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00:00:00Good morning!
00:00:24It is 940 Wednesday, September 22nd.
00:00:27This is the TDN Writers Room, presented by Keeneland.
00:00:30My name is Joe Bianca.
00:00:31I'm the Associate Editor of the Thoroughbred Daily News, and today is one of my favorite
00:00:35days in New York City.
00:00:37It is the first day of fall, but it'll always be summer in this studio.
00:00:43That's for sure.
00:00:44Don't know what to make of that, anyways.
00:00:45Hi, I'm Bill Finley, a correspondent for the Thoroughbred Daily News, and do you realize
00:00:49there are only 151 days till Foner Park opens February 19th for its 2022 meet?
00:00:56I'm excited.
00:00:57I actually did know that.
00:00:58I have a countdown on my calendar, Bill.
00:01:00Jonathan Green, General Manager of DJ Stable, and I want to thank Gabby Gaudet for doing
00:01:06a very, very good job in my absence, and in unity and honor of her, I, too, am showing
00:01:11a six-month baby bump.
00:01:13John's just eternally pregnant over there, but no, thank you to Gabby.
00:01:18She did a great job, and we appreciate her filling in, but he's back.
00:01:22The man, the myth, the legend, John Green back, and we're all in the studio, which
00:01:27you can see if you're watching, and you can probably hear if you're listening with the
00:01:30quality of the audio.
00:01:31We're excited.
00:01:32The TDN Writers Room is brought to you by Keeneland, home of the World's Yearling Sale.
00:01:36The Keeneland September Yearling Sale continues through this Friday.
00:01:39September 24th has been a lot of great action.
00:01:41We're glad to have John back to discuss it at more length, so it's been great.
00:01:46There's so much to talk about, a lot of really good storylines, and there's still a couple
00:01:49days left if you want to get involved in the last book or two of Keeneland September, so
00:01:54we're excited about that.
00:01:55You can find out more and see the rest of the catalog at theworldyearlingsale.com.
00:02:00We talked last week about what was going on last weekend, was mainly Woodbine and the
00:02:05two-year-olds, and I think that really is what carried the day, was the grade ones at
00:02:09Woodbine on Saturday and Sunday, as well as a couple breakout two-year-old performances,
00:02:13one Philly in particular that we're going to get to, but to me, I think the story of
00:02:17the weekend, and really kind of the story of the year in terms of European trainers
00:02:23coming to America, is Charlie Appleby, and Charlie Appleby is dominating American racing.
00:02:29Really no European trainer I've ever seen, at least this soon.
00:02:33Obviously, Aiden O'Brien has this long, great history of winning big races in Europe and
00:02:39over here and in Australia, but Charlie Appleby, for a guy who's really only come onto the
00:02:42scene in a major way in the last five years, I've really never seen somebody be this dominant
00:02:48this soon across the board.
00:02:50He won three of the four grade ones over the weekend at Woodbine, and the Jockey Club Derby
00:02:55at Belmont, so that's a pretty damn good weekend.
00:02:57This is after running one-two in the JUSTA game and the Diana earlier this year with
00:03:02the same two Phillies.
00:03:03He's going to be absolutely loaded for the Breeders' Cup, which is at Del Mar.
00:03:07Incidentally, his first Breeders' Cup win came at Del Mar four years ago in the 2017
00:03:12Philly and Mariturf with Wuhaida.
00:03:14He has now won grade ones or group ones in seven different countries at just 46 years old.
00:03:21Seven!
00:03:22And he's only been training for, what, 10, 15 years?
00:03:25I mean, for a guy who's really only taken center stage for the last five years ago,
00:03:30that's basically a lifetime's worth of success.
00:03:33Obviously, like I said, Aiden O'Brien, he's still the GOAT in Europe because no one has
00:03:37been as dominant for him for as long, but Charlie Appleby is coming for that crown,
00:03:42man.
00:03:43It's interesting to see that kind of new blood.
00:03:45It's always good to have new blood in the game, winning at the highest level, and he
00:03:49really has been one of the stories of the year, and I thought it was never more apparent
00:03:54than it was this past weekend at Woodbine and then a little bit at Belmont as well.
00:03:57What did you guys think?
00:03:58Yeah, I mean, absolutely, he was the story of the weekend and he's been one of the stories
00:04:02of the year, but just keep in mind, Joe, even though he is relatively new, he's not training
00:04:06for John Smith.
00:04:07He's training for Godolphin, so of course that's where all the horses come from.
00:04:12But look at the overall numbers.
00:04:13He ran five horses over the weekend, four of them won, three were grade one winners,
00:04:18and the Jockey Club Derby will be a grade one come next year, and as you mentioned,
00:04:22the Jester game and the Diana.
00:04:23So if you include the Jockey Club Derby, that's six grade one wins this year for him.
00:04:29And one thing, I'm sure you guys have probably all noticed this, and this is something O'Brien
00:04:34has done over the years as well, these wins by and large are coming with his ninth and
00:04:40twelfth best horses.
00:04:42You know, he's got horses back in the barn that are superstars, and he's coming over
00:04:47with, you know, and no disrespect to any of these horses, but they are the second string,
00:04:51and look what they're doing now.
00:04:53So you know, begs the question, if these horses are doing as well as they are, what's going
00:04:58to happen in the Breeders' Cup, not just with him, but with the European horses overall?
00:05:02Because you know, we've seen the O'Briens, Aidan and Joseph, also come over and have
00:05:06a lot of success this year.
00:05:08But yeah, I mean, it's quite a story, and it doesn't look like it's going to end.
00:05:12And I wish that we had talked about this a couple of weeks ago, because we actually had
00:05:15horses in every single one of the Woodbine grade ones, and basically it looked like our
00:05:20horse and a lot of the horses in the field were just tied to the inner rail, the way
00:05:24that Wild Beauty and Albahar won so impressively, and Wild Beauty, I remember we were going
00:05:30into that race with Diabolik, who was undefeated, and you know, we had already put together
00:05:35our travel plans and figured out, you know, what are we going to do when we go to California?
00:05:38I mean, you know, you have this Breeders' Cup dreams in your mind as you're going through
00:05:42it, and Wild Beauty came from off the pace, I mean, way off the pace, and ran by every
00:05:47single horse like we were all standing still, and it was just really, really impressive.
00:05:51When you look back at that filly in particular, I mean, she's a Frankel, so she's bred up,
00:05:55you know, she's a homebred of Godalfa, so she's bred, you know, very royally, was in
00:06:00their program, you know, from the moment of conception.
00:06:04And you know, that's a filly that won a steak race, and was great at Steak's Place, but
00:06:08wasn't really, Bill, to your point, wasn't really the top, top, you know, two-year-old
00:06:12filly in Europe, and came over here and just made us all look like, you know, we were second
00:06:18strainers.
00:06:19I mean, it was just absolutely astonishing.
00:06:22But I'm curious to see how the Godalfa and horses continue to develop and grow and move
00:06:27on, but you know, he's got, Charlie Appleby's got a handful of horses that are all on the
00:06:32doorstep of running in the Breeders' Cup this year.
00:06:35Yeah, and you know, like you guys are saying, that these aren't necessarily his top horses.
00:06:39You know, Walton Street got a 110 buyer winning the Canadian International.
00:06:44You don't see a lot of horses run figures like that going a mile and a half, and he
00:06:47was absolutely monstrous to watch in that race.
00:06:49He's a huge, huge horse, and he'd only won a group two.
00:06:54He'd only won a group two overseas, he's a late-developing type, he's a seven-year-old
00:06:58now.
00:06:59I mean, so, and he, you know, the word was out, he was like a three to five or four to
00:07:03five favorite that he was the horse to beat in there, whether or not he had that top European
00:07:07form.
00:07:08And he certainly did not disappoint.
00:07:09It was absolutely devastating.
00:07:12And like you said, if these are his B team, what's he going to bring for the Breeders'
00:07:16Cup?
00:07:17Like, people better watch out for the first string whenever he brings that over here,
00:07:21because he's doing pretty damn well with the side pieces, I would say, of his stable.
00:07:29And then you mentioned Wild Beauty as well.
00:07:30I know I thought, of the four, and this is obviously a good problem to have, of the four,
00:07:34I thought Al Barr was the least impressive, just he got a really perfect trip.
00:07:38The figure wasn't that big, obviously still looked good, but Wild Beauty, after break
00:07:42and last, was just steadily moving up down the backstretch and just blew past those horses
00:07:46like they were standing still in the stretch.
00:07:48I think she's obviously got a very big future, like John said.
00:07:51She's very well-bred as well.
00:07:53So yeah, I mean, he's the story of the year to me in racing, and that, you know, that
00:07:58says something when you're a European trainer and you're really only running maybe a dozen
00:08:02or so horses, maybe 15, 20 horses maximum in the U.S. per year, and you're one of the
00:08:08top stories here in America, that says a lot about you and the training job you've done.
00:08:13And you know, like I said, it's been a relatively short amount of time, he's only 46 years old,
00:08:17so I think he's, you know, a superstar in the making.
00:08:20But Joe, isn't it great for the industry that he is going to be the story, I'm hoping he's
00:08:25going to be the story of 2021, and it's not going to be, you know, all the scandals that
00:08:29are going on or all the lawsuits or all the nonsense that's here in the States.
00:08:32I mean, it's like a breath of fresh air that you have somebody who's young and talented
00:08:37and humble and coming here and winning races.
00:08:40And I really hope that I'm not just being Pollyanna and that, you know, everything is
00:08:44above board and everything that I've heard about the guy is that he does it the right
00:08:47way.
00:08:48But man, it would just be great for racing if this was true, if he was really as good
00:08:52as he speaks.
00:08:54I mean, he could win all, what is it, 13 Breeders' Cup races, he could win all 14, and he's not
00:08:59going to be the story of the year, because Max Player Horse of the Year is going to be
00:09:02the story of the year.
00:09:05Because of all the other things that have happened, I don't want to belabor that, because,
00:09:08you know, we spend plenty of time on the woes of horse racing, but...
00:09:11And we will.
00:09:12Yeah, that's coming soon.
00:09:13Don't worry, it's coming.
00:09:14The other thing I want to say, you know, talking about the Europeans and the Breeders' Cup,
00:09:17who from the United States, like on the grass, is, you know, somebody say, wow, this horse
00:09:21is going to run great.
00:09:23That's basically it.
00:09:24What?
00:09:25Who?
00:09:26I can't even name, like, you know, who are the other American horses that, for the mile,
00:09:29the turf, the Philly and Mayer turf, you know, you have some horses that are out there that
00:09:33are nice enough horses, but, and even domestic spending is no superstar.
00:09:37You know, stranger things have happened, but I just see the Europeans taking, you know,
00:09:43every single person, a check, home to Europe as they possibly can out of the Breeders'
00:09:47Cup turf races.
00:09:48Yeah.
00:09:49We're hoping that coinage for the juvenile is going to be...
00:09:51Is he going to go a mile and a half against the elders?
00:09:54He's not going to have to.
00:09:55He'll go...
00:09:56Maybe then I'll make him a rising star.
00:09:57On the Friday, exactly.
