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00:00:00For the love of the horse, for generations to come.
00:00:28It's March 1st at 3.05pm in the East Coast and welcome to another edition of the TDN
00:00:33Writers Room.
00:00:34I'm Bill Finley, I'm a correspondent for the Thoroughbred Daily News and I co-host
00:00:38the Down the Stretch Show on Sirius XM Radio.
00:00:40I want to remind you that the TDN Writers Room podcast each and every week is brought
00:00:44to you by our good friends at Keynote.
00:00:45Hi I'm Randy Moss with NBC Sports and the Buyer's Speed Figure Group.
00:00:50Zoe Kampmann here with XBTV, Santa Anita and First Racing got Doodle, my cohort, my little
00:00:56ray of sunshine in the background and guys, pinch punch, first day of the month.
00:01:01Ever heard of that one?
00:01:03I have not so I got it.
00:01:04It's an English thing.
00:01:06Okay and Zoe, by the way, we have to give a shout out to Doodle, we have to give a
00:01:10shout out to Lucy who is once again over Randy's right shoulder, we say hi to Lucy as we do
00:01:15most every week.
00:01:16So guys, a lot to talk about but let's go back to last weekend and as we usually like
00:01:20to start the show, to review the big news of the weekend on the racetrack, it was without
00:01:25a doubt the Rebel Stakes and a couple storylines here.
00:01:28The one that I found most interesting in Confidence Games win was the trainer Keith DiZarmo.
00:01:34You know, what a great story this guy is writing time and time again.
00:01:37This is a $25,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase that now is worth many times that
00:01:45and is a legitimate contender for the Kentucky Derby after winning the Rebel at 18 to 1.
00:01:50How does Keith DiZarmo do this time and time again, come up with these horses, got to give
00:01:55the guy a tremendous amount of credit.
00:01:57Another storyline I thought, Randy, before I throw it to you was this was a rare Kentucky
00:02:01Derby prep where Brad Cox wasn't the story, didn't have a particularly good afternoon
00:02:06with Verifying running fourth at 3 to 2 and Giant Mischief running sixth at 2 to 1.
00:02:12So the Cox freight train derailed just ever so briefly at Oakland Park that weekend for
00:02:18the Rebel.
00:02:19But Randy, take it away, your thoughts on the Rebel Stakes.
00:02:21Yeah, let me talk about the race itself and then we'll get into Keith DiZarmo, one of
00:02:25the most underrated trainers in America, I think is pretty clear after that.
00:02:30I thought it was a really nice effort for the winner of Confidence Game.
00:02:34I don't really know how much the sloppy racetrack boosted his performance.
00:02:38I don't think anybody will know that until he runs back on a fast track.
00:02:41But when you look at him two races back in that key allowance race at Churchill Downs,
00:02:46he beat Rocket Can, Hit Show was also in that race and also ran, and both those horses
00:02:51have come back to win Derby preps.
00:02:53So at 18 to 1, a very nice win for Confidence Game.
00:02:59Some of the other horses in there, Red Root One continues to improve.
00:03:03I had him about 14 lengths off the pace in the early part of the race.
00:03:07He continues to look like a horse that is going to flourish as the distances get longer.
00:03:13Reincarnate, I thought, ran a huge race to finish third.
00:03:17He didn't break slowly, but for some reason he was like eight lengths back early, even
00:03:21though he was hustled a little bit.
00:03:23He took all that slop in the face.
00:03:25He moved up sort of alongside Red Root One and was rallying next to him when he was shut
00:03:30off at about the eighth pole and had to come back and go around and still ran well to finish
00:03:35third.
00:03:36And as far as verifying goes, it's not a huge excuse, but he was down on the inside and
00:03:41sort of bottled up from maybe like the 5.16 pole to about the 3.16 pole and then raced
00:03:49in some traffic even after that.
00:03:51He didn't have to steady, didn't have to check, but didn't necessarily have the cleanest trip
00:03:58as far as traffic goes.
00:04:00And he was down on the inside, which might not have been the best part of the racetrack
00:04:03at Ocon Park on that Saturday.
00:04:05So I'm willing to think that he's probably a little bit better than that fourth place
00:04:09finish would indicate.
00:04:10I saw no excuses at all for giant mischief, kind of carried out a little bit, bore out
00:04:16slightly going into the first turn, but he looked to me to be a horse that might not
00:04:21relish the added distances.
00:04:23Yeah, I mean, it was a good race.
00:04:27Confidence game, got a perfect trip under James Graham.
00:04:30You'd wish he'd have switched leads coming down the lane, but he just looked like he
00:04:34was green.
00:04:35I love the quotes from trainer Keith DeSorma, now get the beeper ready, because he was quoting
00:04:41saying the trainer really needs to get his shit together.
00:04:43And he messed up.
00:04:44He didn't school him.
00:04:45If you've ever been to Oak Lawn, and we've all been to Oak Lawn, that inside paddock
00:04:50can be horrific when you're down in it.
00:04:53There's about, I don't know, 60,000 people there, and they're all above you trying to
00:04:57cram over and take a look at the horses.
00:05:00And he lost his shit, basically.
00:05:02He completely lost it.
00:05:04And Keith simply said that, my God, I wish I'd schooled him in the paddock.
00:05:08I wish I'd done that.
00:05:09He thought he ran his race in the paddock.
00:05:12James Graham not only is a very good jockey, but he's an excellent horseman.
00:05:15So he got on him, cooled him down in the post parade, and just let this horse relax into
00:05:20the nice rhythm that he needed to relax into.
00:05:24I thought visually the horse finishing the best and who looked like he was coming like
00:05:30a freight train was Red Route One, the trainer Steve Asmussen.
00:05:33He even had to swerve at about the 16th pole and autocourse.
00:05:38It didn't really affect him whatsoever.
00:05:40One thing you have to take into consideration is the sloppy track.
00:05:43Both of these colts obviously relish it.
00:05:47I think DeSomo was talking about the Tomlinson number.
00:05:50If you read the DRF, the Tomlinson's number rate from like 80 to 480, and Confidence Game
00:05:56has a 455, the largest in the field.
00:06:00So I think the sloppy track is going to enhance him.
00:06:03He should definitely stay at Oak Lawn where it always rains on a Saturday in three-year-old
00:06:08season.
00:06:09So that is most definitely going to help him.
00:06:11And Red Route One's got a 430.
00:06:13So these are two colts that are definitely enhanced by an off track.
00:06:18Red Route One, I think he finished in 31.74, and Confidence Game, the final 516, 32.47.
00:06:27So Red Route One was coming like an absolute freight train for Asmussen.
00:06:32Zoey, I want to stay with you because of the three of us, I think you're a little bit more
00:06:35of a sales type person.
00:06:38So Texas Red wins the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, costs $17,000.
00:06:41This horse costs $25,000.
00:06:43Exaggerator was a huge purchase for Keith DeSomo at $110,000.
00:06:48I found another horse that he paid $5,000 for, the name escapes me at this point, Swipe.
00:06:55Yeah, went on to win $600,000 and change.
00:06:59Now, I had asked him about this for the story I did in the TDN.
00:07:02And here's the remarkable thing.
00:07:04He realized there had to be some issue with Confidence Game at the sales because he said
00:07:08that the horse was way back in the catalog, which made no sense based on its breeding.
00:07:12He purposely didn't look at the x-rays because he didn't want anything to change his mind.
00:07:18But you know, speak to what this guy has done at the sales with these bargain basement horses
00:07:22and how unusual would it be for somebody to buy a horse and refuse to look at the x-rays.
00:07:27He's a horseman, front and center.
00:07:30This culled by Candy Ride out of Éblouissant, who wasn't a magnificent racehorse, but she
00:07:36was a half-sister to Zenyatta.
00:07:38So he should never have been that far back in the book.
00:07:41He basically didn't vet.
00:07:42I don't know what the vet report said.
00:07:45It was probably horrific.
00:07:46I mean, we see all kinds of things, horses go on.
00:07:49They just need a bit of time and do magnificent things.
00:07:53A perfect example, Metoli, by all accounts, didn't vet.
00:07:58That didn't hurt him whatsoever.
00:08:00They just need time and they need horsemen to be able to manage whatever little aches
00:08:04and pains they have.
00:08:06And you know, if nothing showed up, just go on with it.
00:08:10And I think that is what Keith has done time and time again.
00:08:13One other thing he does is he buys the same kind of horse over and over again.
00:08:17If you look at his horses in his barn, the big, long, rangy, big-headed, hate to say
00:08:23that, Keith, but sorry, two-turn kinds of horses.
00:08:27And that is the exact type of horse that Keith likes to buy.
00:08:30Now, they don't all pan out, that's for sure.
00:08:33But he's definitely got lucky with some very, very good horses that he bought for minimal
00:08:38amounts.
00:08:39Yeah.
00:08:40Well, kudos to Keith's armor.
00:08:41He keeps getting it done.
