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00:00They say, the harder the work, the greater the reward.
00:18This is our life's work.
00:21Good morning, it is 914, Wednesday, February 16th.
00:28This is the TDN Writer's Room, presented by Keeneland.
00:30My name is Joe Bianca.
00:31I'm the Associate Editor of the Thoroughbred Daily News, and in my life, I aspire to do
00:35all things like Bill Finley, and now I have a second show to plug, just like Bill.
00:40It's called Better Things with Joe Bianca.
00:42The first episode is out now with David Aragona.
00:44Check it out.
00:46Look forward to seeing that, Joe.
00:48And you know, I was thinking over the last couple of days, so we've got a 15-year-old
00:51figure skater who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs, and oh yeah, but no problem.
00:58He can still compete in the Olympics.
00:59We thought our sport was screwed up.
01:02Jonathan Green, General Manager of DJ Stable, and Joe, congratulations on the new podcast.
01:07It was actually very well done.
01:09I watched the initial one.
01:10I'm one of almost tens of thousands, it looked like, that are watching it.
01:14And in honor of that, I would like to announce for the first time that I also will have a
01:18new spinoff podcast.
01:20It's called Foner and Glory, and it stars me and Sam Elliott as the crusty trainer,
01:25and Jamie Lynn Spears as the plucky young jockey, and we go to Nebraska in search of
01:30the next great graded steak horse.
01:32Foner and Glory, coming soon.
01:35Let us not forget, Saturday opening day at Foner Park.
01:38That's why it's such a great tie-in, Bill Fidley.
01:41You are a marketing genius.
01:42Yes, there you go.
01:43Have you optioned the movie rights yet, Jon?
01:45Because that sounds...
01:46Not yet.
01:47I'm still in negotiations.
01:48Still in negotiations.
01:49I'm still waiting to see who plays me in the movie.
01:51The TDN Writers Room was brought to you by Keeneland.
01:53When the Keeneland Spring Meet returns April 8th through the 29th, new Keeneland Select
01:57accounts that wager $300 in the first 30 days earn $100 back with their sign-up bonus.
02:03Visit keenelandselect.com to sign up.
02:06Just wanted to touch on a few races from this past weekend before we get to some news coming
02:11out of the Kentucky legislature.
02:13Basically, the main action was at Tampa Bay Downs with the Sam F. Davis, grade three for
02:18three-year-olds, and the Suncoast Steaks for three-year-old fillies.
02:22Jon was in that race.
02:24I thought Ness was pretty impressive.
02:25She didn't get a big buyer figure.
02:26It was only an 82, but I thought just visually she did that really impressively.
02:29She was 1-5, so she was supposed to win that race, but really kind of just pulled away
02:33from that field on her own.
02:34With the Sam Davis, I thought Classic Causeway was very, very good-looking in that race.
02:39We talked to Brian Lynch yesterday.
02:41We're going to play that interview a little bit later.
02:43He's obviously a super nice guy and a good trainer, and I thought that horse was way
02:48overbet going into the race.
02:49I thought 8-5 in a deep field like that was a terrible, terrible value, but he proved
02:54me wrong because he took heat every step of the way, pulled away in the stretch, ran his
02:58last 16th in under six seconds, and to me looks like a real top contender for the Derby.
03:05Only got an 88 buyer figure, but it's one of those things where the circumstances were
03:08such that he was never going to get a huge figure with the way he was getting hounded
03:12on the lead the whole time.
03:13I thought he ran as well as he possibly could have considering that circumstance.
03:18What did you guys think?
03:19Yeah, I totally agree, and normally the Sam F. Davis, is it really that important?
03:27History of it, I believe no horse has ever come out of the race to have won the Kentucky
03:30Derby, but this horse actually could.
03:32I mean, he's the real deal.
03:34I agree with you, Joe, about everything you said about his performance.
03:39The other thing that pops off the page to me, and I'm sure this will come up when we
03:42do our draft later on.
03:45You look from the races from last year, the two-year-old races, and the Kentucky Jockey
03:49Club looks huge at this point.
03:52Why did Berio finish third, came back and won the Holy Bull Classic Causeway, was second,
03:57came back of course and won the Sam F. Davis, and now Smile Happy goes this Saturday in
04:01the Risen Star at the fairgrounds.
04:04If he wins it, I mean, we're going to have to look at this race as much more important
04:08even than the Breeders' Cup, where nothing really has come out of there to really pique
04:14our interest.
04:15I think, again, this is another thing, was anybody going to take Cornish in the draft?
04:19He hasn't worked.
04:20He seems to be missing in action here.
04:23That was the story.
04:24You're right about Nest.
04:25I mean, Todd Pletcher picked an easy spot to kick off her three-year-old campaign.
04:29She was one to five.
04:30She did what she's supposed to do.
04:31I believe she's going to the Ashland next.
04:33Yeah, she's definitely up there in the top three or four for the Kentucky Oaks.
04:37But a relatively quiet weekend with just the Sam F. Davis.
04:40We move on, and I really look forward to the Risen Star.
04:44It looks like a very deep race.
04:46That's an excellent segue for me, Bill, because I was talking to some people over the past
04:50couple of days, and I don't remember in recent history having a really chock-full of top
04:57candidates in two races this early.
05:00The Davis, as you guys mentioned, Classic Causeway looked great in it, and Shipsational,
05:06Volcanic.
05:07Mark Cassie had like three horses in the race.
05:09There are going to be some horses coming out of the Sam Davis that are going to show up
05:13the first Saturday in May in Churchill Downs.
05:16And then you look forward to this weekend, the Risen Star, and we've all done our homework
05:20for the Handicapping Contest or the Derby Contest.
05:23I saw like four or five horses that are draftable in our contest that are running in the Risen
05:30Star.
05:31And I just don't remember.
05:32I know there have always been really good preps out of fairgrounds, but I don't remember
05:36it being this early like in the Risen Star.
05:38Usually, it was the Louisiana Derby where you got three, four, five horses that you
05:42thought were going to be derby contenders.
05:45And you guys have talked a little bit about Classic Causeway.
05:47The thing that impressed me the most with his win in the Davis was that typical Paco
05:52Lopez on the outside horse, the only horse with speed, little Vic, tried to pin Classic
05:57Causeway to the rail.
05:58And Classic Causeway just kind of like looked over and was like, see ya, and basically went
06:03gate to wire.
06:04And after like six furlongs, just started to pull away from the rest of the field.
06:08Interestingly enough, I read Ortiz who rode Classic Causeway, I think did a really phenomenal
06:13job in getting to the front and then slowing down the pace.
06:17He went 22 and three, 46 and three.
06:20So that second quarter was 24.
06:23And then he went 25 seconds and 25 and two for the last two furlongs and half mile respectively.
06:32So it really looked like that he was pulling away from the rest of the field.
06:36And obviously that track was very tiring, which leads you to believe that the mile and
06:4116th that Classic Causeway just ran is just kind of a warmup.
06:44You probably ran the equivalent of like a nine furlong race on other faster racetracks.
06:50Interesting thing about the Causeway is, you know, he's one of the last three horses from
06:55the last crop of Giants Causeway.
06:57So that, you know, he's really carrying on that legacy.
06:59It was a great story last year in the TDM by Chris McGrath called, They Might Be Giants,
07:03but like the last couple of Giants Causeway progeny.
07:07So that's super interesting.
07:08We did talk to Brian Lynch about that.
07:10And, you know, he's just, he's one of those horses that seems to be able to carry his
07:13speed.
