Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00:00They say, the harder the work, the greater the reward.
00:00:21This is our life's work.
00:00:27It's Wednesday, October 26th at 1.36 p.m., and this is the TDN Writer's Room.
00:00:31I'm Bill Finley, a correspondent for the Thoroughbred Daily News.
00:00:35I'm Randy Moss with NBC Sports, being supervised back there on the couch by Lucy.
00:00:40I'm Zoe Kavan with First Racing.
00:00:42This is Doodle.
00:00:43He's about to exit.
00:00:44He's a bit camera shy, and I'm delighted to be here as always, and always happy to see
00:00:50Lucy on the couch.
00:00:51Glad she's alive.
00:00:52A lot of people think she's dead lying there, but she's bright and alive.
00:00:56I think this is the main reason people tune in to the podcast, just to see what's happening
00:01:00with Lucy.
00:01:01I don't think we deserve any of the credit for how many hits we get, but Lucy is definitely
00:01:05a star.
00:01:06By the way, the TDN Writer's Room is brought to you by Keeneland.
00:01:09Returning this November, Keeneland will offer a single session dedicated to racehorses on
00:01:13the final day of the November sale, which is November 17th.
00:01:17Let's take a look at what happened on the racetrack last weekend.
00:01:19Not a lot of big races.
00:01:20It's that time of year where people are getting their horses ready for the Breeders' Cup.
00:01:24A little close to the Breeders' Cup normally to have horses prepping, but out of Keeneland,
00:01:28we did have some Breeders' Cup news.
00:01:30The two stakes races were won by Steve Asmussen, Gunite in the Perryville Wicked Halo and the
00:01:35Raven Run.
00:01:36Randy Moss, now we have the pre-entries out.
00:01:38Both those horses are entered back.
00:01:40Gunite is first preference for the Breeders' Cup dirt mile.
00:01:43Wicked Halo is going in the Philly and Mayer Sprint.
00:01:45Wow, what's happening?
00:01:47Trainers running horses back in two weeks, and it has been done before.
00:01:50Shamrock Rose in 2018 won the Raven Run, wheeled back in two weeks by Mark Cassie in a 25-to-1,
00:01:57won the Breeders' Cup Philly and Mayer Sprint.
00:01:59Two very good performances from the Asmussen horses last week.
00:02:02Clearly, Gunite, who's a really good horse, he's a legitimate grade one winner running
00:02:07in a non-graded stakes race.
00:02:09Don't know how the Perryville's not graded.
00:02:10Maybe that'll be changed for next year.
00:02:12But your thoughts on their races and them being pre-entered for the Breeders' Cup?
00:02:16Yeah, it's funny, Bill.
00:02:17One week ago, when we were sitting here previewing the Perryville, I pointed out that I was surprised
00:02:23that Gunite was going in the Perryville instead of the Breeders' Cup because I thought he
00:02:27would have an excellent chance in the dirt mile.
00:02:29Because we called Steve Asmussen, and I talked to Steve a little bit about his Breeders'
00:02:33Cup horses.
00:02:34And I said, so Gunite's next race, are you looking at the dirt mile or the sprint?
00:02:39And he said, we're actually going to run him in the Perryville.
00:02:41And I just assumed that that meant that they weren't going to run in the Breeders' Cup.
00:02:45But lo and behold, I mean, he ran such a strong race in the Perryville to continue
00:02:51his really good form right now that I think he's in with a fighting chance in the dirt
00:02:56mile in what promises to be, though, a very, very tough race.
00:03:00Yeah, I couldn't agree with you more.
00:03:02I thought Gunite was absolutely sensational winning.
00:03:06And, you know, if Steve's wheeling back in two weeks, he knows there's more in the tank
00:03:10because Steve's definitely a guy who gets horses to peak just at the right time.
00:03:16So I guarantee he had that in the back of his mind and he won so easily that he was
00:03:21like, oh, yeah, why not?
00:03:22Why not?
00:03:23And then the filly that won, yes, she's in the filly and mare sprint, but you also have
00:03:27the runner up that's been pre-entered as well.
00:03:30She's on the outside looking in.
00:03:32That's Fingal's Cave, who may have run the best race of all in the Raven Run after getting
00:03:37squeezed at the start and making up all that ground on a track that was maybe just a tad
00:03:43speed favoring.
00:03:44Zoe, Fingal's Cave, as you're right, ran a really good race, the New York bred train
00:03:48by David Donk.
00:03:49She is 15th.
00:03:50She's the first also eligible, but there is one horse in the body of the race that it
00:03:54is the second preference for them.
00:03:57So it looks like she will get in.
00:03:58So I know you were close to the people, the connections of that horse.
00:04:02So it does look like she'd have a fighting chance in there as well.
00:04:05But Randy, you said all along that Gunnite would be in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile.
00:04:09That's what you were thinking.
00:04:10Why not the sprint?
00:04:11Because he does have to go around two turns now.
00:04:13Yeah, I mean, he's going to be pre-entered or he was pre-entered in both races with the
00:04:17preference given to the Dirt Mile.
00:04:20I think it really just boils down to the fact that Steve Asmussen already has Jackie's Warrior
00:04:24going in the sprint.
00:04:25And so I think he would rather separate these two horses, although there's not common ownership
00:04:32between the two horses.
00:04:35When Gunnite, if he does indeed run in the Dirt Mile, I mean, this is what he's got up
00:04:39against him.
00:04:40You've got Cody's Wish, who just beat Jackie's Warrior on the up and up in their last race
00:04:45at Saratoga.
00:04:46Cyberknife, first preference is the Dirt Mile instead of the Classic.
00:04:52Laurel River, the horse trained by Bob Baffert, who's been running exceptionally well.
00:04:56He's going to be tough.
00:04:57Yeah.
00:04:58Yeah.
00:04:59It just comes off a 108 buyer speed figure in a win out in California.
00:05:02Pipeline's been running well.
00:05:03He got sick.
00:05:04He missed a little training time.
00:05:05But obviously now, I mean, he's been pre-entered in both races again, preference the Dirt Mile.
00:05:10And Law Professor, who just ran a bang up race, running second to life is good in his
00:05:15most recent start.
00:05:16And that doesn't even count a horse like Senor Buscador and maybe some others.
00:05:20So it's a tough spot for Gunnite, but he's running really well right now.
00:05:23Yeah.
00:05:24Obviously no easy spots in the Breeders' Cup.
00:05:26Now on Saturday, even though the action in the afternoon featured Keeneland, the racing,
00:05:30I still think the biggest story of the day, Zoe, was Flightline.
00:05:33I mean, this horse, no matter what he does, I mean, him eating breakfast is a big story
00:05:37at this point in his career.
00:05:39And I know you were out there to watch the workout on Flightline.
00:05:42Now he'll have one more workout this Saturday.
00:05:45His last workout will be at Keeneland before the Breeders' Cup.
00:05:48But generally, most people think it's the second to last, the penultimate workout before
00:05:52a big race, which is the one that really matters.
00:05:55I know it was kind of dark when he was out there doing it, but Zoe, you are our eyes
00:05:58and ears at San Denis on Saturday.
00:06:00First of all, not only tell us what you thought of the work, but what was the atmosphere like?
00:06:05How many people were out there?
00:06:06What kind of buzz was there to watch a horse just work out?
00:06:09There's not too much buzz at Santa Anita at 6.30 in the morning.
00:06:13There were a few more people than we've seen in times past.
00:06:17I mean, they came and they left and they came for breakfast at Clarker's Corner, but you
00:06:22could barely just see him going down the backside.
00:06:24All you saw was the flashing light.
00:06:26I got a good view of him coming down the lane and he basically clicked off perfect 12s all
00:06:30the way through.
00:06:32I got a chance to speak to Juan Laver afterwards and he basically got him galloping out a mile
00:06:37and an eighth in 1.51 and change.
00:06:40So we're talking a serious work, a good gallop out.
00:06:43I was privy to go back to the barn after the work and he was just cool, calm, and collected
00:06:48in the stall.
00:06:49Not a bother on him.
00:06:50He shipped out to Keeneland the very next day.
00:06:54There's actually some video from West Point of him galloping on the track.
00:06:58Mike Welsh actually timed his gallop this morning and got him coming through the lane
00:07:03in 28 and change.
00:07:04So he was basically two minute licking this morning, which is on Wednesday, through the
00:07:09lane at Keeneland and took a really good hold of the bridle.
00:07:13The track had some moisture in it.
00:07:14He's never seen a wet track ever in his life.
00:07:17It doesn't rain out here in Southern California, at least not when you don't want it to.
00:07:23So he handled that very, very well.
00:07:26So I mean, just think if he's better on perhaps an off track or a track with some moisture.
00:07:32Isn't that a scary thought?
