:20I don't know.
22:21He's like,
22:22you let this guy get so powerful and have so many big horses that he kind
22:25of,
22:26you know,
22:27has the industry over a barrel in terms of cracking down on him.
22:29Like that's obviously an exponential concern.
22:31That's a tangential concern.
22:32But I think that that is the kind of stuff that consolidation leads leads
22:35to.
22:36And he's right.
22:37That if you have the ninth or 10th best one,
22:39other than allowance horse and Todd Pletcher's bar and say,
22:42you're not going to be on the racetrack for a little bit.
22:44But I agree with John too,
22:45that this should be an opportunity for him to,
22:48you know,
22:49to,
22:50to tell the world and to show the world that he can run a good horse
22:53and a big race and get the money.
22:55And I,
22:56I agree that this,
22:57this should,
22:58could and should be a springboard for him.
23:00And I,
23:01I can,
23:02I can see both sides of it because I do think consolidation is a big
23:04problem,
23:05but you know,
23:06it's,
23:07it's not only,
23:08it's not like incumbent on the big guys to feel sorry for Phil Serpy.
23:11Like their job is to make money for the owners that they have.
23:14And if some of those owners are dissatisfied,
23:16then maybe they should give guys like,
23:18like Phil Serpy and smaller trainers a shot.
23:20So I thought it was,
23:21it was,
23:22it was an interesting story because,
23:23because that stuff was,
23:24was kind of unprompted by him and just kind of came out and spilled
23:27out.
23:28And I get it.
23:29Like he's,
23:30you know,
23:31he's never been like a top,
23:32top trainer,
23:33like John saying,
23:34but he's been able to make a living like throughout his career.
23:36And it just last year,
23:37his horses made $40,000 or $400,000,
23:39which 10% of that is 40,000.
23:41Like before the day,
23:42right.
23:43That's not enough to live on and pay a staff and a stable.
23:46And I don't think you want a future where there's only five or six
23:49trainers who have every horse on the Belmont backstretch,
23:52but this is definitely,
23:53yeah.
23:54Like John says,
23:55this is an opportunity for the Phil Serpy's of the world to,
23:57when they get this kind of big horse to do something with it and to,
24:00you know,
24:01gather owners around because of it.
24:03And,
24:04and,
24:05and don't shortchange yourself because as a good journalist,
24:07you got him to say those things.
24:09You,
24:10you probably asked him the question about it,
24:11but I mean,
24:12I'm sure it wasn't like,
24:13Hey,
24:14congratulations,
24:15your win.
24:16Yeah.
24:17Let me tell you about these super trainers and how much they suck.
24:18It wasn't,
24:19it wasn't far.
24:20No,
24:21I mean,
24:22I,
24:23I'd asked him about what it means for like a smaller barn to win that
24:24kind of race,
24:25but yeah,
24:26most of it just came out unprompted and it was,
24:27it was a good story.
24:28And I,
24:29I just,
24:30you know,
24:31it's instinctively a roof for guys like that,
24:32you know,
24:33in New York,
24:34like,
24:35especially in New York,
24:36where it's so competitive,
24:37you know,
24:38it's,
24:39it's hard to get that to get a big horse like that.
24:40It's just,
24:41it's,
24:42it's more innately satisfying than it is.
24:43No disrespect to the big guys to see,
24:44you know,
24:45Chad Brown,
24:46when his 30th grade one to the year,
24:47you know,
24:48no question about it.
24:49I think we're all saying the same thing that you root for a guy like
24:50this,
24:51but use it to your advantage.
24:52I totally agree.
24:53The TDN writer's room was brought to you by legacy bloodstock.
24:55If you think that 50 years combined experience in the horse business could
24:58benefit your program,
24:59give Tommy or Wendy a call.
25:00They personally advise on each horse as if they were their own.
25:03And some big legacy news actually this week with a big pedigree update for
25:06one of their Keeneland,
25:07September yearlings.
25:08Just,
25:09we were just talking about safe conduct hip 2277 at Keeneland,
25:12September,
25:13Keeneland,
25:14September is an Ontario bred son of first crop yearlings.
25:17I were collected in as a half brother to safe conduct.
25:20And also ain't easy who we mentioned before,
25:22uh,
25:23into mischief spendthrift rising star,
25:25um,
25:26was a legacy grad,
25:27uh,
25:28won her debut by over five lengths at Delmar,
25:30uh,
25:31over the weekend and was a 400,000 Keeneland,
25:33September legacy grad.
25:35And was bred also by spendthrift farm.
25:38Talk about good to be a sponsor.
25:40It is exactly a sponsor.
25:41The TDM marriages are happening more and more every week,
25:44and we will definitely take credit for it.
25:47We'll be right back after this message from legacy bloodstock,
25:51being a small family business.
25:52I guess we're part of a dying breed.
25:54We're really grateful for the people that entrust us.
25:57We know it's a huge responsibility.
25:59We're always with your horse.
