Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00The Weekend Preview is sponsored by Three Chimneys.
00:10This weekend we've got a lot of action.
00:12It's closing weekend at Del Mar.
00:13Usually Del Mar used to close same weekend as Saratoga, but they're going a weekend further
00:19this year.
00:20So we have the Del Mar Debutante and Del Mar Futurity, which we'll get to in a little bit.
00:23But we're going to start off talking about the card Saturday at Kentucky Downs, which
00:27is a massive, massive card with six Greatest Stakes races, all, according to Bill, our
00:33intrepid journalist here, worth $1 million.
00:36No, five or six, Joe.
00:37Five or six races are worth $1 million.
00:40Okay.
00:41All right.
00:42Thanks for jumping in, Bill, fact-checking me.
00:43But let's run down the six Greatest Stakes we've got, because it's going to be a great
00:48day of action.
00:49Twelve-race card.
00:50We've got the Mint Million, the WinStar Mint Million.
00:52That was canceled last weekend when Kentucky Downs had to cancel the rest of their Saturday
00:56card due to rain.
00:57We've got the Grade 3 Ladies Turf Stakes.
00:59We've got the Grade 2 Turf Sprint, which is a win-in year-end for the Breeders' Cup Turf
01:03Sprint.
01:04We have the Grade 2 Turf Cup Stakes, which is a win-in year-end for the Breeders' Cup
01:08Turf.
01:09We have the Grade 3 Ladies Sprint Stakes.
01:12And then we have the Grade 2 Franklin Simpson Stakes.
01:14So we have six Greatest Stakes.
01:16The last five comprise of all Greatest Stakes pick four.
01:19The pick four takeout is 14%.
01:21It sounds like such a shill for Kentucky Downs, but how could you not?
01:24Big fields, low takeout, turf racing.
01:27It really is a betters' paradise.
01:29I think the biggest name that's going to run on Saturday, and Bill will love this, is Gafo.
01:35It's going to run in the Grade 2 Turf Cup going a mile and a half.
01:39Just two weeks, two measly weeks after winning the Grade 1 Sword Dancer at Saratoga.
01:46So he's going to be a short price in there.
01:48Like I said, full of fields.
01:49Every race has 12, 13, 14 horses.
01:53We've got some two-year-old stakes, I believe, that are still coming up at Kentucky Downs.
01:56We've got a Rest Me Red in the Turf Sprint.
01:58He's going to be a pretty big favorite.
02:00Just a shameless plug, I'm going to handicap the Turf Cup and the Turf Sprint on my Better
02:04Things episode later today as part of our Breeders' Cup partnership.
02:07Bill, any thoughts early on from these Kentucky Downs races?
02:11Well, I mean, the overall story is the one you already touched on.
02:14The purses and just the astronomical amount of money given away.
02:19Other than the Breeders' Cup, is there any day in American racing?
02:22I don't think the Belmont Card does, where there's five $1 million races on the card
02:29there.
02:30And the thing about Gufo, which is really cool that he's running back two weeks, but
02:33the reason why is because he's not being campaigned as a stallion prospect.
02:37Now, he is not a gelding, he is a horse.
02:39But for a horse that is a marathon turf horse, there's really no commercial value to them,
02:44at least in this country, as a stallion.
02:46So Christophe Clement is going for the money.
02:49He's going for the right thing here.
02:50And that's something we don't see too often.
02:52Also, again, we talked about it last week, too.
02:56And from a betting standpoint, there's just absolutely nothing like this.
02:59In 12 races on the card, 176 horses have been entered.
03:05Now, that includes also eligibles.
03:07They only run 12 at Kentucky Downs, which I suppose has something to do with maybe the
03:13course is narrow in some parts.
03:14Again, I'm going off on another tangent.
03:16I'd like to see them expand the course or widen it and run 20 horse races.
03:22They have the horses to do it.
03:23Wouldn't that be the coolest thing in the world?
03:25Joe, the other story, well, there's a couple other ones.
03:29But Arco comes back in the Kentucky Downs Turf Cup to go against Gufo.
03:33He won in 2020, he was second in 2021.
03:37Wesley Ward looks really strong, Campanella and the Mint Lady Sprint coming back off a
03:41third place finish at Royal Ascot.
03:43And in the Franklin spot, Clement also has big invoice, having won six straight races
03:49coming into that big race.
