Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00:00They say, the harder the work, the greater the reward.
00:00:18This is our life's work.
00:00:21Good morning.
00:00:24It is 909 Wednesday, May 18th.
00:00:27This is the TDN Writer's Room, presented by Keeneland.
00:00:30My name is Joe Bianca, I'm the Associate Editor of the Thoroughbred Daily News.
00:00:33And how about them Rangers, baby?
00:00:36Came back because of the resolve of the young kids, elite goaltending from Igor Shisterkin,
00:00:40and of course, the kiss of death of John putting on the Pittsburgh Penguins shirt last week.
00:00:46You're welcome.
00:00:47Good morning.
00:00:48I'm Bill Finley, a correspondent for the Thoroughbred Daily News, and Joe, I wish I could be in
00:00:51your shoes.
00:00:52My team, the Boston Red Sox, it's May 18th and their season is over.
00:00:56What am I going to do for this summer?
00:00:57And did you see what happened last night?
00:00:59Our best pitcher, Nativ All, gave up five, five home runs in one inning, tying a Major
00:01:04League Baseball record for futility.
00:01:07It is ugly.
00:01:08Well, just to pick up everyone's spirits, Jonathan Green, General Manager of DJ Stable.
00:01:14And actually, I have a really nice family announcement.
00:01:17My daughter, Carly, my oldest daughter, Carly, got engaged last week, and we are allowed
00:01:23to officially announce it.
00:01:24We're very excited to add Rob to the family.
00:01:28He's a wonderful guy.
00:01:30And we have some photos here that Patty and the crew will put up, a little montage of
00:01:34Carly when she was a baby sleeping on my shoulder.
00:01:37That was right after we read Bill Finley's piece on Lasix or no Lasix.
00:01:42Here's another photo of her graduating.
00:01:45She's three years old there.
00:01:46Her first graduation, that was when she got a communications degree from LIU at the age
00:01:50of three, because it's that easy to get a communications major degree from there.
00:01:57Here's one of us standing in front of a bunch of black-eyed Susans, which right now, Carly
00:02:03would represent the toughest horse and the toughest athlete in that race if she entered.
00:02:09And then finally, most importantly, is Carly and her fiance, Rob Ryan, here with the ring.
00:02:15And I just want to wish them the best, and we're very excited to have Rob as part of
00:02:19the family and to share it with our extended family here on the TDM Writers Room.
00:02:26Congratulations.
00:02:27Congratulations to Carly and Rob and to John.
00:02:30And whoever let John in charge of pictures or editing, I mean, this is what happens.
00:02:36We end up with a 10-minute intro, but seriously, congratulations, John.
00:02:40Thank you, guys.
00:02:41I appreciate it.
00:02:42I appreciate it.
00:02:43I want you to throw those digs in at us.
00:02:45This is all to celebrate the family milestone.
00:02:49You've got to make fun of me and Bill along the way.
00:02:52I guess that's part of it.
00:02:53What would an intro be without a little jockey laughter?
00:02:56Can someone send John a Carolina Hurricane shirt for the next round?
00:03:00We'll do all the help we can get.
00:03:03That was a good line, yo.
00:03:06That was a very good line.
00:03:08The TDM Writers Room is brought to you by Keeneland, home of the World's Yearling Sale.
00:03:13Make plans to attend the Keeneland September Yearling Sale beginning Monday, September 12th.
00:03:17You can learn more at theworldyearlingsale.com.
00:03:21So, as is always the case, big news broke shortly after we recorded last week.
00:03:27Rich Strike will not contest the Preakness stakes.
00:03:30We actually have a field of nine with Epicenter as a pretty heavy favorite.
00:03:33Secret Oath is in the race.
00:03:34We'll get to the Preakness preview in a little bit.
00:03:37This decision by Rich Strike's owner and trainer has ignited the debate over whether or not
00:03:42we should change the triple crown spacing.
00:03:44I know Bill has a lot to say about that, as do I.
00:03:47But first, I want to read the quote from owner Rich Dawson from Rich Strike.
00:03:52It says,
00:03:53Our original plan for Rich Strike was contingent on the Kentucky Derby.
00:03:56Should we not run in the Derby, we would point towards the Preakness.
00:03:58Should we run in the Derby, subject to the race outcome and the condition of our horse,
00:04:02we would give them more recovery time and rest and run in the Belmont or another race
00:04:07and stay on course to run with five or six weeks rest between races.
00:04:10Obviously, with our tremendous effort in winning the Derby,
00:04:13it's very, very tempting to alter our course and run in the Preakness at Pimlico,
00:04:16which would be a great honor for all our group, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
00:04:19After much discussion and consideration with my trainer, Eric Green, and a few others,
00:04:22we're going to stay with our plan of what's best for Richie is what's best for the group
00:04:27and pass on running in the Preakness, point to the Belmont instead in approximately five weeks.
00:04:33This is the first horse since Spendebuck in 1985 to pass on the Preakness despite being healthy,
00:04:40like without a sickness or an injury popping up.
00:04:43Spendebuck, if you remember back in the days, skipped the Preakness to go after a bonus.
00:04:48You got to go a couple of years before that to Gato del Sol,
00:04:51who was the last horse to skip the Preakness after winning the Derby and going to the Belmont.
00:04:56Before that, you got to go all the way back to 1959.
00:04:59This is pretty unprecedented.
00:05:00Like I said, it spurred this debate.
00:05:02I'm going to toss it to Bill Finley because I know this is a major pet peeve of his.
00:05:05Bill, let me take a guess.
00:05:06Do you think the triple crown spacing should be changed?
00:05:10No, I don't.
00:05:11But anyways, one thing I want to touch, because there's so many avenues here.
00:05:16This thing, we're going to do what's right by the horse, is what everybody says.
00:05:21That's become a cliche, and it isn't what it means.
00:05:25They're not looking out for the horse, per se.
00:05:29When people do this, it means they're putting together a plan that they think is the most effective to win a race.
00:05:38John Green did it last year, not running after the Tampa Bay Derby with Helium.
00:05:45I don't know if he said at the time, we're going to do it because it's right by the horse.
00:05:48He did it because he thought, and his family, that it was the best way to run well in the Kentucky Derby.
00:05:53It didn't work out, but anyways.
00:05:56Back to the triple crown thing.
00:05:59There's so much to be said about this, and I've got a lot of comments.
00:06:01I don't want to spew out everything at once, because I know we want to have a round table here.
00:06:05The main problem with changing the triple crown is that you would presumably make it easier if you had more space between the races.
00:06:16The last thing, to me, you want to do is to make the triple crown easier to win.
00:06:21It is the most special accomplishment in Thoroughbred racing, and one of the most special accomplishments in all of sports.
00:06:28Precisely for the reason that it is very hard to achieve.
00:06:32It's been done only 13 times in the history of horse racing, and we had a 37-year drought between Affirmed and American Pharoah.
00:06:41That's the way it's supposed to be.
00:06:43If we change it and fool around with it, and look, there is an issue here, and there is a problem.
00:06:48I'm not denying that, but if we fool around with it, all future triple crown winners can't be compared to past triple crown winners.
00:06:58You have to put an asterisk next to their name.
00:07:00To me, it would be like moving the fences in 50 feet at Yankee Stadium, and then a guy hits 75 home runs.
00:07:08Nobody knows what Bonds hit because it was all juiced, but it's 100 home runs.
00:07:13Is he really the home run king?
00:07:15No, he's the home run king because they moved the fences in 50 feet.
00:07:19I'll leave it at that for now.
00:07:21We'll get back to it, but that is the main reason not to do it.
00:07:24I'll say one other thing, too.
00:07:27If it's not broke, don't fix it.
00:07:29Okay, you lose a horse like Rich Strike.
00:07:31Yeah, there's a problem, but the triple crown, as it works now, is wildly popular.
00:07:37It is the most popular thing in horse racing.
00:07:39It's one of the few things in horse racing that is getting more popular year after year after year.
00:07:45It's resonating more with the general public year after year after year.
00:07:49Teeny ratings are great.
00:07:51The betting on the Kentucky Derby this year set a record.
00:07:54Do you really want to fool around with that and mess with that?
00:07:56To me, no.
00:07:58Bill, you hit on a lot of the points that I was going to talk about, including I actually have written down
00:08:02moving the fences in at Yankee Stadium.
00:08:04It's ironic that we're sharing the same brain these days, which is a whole other therapy session.
00:08:09It's not even just that Rich Strike is defecting and not running in the Preakness.
00:08:13There's only three horses that ran in the Kentucky Derby that are running in the Preakness, number one.
00:08:18That's Simplification, Happy Jack, and Epicenter.
00:08:22Nobody from the Pat Day mile is running in the Preakness.
00:08:26This is the smallest field of the Preakness since 2018.
00:08:31In my humble opinion, it's one of the weakest fields of the Preakness in many, many years.
00:08:37It's not just that Rich Strike is skipping the Preakness, which he's getting the headline
00:08:42because he's the Kentucky Derby winner.
00:08:44It's that nobody, everyone peaks and points for the Kentucky Derby.
00:08:49The Preakness, unfortunately, is kind of an afterthought, especially if the Derby winner
00:08:53isn't in or isn't really a legitimate contender.
00:08:57The Triple Crown has this prestige and this aura about it through the history of our sport.
00:09:05The reason is because it is a freaking triathlon.
00:09:09You have to go through all the hoops to get through all the Derby points to get into the race.
00:09:16Then you have to navigate through 19 other competitors to win the Kentucky Derby.
00:09:20Oh, and by the way, you have to test negative also after the race, which is now a whole
00:09:24other hurdle that the horses have to come through.
00:09:26Then two weeks later, after all that hoopla and everything, you don't get to rest on your laurels.
00:09:31You're shipping over to Pimlico, and you have to do it all over again, albeit a little shorter distance.
00:09:37It's pretty much a bunch of new shooters that are coming in and gunning for you in the Preakness.
00:09:43You get the extra week, the three weeks, to run a mile and a half, which is by far the furthest
00:09:47that any of these three-year-olds have ever run.
00:09:49The whole point of this exercise of why the Triple Crown means so much and why there's
00:09:54so much value there is because it is the Ironman triathlon of our sport.