00:07:34I mean, his breeding suggests he should be better on an off track.
00:07:37That's scary.
00:07:38Well, you know, I don't think maybe the average sports fan really understands the historic
00:07:45significance of the Breeders' Cup Classic and flight line.
00:07:49I'm going to certainly try to impart that on the NBC telecast.
00:07:53But I mean, look, when you look at any kind of athletic performance, right?
00:07:56I mean, I have a long history as a mediocre golfer, but if I go out this afternoon and
00:08:04I shoot a 78, what's the chance that I'm going to come back out two days from now and shoot
00:08:09another 78?
00:08:10It's, you know, things were exactly perfectly right on, let's say, today on this given day
00:08:16for me to go out and do something like that.
00:08:18The odds are astronomical that that's going to be my norm from now on.
00:08:23When Secretariat ran in the Belmont Stakes and won by 31 lengths, he never duplicated
00:08:27that performance the rest of his career.
00:08:29He ran some sensational races, but not quite to the level of his Belmont Stakes.
00:08:34He lost twice to Onion and Pruval following the Belmont Stakes.
00:08:39This was Flightline's first ever race, longer than a mile, first ever race around two turns.
00:08:46What if the Pacific Classic is the norm for Flightline going forward at a mile and a quarter?
00:08:53I mean, in my opinion, that puts him above any of the horses that we've seen since Secretariat.
00:09:02And you're talking Seattle Slew, Affirm, Spectacular Bid, Cigar, American Pharaoh, all these fantastic
00:09:09horses that we've seen.
00:09:10If this turns out to be the norm for Flightline, my God, that just, that really puts him in
00:09:16to another, completely other echelon of horse racing performance.
00:09:22Zoe, now I threw a big fat meatball right over the plate and you didn't knock it out
00:09:26of the park.
00:09:27You were about, you should have, what about XBTV for the workout for Flightline?
00:09:32And also you saw a lot of other good horses work out at Santa Anita over that last weekend,
00:09:37including Cave Rock.
00:09:38So take it away.
00:09:39Tell us how wonderful, and I'm not being that wise guy here, XBTV is fantastic, we all agree
00:09:43on that.
00:09:44Knock it out of the park, promote XBTV, and tell us what else you witnessed at Santa Anita
00:09:48over the weekend.
00:09:49Who looked good to you?
00:09:50Well, there are just a plethora of workers this weekend.
00:09:54Cave Rock looked sensational, Laurel River, he's the XBTV Workout of the Week.
00:09:59We'll get to him a little bit later on.
00:10:01He looked terrific.
00:10:03We've actually got works from Keeneland on our site as well.
00:10:06So we've teamed up with Keeneland and any works that they filmed at Keeneland, you'll
00:10:10be able to find on xbtv.com as well.
00:10:13I'm hoping they got a couple from this morning from Keeneland.
00:10:18I heard that Blue Stripe worked very, very well this morning for Marcelo Polanco at Keeneland
00:10:24over a wet track, which is really interesting, but I have a feeling she went early.
00:10:30So I'm not sure the Keeneland cameras were up that early.
00:10:32But pretty much any work that's out there that's been videoed, you can find on XBTV.
00:10:37We have a Breeders' Cup portal, and just go to that, tap in the horse's name, and you
00:10:43will find it.
00:10:44In fact, Randy, this is a task for you.
00:10:47You need to go back in time, go to XBTV, put in Flightline, and go to a March the 7th work,
00:10:572021, and take a look at that.
00:10:59It will take your breath away.
00:11:02It is unbelievable.
00:11:03Now, Juan wasn't aboard him.
00:11:04They were using someone else at that time.
00:11:07And basically, he was running off down the backside.
00:11:09He was 15 wide around the turn.
00:11:11He got behind some horses.
00:11:13He came out.
00:11:14He went.
00:11:15It was amazing.
00:11:16And he worked in 59 and change.
00:11:17And this was before he ever ran.
00:11:18That was before anyone knew who Flightline was.
00:11:21Go back and take a look at it.
00:11:22It is amazing.
00:11:24And that's one of the great things about XBTV.
00:11:26Have you seen it?
00:11:29Three days ago, Zoe, our good friend, Amy Zimmerman at San Atos sent me an email.
00:11:33Absolutely, I told her.
00:11:34Yes.
00:11:35She said, you have to watch this workout.
00:11:36And it took me a while to hit page, page, page, page, page to go back all through Flightline's
00:11:42workouts to get to March the 7th.
00:11:44But yeah, that is something really interesting with whoever the exercise rider was, his feet
00:11:49in the dashboard all the way down the lane.
00:11:52And he works in what, 59 and change or 58 and change?
00:11:56I don't remember what it was.
00:11:5759 and two.
00:11:58I'll take the credit for that one because I looked back through all his works the other
00:12:02day.
00:12:03It took a long time.
00:12:04He might have every work he's ever done, which is quite scary because he may have only run
00:12:10five times.
00:12:11But if you want to get a real feel for Flightline, go to XBTV.com and you'll be able to find
00:12:16him running about 30 times once a week.
00:12:19All right.
00:12:20Now, normally here on the TDN Riders, and we don't worry about maiden claiming races,
00:12:23but there was an interesting story this week at Parks on Monday.
00:12:26A horse by the name of Majestic Creed was dropped into a $25,000 maiden claimer.
00:12:32Horse was one to five, so it was supposed to win, Randy, but she won by 34 and three
00:12:37quarter lengths.
00:12:38Secretary had only won a Belmont by 31.
00:12:40Now, again, we're not going to get silly and say that she's going to be a big star or anything
00:12:45like that.
00:12:46But Randy, I take it you weren't all that impressed.
00:12:48Well, I mean, the horse wins by 34 lengths.
00:12:51So if you're the owner of it, and by the way, it was in a maiden $25,000 claiming race at
00:12:56Parks on Monday, and the horse was actually claimed out of that race for $25,000.
00:13:02So I mean, that's got to make you feel pretty good if you're an owner and you just drop
00:13:05a claim slip in for $25,000, then you watch your horse win by 34 and three quarters.
00:13:09But when you dig a little deeper into it, the buyer speed figure was 74, and this is
00:13:16a two-year-old, so that's not bad, especially for a maiden claiming race.
00:13:20But you look at the 34 and three quarter length margin of victory, as you would expect, had
00:13:25a lot more to do in a five horse field with the quality of the competition that this horse
00:13:31faced than any sort of dynamic, unbelievable performance.
00:13:35The runner up, a horse named Aqua Bella, had just come off a second place finish in a maiden
00:13:42$25,000 at Parks in which she earned a buyer speed figure of 14.
00:13:48And on Monday, she got a new career high buyer speed figure of 18.
00:13:54So the horses behind were not exactly runners.
00:13:58In other words, what I'm saying is, owners feel proud, but if you just dropped a $25,000
00:14:04claim slip in and you now have this horse in your barn, and the phone rings, and you
00:14:08get offered $125,000 for the horse, it was my horse, sold.
00:14:14Is Renny being too hard, Zoe?
00:14:17Hey, you can't help who you beat, right?
00:14:20You can't help who you beat.
00:14:22And owner Cheryl Richards put the money down to claim this one, a claim by Bobby and Hawthorne.
00:14:29So big congratulations for them.
00:14:30I mean, that's exciting any time you have a horse that wins by that much, let alone
00:14:34drop a claim on a horse who wins by that much, and then you're just praying everything is
00:14:38fine the next day.
00:14:39So hopefully we'll get to see this one run again, another progeny of Jimmy Creed.
00:14:44I mean, and that was the bug boy that rode that horse, Jose Gomez, that was in Saratoga
00:14:49or something.
00:14:50Kind of a neat story out of Parks, definitely.
00:14:51He won by 34 and three-quarter lengths in the victory.
00:14:54Only a bug boy would let a horse win by 34 and three-quarters lengths.
00:14:57He wasn't asking this horse for anything, but anyways.
00:15:06The TDN Writer's Room is brought to you by Keeneland.
00:15:09It is closing weekend this coming weekend at Keeneland.
00:15:13Bill, favorite race of the meet for you at Keeneland.
00:15:16I'm going to throw you a curveball here because I'm going to tell you something other than
00:15:18what I just told you.
00:15:19But now come to think of it, the Coolmore Turf Mile with Annapolis.
00:15:22That race was so loaded from top to bottom, just one big name talent after another.
00:15:29And Annapolis, on that huge weekend Todd Pletcher had, where he also won with Forte in the Breeders
00:15:33Futurity, he really looked like a major threat and he's going to be a major threat in the
00:15:37Breeders' Cup Mile, no doubt about it.
00:15:39Yeah, that would be my pick, Zoe.
00:15:41Just a reminder, we do have the Keeneland Horses of Racing Age sale on November the
00:15:4517th, the standalone sale.