07:14You know, he did rate a little bit in Kentucky Jockey Club.
07:17I agree with Bill about that race, about what a live race it looks like.
07:21And yeah, we're going to do the fantasy draft in a little bit.
07:23And, you know, we're doing a little bit earlier than we used to.
07:26We used to do it on the week of the Fountain of Youth.
07:28It's going to be tough because there's a lot of really nice three-year-olds and we're pretty
07:31far out from the derby.
07:32So it's going to be tough to figure out who to take this early on, but I'm looking forward
07:36to it.
07:37Just wanted to touch on this real quick.
07:38This was news that came out on Monday night.
07:41The Kentucky Speaker of the House of Representatives co-filed a bill to try to get around the 140
07:49mare cap that the Jockey Club was instituting for stallions that were born from 2020 onward.
07:54This was obviously a major bone of contention in the industry and something that obviously
07:59the big stallion farms were very strongly, steadfastly against.
08:05It looks like it's got the backing of most of the Kentucky legislature.
08:11There's still a couple of steps it needs to go through.
08:13Supposedly, it's already going to the Agricultural Committee in the Kentucky legislature.
08:18So it seems like this is something that's going to pass.
08:20There's more developments to come.
08:22I'm assuming that the Jockey Club is going to sue to try to reverse that.
08:27Look forward to more discussion of lawsuits on the Writers Room.
08:29I know that's everybody's favorite part of the show, but just some initial thoughts from
08:33you guys about what this means.
08:36Yeah, the only thing I'd add to that, Joe, let's have another contest.
08:39Pick the over-under on when, or I'll put it this way, what will happen first?
08:45There'll be a decision for the 2021 Kentucky Derby or we'll actually know whether or not
08:49the Jockey Club can have this cap.
08:51I set the over-under for both at January 1, 2026.
08:57How about that?
08:59I'll take the under slightly.
09:02I'll take it under slightly, though.
09:04It sounds like that'll be like our 500th show.
09:06In our 500th show, we'll be talking about that.
09:11Look, I'm a free enterprise guy.
09:13So I applaud the fact that hopefully this cap is going to be blown off the face of the
09:20earth because, quite frankly, I really don't believe that that's the way that it should
09:23be done.
09:24And I know there's all kinds of arguments from the geneticists and from breeders about,
09:31oh, we're going down a bad path because we're continuing to tighten up the gene pool.
09:37Well, if that's the case, then incentivize other gene pools to come in because there's
09:41a whole other continent of stallions that are overseas, for example, that unless you
09:47go five generations back, aren't really as closely inbred to our horses here.
09:51So there are other ways to get around the gene pool shrinking argument.
09:56That being said, I love the free enterprise system.
09:59That's where I would go with.
10:01I'm going to argue against myself on this one a little bit because I do think that in
10:06our industry, we need to have some kind of centralized governing body.
10:10And maybe it's not the Jockey Club, but it's got to be something.
10:13We rail on this all the time about how there's so many different rules and so many different
10:16fiefdoms.
10:17And that's kind of the problem with our industry.
10:21And this is just kind of another example of another split in the industry.
10:26But that being said, I really feel like that if a stallion is good and people want to plunk
10:31money down to breed their 200th mare to them or 250 mares to them, then they should be
10:36allowed to do it.
10:38We really shouldn't have an artificial cap on our industry.
10:43Yeah, I mean, I don't feel strongly enough about it one way or the other.
10:46But I just wanted to note that like what John is saying, this is basically going to try
10:50to circumvent the Jockey Club as the national registrar for all of the foals that are born.
10:56I'm just going to quote from TD's story here.
10:59In addition, the measure would empower the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, and God
11:03knows nothing goes wrong when they're in power, to quote, utilize an entity to serve as the
11:08registrar, meaning that the state selection might not necessarily end up being the 128
11:13year old industry standard Jockey Club.
11:15Yet if the chosen registrar does end up being the Jockey Club and that organization does
11:19not, quote, submit to the jurisdiction of Kentucky and, quote, comply with the laws
11:24of this chapter, the bill's summary states that Kentucky will amend state statutes to
11:28instead, quote, allow the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund registrar to stamp a
11:33thoroughbred certificate with the registrar's seal.
11:35So basically, they're saying the Jockey Club, which has controlled and certified all of
11:41the foals in America for all these years, would no longer be in charge of the Kentucky
11:45foal registration, which would lead to an interesting kind of back and forth with the
11:49Jockey Club over time about who's actually registered where, who can run where.
11:56I think it's going to be a lot of mess from this fallout, but this is the major pushback
12:01that we've been expecting, the legislative pushback to the 140 mare cap rule.
12:05So we'll keep you posted on that as more developments run.
12:09The TDN Writers Room is brought to you by Keeneland.
12:11The Keeneland September Yearling Sale produced its fourth consecutive horse of the year last
12:15week with Nick's Go, also earned champion older dirt mail honors.
12:19Four other Keeneland sales graduates won Eclipse Awards, Corniche, Echo Zulu, Jackie's
12:23Warrior, and Malathon.
12:24Congrats to all the connections.
12:25Also, a reminder that the Keeneland Spring Meet tickets are on sale right now.
12:29You can purchase those online at tickets.keeneland.com.
12:33We'll be right back after this message from Keeneland.
12:36They say the harder the work, the greater the reward.
12:43And this is hard work.
12:46It's the hours put in before dawn and after dark.
12:51It's the sacrifice, the sweat, the failure, and the faith.
12:58This is our industry.
13:02This is our life's work.
13:06He was just put together like a machine and he had a great mind.
13:10Everything about him was what you'd want.
13:12Tis the law pops the cork and the champagne.
13:15Tis the law is gonna win the first leg of the Triple Crown.
13:19I've never seen him get tired.
13:21Respect the law.
13:22Tis the law.
13:23His structure is just perfect.
13:25His bone is perfect.
13:27He's left the others behind.
13:28He's gonna win the Run Happy Traverse.
13:31He's everything you would look for in a horse.
13:36The TDN Writers Room is brought to you by Coolmore.
13:39Munnings added a new TDN Rising star to his record with Zozos,
13:42who won impressively at Oaklawn on Friday.
13:4610 lengths for Brad Cox.
13:47Munnings now has two TDN Rising stars already this year.
13:50Nine overall.
13:52Practical Joke, who we're all looking forward to this year,
13:54had an exciting double on Friday when he had Klugman win a
13:57maiden special weight at Gulfstream by open lengths.
13:59And then Lightning Struck won an allowance for Steve Asmussen.
14:02Then on Saturday, he had another winner, Money Supply,
14:04break his maiden at Tampa Bay for Chad Brown.
14:07Glarovitch Stable.
14:08Practical Joke stands for $35,000 this year at Ashford Stud.
14:12Plated to have a very, very big year with his second crop of horses.
14:16So it's the moment you've all been waiting for.
14:18We are here for the TDN three-year-old fantasy draft,
14:22the 2022 edition.
14:24And as part of it, we'd like to welcome back to the program,
14:26Managing Editor at the TDN and undefeated basketball coach,
14:30Alan Carrasco.
14:31Thanks for coming on, Al.
14:34Hey, guys.
14:35Good to see you.
14:36Great to have you back.
14:37All right.
14:37So we're just to run down the rules real quick.
14:39We've got four people, five horses each, 20 horses total.
14:44The rules are you have to pick one horse that has zero points
14:47currently on the Kentucky Derby points leaderboard.