26:01Every step of the way,
26:02when it comes to being at the sales ground,
26:04showing your horses,
26:05we are with your horse.
26:07Just grabbing up down the road every day.
26:09There's not a time that I don't look out and feel a responsibility to the
26:12sport,
26:13the animal,
26:14the people that come to invest in the game.
26:15I want to see as many people enjoy this sport as they possibly can.
26:18Cause we do have the most beautiful sport in the world.
26:22Holding multiple grades,
26:23stakes,
26:24winning resources like decorated invader and possible future stars like 14 and
26:27Oh,
26:28I'm going to get to,
26:29um,
26:30a couple with a racing partnership with West point thoroughbreds.
26:32Partnerships enable you to spread your ownership across several horses for
26:35less than it costs to own one horse alone.
26:37This increases your racetrack action and your chances for a big horse.
26:40Learn more about why West point thoroughbreds is the gold standard in racing
26:43partnerships at West point tb.com.
26:47So I mentioned her,
26:48uh,
26:49just five seconds ago.
26:50Uh,
26:51it was,
26:52uh,
26:5314,
26:5414 and Oh,
26:55who was bet down to six to five and her debut Sunday at Saratoga.
26:57She's a daughter of Frankel.
26:58I don't see too many Frankel daughters in the U S,
27:00uh,
27:01or sons for that matter,
27:02uh,
27:03cost a pretty penny as a yearling and basically one,
27:06like she should have like the way she was bet.
27:08She really was impressive.
27:09She was professional.
27:10She sat off the pace and was really kicking away in the end.
27:13It was a slow pace.
27:14It was a weirdly run race over that net yielding turf,
27:17but she really,
27:18she really picked up in the lane and look great.
27:20Sarah Christophe Clement trains her.
27:22So would definitely expect some big things from her in the future.
27:25Jackson Traveler got his second stakes win over the weekend in the,
27:28uh,
27:29in the start of NASCAR stakes at Pimlico and Magnolia Midnight,
27:32who's a $320,000 OBS April by broke his maiden by over seven lengths last
27:37week at Colonial Downs for West Point.
27:39So a big weekend for West Point and all the partners.
27:41And I think especially 14 and Oh,
27:43very,
27:44very exciting.
27:45And you know,
27:46now there's,
27:47now there's the British cup,
27:48juvenile Phillies turf.
27:49There's a whole plethora of big races to run these two year old turf
27:51Phillies.
27:52And I think we've seen a lot,
27:53we saw dripping cold for West Point recently.
27:54I think there's,
27:55we've seen a lot of nice two year old turf performances and West Point
27:58certainly has two of the top ones for sure.
28:00I love the fact that that horse,
28:01his name is 14 to know because that's what was Frankel's record.
28:04I didn't know that.
28:05It makes sense.
28:06I was,
28:07I was looking at the name and trying to suss that out,
28:08but yeah,
28:09yeah,
28:10he was,
28:11it was very impressive.
28:12Super,
28:13super superstar.
28:14Yeah.
28:15Yeah.
28:16So she's got a fraction of that talent there and they're in a good
28:17shape for sure.
28:18All right.
28:19So it was obviously a kind of a,
28:20it was a big story overall in racing,
28:22but obviously a huge story to spend through a farm in the Kentucky
28:25breeding and stallion industry.
28:27That'd be Wayne Hughes,
28:28who was the billionaire businessman and philanthropist who,
28:31who resurrected spent through a farm and really brought it back from the
28:34ashes when he bought it.
28:35He,
28:36he died Wednesday at his residence on the farm and was surrounded by his
28:40family.
28:41He was 87 years old.
28:42And you know,
28:43I,
28:44I,
28:45I contributed a little bit to the Ovid on,
28:46on the TDM website.
28:47So you should go read it.
28:48He has an amazing story.
28:49Like maybe when he uses an old school business success,
28:53you know,
28:54I think that that,
28:55I wrote down some,
28:56some words that I would use to describe him and innovator to,
28:59you know,
29:00in racing and in business.
29:01If you don't know his story,
29:02he basically co-founded with his partner,
29:04Kenneth Volk public storage,
29:06which I'm sure you've seen all over America.
29:09It's a,
29:10it's a last count was had a $40 billion valuation.
29:13It's an enormous,
29:14enormous business that he founded.
29:16And then,
29:17you know,
29:18he,
29:19you know,
29:20used that to open it,
29:21to go into real estate and then eventually by spend through a farm and
29:23really bring spend thrift back.
29:24Spend thrift is a historic,
29:25historic place that's stood stallions like Seattle slew,
29:28you know,
29:29big time horses over the decades.
29:31It had fallen in a disrepair and was sold at a bankruptcy auction until he
29:35stepped in.
29:36And he bought it.
29:37What?
29:38Yeah,
29:39it was sold.
29:40It was sold in a foreclosure auction in 1993.
29:43And he stepped in in 2004 and bought it.
29:45And basically you used to live in California.
29:47His whole life moved to spend thrift,
29:49you know,
29:50got in on the ground floor and made it successful.