00:09:58If he finally wins, I'm going a mile and a half against the Breeders' Cup.
00:10:01For the first two-year-old to run against all the horses.
00:10:03Fine.
00:10:04You can have your rising star badge.
00:10:06But yeah, we're hoping that he's the one.
00:10:09But if you look at even the last couple of years, I know we talked about it, you know,
00:10:13in November with the Breeders' Cup, and we talked about Mother Earth and some of the
00:10:15Euros that were coming over here.
00:10:17This isn't...
00:10:18The storyline is nothing new.
00:10:20The storyline of European horses coming here, you know, Chad Brown's been doing it for years,
00:10:25and you know, that story isn't new.
00:10:30What's new is the players that are coming in, and what's new is, you know, now with
00:10:33Applebee and those horses.
00:10:34Well, and especially, yeah, a guy who can rival Aiden O'Brien in that way.
00:10:38Because there's been plenty of successful, you know, European trainers that have come
00:10:42over.
00:10:43Andre Fraab is one I think of.
00:10:44A lot of guys that have come over and won, you know, the odd grade one or the Breeders'
00:10:49Cup race every now and then.
00:10:51But for a guy to be this dominant, you know, especially early in the year, like not just
00:10:54for the Breeders' Cup, the fact that he even brought the horses for just the game and the
00:10:58Diana, those are not necessarily races that normally get a lot of European participation.
00:11:04For him to even bring the horses and then run one-two in both races, that tells you,
00:11:08I think, that his long-term strategy is to just raid every one of these giant grade ones
00:11:14if he's got the stock for it, and it seems like he does.
00:11:16You mentioned coinage, you know, that's a little bit of a segue to the other story
00:11:20of the weekend, which was the two-year-olds, and mainly Hidden Connection, and we're going
00:11:24to talk to Brett Calhoun, the trainer, in a little bit.
00:11:28She won the Pocahontas just incredibly impressively over the weekend.
00:11:32She's a daughter of Connect, who's a first-crop stallion over at Lane's End, and, you know,
00:11:37she got a great trip, you know.
00:11:38She was just stalking Lemieux from second, and Lemieux probably doesn't want to go that
00:11:44far, I think.
00:11:46You know, I think her future is probably more sprinting, and so she got a good trip just
00:11:50stalking a speed that was coming back, but she blew that field away and then galloped
00:11:58out like a freight train, too.
00:12:00That was incredibly impressive, and it got me thinking about how many nice two-year-olds
00:12:05we've seen so far this year, and before I get to my point, I just wanted to mention
00:12:10the Iroquois as well, because I was kicking myself a little bit for not betting Major
00:12:15General at almost 5-1.
00:12:17I thought the Steve Asmussen horse was incredibly overbet in that race at even money.
00:12:21Like, that was a horse who did not really stand out on paper at all.
00:12:24I think it was just, I don't know, there was the hype of that was the horse that broke
00:12:27the record for Steve Asmussen, and then, you know, people got wrapped up in that.
00:12:31You know, obviously, Stellar Top can be a very nice horse, but that was a big, big underlay.
00:12:37I want to just talk about Major General because I like him in the Breeders' Cup.
00:12:41I liked him in his debut, and I liked him in this race.
00:12:44The figure was much lower than Hidden Connections.
00:12:46I think he got a 76, he got an 87, but this is the second time in two races that he's
00:12:51had to win multiple duels in the same race.
00:12:55If you go back and watch his debut, he went to the lead, he had to fight off three different
00:12:59challengers early in the race, top of the stretch, and then deep down the lane, he had
00:13:03to come back and win against kind of a perfect trip closer.
00:13:07This time, he did it again.
00:13:08He had to win multiple duels, he had to put away the favorite, and then had to hold off
00:13:12that late closer on the outside, and he did it from off the pace with a wide trip.
00:13:16So I think he's going to get lost on the board in the Breeders' Cup, and I'm interested in
00:13:21him.
00:13:22And to the point I was going to make, the reason he's going to get lost on the board
00:13:25is because there have been so many good two-year-old performances this year.
00:13:30We didn't even really talk about this horse because Labor Day weekend was so busy, but
00:13:34Corniche, who was a rising star, he was one of four rising stars over Labor Day weekend,
00:13:40he was just spectacular in breaking his maiden.
00:13:43He ran in 103 flat for five furlongs, which you really don't see at Del Mar, trained by
00:13:48Bob Baffert.
00:13:49He got a 98 buyer, which is the highest for a two-year-old this year.
00:13:52So I went back and I was looking at the top buyers for juveniles, and there have already
00:13:56been nine 90-plus buyer figures run by eight different two-year-olds so far this year,
00:14:02and 23 85-plus buyers by 20 different two-year-olds.
00:14:06Corniche is one of them.
00:14:08And I don't have last year's numbers to compare that to, but that seems like a very, very
00:14:12high total for this early in the year to have this many two-year-olds running those big
00:14:17figures, and a lot of different ones too, on turf, fillies, on dirt, sprinting, routing.
00:14:23So that was just something that I took from the weekend, was Hidden Connection made me
00:14:28think of how many really dominant and really impressive two-year-old performances we've
00:14:34seen.
00:14:35So do you guys have any thoughts about that or any of the other races from the weekend?
00:14:38Yeah, and Joe, that's excellent information.
00:14:40And even to take it one step further, I didn't know we were going to have this conversation,
00:14:43but even to take it one step further, when Corniche, our horse, ran an 85 buyer in winning
00:14:47the With Anticipation at Saratoga, I look back and he would have, with an 85 buyer,
00:14:53he would have won three of the last four Breeders' Cup juvenile turf races.
00:14:58So he already had gotten to the point that we needed to.
00:15:01But to say that there's so many horses that have run faster than that, and it's only September.
00:15:08Usually those numbers start hitting in October when the horses are a little bit more developed,
00:15:13the races step up a little bit in importance, and obviously the pool gets deeper as far
00:15:21as the better horses that start coming into these races.
00:15:23So that's blowing my mind that there are so many horses that are running those kind of
00:15:26numbers.
00:15:27I want to circle back to one in particular, though, because again, we were in this race
00:15:30with Hidden Connection, and it was just, that filly was so impressive on the racetrack,
00:15:36and just kept going, kept going, and going, and going, where you think that the mile 16th
00:15:42isn't going to be an issue, mile 8th isn't going to be an issue for her going forward.
00:15:45And I have to say that this was a filly that had modest breeding, a connect out of an Awesome
00:15:52Again and Older mare, was one of those horses that was modestly priced, was a $40,000 yearling
00:16:00and an $85,000 two year old, and just has been kind of under the radar because of a
00:16:06lot of reasons, but also because we're going to talk to Brett Calhoun, the trainer coming
00:16:10up, and Brett's one of those guys that is kind of like an underrated trainer in my humble
00:16:16opinion.
00:16:17I mean, he takes horses that aren't expensive, and usually they're golden senses, but he
00:16:21takes horses that aren't expensive, and he wins, and he battles at all these grade two
00:16:25and grade one races, and the owners, Black Type Thoroughbred and Hidden Brook Farm, and
00:16:29we do a lot of business with Hidden Brook Farm, these guys have a long history of being
00:16:34in the business, and if anyone knows Awesome Again, it's the guys from Hidden Brook because
00:16:38they all worked for Adina when Awesome Again was racing there and also was their top stallion.
00:16:43So they recognize that this filly had the athleticism and the chops to win races and
00:16:50win them going longer, and I just give Dan Hall and Mark Roberts and Jack Brothers and
00:16:57the rest of the crew at Hidden Brook Farm a lot of credit because they don't go out
00:17:00and buy a lot of racehorses, but they found her and bought her.
00:17:03Yeah, and like you said, this is a very impressive filly, and I can't wait for these Breeders'
00:17:13Cup Juvenile races.
00:17:14I think they're just going to be absolute wars, and you never know, we still have a
00:17:16bunch of grade ones left as preps for the Breeders' Cup.
00:17:20We've got the Champagne, we've got the Frisette, we've got the Chandelier and the American
00:17:23Pharoah at Santa Anita, so there could be more breakout performances to come, and you
00:17:29might be looking at a starting gate in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile with eight or nine
00:17:33horses that have run 85, 90-plus fires, which is just not usually the norm.
00:17:38You usually have a handful of those horses in those races, so that is very exciting,
00:17:43and then obviously you can project it forward to next year as we start to turn the page
00:17:47in November and December towards the Kentucky Derby and the Oaks.
00:17:51That is very exciting and definitely a storyline to watch going forward.
00:17:54Just one other point, and Joe, not that I disagree with anything you just said, but
00:17:58keep in mind the recent history, going back 20 years or so, of the Kentucky Derby.
00:18:03The 2022 Kentucky Derby winner is more than likely a horse none of us have heard of at
00:18:07this point.
00:18:08That's just kind of the way it goes.
00:18:09You know, I did a stat a while back how affirmed is the last hopeful winner to win the Kentucky
00:18:15Derby.
00:18:16Yeah, but with this much talent, maybe somebody will go from being a Saratoga Del Mar two-year-old
00:18:23to win the Kentucky Derby.
00:18:24It's absolutely possible, but there's also a whole other second and third wave that we
00:18:30know nothing about at this point.
00:18:31No, but I think that makes my point even more, that you think there are even more horses
00:18:34in the waiting in the wings that can be as impressive and dominant as what we've already
00:18:39seen so far.
00:18:40So yeah, it's going to be a free-for-all, it's going to be an all-out war in the Juvenile
00:18:43Races at the Breeders' Cup, and then we can spin it forward after that.
00:18:46But yeah, super exciting.
00:18:47That's one of the storylines to watch going forward in the fall.
00:18:50As we mentioned, the Keeneland September sale is still going on.
00:18:52We're going to get John's thoughts on it in a little bit.
00:18:54We're in the final book of the Keeneland September sale.
00:18:56Cumulative sales exceeded the total sales of last year's sale after the sixth of eleven
00:19:00sessions on Sunday.
00:19:02So basically just halfway through this year's sale, they had topped all the receipts from
00:19:06last year's sale, which is pretty impressive.
00:19:08Obviously, there were circumstances last year with COVID, but that's impressive regardless.
00:19:13We can ask John about this in a little bit, but buyers are saying how hard it is to get
00:19:16a hold of a good horse, and the number of people that are still there towards the end
00:19:21of the second week.
00:19:22Usually it filters out a bunch, but I think there's still a lot of participation on site.
00:19:26And once the sale ends on Friday, we'll be exactly two weeks from the start of the Keeneland
00:19:30Fall Meet, which we're all very excited about, as always.
00:19:33It's set to open with full seating capacity.
00:19:35We talked to Shannon Arvin about that last week, so knock on wood for that.
00:19:38The 17-day Fall Meet offers a record $6 million in stakes purses, and the season kicks off
00:19:43October 8th through 10th with Fall Stars Weekend and 10 Breeders' Cup win-in-year-end races.
00:19:49So we're looking forward to all that and the rest of Keeneland September.
00:19:51We'll be right back after this message from Keeneland.
00:20:08The TDN Writers' Room is brought to you by Spendthrift Farms.