14:50We'll throw up the schedule for all the races and what the
14:53points are going forward.
14:54Obviously, the Kentucky Derby is going to be the biggest points race.
14:57A little of the wrinkle this year is the Bob Afford thing.
15:00We're going to pick Bafford horses and we're going to accrue
15:05points for them.
15:06The caveat is whether or not they're going to run in the
15:09Kentucky Derby.
15:10So it's a gamble.
15:11You can take the top Bob Afford horses and accrue points all
15:14along the way.
15:14But then if they don't run in the Derby, you run the risk of
15:16being blanked in the Derby.
15:18So the first pick is going to go to my friend Jonathan Green,
15:22and then Bill's going to go and then me and then Al, and then
15:25we'll snake back and forth.
15:27So five rounds.
15:28John, take it away.
15:30Because of that wrinkle, Joe, I really had a quandary.
15:34I had a dilemma of deciding, am I going to pick who I think is
15:37the best horse, best three-year-old of the group, knowing
15:41that he may not even make it to the Derby and accrue points in
15:45that all-important race?
15:47Or do I go with somebody else that I feel like has talent and
15:52could work its way up into the Derby?
15:55I went with the latter group.
15:56I went with a horse that is not trained by Bob Baffert, but
15:59one that I was visually impressed with.
16:01Pedigree-wise, I'm super impressed with.
16:04I think he can definitely go the mile and a quarter without
16:07an issue.
16:07And I'm going to knock out a couple of criteria because he
16:12also right now has zero points.
16:14So this is my zero-point horse, my top pick.
16:17And depending on what racetrack you've seen him run, he's
16:21either named Emmanuel or Emmanuel, depending on if you heard
16:26the track announcer from Gulfstream or Tampa, but he's
16:28two-for-two, really impressive with the eye test, impressive
16:32bred.
16:33I think he's yet to have been tested.
16:34He's one go in two turns.
16:37He's still improving.
16:39He broke his maiden first time out of Gulfstream from the one
16:41hole and just went around that one-turn mile like it was
16:45nobody's business.
16:46And then he just took off from the rest of the field at Tampa
16:49Bay, and we were in that race, which is why I was so impressed
16:51with it.
16:52But I'm going to go with my number one pick this year,
16:55Emmanuel.
16:56All right.
16:56John picks Emmanuel number one.
16:58And just to remind John, we're doing 20 picks, so two minutes
17:02per pick.
17:02We're going to be here all day.
17:04Bill, that was it.
17:05He's the top pick.
17:06He deserves to have that kind of all the other ones.
17:10I'm going to go.
17:11I'm just going to say I'm just going to say for my last biggest
17:14frosty storm and then be done.
17:16Okay.
17:16All right, Bill.
17:18All right.
17:19Just to get us back on track after John's 14-minute diatribe
17:22there, Bob Baffert's horses are going to be able to compete
17:25in the Kentucky Derby.
17:26I have no doubt about it.
17:27Messier is the best horse in the country.
17:29I take him.
17:30All right.
17:30That was probably too short.
17:32Can we try to middle there, guys?
17:36It's been a while.
17:37So all right.
17:38Bill's very confident that Baffert's horse is going to be
17:40in the Derby.
17:41All right.
17:41Maybe he knows something we don't.
17:43Well, actually, not that it matters, but I actually agree
17:44with you that Messier is probably the top three-year-old
17:47in the country right now.
17:48Not that that matters.
17:49Okay.
17:50So we talked about the Kentucky Jockey Club earlier and what
17:54a live race that was.
17:56So he hasn't run yet as a three-year-old.
17:58Let me just make sure he has some workouts before I pick
18:01this horse.
18:02But I like Smile Happy.
18:03He's a TDN Rising Star.
18:04He's undefeated.
18:06He's done nothing wrong for Kevin McDeek.
18:08All right.
18:09He has been working.
18:11He's going to run in the Risen Star Cup.
18:13Just double checking there.
18:14So I'm going to take Smile Happy, number three.
18:16Al?
18:17Those are some bold picks, gentlemen, John, especially, man.
18:21And you've taken my zero-point source.
18:23So thanks for that.
18:25What kind of welcome back is that?
18:28Well, that's why you get the fourth pick, because you're
18:30low man in the total pullout.
18:31Well, now you've got two picks.
18:33Now you've got two picks.
18:33Four and five.
18:35So my number one was Smile Happy, Joe.
18:38So good luck with that.
18:41I have number two.
18:43We're going to oppose each other.
18:44Number two, we're going to oppose each other on Saturday.
18:47And I've gone for Zanon, number two.
18:49So I'll use him for my fourth pick.
18:53Really impressed with his reps.
18:54And covered 46 more feet than Mo Donegal.
18:59And looks like he's ready to stay.
19:01And he's a perfect prototypical Airdrie horse.
19:04Buy an Airdrie Sire out of a Broodmare.
19:06Buy an Airdrie Sire.
19:07A deep Bretton Jones family.
19:09Should stay the trips.
19:12I like him going forward.
19:13So I'll use him number four.
19:15And for number five, another horse that hasn't yet started.
19:18Another from the Kinnick Peak Barn.
19:20I'll go rattle and roll with number five.
19:22All right.
19:23Definitely a nice horse.
19:24Has to look great in the Breeders Futurity.
19:27For my next pick, this is kind of bad timing, since he just picked up points over the weekend.
19:32But I got to go with Classic Causeway.
19:34I just was so impressed by him in the Sam Davis.
19:37Maybe he'll only run once more before the Derby.
19:41I just think Giant's Causeway is going to go a mile and a quarter.
19:43I think he can rate a little bit.
19:45So I still think it's good value.
19:47In the second round, I'll take Classic Causeway.
19:52I'm worried about picking up a zero point horse,
19:54especially with something coming off the board.
19:57I normally wouldn't pick this horse in this spot.
19:59But I don't want to let somebody else have them.
20:02And I'm 99% sure that Forbidden Kingdom doesn't have any points.
20:07If he does, somebody please correct me quickly.
20:09Because the San Vicente is not a point race.
20:11But a good horse in the hands of Richard Mandela.
20:15A lot of quality.
20:16I'll take Forbidden Kingdom.
20:18Not bad.
20:18Interesting.
20:19Interesting pick.
20:20Okay.
20:22That brings me to...
20:24Great.
20:24All right.
20:25I actually had this horse as my third best horse.
20:27Moe Donville.
20:30Yeah.
20:31Ran great in the Holyville, I thought, considering the pace.
20:35Yeah.
20:35It was sneaky.
20:36It was sneaky.
20:37I think he's going to get better with distance as the races develop and go further.
20:44Let's see.
20:47You guys picked all my other top horses.
20:51I'm going to go with another newbie of Todd Pletcher's.
20:55A horse that doesn't have any points as well.
20:57Was an impressive Maine Special Way winner recently.
21:01And that's Charge It.
21:02Charge It from the Pletcher Barn.
21:05All right, Bill.
21:05It's on you.
21:06I'm going to tap it.
21:08You guys, man, you're giving me all these Baffert horses.
21:11I'm not saying Bob Baffert is going to be able to run in the Kentucky Derby,
21:15but they're just going to wind up running for Todd Pletcher or somebody else.
21:19Baffert may be banned, but I can't see these horses,
21:22these owners not finding their way into the Kentucky Derby.
21:25If I'm wrong, I'm going to get beat 100 lengths in this contest.
21:29So I'll take Newgrange.
21:31Yeah.
21:32He's already pretty accomplished too.
