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00:00This week's weekend preview as always is sponsored by Three Chimneys. I felt like we did a Three
00:11Chimneys commercial earlier in the show, but we were just talking about Gunrunner and how
00:14great he is. So I guess there's probably a little bit more of that coming up. We have
00:18a huge weekend. This and next weekend are the last two major prep weekends for the Breeders'
00:24Cup. It kind of reminds me of like late March, early April when you have all those derby
00:28preps coming together. So we have 12 Breeders' Cup Winning Year End Races, big weekend at
00:34Aqueduct and Churchill especially. We also have the ARC this weekend, and we're going to
00:39talk about that after we come back from the break. But at Belmont this weekend, we have
00:44the Champagne, which is a grade one, the Miss Grille, which is a grade two, the Woodward,
00:48which is a grade one, the Belmont Turf Sprint Championship, which is a grade three. And
00:51that's just Saturday. Sunday, we've got the grade one Frisette, the grade two Pilgrim
00:55Stakes, and the grade three Fasig-Tipton-Wyatt Stakes. At Santa Anita on Saturday, we've
01:00got the grade one. Awesome again. But let's start with Belmont. The Champagne and the
01:05Frisette, I think are both going to be pretty interesting races. The Champagne, I think
01:09we're going to get a couple of the top horses from the Hopeful coming back in Forte and
01:14Gulfport. Gulfport needs a little bit of a rebound as well. In the Woodward, we're going
01:18to see Life is Good. He's obviously a point viewing. Very unclear who's actually going
01:23to show up against him other than a Uriah St. Louis horse. But we're always, always
01:27interested in seeing him. And then on Sunday, I think the Frisette is going to be a really
01:31interesting race. One horse I'm looking at for that, which is a horse I made a rising
01:35start at the TDN, was the Great Maybe. It was a Cherie DeVoe horse by Upstart. She was
01:41an incredibly impressive winner, first time out. So I got American Rockette, who I think
01:46is sneaky for Belmont. She was fourth in the spin away, but got off to a terrible, terrible
01:51start and came flying late. Chocolate Gelato was a nice horse for Todd Pletcher and Rapali
01:56Stable. Also have some action at Churchill. Bill, what are you looking forward to on Saturday?
02:01Well, I guess I'm looking forward to Life is Good, but maybe not so much because he's
02:05running against Tomato Cans. Right now, it looks like there's going to be either a four
02:10or five horse field, including our friend Uriah St. Louis with Informative. Keep me
02:15in mind. Let's see, I can't even read my scribbly handwriting there. So forget about
02:21that. But I mean, we're looking possibly at a one to nine favorite in this race. And,
02:25you know, so I don't know what we're going to learn about him. And one thing that I want
02:29to learn about him is to still, I'm not convinced he wants a mile and a quarter. But
02:34what is this race going to tell you when he's running at a mile and eighth against, you
02:38know, basically horses that, you know, he's going to pull a flight line on and win by
02:4219 and a quarter lengths. Exactly. And one of the reasons why the field came up fairly
02:48weak is that I think there are people ducking him to go to the Lucas Classic, which is a
02:53$500,000 race at Churchill Downs. And this field came up, you know, it doesn't have Life
02:58is Good, but top to bottom, it's a much stronger race. You have Rich Strike trying to
03:03catch lightning in a bottle again on the track where he won the Kentucky Derby. First
03:07time he's going to take on older horses. Hot Rod Charlie, happy saver and art collector
03:11among the field that is lining up for that race. So that'll be the better race of the two.
03:16But, you know, again, right now it's the battle to see who's going to be the second
03:20choice in the Breeders' Cup Classic. If Flightline wins the Woodward, obviously he'll
03:25be the second choice in the wagering in the Classic. And most people will give him the
03:28best chance of any to beat Flightline. But we'll see. You know, again, I just I don't
03:34know what Naira's supposed to do. They put up a big race and a big person. And, you know,
03:37if people are going to run away from Life is Good, you know, so be it. But I just don't
03:41know what we're going to find out about this horse or what he's going to prove. I mean,
03:45I would be shocked. I mean, I literally think he'll be one to nine in there. I mean, he's
03:48got to pay the kind of field that he's lining up against. He's a horse that's going to pay
03:51220 in that race. So I guess I'm looking more forward to the Lucas Classic because it's
03:56a deeper race with, you know, more competitive race. But again, I think sometimes we forget
04:01how good Life is Good is. If it weren't for Flightline, take another drink. He would be
04:06the horse we would be raving about right now, the horse, the obvious horse of the year,
04:10et cetera. He's a really, really, really good horse. We just came around in a year with
04:14a horse that might be once in a lifetime.