00:20:29Spendthrift's first crop sire, Bolt Dorough, was well-received at Keeneland, so the trend
00:20:32continues with him.
00:20:33He had two colts that brought $550,000 and $475,000.
00:20:38Very good for a first crop yearling sire.
00:20:40First crop two-year-old sire, Gormley, had his 10th winner this week when Awesomely Shy
00:20:44broke her maiden on debut at Indiana Grand on Monday.
00:20:47She looked pretty good in there, got away at, I think, 12-1, which was a good price
00:20:52from a horse that was 4-5-1 on the morning line.
00:20:55He also has High Oak, who we've spoken about before, who won the Saratoga Special earlier
00:20:59this summer for Bill Mott, and two other grade three-place two-year-olds, so pretty good
00:21:03for your first runners.
00:21:04And it was announced last week that Basin, who is a son of Liam's Map, who won the 2019
00:21:09grade one hopeful stakes, was runner-up to Charlatan in the Arkansas Derby last year.
00:21:15He's retiring to Spendthrift for the 2022 breeding season.
00:21:17He's going to stand for a fee of $7,500, very reasonable for a son of Liam's Map, who is
00:21:23really starting to break out as a young, successful sire.
00:21:26And also, he's going to participate in the Share the Upside program, so you can get in
00:21:31on the ground floor with Basin.
00:21:33All right, so we didn't have John last week.
00:21:36It was excruciating not to have him.
00:21:39Every time John's away from me, I'm just counting the days until I get to see him again.
00:21:43But especially last week, because we had the Keeneland September sale really in full swing.
00:21:48Gabby was obviously very knowledgeable, but John is a buyer down there, so I wanted to
00:21:52get his impressions.
00:21:53And last week, I talked about Justify.
00:21:56Justify, Justify, Justify was the story of the first day or two of Keeneland September,
00:22:00which you would kind of expect as a Triple Crown winner, as a son of the late Scat Daddy,
00:22:04there's not going to be too many stallion sons of Scat Daddy, unfortunately, because
00:22:08he died so young.
00:22:09But I felt like as soon as I said that, and the clock turned, and Keeneland September
00:22:12went on that day, City of Light became the big time headliner.
00:22:16And he was a little bit more surprising as a huge story, because he was obviously very
00:22:21brilliant at multiple distances.
00:22:23He won the Pegasus, he won going seven furlongs a mile, multiple grade one winning son of
00:22:29Quality Roads.
00:22:30He wasn't going to be well received, but he had a $1.7 million horse, he had several
00:22:33other million dollar horses.
00:22:36I want to get your general impressions, John, from the sale and your experience last week,
00:22:40but also just a comment on City of Light and the way he just exploded with these high priced
00:22:45yearlings.
00:22:46Well, no doubt that City of Light was the flavor of the week down at Keeneland.
00:22:50People were talking about his yearlings, they were talking about him, a number of people
00:22:54that I spoke to have already tried to secure 2022 seasons for him.
00:22:59So he definitely is the hot freshman sire that people are anticipating his foals are
00:23:04going to be big runners.
00:23:06He wasn't the only one, Mendelsohn was also a big talk, and I know we liked a bunch of
00:23:11Mendelsohn's and were pleased that we could walk away with one, but we got outrun on a
00:23:15number of those.
00:23:17So they were talking about those, obviously, and West Coast also was a new sire that people
00:23:22were talking about and felt that he had some really good representatives in the yearling
00:23:27sale.
00:23:29You had the usual suspects, you had the Intimiships, the Nyquist, Arrogates, Bernardini fillies
00:23:34were selling off the charts, again, because he's just such a good broodmare sire.
00:23:39And it was really a difficult, overall, the tenor of the sale was you had to bring your
00:23:45big boy pants on and your deep pockets in order to get a yearling that you really liked.
00:23:49And I know from personal experience, we had a number of people sending us short lists
00:23:53and giving us ideas of horses to look at and to buy.
00:23:58If I told you that we got outrun on six out of every seven, seven out of eight horses
00:24:04that we liked, and not just outrun, it wasn't like, oh, we're the underbidders.
00:24:08It was like we got out freaking run.
00:24:10Horses were selling for two, three times what we thought they should bring at the sales,
00:24:15and it was just a very festive feeling down there.
00:24:19And it wasn't great weather.
00:24:22It was hot a couple of days, it was storming down rain a couple of days, so it wasn't good
00:24:26for the people.
00:24:27But certainly, if you had any kind of horse that looked the part and had a little bit
00:24:32of breeding and were relatively clean on the vet results, those horses were bringing money
00:24:37hand over fist.
00:24:38And we were fortunate enough, we bought 11 horses out of the sale and stayed in our lane
00:24:43pretty much as to what we thought.
00:24:45It was frustrating, but it was a matter of just being diligent and doing your homework.
00:24:50But we also sold nine horses out of the sale and didn't bring home one of them.
00:24:55So if you had a good horse, you had nothing to worry about.
00:24:59There were people that were willing to spend and buy, and it was a very festive mood.
00:25:05And I listened to the show from last week, and I know Shannon said that they were doing
00:25:09things to improve the appearance of Keeneland, and I heard a lot of good things about little
00:25:14things like flowers, drinks, food services, all those things that were gratis by Keeneland.
00:25:23And I think they made it a destination site again, which it had been kind of lacking over
00:25:28the past couple of years, primarily because of COVID.
00:25:30Yeah.
00:25:31No, I mean, that was interesting to hear about.
00:25:33And kind of the energy on the ground, I think, was similar to Saratoga, the way Saratoga
00:25:39felt with everybody being back there and all the big wigs there.
00:25:43And I think a lot of international participation as well was a big deal.
00:25:48I wanted to mention real quick that yesterday, the White House announced that the travel
00:25:52restrictions from 33 different countries into America are going to be unrestricted.
00:25:59It's going to clear the path, I think, for people to come to these major sales and to
00:26:02the Breeders' Cup.
00:26:03So I think that that's a big factor as well in terms of the buying power that's at these
00:26:09sales.
00:26:10Like I said, in the open, it passed its total gross receipts from last year on the sixth
00:26:17day.
00:26:18That is super, super impressive and speaks to the appetite that there was for good yearlings.
00:26:25I always wonder, with the City of Light thing, where it becomes this self-perpetuating cyclone
00:26:31of hype where everyone's talking and everyone hears about the City of Light.
00:26:35So you've got to get a City of Light.
00:26:36You've got to get a City of Light.
00:26:37And not to say that he's not going to be a great stallion.
00:26:39I'm sure he's going to have a lot of runners.
00:26:42But I just wonder if, John can speak to this, but if there ever just becomes that hype machine
00:26:47that spins a little bit out of control and people get a little caught up in, oh, you
00:26:52have to get one by this stallion or that stallion.
00:26:53Do you ever see that?
00:26:54Oh, there's no question about it, Joe.
00:26:56And especially at the sales.
00:26:59You think that the internet is the fastest way to get information, but it's not.
00:27:04It's the grapevine at Keeneland.
00:27:06It's sitting back there at the barns and, well, what do you think?
00:27:08Oh, I saw a great Baltioro.
00:27:10And then, oh, well, I saw an even better Baltioro.
00:27:12Well, I need to have a Baltioro.
00:27:13And then it really starts to feed into itself.
00:27:17You mentioned City of Light.
00:27:18I can remember years ago it was The Factor, and then it was Liam's Map, and then it was
00:27:22Run Happy a couple of years ago.
00:27:24And sometimes they make it big, and they fulfill the promise, and sometimes they don't.
00:27:28But it does.
00:27:30It really starts to build upon itself, and it almost becomes a game of telephone where,
00:27:34well, I saw a good one.
00:27:35Well, I saw two good ones.
00:27:36Well, I saw an outstanding one.
00:27:37Well, so-and-so said they were going to spend $300 for it, and they got it for $150.
00:27:41And then all of a sudden, it blows up into this phenomenon.
00:27:46And then people quickly forget if the horse doesn't make it.
00:27:49But I really feel like that City of Light in particular, you keep bringing them up,
00:27:52is definitely a horse that should do well.
00:27:55And we actually sold one, and we sold one for better than what I thought we were going
00:27:59to because of that hype and because he was a little bit further down in the book.
00:28:03And we were fortunate that the game of telephone built up and built up, and there was a pent-up
00:28:10want for that kind of a horse.
00:28:11Yeah.
00:28:12And I said this last week when we were talking to Gabby, is that I think the keynote of September's
00:28:17sales position on the calendar is greatly aided by Saratoga and Del Mar being right
00:28:24before it.
00:28:25In the same way that we were talking at OBS April about how the proximity to the Derby
00:28:30makes people think, here's where I'm going to get my next Derby horse, it's so fresh
00:28:34in people's minds.
00:28:35I think that was the case this year, too, with Saratoga being such a great meet with
00:28:39having so many dominant explosive performances that I think that that increased the appetite
00:28:44even more.
00:28:45And then with the return of the international buyers, and of course John Green trying to
00:28:50bid on every horse that he sees, I think that that added up to a very, like you said, festive
00:28:55environment and atmosphere at Keeneland, and the results speak for themselves.
00:28:59There were a ton of million-dollar horses, and still got a little bit of time left.
00:29:04If you're a good horse and come from anywhere, even in the deeper books in the sale, you
00:29:09still got a couple of days to bid.
00:29:10So we'll be keeping tabs to see if there are any storylines left, but I think that City
00:29:15of Light and Justify were the story of week one, but like you said, there were other freshman
00:29:20sires that did well also, both Doro, Mendelson, I think there's a lot of appetite for this
00:29:25freshman class.
00:29:26And Joe, just to put a bow on this, there were 14 horses yesterday that sold for a quarter
00:29:31of a million dollars or more, 14 on the second day of book four.
00:29:35So you're a week and a half into the sale, and there's still a dozen or so horses that
00:29:40are selling for a quarter of a million dollars or more.
00:29:41That's how strong the market is right now.
00:29:42Yeah, and like every time I was monitoring the sale yesterday, and every time I looked
00:29:45up, it was a horse that was going for six figures, which doesn't tend to be the case
00:29:50later on in these sales.
00:29:51That usually only happens when you bid.
00:29:52Right.
00:29:53Well, 600,000 is my limit, so I was shut out on most horses in book one, but stay tuned.
00:29:59We'll be right back after this message from Spendthrift Farm.
00:30:05Spendthrift Farm.
00:30:33Investing potential future superstars like Flightline is attainable with a racing partnership
00:30:37with West Point Thoroughbreds.
00:30:39Partnerships enable you to spread your ownership across several horses for less than it costs
00:30:43to own one horse alone.
00:30:44This increases your racetrack action and your chances for a big horse.
00:30:48Learn more about why West Point Thoroughbreds is the gold standard in racing partnerships
00:30:51at westpointtb.com.
00:30:54So obviously there's a ton of action for West Point.
00:30:57Every time I looked up, West Point had the topper, the co-topper.
00:31:02They really have been active at these sales, and I think the partnerships continue to grow
00:31:07because of that, because of these headlines that they're making.