29:52And now obviously it's one of the most successful and really I'm one of the
29:55fastest growing,
29:56I think stallion businesses and,
29:59and farms in,
30:00in America.
30:01And yeah,
30:02like I said,
30:03I think he's an old school business,
30:04business success.
30:05Cause he grew up poor.
30:06He was the son of a,
30:07of a sharecropper who had to,
30:09who had to flee the dust bowl in Oklahoma to move to California.
30:13So he grew up poor in California,
30:15went to USC,
30:16graduated USC.
30:17He's given a ton of money back to USC.
30:19I think over $400 million,
30:21almost all anonymously.
30:23It's only come out like,
30:24because people have done stories and,
30:26and have done investigating on,
30:27on his charitable contributions.
30:29And that's the only reason it came to light how much money he's given away.
30:32He's,
30:33he's given a lot of money to pediatric,
30:35pediatric cancer research.
30:37You know,
30:38he was just a guy who did it the hard way and,
30:41you know,
30:42basically became successful in everything he did.
30:44And always stayed young at heart.
30:45I think in his innovation and creating things like share the upside,
30:49investing in my race or stuff like that,
30:51where he transferred his business acumen to racing,
30:54to try to get more people involved.
30:56I think that that was the constant theme in his life was innovation and just
31:01being basically successful at everything he did.
31:03And you can't,
31:04I don't know.
31:05You can't say that for a lot of people and he will be,
31:07he'll be extremely missed in the thoroughbred racing community,
31:10John.
31:11And I know just from talking to him as a breeder,
31:14as well as somebody that,
31:16that,
31:17that campaigned one of cross-traffic,
31:18you know,
31:19best horses in,
31:20in champion Jaywalk.
31:21You know,
31:22whenever we were running in a big race,
31:24there was a representative from Spendthrift there.
31:26There was somebody who was out there,
31:28you know,
31:29supporting us and,
31:30and you know,
31:31giving us some insight and also some you know,
31:33just mainly support.
31:34And,
31:35and,
31:36and it was nice to see.
31:37I would agree with,
31:38with,
31:39you know,
31:40Joe,
31:41he,
31:42you know,
31:43B.
31:44Wayne Hughes was very entrepreneurial.
31:45He was a risk taker,
31:46but he was also smart enough to collect a good team.
31:48And I know from public storage,
31:49he talked about a lot,
31:50a lot.
31:51And also with Spendthrift,
31:52he talked about the importance of,
31:53of just collecting good horses,
31:54but also collecting good people.
31:56And the people who were there stayed there for a long time.
31:58You know,
31:59because the,
32:00they had,
32:01you know,
32:02great opportunities and,
32:03and,
32:04and,
32:05you know,
32:06B.
32:07Wayne Hughes was the leader of that.
32:08The other thing I'll say is,
32:09you know,
32:10I'm not,
32:11I'm not,
32:12I'm not,
32:13I'm not,
32:14I'm not,
32:15I'm not,
32:16I'm not,
32:17I'm not,
32:18I'm not,
32:19I'm not,
32:20I'm not,
32:21I'm not,
32:22I'm not,
32:23I'm not,
32:24I'm not,
32:25I'm not,
32:26I'm not,
32:27I'm not,
32:28I'm not,
32:29I'm not,
32:30I'm not,
32:31I'm not,
32:32I'm not,
32:33I'm not,
32:34I'm not,
32:35I'm not,
32:36I'm not,
32:37I'm not,
32:38I'm not,
32:39I'm not,
32:40I'm not,
32:41I'm not,
32:42I'm not,
32:43I'm not,
32:44I'm not,
32:45I'm not,
32:46I'm not,
32:47I'm not,
32:48I'm not,
32:49I'm not,
32:50I'm not,
32:51I'm not,
32:52I'm not,
32:53I'm not,
32:54I'm not,
32:55I'm not,
32:56I'm not,
32:57I'm not,
32:58I'm not,
32:59I'm not,
33:00I'm not,
33:01I'm not,
33:02I'm not,
33:03I'm not,
33:04I'm not,
33:05I'm not,
33:06I'm not,
33:07I'm not,
33:08I'm not,
33:09I'm not,
33:10I'm not,
33:11I'm not,
33:12I'm not,
33:13I'm not,
33:14I'm not,
33:15I'm not,
33:16I'm not,
33:17I'm not,
33:18I'm not,
33:19I'm not,
33:20I'm not,
33:21I'm not,
33:22I'm not,
33:23I'm not,
33:24I'm not,
33:25I'm not,
33:26I'm not,
33:27I'm not,
33:28I'm not,
33:29I'm not,
33:30I'm not,
33:31I'm not,
33:32I'm not,
33:33I'm not,
33:34I'm not,
33:35I'm not,
33:36I'm not,
33:37I'm not,
33:38I'm not,
33:39I'm not,
33:40I'm not,
33:41I'm not,
33:42I'm not,
33:43I'm not,
33:44I'm not,
33:45I'm not,
33:46I'm not,
33:47I'm not,
33:48I'm not,
33:49I'm not,
33:50I'm not,
33:51I'm not,
33:52I'm not,
33:53I'm not,
33:54I'm not,
33:55I'm not,
33:56I'm not,
33:57I'm not,
33:58I'm not,
33:59I'm not,
34:00I'm not,
34:01I'm not,
34:02I'm not,
34:03I'm not,
34:04I'm not,
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34:07I'm not,
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34:09I'm not,