21:33So I think that makes a lot of sense.
21:37I don't know.
21:38There's a couple I'm going back and forth between.
21:42I thought about Galt, but I wish he would have run a little bit better in the Holy Bowl.
21:47He was fourth in that race.
21:49Kind of like White Abario.
21:51I'm looking at one other horse right now.
21:55All right.
21:56I'm going to go.
21:57There's a Kelly Breen horse.
21:58I'm going to use this horse as my zero points horse as my third pick in due time.
22:04He's buying not this time.
22:05He got a big figure in the Gulfstream allowance race that he won a couple weeks ago or a week
22:11and a half ago.
22:13Yeah.
22:13Kelly Breen, edge racing.
22:15I think he's on the come up.
22:17So I'll go with in due time.
22:18Good pick, Joe.
22:19I like him a lot.
22:20Thanks.
22:21I'm between.
22:22I have a very close decision between the next two horses.
22:25I'm going to give a slight edge and go with stick with the Holy Bowl form and go to simplification.
22:33Missed the break a little bit.
22:36I'm generally not a fan of need the lead types and horses that only have shown you one dimension.
22:43It's quite possible that they learned something with this horse in the Holy Bowl and that he'll
22:48actually sit off horses and make a run.
22:50He ran a pretty good race, all things considered, last time.
22:54So I'll go with simplification for round three.
22:59And then I do with hesitation.
23:02I know he's better than the figure showed from the withers, given the way that the track played
23:08and everything like that.
23:10He's much better than a 78 buyer horse.
23:13And that is early voting.
23:14I'll go with him for my fourth round.
23:16Yeah, I totally agree with that assessment of him.
23:19Thankfully, still on the board.
23:21I'm going to take the Holy Bowl winner.
23:22I want to take wider Mario.
23:24I think he got a little bit lucky in that race with a couple other horses at some tough trips,
23:28but still got a 97 fig.
23:30I think, you know, just at this point in the draft, I think he's established enough that
23:33I think he's a good value.
23:34So I'll take a wider barrier with my fourth pick.
23:37Boy, I couldn't believe that horse was still out there.
23:41I was like, please don't take him.
23:42Please don't take him.
23:44But, you know what?
23:46I put I'm telling you right now, you're stable.
23:49Very strong.
23:53Yeah, it does.
23:55I mean, geez.
23:56All right.
23:57And, you know, and John, yeah, you you're you're not.
24:01This isn't you're not doing well.
24:04I think I think right now we're all even, Bill.
24:10Yeah, exactly.
24:10Yeah, stop stalling.
24:11Stop stalling.
24:13I'll take epicenter.
24:15Oh, that's a terrible pick.
24:19You're in last already, Bill.
24:20Mel Piper is like, I grade their draft a D minus.
24:24Yeah, exactly.
24:26Oh, my God.
24:27All right.
24:28I can't believe this horse is still on the board.
24:30I was actually going to pick him with the third pick overall with my third pick in the draft.
24:35And that's slow down.
24:36Andy, the California bred Nyquist, who's going to be running in the in the Risen Star.
24:42All right.
24:43All right.
24:44Now, I'm going to go against the grain.
24:47And you guys gave me so much crap last year because I didn't pick my own horse, Helium,
24:51and he won the Tampa Bay Derby.
24:53And as it turned out, if I picked my own damn horse, I would have ended up,
24:57you know, at least in punchers, you know, contention going into the Kentucky Derby.
25:01So I'm going to throw a complete crapshoot long shot out there.
25:06And I'm going to pick my own horse.
25:07And that's Glider.
25:09Glider, who's going to be running in the Gotham on March the fifth,
25:14finish second to Emmanuel, who I picked top overall.
25:18And I'm going to go with my own horse.
25:19So my stable actually, I think, definitely has three horses that don't have any points.
25:24That's how excited I am about these.
25:27Oh, boy.
25:29I mean, yeah, I mean, that could definitely work out.
25:31It is early, you know.
25:34He's a nice horse, John.
25:36John, the subplot here is John is mad at me because I didn't
25:40make him a Rising Star when he won at Gold Spoon.
25:44He won for a lot of reasons, Joe.
25:45That's just one.
25:46That's just one of the synthetic that nothing ever is produced from those synthetic races,
25:52at least not yet.
25:55Were you going to pick Glider?
25:56Is that why you're stalling?
25:59I'm going to try to pick Helium again.
26:01Yeah, you can.
26:02He'll get just as many points as he did last year.
26:06All right.
26:06Yeah, I mean, I kind of want to go back to like the two-year-olds,
26:10but I can't find any other like really nice two-year-olds because
26:13you guys picked Rattle and Roll.
26:15Actually, you know what?
26:16I gave this horse out on the other show the other day as my future wager bet.
26:23I think he's a little bit of a plotter, but I think he's bred to go long.
26:28He's got Todd Pletcher in his corner.
26:31I think he's going to jump up and run big in one of these preps.
26:35So I'm going to take Command Performance.
26:38He's a maiden, so that's a little bit of a risk.
26:40He still hasn't broken his maiden.
26:41I think it's the kind of thing where if he doesn't run well in one of these preps,
26:43Todd Pletcher will be like off and say,
26:45let's just break his maiden and have a big summer with him.
26:49But I don't know.
26:49He ran really well in the Champagne.
26:51I thought he ran pretty well in the Juvenile as well to run fourth.
26:55So for my last pick, I'll go with Command Performance and be consistent.
27:02You know what?
27:03I don't like the horse.
27:05But it was a good start.
27:07How much of T.D. Thornton, who we all have tremendous respect for,
27:13has Papa Cap as his number one horse.
27:16I think he only has him down at like number three after this.
27:21You know, in a tip of the cap to T.D., I'm going to take Papa Cap.
27:27Another risen star horse.
27:29I love when people say, I don't like this one, but I'm going to pick it anyway.
27:33Man of War with your fifth pick.
27:35That's all.
27:35Yeah, he's right.
27:38All right.
27:39Bring us home, Al.
27:40I haven't burned my zero points horse yet.
27:43I'll go with the horse that I made a rising star last weekend for Brad Cox,
27:47the 3-0 Colton Zozotz, who was extremely impressive.
27:52Beat the snot out of Barossa, former Baffert, now with Rudy Brisset.
27:57And just did it so well.
27:59Just sat right off him and claimed him.
28:04And then it kicked home like 6.03, I think, with his final 16th of a mile.
28:09So he was really running.
28:11Got an 88 buyer for that.
28:13Brad Cox says he's going to give him a chance in a race like the Rebel or the Arkansas Derby
28:19or something like that.
28:19So he'll have a chance to earn his way in.
28:23And we'll throw caution to the wind with Zozotz.
28:27All right.
28:27So that's five horses each for all four of us.
28:31Let's just run it down for the audience.
28:33And we'll throw up a graphic for all of our horses.
28:36John, let's hear your team.
28:38OK.
28:39This is in no particular order.
28:41I'm going to do an alphabetical order, because that's what I have on my list.
28:45I have Charget of Pletchers.
28:48I have Emmanuel of Pletchers.
28:51I have Glider of Cassie.
28:53Modonogal of Pletcher.
28:55And Slowdown Andy of O'Neill.
28:58Bill?
28:59Yeah, Messier for my friend, Bob Baffert.
29:04Newgrange for my friend, Bob Baffert.
29:06I don't know whether Baffert horses were taken, were they?
29:08I don't think so.
29:09No, I didn't see a trend.