00:08:42I've got 11 horses on a list here over the last 10 years that he had at some point on
00:08:48the Triple Crown Prep Trail.
00:08:49And seemingly, he's got a horse every year that's at least somewhere in the mix at some
00:08:53point.
00:08:54And of the 11 horses, Exaggerator is the only one that brought six figures.
00:09:00And he brought 110,000.
00:09:02So kudos.
00:09:03Kudos to Keith.
00:09:04Now, he's spending some money now, too.
00:09:07So God only knows what's going to happen now.
00:09:10He's got some money in his pocket.
00:09:12I mean, Keith, sky may be the limit for Keith now.
00:09:15Yeah, definitely does a great job.
00:09:17Hey, so let's turn our attention to some of the off-the-track news during the week.
00:09:21And we saw this coming, we knew it.
00:09:22But Rick Dutrow got his license back this week from the New York Gaming Commission after
00:09:27that 10-year license revocation that started way back in 2013.
00:09:33He paid his 10 years, the time was up.
00:09:36And we've talked about this earlier, and I'll repeat what I said before.
00:09:41He's a polarizing figure.
00:09:42He has a lot of people that are in his corner and think he was railroaded.
00:09:47There are other people that think he's just a real bad guy that doesn't belong in horse
00:09:50racing.
00:09:51My take would be, I mean, he's neither.
00:09:54You know, Rick was no Boy Scout.
00:09:56He pushed the envelope.
00:09:57He got into some trouble.
00:09:59Whether or not he deserved a 10-year revocation of his license or not, was that too strict?
00:10:04Perhaps it was.
00:10:05But I think at that point, he definitely deserved some sort of penalty.
00:10:09He's coming back now, and now the question is, what is going to be Rick Dutrow 2.0?
00:10:14Randy, I think he's going to do really well.
00:10:17And the reason why I say that is, again, because he does have a lot of people in his corner,
00:10:21and he wins.
00:10:22And owners want trainers that win.
00:10:26I think people will put up with the baggage if Rick Dutrow can come back and be the old
00:10:30Rick Dutrow.
00:10:31There's no reason why he can't.
00:10:32This is a guy who won a Kentucky Derby and a Breeders' Cup Classic, big round at St.
00:10:36Liam.
00:10:37So I think that Rick Dutrow is going to have a very successful second chapter to his career.
00:10:42I do, too.
00:10:43I really do, because he's an outstanding horseman.
00:10:45Look, there are a lot of different things you could say about Rick Dutrow.
00:10:48I mean, was he sloppy in the way he handled a lot of his business?
00:10:52Clearly so.
00:10:53But he was kind of a sloppy sort of individual to begin with.
00:10:58And he'd be the first one to tell you that, right?
00:11:01I think they made an example of him.
00:11:03And I am on the record as believing that 10 years was much too harsh.
00:11:09And I'm also on the record as saying that I believe that part of that 10-year suspension
00:11:13was because he was considered, and they even use this word, obnoxious by some people.
00:11:19Well, hell, if they're going to suspend people 10 years for being obnoxious, then a lot of
00:11:23us are in trouble.
00:11:25But yeah, I mean, I'm glad he got his license back.
00:11:29I think it was overdue.
00:11:30And I do think that he will have a good deal of success because he had a lot of primo clients
00:11:36in his corner for good reason when he was suspended.
00:11:40Okay, babe, we're going to hear an awful lot of babe coming up.
00:11:45And I'm going to guarantee that this time next year, we're going to be talking about
00:11:49Rick Dutrow on the way to the Kentucky Derby, babe.
00:11:54So he's going to be active at the two-year-old sales, I have no doubt in my mind.
00:11:58And those two-year-olds will be three-year-olds next year.
00:12:01So I'm looking forward to it.
00:12:03Yeah, and we'll know shortly what kind of clients he's getting.
00:12:05He said that he also now needs to apply for stalls at Naira.
00:12:09I'm sure that that's a formality.
00:12:11So maybe within three or four weeks, we'll see the first Rick Dutrow horse on the racetrack.
00:12:15Okay, speaking of trainers behaving badly, a very good story today, today being Wednesday's
00:12:21Thoroughbred Daily News by Sid Fernando, who shed some light on the Jason's service situation.
00:12:28And in particular, the drug that he was admitted to using, STF-1000.
00:12:33Now, Sid does not claim that he is innocent of any charges because he did in fact commit
00:12:40the crimes of misbranding drugs and using a drug that was illegal.
00:12:47But Sid makes a very compelling case that this stuff was kind of, what's the right word,
00:12:54tame, was not juice, was not dope, was not a PED.
00:12:59He talks about how it was in widespread use around the backstretch for years.
00:13:05He anonymously quotes some trainers.
00:13:07He says there are major trainers saying they used it as well.
00:13:10And from everything that he wrote and things that I have read, it's not the type of thing
00:13:15like some of these things that Jorge Navarro was giving his horses, all sorts of crazy
00:13:19names like red acid and things like that, that would necessarily move a horse up.
00:13:25So, you know, Jason's service crossed the line.
00:13:29He violated rules and he's going to jail for it.
00:13:34It wasn't Sid's point that he's innocent, but his point was that, you know, this drug
00:13:40or medication or whatever you want to call it generally was not a big deal, Randy.
00:13:46I thought it was a very well-written and well-researched piece.
00:13:49And to TDN's credit, right up at the top, they highlighted the obvious conflict of interest
00:13:56concerns.
00:13:57And that is that Sid Fernando is in the bloodstock business and one of his big clients happens
00:14:02to be Gary and Mary West.
00:14:04With the Saudi Cup purse of maximum security still out there in limbo and the Saudi officials
00:14:11saying that they're conducting their own investigation.
00:14:14The West's, one of his biggest clients, tend to make 10 million dollars if they turn loose
00:14:21of that purse money that maximum security won from finishing first.
00:14:25So, you know, but that doesn't make the article not factually correct and it doesn't mean
00:14:31that the points that Sid Fernando made in that article were not good points.
00:14:37For those of us who always suspected, even long before this, and there were a lot of
00:14:42us, that Jason Service was doing something that was a little bit, you know, beyond legality
00:14:49with some of the results he was getting.
00:14:51It makes you have an open mind to read this story and read that this particular substance
00:14:57might not have been, you know, as aggressively flouting the rules as we might have suspected.
00:15:05And again, it doesn't make him innocent.
00:15:07But I thought it was very well written and thought provoking.
00:15:11Yeah, absolutely.
00:15:12And I think I would encourage everyone to go and read the story in full.
00:15:16It's long, it's well detailed and very, very well researched.
00:15:20So well done, Sid.
00:15:23Sid didn't get into this, but, and we don't have an answer to it, but what on earth are
00:15:27the Saudis doing?
00:15:29It's been three years since this race has been run.
00:15:32The investigation is concluded in the United States.
00:15:35Service is admitted to using these drugs, admitted to whether, you know, doping his
00:15:40horses, and yet they're still dragging their feet.
00:15:44I don't think any of us have an answer, but it's getting kind of borderline ridiculous
00:15:47at this point.
00:15:48Yeah.
00:15:48Well, as we all know, sometimes there are no wheels of justice at all in Saudi Arabia.
00:15:53And in this case, the wheels of justice are moving at an excruciatingly slow pace.
00:15:58They say they're conducting their own investigations.
00:16:01It's going to be interesting to see what they come up with eventually, if they come
00:16:03up with anything.
00:16:05And you know, the really interesting thing, should Midnight Bissu get moved up to first,
00:16:10how much is Mike Smith's whip fine going to be?
00:16:12Did anyone figure that out?
00:16:14He already paid $200,000 for running second.
00:16:17What was it?
00:16:19It was like 50% of his earnings or something like that, as I recall.
00:16:23That's a good point, Zoe.
00:16:24I'm sure he'll take it.
00:16:26Yeah, something like that.
00:16:28Absolutely.
00:16:28Yeah.
00:16:29So let's say if you win $10 million purse, the jockey would get a million dollars.
00:16:34So if the fine was 50%, I don't recall what it was exactly, but it was in that neighborhood,
00:16:39it would be a fine of $500,000 for a whip violation.
00:16:43So got to be by many, many factors of the largest fine in the history of horse racing.
00:16:52The TDM Writers Room is brought to you by Keeneland.
00:16:55On Sunday, April the 30th, Keeneland will host an April Selected Horses of Racing Age
00:17:00sale beginning at 4 p.m.
00:17:02Entry deadline for the print version of the sale catalog is Monday, April the 3rd.
00:17:08Approved supplemental entries will be accepted right up until the day of the sale.
00:17:13We'll be right back after this message from Keeneland.
00:17:16If this place could talk,
00:17:23it would roar.
00:17:26It would say, this is racing.
00:17:29This beating heart in the heart of horse country.
00:17:34Steady and strong beneath the roar.
00:17:38Reminding us why.
00:17:40For the love of the horse.
00:17:42For generations to come.