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34:11I'm not,
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34:13I'm not,
34:14I'm not,
34:15I'm not,
34:16I'm not,
34:17I'm not,
34:18I'm not,
34:19I'm not,
34:20I'm not,
34:21I'm not,
34:22I'm not,
34:23I'm not,
34:24I'm not,
34:25I'm not,
34:26I'm not,
34:27I'm not,
34:28I'm not,
34:29I'm not,
34:30I'm not,
34:31I'm not,
34:32I'm not,
34:33I'm not,
34:34I'm not,
34:35I'm not,
34:36I'm not,
34:37I'm not,
34:38I'm not,
34:39I'm not,
34:40I'm not,
34:41I'm not,
34:42I'm not,
34:43I'm not,
34:44I'm not,
34:45I'm not,
34:46I'm not,
34:47I'm not,
34:48I'm not,
34:49I'm not,
34:50I'm not,
34:51I'm not,
34:52I'm not,
34:53I'm not,
34:54I'm not,
34:55I'm not,
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34:57I'm not,
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34:59I'm not,
35:00I'm not,
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35:12I'm not,
35:13I'm not,
35:14I'm not,
35:15I'm not,
35:16I'm not,
35:17I'm not,
35:18I'm not,
35:19I'm not,
35:20I'm not,
35:21I'm not,
35:22I'm not,
35:23I'm not,
35:24I'm not,
35:25I'm not,
35:26I'm not,
35:27I'm not,
35:28I'm not,
35:29I'm not,
35:30I'm not,
35:31I'm not,
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35:34I'm not,
35:35I'm not,
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35:49I'm not,
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35:55I'm not,
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35:57I'm not,
35:58I'm not,
35:59I'm not,
36:00I'm not,
36:02I'm not,
36:03I'm not,
36:04I'm not,
36:05I'm not,
36:06I'm not,
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36:08I'm not,
36:09I'm not,
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36:11I'm not,
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36:13I'm not,
36:14I'm not,
36:15I'm not,
36:16I'm not,
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36:18I'm not,
36:19I'm not,
36:20I'm not,
36:21I'm not,
36:22I'm not,
36:23I'm not,
36:24I'm not,
36:25I'm not,
36:26I'm not,
36:27I'm not,
36:28I'm not,
36:29I'm not,
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36:31I'm not,
36:32I'm not,
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36:34I'm not,
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36:44I'm not,
36:45I'm not,
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36:47I'm not,
36:48I'm not,
36:49I'm not,
36:50I'm not,
36:51I'm not,
36:52I'm not,
36:53I'm not,
36:54I'm not,
36:55I'm not,
36:56I'm not,
36:57I'm not,
36:58I'm not,
36:59I'm not,
37:00I'm not,
37:01I'm not,
37:02I'm not,
37:03I'm not,
37:04I'm not,
37:05I'm not,
37:06I'm not,
37:07I'm not,
37:08I'm not,
37:09I'm not,
37:10I'm not,
37:11I'm not,
37:12I'm not,
37:13I'm not,
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39:01You got BetterWay on audio
39:26it's great that a lot of them reach out to me because he's in
39:28demand and I just have to pick from horse A to horse B and
39:33hope I get it right but we do have a nice day Friday with the
39:37New York Reds and Saturday obviously with the Travers
39:40coming. I want to oh it's a good segue because I wanted to
39:43ask about a Travers past. Uh it's 9 years ago that you and
39:47Kenny McPeak dead heated for the win in the Travers with
39:50Alpha and Golden Ticket respectively. Can you just
39:52take us back a little bit to that time and specifically as
39:55you were waiting for the photo to come up? Can you remember
39:58what you were thinking back then? Yes, I I thought we won
40:01and then I thought we lost and then I was standing next to
40:04Kenny McPeak there on the steps and I was so happy they
40:07put up a dead heat because neither one deserved to lose
40:10that close a race. Yeah and and Karen I want to take you back
40:14to again a question about training and earlier in the
40:17show we talked a lot about Malifat in the year that she's
40:20had. Now correct me if I'm wrong but if you had stayed
40:23training I would imagine you would have been the trainer
40:25of her as you were the main trainer for Shadwell. I mean
40:28I'm sure you're very happy for the connections but when you
40:31see something like that happen, does that make you miss
40:33training a little bit or does it make you even for a second
40:36saying, did I do the right thing here? No, I definitely
40:39did the right thing. I'm very happy doing what I'm doing and
40:42I'm happy for Todd Fletcher and he's a Hall of Fame trainer so
40:46I might not have done as well with her as he did and yes,
40:50she would have been allocated to me and my staff but I'm very
40:53happy for Shadwell, Todd, Johnny, everybody involved with
40:57the film. And Karen, one of the one of the other graduates was