00:15:47If you happen to see the races at Santa Anita this past weekend, you will have seen Hopkins,
00:15:52Breaker's Maiden for Hall of Fame of Bob Baffert, a $900,000 yearling that was sold at Keeneland
00:15:58in September.
00:15:59He will be offered as HIP 5077 on November the 17th.
00:16:04Randy, are you going to buy any horses at the Horses of Racing Age sale?
00:16:08Let me check my bank accounts, probably not.
00:16:13Probably not.
00:16:14What's interesting about this Hopkins thing and the Horses of Racing Age sale, Hopkins
00:16:17is one of 10 horses that is being sold by the group that we sort of casually know as
00:16:24the Avengers, the ownership group, SF Racing, Starlight, Maticat, and all the other partners
00:16:29they have, who spend all this money on yearlings hoping to hit a home run with a potential
00:16:33stallion prospect, right?
00:16:35Well, these 10 horses that they've got in the sale are horses that have run pretty well.
00:16:39Classier won the Los Al derby, Doppelganger was second in the San Felipe, and we've seen
00:16:44Spielberg run in some big races.
00:16:47They're all in this sale, Horses of Racing Age sale.
00:16:50The total amount that they sold for as yearlings, $6.5 million.
00:16:58And now they're being offered as racing prospects in this Horses of Racing Age.
00:17:01A lot of horses owned by Seth Klarman, Peter Brandt, Three Diamonds Farm of Kirk Wyckoff,
00:17:09Windstar, Judd Mott.
00:17:12It's going to be a really interesting sales day.
00:17:14That's November the 17th.
00:17:16We'll be right back after this message from Keeneland.
00:17:20When the thoroughbred world descends upon Lexington this November, there is one place
00:17:25you need to be.
00:17:26The place where history comes alive with every championship victory.
00:17:33The place where the future is built with the fall of a gavel.
00:17:37The place that exists to be the heart of this industry.
00:17:41The center of it all.
00:17:43Home to the November breeding stock sale and the 2022 Breeders' Cup.
00:17:48Keeneland.
00:17:49Maximum Security proves he's the real deal with a gate-to-wire win in the Florida Derby.
00:17:56Champion three-year-old.
00:17:57Maximum Security has won the TBG.com Haskell Invitational.
00:18:03Eleven triple-digit buyers.
00:18:05Maximum Security, he smoked them in the cigar mile.
00:18:09And one winning four-year-old.
00:18:11Maximum Security takes them all the way in the TBG Pacific Classic.
00:18:16Secure your mayor's future.
00:18:18Maximum Security.
00:18:19The TDN Writer's Room is brought to you by Coolmore.
00:18:23Celestial City, a son of Uncle Mo, got his first career stakes win on Saturday in the
00:18:28Grade 2 Hill Prince.
00:18:29He's the 11th stakes winner of the year for Uncle Mo, who will once again top the Coolmore
00:18:34roster for $150,000.
00:18:37And listen to this, guys.
00:18:38We've got some newcomers coming to Coolmore, the roster including Cornish, who took down
00:18:43the Breeders' Cup Juvenile.
00:18:44He's going to stand for $30,000.
00:18:46Early Voting, the Preakness winner, going to stand for $25,000.
00:18:50And Golden Pal just announced when he retires this year after the Breeders' Cup, he will
00:18:56go to Coolmore as well.
00:18:57Got some newcomers, some new faces.
00:18:59That's pretty good, huh?
00:19:01Yes, Zoe.
00:19:02Absolutely.
00:19:03Very impressive roster.
00:19:04Very interesting new sires coming to Coolmore to join that Hall of Fame roster that they
00:19:08already have.
00:19:09All right.
00:19:10The pre-entries for the Breeders' Cup are in.
00:19:11Not a lot of, you know, huge news stories to come out of it, but there were definitely
00:19:14some interesting developments in here.
00:19:17Randy Moss, you said maybe that you had heard about this earlier, but I hadn't.
00:19:21I was very surprised to see Latruska entered first of all in the Breeders' Cup period and
00:19:26number two entered not in the Distaff, but in the Philly Mayor Sprint.
00:19:30It's coming off just a really lackluster fourth place finish in the Spinster.
00:19:35What do you make of all that?
00:19:36Well, we were talking last week about how we expected her to be retired and that was
00:19:40probably the right thing to do.
00:19:41But, you know, Fausto Gutierrez is obviously closer to Latruska than we are.
00:19:46And he went over with a fine-tooth comb and found nothing amiss with Latruska and theorizes
00:19:52that she, in his words, she just doesn't want to run a mile and an eighth anymore.
00:19:56So they're going to give her one more shot to go seven furlongs instead of a mile and
00:20:01an eighth.
00:20:02There were no other real, I'd say, surprises.
00:20:05Maybe it was a little bit of a surprise, I guess, that what we already discussed, Steve
00:20:09Asmussen went in with Good Night and Wicked Halo off two-week gaps.
00:20:15Jack Christopher, the first preference is the Sprint against Jackie's Warrior rather
00:20:20than the Dirt Mile.
00:20:23That was kind of already out there.
00:20:24Yeah, the Battle of the Gaps.
00:20:27The domestic spending thing is interesting.
00:20:30Also in the Chad Brown barn, he pre-entered 14 horses, by the way, that are expected to
00:20:35run.
00:20:36Domestic spending coming in to the mile off of a 448-day layoff, which would just shatter
00:20:44the record for a horse to win a Breeders' Cup race if he just happened to do it.
00:20:49Charlie Appleby's got a couple of favorites.
00:20:51He's bringing seven over.
00:20:52Aiden O'Brien, 11.
00:20:53Pletcher, we talked to him last week, 10 Breeders' Cup starters.
00:20:58He's kind of loaded as well.
00:20:59So as you would expect, we'll have a lot to talk about on Breeders' Cup Day.
00:21:04Yeah.
00:21:05Zoe, what caught your eye from the pre-entries?
00:21:08I mean, the Jack Christopher and the Sprint rather than the mile running up against Jackie's
00:21:14Warrior.
00:21:15That, for one, I mean, really no massive surprises.
00:21:20Channelmaker, it'll be good to see him.
00:21:22He's overmatched.
00:21:23But, hey, you never know.
00:21:25That's why we run the race, right?
00:21:26What if we get all the rain they've been talking about forever?
00:21:30Maybe he could, like, trudge through on the lead or something.
00:21:33But no real massive surprises for me going forwards.
00:21:37I mean, the biggest surprise is a knock on wood will probably be some defections coming
00:21:42up because that's what always happens.
00:21:46Channelmaker will be the first horse ever to compete in six Breeders' Cup races.
00:21:51I think we mentioned this a few weeks ago.
00:21:52He started off in the Juvenile Turf and then he's been in the Breeders' Cup.
00:21:55He hasn't won yet, but he was tied with four other horses making five Breeders' Cup appearances
00:22:01and this would be a record.
00:22:02This would be a sixth.
00:22:03We've got three defending champs coming back, Aloha West in the Sprint, CC in the Filly
00:22:09and Mare Sprint, and Golden Pal in the Turf Sprint.
00:22:12So all three are sprinters and we have four other horses that have previously won another
00:22:18Breeders' Cup race, Echo Zulu, Life is Good, Modern Games and Order of Australia.
00:22:24So a lot of familiar names, Bill.
00:22:27How about Aloha West and his work?
00:22:30He worked this morning, I believe, at Keeneland in like 58 and change, like rocket, wicket
00:22:35fast.
00:22:36And so, you know, Catman's like, well, I'm going to put both of mine in there.
00:22:40Johnny Wise going in there, Aloha West going in there.
00:22:43He's never been better by all accounts.
00:22:46So a couple of other news and notes, as you mentioned, Randy, let's run down Channelmaker,
00:22:50eight years old.
00:22:51This will be his 47th career start in 2021.
00:22:55He ran this race, finished fifth in 2020, finished third, 2019, finished 12th, 2018,
00:23:01finished 11th, did not run in the Breeders' Cup in 2017.
00:23:04And in 2016, as you mentioned, he ran the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf and finished seventh.
00:23:09But back to it, I guess I'm not surprised that Jack Christopher chose the, or Chad Brown
00:23:14chose for Jack Christopher the sprint.
00:23:16But when I was talking to him earlier, asking him where he was going to go, he said, I'm
00:23:21going to figure out which race I have the best chance of winning.
00:23:25And so he obviously came to the conclusion that it was the Breeders' Cup sprint.
00:23:29Now I'm not, you know, who am I to second guess Chad Brown?
00:23:33But the thing I would put about, is this the best chance he has of winning because of,
00:23:38and I think maybe you can make a case he has a better chance of winning the Dirt Mile
00:23:41just because of Jackie's Warrior.