00:09:59You don't see the triathlon cutting back on the swim portion or giving them five hours
00:10:07between the bike ride and the marathon because that would be best for the athlete.
00:10:13That's the whole point of the exercise, is that if you can do this and you can compete
00:10:16and you can be victorious in all three of the Triple Crown races, you have such value.
00:10:21The value supersedes even genetically what you have.
00:10:25If Rick Strike, who is by a modest stallion and a modest family line, if he won the Triple Crown,
00:10:31he would be able to stand for a hell of a lot more than right now if he's just a derby winner
00:10:36because it is an event.
00:10:39The whole point of this is to find out who's the iron horse, who are the best horses that are out there.
00:10:44I know we're going to go into this a little bit later on about why these horses aren't able to run more frequently.
00:10:51I have some theories on that as well.
00:10:53To me, you can't change this.
00:10:55You can't change the prestige of the Triple Crown by either making it shorter in length
00:11:06as far as the mile and a quarter and the mile and three-sixteenths and the mile and a half
00:11:10or by lengthening the period of time between races.
00:11:14You're just going to water it down.
00:11:15It doesn't make any sense.
00:11:17I totally agree.
00:11:18I agree with the prestige argument and how you're going to have to change history and put up asterisks.
00:11:23I actually have a baseball analogy as well.
00:11:26I have a different one from you guys.
00:11:28One of the trends in baseball these days is that pitchers, especially certain pitchers,
00:11:35can't throw more than 100 pitches in a game.
00:11:37It was one of the most ridiculous things I've seen, honestly, in sports recently,
00:11:40when Clayton Kershaw had a perfect game through seven innings a month or two ago
00:11:45and they took him out of the game, which would be unheard of in every other situation in baseball history.
00:11:51Trying to preserve his arm as if his arm was going to fall off if he threw a 100-first pitch
00:11:57is more important than pitching a perfect game, which, as far as I know,
00:12:01there's only been like two dozen in baseball history.
00:12:03It's a very rare accomplishment.
00:12:05To me, it's akin to that, where the pitchers have become so babied and so sensitive
00:12:11and put them in bubble wrap when they're not pitching that they're changing the game to cater to that.
00:12:18I think that's kind of what it would be like.
00:12:21The other thing is, Bill mentioned about how popular the Triple Crown is.
00:12:25It's a big ask to ask the general public to care about this thing for over two months.
00:12:31I think what's special about the Triple Crown and why it grabs people's attention,
00:12:35it's three races in five weeks.
00:12:37It's a very minor commitment from the general public,
00:12:40and I honestly think that's all we can realistically ask of the general public at this point,
00:12:44is to pay attention for five weeks.
00:12:46You stretch that out over eight, nine weeks, I think the ratings are going to go down,
00:12:50people are going to lose interest, you're going to lose momentum as the series goes on,
00:12:55especially if there isn't a Triple Crown on the lane.
00:12:57You think nobody cares now about the Preakness?
00:12:59Put it a couple weeks later.
00:13:00Put the bell on a couple weeks later than that.
00:13:02Nobody's going to care.
00:13:04Nobody's going to watch.
00:13:05The third thing I would say is, I don't think that you can complain about short fields in racing,
00:13:12and about horses racing too infrequently, and then be an advocate for spacing the Triple Crown out further.
00:13:19I think you've got to pick a side there.
00:13:21Either you're sick of the short fields, which I certainly am.
00:13:24We talked to Graham Motion about this, and all the pitiful five- and six-horse fields in grade one,
00:13:30big purse races, because trainers and owners are so dedicated to the figures.
00:13:36It's so cowardly the way people duck races these days, and duck big horses.
00:13:42I love seeing long shots win, like Graham did on Saturday, where everyone's so scared of Javier,
00:13:47and he comes in with a 19-to-1 shot and wins, because he's not scared to run his horse.
00:13:51I think if you elongate the Triple Crown, that sends a signal to all the owners and trainers these days,
00:13:57who don't think horses can run more than once every five weeks, that, hey, that's the right way to go.
00:14:02We're going in the right direction.
00:14:04These horses need more and more time apart from races.
00:14:07Even the most historic, prestigious series in racing is not safe from that.
00:14:13We need to change that, because horses are made out of glass, apparently, in 2022,
00:14:19and the thought of them running three times in five weeks is unheard of.
00:14:23Joe, first of all, the thing you brought up about not maintaining the public's interest,
00:14:28that's something I hadn't really thought about.
00:14:29It's an excellent point, by the way.
00:14:31I want to bring up another thing, too, and I haven't written this, but kind of mulling this over.
00:14:36Most people who want to change it generally say four weeks, four weeks, four weeks,
00:14:41a month in between starts.
00:14:44I'm going to tell you something.
00:14:45If they did that, it still wouldn't be enough.
00:14:49Now, let's take Zandon and Chad Brown.
00:14:51Chad Brown is a phenomenal success.
00:14:54He's going to be in the Hall of Fame.
00:14:55First year he's eligible, but he is an advocate, perhaps more so than anybody else,
00:15:00of spacing horses, races out and racing them in frequently.
00:15:03Let's suppose the Preakness were four weeks after the Kentucky Derby.
00:15:07Zandon, who ran a bang-up race in the Kentucky Derby, he wouldn't run back in the Preakness in four weeks.
00:15:12There's no way.
00:15:13And then even if you did have some horses that would come back in the Preakness in four weeks,
00:15:18then they wouldn't come back in the Belmont.
00:15:20Look at the summer races.
00:15:23You have the Haskell Travers and Pennsylvania Derby.
00:15:26I often thought maybe to me that's like the second Triple Crown.
00:15:30They're all spaced about a month apart.
00:15:32Do we ever, ever see any horse run in all three of those races?
00:15:37No, absolutely doesn't, unless Antonio Sano does it with simplification.
00:15:41He's my man.
00:15:42He runs in everything.
00:15:43So then what are you going to do?
00:15:46You change it to four weeks and it's still not working.
00:15:49You're going to change to five weeks, six weeks, seven weeks.
00:15:52Where do you stop?
00:15:53I would think in order to get the trainers of the modern era to run in all three Triple Crown races,
00:16:00you would need at least six weeks in between these races.
00:16:04Suppose you did that all the other points we brought up, but then you destroy the Haskell and Travers.
00:16:09So what are you going to do?
00:16:12A situation where a major three-year-old really only runs in what would be what?
00:16:19The Triple Crown races and then the Breeders' Cup and nothing else.
00:16:23That's exactly what you would have.
00:16:25You go down this road, it's a slippery slope and there's no end to it.
00:16:28And I'm telling you, even the four weeks, we'll get a few more horses to run in the Preakness, I think.
00:16:33But that isn't going to even solve this problem.
00:16:36The Chad Browns and Todd Pletcher.
00:16:38The Chad Browns and Todd Pletcher would rather get the measles than run in the Preakness after running in the Kentucky Derby.
00:16:45And it's not going to change.
00:16:47Yeah, I mean, sorry, I just wanted to follow up on that and I'll toss it to you.
00:16:52I think we're looking at this the wrong way.
00:16:54I think that this could be risk strikes given to Preakness could make a lot of people in racing point to that and say,
00:17:01see, the horses still can't, they can't run in this short period of time.
00:17:07That's the problem in racing.
00:17:08That's the problem we need to fix.
00:17:10Instead, we're catering to those owners and trainers and saying,
00:17:13let's rearrange the most historic race schedule in American history to cater to those horses.
00:17:19I think we're looking at this the wrong way and people should be using this as an example to say,
00:17:23look at how ridiculous it is that those horses run seven times in his life, can't come back in two weeks.
00:17:28Sorry, John, go ahead.
00:17:29No, no, that's a great point.
00:17:31I'm also going to take a step back and look at it from the breeder's standpoint.
00:17:36At the end of the day, part of the calculus as to where you run horses,
00:17:42especially Colts, has to do with potential stallion value.
00:17:47Obviously, the Kentucky Derby has all the panache and cachet in our industry.
00:17:52Those horses are going to stand at stud for more money than, say, a Preakness winner or a Belmont winner,
00:17:59everything else being equal.
00:18:00As a matter of fact, there was talk years ago about reducing the distance of the Belmont
00:18:05because nobody wants to breed to a mile-and-a-half winner.
00:18:08The industry doesn't want that.
00:18:10They want speed, they want precociousness, and they don't want a marathon horse to run a mile-and-a-half.
00:18:15They talked about it a little bit and then it went away because, thank goodness,
00:18:19our industry is so stubborn that we hate change anyway, so it didn't get moved.
00:18:25We talk about horses not being able to run on a more frequent basis than yesteryear,
00:18:31than the good old days.
00:18:33I went back and looked at who the top stallions were in the 70s and 80s.
00:18:39It's Northern Dancer and Danzig and Seattle Slough and Mr. Prospector,
00:18:45and even before that Bold Ruler and after that Stormcat.
00:18:49The one commonality in all of those horses is that they were all 16 hands or smaller.
00:18:57Back then, we had smaller athletes, and even if they ran as fast as our horses run today,
00:19:05just from a physics standpoint, there was less torque, there was less concussion on their bodies
00:19:11because they were smaller and they weren't carrying as much weight.
00:19:14Therefore, you could make the argument very easily that those horses stayed sound more
00:19:19because they didn't have the same kind of torque and everything that the current athletes do
00:19:25at 16.2, 16.3, 17 hands.
00:19:29I think that's part of it also.
00:19:31It's not just the economics of it where you want to space your horse out
00:19:35so you can have the opportunity to maximize and peak in these top races.
00:19:40It also has to do with genetics where all these popular stallions were smaller
00:19:44and now are more popular stallions, at least in the sales ring.
00:19:49You want big, robust 16.5, 17 hand athletes, gargantuans that can do it.
00:19:55Joe, I was thinking about the pitchers and the pitching count and everything like that.
00:19:59That's exactly why there is a pitch count because pitchers are worth so much more
00:20:04than the other athletes that are on the field that they have to take care of their arms.
00:20:09The organizations have so much more money invested in it.