00:17:46He was just put together like a machine and he had a great mind.
00:17:50Everything about him was what you'd want.
00:17:52Tis the law.
00:17:52Pops the cork and the champagne.
00:17:55Tis the law is gonna win the first leg of the Triple Crown.
00:17:59I've never seen him get tired.
00:18:00Respect the law.
00:18:01Tis the law.
00:18:03His structure is just perfect.
00:18:05His bone is perfect.
00:18:06He's left the others behind.
00:18:08He's gonna win the Run Happy Travers.
00:18:10He's everything you would look for in a horse.
00:18:16Mendelsohn continues to churn out new winners,
00:18:19sending out five last week alone.
00:18:22His stakes place three-year-old RGs
00:18:24gave his sire an international double in Dubai on Friday
00:18:27with a victory just a little over 12 hours
00:18:30after Jenny Lind broke her maiden at Turfway
00:18:33to become his fifth winner of the week.
00:18:36Felix the Scat made it three winners
00:18:38in three different countries in a 24-hour period
00:18:41when he broke his maiden in Australia.
00:18:44Mendelsohn is standing his second season at Coolmore
00:18:46for a fee of $25,000.
00:18:49Good value, I think.
00:18:51Well, Zoe, congratulations on getting
00:18:53through the blizzard warning
00:18:55in Los Angeles County last weekend.
00:18:57My goodness, what a strange story that was
00:18:59with snow on the mountains outside of Santa Anita.
00:19:02So the weather hopefully will be better this weekend
00:19:06because there's a lot going on at Santa Anita.
00:19:08Tell us more.
00:19:09Oh my goodness.
00:19:10There is so much going on at Santa Anita, guys.
00:19:13I don't know where to start.
00:19:15We'll start with Saturday.
00:19:17Obviously, we'll run on Friday.
00:19:19But Saturday, we have a 12-race card,
00:19:21four graded stakes there at Santa Anita
00:19:24culminating with the grade one Kilro Mile
00:19:27and the grade one big cap that goes as race number 12.
00:19:30We will have a mandatory pick six payout
00:19:33expected to exceed over $3 million, guys.
00:19:38It most definitely is the place to be.
00:19:40And I'm gonna guarantee that it is gonna be dry
00:19:44and sunny on Saturday.
00:19:47All right, you heard it right from Zoe Cabin.
00:19:49It's gonna be a beautiful day Saturday at Santa Anita.
00:19:52And if it's not, we will bring it up next week on the show.
00:19:54Now, Zoe, you didn't mention the San Felipe.
00:19:56Let's start with that since we're in three-year-old mode.
00:19:58And we're gonna hear from Jack Wolf,
00:20:01the managing partner of Starlight Racing,
00:20:03a partnership that is involved
00:20:04with National Treasure in Fort Bragg.
00:20:06He is the Green Group guest of the week.
00:20:08I thought this was a pretty wide open race myself.
00:20:12Jack was very high in National Treasure.
00:20:15Trained now, these horses have moved
00:20:16into the Tim Yaktin Barn.
00:20:18Matter of fact, Yaktin has what, five in here, correct?
00:20:22Including four old Baffert horses and one
00:20:25that he trained himself who is a contender in here.
00:20:28Practical move.
00:20:30I'm kind of looking for, I'm just looking for value here
00:20:33because I think the race is so wide open.
00:20:35I'm gonna take a flyer on Skinner
00:20:37even though he just broke his maiden last time out
00:20:39for John Sheriffs.
00:20:41But the way Sheriffs has handled this horse,
00:20:43he's been so confident in him.
00:20:45Running him a couple of grade ones as a maiden last year,
00:20:48it didn't work out.
00:20:49He brought him back on February 12th
00:20:50in a maiden special eight race, looked very good.
00:20:52Winning for Victor Espinosa, getting the 95 buyer number.
00:20:55But this is a tough race to handicap, I think.
00:20:59Randy, have you taken a look?
00:21:00And who'd you come up with?
00:21:01Yeah, in fact, we're gonna be doing it on NBC,
00:21:03the San Felipe, along with the Fountain of Youth
00:21:05and five other races live
00:21:08from either Gulfstream Park or Santa Anita.
00:21:10It's an interesting race.
00:21:11Like back in 2011,
00:21:14there was a horse called Bench Points
00:21:16that finished third in the San Felipe.
00:21:18He was trained by Tim Yakteen.
00:21:20To date, it's the only horse Yakteen has ever started
00:21:22in the San Felipe.
00:21:23And now he has five in the same season, of course,
00:21:27courtesy, four of those,
00:21:28courtesy of the Bob Baffert situation.
00:21:31It should be a pretty fast-paced race, I think,
00:21:34because Hijazi, who I have some distance questions about,
00:21:38is a very fast horse.
00:21:40He's almost certainly gonna go to the lead with Mike Smith.
00:21:42And then you've got the Mandela horse, Go Rocket Ride,
00:21:45who broke his maiden sprinting.
00:21:47He's one for one, very impressive, who also has speed.
00:21:50So he should be probably, I'm guessing,
00:21:52he's always the ex-jockey,
00:21:53but I'm guessing positioned just outside of Hijazi
00:21:56but not far away
00:21:57and probably going at a relatively decent cliff.
00:22:01Sometimes it takes three horses
00:22:02to really push a fast pace,
00:22:05but I think those two will probably set the pace.
00:22:06And I think National Treasure
00:22:09is probably gonna get a great trip, an inside trip,
00:22:13stalking from the rail probably fourth or so early.
00:22:15So I think he's gonna be the horse to beat.
00:22:18But Skinner is a horse, like you mentioned,
00:22:20who looked really, really good
00:22:23last time out breaking his maiden.
00:22:24One more horse just to mention.
00:22:27The Connections, and he should be a decent price.
00:22:31You don't see it on paper necessarily,
00:22:33but the Connections have been extremely high on Fort Bragg.
00:22:37They keep expecting Fort Bragg
00:22:39to have this breakout performance
00:22:42based on what he's shown in the morning
00:22:44that he hasn't really yet shown in the afternoon.
00:22:47So if Fort Bragg is gonna be 10 to one
00:22:49or 12 to one or 15 to one,
00:22:51which is a possibility in this spot,
00:22:54he might be at least tempting.
00:22:56It's a really good race.
00:22:58Let's be honest, Go Rocket Ride's gonna take
00:23:00a lot of money off that debut.
00:23:03We have a little feature on him
00:23:04coming up a little bit later on.
00:23:07His last work was excellent.
00:23:08He got to eat a little bit of dirt,
00:23:10a little bit of kickback.
00:23:12Didn't actually love it,
00:23:14but he just got enough to where I think he'll stand it.
00:23:18So should he not be on the lead
00:23:20and get a little bit of kickback,
00:23:21I don't think that's gonna hurt Go Rocket Ride.
00:23:23He is coming in fresh.
00:23:25All these horses are gonna be very fresh.
00:23:27You have to keep that in mind.
00:23:29A lot of them were slated to work on Wednesday.
00:23:32We've still had a lot of rain here.
00:23:34They're actually slated to work on Tuesday
00:23:36and the track was not good enough
00:23:39to allow these horses to work.
00:23:40They've walked for two days,
00:23:41they've jogged for three.
00:23:43So we're gonna have some fresh horses
00:23:45coming into this race,
00:23:46which I think is going to mean
00:23:48we're going to have pace aplenty.
00:23:51Go Rocket Ride will be fresh.
00:23:53Skinner, I think it's gonna help him.
00:23:54I did speak to John Sheriffs about Skinner
00:23:57and he was actually a little bit concerned
00:24:00because he said he gets most of his fitness
00:24:02from his gallops.
00:24:03He puts a lot into his gallops
00:24:05more so than he does his works.
00:24:07He's not the flashiest of work horses
00:24:10to see in the morning.
00:24:11So Skinner, he was a little concerned
00:24:14that he's missed some of those needed gallops.
00:24:16There is no question that he is a very,
00:24:18very talented horse
00:24:20out of that lovely mare winding way.
00:24:22So I think those are gonna be
00:24:23the top two for me in there.
00:24:26And I think the real,
00:24:28probably the biggest heavyweight for me
00:24:31from the Yak Teen Barn
00:24:32is going to be Practical Move.
00:24:34I think he's a good horse.
00:24:36I'm not sure we've seen quite how good he was.
00:24:38He ran third to having a meltdown.
00:24:40He just missed in Saudi at the weekend.
00:24:42He would be my top pick actually
00:24:44from the Tim Yak Teen Barn.
00:24:46So we're used to small fields
00:24:48and stakes races at Santa Anita.
00:24:49We have 11 in the San Felipe
00:24:51and 11 in the Santa Anita Handicap,
00:24:53the Big Cap.
00:24:54Before we get into the field,
00:24:54I'm gonna make an off the wall prediction here,
00:24:57but I think I actually might be right about this.