00:31:12They purchased, or are partners, on two dozen yearlings from Keeneland September, including
00:31:16the current $1.7 million sale topper, who we mentioned is by City of Light, a colt by
00:31:21City of Light.
00:31:22They bought in partnership with Taller Racing and Woodford Racing.
00:31:26The roster also includes Cyrus, Justify, Quality Road, Nyquist, and Gunrunner, and this is
00:31:31still a good opportunity for someone interested in dipping their toes into ownership, getting
00:31:36in on this yearling's class with West Point Thoroughbreds.
00:31:38Even if you don't want to get in on the 1.7 horses, there's plenty of other horses that
00:31:42you can get a part of, and the roster keeps expanding.
00:31:45They also had a winner last Friday at Churchill Downs, Strong Silent, won an allowance for
00:31:50Dale Romans to get her second straight win.
00:31:52So I can't wait to see those yearlings on the track next year.
00:31:55They're certainly casting a wide net, and really, you've got a lot of buying power,
00:32:00I think, more than ever now, and they really flex their muscles.
00:32:03So we're excited for them, we're excited for all the partners, and there's still time to
00:32:07get involved in a lot of these yearlings.
00:32:09This was a huge, huge story last week, and in the past two weeks, honestly, that Tomas
00:32:16Mejia, who is a rider at Monmouth Park, he has been banned 10 years for using a battery
00:32:24or electrical shocking device when riding a horse named Stronger Than You Know to victory
00:32:29in a September 3rd allowance at Monmouth.
00:32:32I don't necessarily know what the evidence is, there's a blurry Twitter photo, that's
00:32:37all that I've seen from it, but just assuming that's correct, I don't have a problem, honestly,
00:32:43with the penalty, because it's pretty shocking animal cruelty.
00:32:47No pun intended.
00:32:48Damn it.
00:32:49See, I'm trying to be serious here, John, this is a very serious discussion.
00:32:53I'm sorry.
00:32:54No, but it was, now I can't stop thinking about that pun.
00:32:58It was stunning, I would say, but that might be a pun too.
00:33:04Anyway, it's a very serious offense, John, all right?
00:33:07It's a very serious offense to shock a horse.
00:33:08We saw Roman Chapa get caught doing it a couple of times, a recently deceased Roman Chapa
00:33:14got banned five years when he was caught doing it.
00:33:17That photo was a little clearer.
00:33:19I don't have a problem with this necessarily, that they took no mercy on him, and they banned
00:33:24him if indeed that they did have proof that he had this buzzer.
00:33:29Just again, I feel like it's like the Linda Rice thing, where I'm not going to sit here
00:33:34and say that Linda Rice didn't deserve a three-year suspension for what she did, but just when
00:33:40you compare it to the trainers that Monmouth Park has let run amok and never really suspended
00:33:48or even really fine to any meaningful capacity, like literally the day before the Tomas Mejia
00:33:55news came out, Monmouth Park sent out a press release celebrating Wayne Potts as their leading
00:34:02trainer and talking about the perseverance that he had COVID or something, and over overcame
00:34:07that to become Monmouth's leading trainer.
00:34:10That to me seems a little incongruous, again, not arguing against the penalty that Tomas
00:34:15Mejia got.
00:34:16I think it's completely fair if indeed they proved that he was using a buzzer, but I think
00:34:21it just speaks to the two sets of rules where a lot of trainers get to just basically do
00:34:27whatever they want and get chance after chance after chance and even get celebrated by a
00:34:32place like Monmouth Park.
00:34:33You know, Dennis Treyson talked in the past about how Jorge Navarro and Jason Service
00:34:37were upstanding horsemen that they were glad to have at Monmouth Park.
00:34:41You can't celebrate a guy like Wayne Potts, who we said, and we're going to get to, his
00:34:45latest suspension, which is probably like his 88th or you have to 88 now.
00:34:48You can't celebrate a guy like that, winning your training title and then turn around and
00:34:53be like, well, we have no tolerance for rule breaking over here.
00:34:56So we got to suspend this jockey 10 different years for 10 years.
00:34:59It's like you can't have these different stipulations, these, these different punishments for different
00:35:05classes of people in racing.
00:35:08That's my feeling about it.
00:35:09Again, don't not arguing with the penalty.
00:35:11It just seems a little hypocritical.
00:35:12Joe, I can't disagree with you on that, but you know, it comes back, and I think you,
00:35:16you realize this or recognize this.
00:35:18It comes back to two wrongs don't make it right here.
00:35:19I mean, yeah, Wayne Potts, Jorge Navarro, Jason Service, all the things that have gone
00:35:24on at Monmouth over the years have been things that shouldn't have happened.
00:35:29We know that and we would like to think that Monmouth, the stewards management would be
00:35:33more vigilant when it comes to integrity issues and cracking down on things that seemed obvious
00:35:39to, you know, the average handicapper about what's going on there.
00:35:42But you know, so that doesn't mean that they should say, okay, you know, we've been, went
00:35:46easy on this guy and this guy, so we're going to give Mejia one year suspension.
00:35:50Matter of fact, I think that they should be, and this is the stewards, not the track management.
00:35:56I think that they should be celebrated because this was the, you know, the kind of the benchmark
00:36:00for this offense in the past was five years.
00:36:04And not only did they say 10, they recommend his New Jersey Racing Commission that he's
00:36:09gone for life.
00:36:10Now, I suppose, my guess is the stewards don't have the power to ban somebody from life,
00:36:15for life.
00:36:16That's why they took 10.
00:36:17And I think the New Jersey Racing Commission will ban him for life.
00:36:20And I think they've set a new standard.
00:36:22If they do so, I think they've set a new standard in this industry that something like this
00:36:25is completely unacceptable.
00:36:26There'll be zero tolerance.
00:36:28And if you get caught doing this, you're done.
00:36:31And that should be the rule.
00:36:32I mean, there's a lot of things that go on in racing that we don't like.
00:36:35But this is, you know, this is cruelty to an animal.
00:36:38And there's just absolutely no place for that.
00:36:40So again, having said that, I do recognize your point.
00:36:43And I think your point is well taken.
00:36:46But at the same time, good for them for going after Mejia and doing it the way they did.
00:36:51And Bill, I agree with you.
00:36:52I'm glad that somebody finally put their foot down and said, this is not going to be acceptable.
00:36:58And therefore, you're basically, by giving a jockey a 10-year sentence, you're basically
00:37:02giving him a lifetime sentence.
00:37:03He's done.
00:37:04He might go ride in his native Panama again, but he's done in the United States.
00:37:06He's done for all intents and purposes here.
00:37:08Yeah, exactly.
00:37:09So it definitely was the right decision.
00:37:12And you know, some people have said, you know, on Twitter and in the Twittersphere, oh, well,
00:37:19this is what happens when you take whips away.
00:37:21That's BS.
00:37:23It's not because of, you know, you didn't have the whips or the jockeys needed to have
00:37:27something to encourage, you know, a horse to run.
00:37:30That's a load of crap.
00:37:32That's like saying, well, let's not even have laws against, you know, murdering somebody
00:37:35with a weapon because people are going to do it anyway.
00:37:38It's like, no, you need to have rules and regulations to, you know, that people should
00:37:42abide by.
00:37:44And you know, certainly taking the whip away is a whole different argument, you know, at
00:37:48MAMA.
00:37:49But they did it and they've had a, you know, a race meet this summer, you know, even though
00:37:54that the jockeys didn't have whips.
00:37:56But the battery, you know, the electronic device was not a replacement for the whip.
00:38:01It was not like, oh, I can't whip a horse.
00:38:02So, you know, so I'm going to use an electronic prong instead.
00:38:06As if the jockeys agent was like providing, it was like, there's no whip.
00:38:09Here's your battery.
00:38:10Here's your battery.
00:38:11Here's your standard issue, you know, nine volt that you can go ahead and use on a horse.
00:38:14They left us no choice.
00:38:15Right.
00:38:16Exactly.
00:38:17What do you want us to do?
00:38:18That should have been his defense.
00:38:19We don't have a crop to use anymore.
00:38:20So I'm going to use this Duracell, you know.
00:38:22So basically, you know, I'm glad that that that he was caught.
00:38:26I'm glad that he was suspended and that the penalty was, you know, was harsh enough where
00:38:32it's going to make other people sit there and say, you know what?
00:38:35Maybe this isn't worth it.
00:38:36Maybe I shouldn't do this going forward because I'm going to lose my livelihood if I get caught
00:38:39doing it.
00:38:40Yeah, I know.
00:38:41And there should be no tolerance for this kind of thing.
00:38:44I completely agree.
00:38:45My only point is that I want this same energy for trainers who get busted.
00:38:51Like I said, you know, Wayne Potts this week.
00:38:53Now, this wasn't a drug overage.
00:38:55This was kind of, you know, evading the the rules of the claiming game in New York where
00:39:02he claimed a horse and then or he had a mirror to catch a chocolate.
00:39:06I don't know if I'm saying her name right, but claim the horse.
00:39:10And then three days later, transfer it to Wayne Potts because Wayne Potts had already
00:39:14dropped a slip on the horse in the race.
00:39:16You're not allowed to transfer a claimed horse until 30 days.
00:39:20And she did did it three days later, supposedly at the request of Wayne Potts.
00:39:25So this wasn't a drug thing, but he's had plenty of drug overages, had plenty of fines
00:39:29and suspensions for that.
00:39:31So where is that kind of energy for the guy who you are celebrating as your leading trainer
00:39:37at Monmouth Park?
00:39:38That's that's all I want to say.
00:39:40And it's the same thing with with Linda Rice in New York.
00:39:42I'm not saying that she didn't deserve the penalty that she got.
00:39:45But where is that same energy for the drug trainers?
00:39:48That's all I want to say.
00:39:49And Joe, let me just jump in here for a second, because, you know, the what what, you know,
00:39:54happened with Potts and Chalky, you know, wasn't just well, it was against the rules.
00:40:01It was a freaking IQ test.
00:40:02How stupid do you have to be to claim a horse?
00:40:05Get out, Chuck.
00:40:06Go to the assistant, go to go to, you know, Gary Contessa's former assistant trainer who
00:40:10took over for, you know, for, you know, for all of his horses when when he got out of
00:40:14the business, you know, last time and basically go to her and say, yeah, we're going to we're
00:40:18going to buy that horse from you.
00:40:20And three within 72 hours, you know, transfer the horses papers and move the horse over.
00:40:26I mean, how freaking stupid you have to be to do that when you know what the rule is,
00:40:29you know, the rule is 30 days.
00:40:32And you know, you also know that, hey, I just think that that I just think that the trainers
00:40:37like this, like Wayne Potts, probably say, you know what, they're not going to catch
00:40:42me.
00:40:43They're not going to recognize this.
00:40:44It's no big deal.
00:40:45You know, I'll train for you as a as a paper trainer.
00:40:48Oh, I got caught.
00:40:49I'll use this drug, you know, 80 something times and get and got caught.
00:40:53It's you know, I'll get banned from Maryland.
00:40:55I'll get banned from other racing jurisdictions.
00:40:57But don't worry.
00:40:58New Jersey not only will let me in, but they're going to celebrate me when I get to be the
00:41:02leading trainer.