00:20:11Also, these guys are bigger and stronger and putting more torque and throwing harder
00:20:16than their predecessors did.
00:20:18That's why they're having more injuries and that's why you have to bubble wrap them.
00:20:22We're going down a very slippery slope, as you mentioned, about trying to baby these horses,
00:20:26but it's because from an athletics standpoint or from a physics standpoint,
00:20:30they're just bigger and stronger than their predecessors.
00:20:33It's harder to keep them sound, everything else being equal.
00:20:37Again, you have to maintain that stallion value to them.
00:20:41You really have to be careful.
00:20:43When breeders are looking at horses to make their mare's tail,
00:20:47I know one of the first things they look at is not only what races they won,
00:20:51but also how many they won.
00:20:53That's why I think people are being very strategic about what races
00:20:57they're going to campaign their horses in because you'd rather have a horse
00:21:00that won five out of six races than won 14 races but ran 30 times.
00:21:04You guys make a good point about where does it end?
00:21:08If you do this four-week spacing, do you then not want horses to run a mile and a half?
00:21:14Do you then say a mile and a quarter is too far for horses to run in early May?
00:21:19At least with the pitcher thing, there's at least some evidence of pitchers being overworked
00:21:25and needing Tommy John surgery and reconstructive surgery and all that.
00:21:30Where is the evidence?
00:21:31Where is the evidence that these horses are irreparably damaged from racing
00:21:35in more than one Triple Crown race?
00:21:37I have yet to see that.
00:21:38So much of it is like the bounce theory.
00:21:41I think a lot of these trainers subscribe to this theory that a horse runs a big race
00:21:46on May 7th, he is inevitably going to regress two weeks later.
00:21:52Honestly, I've seen absolutely no conclusive evidence of that.
00:21:57I'm not the sharpest handicapper in the world, but I've been handicapping for a long time.
00:22:00I just think as great as the sheets are, and I use the sheet figures,
00:22:04and they're invaluable resources, I just think this hyper-formulaic distribution
00:22:11of horses in the category is like, well, this horse did this, so he's going to do this next time.
00:22:15If it was that easy, everybody would be a freaking millionaire betting the horses.
00:22:20If you could just plug it in, you could just plug this horse into the formula
00:22:25and figure out what they're going to do next time.
00:22:26It would be the easiest game in the world to bet horses, but that's not how it is.
00:22:30So I just think it's become one of these self-perpetuating things
00:22:33where trainers run their horses less frequently because they're afraid of bouncing.
00:22:37The horses run well, and then they're like, well, it's because I gave the horse a month off.
00:22:42That's why he must have run well.
00:22:44And who knows if the horse had run two weeks earlier, it could have run the same race.
00:22:49I don't want to disparage people if they truly think this horse is gassed,
00:22:54he needs a little bit of a break.
00:22:56That's fine, but just to say he ran this figure two weeks ago,
00:23:02so we cannot run him back in this race, I just think it's this oversimplification of horses
00:23:08who all of them have different form cycles.
00:23:11Every single horse is different, and just to say he did this, so he cannot do this,
00:23:16I think is ridiculous, and I think that's what's driving so much of this.
00:23:19Yeah, I want to go back to something John said.
00:23:21John, that was a really interesting point about the stallions and everything,
00:23:24and I never really thought that.
00:23:26But even so, the animal has not changed so dramatically that the horse in 1950
00:23:36could run 20 times before the derby and make 45 career starts,
00:23:41and now the derby is their fourth career start.
00:23:44I've even talked to some animal geneticists, would that be the right term,
00:23:47who said for a species to change that dramatically would take centuries,
00:23:52not 25 or 30 years.
00:23:57The owners have also drunk the Kool-Aid here,
00:24:01because if your horse runs four times a year, wins two, maybe one of them is a grade one,
00:24:07you're happy, wow, this is a great year,
00:24:12but how are you not making more money if that horse didn't run 12 times?
00:24:17Which again, I'm not talking about running a horse every single week,
00:24:2135 times a year, 12 starts in a year.
00:24:25First of all, back in the 50s and 60s, that would have been a very light campaign.
00:24:31Even 10, 15 years ago, that was okay.
00:24:35Now we never see it.
00:24:37If I had the resources to own a lot of good horses,
00:24:42I would tell my trainers, man, if you're not averaging 10 starts a year with these horses,
00:24:45I'm looking for somebody else.
00:24:47The owners have bought into this, and again,
00:24:51the trainers and owners have all bought into this,
00:24:53and until someone comes along and does what maybe,
00:24:57you've got to go back to somebody like Bobby Frankel,
00:24:59was one of the first people that really started with this,
00:25:02looking at the sheets, okay, this horse ran a three,
00:25:05I've got to give him eight weeks off and can't come back,
00:25:08and it has had some success with this.
00:25:10We need somebody to come along and revolutionize the game in the other direction.
00:25:13Oh, wait a minute, this top trainer ran his horses on average 14 times a year,
00:25:17and he ran this horse who's really not anything special,
00:25:21but he ran him 14 times a year, and he earned $1.3 million with him,
00:25:25because he just kept running in all these big races, to change the equation.
00:25:29Is that going to happen anytime soon? I don't think so.
00:25:32Yeah, and you can't change the athletes the way they are right now,
00:25:37they are very fragile, that's the problem.
00:25:41The only other argument, guys, that I can give you as a historian of the industry is,
00:25:47when we were running horses in the 80s and 90s,
00:25:51we could run our horses every couple of weeks,
00:25:54and it didn't matter if it was a claiming horse, a lamb, a steak horse, it didn't really matter.
00:25:59I honestly think, and you guys will laugh at me when I say this,
00:26:03but I honestly think that when you have an outfit that does things the right way,
00:26:07that is hay, water, and oats, pretty much,
00:26:11and doesn't try to take chemical edges on horses,
00:26:14and you're running against other outfits that don't abide by those same feelings,
00:26:19and they give their horses enhancements, and they give them steroids,
00:26:23and they allegedly give them things that are illegal,
00:26:27well, if my horse that's running on hay, water, and oats is running against
00:26:31juiced up horses, and my horse has to have a yeoman's effort to run second to that horse,
00:26:38it's going to take more time for my horse to bounce back.
00:26:42Now, those chemically enhanced horses, it probably won't take as much time,
00:26:45and those guys should be able to run their horses more often,
00:26:49but I can tell you that when you're trying to be a boy scout in this industry,
00:26:52and do it the right way, it takes a lot out of your horse to have to run at that level,
00:26:58to beat these other horses, and then, because it's not a fair playing field,
00:27:04you have to give your horse a little bit more time,
00:27:08because of the efforts that they put in.
00:27:10So, I know nobody wants to hear that, but that's the reality of our game right now,
00:27:15is that if I'm running against horses, like when we ran at Monmouth Park,
00:27:19and we used to have to run against Jason Service and Jorge Navarro,
00:27:23we couldn't run our horses as often, because even if my horse ran the absolute best race
00:27:28of his life, it took a lot out of him, and he probably ran second or third in that race,
00:27:32and that's what really sucked.
00:27:34So, it's just, until we can get on a more even playing field,
00:27:38these horses that are doing it the natural way can't run more often,
00:27:41if they're putting in these yeoman-like results.
00:27:45Just the last thing I'll say on this, it's kind of an interesting sidebar,
00:27:50or side conflict here with this Triple Crown discussion,
00:27:54is it hurts the Preakness much more than the Velma right now, the spacing.
00:28:00The Velma is good, and you can see in the quotes from Dave O'Rourke and First Racing,
00:28:08First Racing runs Pimlico, obviously, and the Preakness,
00:28:10Dave O'Rourke is the CEO of Naira.
00:28:12I just want to read the two quotes to you.
00:28:14It says, a representative from First Racing said the company is,
00:28:18quote, looking at this internally and intends to speak with our other Triple Crown partners
00:28:23once we're through Preakness 147.
00:28:25So, it sounds like they're going to make a concerted push here to try to stretch out these races.
00:28:31Now, if you go to Dave O'Rourke's quote, it sounds kind of like what we're saying.
00:28:35He says, the Triple Crown galvanizes the attention of the sports world precisely
00:28:39because of its difficulty to sweep the Derby, Preakness, and Belmont,
00:28:42requires an extraordinarily talented horse to perform heroically at three different racetracks
00:28:46over a period of just five weeks.
00:28:48This condensed schedule helps to sustain the excitement and enthusiasm
00:28:53around the Triple Crown quest and plays a role in the lasting success of each leg of the series.
00:28:57Naira is always willing to engage in thoughtful conversation around issues
00:29:01that will impact the future of horse racing.
00:29:03Fundamental changes to the sport's most successful and important institution, however,
00:29:07would demand careful and deliberate consideration among all relevant parties.
00:29:11So, that's kind of an interesting sidebar to watch going forward.
00:29:14It's because the Preakness has all the incentive in the world to try to stretch these races out
00:29:19because the Preakness is the one that suffers from the condensed schedule such as it is.
00:29:23Belmont has no incentive, Naira has no incentive to stretch these races out.
00:29:27So, I think that's a conflict to keep an eye on.
00:29:30Guys, I don't honestly know the answer to this.
00:29:32Bill, you probably know this.
00:29:33But in the COVID year, when everything got all screwed up and they pushed the Triple Crown to the fall,
00:29:38what was the order and what was the amount of time between races? Do you remember?
00:29:43Well, it was Belmont Derby Preakness was the order.
00:29:48And I don't recall. There was a lot of time.
00:29:50A lot of time, right?
00:29:51The order was in mid-June.
00:29:52Yeah, and then the Derby was in September.
00:29:54So, it was the first Saturday of September.
00:29:56But, I mean, that's a novel.
00:29:58I'm just wondering how many horses actually ran in back-to-back races because they were so spaced out.
00:30:04That's what I was getting. I don't know the answer to it.
00:30:06I don't know off the top of my head.
00:30:09It's our fact-checking team.
00:30:11Yeah, because that was the only time in our history where they had more time between races.
00:30:18I'm curious to see if they had more than three horses that ran.
00:30:22This year, we have three horses running from the Derby to the Preakness.
00:30:25I'm wondering if there were more than three horses that ran.