29:10We're not sure if they were taken at all.
29:12No Best Buddies.
29:16Forbidden Kingdom for Mandela.
29:18Epicenter and Papa Cap.
29:21Two horses that are running in the Risen Star.
29:24All right.
29:24My team, you heard it from Bill first.
29:26The guaranteed lock to win this fantasy contest started with Smile Happy.
29:32And I've got Classic Causeway.
29:34In Due Time, White Ovario.
29:36And my last pick, Command Performance.
29:38Al?
29:40And I've got Xanon for Chad Brown.
29:43Rattle and Roll for Ken McPeak.
29:46Simplifications, Antonio Sano.
29:49Early Voting, Chad Brown.
29:51And long shot, zero points for Brad Cox and the Butzos.
29:57Love it.
29:57Love it.
29:58A lot of good picks.
29:59Always fun doing this.
30:01So once again, we're going to go with the traditional derby points breakdown.
30:05So all the derby points that the connections would get for the horses, we'll get for the
30:10contest.
30:11And then the Kentucky Derby is going to be the big points race, which I believe has
30:14300 for the top prize.
30:16But we'll double check that.
30:17I feel like we should have known that before we came on the air.
30:19But nevertheless, we'll have it by the time that this goes up.
30:23So always a lot of fun.
30:24Al, thank you so much for coming on with us.
30:26Thanks, Al.
30:26Thanks for having me, guys.
30:28All right.
30:28Have a good time.
30:29Continue with the undefeated season, buddy.
30:31Yeah, go get them.
30:32Yeah, we're going to try.
30:33So that was a lot of fun.
30:34Thanks to Al for coming on.
30:36But shortly after doing the draft, we realized there were a lot of good horses that we left
30:40out.
30:41You know, it's hard to do this thing live.
30:43But luckily, Sue Finley, our publisher, has swooped in and will pick up all the scraps
30:48that we left off.
30:49So we're going to have a fifth team.
30:52And it's going to consist of Cornish, who nobody picked as a two-year-old champion.
30:57He hasn't worked yet this year.
30:58So I think that people are a little skeptical of him making it to the starting gate.
31:01But definitely worth a flyer for Sue.
31:03So she's going to have Cornish.
31:05Major General, who I maybe should have picked because I really liked him as a two-year-old.
31:09So Major General for Todd Pletcher.
31:11Pioneer Medina, who I believe is another Pletcher horse.
31:14And then God of Love, who's my Cupid, my boy, for Mark Cassie.
31:19And then Pinehurst, who was actually a grade one winner, who we didn't pick.
31:22He was one that we dealt with in our futurity.
31:23He was second in the San Vicente.
31:25So we've got a fifth team.
31:26Sue's got the scraps team, which probably will end up winning with the way these things
31:30go.
31:30So she got Cornish, Major General, Pioneer Medina, God of Love, and Pinehurst.
31:34So we can throw that up there alongside the other four teams.
31:39With that, the Lane's End Stallion of the week this week is Lexitonian, the son of
31:42Spicetown, starting off his stud career this year with a $10,000 fee.
31:46At Lane's End, the Calumet homebred won the grade one Alfred G Vanderbilt handicap last
31:51year for Jack Sisterson and placed in several other grade one races.
31:55Loved watching Lexitonian during his career.
31:57We'll be right back after this message from Lane's End.
32:01Honor AP showed a lot of talent in the sense that he got over the ground really nicely
32:06with a huge stride, a length of stride you can't believe.
32:10And then you look down at the stopwatch and you go, oh my gosh, he actually did that.
32:16I think Honor AP was the most talented of the three-year-old cults that I had with Giacomo,
32:21Tiago, AP Warrior.
32:23This confirmation is just perfect for a racehorse.
32:26He was one of those athletes that was just ahead of his class.
32:31With some of the fullest fields in the country and quality racing year round,
32:36there's never been a better time to reap the rewards of breeding and racing in Kentucky.
32:42Purse money in Kentucky is at an all-time high, as is average purse per race,
32:47outpacing California, Florida, and New York.
32:51Kentucky breads.
32:53Breed them.
32:54Raise them.
32:55Race them.
32:57We all win.
33:01The TDN Writers Room was brought to you by the Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders.
33:04It was announced this week that the 2021 Kentucky Thoroughbred Breeders Incentive Fund
33:08distributed funds totaling $15.9 million to the state's breeders last year.
33:13Kentucky breads won 315 group or graded races, which is an astounding number.
33:18The winners of 4,412 races, including 299 graded races, all received an award from the KBIF.
33:25And TD Thornton, our friend at the TDN, also had a story early this month talking about the purses
33:30for maiden special weight races at Keeneland and Churchill projecting upward this spring.
33:34Gatewood Bell told him that the Keeneland maiden special weights for older horses
33:38are going to be at $100,000 and then $80,000 for two-year-olds.
33:42So great news for everybody racing in Kentucky this year.
33:44It's going to be a great, great spring and summer.
33:47The Green Group Guest of the Week is sponsored by The Green Group,
33:49an accounting, tax, consulting, and advisory firm specializing in the thoroughbred industry.
33:54With over 500 clients in the horse business, they have proven strategies to save you taxes.
33:59Learn more about how they can help you at www.greenco.com.
34:03So we're thrilled to bring on this week one of my favorite trainers,
34:06the trainer of Kentucky Derby hopeful Classic Causeway, Brian Lynch.
34:09Thanks so much for coming on.
34:11I appreciate it, guys.
34:12Thanks for having me on the show.
34:12It's good to talk to you.
34:14So let's talk about the big horse right off the bat, Classic Causeway.
34:16I thought he was super impressive in the Sam Davis, took a lot of heat,
34:20kept going in the stretch.
34:21What was your impression relative to your expectations in that race?
34:25I thought I might have dodged a holy bull into a tougher spot once it all came out on paper
34:29because it looked like it was a pretty competitive race and a lot of horses
34:32wanted to be forwardly placed and that was the way I seen him running his race.
34:37But when I walked into the paddock, it was a really good looking group of 3-year-olds.
34:43And then when he walked in, I thought, I'm okay.
34:46He looked great.
34:46He looked really good.
34:48And he trained so good coming into it that I felt like we had the right rider.
34:54If he broke sharp, he was going to be where we wanted him to be.
34:58And when Parco come and hooked him there around the top turn and that 22 and change come up
35:05and they straightened for the run down the backside and I could see his body language
35:09telling me, I'm cruising.
35:10I'm comfortable.
35:11This thing's hanging on to me, but I got plenty of horse.
35:14And then when we got halfway around the bottom turn, you could see him all start to try and
35:19edge up on him and Irad still hadn't moved a finger.
35:22I gave me plenty of confidence that he had some horse for his run down the lane.
35:26Hey, Brian, good morning.
35:27Thanks for joining us.
35:27If you could just expound on the idea of Tampa.
35:31You said you dodged the Holy Bull.
35:33Why did you decide to go the Sam F.
35:35Davis and now it looks like Tampa Bay Derby route to Louisville, etc.
35:40Well, it was more of a timing thing because after the jockey club, I gave him some time
35:44off just to let him regroup after his 2-year-old year.
35:47I thought they were all legitimate races.
35:50And so we gave him a bit of a freshening and just his work schedule up to the Holy Bull.
35:57He'd worked a really good three quarters and 12 and change, but I still didn't think I'd
36:01had it.
36:01I felt like he just needed that one more good seven, eights in him to have him ready off
36:06the bench.