41:02Frosted and now we're starting to see some of the Frosted
41:05juveniles run and develop. When you watch the Frosteds on the
41:09racetrack, does it does it remind you of the horse that
41:12made almost $4 million of you know when he was under your in
41:16your barn? Yeah, some of them do. I mean we have a few of
41:19them that we've worked and we're looking forward still to
41:22riding them. They haven't run yet a couple of them but it's
41:26great to see Frosted doing so well because he was a home
41:29bred for good off and a little bit like essential quality and
41:32he's done so well and it was great to have him in the barn
41:36and it's great to see his sire career going so well. And and
41:40do you feel like that that they have the same mental and
41:43physical attributes that that Frosted did? Tell us a little
41:45bit about Frosted when he was in the in your barn. He was a
41:49great mentally great horse by Tappet because Tappets can be
41:53very tricky. He was beautiful confirmation wise. You couldn't
41:58really fault him at all. So he was a a real star and I'm glad
42:02to see that he's doing well in the stallion. So I had one more
42:07trip down memory lane I'm going to ask you to make uh to
42:09questing in the Alabama. I mean she was arguably uh to me at
42:13least in my lifetime the most impressive winner of the
42:15Alabama. She won by I think double digit lengths that day.
42:19Uh she had been a turf horse most of her career. I think
42:21that was the big first win for Irat Ortiz too because he was
42:24still 19 years old at that time. That was a huge win for
42:27him. Can you take us back to that and that that kind of it's
42:30pretty much devastating performance in the Alabama what
42:32that was like? Yeah, it was one of the most impressive
42:35victories I had. You talk about Frosted and questing questing.
42:40It was like, you know, she's going too fast. You kept
42:43thinking three quarters and nine and change and she kept
42:46going and then she was drifting around down the lane but it was
42:50a great win and one of the most impressive wins that I ever had
42:53or our team ever had and so she has a special spot in my heart.
42:59Absolutely and she was incredible. Hey, Karen, when
43:01you um announce this change of plans to become a jockey agent,
43:04I I think one of the things that was so uh surprising to
43:07people was now we've seen plenty of trainers leave that
43:10profession whether they just retire altogether become a
43:13racing official go into being a jockey agent, but it's usually
43:16guys that are struggling and you are not struggling. You
43:19were one of the top trainers in the country and what does that
43:22say about the training profession that even somebody
43:24like Karen McLaughlin had to say, hey, there's a better way
43:27of doing this and you know what if if you could wave your magic
43:31wand, what would you do to make the life of a trainer,
43:35especially if you're not Chad Brown, Todd Pletcher, Bob
43:38better for these individuals out there and and some of whom
43:40are obviously struggling. Well, I think that the main reason
43:44that I left was the opportunity for Louie Sias. Louie Sias is
43:49top rider. So when that opportunity came up, it was
43:53just made sense. I just couldn't hardly turn it down as
43:56far as training goes. It's tough with the help. It's very
44:01hard to get. You know, I had H2B visas. It's very expensive,
44:05very difficult to do everything right. So I don't have an
44:09answer for all the trainers issues, but when you talk about
44:13a top five rider in America, being able to work for him and
44:17I was a jocks agent back in 1992 and 1993 for Chris Antley.
44:22So I kind of came full circle, went to Dubai when I left Chris
44:27and came back to being a jocks agent leaving Dubai's owners.
44:32It was a difficult decision. Last question for me,
44:36Karen. Let's fast forward to November first weekend out in
44:40California, the Breeders' Cup weekend. The over under on Louie
44:43Sias winning Breeders' Cup races is one and a half. Are you
44:47taking the over or the under? How many Breeders' Cup wins do
44:49you think he's going to have? Over one and a half or under one
44:52and a half? That's a very good question. I hope over, but I'd
44:55be happy to win one. So that would be, you know, hopefully we
45:00can win one. Well, he's certainly, you know, he's
45:02certainly lined him up well for the rest of the year. We miss
45:05seeing you in the entry box, but we're glad that you're doing
45:08well and that Luis is doing well this summer. Thanks so much
45:10for coming on, Karen. Thank you. Thank you for having me.