00:30:27I do recall, however, that Tis the Law bailed on the Preakness after we did the Kentucky Derby.
00:30:33And again, you know, why?
00:30:36You had plenty of time. It's a Grade 1 prestigious race.
00:30:39It would add to your value as a stallion if you were to win it.
00:30:42They needed eight weeks until the Breeders' Cup.
00:30:44Exactly.
00:30:48Barkley Tag has been training horses since the early 1960s.
00:30:51It's as old school as you can get.
00:30:53Even he drank the Kool-Aid and couldn't go into the Preakness
00:30:58because, God forbid, it would have been three races in the course of three months.
00:31:04I guarantee you, if Churchill hadn't instituted the points system,
00:31:09you wouldn't see horses running more than once before the Derby.
00:31:13Absolutely would not happen.
00:31:15That's where we're headed.
00:31:16If we start making these changes, you might as well just plan a four-race campaign
00:31:20ending in the Breeders' Cup for all these three-year-olds.
00:31:22Why run them more frequently?
00:31:26Again, as an owner, I would say we love it when we run our horses more often
00:31:29because that's the only way you get, especially as a three-year-old.
00:31:32Because you're a three-year-old, the first three quarters of its three-year-old year,
00:31:35you're running against only three-year-olds.
00:31:37After that, then you're in deep waters
00:31:42because you're running against all these older horses.
00:31:44You want to run your horse as often as possible as a two-year-old,
00:31:47almost a three-year-old.
00:31:48Unfortunately, just because of all these factors we're talking about,
00:31:51that's the world that we live in right now.
00:31:55I asked Graham Ocean about this yesterday.
00:31:57I think having the super trainers who have so many horses,
00:32:01they don't have the same incentive as the owners to run as frequently
00:32:05because they've got options.
00:32:06I've got 10 different grade one horses that I can space out
00:32:09so they don't have to run against each other.
00:32:12If you're the owner, you should want to run more often than that.
00:32:14You should want to, like Bill was saying before,
00:32:16the more they race, the more money you can make on the racetrack.
00:32:19But the trainers themselves, if they have 200 horses,
00:32:22especially high-quality horses,
00:32:24they don't want to run frequently and have to run against their own horses.
00:32:30TDN Riders Rumors brought to you by Keeneland.
00:32:32Keeneland sales produced seven horses,
00:32:34entered in Saturday's Preakness, which we're going to talk about in a little bit.
00:32:37Gooding, six to five morning line favorite epicenter,
00:32:40second choice early voting.
00:32:41Epicenter was a $260,000 Keeneland September yearling buy,
00:32:45and early voting was a $200,000 September graduate.
00:32:4826 Preakness winners, including 11 of the past 15,
00:32:52are graduates of Keeneland sales.
00:32:54Great nugget from Katie there.
00:32:56We'll be right back after this message from Keeneland.
00:33:10Good morning, ladies and gentlemen,
00:33:11and welcome to the Keeneland September yearling sale.
00:33:14A terrific maternal pedigree, grade one winners and champions across the base.
00:33:25Go to the back. Good luck.
00:33:29Maximum security proves he's the real deal
00:33:32with a gate-to-wire win in the Florida Derby.
00:33:35Champion, three-year-old.
00:33:38Maximum security has won the TVG.com Haskell Invitational.
00:33:4311 triple-digit buyers.
00:33:45Maximum security, he smoked them in the Cigar Mile.
00:33:49Grade one winning four-year-old.
00:33:51Maximum security takes them all the way in the TVG Pacific Classic.
00:33:55Secure your mayor's future.
00:33:58Maximum security.
00:34:00The TDN Writer's Room is brought to you by Coolmore.
00:34:03Champion Classic Empire now has five first crop stakes winners
00:34:07after his son Classic State of Mind won the Roar stakes on Saturday at Gulfstream.
00:34:11Classic Empire's first runners also include Gotham winner Morello.
00:34:15And he's already produced 10 stakes performers,
00:34:17which is second among all second crop sires, so he's climbing up that list.
00:34:21And Dash Attack, a son of Munnings, added a second stakes win to his resume
00:34:25with a victory in Saturday's Long Branch at Monmouth, which John was there for.
00:34:29Already this year, Munnings has nine stakes winners and 15 stakes performers.
00:34:34Always a hot ticket to get to Munnings. Horses are running great.
00:34:37I think Jack Christopher is going to carry that flag pretty damn well
00:34:40the rest of this year for the Coolmore partners.
00:34:43All right, just to put a bow on that last discussion,
00:34:46we were talking about whether or not the 2020 Triple Crown,
00:34:49which was the COVID spaced-out Triple Crown,
00:34:51had bigger fields on a lot of horses running in multiple legs.
00:34:54It really didn't.
00:34:56The Derby itself only had 15 horses.
00:34:59And there were a couple scratches.
00:35:01The program numbers went up to 18.
00:35:04In the Preakness, you had 11 horses.
00:35:06And in the Belmont, you had 10.
00:35:08So even with the races spaced out by months,
00:35:11you still did not get full fields in those races,
00:35:14and you still did not get a lot of crossover and horses running in multiple spots.
00:35:19And I think that goes to show you that I don't think you can ever satisfy
00:35:24the trainers who want to space out the races so much.
00:35:27Like Bill was saying, even if you put the races four weeks apart in the Triple Crown,
00:35:31I don't think that that would be enough,
00:35:33especially with so many other options and races to run in.
00:35:36And Joe, that year, horses didn't run for a significant amount of time anyway,
00:35:41because racetracks weren't even open.
00:35:43So it wasn't even like they had a hard campaign in the early part,
00:35:46the three-year-old year.
00:35:47Nobody was running.
00:35:48So those are fresh horses, and they still weren't running them in multiple races.
00:35:52Yeah, so I think that kind of lays waste a little bit to the idea that if you
00:35:57space out these races, you'll get full fields.
00:35:59You'll get more participation.
00:36:00It's never going to be enough, and I think we should be using this opportunity
00:36:04to point out how infrequently horses run rather than catering to them.
00:36:08But anyway, all that aside, we do have the Preakness stakes.
00:36:11The 147th Preakness is this Saturday, 7-0-1, post-time, Eastern time.
00:36:16You have a nine-horse field, pretty significant favorite,
00:36:19an epicenter, 6-5 morning line.
00:36:22But the horse that adds the juice to the race is Secret Oath, I think.
00:36:27Thank God she's in the race because then I think you'd really have a snoozer
00:36:31and a race that nobody would care about, at least with the filly in.
00:36:35You have this added cachet as she tries to become the second filly
00:36:41in three years to win the Preakness.
00:36:42If Swiss Guide ever won the aforementioned 2020 Preakness, of course,
00:36:46we all remember Rachel Alexandra back in the day winning
00:36:49that thrilling Preakness race.
00:36:51All right, let's just get some early impressions from you guys on this field.
00:36:55Well, yeah, I mean, could it be a better field?
00:36:57Absolutely.
00:36:58Would it be better if Rich Strike were in there?
00:36:59Absolutely.
00:37:00But, Joe, it's not.
00:37:01You have a storyline.
00:37:03You have something to get people excited about.
00:37:05Wayne Lucas saved the Preakness.
00:37:07Yeah.
00:37:08And if the Preakness were on the day after the Kentucky Derby,
00:37:11Lucas would run in it because that's what he does and good for him.
00:37:15Is she good enough to win?
00:37:17We'll see.
00:37:18I don't think she's as good as Rachel Alexandra, but she's one hell of a filly.
00:37:22And the whole scenario or the storyline of Lucas at age 86,
00:37:28you know, when everybody wrote the guy off trying to win the Preakness
00:37:31with the filly is in and of itself is that's must-see television.
00:37:36And it's reason to tune in and watch the race.
00:37:38So, you know, thank you, Wayne Lucas, for doing this.
00:37:41I mean, he didn't do it for the good of the sport.
00:37:43He did it because he wants to win the Preakness, but that's the end result.
00:37:46I also think that, you know, the pace was such a big story in the Kentucky.
00:37:51It was a huge story.
00:37:52It is the, you know, the reason why the race ended up the way it did
00:37:56with Rich Strike winning.
00:37:58I think you're going to have an exact opposite scenario here.
00:38:01I mean, early voting should go to the lead here.
00:38:04And aside from the new shooter Arminak or Tim Yaktin,
00:38:08I don't really see much other speed in the race whatsoever.
00:38:11So I think the pace this time out will be much more moderate
00:38:15than it was in the Kentucky Derby.
00:38:17And I also think that means that Epicenter needs to be ridden differently
00:38:20and will.
00:38:21He was, so what, let's see, he was eighth in the first two calls
00:38:26in the Kentucky Derby, six lengths behind in five and a quarter.
00:38:30I think he'll be much closer to the pace here,
00:38:33and he should get a very good trip.
00:38:35You know, I'll reserve the right to change my mind
00:38:37after I really dive into the race.
00:38:39But right now, I mean, at six to five, he looks like a very solid horse.
00:38:44And one more thing about Rich Strike.
00:38:46He wasn't going to win this race anyways, guys.
00:38:48So let's, you know, yes, we want him in there,
00:38:51but he was not going to win.
00:38:53No.
00:38:54And you're really, it's a shame that the race.
00:38:56We said that in the Derby though.
00:38:58We said that about him in the Derby.
00:39:00Anyway, go ahead, John.
00:39:01Actually, to be honest, we didn't say anything about him.
00:39:04We never even mentioned him, ever.
00:39:07Exactly, exactly.
00:39:09But yeah, I mean, you know, there's really no story
00:39:11other than what you mentioned.
00:39:13And it's a shame because it's the second jewel of the triple crown,
00:39:15for God's sake, you know, so you should have something more than that.
00:39:17I guess the only other thing that I would talk about is, you know,
00:39:20Chad Brown's got a really good chance to win
00:39:22by having early voting skip the Derby
00:39:25and focus primarily, you know, for this race.
00:39:28That gives him a really good chance.
00:39:30And I have to give, you know, we mentioned before about the Philly
00:39:33that won the Preakness a couple of years ago
00:39:35and it was under the care of Kenny McPeak.