00:41:03It's just a joke.
00:41:04It's a joke that a guy like that can go from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and basically
00:41:07thumb his nose at this point and say, you guys are too stupid to catch me.
00:41:12Yeah, I mean, it's and I think there are a lot of trainers who rightfully believe that
00:41:17they're above the law, you know, and that's that's that's the the impression that I think
00:41:22the industry has given these people for a long, long time.
00:41:26And Wayne Potts is no exception.
00:41:27You know what?
00:41:29What like long term consequences other than Sal Sinatra kicking his ass out of Maryland?
00:41:34What long term consequences has he faced for his litany of transgressions to quote Mad
00:41:40Dog Chris Russo, which is a rap sheet as long as Al Capone's.
00:41:45So what exactly has anything what what repercussions have come to him to make him think, hmm, I
00:41:51better change my behavior, otherwise I'm not going to be able to continue doing what I'm
00:41:54doing.
00:41:55None.
00:41:56Less than none.
00:41:57So why wouldn't he think that he can just break any rule he wants?
00:42:01Not only that, but he's been banned at three different race jurisdictions.
00:42:04So he shows up at Monmouth and does well and then he's getting more owners to go to New
00:42:07York and he's actually making more.
00:42:09He's earned more in purses this year than he did in any of the last four years.
00:42:12The system works.
00:42:13The system works if you're yeah.
00:42:16For certain people.
00:42:17For certain people.
00:42:18Yep.
00:42:19Joining a West Point Thoroughbreds partnership can vault you into the world of instant camaraderie
00:42:22among people surrounding high class horses and stakes action for a fraction of the cost
00:42:26of trying to do it on your own.
00:42:27Learn more at westpointtb.com.
00:42:29We'll be right back after this message from West Point Thoroughbreds.
00:42:35All the thrills.
00:42:39Fraction of the bills.
00:42:44Experience the power of the partnership.
00:42:49Change your life.
00:42:50Make new friends and compete at the highest level of thoroughbred racing.
00:42:56West Point Thoroughbreds, the gold standard in racing partnerships.
00:43:00Visit westpointtb.com.
00:43:04So this weekend, the big, the big day is at parks.
00:43:07They have four graded stakes, two grade ones, $2 million grade ones, the Pennsylvania Derby
00:43:12for three year old males and then the Catillion stakes for three year old fillies.
00:43:16Obviously the big story is Bob Baffert very weirdly scratching Medina Spirit because of
00:43:22the post.
00:43:24But before we get to that, I just want to talk about what a nice feel this Pennsylvania
00:43:27Derby is.
00:43:28And you know, John was just saying off the air how they've, they found like the perfect
00:43:31spot on the calendar for it.
00:43:32I agree.
00:43:34It used to be earlier in September.
00:43:35Now you can get the Travers horses and now you can get some horses, some three year olds
00:43:39who want to use this as their last prep for the breeders cup, you know, rather than run
00:43:43against older horses in the Woodward or the awesome again or whatever else is out there
00:43:48right now.
00:43:49Um, for going a classic distance.
00:43:51But just look at this field.
00:43:53You know, obviously the, the, the headliners are hot rod Charlie.
00:43:57Um, you know, I still think we're in the best losing race of any three year old this year
00:44:01in the Belmont.
00:44:02Maybe you need three year old in several years.
00:44:04Um, and then Midnight Bourbon who was a very good second in the Travers with a 107 buyer.
00:44:10And even with Medina Spirit out, you gotta, you got some up and coming horses too.
00:44:13This is what I like to see in a three year old stake is established three year olds against
00:44:18up and coming three year olds.
00:44:19And that makes for a really interesting matchup and the other up and comers I would say have
00:44:25just as good of a chance as the, as the big guns in here with Speaker's Corner who was,
00:44:29you know, one of the most impressive allowance winners in a very crowded field for that category.
00:44:35Um, at Saratoga and Belmont and pretty much immediately said after his Saratoga allowance
00:44:40when that he was going to point to this race is going to be his first two turn run.
00:44:44He's only been seven furlongs, but by street sense out of a Bernardini Mary, you'd expect
00:44:48him to be able to go two turns and horse that I really like on the outside is American revolution.
00:44:52Now he's got a bad post.
00:44:54Um, he's got to get, you know, amazingly top pleasure.
00:44:56Didn't scratch him because of the bad post.
00:44:58Well now, cause now he's moved to the nine hole, the dreaded nine hole, the curse nine
00:45:02hole.
00:45:03Um, but American revolution was a constitution for a China horse club in windstar farm.
00:45:08He's developed steadily.
00:45:10He has stayed in New York bread company for all three of his starts this year.
00:45:14Um, but I thought, you know, he was, he was extremely impressive in the Albany stakes.
00:45:18I would love to see him go a mile and a quarter.
00:45:21Obviously he's not going to be able to do that unless he runs really well here and that
00:45:23gets a chance to run in the classic.
00:45:26I think he wants to run all day.
00:45:28But that's just a, you know, a, a really solid field of, you know, even like horses like
00:45:33burbonic and keep me in mind, you know, they're not superstars, but they've been, they've
00:45:37run well in graded stakes as three-year-olds and you know, wayburns in there as well.
00:45:42Fulsome.
00:45:43It's, it's a very good field and it's a very good day of racing.
00:45:46Now I personally don't bet parks because of the high takeout rates.
00:45:49You know, I just, they need to make it a little bit more attractive for me as, as a player
00:45:53to bet.
00:45:54But as a fan, I'm going to be watching the hell out of that card.
00:45:57But that leads us, I mean, I'll let you guys chime in on the, on the race if, if you'd
00:46:01like to.
00:46:02But that leads us to the main story of the race, which is that Bob Baffert scratched
00:46:06Medina Spirit yesterday, basically with no explanation.
00:46:09He just said he didn't like the post.
00:46:11Let me, let me read the quote to you from Bob Baffert after they drew, so this was,
00:46:18this was after they drew the race and he said, I quote, they have all the heavyweights right
00:46:26next to each other.
00:46:27He's talking about Medina Spirit, hot rod, Charlie, and midnight bourbon.
00:46:30And he said, once they draw, we don't worry about it.
00:46:33The break is important no matter what posts they have.
00:46:36Now somehow in less than 24 hours from that quote, Bob Baffert decided that the nine hole
00:46:41was poison and he could not run Medina Spirit in the race.
00:46:45I will let the audience draw their own conclusions about what the actual reason for scratching
00:46:50may have been.
00:46:52But I just thought that that seemed a little ridiculous considering what he said the day
00:46:56before.
00:46:57But nevertheless, Medina Spirit will not run, so you won't get that lightning rod horse
00:47:02in there, but it's obviously still a tremendous field.
00:47:05I wonder what Bill and John have to think about this drama.
00:47:09Well it is the story, isn't Bob Baffert always somehow the story, even when he's not running?
00:47:15You know, what happened here?
00:47:16I don't know.
00:47:17It's not fair to speculate.
00:47:18Do I believe that the horse was scratched because of the post?
00:47:21No, I do not.
00:47:22I mean, it just, it doesn't make any sense.
00:47:24I mean, nobody dreads getting the nine post at a mile and eight to the point where you're
00:47:30going to cancel the plane reservation and keep the horse on the ground in California.
00:47:35And the other thing you didn't mention is the other one, Private Mission, who was this
00:47:39filly entered for the cotillion.
00:47:41He scratched her as well.
00:47:43I don't think he said one word about why she's out.
00:47:46So Baffert, for whatever reason, decided to pull both his horses out of this race.
00:47:53I have my theories, but you know, I think it'd be a little irresponsible to say them
00:47:58without any proof to back it up.
00:48:00But you know, if you want to go ahead and use the word fishy, yeah, it's fishy.
00:48:03Definitely.
00:48:04Yeah.
00:48:05And guys, I got to apologize because when you said, hey, there's a big race at Parks
00:48:08this weekend, I thought you meant the starter allowance for Claymore, $8,000 running that
00:48:13day.
00:48:14So I did all my homework on the second and third races and couldn't find a Baffert horse
00:48:17in either of the starters.
00:48:18Hey, is Blue Bluff coming back, is that why?
00:48:21Exactly.
00:48:22So, you know, they have a parks has a great card that day.
00:48:24It is very, you know, interesting as far as the PA Derby entries go, you know, top to
00:48:29bottom, Joe, like you said, it's just a bunch of really great horses.
00:48:33Some horses are already proven, some horses that are up and coming.
00:48:37You know, we kind of glossed over.
00:48:38Keep me in mind, too, I think is probably in history the world's greatest A other than
00:48:42yeah, I mean, here's a horse who broke his maiden in a grade two and has made three quarters
00:48:47of a million dollars.
00:48:48And that's the only race he's won so far because he's just run against the essential quality
00:48:51Midnight Bourbon, King Fury, Medina Spirit, Hot Rod Charlie.
00:48:54I mean, you know, all of these great horses and he's eight to one in the in this race.
00:48:59That's how tough of a race it is.
00:49:01So, you know, it's going to be a great watching race.
00:49:04It's it's, you know, again, whether you gamble or not, it's going to be your a must see TV
00:49:09for, you know, for the for the up and coming Breeders Cup, you know, classic that'll be,
00:49:15you know, in California later on in November.
00:49:18But it's it's just highly suspicious, highly suspicious that the Baffert gang decided to
00:49:24scratch not one, but both of their horses in these million dollar races.
00:49:28You know, it is it a, you know, a ploy where, hey, I think maybe the races are too tough
00:49:35and I don't want to admit that.
00:49:36I don't know.
00:49:37Is it that, you know, maybe from a from a transfer standpoint, they weren't sure they
00:49:42were going to get the horses in there to parks on time and they were worried about the horses
00:49:47coming in from the West Coast?
00:49:49Maybe. Is it really that they were in the nine and, you know, post and that, you know,
00:49:55he was worried about the quick turn into the, you know, to the short distance, into the
00:49:59quick turn into parks?
00:50:00I don't know. He's won a lot of races at parks over the years.
00:50:03I can't imagine that that would be it.
00:50:04So so, you know, questions are abound as far as why, you know, why they decided to scratch
00:50:12Medina Spirit.
00:50:13You know, he very easily could have said a number of reasons that would have been,
00:50:17in my estimation, less suspicious.
00:50:19He could have said the horse came out of the out of the barn a little a little gimpy today.
00:50:24And I just want to give it a little time.
00:50:26I'm not pleased.
00:50:27I don't want to send the horse all the way cross country and then have to send them back
00:50:30because the ultimate goal is to run in the Breeders Cup Classic, which is here in California.
00:50:36You know, there's a there's a host of reasons why I will let the Internet and Twitter, you
00:50:41know, come up with all the reasons why they think it is.
00:50:45And I'm leaning towards some of those, you know, recommendations and suggestions.
00:50:50Yeah, this is one of this is one of those scenarios where I think racing Twitter probably
00:50:55has it pegged much closer than the official explanation, which, like I said, was, you
00:51:00know, very, very weird considering he said the day before.
00:51:04I don't care about the post.
00:51:05He essentially said the opposite the day before.