00:24:59This is gonna be the last ever
00:25:00Santa Anita Handicap
00:25:02based on what Belinda Stronach said
00:25:04after the Pegasus World Cup.
00:25:06The race will be renamed next year,
00:25:07the Pegasus World Cup West
00:25:09with a $3 million person and bonus tie-in
00:25:11to the Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park.
00:25:14She talked about moving the Pegasus concept
00:25:16to Santa Anita.
00:25:17If it's gonna happen,
00:25:18it's gotta involve this race.
00:25:20So am I crazy?
00:25:21Maybe a little bit.
00:25:23But it's no secret this race needs help
00:25:26because of the factors of Dubai and Saudi Arabia.
00:25:29And we got a good field here,
00:25:31but it hasn't come up with a ton of stars
00:25:35in recent years.
00:25:36And it's one of the greatest races
00:25:38on the racing calendar
00:25:40when it comes to history and past winners
00:25:42and that sort of thing.
00:25:43So field of 11 here,
00:25:45I imagine Defunded Randy
00:25:46will probably be the favorite.
00:25:47I'm gonna take another flyer here on Warrant
00:25:49from Brad Cox,
00:25:50who ran second in this race last year.
00:25:52The best career race of his life.
00:25:54If you can duplicate that,
00:25:55coming back to Santa Anita,
00:25:56he's gonna be in the mix there.
00:25:57And of course,
00:25:58obviously a lot of confidence in Brad Cox.
00:26:00Randy, what do you think?
00:26:01Yeah, obviously looking at this field
00:26:02is a perfect example
00:26:03about how something needs to be done
00:26:05to retool the big cat
00:26:07because of the Saudi race,
00:26:08because of the Dubai World Cup.
00:26:10It's siphoning some of the best horses from America.
00:26:13I mean, the two best older horses in California,
00:26:15arguably the two best older horses in the country
00:26:17were Country Grammar and Teva.
00:26:19And both of them went overseas
00:26:20rather than stay for the Santa Anita Handicap
00:26:23just because of the money.
00:26:24Defunded will probably be the favorite,
00:26:26but I don't think he's a standout.
00:26:28He's got to deal with Stiletto Boy again
00:26:30on the front end.
00:26:31Proxy is gonna get some money
00:26:33coming off a disappointing performance
00:26:35in the Pegasus World Cup,
00:26:36in which he was back to his old tricks again.
00:26:38We talked about that before the Pegasus Cup,
00:26:40how they thought that maybe he had matured
00:26:42and he wasn't gonna do his routine
00:26:44at the half mile pole of dropping the bit
00:26:46and taking himself back out of it.
00:26:47It's exactly what he did in the Pegasus.
00:26:49He was back to his old tricks.
00:26:51So whether he's gonna rebound or not here,
00:26:54I don't know, but he's got Johnny V
00:26:56and he fits pretty well in this spot.
00:26:58And a long shot to throw into your Superfectas maybe.
00:27:04And he's gonna be a long shot,
00:27:05maybe 20, 30 to one.
00:27:06There goes Harvard.
00:27:08Oh, you stole it.
00:27:10All right, yeah, I stole it.
00:27:11Oh, sorry, Zoey.
00:27:14So there goes Harvard,
00:27:16had a really bad race last July in the San Diego,
00:27:19in which he was obviously injured.
00:27:20He was off until February.
00:27:22They brought him back on the turf.
00:27:23He was short.
00:27:24He got beat four lengths.
00:27:25He backed up.
00:27:26But if you go three races back before all that happened,
00:27:30he ran down defunded in the Gold Cup at Santa Anita.
00:27:34The Hollywood Gold Cup really is what it was.
00:27:38That was at a mile and a quarter, just like this.
00:27:41So the distance is okay.
00:27:42I think second start after layoff for Michael McCarthy.
00:27:44He's got the rail.
00:27:46He's gonna be a big price.
00:27:48I think he's worth throwing in there, Zoey.
00:27:51I don't think he's gonna be 20 to one.
00:27:53I mean, if he is, I'll take it.
00:27:55No, I really don't.
00:27:56Purely his form over a mile and a quarter
00:27:59and the fact things weren't going right when we saw him.
00:28:03That was purely a comeback race in the Thunder Road last time out.
00:28:06Gets a very good rider aboard Kazushi Kimura.
00:28:09We've seen really great things
00:28:11from this young rider here at Santa Anita.
00:28:14I like him and I'm looking for a true mile and a quarter horse
00:28:18to win the big cap.
00:28:19I'm gonna try and bookend the race
00:28:22with There Goes Harvard on the inside.
00:28:23And then Proxy who, like you said, Randy,
00:28:26back to his old tricks.
00:28:28But perhaps in hindsight, that wasn't a racetrack
00:28:31that suited his running style.
00:28:33I think he's gonna prefer the surface out here at Santa Anita.
00:28:37Of course, like a lot of horses leaving the West Coast
00:28:41and coming in, they have to be rerouted.
00:28:43And it's tough to get here.
00:28:44So he went by van to Memphis and then flew in.
00:28:48We're expecting him imminently.
00:28:50That's Proxy for trainer Michael Stidham.
00:28:53Now, Zoe, you want to call me crazy
00:28:54for my prediction about the future of the big cap?
00:28:57Go ahead.
00:29:00I mean, you're probably onto a...
00:29:02I'm not gonna call you crazy.
00:29:04You're probably onto a good thing.
00:29:05It would be sad for me to see the big cap.
00:29:08I mean, that's one of the things you reference Santa Anita with.
00:29:13It's the Santa Anita handicap.
00:29:14It's the big cap.
00:29:15So, but hey, we've got the second and third place finishes
00:29:18in the Pegasus World Cup.
00:29:19It's a logical move forward.
00:29:21Right, absolutely.
00:29:22Well, we'll see what happens.
00:29:24Gulfstream lost the Don.
00:29:25I don't know.
00:29:27Well, the Don became the Pegasus World Cup.
00:29:30I know, but there's no wrong with the Don.
00:29:31Their transition was there.
00:29:33So it would be similar.
00:29:34So, hey, Zoe, I really enjoyed...
00:29:35Go ahead, Randy.
00:29:36How about they call it the Pegasus Big Cap?
00:29:38That would be awesome.
00:29:40Why not?
00:29:40Yeah, that's a good solution.
00:29:42Sure.
00:29:43All right.
00:29:43I like that.
00:29:44Okay, we've got it.
00:29:45We'll see what is tied into the Pegasus next year.
00:29:48Hey, Zoe, last week, I really enjoyed your first installment
00:29:51of First Things First.
00:29:52You caught up with Frankie Dettori and Mike Smith.
00:29:54What do you have for us this week?
00:29:56Well, this week, guys, in First Things First,
00:30:00I got to catch up with one of my favorite people.
00:30:02That's Hall of Famer Dick Mandela,
00:30:05Flavian Pratt, and of course, Go Rocket Ride.
00:30:23Take me through the work, Richard.
00:30:24Everything you were hoping for?
00:30:26It worked very nice.
00:30:28He worked with a filly that I think is really good.
00:30:30We let her set the pace for him a little bit.
00:30:32He sat back, relaxed real nice, and finished good.
00:30:37And I think we're ready to go.
00:30:39Who did he work with?
00:30:40Because she looked pretty darn good, Richard.
00:30:42A filly named Evan Gonzo, who's by Curlin out of Avenge,
00:30:46who was third in the Breeders' Cup turf for fillies,
00:30:49and won the Rodeo Drive, and grade one filly.
00:30:53And this looks like another grade one filly.
00:30:56Keeping the best of company.
00:30:57What is he like as a horse to be around?
00:31:00Very nice.
00:31:01Sweetheart.
00:31:02Cool, calm, and collected.
00:31:03Well, he gets a little testy sometimes, but we want him that way.
00:31:08Got a little bit of dirt on him.
00:31:10We schooled him back behind the turf.
00:31:12Schooling always.
00:31:14Always planning.
00:31:17Well, how was that?
00:31:20Yeah, he looked good galloping out.
00:31:24All right, he's ready.
00:31:25We're ready.
00:31:32The Classic Meet continues with Big Cap Day at Santa Anita Park
00:31:38on the first Saturday, Saturday, March the 4th.
00:31:41There's a mandatory payout.
00:31:43The Pick 6 Jackpot Pool must pay out on Big Cap Day, March the 4th.
00:31:47The pool is estimated to reach $3 million.
00:31:51Play in the live money $3,500 Ultimate Betting Challenge,
00:31:55featuring thousands in prizes.
00:31:57Register at expressbet.com slash tournaments.
00:32:02The TDN Writer's Room is brought to you by Lane's End Farm.
00:32:05The Lane's End Stallion of the Week is a horse that I happen to believe
00:32:09is one of the most underrated racehorses of the last two decades.
00:32:12Candy Ride.
00:32:14And he was the sire of two stakes winners on Saturday.
00:32:17Confidence Game, who we've talked about with that 18 to 1 upset win
00:32:21in the Rebel Stakes, the son of Candy Ride.