03:50So just a wonderful card at Kentucky Downs.
03:53They don't have to go up against Saratoga, but they do have to go up against Del Mar.
03:57So that will take away the spotlight from them just a little bit.
04:00But from a betting standpoint and a good racing standpoint, Deepfields, and also some really,
04:06really good horses, this will be the center of the racing universe on Saturday, with apologies
04:10to Del Mar.
04:11Yeah, for sure.
04:12I'm going to ask Randy too, like as a handicapper, how do you approach these races at Kentucky
04:16Downs?
04:17Do you have anything specific that you look for?
04:19I throw up a white flag when it comes to Kentucky Downs handicapping, I'm terrible at Kentucky
04:26Downs.
04:27Yeah, me too.
04:28But when you mentioned all the races and you mentioned the winning you're in for the Breeders'
04:31Cup Turf, I'll admit I just got on my formulator right here, DRA formulator, and I'm like,
04:36I guarantee you, I know one horse who's going to be running in that winning you're in a
04:39mile and a half, Arco.
04:42Now, I'm looking at his lifetime past performances, he's won $3 million, right?
04:46This is his meal ticket.
04:48In 2018, he won this race, and he beat Bigger Picture, who was a nice horse by a half length.
04:54In 2019, he was second in the Kentucky Cup to Zulu Alpha.
05:00In 2020, he won the Kentucky Turf Cup and beat a horse called Red Knight.
05:05In 2021, last year, he was beaten a neck in the Turf Cup by Imperador.
05:11And now at age eight, here he comes back again, and he comes off a really good second place
05:17finish to Rock Emperor.
05:19In his comeback race, he hadn't run since October of 2021.
05:22This was at Saratoga, he was beaten a half length and he had some traffic trouble in
05:26the race.
05:27So, Arco's primed and ready to go again at Kentucky Downs, I think he'll beat Gufo.
05:32All right, well, there you go.
05:34This is Randy's handicapping opinion, his lone handicapping opinion for the week at
05:39Kentucky Downs.
05:40You know, I think about the Turf Cup and that used to be the real centerpiece of the meet.
05:46That was it at Kentucky Downs and the old dueling grounds.
05:49Now you look at these cards and all these greatest stakes races, and shout out to the
05:52Greatest Stakes Committee because they really have rewarded Kentucky Downs.
05:56It's time for them to get a great one, but overall, they've rewarded Kentucky Downs for
06:00running these big fields and having these big purses.
06:03In general, we need fewer Greatest Stakes in America, but this is a track that deserves
06:08more Greatest Stakes and some great ones as well, and I think that they've done a good
06:12job with that.
06:13I'm interested in Campanelle running too, because this is one of the few places in America
06:17where she's going to run as close to a full field as possible.
06:21She ran against 23 horses last time in the Platinum Jubilee, was a close third, beat
06:2721 of those horses, if I did the math correctly, I think.
06:31That was at Royal Ascot.
06:32That was against boys as well.
06:34She's a really, really nice filly.
06:36She was also a head second in the Commonwealth Cup against boys last year at Royal Ascot.
06:42She has done a lot in a relatively short career.
06:45She's only run eight times, or nine times, excuse me.
06:48She's won five times, so I'm really interested in seeing her.
06:51She's going to run in the Ladies Sprint Stakes, which is the second to last race on the card.
06:55Like I said, we have Delmar as well coming up.
06:57We're going to get to that after the break, but this weekend preview is brought to you
07:00by Three Chimney Stallions.
07:02Gunrunner had his latest graded winner over the weekend with Wicked Halo in the grade
07:06two Prioress Stakes.
07:07The Winchell Thoroughbreds homebred is now undefeated in our last three starts.
07:10She's been off the board only once in her nine lifetime starts.
07:14Gunrunner also had a juvenile winner over the weekend with Red Route One, was another
07:17Winchell Thoroughbreds homebred who broke his maiden at Kentucky Downs.
07:21Gunrunner has almost 30 yearlings in Keeneland September Book One alone, including, as we
07:26mentioned earlier, the full sister to grade two Prioress winner Wicked Halo.
07:31How many of those Gunrunners are going to be in the top 10, top 15 yearlings?
07:36My guess is he's going to have at least a third of them because he's just an absolute
07:40sensation.