00:23:43I know he's not coming into the race off one of his better performances, but I thought
00:23:47he would have been the favorite in the Dirt Mile and he will be the second choice in the
00:23:52Breeders' Cup sprint.
00:23:53Well, okay.
00:23:55If I can put myself in Chad Brown's shoes, I can guess as to what he might be thinking.
00:24:02The Dirt Mile, yeah, he would be the favorite, but we ticked off all of the horses that he
00:24:06would be competing against who have a really legitimate chance to run exceptionally well
00:24:11in the Dirt Mile.
00:24:12When you go to the sprint, you've got the horse of Judd Montz, Elite Power, who looked
00:24:16really good winning the Vosburgh, but he hasn't really taken his game to this kind of level
00:24:21yet.
00:24:22And then Jackie's Warrior.
00:24:23And then other than that, you don't really see anything that you think would threaten
00:24:27Jack Christopher.
00:24:28And then there's this, as good as Jackie's Warrior is, and we've seen him run some absolutely
00:24:33sensational races, on the two biggest days of his life at the Breeders' Cup, he came
00:24:39up empty.
00:24:40The first time, he was in the Juvenile going a mile and a sixteenth, which obviously now
00:24:45we know is beyond his distance capabilities, but he was the second heaviest favorite of
00:24:51all the Breeders' Cup races that year.
00:24:54And then last year, he was again the second heaviest favorite in the 14-race Breeders'
00:24:58Cup card to only Gamine.
00:25:02It was hard to envision him losing the Breeders' Cup sprint, and yet he did.
00:25:07So that may be at least in the back of Chad Brown's mind.
00:25:12He's probably got Jackie's Warrior to beat, and he's come up disappointing a couple times
00:25:18with some severe pace pressure last year in the sprint, that maybe he could be vulnerable
00:25:23again for similar reasons.
00:25:24I don't know.
00:25:25Yeah, never be afraid of one horse.
00:25:27The fact that obviously there have been chinks in his armor, he has been beaten, Breeders'
00:25:34Cup is basically his kryptonite.
00:25:36Yeah, why not?
00:25:40So a field of eight entered the Breeders' Cup Classic, actually nine because Cyberknife
00:25:44is his first preference for the dirt mile.
00:25:48Just no surprises here whatsoever.
00:25:49Epicenter, Flightline, Happy Saver, Hot Rod, Charlie, Life is Good, Olympiad, Rich Strike,
00:25:54and Tavis, so likely a field of eight in the Breeders' Cup Classic.
00:25:58And my friend Tyler's Tribe is going to be in the Breeders' Cup two-year-old sprint.
00:26:03He did also enter the juvenile as well, pre-entered, but his first preference is for the Breeders'
00:26:09Cup juvenile turf sprint.
00:26:11That's a mouthful, the Breeders' Cup juvenile turf sprint.
00:26:15Did anyone watch his workout on the turf the other day and get any opinions of it?
00:26:19I heard some Twitter people say he didn't look that good.
00:26:23Just slow.
00:26:25He was out there on his own, just galloping around there.
00:26:27I don't think he wanted too much.
00:26:28I saw the first one.
00:26:29Did he work again?
00:26:30I don't know.
00:26:31I mean, probably I'm just talking about that.
00:26:32I saw one.
00:26:33He didn't look like he loved it, but he didn't look like he hated it.
00:26:36I mean, you're asking a two-year-old to go around the dogs that are on the outside fence
00:26:41at Keeneland, first time out there with no horses to follow.
00:26:44It's a lot to ask.
00:26:45He was looking around and better too slow than too fast.
00:26:48I thought he was fine.
00:26:50Do I think the turf is going to move him up?
00:26:53No.
00:26:54Is it really going to hurt him?
00:26:55Probably not.
00:26:56Hopefully, we don't get the rain they were expecting because I'm not sure he'll like
00:27:00a good bit of give in the ground, per se.
00:27:04But if it's a good firm turf course, I don't think he'll mind it.
00:27:08So you keep trying to predict that rain a week out or a week and a half out.
00:27:13That would be like me trying to sweep the Triple Crown with my picks in February or
00:27:17something like that.
00:27:18I'm keeping my fingers crossed, but they don't have to be right about this.
00:27:25Even assuming Tyler's Tribe gets firm turf, there was a lot made, Bill, in that workout
00:27:28about the fact that he hopped over to his left lead at the 16th pole coming down the
00:27:33stretch.
00:27:34We know some horses, if they're unsure about the footing or they don't like the footing
00:27:38or whatever, they'll change leads back and forth.
00:27:40But that's the first time he'd ever worked on the turf.
00:27:42So I think we'd be putting a little too much emphasis on that.
00:27:47Yeah.
00:27:48Well, we will see how Tyler's Tribe does.
00:27:50So segwaying away from the Breeders' Cup, there was a story that came out this week,
00:27:53a veterinary journal published a study.
00:27:56And the headline, if you just go on the headline, and I wrote the story for the Thoroughbred
00:28:00Daily News myself, is that horses are 62% more likely to die if they raced on Lasix
00:28:07than without Lasix.
00:28:08Now, first of all, it wasn't about horses that break down in a race.
00:28:13It was talking about, and I didn't even realize this was a statistic that anyone kept, but
00:28:17they called it a sudden death, meaning that a horse got through a race and then from something
00:28:22other than a catastrophic injury suffered on the racetrack would pass away within three
00:28:27days of a race.
00:28:28Now, in and of itself, you look at it and say, oh my goodness, here's another reason
00:28:31to just absolutely get rid of Lasix.
00:28:33And I do think the sport should do away with Lasix, and it's going to happen with Hissa
00:28:37in there, got this three-year window to phase everybody out of it.
00:28:41But if you dig a little bit deeper, here's what we've...
00:28:44I think this is something that wasn't said about this, is that who doesn't run on Lasix
00:28:49in this country right now?
00:28:51Two-year-olds and stakes horses.
00:28:54Everybody else, virtually 95, 96% of all horses are on Lasix.
00:28:58What is this?
00:28:59The two-year-olds and stakes horses are supposed to be the safest kind of racing because stakes
00:29:03horses aren't going to get to that level if they're on sound.
00:29:06And statistics have shown that horses are less likely to break down or die racing as
00:29:11two-year-olds than they are as five or six-year-olds.
00:29:13So look, it didn't make Lasix look good.
00:29:16It would be one more reason to phase it out, which I said I'm all in favor of.
00:29:20But I think you do have to read a little bit beyond the headline, Randy.
00:29:23Yeah.
00:29:24I mean, basically it was funded by the Grayson Jockey Club from 2009 to 2021.
00:29:32So if you're talking 2009, 2000, everybody used Lasix.
00:29:36Basically 94% of the horses that they studied were on Lasix.
00:29:42This is like saying, if you eat a cheeseburger once in your life, you're going to die of
00:29:46a heart attack.
00:29:47That guy died of a heart attack because he had a cheeseburger.
00:29:51So that's what it equates to.
00:29:52We need more information on this study going forward.
00:29:56518 of the 536 were on Lasix, 94% of those horses that died were on Lasix.
00:30:05So we just basically need more studies.
00:30:06I'm a proponent of Lasix.
00:30:09I'm not a proponent of what the outside world thinks of Lasix.
00:30:14And I'm with you.
00:30:16It's probably going to be banished because everyone thinks people use it to mask and
00:30:20they cheat and all these other things.
00:30:23It's public perception at the end of the day is what is going to get rid of Lasix.
00:30:28Is it better for the horses?
00:30:30Yes.
00:30:31But right now in this day and age, it's all about public perception.
00:30:34So Lasix will be wiped out.
00:30:36So I think we just need a little bit more information in this study because if you just
00:30:41go off the headline and that's what they want you to go off, it's glaring.
00:30:45It's shocking.
00:30:46You're like, oh my God, these horses are dying because they're getting Lasix.
00:30:49And they're all getting Lasix.
00:30:51We don't really know why they're dying.
00:30:53We just need more information and more done on this study.
00:30:57Well, and to put it in perspective, the rate of sudden death that they mentioned in the
00:31:04study was only one for every approximately 7,600 starters in America.
00:31:13So that would be an average of about one for every 100 racing days at a racetrack.
00:31:18I mean, that's one too many.
00:31:19You never want to see a horse experience sudden death.
00:31:23But there were a lot of other really interesting things that came out of this study beyond
00:31:29Lasix that made sense.
00:31:32When you look at all of their findings, you look at it and you think, well, okay, that
00:31:35makes sense.
00:31:36For example, some of them are even too obvious.
00:31:39Horses are more likely to experience sudden death in the summer than in the winter.
00:31:44Well, one of the causes for sudden death is heat stroke.
00:31:48So obviously it's going to happen less often in the winter.
