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00:00In this week's edition of First Things First, I spoke with a couple of Hall of Famers,
00:05Richard Mandela, Mike Smith, and we spoke about a very special filly.
00:23How was the work, Dick?
00:24Very nice. 3 quarters and 12 and a little change.
00:27He galloped out 7 furlongs and 125 and change.
00:30So, we got some wind in her today and I think we're ready to go.
00:34How excited are you leading up to Breeders' Cup with the daughter of Beholder?
00:38Because you're trying to stay under the radar, but it's going to be impossible.
00:42Well, I don't know if exciting is the word.
00:45It's more stress and feeling of responsibility to get the job done.
00:50Does she have any similar traits to her mother?
00:52She can run.
00:54You had the first winner with Tina Ella from Beholder.
00:57What kind of a feeling was it for you to actually get one of her daughters to the winner's circle initially?
01:03And she won a little steak race.
01:05And she did.
01:06It was very gratifying.
01:09And my mother passed away the day that filly was born.
01:13I never spoke about it before, but she's retired now. We can talk about it.
01:18But she was named after my mother.
01:20That had to be super special.
01:22I can remember seeing you in the winner's circle and I was wondering why you were so emotional that day.
01:26No, I wasn't.
01:28Well, that's a very cool story.
01:31The filly's walking around the barn.
01:33Does she have any little quirks we should know about, Richard?
01:36No, she's just very sweet and she's a different personality than her mother.
01:41Other than she will, when the time is needed, she rises to the occasion.
01:48Beholder had a long history with Songbird.
01:50Mike Smith rode Songbird.
01:52What went into the decision to put Mike on her in the first place?
01:55Experience.
01:57And that's all that matters.
01:59All right, Mike, take me through the work.
02:01It looked like you gained some company.
02:03Was that by design?
02:04Was actually kind of hoping to.
02:06We didn't have nothing to work with her here.
02:09So I thought we'd let the first flight go off.
02:11And if it worked out great and if it didn't, she's a pretty good workhorse on her own if you want her to be.
02:16And we were fortunate to catch a little company.
02:19And she went really well this morning.
02:22Give them about a five-link test start.
02:24She would kind of run up to them.
02:25I gave her a breather around the turn and headed for home.
02:28I let her turn over to a right lead and about the eighth pull, I wanted to see if she was there.
02:32And, boy, she set me back in the seat.
02:35So all systems are gold.
02:37How cool is it for you to ride her knowing you rode Songbird who battled Beholder?
02:43I even rode her mother once.
02:45I was blessed enough to have ridden her mother once and won on her.
02:48But, yeah, it's pretty cool.
02:50It kind of means you've been around for a little bit.
02:52But it's pretty cool to see these young ones come up.
02:55And kind of, you know, she's got a big long ways to prove before she even comes halfway close to her mother.
03:02But she's certainly on the right track.
03:04How much are you looking forward to Breeders' Cup this year?
03:07Oh, I can't wait.
03:08I'm really looking forward to it, especially with getting the opportunity to ride a filly that's got the kind of talent she does.
03:14All goes well, man.
03:16The sky's the limit for her.
03:24Great to hear from those connections.
03:25A filly with a very, very bright future indeed.
03:29Do want to remind you that racing at Santa Anita does continue this weekend.
03:33And we will have the Pumpkin Patch and Fall Festival as well as the Smorgasbord Pizza Party this Saturday.
03:41Who doesn't love horse racing, beer and pizza, guys?
03:45What about that filly, Tamara?
03:47She's pretty cool, isn't she?