00:32:23It was his first black-type win.
00:32:25And of course, it furthers him along the trail toward the Kentucky Derby.
00:32:29But same day, Florida, Gulfstream Park,
00:32:32the Gulfstream Park Sprint Stakes went to Candy Man Rocket.
00:32:37Now, three consecutive wins for Candy Man Rocket,
00:32:40trained by Bill Mott, all in sprint races.
00:32:43You think Gunrunner is hot?
00:32:45How about the sire of Gunrunner?
00:32:47Candy Ride stands for $75,000 at Lane's End Farm.
00:32:52Catalina Cruiser.
00:32:53He won seven of nine starts coast to coast with six triple-digit buyers
00:32:59and five dominating graded stakes wins,
00:33:02including a record in the grade two True North Stakes,
00:33:05a son of leading fifth crop sire Union Rags,
00:33:09a $370,000 yearling with an imposing physical,
00:33:14and one of the best of his generation.
00:33:16There's only one Catalina Cruiser now standing at Lane's End.
00:33:23The Fastest Horse of the Week is brought to you
00:33:25by the fast stallions at Windstar Farms,
00:33:28such as the sire that ran 10 triple-digit buyer speed figures,
00:33:31nine of them in a row.
00:33:34We'll talk about that sire a little later.
00:33:35First, the Fastest Horse of the Week.
00:33:37Now, technically, President's Day, it was February the 20th,
00:33:40it was a Monday, was a part of this past week.
00:33:43So our Fastest Horse of the Week is the Chosen Braun,
00:33:47whose six-and-a-half length victory in the Tisnow Stakes at Santa Anita
00:33:50on Monday earned the week's high buyer speed figure 103.
00:33:55The Chosen Braun is a five-year-old gelding
00:33:57by the Danzig stallion Vronsky, hence his name,
00:34:00and it's now won five straight stakes races
00:34:03against California Breds for trainer Eric Kroljak.
00:34:06But don't dismiss him just because he's been running against state breds.
00:34:10He is fast.
00:34:12Before the Tisnow, he had run seven furlongs and won 20.66,
00:34:16six furlongs and 108.96.
00:34:19Don't forget, as a three-year-old,
00:34:21he beat Open Company in the grade three Laz Barrera
00:34:23and the grade three Affirmed, both at Santa Anita.
00:34:27He's on a roll.
00:34:27The Chosen Braun, Fastest Horse of the Week.
00:34:32Now, back to that fast sire at Windstar,
00:34:35Toms de Ta, the dominant winner of the grade one Clark Stakes,
00:34:40in which he earned a 105 buyer speed figure,
00:34:43but his best ever buyer, the 109 he earned in the Stephen Foster,
00:34:48where he stopped the clock for a mile and an eighth at 147.30,
00:34:52two hundredths of a second off the track record set back in 1999.
00:34:57Those were just two of the 10 triple-digit buyer speed figures
00:35:00from the grade one winning millionaire by smart strike.
00:35:04Toms de Ta's first yearlings come to market in 2023, this year.
00:35:12The Green Group is an accounting and tax consulting advisory firm
00:35:15specializing in the thoroughbred industry
00:35:17with over 500 clients and the horse business
00:35:21and proven strategies to save you taxes.
00:35:23You can learn more by going to www.greenco.com.
00:35:27Welcome in now, the Green Group guest of the week, Jack Wolf.
00:35:30You know him as the managing partner of Starlight Racing,
00:35:33which is one of the group that owns several good horses
00:35:36with Bob Baffert and Tim Yaktin,
00:35:38pointing for the Kentucky Derby, along with SF Racing,
00:35:40Maniket Stables, and a host of others.
00:35:42We'll ask him about that, that have brought in to the partnership as well.
00:35:46Jack, welcome, and we want to talk about your horses
00:35:48in the San Felipe this weekend,
00:35:50but people will always notice right off the bat
00:35:53that they're not running for Bob Baffert,
00:35:54they're running for Tim Yaktin now.
00:35:56Situation was out of your control.
00:35:58Could you address that and your confidence in Tim?
00:36:01Obviously, the team really has a lot of confidence in him.
00:36:06No, I think, you know, we've sort of went down this road last year
00:36:10and it seems to be working.
00:36:13The transfer seems to be working a lot more smoothly
00:36:16than last year, you know, when Bob was actually,
00:36:19I think, serving the suspension then.
00:36:23But it seems like it's going easier
00:36:26and I think we're fortunate to have Bob working with us
00:36:32and trying to continue to have these, you know,
00:36:36particular horses be eligible for the Derby points.
00:36:40I think he and Tom Ryan and Tim, I think,
00:36:43have done a great job working together
00:36:46to pull this off up to this point.
00:36:50Hey, Jack.
00:36:50Well, when you talk about these particular horses,
00:36:52like Bill said, let's start with the San Felipe.
00:36:55National Treasure and Fort Bragg.
00:36:59National Treasure has obviously done some things already
00:37:02on the racetrack that have drawn attention to him.
00:37:05But I was talking to Mr. Ryan, as you mentioned,
00:37:08just a couple of weeks ago,
00:37:10and he was trying to tell me on Fort Bragg
00:37:12is a horse that might be a real up and comer.
00:37:15Give us your scouting report on those two for Saturday.
00:37:18Well, I've been a big fan of National Treasure
00:37:24from the get-go, and I'm going to stick by my guns that,
00:37:29you know, he's running, what, two grade ones
00:37:32and a grade three and, you know,
00:37:33he stakes place in all of them.
00:37:36It seems as if the time off and the breeze patterns
00:37:42would indicate that, you know,
00:37:45we're sort of pointing for this race.
00:37:47And I got a text from a friend of mine this morning,
00:37:51just hoping and saying,
00:37:53hope he wins the next three races that he's in.
00:37:56So, but I understand the Fort Bragg deal.
00:37:59And, you know, I was looking at the numbers this morning.
00:38:03You know, the top two horses are going to be hard to beat,
00:38:08but Fort Bragg is, you know, breezing, doing very well.
00:38:12And let's use him with one of the five
00:38:18Yaktin horses, I guess.
00:38:21And Jack, let's get back to National Treasure,
00:38:23because I think among the two horses you have
00:38:26in the San Felipe, he'll be the lower price of the two.
00:38:28Matter of fact, I'm pretty sure that's going to happen.
00:38:30He'll be among the favorites.
00:38:31An interesting situation in the sham last time out,
00:38:34he's three to five and he gets beat.
00:38:36He runs third, but your group still wins the race.
00:38:39So it's a good news, bad news situation.
00:38:42What did you think of his last race?
00:38:43And were you a tad disappointed
00:38:44that he got beat at three to five that day?
00:38:47Well, I didn't bet reincarnate,
00:38:50which I guess I should have at 16 to one.
00:38:53I waited until he was nine to two
00:38:54in Arkansas to bet on him.
00:38:56And so I was wrong again.
00:39:00But, you know, looking at that race,
00:39:03I mean, reincarnate beat two really good horses.
00:39:05And the horse that came second and third,
00:39:09which obviously our horse was,
00:39:12both of our horses were second and third,
00:39:14came back with some very good buyer numbers
00:39:16and very good rag sheet numbers.
00:39:19But, you know, sort of regress off your question a little bit.
00:39:22I thought reincarnate ran a very solid race
00:39:26under the conditions, you know, in Arkansas this last week
00:39:30or, you know, whenever it was.
00:39:31And but to be honest with you,
00:39:35I thought that in the sham
00:39:37that the national treasure would be the one to win that race.
00:39:42So you had Newgate, who was hot on the derby trail
00:39:46until he's been sidelined.
00:39:47You mentioned reincarnate.
00:39:48I loved his race in the Rebel,
00:39:50given everything that happened to him in there.
00:39:52National treasure, Fort Bragg in San Felipe.
00:39:56Wooster is a horse also
00:39:57that might be a little bit under the radar.
00:40:00He ran a really good race a month ago in defeat.
00:40:04Your thoughts on Wooster and where might we see him next?
00:40:10I agree with you.
00:40:11I think he's a very nice three-year-old.
00:40:15Tom and myself and one of the other partners
00:40:17were talking the other day that, you know,
00:40:21we may consider sending him over to Dubai with Hopkins.
00:40:27Dubai Hopkins is going in the six furlong race over there.
00:40:30And I think Wooster would be a natural
00:40:33to put in, you know, a three-year-old race.
00:40:37And, you know, as far as getting points,
00:40:40and I think it is a points race,
00:40:42I still think it's too close to bring him back.
00:40:45And if he were successful to run him in the derby,
00:40:48but that's what we've been talking about.
00:40:53But I guess we'll know in about a week or so.
00:40:56And Jack, the team will also have Carmel Road
00:40:59in the Gotham on Saturday,
00:41:00second last out in the Los Alamitos Duterte.
00:41:02We haven't seen him since.