36:07And I just didn't want to take the risk that he didn't fire in the Holy Bull because and
36:12with the Tampa, with the Sam F.
36:14Davis only a week behind it, it ended up falling into play really well.
36:19I wanted to ask you a little bit about the Giants Causeway angle and the owners as well,
36:23because as we know, he's one of the last few remaining sons of Giants Causeway from his
36:27last crop.
36:28How did you get your hands on him?
36:29And also, how early did you know that he could be special?
36:34Well, these two guys are old friends of mine, acquaintances from California, and they have
36:42a racing manager that sort of there's a broodmare involved.
36:46Obviously, his mother is a year and a two-year-old behind him now, and there's a weaning and
36:53she's back in fall.
36:55So he sort of manages them.
36:57And we were great friends because I cut my teeth out in Southern California.
37:01And so Jimmy Allen, aka Jimmy the Hat, he sort of put it all together.
37:06And I'd known these two partners, these two owners for a good while prior to it.
37:11So he was out at Cookmore and I went out and had a look at him and he had a real great
37:16presence as a yearling.
37:17I mean, it just had a lot of just positive energy to him.
37:21And so we sent him over to Margo where he was broke and pre-trained and we got nothing
37:25but positive feedbacks about him from the farm.
37:29So we sent him, brought him in to Kentucky when we brought him into Churchill when we
37:35first got back from Palm Meadows last year and just never missed a beat with him.
37:39I mean, he was just a horse that never left a note, stood up to every breeze and got better
37:44with every work.
37:45And so he certainly sort of gave us a feel that he was a Saratoga type, made in a special
37:50way.
37:51And once we got him to Saratoga, his works just got better.
37:55The further I'd work him, the better he'd work.
37:58So he would look great breaking his maiden at Saratoga.
38:05I think running him at Keeneland in the fatuity that day, I think it was more inexperience
38:12than anything.
38:13He sort of broke on top and I thought that day was a game race because he had every chance
38:18to back up at the beginning of the lane where they started to hook him and he boxed on and
38:21hung in there for third where a lot of them that were laid up with him that day finished
38:25way behind him.
38:27And I think in the jockey club, he'd done everything right.
38:29I mean, he rated nicely and then he put himself into the race.
38:34He took the lead at the right time and Smile Happy sort of just slingshotted by him the
38:40last part.
38:40But I really felt like he showed us that day that that was enough to give him a little
38:46time now.
38:47And if he was good enough, he was going to show up as a three-year-old.
38:49And so that's where we're with him now.
38:52And as far as the Giants courseway, I mean, that's pretty cool.
38:55I mean, that was his last crop.
38:56There's only two in it.
38:57They both look like they can run.
38:59Dale looks like he can run too.
39:02I think he was a little disappointing in his last start, but I was a big fan of Giants
39:06courseway throughout.
39:07He's had a couple of good ones over the years.
39:13And this group of guys, they're just such an eclectic group.
39:16I mean, it's going to be a really fun run if we can keep it going because they're a
39:21really fun bunch of guys and they love the game.
39:25And boy, I think he's a horse to have some fun with.
39:32Brian, as people can tell from your accent, you are from down under from Australia.
39:36Growing up in Australia, what did you know of the Kentucky Derby?
39:40I mean, I think everybody knows what Sports Illustrated was back then.
39:44And Kentucky Derby's were always sort of got a page over the first week of May.
39:49And I grew up in a horse racing environment.
39:52So I was always very aware of just how prestigious the Kentucky Derby is.
39:57But if you ever told me I had a chance of maybe getting to run one in it one day, I
40:01would have said, pigs fly.
40:04I want to ask about a couple of other horses because he's not the only big horse in your
40:07barn.
40:07You got a couple of really nice horses.
40:09I think about Gift List, but that was a really sweet three-year-old filly just came back
40:14recently.
40:14I ran fourth in the Pegasus World Cup.
40:16Car Atari was a really, really nice turf sprinter down at Gulfstream.
40:21An affiliate named Mambo Wamba, who I thought looked really, really good.
40:24First time U.S. had this explosive turn of foot under Julian Lepereau at Gulfstream.
40:30What's next for those horses?
40:32Unfortunately, Car Atari was slated to run in the Gulfstream turf sprint this weekend,
40:36and he popped a little quarter crack.
40:38It was a shame because he's really in good form, that horse.
40:41I think he's, where are we at with him now?
40:44I think he's five-year-old year now.
40:46I think he could be definitely his best year.
40:49He's so big, he's so strong, and he's in such good order.
40:52So it was a setback, but it's something that we can deal with and we'll get him back on
40:57track.
40:58He'll be probably back to the Silk Run here before we leave here.
41:02Giflist, I agree with you.
41:04I thought she ran a very encouraging race on Pegasus Day.
41:07I mean, she only got beat two heads per second off quite a layoff.
41:11I think she's got a lot to look forward to.
41:13Probably bring her back in the Honey Fox next month.
41:17So I really look for a good four-year-old campaign for her.
41:20She looks really well.
41:22We got the race back into where we need it.
41:23So the spring-summer look, you know, very enticing for her.
41:28And Mamba Wamba, or Wamba Mamba, yes, she was certainly impressive that last quarter.
41:36So she runs in a little stake at Tampa this weekend and training great coming into it.
41:41So we're excited about running her and excited for her prospects for the spring-summer too.
41:47Brian, going back to your story, not for a long time, but for one period,
41:53you took over the string for Bobby Frankel in Canada.
41:56So you were his assistant trainer there.
41:58It wasn't long.
41:59I don't know how much contact you had with him, but it can't be a bad thing for any
42:03trainer to learn under Bobby Frankel.
42:05What was that like?
42:06And what did you learn?
42:07Well, I'd grown up in California and trained for a lot of years out there on my own.
42:12And I'd sort of known Bobby for many, many years before I went to work for him.
42:17And towards me leaving the end of California, I trained for Golden Eagle Farms.
42:23And when Mr. Mabee died, Bobby said to me, hey, they're going to downsize that operation.
42:29You need to come and work for me.
42:31You know, we've got a lot of 2-year-olds coming.
42:33And he really hadn't, over the years, had big numbers of 2-year-olds.
42:37And I'd always had, you know, a little bit of success with them.
42:40And he'd always sort of watched me grow up around Hollywood Park, Santa Anita and the
42:44Del Mar circuit.
42:45So, you know, I think back, that was in 2004, I think.
42:50And he talked me into coming out to Saratoga and taking a string of horses for him there.
42:56And I think I bless him every day.
42:59I think it was the best move.
43:01He exposed me to a lot of good clients, a lot of good owners, and exposed me to a lot
43:07of good horses.
43:08And Bobby, when I think back, was probably not the greatest teacher.
43:11But if you're around him a lot and you didn't learn anything, shame on you.
43:15Yeah.
43:16He had that sixth sense.
43:18He could change his mind two or three times walking to the track, what he was going to
43:22do with the horse.
43:24But to me, it was all about the horse first.
43:27And it was just a great experience to, you know, be around him for so many years and
43:34see how he managed them horses and see how he brought horses along.
43:39Like Joe mentioned, Mambo Ambo from Europe.
43:42Gift list gives you a good feel for how to manage them horses when they get here and
43:47how to get them to the races and how to keep them around.
43:51Little trivia part of your history.
43:53You rode rodeo bulls when you first came to the U.S.?
43:56Is that true?
43:57Yeah.
43:58I grew up in a sort of a rural town.
44:00There's a lot of cattle and a lot of racehorses.