04:16Yeah. And having watched Life is Good all summer at Saratoga, trains first thing in
04:21the morning. He's coming in with the ideal situation. They're shipping him straight from
04:25Saratoga. So he's not having to train at Belmont at Aqueduct or at Aqueduct because the
04:31training hours are all messed up down there at the moment while they redo Belmont Park.
04:35But he's just sensational.
04:38There are not many horses that give you chills when you watch him work just as effortlessly
04:44as he gets over the track.
04:45He's simply amazing. And he's proven not to have to take his track with him.
04:49He's going to be coming in from chilly Saratoga, where he's had ideal training conditions,
04:53less horses there to get him riled in.
04:56He's a good shipper. So, yes, I am really looking forward to Life is Good.
05:01As far as the Lucas Classic is, I love Art Collector.
05:06I think he's a horse who's just coming in at the right time.
05:10Belmont has done a sensational job with him, just inch by inch, getting him back to where
05:15he needs to be. And I think he most definitely is the horse to beat at Churchill on
05:20Saturday.
05:22Thank you, Zoe, for reminding me that it's Belmont at Aqueduct.
05:25I keep saying Belmont just because I'm so used to these races being at Belmont.
05:28Belmont at Aqueduct.
05:30As an Aqueduct guy, I should be remembering this, but I never do.
05:33So two turns in the Woodward, which maybe, maybe gives someone else a little bit of a
05:38chance more than if it were one turn.
05:39But, yeah, I don't think there's going to be show betting.
05:41I don't know if there's even going to be place betting in the Woodward because Bill's
05:44right. He's going to be one to nine, if not one to 20 in that race.
05:48But he is a point reviewing.
05:50He's great to watch.
05:51And like Zoe says, he's just he gives you chills, you know, training, racing, all of it.
05:56He just is the second best horse in the country right now.
06:00And he's an unlucky and it was an unlucky crop year for him.
06:04But he's definitely one to watch.
06:06So, yeah, after this break, we're going to talk a tiny bit about the arc and then we're
06:09going to talk about the rest of the races to look forward to, including the great one.
06:13Awesome. Again, that's Santa Anita.
06:15But the weekend preview is brought to you by Three Chimneys.
06:17It was an incredible day on Saturday for Gunrunner with five stakes winners, Teba and
06:22Society, plus Echo Zulu, Gunite, 63 caliber.
06:26Gunrunner's great one winning son, Cyberknife, not to be outdone, also ran third in the
06:31Pennsylvania Derby and then running son of a gun placed in the Gallant Bob stakes.
06:35Also, fellow Three Chimneys sire, Sharp Azteca, will be represented on Saturday by
06:40Tyler's Tribe and the Iowa Cradle Stakes at Prairie Meadows.
06:43Bill did a story about Tyler's Tribe.
06:44My horse, love that horse.
06:46Yeah, he's going to become the new mascot of the show with Bill as the host because
06:52it really is a super exciting horse.
06:54So we'll be interested to see him run at Prairie Meadows.
06:56And we've talked about his connections before.
06:58We'll be cheering for him as he looks for his fifth straight win.
07:01We'll be right back after this message from Three Chimneys.
07:04Sire Sensation Gunrunner is the sire of six first crop grade one winners.
07:09Got eye and he's going to win the Hope Bowl.
07:12Echo Zulu wins the Raiders and Juvenile Phillies.
07:16And Cybernites has won.
07:18That has the society is going to win the Contillion and take off.
07:23They win the Batcars Pennsylvania Derby.
07:26Early voting comes inside and wins it.
07:28He wins the pregnant horse of the year.