00:41:04Give us the scouting report on him and why the decision,
00:41:07I mean, I guess you do need to divide your horses up
00:41:10as much as possible,
00:41:11but why the decision to put him on the plane to New York?
00:41:17You know, Bill, I'm not really sure.
00:41:20I think what you said to start with makes a lot of sense.
00:41:23I mean, this crop of horses that we have
00:41:26that are now three-year-olds,
00:41:27we've got, you know, six to eight very talented horses.
00:41:32And, you know, we talk about the short fields
00:41:36out in California.
00:41:37Well, this race coming up this weekend,
00:41:39it's not very short anymore.
00:41:40They've got whatever it is, 10 or 11 horses in there.
00:41:45But I'm sure that's what went into the thinking
00:41:47with Carmel Road.
00:41:48And there again, he's, you know,
00:41:52maybe the mile suits him better than, you know,
00:41:55the two turns.
00:41:57I assume that's a one-turn mile to Gotham, right?
00:41:59Yes, it is.
00:42:02So Jack, you guys have, as that group
00:42:06that sort of colloquially known as the Avengers,
00:42:09have pretty much revolutionized the last five or six years,
00:42:13the concept of scatter shooting, I guess,
00:42:17at the yearling sales and buying large numbers
00:42:20of high-priced yearlings in hopes that you'll hit a home run
00:42:24with a couple of them in stud fees,
00:42:27which has proven successful,
00:42:29Justify, Authentic, and others.
00:42:31How did that take us back to the genesis of that
00:42:35with SF Racing and how that got started?
00:42:40Well, actually, I was at Craig Berenik's house back then.
00:42:45Tom and he and I were friends.
00:42:47And actually, I was trying to hustle Tom and Craig Churchill
00:42:54at the time were trying to get me to do a thing
00:42:57like I did with the Pegasus.
00:42:58And so I was trying to sell Tom and Craig something
00:43:03which I couldn't put together and didn't do.
00:43:05So he ended up selling me on putting our monies together
00:43:10and trying to do what the model is now
00:43:13that everybody seems to be copying.
00:43:16And it's very flattering that they're copying us,
00:43:19but it's getting harder to buy horses.
00:43:21But the program, that's how it started.
00:43:25And then he reached out to Saul
00:43:28and basically started with the three of us.
00:43:30And then we had, I don't know,
00:43:32two or three other people in the first group
00:43:36and a few different ones
00:43:38in the second and third and fourth group.
00:43:39But it makes a lot of sense.
00:43:43My game plan had been buying yearlings,
00:43:49probably 12 to 14 yearlings at average cost
00:43:52of two to 250, something like that.
00:43:56And we had a couple of years
00:43:58where we're not necessarily going bad.
00:44:01I mean, we still had like 13 horses
00:44:03under the Kentucky Derby over the last 20 years,
00:44:07but just wasn't going as well as it had.
00:44:11So I thought it made a lot of sense
00:44:13and thought, you know, we'll give it a go.
00:44:15And I like Tom and his outfit.
00:44:18So that's where it started.
00:44:20And that's where we are now.
00:44:21So you mentioned the copycats.
00:44:23Because of your success,
00:44:25I know Spin Thrift Farm
00:44:26and an even larger ownership group
00:44:28have gotten together,
00:44:30mainly with Brad Cox, Liz Crow,
00:44:32to go compete at the yearling sales with you guys.
00:44:36Mike Rapoli and Vinny Viola have joined forces
00:44:39trying to accomplish kind of the same thing.
00:44:42Does that mess up in any way
00:44:44the model that you guys created
00:44:48back five, six years ago?
00:44:51Probably not because we've got
00:44:54better bloodstock agents
00:44:57and better operation than the other ones, I think.
00:45:00But I mean, they're buying a lot of stock.
00:45:04And I think they're in the process
00:45:06of having a lot of success.
00:45:09Brad's horse, which one was it?
00:45:11The one horse in Arkansas
00:45:14looked like the real deal.
00:45:15Or was it?
00:45:16They're fine, yes, right.
00:45:20You know, I don't think any of them like the surface.
00:45:23He's probably still a good horse.
00:45:26But, you know, I'll put our team
00:45:28against any of those teams out there.
00:45:31And I think Mike and Vinny
00:45:33put a little bit more money than we do.
00:45:36And maybe we put a little bit more
00:45:39than the Brad Cox team did.
00:45:41But, you know, I like those guys.
00:45:46It's fun to compete with them.
00:45:48And, you know, have at it.
00:45:51Now, Jack, we're used to the three partners
00:45:53that we mentioned, that Randy mentioned.
00:45:55But now the partnership has grown.
00:45:57These horses now include a bunch more partners,
00:46:01including Stone Street Stables, Robert Masterson.
00:46:03So why did you take the original concept
00:46:06of the three and now bring it,
00:46:08bring some new people into the fold?
00:46:11Well, BAT came in the second year.
00:46:13Stone Street's always been in from the get go.
00:46:17And, you know, they usually stay in
00:46:20for, you know, pieces of the horses
00:46:22that they have either bred or that they really like.
00:46:27And BAT, who wouldn't want to have BAT as a partner?
00:46:30And he's great.
00:46:31And going forward, I guess, you know,
00:46:36whatever that core crew is,
00:46:38hopefully we all stick together
00:46:40and continue on with the game plan.
00:46:44So right now, most of these horses that you have,
00:46:47the three-year-olds of 2023, the core group,
00:46:49as you mentioned, SF Racing, Starlight Racing,
00:46:52Salk Human and Matticket Stables,
00:46:54Bob, BAT Masterson, Stone Street,
00:46:57Jay Schoenfarber, Waves Edge Capital,
00:47:00and Katherine Donovan.
00:47:01Those eight seem to be the ones
00:47:03that are all together in this iteration of the Avengers.
00:47:08How does the communication go?
00:47:10You've got eight different groups
00:47:12that are all keenly interested
00:47:14in what's going on with all these three-year-olds.
00:47:17Do you guys have like a Zoom call every week
00:47:19to get together and, you know,
00:47:22share an update on these horses?
00:47:23How does that work?
00:47:26You know, I've been doing this with Starlight
00:47:29and trying to communicate with the partners.
00:47:30We only have 12 and we've known each other forever.
00:47:35But that's a great question.
00:47:37And Tom and his team, you know,
00:47:40Caroline and Michelle that does the accounting,
00:47:44they are just top-notch on top of everything
00:47:48as far as communicating, you know,
00:47:50the status of the horses, the financial part of it.
00:47:54And they're very streamlined
00:47:56and very streamlined in the operation at the sales.
00:48:02And, you know, Frankie Brothers used to help
00:48:03in the selection, he's retired now.
00:48:06So, you know, you got Donato who's,
00:48:09it's impossible to keep up
00:48:10with what Donato is doing at the sales.
00:48:12But, you know, from the financial side of it
00:48:15and keeping us informed of where the horses are
00:48:21and the training, what the plans for them and all that,
00:48:26Tom and Caroline and, you know,
00:48:29for that matter, Gavin Murphy,
00:48:30they do a tremendous job.
00:48:32Don't ask me how, but they do a good job.
00:48:36Jack, I'm going to ask you the same question
00:48:38that Randy asked Brad Cox last week
00:48:40when we had him on.
00:48:41Of all your horses that are on the Derby Trail now,
00:48:44do you have in your own mind a number one?
00:48:47If you're going to win the Kentucky Derby this year,
00:48:50who is the horse most likely to pull it off for you guys?
00:48:53In my opinion, National Treasure.
00:48:56Okay. Just because of his consistency
00:48:58and what you've seen from him so far?
00:49:01You know, I got on him as a Derby horse,
00:49:03you know, a couple of months before the end of the year.
00:49:06I just, I just like the,
00:49:09how the horse is setting up for this,
00:49:12you know, hopefully for the next three races.
00:49:16Got a tremendous eye, tremendous head.
00:49:18I don't know if you saw him breeze
00:49:20the other day with Reincarnate,
00:49:22but I just, I just really like the horse.
00:49:26He's not peaking too, you know, too soon.
00:49:30I remember hearing through the years,
00:49:32Bob Baffert always says, you know,
00:49:34you get Derby fever in January and February.
00:49:38You don't know what you have until April comes around,
00:49:41you know, so even though this horse
00:49:44may have a little second itis or whatever,
00:49:47I think from his pedigree and the way he's being set up,
00:49:51that's, well, that's who I already have my money on, so.
00:49:54Okay, but Jack, even before this Avengers
00:49:59and this super partnership and everything,
00:50:02I mean, you'd had a tremendous amount of success
00:50:04with Starlight Racing
00:50:05with a lot of really top-notch racehorses,
00:50:08but I mean, what's it been like
00:50:10to share with your partners at Starlight
00:50:13and just yourself, be part of a Triple Crown winner
00:50:16and justify, and then follow that up
00:50:19a couple of years later
00:50:20with a Kentucky Derby winner in Authentic?