07:41I'm sure everybody at Three Chimneys feels lucky to have him, so we'll be right back
07:44after this message from Three Chimney Stallions.
07:47Here comes Tabor!
07:50Tabor in the center of the track with good looking stride, squares off with Cyberknife!
07:55Cyberknife takes the lead!
07:56Tabor going with him!
07:57These two in a thriller!
07:58Cyberknife just in front and Cyberknife has won the TBG.com Haskell over Tabor!
08:05Jack Christopher finished third, the running time 1 minute 46.24 seconds.
08:11Gunrunners on top of the world!
08:14Come, dream with us at Three Chimneys.
08:17And it's all Tyler's Tribe to the final furlong.
08:25He's putting on another show tonight.
08:27He is 8 lengths in front, now it's 10, now it's 12.
08:31Tyler's Tribe pouring it on as they come down to the line.
08:35He's going to win by double digits and he stops the clock in 1.04.
08:47Alright, so like I mentioned, this weekend is closing weekend at Del Mar.
08:51It's a week later than it used to be because they started the meet a little bit later.
08:55We have the two grade ones for two-year-olds.
08:58That's not all, though.
08:59We do have the TBG Del Mar debutante, which is on Saturday, grade one for the Phillies.
09:04And then we have the Run Happy Del Mar Futurity, which is on Sunday for the boys.
09:08We also have some other stuff at Del Mar to look forward to.
09:10We have the Del Mar Juvenile Turf Stakes, which is a grade three on Sunday.
09:14I think that's the first year this is graded, or maybe the second year.
09:17It's gotten some good horses in recent years, horses that have gone on the Do OK and the Breeders' Cup.
09:22We also have the grade two John C. Mabee Stakes on Saturday at Del Mar.
09:26We have a couple other races at Kentucky Downs.
09:28We have a couple other stakes on Saturday.
09:30The ACS Ladies Marathon Stakes, the Untappable Stakes.
09:33The Nelson's Greenbrier Tennessee Whiskey Music City Stakes.
09:37Got through that in one beat.
09:39I'm a professional here.
09:41It's harder to write, I think, than it is to say.
09:43And then we also have some stuff overseas to look forward to.
09:46We have the Irish Champion Stakes this weekend.
09:48I think Mishrif is going to be in there.
09:50Vadeni, who's a very nice horse, who's won some big races in France, is going to be in that race.
09:54We have the Prix Vermeil in France as well, which is a group one.
09:58Yeah, I mean, Del Mar has had a pretty good meet.
10:03I'm interested to see the handle when it comes out at the end of the meet, as well as the safety stats.
10:08Because that's been a big thing.
10:10That's a big feather in the cap for Del Mar, I think, in recent years.
10:12Is how few breakdowns they've had and how few injuries they've had.
10:16So I haven't seen any numbers yet from this meet so far.
10:19But I assume they're still chugging along in that regard.
10:22And they deserve a lot of credit for that.
10:24But yeah, I also want to mention the Wonderware Stakes is on Sunday at Woodbine,
10:28which is restricted for Ontario-bred three-year-old fillies.
10:33I'm guessing that Moira is going to go in the Prince of Wales.
10:37No, Joe, she's not.
10:39They've confirmed they're passing the Prince of Wales.
10:42And they're going to run next in either the Cotillion or the Queen Elizabeth II
10:46because they want to get graded stakes victories out of her.
10:50And obviously, you can't do that in restricted races in Canada.
10:53Oh, damn.
10:54I mean, I would have liked to see her go for the Canadian Triple Crown.
10:57But I mean, I guess that makes sense.
10:59Has she run on dirt yet?
11:01I don't believe she has.
11:03I think it's all synthetic and she's never run on the turf either.
11:06So her next start, if it's one of those two,
11:09either way, it'll be uncharted territory.
11:11Gotcha.
11:12All right.
11:13Yeah, so we'll keep an eye out for her wherever she runs.
11:15But yeah, definitely Delmar, Kentucky Downs, the places to watch and be this weekend,
11:20especially Kentucky Downs with those fields.
11:23Like Randy said, it's a tough nut to crack, especially if you do multi-race wagers.
11:28There are so many landmines in those sequences.
11:31But you can make money within the race, theoretically.
11:35Theoretically, you can make money because of the low takeout and the big fields.
11:41That's all I can think about is the opportunity.
11:45But it hardly ever works out.