00:39:37And Kenny McPeak, again, thinking outside the box,
00:39:40saw that this race was coming up light,
00:39:42went back to his owners and said,
00:39:44Hey guys, I know this is going to cost $150,000
00:39:48to supplement Creative Minister into the race
00:39:51and we'll probably be 10-15-1 in the race,
00:39:54but it's not a difficult field top to bottom.
00:39:57And basically, you know, they ponied up $150,000
00:40:01to run in this race.
00:40:02So if they don't finish first, second or third,
00:40:04they lose money and they lose a lot of money on this deal.
00:40:07So, you know, again, hats off to Kenny McPeak
00:40:10for seeing an opportunity and convincing his owners
00:40:13to write a very big check.
00:40:14It almost costs as much to supplement the horse in the race
00:40:17as what they bought the horse for
00:40:19at the Keeneland September Sale.
00:40:20They bought the horse for $180,000
00:40:22and they had to put in another $150,000,
00:40:25you know, just to supplement for this race.
00:40:27So I'm curious to see how Creative Minister runs in the race.
00:40:31He's peaking, he's moving in the right direction.
00:40:33You know, again, he's 10-1 in the early line for a reason,
00:40:37but honestly, he's got almost just as good a chance
00:40:40as anybody else in this race.
00:40:42And I mentioned the other bullet points about how
00:40:44there's only three horses in the race that ran in the Derby
00:40:46and are now running the Preakness.
00:40:48And, you know, again,
00:40:50I wasn't on the Simplification bandwagon before.
00:40:53You know, I've changed my mind about him.
00:40:55He's really, you know, a stout horse
00:40:57and he's danced every dance.
00:40:59But I almost feel like that because he has run
00:41:01eight times already,
00:41:03that he may not have a lot of tread on his tire
00:41:05and this may be a tough race for him.
00:41:07And if I was looking for a bounce race,
00:41:09this would kind of be the horse that I would focus in on.
00:41:11But yeah, guys, this is not...
00:41:13If it wasn't for the old coach and Secret Oath,
00:41:17we wouldn't even be talking about this race, really.
00:41:20And how about the fact that, like, Secret Oath
00:41:22would have been even money in the Black-Eyed Susan?
00:41:25And that's a whole other conversation to have.
00:41:27Joe, did you know that half of the field,
00:41:29half of the Black-Eyed Susan field,
00:41:31are A-other-thans?
00:41:33I mean, we taught you...
00:41:34You guys brought up the point last week
00:41:36about how the Black-Eyed Susan's a grade two,
00:41:38so it made more sense for Secret Oath
00:41:40to be a grade one in the Derby.
00:41:42You know, this race, this field that they put together
00:41:45for the Black-Eyed Susan,
00:41:46where no horses from the Kentucky Oaks
00:41:48are running in the Black-Eyed Susan
00:41:49and half the field is A-other-than,
00:41:51this should really be, like, a listed stake, almost.
00:41:53Yeah, I mean, well, that's why you get 13 horses,
00:41:55because there is no Secret Oath.
00:41:57If you put Secret Oath in that race,
00:41:58you get six, seven different horses.
00:42:00I agree with you guys that that presenter
00:42:02is going to be very tough,
00:42:03especially after he drew well.
00:42:04He draws outside, just outside of Armagnac
00:42:07and early voting,
00:42:08so he's outside of the other speed.
00:42:10You know, it doesn't look like a great betting race.
00:42:12I think, you know, the one thing...
00:42:14I've got a bone to pick with the Mourning Lion maker.
00:42:18I don't see any way that Secret Oath is 9-2.
00:42:21I just think that she's going to get too much casual money.
00:42:24She's going to be the story.
00:42:26She's going to be the one everyone's paying attention to.
00:42:28I just find it hard to believe
00:42:29she's going to be that big of a price.
00:42:30I think she's going to be much closer to 3-1.
00:42:32I do agree that presenter will be a heavy favorite,
00:42:34but I think she and early voting
00:42:36will kind of be battling for second favorites as I'm there.
00:42:39But yeah, I mean, it's just...
00:42:41For me, just personally watching the race,
00:42:43because I don't think it's going to be a great betting race,
00:42:45I want one of the derby horses to win.
00:42:47I want one of the derby...
00:42:48After all that discussion,
00:42:49I want one of the derby horses to come back in two weeks
00:42:51and win that race.
00:42:52Or maybe Ken McPeak, because like John said,
00:42:54he's taking a shot.
00:42:55Go ahead, Bill.
00:42:56I just want...
00:42:57John, do you realize what you just said?
00:42:58I'm not knocking you,
00:42:59but this is the insanity we're dealing with.
00:43:02The horse ran eight times,
00:43:05and now he's not going to have any tread on his tire.
00:43:07Eight times.
00:43:09Unbelievable.
00:43:11And oh my goodness, what an iron horse.
00:43:13How could he possibly run eight times in his career?
00:43:16Antonio, Santa, what do you think?
00:43:18And you said he ran eight times.
00:43:20Will he have any tread left on his tire?
00:43:22Oh boy.
00:43:24You know, I only said that just to keep you up, Bill.
00:43:27I just wanted to wind you up on that.
00:43:29That's the only reason.
00:43:30Oh, and just so we don't make the same mistake
00:43:32that we did for the derby,
00:43:33can we at least mention that Fenwick is a 50-to-1
00:43:35and Skippy Longstocking is a 20-to-1?
00:43:37And they are in the race.
00:43:38That way, if one of them does win, we can say,
00:43:40oh yeah, we talked about those two horses on the show.
00:43:42Great.
00:43:43Let's mention the entire field.
00:43:44Happy Jackson, Northampton.
00:43:47Yeah, I think we covered everybody now,
00:43:49so you can't say we ignored any of these horses.
00:43:51It's easier when there's nine and not 20.
00:43:55The TDN Writers Room was brought to you
00:43:56by the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association.
00:43:58Last week, the PHBA, I'm so excited to read this note,
00:44:01held their annual Iroquois Awards,
00:44:03where Chubwagon was named the 2021
00:44:06Pennsylvania Bred Horse of the Year.
00:44:08Love that, Philly.
00:44:10The four-year-old scored in eight of her nine starts last year.
00:44:13That's an iron horse, Bill, whether you like it or not,
00:44:16to earn $47,400.
00:44:20Other divisional leaders included turf female champion
00:44:22and grade three winner Caravelle, also a very nice Philly.
00:44:25Penn Mile Day is approaching quickly.
00:44:27In addition to the grade two on June 3rd,
00:44:29there will also be the four $100,000 PA bred stakes,
00:44:33the Danzig, the new start, both for three-year-olds,
00:44:35going six for longs, as well as the Leifert,
00:44:37and the, with anticipation, going a mile and a 16th on the turf.
00:44:41Congratulations to all the Pennsylvania bred champions,
00:44:44especially Chubwagon.
00:44:46Can't wait to see where she shows up next.
00:44:48We'll be right back after this message from the PHBA.
00:44:51The PA Horse Breeders Association
00:44:53introduces the Pennsylvania Stallion Series,
00:44:57four brand new races to be run at parks
00:44:59for PA-sired, PA bred two-year-olds.
00:45:02There are two $100,000 contests on August 22nd,
00:45:06PA Day at the Races.
00:45:07September 24th, PA Derby Day has two more races,
00:45:11each with a $200,000 purse.
00:45:13The PA Stallion Series, yet another reason
00:45:16why Pennsylvania is the premier place to breed and race.
00:45:19For more, please visit pabred.com.
00:45:22The Green Group Guest of the Week is sponsored by
00:45:24The Green Group, an accounting, tax, consulting,
00:45:26and advisory firm specializing in the thoroughbred industry.
00:45:29With over 500 clients in the horse business,
00:45:31they have proven strategies to save you taxes.
00:45:33Learn more about how they can help you at www.greenco.com.
00:45:37So we're beyond thrilled this week to welcome
00:45:39an excellent trainer coming off a huge grade one upset
00:45:42win over the weekend, Graham Motion.
00:45:44Thanks so much for joining us.
00:45:45Good to be here, guys.
00:45:47Always good to talk to you, really thoughtful guy.
00:45:49We always love listening to you anytime you're on TV,
00:45:51and it's great to have a conversation with you.
00:45:53Talk about the horse over the weekend,
00:45:54the big win with Highland Chief in the Man O' War.
00:45:57You know, this is something I'm going to ask
00:45:59a little bit more about, but I feel like you're a guy
00:46:01who's not afraid to take shots with big prices,
00:46:04horses that may not quite fit on paper
00:46:06as much as the big favorites.
00:46:08What did you see about him going into the race
00:46:10that made you enter the race, and how do you feel
00:46:12about him coming out of the race?
00:46:14Yeah, it's funny you bring that up,
00:46:15because I've thought about it quite a lot since the weekend.
00:46:18Most of my big races, you know, even my Breeders' Cup wins
00:46:20have been with long shots.
00:46:22It's something I've watched over the years,
00:46:24like watch Wayne Lucas do, always taking shots,
00:46:26and I think you learn from those guys.
00:46:29As far as this horse goes, you know,
00:46:31his European form was not far off the favorite, you'd hear.
00:46:35You know, he won at Royal Ascot.
00:46:38The owners were very high on him.
00:46:40He had throat surgery before he came to me,
00:46:43and clearly that made a big difference.
00:46:45I thought his race at Aqueduct was probably
00:46:47a sneaky good race.
00:46:48I thought the turf at Aqueduct was a little bit tricky.
00:46:51It was very fast.
00:46:53It was hard to make up ground.
00:46:54He kind of got clobbered coming out of the gate
00:46:56after breaking a step slow.
00:46:58So I thought his race at Aqueduct was encouraging enough
00:47:01that if this came up, you know, a relatively small field,
00:47:04we should take a shot.
00:47:06For sure.
00:47:07No question about it.
00:47:08And just to keep in line with running longer shots
00:47:12than the average bear, you know,
00:47:15Sherring won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf in 2019
00:47:18at 14-to-1, and now you have two fillies
00:47:21in the Black-Eyed Susan, Divine Huntress at 15-to-1
00:47:24and Candy Light at 20-to-1.