45:13Thanks a lot. The Green Group guest of the week is sponsored
45:15by the Green Group, an accounting tax consulting and
45:18advisory firm specializing in the thoroughbred industry. As
45:20this week's Green Group guest of the week, Kieran McLaughlin,
45:23will receive a free one hour tax consultation. Learn more at
45:26greenco.com. We'll be right back after this message from the
45:30Green Group. Why do the most successful owners, breeders and
45:33horsemen select the Green Group as their tax advisor? We simply
45:36save them money and know how to make them more successful. Over
45:38the past 40 years, founder Leonard Green has owned and
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45:44His in-depth, hands-on industry knowledge combined with
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45:49positive results for his clientele and has made the
45:51Green Group the top-rated accounting and tax firm in the
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45:56contact us at 732-634-5100 or visit our website at
46:01www.greenco.com. The Green Group, proven strategies to
46:05save you taxes. So I alluded to this when we were talking about
46:09last weekend's races, which was a nice weekend of racing, but
46:11this Saturday is big boy racing central. The Saratoga
46:16Traverse card, you know, I gotta give it to Naira. These
46:21huge grade one cards have really, really, you know, spiced
46:25things up and made for these big days just to feel so
46:28electric and, you know, have such anticipation for them. I
46:31used to like spacing out the gray ones anymore. I'm sold.
46:34Put them all on one card. Put them all on one card once a
46:37year for all, you know, run it for 24 hours, but obviously the
46:41headliner is the Run Happy Traverse. It's $1.25 million.
46:45Thought it was gonna get a little bit bigger field. Looks
46:48like it's gonna get seven horses, essential quality,
46:50Dynamic One, Mask Parade, Keep Me In Mind, Miles D, Midnight
46:55Bourbon, and King Fury. So, I mean, that's an okay field.
46:59Obviously, the essential quality is gonna be a heavy,
47:00heavy favorite for Luis Saez after we just spoke to Karen.
47:05Dynamic One, I think, is interesting because he's
47:06getting a little bit better. I think he's finally starting to
47:09grow into that big frame of his. So, I think a mile and a
47:12quarter, even though it didn't work out in the derbies, I
47:15would give him another shot in the Traverse but not a great
47:18betting race but obviously, you're, you know, essential
47:21quality is appointment viewing but how about the personal
47:24ends in? Swiss Skydiver against Latruska like we've been
47:28waiting for that matchup for a little bit now. Bonnie South is
47:31in there. Royal Flag who won the Chouvy who beat Horologist
47:35who John talked about before. Harvey's a little Goyle, friend
47:38of the show, mascot of the show is in there as well and the H
47:41Allen Jerkins is not gonna be a huge field but it's gonna have
47:45theoretically following C, Jackie's warrior, and life is
47:49good. I mean, I can't think of a of a gathering of three better
47:53three-year-old sprinters. Maybe ever but certainly in in
47:57several years and then we also have the ballerina, John's best
48:01friend, Gamin is gonna be in there. Gonna be a little bit
48:04awkward if Bob Baffert's there presenting him with the trophy
48:07in the winner's circle. He won't show up. Yeah, I think he
48:09probably won't either but you know, a sword and the sword
48:14dancer. Aiden O'Brien is bringing Mogul and Japan at
48:16least based on the probables. Two real top horses um over in
48:20Europe. Uh Chad Brown's got a couple in there as well. Tribu
48:23Van who won the United Nations is gonna try to stretch that
48:26speed out to a mile and a half in the sword dancer. Guffo's in
48:30there after a pretty troubled trip in the Manhattan. I'm just
48:33looking at the weather right now. Looks like it says 50%
48:36chance of some rain on Saturday so I think you know I don't
48:39think turf races are gonna are gonna be in jeopardy. Maybe
48:41there'll be a little bit moisture a little moisture in
48:43the ground. The Ballston Spa is also Saturday as well as the
48:46Forgo which is gonna have Yapon um in there going um seven
48:49furlongs is a big time horse. Uh yeah, I mean I I don't know
48:54what else you want for star quality on a Saturday at
48:57Saratoga. What do you guys think? Yeah, I'ma start with
48:59the Travers and you know, it's funny cuz we're talking about
49:01that. I don't think it's even the most electric race on the
49:04card. No. Uh especially with the Alan Jerkins but it is what
49:07it is and you know, there's I wouldn't knock it in any sense.
49:11They do have the best three-year-old in the country
49:12and really other than Hot Rod Charlie, there's no one else
49:15out there. That whole division is it just come down to those
49:17two horses at this point. So, it looks like, well, actually
49:20Medina Spirit uh who might get back into the mix sooner uh
49:23rather than later. When I see it. Yeah. Well, but um you know,
49:26Hot Rod Charlie going on to the Pennsylvania Derby but it you
49:29hit the nail on the head Joe. I think the Alan Jerkins is I
49:31mean just wow and you know, we haven't seen life is good in
49:36ages and all this stuff has come down since then now in the
49:40Todd Pletcher Barn but remember, you know, what we thought of
49:42this horse or the potential of this horse and talk about uh
49:45throwing this horse to the wolves uh and it's the right
49:48thing to do because this horse is that good and he's been off
49:50of her for a while. Yeah. Now, I assume that uh because he's
49:54running the Alan Jerkins, this horse uh is not going to
49:56stretch out this year. It'll probably be going in the
49:58Breeders' Cup sprint but uh I would just also assume that
50:01it'll come back next year. So, we we got a lot uh to look
50:04forward to there but uh in following seeing Jackie's
50:07Warrior as you said, I mean, it's uh quantity is not huge
50:11but but quality is off the charts and I, you know, again,
50:15we get back to the subject of horses never run enough. I
50:17mean, she doesn't run twenty times a year um but at least
50:21she's out there running and they don't skip spots with her.