00:50:23What has that meant to you in the Starlight operation?
00:50:27Yeah, I mean, that's a great question.
00:50:30And we still have horses with Todd Fletcher
00:50:33and we've got a couple of stakes horses too,
00:50:36and I still love and respect the guy
00:50:39as a great horse trainer.
00:50:40So we're still in business with him
00:50:43and we actually had, as I said earlier,
00:50:46if you throw out what we've done with Baffert,
00:50:50I guess we had 10 or 11 derby horses
00:50:52through those years.
00:50:54Unfortunately, a couple of them ran last
00:50:56and sixth and seventh and all that,
00:50:59but it's really amazing to me
00:51:04with what Tom and Donato and Bob do
00:51:08and accumulating these yearlings.
00:51:12And I don't want to say you get spoiled,
00:51:16but you almost expect,
00:51:19with the crop that we've bought
00:51:21and who's involved training them and all that,
00:51:24that you sort of expect to be in there competing
00:51:28for the points and getting to the derby
00:51:32and having a better shot in numbers
00:51:34by doing it this way than I had previously.
00:51:38So, and of course the partners,
00:51:40I mean, who doesn't want to go to the Kentucky Derby
00:51:45and all that,
00:51:46but I'm not sure I answered your question,
00:51:49but it sure is fun to sit here
00:51:52being talking about six or eight horses
00:51:54on the derby trail.
00:51:57Well, good stuff from Jack Wolf.
00:51:59Jack, best of luck this weekend
00:52:00in the San Felipe and the Gotham.
00:52:02Thanks so much for joining us today
00:52:03in the TDN Writer's Room.
00:52:05Well, thank you guys.
00:52:06In the brains of the operation,
00:52:07Zoe is not there, I'm sorry.
00:52:09We missed her.
00:52:11Yeah, we definitely missed her.
00:52:12We'll get you back for a post-derby interview
00:52:17and make sure Zoe comes along.
00:52:18All right, thanks guys.
00:52:19Thank you, Jack.
00:52:20Thank you, Jack.
00:52:21As this week's guest of the week,
00:52:23Jack Wolf will receive a free one-hour tax consultation
00:52:27from the Green Group,
00:52:28an accounting and tax consulting advisory firm
00:52:30specializing in the thoroughbred industry.
00:52:33For more, again, go to www.greenco.com.
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00:53:12Here in Pennsylvania,
00:53:13we're proud of our breeding program,
00:53:15the best in North America,
00:53:17but we're also proud to be leaders in this industry.
00:53:19The PA Horse Breeders Association
00:53:21is funding cutting-edge research at PenVet
00:53:24to detect gene doping in thoroughbreds
00:53:26and we endorsed the SAFE Act
00:53:28to help protect the most vulnerable horses.
00:53:31Plus, we're pleased to support the aftercare programs
00:53:34set up by our horseman's groups.
00:53:35Just a few of the reasons why
00:53:37you should join us in Pennsylvania,
00:53:39the premier place to breed and race.
00:53:42The TD & Riders Room is brought to you by the PHBA
00:53:46and here's an update on a couple of the top
00:53:48Pennsylvania breds in training right now.
00:53:50First of all, there's the Breeders' Cup
00:53:52Turf Sprint winner, Caravelle,
00:53:54who is currently at Turfway Park
00:53:56with Brad Cox's string there.
00:53:58She's not with Cox at the fairgrounds
00:54:00or at Oaklawn Park
00:54:01because they are planning on a Keeneland return
00:54:04for her in the spring,
00:54:05so Turfway is a good spot for her to be right now.
00:54:08She's earned $1.3 million
00:54:10the 2022 Mid-Atlantic Horse of the Year
00:54:12and a finalist for the Eclipse Award category
00:54:14of Champion Female Sprinter.
00:54:16Then, we talked about the San Felipe.
00:54:19There was also Chase the Chaos,
00:54:21the Pennsylvania bred that won the El Camino Royale Derby.
00:54:24We didn't mention him as part of our San Felipe discussion,
00:54:27but he looked pretty good
00:54:29winning that El Camino Royale Derby.
00:54:31Visually impressive.
00:54:33He drew the rail in the San Felipe
00:54:35where he looks to pick up some more Kentucky Derby points.
00:54:40And not only a big day at Santa Anita,
00:54:42but at its sister track, Gulfstream Park,
00:54:45a huge day of preps for everything in the world,
00:54:48the Devonadale, a prep for the Kentucky Oaks,
00:54:50but the big show will be the Fountain of Youth.
00:54:53And this is the first big, big three-year-old event
00:54:57in South Florida,
00:54:58and it's starting off on the right foot.
00:55:00They got the champion, Forte, in there.
00:55:02He'll be an obvious favorite in there.
00:55:04Randy will be covering the race for this NBC network,
00:55:08as he said earlier.
00:55:10I'm not gonna be a wise guy here.
00:55:12I'm not gonna get too creative.
00:55:14This is the best horse in the race.
00:55:15He was arguably the best,
00:55:17or he was the champion two-year-old of last year.
00:55:19It looks like he's been working very well.
00:55:21Zoe, I went on XBTV to look at his last work,
00:55:25which was at Palm Beach Downs.
00:55:26He went 101 and four breezing.
00:55:28He worked in company with a horse by the name of Ironworks,
00:55:31who was an allowance winner last year.
00:55:33He just dusted him in that workout.
00:55:35So I'm not, I'm still learning about the workouts.
00:55:38I like to watch XBTV, but from my uneducated eye,
00:55:41it looked like a terrific workout in there.
00:55:44Guys, I think Forte wins this
00:55:45and moves on to either the Florida Derby or Bluegrass.
00:55:48And if he wins there, he's the obvious favorite
00:55:51in the Kentucky Derby.
00:55:52He's gotta get through this race.
00:55:53A good field in here,
00:55:54a pretty strong field from top to bottom.
00:55:57Blazing Sevens coming off third place.
00:55:59Susan was at a fourth place finish last year
00:56:01in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile,
00:56:02but before that, he won the grade one Champagne.
00:56:05And Rocket Canned for Bill Mott,
00:56:07who won the grade three Holy Bull.
00:56:09Those are three of the bigger names in the race.
00:56:11General Jim also coming off a win in the Swale Stakes.
00:56:14But Randy, this is kind of the way I handicap.
00:56:16If I can't find a knock on an obvious favorite,
00:56:20I'll just go with them.
00:56:21I'm willing to take the chalk,
00:56:22but I just think they're the best horse.
00:56:24And are likely gonna win.
00:56:26The one knock that I could find on Forte,
00:56:28and it's reaching, I understand.
00:56:31But it is his first start of the year.
00:56:35Todd Pletcher is good with horses off the bench.
00:56:37But I don't know necessarily if his running style
00:56:41is a perfect fit for the short stretch at Gulfstream Park.
00:56:45I could see a scenario where maybe
00:56:47he'd be charging at the end
00:56:48and maybe get there just a little too late.
00:56:50But on paper, I think he's definitely
00:56:52the best horse in the race.
00:56:54Blazing Sevens, if you go back
00:56:55and you watch the Breeders' Cup Juvenile,
00:56:58the head-on replay is now available.
00:57:00And you can watch the start,
00:57:02and you can see Forte duck out at the start
00:57:05and slam into Verifying,
00:57:07who then slammed into Blazing Sevens
00:57:09and knocked him back to last
00:57:10in the initial part of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile
00:57:13further back than I think he wanted to be.
00:57:15I don't think he would have beaten Forte anyway,
00:57:17but I think he would have finished better
00:57:20than his fourth beaten five and a half
00:57:22or five and a quarter lengths in the Juvenile.
00:57:24I think he's clearly the second best horse in the race.
00:57:26Rocket Can had a wide trip in the Holy Bull.
00:57:29Slow number, but he did have a wide trip.
00:57:32I think he's a play against Cyclone Mischief.
00:57:35You know, he was, what, six to five in the Holy Bull,
00:57:37was a no-show with no excuse.
00:57:39General Jim was pretty good on paper.
00:57:41He may not run.
00:57:43He missed a day of training with a cough,
00:57:45and Shook McGahee says that it's now looking
00:57:48more doubtful than likely that he'll go to the well
00:57:51with General Jim.
00:57:52So we'll have to keep our eyes on that.
00:57:54I'm in agreement with a lot of what you said.
00:57:58I will put a bit more emphasis on Rocket Can
00:58:01with the wide trip.
00:58:02I think he's a progressive sort.
00:58:04He's just going to get better.
00:58:05Look at the horse that beat him two back.
00:58:07Did he not just win the Arkansas Derby?
00:58:09That was a confidence game,
00:58:11beat him two back at Churchill Downs.
00:58:14So I like Rocket Can coming in.
00:58:16I think Madge is one to consider in here
00:58:20for Gustavo Delgado.
00:58:22If you know Romero Restrepo,
00:58:24he purchased this one at the May sale,
00:58:27the Timonium sale for $290,000.