00:31:52Older horses were more susceptible than younger horses.
00:31:54Of course, that makes sense.
00:31:56Recency, horses that had more recent racing were less likely to experience sudden death.
00:32:03There's a fitness component there.
00:32:04Horses that are less fit are obviously more likely to experience a cardiac event than
00:32:10horses that have been racing that are at their peak level of fitness.
00:32:14But I thought this was most interesting of all.
00:32:17This indicates, Bill, you were talking about stakes horses.
00:32:19This indicates, and it kind of makes sense, that the faster a horse runs, the more likely
00:32:27it is to experience sudden death.
00:32:31In other words, the more strain, the faster a horse runs, you can theorize, the more strain
00:32:37he's putting on his system, and therefore, the more likely that he is to experience a
00:32:43sudden death episode.
00:32:45Horses that run for higher purses are more at risk.
00:32:49Horses that have more lifetime wins are more at risk.
00:32:54Horses that run in state-bred company have a 41% less chance.
00:32:59They're probably 41% slower than horses that run against open company.
00:33:04So there are a lot of other little interesting things that came out of this.
00:33:07Lasix is the one that's obviously going to get the headline, and I agree with you guys
00:33:11that it's interesting, but it does need more study.
00:33:14The TDN Writers Room is brought to you by the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association.
00:33:19This just in, Kentucky breds are your best chance at grade one success.
00:33:24That's something that we've known for a long, long time.
00:33:26The grade one victress Gina Romantica, who won the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup at
00:33:30Keeneland, was bred in Kentucky by Craig and Carrie Brogdon of Mackmer Hall.
00:33:35Wicked Halo, also, we've talked about her, the daughter of Gunrunner, who took this weekend's
00:33:39Raven Run, was bred in Kentucky, and she is a homebred for Winchell Thoroughbreds.
00:33:44We'll be right back after this message from the KTA and the KTOB.
00:33:51With some of the fullest fields in the country, and quality racing year-round, there's never
00:33:56been a better time to reap the rewards of breeding and racing in Kentucky.
00:34:02Purse money in Kentucky is at an all-time high, as is average purse per race, outpacing
00:34:07California, Florida, and New York.
00:34:11Kentucky breds.
00:34:13Breed them.
00:34:14Raise them.
00:34:15Race them.
00:34:16We all win.
00:34:20Unified, a three-time graded stakes winner by leading Sire Candy Ride, defeating multiple
00:34:28grade one winner Mind Your Biscuits in the Gulfstream Park Sprint, and second in the
00:34:33grade one carter by a nose.
00:34:36With multiple stakes winners in his first crop, including Roger McQueen, and Unified
00:34:42Report, Unified, a proven winner on the track, a proven
00:34:47stallion in the making.
00:34:51The Lane's End Stallion of the Week is Mineshaft, the 2003 Horse of the Year, a top 20 lifetime
00:34:58active sire.
00:35:00Mineshaft will be represented in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile by ACAC Stakes winner Señor
00:35:05Buscador.
00:35:06You can breed to Mineshaft.
00:35:08He stands for $10,000 at Lane's End.
00:35:12It's something I didn't know about Mineshaft, but I'll bet you Zoey knew.
00:35:16Mineshaft began his career in England with John Gosden.
00:35:21I guess I knew that once upon a time, Zoey, but I'd forgotten all about that one.
00:35:24Yeah, that was a long, long time ago.
00:35:27In fact, I was down in New Orleans galloping horses for Christopher Speckert when Mineshaft
00:35:33was down there with Neil Howard.
00:35:35He was a really, really outstanding horse, a beautiful horse on the racetrack.
00:35:41Really cool dude.
00:35:42And he's proven to be a successful stallion as well.
00:35:45And now the Green Group Guest of the Week, sponsored by the Green Group, an accounting
00:35:49and tax consulting advisory firm specializing in the thoroughbred industry.
00:35:54With over 500 clients in the horse business, the Green Group has proven strategies to save
00:35:59you taxes.
00:36:01Learn more about how they can help at www.greenco.com.
00:36:06And welcome in now our Green Group Guest of the Week, Bill Farish from Lane's End Farm,
00:36:09also a co-owner of the amazing Flightline.
00:36:12Bill, welcome.
00:36:13And let's get right into it.
00:36:14Major news this week, Lane's End Keeneland is teaming up and the partners that are involved
00:36:19in Flightline to sell a share in him at the Keeneland November sale.
00:36:22As a matter of fact, it'll be the very first thing that goes into the ring when Keeneland
00:36:26November clicks off and begins.
00:36:29Just take us through the reasoning why this is happening and how exciting it is.
00:36:33Well, it's very exciting, Bill, because it, the idea sort of came into being.
00:36:42Our ad agency, Cornet Group, came to us with the idea of doing some kind of sale in the
00:36:47metaverse and utilizing the metaverse, which, of course, was something I was not familiar
00:36:54with.
00:36:55But anyway, I was interested to hear what they had to say and, you know, immediately
00:37:00you think, well, to pull something like that off, you need something significant to pull
00:37:06people's attention and to make it successful.
00:37:11And the idea did pop into my head at that point that, you know, a share in Flightline
00:37:17might be something that fit that bill.
00:37:20We approached Keeneland about it.
00:37:22It just so happened that Keeneland was working on a metaverse type, you know, looking for
00:37:28something to to to to use and use the metaverse for.
00:37:35So it was a perfect fit and, you know, luckily, this was pre Pacific Classic.
00:37:43So we kind of didn't want to go too far with the plan until after that.
00:37:48And of course, that just got us more excited than than ever about about using it.
00:37:54So Bill, you're selling two and a half percent, correct?
00:37:58So we've got the who, what, when, where down.
00:38:02But what are the reasons why you guys have decided to do this?
00:38:06Well, this is a share of West Point Thoroughbreds.
00:38:10And as you know, they're primarily not totally, but primarily a racing syndicate.
00:38:17And, you know, they have a significant piece of this horse.
00:38:22And, you know, I think it's a way for them to to take, you know, the proceeds that are
00:38:28generated and pay back their investors, some part of of their investment in the syndicate.
00:38:35Bill, how does this correlate with the fact that it's he's going to be sold at two point
00:38:41five percent, it's going to be sold after the Breeders' Cup Classic.
00:38:45So whoever's going to be buying into him doesn't really know if the horse is going to run again.
00:38:50Does this go into perhaps a piece of a stallion share?
00:38:54How is that going to be figured out if someone owns two point five percent?
00:38:59How does that move forward into stallion shares?
00:39:01Well, it's a good question, but it's it's, you know, two point five percent is one fortieth
00:39:08of the horse, which is equates to one share in a 40 share syndicate.
00:39:13And so it is, in fact, equal to a share and will be, you know, upon his retirement will
00:39:23become a share in this stallion.
00:39:26But if he races on, they will get two point five percent of any proceeds from this race.
00:39:33Now, Bill, to those of us who are a little gray in the little gray beards and not up
00:39:40on the latest technology and you said you yourself weren't all that familiar with the
00:39:43metaverse.
00:39:44Tell us as best you can how this is going to work, what the experience will be like.
00:39:48Yeah.
00:39:49So I've seen some demonstrations, obviously, in Keeneland's gone a long way in sort of
00:39:53recreating the look and feel of the sales pavilion.
00:39:58It really the metaverse part of it is is more experiential.
00:40:02It's not it's you can't actually bid in the metaverse.
00:40:07So you can observe the whole thing happening, but you get to bid.
00:40:11You either have to be on site on the phone or or have somebody there bidding for you.
00:40:17You know, one of the attractions of doing this was this horse didn't go through the
00:40:21triple crown.
00:40:22So, you know, we all know within the industry who he is and appreciate who he is.
00:40:29But he hasn't reached that greater audience of casual fans in the in the horse business
00:40:35and in the horse industry and horse sport.
00:40:39And so so this gives us an opportunity, I think, to to bridge that gap a little bit
00:40:44and to put our sport out there to the tech world to some degree and also to to a whole
00:40:51different fan base that might not normally follow a horse like like Flightline.
00:40:59So Bill, at risk of putting the cart before the horse, because we still got the Breeders'
00:41:03Cup Classic to go, obviously.
00:41:05But you you said the phrase if he races on, I know you've been asked this probably five
00:41:11thousand times already, but make it five thousand and one.
00:41:15What will be the factors that you and your partners will be looking at to try to determine
00:41:22whether to retire him after the Breeders' Cup or to say economics be damned, we're going
00:41:29to go ahead and race him more?
00:41:32Well, you know, obviously it's a it's a great question and it's asked differently every
00:41:36time, but but that was well, well, there are there are a lot of factors that go into it
00:41:43and they're in, you know, having five different partners, you have, you know, a varying array
00:41:51of different interests.