07:31Gunrunner standing at Three Chimneys.
07:35I mentioned before the break, it's not just Belmont and Belmont at Aqueduct, Joe
07:39Belmont at Aqueduct and Churchill this weekend.
07:42It's also Santa Anita.
07:43They got a couple of winning year end races highlighted by the grade one.
07:46Awesome again, which they probably should rename the flight line.
07:49Also ran stakes because we have in that race, Royal ship, express
07:53train, country grammar, you had a couple other horses as well.
07:56Azul coast, Tripoli, slow down.
07:58Andy, who I teased last week as a potential Breeders' Cup mile horse is
08:01now going to show up in the awesome again.
08:03Let's see what else we have at Santa Anita over the weekend.
08:06Um, that's a great one.
08:07Uh, when you're in for the Breeders' Cup classic, also the city of Hope mile,
08:10which is a grade two going a mile on the turf, Eddie D steaks, which will be down
08:14the hill, six and a half furlongs grade to, uh, John Henry turf championship,
08:19which is a mile and a quarter.
08:20It's also a grade two and the Santa Anita sprint championship,
08:22which is a grade two.
08:24Uh, and then Sunday we have four more stakes at Santa Anita, including
08:28the grade three chilling worth the grade two Zenyatta stakes and the
08:31grade three Tokyo city cup, none of which are winning year end races, but
08:34they do have a winning year end race.
08:35The speakeasy stakes, which will be two year olds going five furlongs on the
08:39turf, they're going to obviously be qualifying for the Breeders' Cup
08:42juvenile turf sprint, but we also have the arc this Sunday and we would be
08:47remiss if we didn't get into that.
08:48It looks like it's going to be a gigantic field.
08:50I haven't seen any entries yet.
08:52Uh, but just some of the horses that I recognize as a, you know, stupid
08:55American, the Denny, who was a very nice horse in France, uh, Mishra, who has
09:00obviously been a terrific horse for several years now, Torquator Tasso won
09:03the race at 80 to one or so last year.
09:06Alpinista who's been a terrific filly this year.
09:09And just, it looks like the top of her division, uh, Westover,
09:12who was a nice horse.
09:13I believe it was a group one winner.
09:15Um, but Zoe, come on, our, our resident European here, what do we have to look
09:20forward to in the arc and who are you honing in on?
09:23Well, I think we're going to have a little bit of drama leading into it
09:26because it will be a field of 20 for betting reasons in France with France Gallup.
09:32So there are going to be certain fillies that may not get in the race, which is
09:38going to cause some outcry because you've got the Melbourne Cup winner.
09:40She's sitting on the outside looking in right now and they may have to rethink.
09:45They're still trying to think maybe they're going to have more than 20 runners.
09:48Uh, urban C1, there were 23 runners.
09:51You can go back to the sixties and they were 60 runners, 30 runners there.
09:55So there's a lot going on right now, but for me, there is just one, one
10:01filly that I love, and that is my old boss, Mark Prescott Alpinista.
10:05She's not been beat since I think September, 2020.
10:08She's ruled stake after grade one, after grade one, Luke Morris writes her.
10:14She doesn't have to take her ground with her.
10:16She's just a fantastic filly.
10:17Now Luxembourg is going to be very, very tough to beat, but my money is going on
10:22Alpinista and I'll say that right here, right now for my old boss, Mark.
10:27Hopefully he's listening, right?
10:29I don't know.
10:29What time is it right now?
10:32No, she has been super impressive to me this year as well, even as a, as a
10:36novice European racing viewer, but we appreciate that insight.
10:40And yeah, it's usually runs all about like 1030 or so Eastern
10:43time in the morning on Sundays, 730, if you're on the West coast.
10:47So yeah, definitely set an alarm for that.
10:49And obviously the greatest race of the year in Europe.
10:52So we're looking forward to that.
10:53And we're hopefully going to maybe get to see a couple of the
10:55ARC horses come for the Breeders' Cup.
10:56I feel like that used to be a big thing and it's become less
10:59of a thing over the years.
11:01But hopefully we'll get to see some of those horses come over to
11:03Keeneland for the Breeders' Cup as well.