00:58:29Just broke the maiden.
00:58:31But Delgado's done some pretty amazing things
00:58:34with horses that just broke their maidens.
00:58:36I think the one that's popping out is Bodhi Express.
00:58:40He's had several that have really improved
00:58:43off their maiden wins.
00:58:44So I'm not going to throw him out of the mix.
00:58:46I like Blazing Sevens purely that he,
00:58:49I can put a line through that Breeders' Cup Juvenile.
00:58:52And I'm in agreement that Forte is the most likely winner,
00:58:55but I can't knock anyone for trying to beat him.
00:58:59That's going to be his most vulnerable time
00:59:02coming off the bench,
00:59:03first start of the year for trainer Todd Pletcher,
00:59:05because this is not the ultimate end goal for Todd Pletcher.
00:59:09The ultimate end goal is winning the Kentucky Derby.
00:59:12So Forte is the most likely winner,
00:59:15but I don't think it's a one horse race, guys.
00:59:17Well, we will find out.
00:59:18Another big race on the Gulfstream Park card
00:59:20that I'm really looking forward to
00:59:21is the Gulfstream Park Mile,
00:59:22because Charged is in there.
00:59:24This is a horse that two starts back,
00:59:26won the Dwyer by 23 lengths.
00:59:28I think he's got a chance to be one of the major players
00:59:31in the older horse division this year.
00:59:33Todd Pletcher has signaled the Met Mile
00:59:35and the Whitney as two of his main goals
00:59:39for his campaign this year as a four-year-old.
00:59:42Anything else on the card, Randy or Zoe,
00:59:43you want to mention?
00:59:44I mean, shameless plug, on NBC,
00:59:47we'll have the Honey Fox, the Devonadale,
00:59:50the MacDermida, and the Fountain of Youth.
00:59:53At Santa Anita, we'll have a cowbred allowance race
00:59:55that looks pretty interesting,
00:59:56as well as the Buena Vista and the San Felipe
00:59:59and all that's from four to six Eastern,
01:00:01seven races on NBC.
01:00:04Zoe?
01:00:05Good plug.
01:00:06Definite good plug.
01:00:07Twelve races at Santa Anita,
01:00:0914 at Gulfstream Park,
01:00:12Gulfstream Park,
01:00:13eight graded stakes, guys.
01:00:15I mean, the last time you have eight graded stakes
01:00:17on a card, it's like Breeders' Cup.
01:00:19It's the first Saturday.
01:00:20And I think what we're seeing between Santa Anita
01:00:22and Gulfstream Park is fantastic.
01:00:25Some of the best horses in training
01:00:26will be running this weekend at both places.
01:00:30I think that Devonadale is a very good race.
01:00:32I like Red Carpet Ready in here
01:00:34for the underrated Rusty Arnold.
01:00:37She's a perfect three for three.
01:00:39There is so much more in the tank
01:00:41for this three-year-old daughter of Oscar performance.
01:00:43I really like her chances.
01:00:46I mean, she's going to get there.
01:00:47We talked about the big field at Santa Anita.
01:00:50Aqueduct, which has had terrible problems
01:00:53with short fields in stakes races.
01:00:55Every race they run,
01:00:56a stake goes off as the third race
01:00:58with four horses in it, it seems.
01:01:00Zoe, they get 15 entries for the Gotham.
01:01:03I know you are on top of that.
01:01:05Tell us a little bit more about what to expect
01:01:07in another Kentucky Derby Prep Saturday at Aqueduct.
01:01:10I think it's going to be a grab bag.
01:01:11I really do.
01:01:12I mean, the horse that jumps off the page to me is,
01:01:16how great is Nate, who's coming in from parts
01:01:19we've not seen in this year,
01:01:20but he's a perfect four for four.
01:01:22It's going to be a really good race.
01:01:24If you like betting big fields,
01:01:26this is certainly one to look at.
01:01:28Do I think we're going to see
01:01:29any champions come out of there?
01:01:32I'm not sure.
01:01:33I mean, Carmel Rhodes is going to be in there.
01:01:35I'm not really sure how good he is.
01:01:37He's in the Tim Yak team barn,
01:01:38but it's certainly a very, very good betting race.
01:01:42I'm not sure I can pinpoint the Kentucky Derby winner
01:01:45out of that field, but perhaps Randy can.
01:01:48Brad Cox has got a couple.
01:01:49Todd Pletcher's got one.
01:01:50Chad Brown has one.
01:01:52There's some pretty promising horses in here.
01:01:54Slip Mahoney, trained by Brad Cox,
01:01:57very well-bred son of Eric Yate.
01:01:59Just comes off a 87 buyer speed figure maiden win.
01:02:02Before that, he was beaten in a photo by Tappet Trichet
01:02:05or Tappet Trice, whatever you want to call it.
01:02:07The other Cox horse, Ian Clover, is two for two.
01:02:11He just won an allowance race at the fairgrounds
01:02:13by nine and three quarters lengths.
01:02:16Both of his races have been at six furlongs.
01:02:18There's a horse called Recruiter.
01:02:21Zoe talked about the other horse that's four for four.
01:02:23Recruiter is also four for four,
01:02:25coming off stakes wins sprinting at Laurel
01:02:28and in the Parks Juvenile.
01:02:29He's the son of Armie Mule, trained by Cathal Lynch.
01:02:32So there's some very interesting horses in there.
01:02:34And the good thing about a 14 horse field in the Gotham,
01:02:38post position probably is not going to be that significant
01:02:41because it's a one turn mile.
01:02:43They've got that long run to the turn.
01:02:45So you could have the 14 hole like Recruiter has
01:02:50and still be in with a solid chance.
01:02:54The TDN Racer's Room is brought to you by XBTV.
01:02:58This week's XBTV Workout of the Week is Skinner.
01:03:01Skinner seen working here, going five eights under Amy Vasco.
01:03:05Now you can see Amy just pumping her arms just a little bit.
01:03:08He's not the most generous workhorse in the world,
01:03:11but still work very nicely in 101 flat for trainer John Sheriffs.
01:03:15He just broke his maiden on February the 19th
01:03:18and he'll go forward likely as one of the favorites
01:03:21in this weekend's San Felipe Stakes.
01:03:23We'll be right back after this message from XBTV.
01:03:31So
01:03:42do
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01:04:03Fraction of the bills.
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01:04:16and compete at the highest level of thoroughbred racing.
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01:04:25Visit westpointtb.com.
01:04:28The TDN Writer's Room is brought to you by West Point Thoroughbreds.
01:04:32Joining a West Point Thoroughbred partnership can vault you literally
01:04:36right into the winner's circle for a fraction of the cost
01:04:39of trying to do it on your own.
01:04:41Learn more at westpointtb.com.
01:04:45Meanwhile, Caliostro, I definitely said that one right,
01:04:49took a big step forward at the fairgrounds on Saturday,
01:04:52battling his way to a second place finish by half a length
01:04:55that will likely earn him a spot in the grade two Louisiana Derby
01:05:00on Saturday, March 25th.
01:05:02West Point also has stakes winner Jace's Road in line for a Kentucky Derby prep.
01:05:07He'll either head to the Louisiana Derby with his stablemate
01:05:10or opt for the Sunderland Derby the following day.
01:05:13And finally, on Saturday, Brigadier General was back in the winner's circle
01:05:18in his first start as a four-year-old at the fairgrounds,
01:05:21battling back along the rail under Raylou Gutierrez for the win.
01:05:26And this week's Remy Balot cartoon is in.
01:05:29It runs every Friday in the TDN.
01:05:31And keep in mind that the National HBPA Convention
01:05:34is coming up in a few days in New Orleans.
01:05:36So Remy has a horse on a float in the Mardi Gras parade,
01:05:40but it's at the corner of ARCI Street and Constitutionality Boulevard,
01:05:45apropos to all that's going on with HISA
01:05:48and the rollout of that coming up in a couple of weeks.
01:05:51So Remy's cartoon is in this week, and it's a good one.
01:05:54We always appreciate that.
01:05:55Well, that's a wrap on this week's show.
01:05:57I want to thank everybody involved, including our Green Group Guest of the Week,
01:06:00Jack Wolfe, our producer, Patty Wolfe, our associate producer, Katie Petruniak,
01:06:04my co-host, Randy Moss, Zoe Cabin,
01:06:06our editors, Anthony LaRocca, Aaliyah LaRocca, Nathan Wilkinson,
01:06:10and our mascots, Zoe's Doodle and Randy's Lucy.
01:06:14Where'd Lucy go?
01:06:15She abandoned me.
01:06:16I think she heard a food grub downstairs, maybe.
01:06:18I don't know.
01:06:19That's the most she's moved in the six months we've been doing this stuff.
01:06:23Well, go Lucy.
01:06:24She is alive after all.
01:06:25So anyways, we'll see you next week, folks.
01:06:28Thanks for tuning us in.
01:06:34See you next week.