00:41:53But I think, you know, it's it's so hard to say how we're going to feel after this race.
00:42:00You know, if he's trying to speculate, if he if he were to put on a tremendous performance
00:42:06as he did out in California, would there be worlds left to conquer or not, is sort of
00:42:12one way to look at it.
00:42:13Another way would be there are all these worlds out there to conquer and and it'd be a lot
00:42:20of fun to go to go do that.
00:42:22And, you know, we're all fans of the sport, first and foremost, or we wouldn't be in it.
00:42:27And so it's, you know, the experience of having something to do with a horse like this is
00:42:35just overwhelming and incredibly exciting, obviously.
00:42:39And, you know, it's sort of in some ways it speeds up your life, in some ways it slows
00:42:45down your life because it feels like an eternity between races.
00:42:50And it is. But but it but at the same time, it's hard to believe how fast it all happens.
00:42:58And so it's a it's a tough question for me to answer because I don't know how we're all
00:43:04going to feel after this race.
00:43:07And that's going to have a huge amount of influence.
00:43:11We're going to look at, you know, a myriad of different things.
00:43:16You know, he's a very, very valuable horse.
00:43:20And it's not just a financial concern.
00:43:24It's a it's a health and safety of the horse concern as well.
00:43:29So there's a lot of things that will go into that decision.
00:43:32And we're, you know, a very friendly group of owners and everybody, everybody has gotten
00:43:40along really well so far and which isn't always the case when you have a good horse with
00:43:45multiple owners. But but so far, so good.
00:43:48So let me jump in and I want to ask a follow up question on that.
00:43:51We'll get back to you, Bill, with the Keeneland November sale coming two days after the
00:43:57Breeders' Cup. I know you guys don't want to rush things, but the potential buyer probably
00:44:01does want to know if he's buying a horse that's going immediately to stud.
00:44:04He or she is buying a horse going immediately to stud, a horse that's going to race next
00:44:07year. Will the decision need to be made before the sale of the share?
00:44:11I think it would be good if it, you know, if it can be made.
00:44:16On Sunday, that would be helpful, and it's certainly our intention to to talk on Sunday.
00:44:24We've all we've all discussed that, so that that will be the plan.
00:44:30You know, you hate to ever.
00:44:33Make any big decision like this without having plenty of time to think about it, but, you
00:44:38know, I think we've all given it a lot, you know, a lot of different scenarios, a lot
00:44:43of thought. And and so we hopefully we'll be able to make a decision before the sale.
00:44:49But if you own the horse yourself and he was your baby, hand on heart, what would you do?
00:44:59You know, I try to look at it that way, but and it's.
00:45:07You know, I don't know, it's a great question, because if if it's all your horse, it's it
00:45:15magnifies the decision even more and the repercussions even more, you know, it's so I
00:45:22think we will do what I would do if he were all mine.
00:45:26But but I can't really tell you what that what that's going to be.
00:45:30Did you ever imagine you would own a piece of a horse like Flightline?
00:45:35I mean, you've had a lot of good horses in your years at Lane's End.
00:45:38Did you ever imagine you would have a horse of such magnitude as Flightline that's basically
00:45:44set the world alight?
00:45:45Yeah, I, you know, no, no.
00:45:48You always hope you are in a position like this.
00:45:53But no, I don't think I could have imagined a horse like Flightline.
00:45:57You know, we've all we've all been been very lucky to witness a lot of great horses.
00:46:03And but gosh, I you know, this this guy really he just keeps redefining those those
00:46:11parameters for me personally.
00:46:13I don't know.
00:46:14You know, I love to hear everybody else comparing him to some of these great horses that that
00:46:21we've all all got to see run.
00:46:23It's a it's a it's a dream come true, for sure.
00:46:26Now, Bill, with the Breeders' Cup coming up again, asking them to put the listeners and
00:46:32the viewers into your shoes, do you get extra nervous with this horse because of all the
00:46:36ramifications because of his huge reputation?
00:46:40Or, you know, if you're going to be two to five, three to five, is that sort of easier
00:46:44than maybe being running running Nintendo one?
00:46:46Sure.
00:46:46Yeah, I mean, it's a it's a it's a it's a it's a it's a it's a it's a it's a it's a it's a
00:46:51being running running Nintendo one shot in the Breeders' Cup Classic.
00:46:55Well, I hate to ever be two to five, three to five because I've never seen the world.
00:46:59But but I think it's odd with this horse because I always fear every other horse in the race.
00:47:07And I always think that that there's going to be, you know, nerves play a much bigger
00:47:16role normally than they do with this horse.
00:47:18And I was quite nervous before the Pacific Classic only because I'm seeing too many horses
00:47:26not be able to stretch out and, you know, until they're asked that question.
00:47:31And, you know, you sit there and mull over in your mind how many different ways it won't
00:47:36work. So with him stretching out for the first time, even though he, you know, he has the
00:47:44physical appearance of a horse that that could do that, he's certainly bred to do it.
00:47:50But waiting until that part, you know, till that part of your four year old year, August,
00:47:55your four year old year, that's a long time.
00:47:58And, you know, horses that run routes don't usually have to wait that long to go to go
00:48:04two turns. So so that was another thing that entered into my concern.
00:48:11But I was so emotional after the race because the way he did it.
00:48:17So, Bill, you literally were born into the sport.
00:48:21You've been involved in it your whole life.
00:48:24And even though your father may not be involved with wood, wood, wood, wood, field, woodward
00:48:29racing, what's his how has he enjoyed this whole flight line process?
00:48:35No, I think he's really enjoyed it.
00:48:37You know, he was out there with me yesterday looking at him.
00:48:41The feed time.
00:48:42And, you know, it's just we all appreciate special horses and love seeing them and trying
00:48:49to figure out, you know, what makes them what they are.
00:48:53But but I think it's been a special treat for him.
00:48:58Bill, if I had told you 20 years ago that you would be selling a portion of a horse
00:49:04two point five percent on a thing called the Metaverse using an avatar, would you look
00:49:09to me and said I was crazy?
00:49:11I'd still say you're crazy.
00:49:14I still don't know what it is.
00:49:15But no, I kind of I kind of do.
00:49:18But but I, yes, I would have said you were crazy.
00:49:22But we didn't.
00:49:24I'm not sure we might just have had cell phones 20 years ago.
00:49:27So it would be hard to imagine.
00:49:31Is this something that Lane's End is going to try and continue?
00:49:34Because I know you mentioned that Keeneland had already thought about this.
00:49:37Is this basically a window to the future?
00:49:41You know, it could be.
00:49:43I'm not I'm not sure.
00:49:45I mean, you know, I think it's a first step in and doing that.
00:49:49I just, you know, I'm a real believer that that poor sales have to be or say, you know,
00:49:56it's too much, too much touch and feel and see in live in person.
00:50:01So while you can bid from afar, it's you really have to conduct the sale.
00:50:09You know, there's there's a reason why they they work so well when they do that.
00:50:14You know, it's you know, it's the urgency of this is the time to buy, you know, and
00:50:21having these online sales all through the years is helpful for in some cases, but it
00:50:27would never take the place of a, you know, 4000 more sale, I don't think.
00:50:33We want to thank Bill Ferris from Lane's End Farms so much for his time and all the
00:50:36insights into a very exciting development.
00:50:38Not only is Flightline a share in him going to be sold at Keeneland November, but they're
00:50:41going to do it through the metaverse.
00:50:42Good stuff.
00:50:43Interesting stuff.
00:50:44And good luck to Flightline and the Breeders' Cup Classic.
00:50:47Great.
00:50:47Thank you, Bill.
00:50:48The Green Group Guest of the Week was sponsored by the Green Group, an accounting and tax
00:50:52consulting advisory firm specializing in the thoroughbred industry.
00:50:55As this week's guest of the week, Bill Ferris will receive a free one hour tax consultation.
00:51:01Learn more at www.greenco.com.
00:51:05We'll be right back after this message from the Green Group.
00:51:09Why do the most successful owners, breeders and horsemen select the Green Group as their
00:51:12tax advisor?
00:51:13We simply save them money and know how to make them more successful.
00:51:16Over the past 40 years, founder Leonard Green has owned and bred some of the best racehorses
00:51:20in the history of the sport.
00:51:21His in-depth, hands-on industry knowledge combined with cutting-edge tax-saving strategies
00:51:26has produced positive results for his clientele and has made the Green Group the top-rated
00:51:30accounting and tax firm in the business.
00:51:31For a confidential and complimentary consultation, contact us at 732-634-5100 or visit our website
00:51:39at www.greenco.com.
00:51:41The Green Group, proven strategies to save you taxes.
00:51:52The
00:52:14TDN Writer's Room is brought to you by XBTV.