44:03And I was always going to be too big for a jockey.
44:06So I did a lot of breaking and galloping as a kid.
44:09You know, I always sort of got the reputation if there was a bad one in the group that I'd
44:14have a try to get on it.
44:15I'd say that I usually stay on it.
44:18And then from there, I graduated into rodeo.
44:20So I got into riding bulls when I was about 16 or 17.
44:25And by the time I was 18 or 19, I got quite good at it.
44:29And if you were any good at it, the States is where you needed to come to.
44:34So what do you remember about that?
44:35What was the competition like?
44:38How fierce was it out there?
44:40Well, you know, it wasn't the PBRs like they have these days.
44:43But it was I was on the professional circuit, the PRCA.
44:48And it was a great year.
44:49It was a year of Lane Frost and Tuff Edeman and Jim Sharp and Di Murray, all the future,
44:55you know, all the past champions.
44:56So it was a great year to ride with them guys.
45:00And I used to call the Endless Fiesta.
45:03We never took it as serious as probably these guys did back then.
45:07But it was a great, great period of my life.
45:11And, you know, I think back about it now, a lot of the fundamental things that come
45:16to managing stables and horses and livestock, I learned through just, you know, gut feelings
45:21back then about when when horses are happy and when they're healthy.
45:25And and I just think a lot to do to do if it was growing up around in a rural setting
45:32around livestock.
45:33I have one more question.
45:35It relates.
45:35It relates to the Bobby Frankel stuff.
45:37My favorite horse of all time is Ghost Zapper.
45:39I think you were with him during that time.
45:42What you know, what were some of the things you remember about him and what stood out
45:45and what made him so great?
45:49I was with him quite a bit, especially after the Breeders' Cup when he won at Lone Star.
45:55We gave him a rest and we brought him here to Palm Meadows.
45:58And I was getting him ready for what was going to be the Oak Lawn Handicap.
46:02And he ended up coming with the sinus infection and we missed it and went to the Met Mile.
46:07And that's when he ran like them career best numbers, highest buyers, lowest rag.
46:12He was a beautiful horse to be around.
46:14He was, you know, over the years, I guess you get a feel for what good horses, the characteristics
46:22and why that, you know, you ask, so why is he so good?
46:27When you're around them sort of horses, you just, they just give you that vibe.
46:31I mean, he was just a horse.
46:34When you turned around to gallop him, I mean, get tied on.
46:37He was a racehorse.
46:38And, you know, even to saddle him, I know when Bobby had saddled him, he was always
46:41very nervous about him because he was a big, strong horse.
46:44He could do about anything, anytime he wanted.
46:48But he was, you know, his speed and how far he could carry it.
46:55I'll never forget one day when Frank Strachank had said to Bobby about the Breeders' Cup
47:03at Lone Star that, you know, maybe you should think about rating him that day and taking
47:06him back.
47:07And Bobby looked at him as if to say, are you crazy?
47:09He said, this horse is, he's so fast.
47:11He's going to be so far in front.
47:13They're not going to see which way that horse went.
47:15And that was pretty much the way the horses run.
47:17He ran too.
47:18But Bobby was confident enough and brash enough to be able to speak up to someone like that
47:22and tell him exactly how he felt.
47:24So, yeah.
47:26Once he drew the rail, I was, I figured he was going for sure.
47:31Yeah, yeah, yeah.
47:32No, he was, you know, again, a chance of a lifetime to be around, you know, a once in
47:37a lifetime champion like he was.
47:39Hell yeah.
47:39And you guys did an amazing job with him, obviously.
47:42Brian, thank you so much for coming on.
47:43Best of luck with Classic Causeway and the rest of the big horses this year.
47:47We really appreciate talking to you.
47:48Thanks, Joe.
47:49Thanks, Bill.
47:49Appreciate it.
47:50Thank you, Ryan.
47:51Have a good day, guys.
47:53Enjoy the golf.
47:54Appreciate it.
47:55The Green Group Guest of the Week is sponsored by The Green Group, an accounting, tax, consulting,
47:59and advisory firm specializing in the thoroughbred industry.
48:01As this week's Green Group Guest of the Week, Brian Lynch will receive a free one-hour tax
48:05consultation.
48:06Learn more about how they can help you at www.greenco.com.
48:10We'll be right back after this message from The Green Group.
48:13Why do the most successful owners, breeders, and horsemen select The Green Group as their
48:17tax advisor?
48:18We simply save them money and know how to make them more successful.
48:21Over the past 40 years, founder Leonard Green has owned and bred some of the best racehorses
48:25in the history of the sport.
48:26His in-depth, hands-on industry knowledge combined with cutting-edge tax-saving strategies
48:31has produced positive results for his clientele and has made The Green Group the top-rated
48:35accounting and tax firm in the business.
48:36For a confidential and complimentary consultation, contact us at 732-634-5100 or visit our website
48:43at www.greenco.com.
48:46The Green Group, proven strategies to save you taxes.
48:51♪♪
49:19The TDN Writer's Room is brought to you by XBTV.
49:22The XBTV Workout of the Week this week is Smile Happy, my pick, my top pick, in this
49:27year's three-year-old fantasy draft.
49:29He worked five furlongs at Gulfstream Park on Saturday, went in 101.62 breezing, sixth
49:35out of 26 at the distance at Gulfstream.
49:37Obviously, a very impressive horse who we're looking forward to seeing come back as a three-year-old.
49:41Son of Run Happy is currently ranked number one on TD Thornton's Derby Top 12 list.
49:45We'll see him this weekend as the headliner in the Grade II Risen Star Stakes at Fairgrounds.
49:51So thank you very much.
49:52We have John Sadler coming on the show.
49:54Big news about Flightline.
49:55Unfortunately, he had a slight injury over the weekend and we'll miss the San Carlos.
50:00John, thanks for coming on to update us.
50:01My pleasure.
50:03So just straight up, I'm sure you've told the story before, but just for our audience,
50:07what exactly is the injury with him and how did you notice it?
50:10Yeah, he came up a little bit off behind in his right hind.
50:16So it was apparent we weren't going to work on Sunday.
50:20We did a lot of diagnostics last week and it appears to be a little inflammation in
50:25his right hock.
50:27So we're waiting for that.
50:29The x-rays were negative.
50:30We x-rayed him and everything was good.
50:33Then we sent all his stuff off to the Mayo Clinic and John Hopkins and stuff like that.
50:38We're getting some feedback back on that.
50:41And what I've wanted to say all along, and I don't know if it came through in the
50:45press releases, was that this is a setback, not more severe than that.
50:52So he's had a little setback.
50:55Don't want to be tied to a specific timetable.
50:57Is he going to be out two weeks or three?
51:00We don't know exactly yet.
51:01We're going to let him come along at his own pace and then we'll go back.
51:05Hey, John, thanks for joining us.
51:07And I'm sure you're getting tired of these annoying questions, but we know that he's
51:11not running in the San Carlos.
51:12I don't suppose you've circled any particular race, but what is within reason so far as
51:19a time frame when he might race again and what races might fit into that?
51:24Yeah, well, on the timeline, the only thing we know is off the table is the San Carlos.
51:30We've always said the Met Mile.
51:31That's still kind of the goal.
51:34I guess with the San Carlos off, then possibly could he run at Churchill, the race we won
51:40last year with Flagstaff?
51:42Might make some sense to go there and then the discussion will be internally, do I keep
51:49him back there and go up to New York or come home?
51:52There's a lot of things to figure out.