00:47:26Let's talk a little bit about those two fillies
00:47:28and how you think their prospects are going to be
00:47:30in a full field in the Black-Eyed Susan.
00:47:33Yeah, I mean, Divine Huntress, she's a filly
00:47:36that we've thought about this race for a while with.
00:47:38She actually trained at Pimlico before she came to me,
00:47:41before Aaron Wellman bought her privately.
00:47:44Rick stayed in for a piece of her,
00:47:46and he trained at Pimlico.
00:47:47So she's quite used to the surface.
00:47:49I feel like her New Orleans race was a little bit of a race
00:47:53you could put a line through.
00:47:55Steve Aspenson's horse kind of pulled up in front of her
00:47:58and just kind of, I thought it set her off balance
00:48:00a little bit.
00:48:01She lost some momentum, ended up being an odd race.
00:48:04We regrouped, ran her back at Aqueduct.
00:48:06I didn't think she ran that poorly at Aqueduct,
00:48:08probably needed the race, and felt, you know,
00:48:11that we should take a shot this weekend.
00:48:15Candy lights a filly ever since she was second
00:48:17to Hammy Smith's filly, who's clearly the best filly
00:48:20in Maryland.
00:48:22I've kind of had this race in mind.
00:48:24Yeah, just to kind of piggyback off of my last question
00:48:26and why we have so many pitiful five- and six-horse fields
00:48:30and so many graded stakes, I mean, I have two theories.
00:48:32You can tell me if I'm full of it.
00:48:34One is that trainers are too married to figures
00:48:37and the bounce theory.
00:48:39And the other theory I have is that, you know,
00:48:41the super trainers have so many horses that they can afford
00:48:44to put a horse on the shelf for a month or two.
00:48:46They don't necessarily need to run those horses
00:48:48as often as a smaller stable.
00:48:50What do you think about those theories, and do you have
00:48:52any other ideas for why we have so many short fields
00:48:54in these stakes?
00:48:55Yeah, I mean, along those lines, I think we are very cautious
00:48:58these days.
00:48:59I think everyone's so worried about that percentage.
00:49:01I think you can learn a lot from watching a guy like Wayne
00:49:03who I've always noticed, you know, I follow these guys
00:49:07since before I started training, and since I started training,
00:49:09they take a shot.
00:49:10You know, they've never been afraid to take a shot.
00:49:12And I think we are just so caught up in being careful.
00:49:16It's so easy to ship across the country now.
00:49:18It's so easy to avoid races that you think are too tough.
00:49:22I mean, at the end of the day, it takes a little bit away
00:49:25from the sport, which is to see who has the fastest horse
00:49:27and the challenge.
00:49:28And I mean, I kind of live for that.
00:49:30That's what I find so exciting is being part of the challenge.
00:49:33That's why I love going to ASCA, because it's out of the normal.
00:49:36It's a challenge for these horses.
00:49:38And I think, you know, going to the Triple Crown,
00:49:40I think that's what it's all about, right?
00:49:42It's the challenge of the race.
00:49:44Absolutely.
00:49:45Yeah.
00:49:46And Graham, you've been fortunate enough in your career
00:49:48to win a Kentucky Derby with Animal Kingdom.
00:49:50You've won multiple Grade 1 races, over 2,500 wins,
00:49:54and a pretty consistent 18% win percentage
00:49:58and 48% win place in show percentage,
00:50:01which are all really, really commendable percentages
00:50:04and quite a resume.
00:50:06But the thing that I'm most impressed with is the fact
00:50:08that you've had over 14,000 starts and only one drug positive.
00:50:12And in this day and age of, you know, people taking edges
00:50:17and stuff like that, you've compiled just a tremendous resume
00:50:21doing it the right way.
00:50:23And I know you take pride in that.
00:50:25So just talk to us a little bit about that statistic
00:50:28and how important that is to you to train these horses
00:50:30the right way.
00:50:32Yeah.
00:50:33I mean, look, it's something I feel really strongly about.
00:50:35And, you know, accidents are going to happen.
00:50:37There's no doubt about it.
00:50:39But, you know, I constantly am reminding my crew,
00:50:43and they know how passionate I feel about it,
00:50:45is, you know, you don't want to have a drug positive.
00:50:48We go out of our way to avoid it.
00:50:50It becomes more and more complicated these days
00:50:52with the different regulations in different states,
00:50:55and that's why I'm such a huge proponent of HISA.
00:50:58I think it's going to be so important that we have national rules.
00:51:02I think it will make our lives as trainers much easier eventually.
00:51:06It's going to be tricky in the beginning.
00:51:08But ultimately, I don't know why everyone wouldn't want this.
00:51:11You know, running out of Fair Hill, we're running in a different state
00:51:14most weekends.
00:51:15We could be running in four or five different states from Fair Hill.
00:51:18And it's really hard to follow the guidelines.
00:51:20So, you know, I came up under Jonathan Shepard.
00:51:23He was a guy who very rarely did you see a, you know,
00:51:28a butte shot or anything before a horse ran.
00:51:31And he kept it very simple.
00:51:33And, you know, I've tried to follow along those lines.
00:51:35And, look, I know I'll eventually end up having another positive.
00:51:38You're going to have an accident.
00:51:39But it is something I feel super passionate about,
00:51:42and I'm always preaching to my guys to, you know, how careful we have to be.
00:51:47Well, you led me into my next question, which is about HISA.
00:51:50We had such optimism, I think, when that bill first passed,
00:51:53and we had USADA coming on board to do the drug enforcement
00:51:56and the drug policy.
00:51:58They dropped out, obviously, which I think made us a little less optimistic.
00:52:01It sounds like we have a new body that's going to come on
00:52:04and try to take that on.
00:52:05How are you feeling overall?
00:52:07Are you feeling more optimistic or more pessimistic than you did
00:52:10when it first passed?
00:52:12Yeah, I'm surprised.
00:52:14It's going to be difficult.
00:52:15Look, there's no doubt about it.
00:52:17I realize there's issues with money and where the cost is going to come from.
00:52:21What I don't quite understand and what frustrates me a little bit,
00:52:24and I'll probably get chastised for saying this,
00:52:27but, you know, we're running for these extraordinary purses.
00:52:29We're running for $100,000 maidens.
00:52:32Couldn't we put some of that money aside towards the integrity of our sport?
00:52:36I don't understand it.
00:52:38You know, improve the backstretch, improve security,
00:52:40improve the integrity of our sport.
00:52:42Put some of this money towards HISA.
00:52:45It's going to be a difficult task.
00:52:47I was disappointed when USADA dropped out.
00:52:49I don't know much about the new arrangement.
00:52:51I'm surprised how little, quite frankly, we read about it.
00:52:54Yeah.
00:52:55So, look, I'm optimistic it's going to happen.
00:52:58I hope everybody eventually gets on board because I think it'll be game-changing.
00:53:02It's going to take a while.
00:53:03There are going to be some hiccups along the way.
00:53:06And, Graham, as an industry, what else can we do to make racing safer?
00:53:10Well, look, I think in the last few years we've gone out of our way to improve racetracks.
00:53:16I think a lot of good things have been done.
00:53:18And I think, you know, as the medication rules get tighter,
00:53:21I think that's another way that it's going to make things safer.
00:53:25I mean, there's no doubt about it.
00:53:27Yeah.
00:53:28Well, there's one more horse I wanted to ask you about before we let you go.
00:53:32Spinderella, undefeated daughter of Cara Conte.
00:53:35She's three for three.
00:53:37Last I heard, she was pointing towards Royal Alaska.
00:53:39How is she doing?
00:53:40And is that still the plan?
00:53:41What race are you pointing towards?
00:53:42Yeah, she's doing great.
00:53:43I mean, I literally just watched a gallop before I came to you guys.
00:53:47Yeah, we're going to take a shot at the Coronation.
00:53:49It's a race that I've run in several times.
00:53:51I'm quite comfortable with it.
00:53:52I like that it's restricted to three-year-olds.
00:53:54I like that it's a one-turn mile.
00:53:56I think it's a little easier, perhaps, for our horses than the straightaway.
00:54:00And I think this filly is very good.
00:54:02I mean, she hasn't done much wrong.
00:54:03What she's done, she's done very easily.
00:54:06And I'm not really missing much by taking a shot there.
00:54:09I don't know that she wants to go beyond a mile right now.
00:54:13She seems very good going a mile.
00:54:14So I think it's a great opportunity to take a shot with her.
00:54:19And like we said before, you brought Sherring there to run second
00:54:23in the Coronation Stake in the Grade 1.
00:54:26It must be quite a thrill to be able to go back to your homeland
00:54:29and bring a quality horse, whether it's this one or Sherring
00:54:33or somebody of that ilk.
00:54:35Is that a race that is on your calendar every year,
00:54:37or do you just like to have something of quality to run at Royal Ascot?
00:54:42I mean, look, I think Wesley set a precedent.
00:54:45I think a lot of us have caught on to it.
00:54:47We've seen how it can be done.
00:54:49And, look, it's something on a bucket list for me.
00:54:51I was brought up in England.
00:54:52I'd love to win a race in Europe.
00:54:54It's part of the challenge.
00:54:56And this is a race I'm comfortable with.
00:54:57Miss Temple City ran very well in it.
00:55:00It's going to be a tough group.
00:55:01I thought the French guineas, the first two finishers,
00:55:04were very impressive.
00:55:05I'd imagine they'll come back in there.
00:55:08But this filly is good, and she's doing well right now.
00:55:10I made the decision to freshen her up a little bit for this race.
00:55:13She's had three starts already this year.
00:55:15So she'll leave, I believe, on June 7th.
00:55:18Maybe have to have one work over there in Newmarket before she runs.
00:55:22Well, keep taking those shots.
00:55:23We really appreciate you for it.
00:55:25And, you know, it's always good to talk to you,
00:55:26always good to listen to you, Graham.
00:55:27And thanks for the time.
00:55:29Not at all.
00:55:30Happy to do it, guys.
00:55:31Keep it up.
00:55:32Awesome.