00:51:09And then he was like, oh, wait, you said the nine post.
00:51:11Oh, nine.
00:51:12But I didn't think we were all the way out there.
00:51:16But, you know, you know, it's still going to be a great race.
00:51:19And yeah, Bob makes makes himself a story somehow.
00:51:22And Medina Spirit is just like one of those horses, like maximum security.
00:51:25That's just always, always in the news for the wrong reasons.
00:51:29But nevertheless, it's going to be a great card.
00:51:30I misspoke before.
00:51:31There's five graded stakes.
00:51:32I forgot about the mile and a half Greenwood Cup.
00:51:35So we got the PA Derby, the Cotillion, the Gallant Bob, you know, shout out to Steve
00:51:40Asperson and Kirk Robinson and Judy Robinson for running Jackie's Warrior like, you know,
00:51:46that's not a race that they necessarily had to run him in.
00:51:48They could run the Vosburg or, you know, the old ancient title at Santa Anita, but they're
00:51:54running him in the Gallant Bob.
00:51:55He's going to be a huge, huge favorite.
00:51:57But so they gave an extra little pop to that undercard by running him because he's a point
00:52:01of view.
00:52:02And I love to say, OK, I'm going to push my sprinter, put in my sprinter for the Gallant
00:52:08Bob.
00:52:09And then entries come out and you're like, oh, crap, Jackie's Warrior's in there.
00:52:13Second still pays.
00:52:14OK.
00:52:15That's what I always say.
00:52:16Don't be afraid to run.
00:52:17Second still pays pretty well.
00:52:18So then we got that.
00:52:19We got that.
00:52:20And then the Turf Monster stakes and the Greenwood Cup.
00:52:22So Parks will get the spotlight this week.
00:52:25I just wanted to transition from that, you know, now after we're done frying Bob Baffert
00:52:29for his, frankly, implausible to me, at least, explanation for scratching Medina Spirit,
00:52:34Bill had a good column on Sunday in his weekend review where, you know, there's this question
00:52:41now where the Breeders' Cup is kind of debating, I guess, behind closed doors about whether
00:52:47or not to let Bob Baffert's horses run in the Breeders' Cup.
00:52:51Now, I have spent plenty of time filleting Bob Baffert this year for his transgressions
00:52:56and for the embarrassment that he's put racing through and for how careless he is and for
00:53:01how racing has let him off the hook so many times that something like the Medina Spirit
00:53:06DQ in the Derby was bound to happen.
00:53:08But I found Bill's story very persuasive in that, you know, I don't know what grounds
00:53:14the Breeders' Cup and Del Mar have to not let him run.
00:53:19And Bill also talked about how the owners, you know, it's a bad position to put the owners
00:53:23in and you can say what you want about the owners that still support Bob Baffert, but
00:53:27seven weeks out of the Breeders' Cup, you can't say to them or maybe even less than
00:53:32seven weeks by the time they make a decision, say, oh yeah, you got to put your horses in
00:53:35another trainer's barn and basically restart the training with a new trainer.
00:53:39And that made a lot of sense to me.
00:53:42I just think, you know, especially with all the legal challenges that were going on with
00:53:46Naira and then you would think eventually in Kentucky with Baffert and his lawyers,
00:53:50it would be opening up a can of worms that you really do not want to open if you're the
00:53:53Breeders' Cup and you banned them at this late date.
00:53:56But I'll let Bill expand on it.
00:53:57Yeah.
00:53:58I mean, I guess I want to have it both ways after joining in the chorus of, oh boy, this
00:54:01thing doesn't pass the smell test at parks.
00:54:04But so the Breeders' Cup has come out basically saying, you know, we're looking into Baffert.
00:54:10You know, we'll have investigations, et cetera, and at the end of the day, we'll decide whether
00:54:14he can run in the Breeders' Cup or not.
00:54:16And again, Joe, you know, I hesitate to say this because I don't want to be a Baffert
00:54:21apologist, but you've got to let him run in the Breeders' Cup.
00:54:23And you mentioned, first of all, the practicality of it, as you said, less than seven weeks
00:54:28before the event, you can tell these owners, you can't use your trainer.
00:54:32If you were going to suspend him and keep him out of the Breeders' Cup, you should have
00:54:35done it in May when the Medina Spirit stuff first surfaced.
00:54:39That's when both Naira and Churchill Downs suspended him.
00:54:41You know, what new has happened since then?
00:54:44Absolutely nothing.
00:54:45The fact that nothing has happened is in his favor because he hasn't had any more transgressions,
00:54:49et cetera.
00:54:50That's number one.
00:54:51Number two, if you ban him, how hard is it going to be for his lawyers to go to some
00:54:55court, get an injunction, and just, you know, delay the process and he's going to run anyways?
00:55:00Okay, so those are the practical matters.
00:55:02But at some point, I do think the punishment and the crime are not in sync anymore.
00:55:09If somebody robs a bank in this country, what do they get, five years in prison, ten years
00:55:12in prison?
00:55:13You don't give them the death penalty.
00:55:14You don't give them life in prison.
00:55:16No matter what he did, which, you know, it stinks to high heaven, it's been terrible
00:55:20for the game, but all you have him on is a bunch of overages of therapeutic medications.
00:55:24I'm not saying it's good, I'm not saying that he shouldn't have done a better job, but is
00:55:29that really worth just destroying everything in his path?
00:55:32He can't run in the Kentucky Derby next year.
00:55:34Naira's trying to keep him out of all their races.
00:55:36Now seven weeks, six and a half weeks, six weeks before the Breeders' Cup, you're going
00:55:40to tell him he can't run in it.
00:55:41I think at some point, enough is enough.
00:55:43I mean, he's been punished severely as it is.
00:55:46Let's get through this and move on.
00:55:49Yeah, I mean, I don't know if I necessarily agree with that.
00:55:53I don't think that this is the death penalty.
00:55:54If he can't run in this year's Breeders' Cup, I think he'll survive.
00:55:59I do agree that the time to do this, if you were the Breeders' Cup, was when the
00:56:06Dana Spirit thing came out.
00:56:08You can't wait months and months and months and then say you're deliberating in
00:56:12September about whether or not you're going to let this high profile trainer run in
00:56:16your event six weeks from now.
00:56:18It just logistically does not make a lot of sense.
00:56:20It's not fair to the owners.
00:56:22And, you know, frankly, the fans want to see Bob Pepper's horses in the Breeders' Cup.
00:56:26Like, let's be real.
00:56:27You know, I think we're all we all we're very mad at him and, you know, for the
00:56:32Derby stuff and think that, you know, he flouts the rules a lot.
00:56:36But at the end of the day, he has high profile, big drawing horses and it behooves
00:56:41the Breeders' Cup and Delmar to have those horses running on those two days, mostly
00:56:46probably on Saturday.
00:56:48And then you can deal with the fallout, you know, whatever it may be later on.
00:56:53I think that I and I do agree with Bill that the main punishment that he has now is
00:56:58that he can't theoretically run in the Derby the next two years because that's his
00:57:02claim to fame. And that's why that's the main reason he gets all of the high price
00:57:06stock that he does is because he's thought of as this Derby master.
00:57:10And it just it doesn't make sense to try to ban him now from the Breeders' Cup when
00:57:16with that hanging over him and with so little time between now and the event.
00:57:20I actually agree with Bill.
00:57:22So it can be both ways.
00:57:23You can be angry and suspicious and, you know, think that Bob effort overall is not
00:57:29good for the game, which I wholly feel, especially after the past year.
00:57:33But you can also realize that it wouldn't be fair to him or to his clients to exclude
00:57:39him from the Breeders' Cup right now.
00:57:40But I am interested.
00:57:42And this came out yesterday that his lawyer is going to sue Naira.
00:57:48I mean, it's so hard to keep track of the Craig Robinson and the Naira and the motions
00:57:53and this and that. But to hold the Naira in contempt for trying to schedule these hearings
00:57:58and file charges officially against Bob Baffert, I think that, you know, Craig
00:58:03Robinson had a good quote where he said that, you know, they're kind of they're trying
00:58:07to retroactively create this process that they should have had initially in place when
00:58:13the stuff with Medina Spirit came down where they would have they would have scheduled
00:58:16a hearing and issued charges and let him have his day in court.
00:58:19Seems like they're kind of trying to do it after the fact now.
00:58:22So I think that, you know, not being a lawyer, the Baffert team is going to win out in
00:58:26that regard. So it seems like at the end of the day, only the Churchill thing, only the
00:58:30Derby thing might hold up.
00:58:32But, you know, like I said, being being such a prominent two year old and three year old
00:58:36trainer, that may be enough.
00:58:38You know, that may be that that punishment may may fit the crime.
00:58:41But, you know, it's just funny.
00:58:42It's just funny that that Bill wrote that story.
00:58:44And then two days later, he comes out with the very, very suspicious scratch of Medina
00:58:49Spirit because he just he just can't help himself.
00:58:52There's always there's always something with Baffert.
00:58:54But it's a good story by Bill.
00:58:55And I appreciate his arguments.
00:58:57And I think at the end of the day, like I said, people want to see Baffert's horses on
00:59:01that big stage at the British Cup.
00:59:03The TDN Writers Room is brought to you by Legacy Bloodstock.
00:59:06If you think that 50 years combined experience in the horse business could benefit your
00:59:10program, give Tommy or Wendy a call.
00:59:12They personally advise on each horse as if they were their own.
00:59:15And it was a big day earlier this week for Legacy when they sold a City of Light Coal.
00:59:19We talked about him before for seven hundred ten thousand dollars to Mayberry Farm.
00:59:23Very well done, Tommy and Wendy.
00:59:25Congratulations to you guys.
00:59:26And they'll be offering their yearling selling on Thursday and Friday out of Barn 33.
00:59:30So if you're on the grounds and you want to go check them out, go see their consignment.
00:59:34Sire Power includes First Crop Stallions, Accelerate, Motown and Taproot, plus yearlings
00:59:39by Practical Choke, Midnight Loot and more.
00:59:41And I know John has a couple of notes on a Legacy consignment.
00:59:44Yeah, I mean, you look at a consigner and you say, what are the benchmarks?
00:59:47What are the points that you want to look for when when you look for a consigner?
00:59:51And I can tell you as a buyer, what I'm looking for is that the horses look like they're
00:59:55in good flesh. They look like they're in good form.
00:59:59And that and that they look like they can continue to to move up the ladder and improve.
01:00:03And I'm not the only one to say that.
01:00:05I mean, you know, you say it when you put your hand up and you start bidding on horses.
01:00:08But listen to these programs I bought from Legacy, Mayberry Farm, Windchill Thoroughbreds,
01:00:13Ralph Nix, John Oxley, Liz Crow, Kings Equine, you know, Christina Gem.
01:00:19I mean, the list goes on and on and on.
01:00:20So that was an important thing.
01:00:22And from a seller standpoint, if I was, you know, for when I look to sell horses, I look
01:00:26at what the strike rate is, meaning how many what's the percentage of horses that they
01:00:30sold. And, you know, guys, if I told you that the average industry strike
01:00:35rate is about two thirds, you want to sell about 67 percent of the horses that come through
01:00:39your consignment. Legacy Bloodstock so far to date at the Keeneland September sale is
01:00:44at 90 percent.