00:52:18The Workout of the Week from XBTV is Breeders' Cup Mile Contender.
00:52:22Laurel River, the recent winner of the Grade 2 Pat O'Brien, seen working here in 59 and
00:52:282.
00:52:29And really, if you watch this horse at the top of the lane, he broke off with a horse
00:52:33behind him, a Mark Blatt trainee, and then he comes to the top of the lane and there
00:52:38are a couple of Vladimir Sarin trainees.
00:52:40This horse ate some dirt.
00:52:42You can see Juan Ochoa got his feet on the dashboard.
00:52:44This was a sensational work.
00:52:47Coming down the lane, stops the clock 59 and 2.
00:52:50He's never the best workhorse galloping out past the wire, but Laurel River, most
00:52:55certainly the Workout of the Week.
00:52:57You can catch that on XBTV.com.
00:53:02Now, the weekend preview brought to you by Three Chimneys.
00:53:04We'll take a look at some of the stakes action going around this weekend.
00:53:07And then after that, we'll come back and take a look at the field now of the pre-entered
00:53:10horses for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile.
00:53:12Kind of a quiet weekend, as you would expect.
00:53:14But Zoe, I want to start with you because it's not a quiet weekend at Santa Anita.
00:53:18There's something going on in terms of what's going to happen on the racetrack and also
00:53:22something going on.
00:53:23Maybe someone could walk away with a million bucks.
00:53:25Tell us more.
00:53:25Yeah, absolutely, Bill.
00:53:27While the rest of the country is sleeping and perhaps looking forward to Breeders' Cup,
00:53:32we're going to have our own mini Breeders' Cup this weekend at Santa Anita.
00:53:36They'll be drawing the races today for Saturday, and we're expecting seven stakes worth in
00:53:42excess of $1 million, highlighted by a couple of Grade 2 events.
00:53:48We are talking about the Goldacova coming in here and a couple of others.
00:53:53The Twilight Derby is worth $200,000.
00:53:56Seven stakes, and that's all going to evolve around the pick six.
00:54:01Now, a lot of times we have a single-ticket winner.
00:54:04Now, this weekend, if there is a single-ticket winner, listen to this, Randy.
00:54:09First Racing is going to give up a million dollars.
00:54:12If you are the only ticket winner in the pick six, you will get a bonus of a million dollars.
00:54:17The carryover going into Saturday's pick six is $143,000, so a million reasons to
00:54:24pay the pick six at Santa Anita and seven terrific stakes on the card.
00:54:29Looks like we'll see going global in the Goldacova stakes.
00:54:33She's going to face Avenue de France.
00:54:34She was originally slated to perhaps go to the Breeders' Cup, but Phil D'Amato keeping
00:54:39her home, and she will most certainly be a single.
00:54:41I do believe on a lot of people's tickets, she'll be in the grade two Goldacova.
00:54:46So at Keeneland, we've got the Fayette and the Bryan Station on Saturday.
00:54:50Fayette is kind of, you know, the conditions might be for really good horses that aren't
00:54:53quite good enough to run in the Breeders' Cup Classic, but you do have first captain
00:54:57in there.
00:54:57He was third in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, won the Pimlico Special earlier in the year,
00:55:01and for those of us who like Tyler's Tribe, go Iowa breads, how about Ain't Life Grand,
00:55:06the winner of the Iowa Derby, last time out, seventh in the Traverse, he'll be in there,
00:55:10as well as King Fury.
00:55:11Bryan Station, Classic Causeway, he won the Belmont Derby in June of grade one.
00:55:15He'll face off against, among others, Witt, who won the Better Talk Now stakes last time
00:55:19out for Todd Pletcher, and Ballinacove is shipping in from your neck of the woods, Zoe
00:55:23from California.
00:55:24Aqueduct will have the Kelso and the Bold Ruler on Saturday.
00:55:28Kelso has an interesting horse.
00:55:29Now, I hate to say this because we're talking about it before the entries come out.
00:55:32So Steve Asmussen, please run this horse.
00:55:34But how about Morello?
00:55:35Remember him?
00:55:36He won the Gotham and looked like he was going to be a major player along the way.
00:55:41Then he ran a clunker in the Wood Memorial, came back and ran another clunker in the Woody
00:55:45Stevens.
00:55:45But Steve Asmussen brought him back a couple weeks ago.
00:55:48He won an allowance race at Laurel, of all places, to prep for this race.
00:55:53And the Kelso, no longer a prep for the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile.
00:55:56Used to be.
00:55:57Remember, Life is Good won the...
00:55:58Didn't Life is Good win the Kelso?
00:56:01Yeah, which was situated as a prep for the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile.
00:56:05Obviously, one week before the Breeders' Cup, nobody's going to come out of that and run in
00:56:08there.
00:56:08But should be a really interesting weekend of racing at Keeneland, Belmont, and Aqueduct.
00:56:12And especially at Santa Anita with those seven stakes races.
00:56:15You know, a smart move by Santa Anita to, you know, on a day, Zoe, when not much is going
00:56:21on around the country.
00:56:22They're going to steal the show, I think.
00:56:24Yeah, I mean, they really are.
00:56:25And I think the bonus of a million dollars on top of the pick six, if you're the only
00:56:30winner, is certainly a big key.
00:56:32Because a lot of times we just had it a couple of weeks ago where it's the jackpot and it's
00:56:36like a regular pick six.
00:56:38But this is a single ticket winner with a chance of winning a million dollars.
00:56:42And it's going to be a really, really good card.
00:56:44A lot of turf racing.
00:56:46You'll find more and more over here on the left coast that we're utilizing our turf course
00:56:51an awful lot.
00:56:52Probably 60% of the races are now on turf because we have so many turf courses to choose
00:56:57from.
00:56:58So good races, full fields.
00:57:01And that is what we're hoping for.
00:57:03And of course, it's going to be sunny.
00:57:05Doesn't rain out here.
00:57:08That million dollars certainly captured my attention, Zoe.
00:57:10That's.
00:57:11Yeah, absolutely.
00:57:12Right.
00:57:12The TDN Writer's Room and the Weekend Preview is brought to you by Three Chimneys.
00:57:17Of course, Three Chimneys, the home of Gunrunner.
00:57:19We talked about Wicked Halo and Gunite winning for Steve Aspasin at Keeneland.
00:57:23Both the son and a daughter of Gunrunner.
00:57:27And of course, Gunrunner off to an amazing start in his first crop.
00:57:30You're looking at Early Voting.
00:57:32The Preakness winner, Echo Zulu, the champion two-year-old Philly.
00:57:35Cyberknife, winner of the Arkansas Derby and the Haskell.
00:57:38Teba, winner of the Santa Anita Derby and the Pennsylvania Derby.
00:57:42Three of those will be competing in the Breeders' Cup next weekend as well.
00:57:46We'll be right back for part two of the Weekend Preview after this message from Three Chimneys.
00:57:53Here comes Teba.
00:57:55Teba in the center of the track with good looking stride.
00:57:57Squares off with Cyberknife.
00:57:59Cyberknife takes the lead.
00:58:00Teba going with him.
00:58:02These two in a thriller.
00:58:03Cyberknife just in front.
00:58:05And Cyberknife has won the TBG.com Haskell over Teba.
00:58:10Jack Christopher finished third.
00:58:12The running time, one minute, 46.24 seconds.
00:58:18Come dream with us at Three Chimneys.
00:58:22And welcome back to the Weekend Preview.
00:58:24We're going to do something a little bit different here.
00:58:26And I've been making Randy Moss do double duty on the podcast.
00:58:30But he's our official morning line maker for the Breeders' Cup.
00:58:33We've gotten his line for the Classic.
00:58:35We got his line for the Distaff.
00:58:36This week, I want to get his line for what I think is another one of the really outstanding
00:58:40races on the Breeders' Cup card.
00:58:42Randy, you made a line for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile.
00:58:44No surprise here.
00:58:45Cave Rock at Even Money.
00:58:46Is he the biggest favorite on the card next to Flightline?
00:58:51He's got to be, right?
00:58:52I would think so.
00:58:54With Jack Christopher running against Jackie's Warrior, he's going to take a lot of play
00:58:59in there.
00:59:00You know, Modern Games has got some competition in the mile.
00:59:03So yeah, I think that's probably a pretty accurate statement.
00:59:07I could have gone as low as four to five on Cave Rock, and I thought about it.
00:59:11But ultimately, the points balanced out better at Even Money because I think National Treasure,
00:59:17Forte, Blazing Sevens are all going to get some play.
00:59:20I wouldn't be surprised, even though I've got Forte as a slight second choice.
00:59:24I wouldn't be surprised to see National Treasure be the second choice.
00:59:27The Speed Figure guys, I think, are going to have him with a slightly higher number than
00:59:31Forte.