00:55:33The Green Group Guest of the Week is sponsored by The Green Group,
00:55:34an accounting, tax, consulting, and advisory firm specializing in the
00:55:37thoroughbred industry.
00:55:38As this week's Green Group Guest of the Week, Graham Motion,
00:55:41will receive a free one-hour tax consultation.
00:55:43Learn more at GreenCo.com.
00:55:45We'll be right back after this message from The Green Group.
00:55:48Why do the most successful owners, breeders,
00:55:50and horsemen select The Green Group as their tax advisor?
00:55:53We simply save them money and know how to make them more successful.
00:55:56Over the past 40 years, founder Leonard Green has owned
00:55:58and bred some of the best racehorses in the history of the sport.
00:56:01His in-depth, hands-on industry knowledge combined with cutting-edge
00:56:04tax-saving strategies has produced positive results for his clientele
00:56:08and has made The Green Group the top-rated accounting
00:56:10and tax firm in the business.
00:56:11For a confidential and complimentary consultation,
00:56:14contact us at 732-634-5100 or visit our website at www.greenco.com.
00:56:21The Green Group, proving strategies to save you taxes.
00:56:41The TDN Writers Room is brought to you by XBTV.
00:56:57This week's XBTV Workout of the Week features Flightline,
00:57:00who worked five furlongs in 59-3 on Monday at Santa Anita.
00:57:04Zoe Cadman was on hand to talk to John Sadler afterward.
00:57:08You can check out her conversation with him on TDN TV,
00:57:11which is a new part of the TDN website for all of our video content,
00:57:15or on our YouTube channel.
00:57:17Looking forward to Flightline's return, obviously,
00:57:19in the Met Mile on Belmont Day.
00:57:21And definitely go check out that video.
00:57:23Flavian Pratt, they flew him across the country,
00:57:25because he's in New York now.
00:57:26They flew him across the country to California just to work Flightline.
00:57:30Obviously, I can understand that for a horse that talented
00:57:34and that sought after.
00:57:36We're all looking forward to seeing him.
00:57:37So go check out the Workout on XBTV.com,
00:57:40and go check out Zoe's piece on the TDN website.
00:57:43So there's usually a little bit of a dip in excitement between the Derby
00:57:47and the Preakness, but there were some big performances over the weekend
00:57:50at Belmont, especially.
00:57:51Belmont had a big card with five greatest stakes.
00:57:55The grade one, the money race, was Highland Chief winning the Man O'War.
00:58:00We talked about this before.
00:58:01We talked to Graham Motion.
00:58:03Graham's a guy who's not scared to take shots against short-priced favorites.
00:58:07Ybir was returning in that race, returning to America.
00:58:10Everybody assumed it was going to be a two-horse race between him and Gafaut.
00:58:14Highland Chief had other ideas.
00:58:16Got a 105 buyer, so really had to run, really turn back Gafaut in that race,
00:58:20who I thought might have hung a little bit.
00:58:22But shout-out to Graham and any trainer who takes shots against
00:58:27short-priced favorites.
00:58:28We need more of that, because this was still only a five-horse field.
00:58:32Grade one, $700,000 purse, still apparently not enough to attract
00:58:37more than five horses.
00:58:38There are a couple other horses I wanted to mention,
00:58:40and then I'll toss it to Bill and John.
00:58:42We the people.
00:58:43Got a 103 buyer winning the Peter Pan by 10 1⁄4 lengths.
00:58:49Find me a better three-year-old performance this year.
00:58:52Maybe you have a couple that are similar, but he looked absolutely amazing.
00:58:55Took it to him from the first jump and just cruised home
00:58:59and really galloped out well, too.
00:59:01I think he's going to go to the Belmont next,
00:59:02and I think he's probably going to be one of the two or three favorites,
00:59:05depending on who shows up.
00:59:06Ruggiere, who made her first start for Chad Brown,
00:59:09she won the Prix de l'Opéra last year in France,
00:59:12so she's obviously a very top-class filly.
00:59:14Sabi, if you've heard this before, guys,
00:59:16Chad Brown's barn is full of awesome European fillies and mares,
00:59:20and she just adds to that list.
00:59:22And then one other horse to mention is Bella Sofia,
00:59:24who won last year's Test.
00:59:26She came back and won a real game stretch battle with Frank Swaroket
00:59:30in the Vagrancy in her four-year-old debut,
00:59:32so we'll see if she'll move forward off that.
00:59:34She got a 100 by her.
00:59:35The stories of the weekend, though, were the first three horses I mentioned.
00:59:39Bill, what do you got to say?
00:59:40Yeah, so back to the Man O'War.
00:59:42Grade one, 700,000 turf race, five-horse field,
00:59:47which speaks of everything we've been saying.
00:59:50Matter of fact, three of the five graded stakes races that you mentioned
00:59:54at Belmont had five horses in there,
00:59:56and then they had eight in the Peter Pan and seven in the Bogey.
00:59:59There was an interesting story about Rougere in the Bogey,
01:00:03and we haven't had our Trainers Behaving Badly segment yet,
01:00:07but let me segue into that.
01:00:09The horse was trained by Cedric Rossi in France
01:00:12and then was bought by the Connexions Peter Brand and Coolmore
01:00:15for 3 million euros after the horse ran in the Breeders' Cup filly
01:00:19and mare turf and won the group one race over there.
01:00:22Lo and behold, right after that, the trainer got arrested
01:00:26as part of a probe into doping horses in France.
01:00:29So I threw the horse out thinking,
01:00:32well, he was winning these damn things because of the trainer
01:00:36and what was going on, and she's a huge favorite here,
01:00:40so let's try to beat her.
01:00:41But Cedric Rossi is the Jason Service of France.
01:00:44I think it's fair to say.
01:00:45I don't know.
01:00:46Do I have to say allegedly the Jason Service?
01:00:48I never know about that,
01:00:50but it didn't look like that was any factor whatsoever
01:00:55as the horse ran real well in the bouquet.
01:00:57And, you know, Javier is a really good horse,
01:01:00and he lost a race at the start in the Man of War.
01:01:02I mean, he dwelt at the start, typical slow pace,
01:01:05and he ran very well to make up ground and finish third there.
01:01:09And, you know, before the race, Charlie Appleby was saying
01:01:11how much he thinks the horse prefers American-style horses,
01:01:15you know, without the undulating turns and this and that.
01:01:18So I think we'll be seeing, you know, more of this horse this year,
01:01:21and I think he'll make amends next time out in, you know,
01:01:24whatever would be next for him,
01:01:25maybe the four-horse sword dancer or something like that.
01:01:28So anyways, and yeah, We the People was really, really good, no doubt about it.
01:01:32And we do know who's going to set the pace in the Belmont.
01:01:35It's going to be that horse.
01:01:36Can he go a mile and a half?
01:01:37We'll find out.
01:01:39And, you know, we hit on all the major points, major races,
01:01:42so there's not really much else to say other than I'm going to spin it
01:01:45to a stallion profile, which is NotThisTime, who stands at TaylorMade.
01:01:50And we know about Midnight Stroll, who's running in the Black-Eyed Susan this weekend,
01:01:54and obviously Epicenter and Simplification running in the Preakness.
01:01:58But how about up north, Arzak, who won the Jacques Cartier stake up at Woodvine,
01:02:05really from gate to wire and looked very, very impressive doing it.
01:02:08You know, NotThisTime is just throwing runners all over the place.
01:02:12I mean, you can say, Joe, that he's almost as good as Cupid.
01:02:14Maybe.
01:02:15But his horses are running all over the place on every surface, every distance,
01:02:20every major racetrack.
01:02:21So not necessarily a specific horse to talk about last week,
01:02:26but his progeny are just running all over the place.
01:02:29Go for NotThisTime.
01:02:32Well, yeah, he's got a couple in the Preakness, too.
01:02:34I'd be careful there with the Cupid comparisons.
01:02:37Very, very sensitive subject for me, especially after I met him.
01:02:41Now we're like this, son, for sure.
01:02:44Just one other horse I wanted to mention because John went north of the border.
01:02:47How about I go all the way to the far east and mention Sadashi, the white horse,
01:02:52one of the only registered white thoroughbreds racing now.
01:02:56She's got to be one of the best of all time.
01:02:58They're very rare.
01:03:00She won the Victoria Mile in Japan.
01:03:02She is like she's a superstar over there,
01:03:04especially in a country that's much more racing obsessed than we are.
01:03:09She's a household name, and she's just so beautiful and so fun to watch.
01:03:13There's actually a really cool story in the New York Times about her this week,
01:03:16so you should go check that out.
01:03:18But I just wanted to give a shout-out to her as well.
01:03:21But, you know, I think we've got nothing against the Preakness and the Undercard,
01:03:27but I think we've got a couple weeks now where we're kind of just going to ramp
01:03:30up to the Belmont Stakes.
01:03:32You've got a couple of races at Churchill that might be worth watching,
01:03:36but I think now all eyes are on that monster Belmont Undercard,
01:03:39especially with Flightline running in the Met Mile, so we'll look forward to that.
01:03:43The CDN Writers Room is brought to you by West Point Thoroughbreds.
01:03:46Joining a West Point Thoroughbreds partnership can vault you into the world of
01:03:49instant camaraderie among people surrounding high-class horses
01:03:52and stakes action for a fraction of the cost.
01:03:54We're trying to do it on your own.
01:03:56You can learn more at westpointtb.com.
01:03:59Going to be a busy next couple of weeks for West Point,
01:04:02several exciting horses coming to the forefront.
01:04:04B-Dawg, who broke his maiden towards the end of the Keeneland meet by, like,
01:04:0811 1⁄2 lengths, a very exciting-looking runner for Doug O'Neill.
01:04:12He's going to run the Sir Barton Stakes this weekend at Pimlico.
01:04:15Another 3-year-old colt, Gotthunder, is running in the $300,000 Texas Derby
01:04:20on Memorial Day down at Lone Star.
01:04:22And Elector, who's a 4-year-old in training with John Sadler,
01:04:25is aiming for the Grade 2 Triple Bend Stakes on May 29th,
01:04:29so plenty of action for the West Point partners coming up.
01:04:32As always, we'll be right back after this message from West Point.
01:04:37All the thrills.