51:55But if this horse is guilty of anything, it's being too fast.
52:01Right, right, right.
52:02And John, one of the things that has been interesting about Flightline is that he's
52:06really captured the imagination of the racing public.
52:09We've been doing this show for two years and Flightline by far has been one of the
52:13most popular horses that we've been asked about.
52:15At what point in time in his career did you see him as being that special?
52:21Because you've trained a number of grade one winners, but was there a point in time
52:24where you were like after a breeze or after a race or when he first walked off the van?
52:28When were you like, oh, my God, this horse is awesome?
52:31Well, you know, I got one call from April Mayberry early that she said, John, I breezed
52:37that horse down here in Ocala a little bit and I got goosebumps.
52:41And I said, that's great.
52:43You know, she said the last one to give me goosebumps was Zenyatta.
52:46So I thought that was a really great.
52:49And the time I breezed him here, I looked at Juan Levin and I said, you know, that's
52:55the best horse you've ever ridden.
52:57And, you know, I teased him.
52:59I said, he's going to be better than Musical Romance, which was his personal favorite
53:04because he won a Breeders' Cup honor.
53:05And after he agreed.
53:07So, I mean, he's never hid his ability from us.
53:10You know, he showed her from day one, whenever you let him do something that he's exceptional.
53:17You know, he's such an interesting horse.
53:18Like John said, he's captured the imagination of the racing public.
53:23Obviously, your first obligation is to the owners.
53:25But with a horse that's so popular like him, do you do you think of how bad people want
53:29to see him race when you think about a campaign for him?
53:33Well, yeah, I mean, we all everybody wants the same thing, you know, we want to run him
53:38in the biggest races and, you know, go for it all the time.
53:42But with this horse, I feel, you know, I've always felt there's kind of a stewardship,
53:46meaning my job is never to run him unless he's ready to go, you know, because he's
53:51that good.
53:52He deserves that.
53:53And if you're going to see these electrifying performances, we're going to be perfectly
53:57happy every time we take him over there.
53:59Now, it's a little disappointing.
54:01We have the setback for this race, but that's what it is.
54:05And, you know, it wouldn't be a normal thing if it wasn't this horse, you know.
54:09So every this horse, you know, there was people lined up to come out Sunday.
54:14And, you know, what we want to do is is be transparent on what's going on and then say,
54:21you know, you'll have to wait a little bit.
54:22You're going to know there's a few things we have to figure out.
54:25And that's what we're doing.
54:28John, I'm not suggesting that you'd ever run an unsound horse, but how might you be
54:33treating this setback differently if it were just an allowance horse versus a horse of
54:38this tremendous potential and worth many millions of dollars?
54:42Yeah, the same way I treat all, you know, when you're racing in California, you know,
54:47the standard of care is the same for all these horses.
54:50As you well know, I get good stock and well-bred young horses.
54:55So we're very careful with all of them, you know, whether at any level, really.
55:02So I treat the same as I would with all of them.
55:05And then obviously, the difference is, is that I'm on with you guys talking about them.
55:10If I had another horse in the barn, that's the same thing.
55:13I think I'd only be talking to the owner.
55:16Right, right.
55:17And John, last question for me, and that is, you know, with Life is Good kind of graduating
55:22from being a sprinter to now being able to go eight and a half, nine furlongs, and you
55:27look at Flightline's pedigree, and there's, you know, Tappet and Pulpit and Unbridled
55:31and Indian Charlie, Dynafoamer, all horses that could go as long as, you know, as long
55:36as the race is required.
55:38Is there a point in time where you'd say, hey, maybe I'm going to try them to go a little
55:42bit further?
55:42Or are you looking at he is such a good sprinter and kind of middle distance horse, that's
55:46where we're going to keep them?
55:47Oh, I'm looking at the Breeders' Cup Classic.
55:50You know, it's just when you have a setback, then it's hard to go from first base to third.
55:56But we think that this horse will be better longer.
56:00I know as hard as it sounds, you know, if you look at his race as you watch him run,
56:05when he's going 108, it's not a 108 where he's slowing up, you know, he's just cruising
56:11along.
56:11So you could actually make that he'll be better at longer distances.
56:15He trains that he'd be better at longer distances.
56:18But, you know, we're not there yet.
56:21We took one step backwards last week, but we're definitely looking to stretch him out.
56:27Cool.
56:28Well, John, thank you so much for the update.
56:29We look forward to seeing him again and good luck with him the rest of the year.
56:33All right.
56:33Thanks, guys.
56:33Take care.
56:34Thank you, John.
56:35Thanks, John.
56:36Great job.
56:37So thanks to John Sadler for coming on and updating us on Flightline.
56:40Obviously disappointing that he suffered a setback, but it sounds like he'll be back
56:43soon.
56:44That was interesting that he mentioned the Churchill Downs stakes, which is in like about
56:48two and a half months.
56:49So we look forward to seeing him again.
56:51TDN Writers Room is sponsored by West Point Thoroughbreds.
56:53Joining a West Point Thoroughbreds partnership can vault you into the world of instant camaraderie
56:57among people surrounding high class horses and stakes action for a fraction of the cost.
57:01Trying to do it on your own.
57:03Learn more at westpointtb.com.
57:05West Point had a winner this past weekend with Printers Row, who broke her maiden impressively
57:09at Turfway for Cherie Duvaux.
57:11Daughter of Streets is owned in partnership with LBD Stable.
57:14And this weekend they have Sequist, whose last start was in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile
57:17Fillies.
57:18She's making her three-year-old debut at Fairgrounds for Dallas Stewart.
57:21So we look forward to that.
57:22We'll be right back after this message from West Point Thoroughbreds.
57:27All the thrills.
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57:49West Point Thoroughbreds, the gold standard in racing partnerships.
57:53Visit westpointtb.com.
57:56Being a small family business, I guess we're part of a dying breed.
57:59We're really grateful for the people that entrust us.
58:02We know it's a huge responsibility.
58:04We're always with your horse every step of the way.
58:07When it comes to being at the sales ground, showing your horses, we are with your horse.
58:12Just driving up and down the road every day.
58:14There's not a time that I don't look out and feel a responsibility to the sport, the animal,
58:18the people that come to invest in the game.
58:20I want to see as many people enjoy this sport as they possibly can,
58:23because we do have the most beautiful sport in the world.
58:28The TDN Riders Room is brought to you by Legacy Bloodstock.
58:30If you think that 50 years combined experience in the horse business could benefit your program,
58:34give Tommy or Wendy a call.
58:36They personally advise on each horse as if they were their own.
58:39Legacy wrapped up their breeding stock season this month at the Fasig-Tipton Winter Mixed Sale.
58:43We look forward to seeing them in just a few months when the yearling sales start up.
58:46Legacy Bloodstock sales graduates include 104
58:49Lactite winners and earners of over $136 million.
58:54All right, so that's going to do it for this week's edition of the TDN Riders Room,
58:57presented by Keeneland.
58:58A reminder that the Keeneland Spring Meed runs from April 8th through April 29th.
59:02Tickets are available on sale now at tickets.keeneland.com.
59:06I want to thank Bill Finley, John Green, our Green Group Guest of the Week, Brian Lynch,
59:10as well as John Sadler, our producer, Patty Wolfe, our associate producer,
59:13Katie Petruniak, and our editors, Anthony LaRocca, Aliyah LaRocca, and Nathan Wilkinson.
59:18Thank you so much for watching and go watch better things.
59:21See you next time.