50:23So, I think she's really admirable and remember, you
50:26know, if Nick's go at some point stubs his toe, she's you
50:29know, kind of waiting in the wing still as as one of the
50:32most likely horse of the year contenders. It would take the
50:34males to to have nobody really um come through here but but
50:38she's really fun too. So, I I'm with you Joe and you know,
50:41these cards uh as they've gone more and more towards this uh
50:46you know, you used to talk about you wish the Met Mile was
50:48still on Memorial Day. Well, you know, that would be great
50:51but we're finding out that not only is this an exciting
50:54afternoon but the betters are just. Yeah. Going crazy. As
50:58they should. These cards. I mean, the Whitney where they
51:00handle thirty-seven million dollars and obviously, they'll
51:02handle a lot more than that in the Travers. So, they almost
51:05become like, you know, kind of like Breeders' Cup like days.
51:07So, you know, we hate to see um you know, as a matter of
51:10fact, uh as most as fun as horologist was, that was the
51:14feature on a Sunday at Saratoga, a $100,000 stakes
51:18race with with a restricted race. So, but it's it's worth
51:22it. It absolutely is. So, um you know, I'm with you. I can't
51:25wait for Saturday and this just kicks off a big week of
51:28racing. I mean, we're talking about these races at Saratoga.
51:30Obviously, Charlestown has their big night Friday night
51:33with the Charlestown Classic and the Oaks. Uh they're they're
51:36grade two and grade three respectively and and they have
51:39you know, six or seven different uh you know, um
51:41stake races going on that night. Um Arlington Park has a
51:45couple of juvenile races uh over the weekend. You mentioned
51:47all the races at Saratoga and then uh you know, Mammoth has
51:50uh three or four stake races coming up this weekend as well
51:53and then you roll right into Labor Day and and another great
51:55card um you know, across the country but I just wanted to
51:58focus a little bit about the Charlestown Classic because
52:00you're talking about some older horses that um you know, have
52:04class. It's a mile and an eighth. So, nine furlongs
52:06which usually equates to about seventeen turns at Charlestown.
52:09Yeah. Um so, you know, you really gotta make sure you make
52:11a you go straight for two strides, make a left, go
52:14straight for two strides, make a left. A lot of lead switching
52:16going on. Exactly. Exactly. Um but but you know, a good good
52:19solid, you know, field. You got Warriors charge in there that
52:22that uh got they got kissed up to win the Island but before
52:25that won the Razorback. Um Noble Drama has made $700,000.
52:29Rushy who won the grade two Pat Day. Um informative. What
52:32would uh you know, a grade two race be without uh Uriah St.
52:35Louis horse in there. Um you know, New York Traffic who who
52:38finished second just lost by a nose to authentic in the in the
52:41Haskell last year. Sleepy Eye Todd who's made almost $2
52:44million. Art Collector who at one point we were talking about
52:47for all the big races. Um and then uh you know, a couple
52:50other horses in here that that have a shot but it's you know,
52:53top to bottom. It's a really great race for Charleston. I
52:56think they're um kind of copying what Saratoga and some
52:59of the bigger racetracks are doing where they're putting all
53:01of their big races on one card and saying, you know, come one
53:04come all. We have a great card top to bottom and that's what I
53:07think these racetracks need to do is is have a showcase day or
53:10showcase weekend like this. Um where you know, this is their
53:14their big race day. Um so, have you know, twenty-five,
53:17thirty-thousand people come out and and watch twenty-five
53:19thousand people at Charlestown. I think there'll be twenty-five
53:22thousand people at Charlestown. They may not all be. They may
53:25not all be front side. They may be in the in the casino but you
53:28know, it's gonna be a big day for them. I know we tried to
53:30get a table cuz we're running in in in the Hilton. This is
53:33why he cares so much. Exactly. Exactly. It all comes back to
53:38job. Self-promotion. It's okay for you to self-promote your
53:40articles but I can't self-promote my horses.
53:42Alright, that's okay. We won't even talk about the fact that
53:44uh uh that that Diabolic is undefeated right now. One, you
53:48know, won three races. Well, the attendance of the entire
53:50meet at Charlestown. Right. Twenty-five thousand. Over
53:53under? Yeah. Yeah, I would say over. Again, if you're counting
53:56the casino, then yes, definitely. Yeah. No, exactly.