01:00:45They sold 90 percent of their horses to the public.
01:00:48And even more impressive than that, only one of them was a private sale afterwards.
01:00:52So they are recognizing what the market, you know, what the value of the horses are, the
01:00:56marketplace is taking those horses and running with it.
01:00:59And that's just an outstanding, outstanding percentage.
01:01:01We get a 90 percent strike rate.
01:01:02That's almost unheard of. Yeah.
01:01:03And well, that that makes everybody look good.
01:01:05It makes the sellers look good. It makes the sale look good.
01:01:07So. So, yeah, very, very, very good to accurately price your horses.
01:01:11And, you know, it's they obviously had a very successful sale and seven hundred ten
01:01:16thousand dollars. That's a big time score.
01:01:18So congratulations to you guys for sure.
01:01:20We'll be right back after this message from Legacy Bloodstock.
01:01:24Being a small family business, I guess we're part of a dying breed.
01:01:28We're really grateful for the people that entrust us.
01:01:30We know it's a huge responsibility.
01:01:32We're always with your horse every step of the way when it comes to being at the
01:01:37sales ground, showing your horses.
01:01:39We are with your horse.
01:01:40Just driving up and down the road every day.
01:01:42There's not a time that I don't look out and feel a responsibility to the sport, the
01:01:46animal, the people that come to invest in the game.
01:01:48I want to see as many people enjoy this sport as they possibly can, because we do have
01:01:52the most beautiful sport in the world.
01:01:54Now, the Green Group guest of the week is sponsored by the Green Group, an
01:01:58accounting, tax, consulting and advisory firm specializing in the thoroughbred
01:02:02industry. With over 500 clients in the horse business, they have proven strategies to
01:02:06save you taxes.
01:02:07Learn more about how they can help you at www.greenco.com.
01:02:12So our Green Group guest of the week this week is the trainer of the highly impressive
01:02:16Philly Hidden Connection who blew away her rivals in the Pocahontas over the weekend,
01:02:20Brett Calhoun. Thanks so much for coming on, Brett.
01:02:22Good morning.
01:02:23So it's good to talk to you.
01:02:24Obviously, that was an incredibly impressive performance.
01:02:27I just always like to get this this perspective from trainers when a horse runs off
01:02:31the screen like that.
01:02:32I assume you were expecting her to run well, but not quite that well.
01:02:36Can you talk about your impressions both in real time and now about that performance?
01:02:42Well, you're exactly right.
01:02:43I mean, obviously, you know, trainers, we've got a million excuses.
01:02:48We've got always nervous.
01:02:50We don't have quite what we want.
01:02:52You know, nothing really goes perfect.
01:02:54But this is a Philly that showed a lot of talent early on.
01:02:58She breaks her maiden impressively very easily.
01:03:01But we've got basically 30 days from a five and a half maiden race at Colonial to come to
01:03:07the Pocahontas at a mile 16.
01:03:09So there wasn't a lot of time to prepare like I wanted.
01:03:14So she always looked like she wanted to go two turns in the morning.
01:03:17But until you do it with very little experience, one race, you know, five and a half,
01:03:25one race, not a lot of experience in stretching the two turns in a great state.
01:03:30It's a lot to add.
01:03:31With that being said, I did have a lot of confidence in her going in.
01:03:35I really felt like she would run really, really well that night.
01:03:39And I thought she would really get a good position in the first turn.
01:03:42And, you know, we really thought she wanted to go on.
01:03:45But like I said, until I prove it, you're not for sure.
01:03:50Hey, Brett, thanks for joining us and give us the back story on how this horse was acquired.
01:03:54We know the horse was bought at Ocala sale for eighty five thousand by a first year
01:03:59sire that only stands for, I believe, fifteen thousand eighty five thousand in this day
01:04:03and age is just a ham sandwich for a horse, especially one that turns out to be as good as
01:04:08this one. Who found this horse and how did they were able to find a horse that has such
01:04:13star power, potential star power for such a moderate price?
01:04:18Yeah, Dan Hall and his team from Hidden Brook found this silly OBS June.
01:04:24I didn't know anything about it at the time.
01:04:26They just called me after they purchased her and asked me if I would be interested in
01:04:30training her. I said, yes, and they're on.
01:04:33So she showed up at barn and it took me a couple of weeks to figure out who she was.
01:04:39And what I mean by that is I was at the April sale and I shortlisted this Philly with Josh
01:04:45Stephens and I, and we were looking for a little less expensive Philly for a for a guy
01:04:50that we'd already spent some money for and we didn't have much left.
01:04:53And so she kind of looked like she would fall into that budget.
01:04:57Well, she was R&A that day for fifty five thousand.
01:05:01And I talked to a consignor a little bit after to see what they would take for.
01:05:05And it just didn't work out for us.
01:05:07And I forgot about her and went on.
01:05:10And after she was in the barn for a little while, I started putting it all together.
01:05:14And the guy that consigned her reminded me that that was a Philly that we came to him
01:05:19afterwards to purchase.
01:05:21So maybe it was just fate for me to get her.
01:05:23But but kudos for Dan Hall and his team from Hidden Brook to select this Philly.
01:05:30And we've been very fortunate how she's turned out.
01:05:33And Brett, you know, you're being modest, you know, because the Philly ran such a huge
01:05:37race and and not only had to overcome some of the things you mentioned, like first time
01:05:41two turns, first time grade three, but also it was nighttime racing.
01:05:45There was a huge crowd there.
01:05:47And I know that they let a lot more people into the paddock than than than over the past
01:05:51couple of weeks. So there were so many people there, so much so that I think a Philly
01:05:55actually flipped in the paddock and scratched, you know, because of it.
01:05:59So there was a lot of a lot of action, a lot of tension, a lot of pressure going on.
01:06:04And she just handled it like like it was nobody, you know, like it was another day at the
01:06:08office. I mean, give us an idea of what she's like mentally, because obviously we know
01:06:12what she's like physically. She's a freak.
01:06:15Yeah, you're exactly right.
01:06:16That was some of the things that kept me from being super confident, you know, I felt
01:06:21like she would run well, but I knew we had a lot of options to overcome the night racing.
01:06:26The the atmosphere that night was like a rock concert.
01:06:29I mean, so many people in the paddock and so many people surrounding the paddock.
01:06:35It was a difficult situation for any horse and very difficult for an inexperienced two
01:06:39year old. So that was a big concern of mine.
01:06:42One Philly got a little unnerved and flipped and she kind of landed kind of close to my
01:06:48stall. And I thought my Philly was going to get a little unnerved.
01:06:51I thought he's got a good, good mind on her, but she is a little high strung and she
01:06:56handled everything as good or better than I thought she would.
01:07:00And I knew once she got on a race track, we'd be fine.
01:07:03But just trying to get out of the paddock was a big concern of mine.
01:07:06Once I got her in the stall and packed her up, I just left her there.
01:07:11I didn't even get her out and walk her around the ring.
01:07:14There's just so many people.
01:07:15And I was afraid I was going to unnerve her a little bit.
01:07:18I did have cotton stuffed in her ears to kind of muffle it a little bit.
01:07:22And she has been training with that and has raced with that.
01:07:26And I think that was helpful for her as well.
01:07:29She handled everything, like I said, as good or better than I could ever expect.
01:07:33We had schooled her a couple of times, but there's no way you can prepare them for
01:07:37something like that.
01:07:38Yeah, I wanted to turn the page just a little bit and talk about, you know, the last
01:07:42couple of years you've had a really good, a really successful partnership with Chester
01:07:45Thomas from Allied Racing Stables.
01:07:47Yeah, Mr. Money, you know, by my standards, has really become a very nice horse for
01:07:51you guys. Can you just talk about that relationship and how that's come about and
01:07:54how important it's been to your career in the last couple of years?
01:07:58Well, Chester came along at a time that I didn't have a lot of good horses in the
01:08:01bar, and he brought me some really good prospects that turned out to be top race
01:08:06horses. We've had a phenomenal run for the last three years.
01:08:11It's almost a fairytale, unbelievable run.
01:08:13We've had one good horse after another, and the ones that weren't top horses have
01:08:17been very useful horses.
01:08:20So it's just been really good for the both of us.
01:08:23And we've just had a really extremely good run for the last few years.
01:08:29Hey, Brett, I also want to change the subject a little bit.
01:08:32A couple of weeks ago on the show, we had a trainer, Phil Serpy, after he won the
01:08:37Queensplate up at Woodbine, kind of, I guess, complaining is the right word about how
01:08:41difficult it was for some of the smaller trainers, a guy who would only, I think it
01:08:45was only his fourth win of the year.
01:08:47You don't have quite the numbers that a Brad Cox or Chad Brown has, but you're
01:08:51knocking on the door to be called kind of one of those super trainers with the
01:08:56amount of success you'd had and the numbers you had.
01:08:58You know, what's your take on this situation where the big stables are so dominant
01:09:02in the game this day and age?
01:09:04And in some respects, would you admit that it's not great for racing?
01:09:08Yeah, I do think it's tough for the business in general.
01:09:10And the fact that we need more entries, obviously, is proven for the handle that
01:09:15the bigger field size is better for the handle.
01:09:20So I get that.
01:09:22So I don't know how you get around that.
01:09:25You know, I think 20 years ago, 50 horses was a large stable.
01:09:31Now, I think my stable now is fluctuate around a hundred or so.
01:09:38That that doesn't seem so large of a stable compared to some of these
01:09:41outfits that that's three and 400.
01:09:44I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing for them to have that.
01:09:48I just think it or me to have the hundred.
01:09:51I just think it's difficult for the different racetracks to have enough
01:09:56entry, you know, when they all have several of the same horses for that
01:10:00particular race, instead of, you know, two or three other trainers having those
01:10:04horses, that's just the way the business has gone this time.
01:10:07And the guys that are in that position, they've earned it.
01:10:11They become top trainers and they've had the results.
01:10:15And so they deserve the position they're in.
01:10:19So I really don't know, have the answers for this.
01:10:21And obviously not very many other people have the answer.
01:10:23How do you correct something like this or change it?
01:10:26But, you know, that's just kind of been the way it's gone the last several years.
01:10:31Brent, let me shift gears for you for a second, because one of the things that
01:10:34I've been impressed by your training ability is that you've found unearthed
01:10:39horses at sales that are by less popular stallions or by stallions that are
01:10:46inexpensive. And, you know, Bill mentioned the filly that you just won, who's
01:10:50Connect, who's a $15,000 stallion.
01:10:53You know, you had Dubai Majesty, who was an Essence of Dubai, you know, daughter.
01:10:58And then you've been the king of Golden Sense almost since the horse has been
01:11:03throwing runners. And whenever there's a good Golden Sense, we automatically
01:11:06assume that Brett Calhoun is associated with it somehow.
01:11:09What's been the key to you finding these lesser known or less expensive horses
01:11:16that you continue to win great estate races with?
01:11:19Oh, there's been a key to finding those kind of horses.
01:11:21But that's the kind of budget that a lot of my clientele has had.