00:59:31But Forte has that great one win in the Breeders' Futurity, whereas National Treasure is still
00:59:36looking for his first stakes win.
00:59:38But those four should be significantly higher than verifying the well-bred horse by Asuna
00:59:44Justify, trained by Brad Cox.
00:59:46And then you have the rest of them that are going to be a pretty big price after that.
00:59:50Cave Rock, Zoe, is a very exciting horse to look forward to.
00:59:53I know you've been pleased and you've been impressed by the way he's been training out
00:59:57there for Bob Baffert, and he's certainly done nothing wrong in his races so far.
01:00:01He's a very relaxed horse.
01:00:03I actually swung by Bob's barn yesterday, and Bob was in a jovial mood.
01:00:07And I'm like, come on, let me go see Cave Rock.
01:00:09And he's like, oh.
01:00:10And then, of course, he took me.
01:00:13Usually your best horse is in the front stall by your office, right?
01:00:16No, we're in the back 40.
01:00:17We went all the way around to the other end of the barn.
01:00:20Down at the end, he's got a nice window.
01:00:22And he was flat out in his stall, just flat out, not a bother on him.
01:00:28Two doors down, they were actually clipping Bob's other horse in the juvenile.
01:00:32So he was outside.
01:00:33The clippers were going and they were clipping him.
01:00:35But yeah, Cave Rock had his head out the door and just flat out.
01:00:39So we got a good look at him, got a good look at National Treasure, who's a big, tall,
01:00:44growthy-looking horse.
01:00:47Reading between the lines, if it wasn't for the ownership group that he has, I'm not sure
01:00:52he would be going to the Breeders' Cup.
01:00:54He looks like a horse who's in a growing spurt.
01:00:57I have no doubt he's a very, very good horse.
01:01:00But he just looks like he's growing right now.
01:01:03And next year is probably going to be where he makes a lot of the hay next year.
01:01:07I think he's going to be a much better horse next year.
01:01:09We're just seeing the raw bones.
01:01:11But Cave Rock is just a bulky tank.
01:01:14He moves like Arrogate on the racetrack.
01:01:17He's got that low head carriage and he just skips along the ground.
01:01:20But he's got a lot more substance.
01:01:22He looks much more like a three-year-old than Arrogate ever did in his two-year-old year.
01:01:28So I got a good look at him.
01:01:29And then Bob pulled me around the other side of the barn.
01:01:32He's like, come on, come on.
01:01:33Come and have a look at Tabor.
01:01:35I went and had a good look at Gunrunner.
01:01:37He's like, it's amazing how much he looks just like Gunrunner.
01:01:40We went in the stall and he's like, I love him right here.
01:01:45And he's getting a little bit higher in his withers.
01:01:48And he is a compact horse, Tabor.
01:01:50But he, again, has hit a bit of a growth spurt.
01:01:53And he really does look terrific going in there.
01:01:56And I mean, make no bones about it.
01:01:58If everything goes well for Flightline, the rest of them are running for second.
01:02:02But they still all got to cross the wire first.
01:02:05So we'll have to see.
01:02:06But Bob was very excited.
01:02:08It was kind of cool just to walk around Murderer's Row in the Baffert shed row.
01:02:13Now, a horse that wasn't entered, and we knew this was going to be the case,
01:02:16no Loggins, who was so impressive when running second in the Breeders Futurity at Keeneland.
01:02:21I would have given him the best chance to beat Cave Rock,
01:02:24even though he got beat by Forte in that race at Keeneland.
01:02:26He had a difficult trip.
01:02:27He fought gallantly.
01:02:28The wire came back on that horse.
01:02:30But Brant Cox said, you know, look, I really want to win the Kentucky Derby here with this horse.
01:02:35It would be for him to come back in the Breeders Cup would have been three races in seven weeks.
01:02:39He admitted that the horse came out of the Breeders Futurity at Keeneland kind
01:02:42of tired, didn't bounce back out of the race like he wanted to.
01:02:45Said if he was tearing the barn door down, I would have entered him.
01:02:48But Randy, where does Loggins fit into this?
01:02:50And are we going to see a East Coast-West Coast rivalry of Cave Rock and Loggins
01:02:54on the way to the Kentucky Derby?
01:02:55I mean, a million things can go wrong to derail that.
01:02:58But right now, I think they're the top two two-year-olds out there.
01:03:01I mean, it could also be an East Coast-West Coast rivalry between Cave Rock and Forte.
01:03:05Let's see how Forte runs in the Breeders Cup.
01:03:07I mean, he's done nothing wrong so far.
01:03:10And they ran against each other, obviously, in the Breeders Futurity.
01:03:13And you and I both, and Zoe probably as well, came out of that race thinking that Loggins
01:03:18long term would probably be the better horse, given his inexperience going into that race,
01:03:23given the trip that he had, a very, very fast pace.
01:03:26And he was on the engine all the way.
01:03:28And yet he was still fighting back gallantly through the lane, while all the other horses
01:03:32that were close to the pace finished way, way back in the pack.
01:03:36I'm excited about Loggins' chances as a three-year-old.
01:03:39I know Brad Cox is as well.
01:03:41I talked to him also.
01:03:43And I think it's the right decision not to run him in the Breeders Cup Juvenile,
01:03:47for all the reasons that you cited.
01:03:49But looking ahead, I think he is a horse we can get excited about.
01:03:53I think it's actually refreshing to see a trainer trying to do the right thing by the
01:03:58horse.
01:03:58Now, we don't exactly know how he came out of the race.
01:04:01But I mean, that's Brad's story, and he's sticking to it.
01:04:04And he's going to put him away for next year.
01:04:06So kudos to them, just to miss the dance and go for the big dance next year.
01:04:12The TDN Writer's Room is brought to you by West Point Thoroughbreds.
01:04:16Joining a West Point Thoroughbreds partnership can vault you into the world of instant camaraderie
01:04:22among people surrounding high-class racehorses.
01:04:25Just think, this past weekend, Decorated Invader got back in the winner's circle at Woodbine.
01:04:30They also had a Red Line Overdriver, son of Nyquist, trained by Todd Fletcher,
01:04:34to break his maiden at Goldstream Park.
01:04:37Coming up, they have a big weekend, with first captain running in the grade two
01:04:40Fayette at Keeneland, and Jackson Traveler in the grade three
01:04:44Bold River Ruler at Belmont.
01:04:47We'll be right back with this message from West Point Thoroughbreds.
01:04:53All the thrills.
01:04:57Fraction of the bills.
01:05:01Experience the power of the partnership.
01:05:07Change your life, make new friends, and compete at the highest level of thoroughbred racing.
01:05:14West Point Thoroughbreds, the gold standard in racing partnerships.
01:05:18Visit westpointtb.com.
01:05:22Being a small family business, I guess we're part of a dying breed.
01:05:25We're really grateful for the people that entrust us.
01:05:28We know it's a huge responsibility.
01:05:30We're always with your horse, every step of the way.
01:05:33When it comes to being at the sales ground, showing your horses, we are with your horse.
01:05:38Just driving up and down the road every day, there's not a time that I don't look out and
01:05:41feel a responsibility to the sport, the animal, the people that come to invest in the game.
01:05:46I want to see as many people enjoy this sport as they possibly can,
01:05:49because we do have the most beautiful sport in the world.
01:05:54The TD and Riders Room is brought to you by Legacy Bloodstock.
01:05:57If you think 50 years of combined experience in the horse business could benefit your program,
01:06:02then give Tommy or Wendy a call, because they personally advise you on each horse
01:06:07as if that horse were their own.
01:06:09Legacy Bloodstock, by the way, has almost 100 offerings cataloged for the upcoming Keeneland
01:06:15November breeding stock sale.
01:06:16Their first two horses to go through the ring in book one will be an American Pharaoh Colt,
01:06:22and then a filly by Authentic, who happens to be a half-sister to grade one winner, Lady Ivanka.
01:06:29And the Remy cartoon is in this week.
01:06:31And with all these horses coming to the Breeders' Cup from foreign lands and this or that,
01:06:35Remy wondered, do horses have jet lag?
01:06:38And he's got a horse obviously coming in from Europe saying,
01:06:40oi lads, is it just me who can't sleep?
01:06:42Another good one from our friend Remy Bloch.
01:06:44That's another wrap on this week's edition of the TD and Riders Room presented by Keeneland.
01:06:48I want to thank my co-host, Zoe Cabman, Randy Moss.
01:06:51I want to thank our associate producer, Katie Petruniak, our producer, Patty Wolfe,
01:06:55our editors, Nathan Wilkinson, Aliyah LaRocca, and Anthony LaRocca, and our mascot, Lucy.
01:06:59We'll talk to you next week.
01:07:01Lucy, I got a call!