53:59Exactly. I actually thought that the current question about
54:02over under one and a half. That was a good question. What
54:04would you take since why didn't you ask? What do you thought of
54:06the Charlestown card? Well, you're at it. Because I know
54:08you're not trading anymore but what do you think about this
54:10big card? You know, you you laugh but Saez is riding art
54:13collector. Is he? Yes, he is. That's the thing. He's a
54:16hustler, man. Oh, yeah. I see him on off days sometimes at
54:20like Finger Lakes. Uh he doesn't have to ride those
54:22horses but he just uh he just loves to ride I guess and and
54:25does well wherever he goes. Alright, wait. I wasn't done
54:28yet. Hold on. There's more Charlestown news. No, back to
54:32Diabolic. We'll go back to the the Woodbine that that she's
54:34undefeated now. Gotcha. Be the favorite in the Natalma. Okay,
54:37now I'm done. Wait, the Natalma's the following weekend,
54:39isn't it? No, the Natalma's like in in three weeks. So, why
54:41are we talking about it? No, cuz my horse won last week and
54:44we didn't mention it. That's why. Oh, okay. You self
54:46promotion, you said. You know, if Bill had anything to promote
54:48other than the show, he'd be on it. Then, Talma is just one
54:51step on the way to next year's Charlestown Oaks for her,
54:53right? You know, God willing. God willing. Hopefully, it's
54:56one step away from the previous. Alright, alright,
54:58alright. That's enough cynicism. We're happy for
55:00Charlestown. It's a nice card for sure. Right. Johnny, I know
55:04you're being serious but yeah, I wanna I wanna get I wanna get
55:07too cynical here. We're happy for any track that has a big
55:09day and get some people to come out and get some big horses to
55:12to come in. Do you want do you want Bill to talk about all the
55:14grated steak races at Foner Park? Oh, you're done? Okay,
55:17it's back to you, Jeff. We're still trying to get that
55:18sponsorship. Hey, sleepy eyes Todd, your man won the Gus
55:23Fosselman, is it? Didn't he get Foner Park? Oh, now I gotta
55:25put my glasses. Wow. What a bunch of nerds. Yeah. On this
55:28show. You can look it up. Uh since since you're so prepared.
55:32I don't even know. So, the highlight of Charlestown is
55:34Sleepy Eyes Todd, the winner of the 20 thousand twenty uh this
55:39was a pay pay in pump. Remember, it's the pay in pump
55:42or something like that. Pay in pump uh Gus Fosselman whatever
55:46at Foner Park. There you go, pal. So, Bill, when you when you
55:49pass on from this world, are you gonna want a steak race
55:51named after you? No. No. So, we can so that way we can continue
55:55to talk about you. Yes, unless they rename the Foner Park
55:57race. Well, they they might. Yeah. They might. For horses
55:59that have been in a claiming race and and or have had an
56:02Achilles tendon surgery. Well, we'll name a race after Bill
56:05will spell his name wrong which I do a lot. Right. We'll find,
56:08we'll call the Bill Finley. Bill Finley. Exactly. Um but
56:11yeah, good, yeah, good, good for Charlestown and and some
56:14races at Delmar to the Pat O'Brien on Saturday as well but
56:17yeah, most of our eyes will be on Saratoga and I think a lot
56:20will be settled in a lot of different divisions this
56:23weekend and next weekend and we're we could not be more
56:26excited for it. The TDN Writer's Room is brought to you
56:29by the Minnesota Thoroughbred Association's 2021 Yearling
56:32Sale which will be August 29th at Canterbury Park after the
56:36day of races which features a quality selection of yearlings
56:38from top Kentucky stallions like Taprit, Race Day,
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56:44yearlings, yearling sales have proven to be a great source for
56:46affordable and classy future racehorses. You can learn more
56:49and download a catalog at MinnesotaBread.com. So, that is
56:53this week. That's this Saturday, this Sunday, the
56:55Minnesota Thoroughbred Association's 2021 Yearling
56:58Sale. Get involved. Get involved in Minnesota in
57:00general but get involved at the sale for sure. They're chasing
57:05clickbait who spurts clear by five. It is clickbait with a
57:10keen turn of speed but clickbait and Roymus Chirinos are
57:14gone. But Friday Night Star is going to debut victoriously in
57:22a stakes race. Friday Night Star is the star. Ready to run
57:28away. Handling the distance with poise and ready to run
57:33away is the Minnesota Oaks champion. Dom Plata slowly
57:39edging clear. Dom Plata with another display of excellence
57:44is the futurity champion.
57:52Alright, so that's going to do it for this week's edition of
57:58the TDN Writers Room presented by Keeneland, home of the
58:00World's Yearling Sale. Make plans to attend the Keeneland
58:03September Yearling Sale starting Monday, September 13th.
58:06You can get the catalog at theworldyearlingsale.com. I
58:09want to thank Bill Finley, John Green, our Green Group guest of
58:12the week, Karen McLaughlin, our producer, Patty Wolf, our
58:14associate producer, Katie Ritz, and our editors, Anthony
58:17LaRocca, Aliyah LaRocca, and Nathan Wilkinson. Thank you so
58:20much for watching and also thanks to the viewers and
58:22listeners. I realized I didn't thank you guys at the end of
58:25the 100, so a little oversight on my part, but obviously we
58:28always appreciate you guys watching and listening and all
58:30the support. We will see you next week.