01:11:25So that's what we've had to work with.
01:11:27And I'm pretty proud of our team for what we've been able to accomplish with what
01:11:31we have had.
01:11:32We don't have a lot of high profile horses in the barn.
01:11:36We might get one or two of those a year or every once in a while.
01:11:41Most of our horses are from more humble beginnings, like you said, and we'd be
01:11:46fortunate enough to develop a few and really do well with some.
01:11:51So we just keep grinding it out and try to do the best with what we've got.
01:11:56And Brett, one last question for me, and that is, you know, you've been a very
01:11:59consistent 18, 19, 20 percent win percentage guy.
01:12:04You have thirty three hundred wins and your horses have earned ninety three
01:12:08million dollars in purse earnings.
01:12:11At this rate, you're probably going to have one hundred million dollars in purse
01:12:15earnings sometime in the next 12 to 18 months.
01:12:19Have you thought about what that means as far as your career when you look back on
01:12:23it?
01:12:24Yeah, it's an incredible, you know, for me, it's an unbelievable
01:12:29number. And then you look at some other guys that got, you know, a whole lot more
01:12:33than that. But for me, it's been an unbelievable run to have thirty three
01:12:39hundred wins.
01:12:39You know, I'm hoping to reach four thousand and two hundred million earnings.
01:12:45I love this sport, love the horses, love the game.
01:12:47And it's provided a good living for me.
01:12:50So I don't have I can't say enough about the business and what it's done for me.
01:12:56And it's just, you know, a lot of people have to go to a job every day.
01:12:58They can't stand.
01:12:59I go to a job every day that I love.
01:13:02You know, there's obviously it gets more complicated every year and there's a lot
01:13:06more hoops to jump through.
01:13:07And it's very difficult to manage everything at this point in time.
01:13:12I say this a little bit, just kind of a little funny.
01:13:16But, you know, I think in the early years it was it was a lot of fun.
01:13:20And it's sure enough now for sure.
01:13:23Not that I don't still love it, but it's definitely changed a lot.
01:13:26Hey, Brett, before we let you go, one last question.
01:13:28I get back to Hidden Connection.
01:13:30The jockey Raylou Gutierrez has obviously done everything right with this horse
01:13:34with two blowout wins.
01:13:35But for any trainer who has a horse of this ability with the Breeders Cup coming up,
01:13:39there must be some temptation to go for a better known jockey.
01:13:43Luis Saez on the Ortiz brothers, et cetera.
01:13:46Is Raylou going to ride in the Breeders Cup juvenile fillies?
01:13:49Yes, he will.
01:13:50You know, I've never wavered or hesitated about putting Raylou back on this horse
01:13:55and putting him in a race like that and going forward as well.
01:13:59I have a lot of confidence in him.
01:14:01He doesn't seem to get rattled.
01:14:03I don't think pressure situations like that are going to bother him any.
01:14:06He's an up and coming rider.
01:14:09And, you know, my my owners back me on this situation.
01:14:12They asked me what I was going to do.
01:14:14I told them my plans unless they were opposed to it and had a problem with it.
01:14:18And they were all on board.
01:14:19And I think they still are today.
01:14:21And I sure am. I have a lot of confidence in Raylou.
01:14:24I mean, that's we love to hear that.
01:14:25We love to hear that kind of loyalty.
01:14:27Actually, I have one more question.
01:14:28I remember you being a Chicago Arlington regular not too long ago.
01:14:33I used to saddle a lot more horses there.
01:14:35Unfortunately, this is the the closing weekend at Arlington coming up.
01:14:40I think I think most people are pretty sad about that.
01:14:42Can you just talk to you?
01:14:44You know, I think I also believe your first graded stakes
01:14:46win was there, if I'm not mistaken.
01:14:47Can you just talk about your connection to Arlington
01:14:50and just your feelings on it, on it, shutting shutting down this weekend?
01:14:54You know, honestly, it was one of my favorite places to go in the summer.
01:14:57I absolutely love going to Arlington Park.
01:14:59And and I'm not alone in that comment.
01:15:01I would have rather gone up there and trained up there
01:15:04and stable up there in the summer than just about any place in the country.
01:15:07So, yeah, it's disappointing.
01:15:09We're going to lose another major track and a facility.
01:15:14You know, very disappointing.
01:15:16You know, that's kind of how this this world is in the game.
01:15:19It's obviously changing a lot.
01:15:20And, you know, we're losing some racetracks here and there.
01:15:25And that's definitely one that it's going to be missed for sure.
01:15:28Yeah. I mean, I don't want to end the interview on a sour note
01:15:31because you should be very excited about Hidden Connection
01:15:33and the Breeders' Cup coming up.
01:15:35Brett, thank you so much for coming on with us.
01:15:37Really appreciate the time.
01:15:38Thank you guys. Appreciate it. Thank you.
01:15:40All right. Good luck, Brett. Thank you.
01:15:42The Green Group guest of the week is sponsored by the Green Group,
01:15:44an accounting tax consulting and advisory firm specializing in the thoroughbred
01:15:48industry. As this week's Green Group guest of the week, Brett Calhoun
01:15:51will receive a free one hour tax consultation.
01:15:54Learn more at GreenCove.com.
01:15:56We'll be right back after this message from the Green Group.
01:15:59Why do the most successful owners, breeders and horsemen
01:16:02select the Green Group as their tax advisor?
01:16:04We simply save them money and know how to make them more successful.
01:16:07Over the past 40 years, founder Leonard Green has owned and bred
01:16:10some of the best racehorses in the history of the sport.
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01:16:15tax saving strategies has produced positive results for his clientele
01:16:19and has made the Green Group the top rated accounting and tax firm in the business.
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01:16:35I like that shirt, by the way.
01:16:37I thought I was the only one with Expos gear.
01:16:39Oh, I love the Expos.
01:16:40I'm wearing them.
01:16:41What was up with the ugly uniforms of the Red Sox last night?
01:16:44I know it's a little awful.
01:16:45Well, earlier in the season, they did these City Connect.
01:16:49It was not just them.
01:16:50You would have uniforms that had something to do with your city.
01:16:53And the blue and gold is the Boston Marathon.
01:16:55Boston Marathon. Yeah, exactly.
01:16:56So they brought them back out of the blue and they've won three straight.
01:16:59So they're not going to take them off.
01:17:00Oh, my God. They're so ugly.
01:17:01They're awful.
01:17:02I think they won four straight. Whatever.
01:17:03I mean, they're not.
01:17:04They don't come off until they lose the game.
01:17:06Right. Right.
01:17:07So, yeah, no, they're hideous, though.
01:17:09They're winning. I know they're winning.
01:17:10Yes.
01:17:11At what cost?
01:17:13Exactly.
01:17:14And they're only beating the Mets.
01:17:16It's not like, you know, it's kind of Mets are pathetic.
01:17:18They are terrible.
01:17:19This could have been a good year for them.
01:17:20And they ruined players.
01:17:22Yeah, well, I thought as soon as the Graham like came up with any arm soreness,
01:17:27I was like, you got to shut him down.
01:17:28And they kept pitching him through it.
01:17:30Of course. And lo and behold, because they're my team.
01:17:34That's why.
01:17:34Well, don't worry.
01:17:35I was at the Jets home opener on Sunday.
01:17:38So that was a lot of fun.
01:17:39I wasn't going to say that was great.
01:17:41Bacon in the sun to watch Zach throw four picks against the Patriots.
01:17:44That was fun.
01:17:45I love how at halftime they said he's got more receptions by the Patriots
01:17:51than he does by his own players.
01:17:53Yeah, it wasn't great.
01:17:54Four interceptions and three completions.
01:17:57Wasn't great, but also not all that surprising.
01:17:58Listen, I still think he's going to be really good.
01:18:01But that was that was not fun.
01:18:03I mean, tailgating and shit was fun.
01:18:04But once the game started, it's as usual with the Jets.
01:18:08Once the game started, it went downhill.
01:18:10Exactly.
01:18:11They did say that in Aikman's first start, he had five interceptions.
01:18:15But I hate when everybody says that.
01:18:16Like, there was like, well, Peyton Manning through 30 interceptions.
01:18:19It's like, OK, he's the anomaly.
01:18:20Most guys that throw 30 picks their rookie year end up being terrible.
01:18:24Working at Arby's.
01:18:25Exactly. I heard that when Sanchez was around, they were like, well, Peyton
01:18:29threw 30 picks. It's like, OK, let's pick the one Hall of Famer.
01:18:32Right. That was terrible as rookie year.
01:18:34Yeah. And that's the positive spin.
01:18:36You just you don't have to worry about it.
01:18:37If unless Alice gets a tattoo.
01:18:44That was perfect.
01:18:46It was. Is that from the board?
01:18:49Is that by accident?
01:18:50That was perfect.
01:18:51That was golden.
01:18:53So we have some announcements, some very exciting
01:18:56announcements for our TDN writers room family this week.
01:19:00The first one is that two of our editors, Anthony and Alila Raka,
01:19:03who are married and who we love very dearly, had their first child.
01:19:07Paisley May Raka last week.
01:19:09I'm sure we're putting a photo up right now of a very, very cute baby who I don't
01:19:12know if he's putting up the same photo, but she said he was making the
01:19:16he's making the same face that that Anthony makes when Patty asked him to do
01:19:19an edit. It was very funny.
01:19:22It was absolutely perfect.
01:19:23But, you know, we could not be happier for Anthony and Aliyah.
01:19:25They are great, great people.
01:19:27And, you know, bred to be a rising star editor.
01:19:31That's what I'll say.
01:19:31Paisley bred to be a great, great editor.
01:19:34So we're very happy for you guys.
01:19:35And let me just. Oh, wrong one.
01:19:39I've hit the rim shot.
01:19:40There we go.
01:19:43Yeah, very happy for them.
01:19:46Mazel tov. I was so I was so used to hitting the rim shot for John's jokes.
01:19:50I accidentally hit that.
01:19:51But no, we're so happy for you guys.
01:19:53And also our associate producer, who also just got married, Katie Petrunia.
01:19:57It's her birthday today.
01:19:58She is obnoxiously twenty four years old today, which makes me feel old.
01:20:03Just saying, but we're we're super happy for Katie as well.
01:20:06I mean, to see if I can hit the right one this time.
01:20:08There we go. There's the applause.
01:20:11So so happy birthday to Katie and major, major congratulations
01:20:15to Anthony and Aliyah on Baby Paisley.
01:20:19So that's going to do it for this week's edition of the TDN Writer's Room
01:20:21presented by Keeneland.
01:20:22A reminder, Keeneland September yearling sale is still going on through Friday.
01:20:26You can find out more and see the catalog at the world's yearling sale dot com.
01:20:31I want to thank Bill Finley, John Green,
01:20:33our Green Group guest of the week, Brett Calhoun, our producer, Patty Wolf,
01:20:37our birthday girl, the associate producer, Katie Petrunia, and our new parents,
01:20:41Anthony LaRocca and Aliyah LaRocca, as well as Nathan Wilkinson.
01:20:44Thank you guys so much for watching.
01:20:46We will see you next week.