01:04:41Fraction of the bills.
01:04:46Experience the power of the partnership.
01:04:52Change your life, make new friends,
01:04:54and compete at the highest level of thoroughbred racing.
01:04:58West Point Thoroughbreds, the gold standard in racing partnerships.
01:05:03Visit westpointtv.com.
01:05:06Being a small family business, I guess we're part of a dying breed.
01:05:10We're really grateful for the people that entrust us.
01:05:12We know it's a huge responsibility.
01:05:14We're always with your horse, every step of the way.
01:05:18When it comes to being at the sales ground, showing your horses,
01:05:21we are with your horse.
01:05:23Just driving up and down the road every day,
01:05:25there's not a time that I don't look out and feel a responsibility to the sport,
01:05:28the animal, the people that come to invest in the game.
01:05:31I want to see as many people enjoy this sport as they possibly can
01:05:34because we do have the most beautiful sport in the world.
01:05:38The TDN Writers Room is brought to you by Legacy Bloodstock.
01:05:41If you think that 50 years combined experience in the horse business
01:05:44could benefit your program, give Tommy or Wendy a call.
01:05:46Get personally advised on each horse,
01:05:48as if they were their own Legacy grad,
01:05:50Fly Me Home got her second straight win on Sunday.
01:05:52For trainer Mike Stidham at Pimlico,
01:05:54a three-year-old filly was the highest priced 2020 yearling by Temple City
01:05:58when she bought $120,000 at the Keeneland September Sale.
01:06:01Already in 2022, Legacy has 71 winners
01:06:04for $2.8 million.
01:06:07Great numbers. Racking up that success.
01:06:10Just wanted to mention this before we head out of here
01:06:13in our usual trainers behaving badly segment.
01:06:16The latest news on that front is that
01:06:20Santa Anita has basically banned Richard Baltas pending an investigation.
01:06:25This is something that Aiden Butler has started to do
01:06:28as the CEO of First Racing, which obviously owns Santa Anita,
01:06:32is just kind of suspend guys pending an investigation
01:06:35and then see what happens, which I think is kind of
01:06:38what we need in racing.
01:06:40There's just so many appeals and such a long process
01:06:43for trainers who have horses die or have drug positives.
01:06:46I kind of prefer this because obviously he's going to get
01:06:49his appeal on his day in court, such as it is.
01:06:52And if everything checks out, he'll be allowed to race again.
01:06:56But I think it's better to be proactive in this way.
01:06:59But I'll quote this from the Pollack Report story.
01:07:02Aiden Butler said,
01:07:03We're conducting an investigation into matters concerning
01:07:06trader Richard Baltas pending completion of that investigation.
01:07:09Any final decision based on the results, horses by Mr. Baltas
01:07:12are not permitted to enter races at First Racing venues
01:07:15nor engage in timed works.
01:07:18This action was taken after Alan J. Foxwoods, a speedcuber,
01:07:22suffered a fatal injury in the stretch run of a made-to-special-weight race
01:07:26on the Santa Anita turf in the seventh race on May 7th.
01:07:29He also had a late scratch the following day.
01:07:33This was a steward scratch as far as Equibase has reported.
01:07:37And CHRB chimed in on this as well.
01:07:39It says Mike Martin, who's the CHRB spokesman, said,
01:07:42CHRB is investigating the circumstances surrounding the late scratch.
01:07:45Does not comment on pending investigations.
01:07:48Apparently, this was his third horse to break down in the last 12 months.
01:07:52Now, this is something that happened with Jerry Hollendorfer
01:07:55in the California tracks where, you know, Jerry Hollendorfer
01:07:58had had a bunch of horses die in a short amount of time,
01:08:00so they suspended him.
01:08:02That's still going on.
01:08:03There's still a lot of back and forth going on there.
01:08:05You know, I will say, I don't know Richard Baltas.
01:08:07I've never spoken to him.
01:08:08All I'll say is that he's one of the trainers I've seen in California
01:08:13that has had some results in the past,
01:08:15which have defied belief a little bit to me.
01:08:18I don't have any evidence whatsoever that he's cheating
01:08:20or he's doing anything wrong.
01:08:22I'm just talking anecdotally from watching California races.
01:08:25He's one of those guys who has horses that run off the screen sometimes
01:08:28where you're just like, hmm.
01:08:29But what do you guys think?
01:08:31Well, this is an interesting story with Baltas,
01:08:33but we really haven't gotten to the bottom of it yet.
01:08:36And, Joe, honestly, I'm not sure.
01:08:37So you talk about Jerry Hollendorfer.
01:08:39Is it about the horse breaking down and the three breakdowns that you mentioned?
01:08:42And, you know, saying this is not acceptable.
01:08:45Or is it about the horse the next day?
01:08:48That, you know, why did the steward scratch him?
01:08:50What was going on there?
01:08:51I don't think we really know.
01:08:53And it looks like the Stornick Group has said all it's going to say for right now.
01:08:58So I think, you know, just stay tuned on that.
01:09:01But, you know, be vigilant.
01:09:04And look, you know, maybe when it's all said and done,
01:09:07he'll be exonerated and everything will be fine.
01:09:09But, you know, look, I'm never going to complain when racetracks are vigilant
01:09:13and, you know, are cracking down on perceived problems like these.
01:09:17As we've been saying since we've been doing this show from day one,
01:09:20there's not enough of this stuff in horse racing.
01:09:22So, you know, let's find out what happens.
01:09:25And so far, you know, it looks like the Stornick Group is, you know,
01:09:29showing signs that they're very serious about both integrity and, you know,
01:09:33the safety of the animals.
01:09:35He's one of the leading trainers, too, in California.
01:09:38He's not a small potatoes guy.
01:09:39He's had grade one winners.
01:09:41He's usually among the leading trainers at Santa Anita and Del Mar.
01:09:45I don't know if John has anything to say about this,
01:09:47but there was also some news about Brad Cox this week.
01:09:50You know, I just have a quick comment just as an aside, what you mentioned.
01:09:54You know, aside from the L&J Foxwood horse dying on the racetrack
01:09:59that was under the care of this trainer,
01:10:02I don't know if you guys saw, but L&J's manager, Jamie Roth,
01:10:06who is a friend of the show, actually tweeted out a statement from the organization
01:10:12saying that they were moving all their horses out of Southern California.
01:10:16They were no longer going to race in Southern California.
01:10:18Now, she said in the release that it was because, you know,
01:10:22she now lives in New York and that, you know,
01:10:25is mostly traveling on the East Coast and therefore they don't really,
01:10:28you know, warrant having a West Coast operation.
01:10:32You know, it could be a little bit of both.
01:10:34It could be just be that they weren't happy with the way things were going in Southern California
01:10:39and that this was kind of a very, you know, above board way of saying,
01:10:44you know, that we don't want to have horses, you know, under this barn anymore
01:10:48and that we're moving them.
01:10:50That's my speculation.
01:10:51That's me reading between the lines.
01:10:53But I know L&J and Foxwood do things the right way.
01:10:57And I'm sure that part of the calculus of moving the horses over to the East Coast,
01:11:02has to do with the way that racing is going on in Southern California.
01:11:05It's a mess right now out there.
01:11:07Yeah, we don't need any shorter fields at Santa Anita.
01:11:11That's for damn sure.
01:11:13So, I mean, that's unfortunate in that way.
01:11:16So, just I mentioned before there was a story about Brad Cox, too.
01:11:19Churchill Downs Stewards this week issued a $500 fine.
01:11:23$500.
01:11:25That's like five cents to a guy like Brad Cox.
01:11:28And a 10-day suspension to dual Eclipse Award winning trainer Brad Cox.
01:11:32Warriors charge tested positive for an overage of butte when he ran second.
01:11:36In the 2021 Stephen Foster Stakes.
01:11:40That was 11 months ago, guys.
01:11:42Like, I don't understand why these things take so long to adjudicate.
01:11:48So, obviously, this isn't a huge deal, this individual instance, 10-day suspension.
01:11:55Brad Cox is not going to be undone by a 10-day suspension, certainly not a $500 fine.
01:12:00But I think also part of the story here is why does it take 11 months to learn about a drug positive in this sport?
01:12:09And it was a drug positive that he wasn't even fighting, Jeff.
01:12:13That's the thing.
01:12:14He didn't even fight.
01:12:15So, why did it take almost a year for this to come up?
01:12:20And then, you know, they gave him the 10 days and they gave it to him between the Preakness and the Belmont.
01:12:25So, it's not even like it's going to affect them.
01:12:28I know there's racing between the Preakness and the Belmont.
01:12:30But come on.
01:12:31Come on, man.
01:12:32Let's go round and round.
01:12:34Round and round.
01:12:37Yeah.
01:12:38What else can you say?
01:12:39So, as is tradition, now, before we wrap, we want to show you the Remy cartoon for this week.
01:12:44And it's a couple guys in the paddock.
01:12:46And we got a little QR code on the horse's saddle.
01:12:50And one of the guys is saying, you know, I do miss the old days.
01:12:53So, is that the 4 or the 11?
01:12:55Honestly, I'll take QR codes on the saddle towels over when they make them all the same color.
01:13:00That's a pet peeve of mine.
01:13:02And I actually like the QR code menus.
01:13:04Like if you guys go out, scan the QR code.
01:13:07I know you have to learn how to use your phone, Bill Finley, to use that.
01:13:11But overall, I think it cuts down on a lot of waste, a lot less handing around the menus.
01:13:17I don't know.
01:13:18Maybe that's the future of racing, too.
01:13:20All right.
01:13:21So, that's going to do it for this week's edition of the TDN Writer's Room presented by Keeneland.
01:13:24A reminder that the Keeneland September Yearling Sale begins Monday, September 12th.
01:13:28You can learn more at theworldyearlingsale.com.
01:13:31I want to thank Bill Finley, John Green, our Green Group Guest of the Week, Graham Motion,
01:13:36our producer, Patty Wolf, our associate producer, Katie Petruniak, and our editors, Anthony LaRocca, Aliyah LaRocca, and Nathan Wilkinson.
01:13:43Thank you all so much for watching.
01:13:44Enjoy the Preakness.