Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00:00For the love of the horse, for generations to come.
00:00:28And welcome to another edition of the TDN Writer's Room.
00:00:30My name is Bill Finley.
00:00:31I'm a correspondent for the TDN and I'm the co-host of the Down the Stretch radio show
00:00:35every Saturday morning on Sirius XM Radio.
00:00:38Hi y'all, or maybe hi you guys.
00:00:40I'm Randy Moss with NBC Sports.
00:00:44Zoe Cabman here with First Racing and Santa Anita delighted that the real Randy Moss didn't
00:00:50run off for Taylor Swift, so we're happy to see that, although that might be a good thing,
00:00:55and very happy that Bill is still wearing his cool new glasses.
00:00:58So glad to be there.
00:01:01Thank you very much, Zoe.
00:01:03All right, racetrack races last weekend, not a ton going on, but a couple things to talk
00:01:09about.
00:01:10The Sam F. Davis at the Tampa Bay Downs was won by no more time.
00:01:15Surprisingly, that horse was the favorite, a three to one, I don't think anybody really
00:01:19saw that.
00:01:20Of course, I like Change Command, who was the favorite for Shug McGahee, I thought he
00:01:24was an up-and-comer.
00:01:25He ran dead last, I have no idea what the problem was there.
00:01:30An 80 buyer figure for this race, I don't think we saw the complete derby winner in
00:01:36the Sam F. Davis, Randy.
00:01:38I totally agree.
00:01:39I mean, a nice win for no more time, congratulations to the Connections.
00:01:42Agate Road, the runner-up, proved that he can handle dirt as well as he can handle turf.
00:01:48Extra distance should help him, but I think he's going to be another one of these horses
00:01:53that's perfectly managed by Todd Fletcher to get just enough points to get into the
00:01:57Kentucky Derby and then be 35 or 40 to one during the derby itself.
00:02:02I was kind of interested in the trip of the fourth place horse, Elysian Meadows, who was
00:02:07impossibly wide from the number 12 post position.
00:02:10Still was beaten only ahead for third.
00:02:13I think he deserves a chance to move on to another Triple Crown prep race and see how
00:02:18he does.
00:02:20No, this was probably, all things considered, a second level derby prep race, Zoe.
00:02:27I would agree with you.
00:02:30No more time, got a good ride by Paco as expected.
00:02:34He's by not this time, so we'll hear from Mr. Taylor a little bit later on, but he snuck
00:02:39into the winner's circle by all accounts.
00:02:41He was very happy with that.
00:02:43Bread on the same cross as a filly that won a grade one race at Keeneland, so he is well
00:02:48bred.
00:02:49I thought Agate Rode, like you mentioned, Randy, proved everything you want to see moving
00:02:54forward and likely give Todd maybe five contenders in this year's derby.
00:02:59Didn't Todd like that?
00:03:01Having so many that just get into the derby, I mean, or do you think, I mean, surely he'd
00:03:06much rather just have one or two that are really, really good.
00:03:09He's just so good at getting there.
00:03:11Do you think that like burns on him a little bit?
00:03:17That's why he's two for 64 in the derby.
00:03:19Yeah, that's kind of sting, don't you think, Randy?
00:03:23His owners are certainly happy to get a chance to, you know, to compete in the Kentucky Derby,
00:03:27and that's what it's all about for Todd, to get as many horses into the derby for his
00:03:31owners as he possibly can, and he's won a couple of derbies.
00:03:35So one more thing about Agate Rode and the race he ran in the Sam Davis, and I've said
00:03:40stuff like this before, and this is for Zoe as much as anybody, Jose Ortiz, right?
00:03:47So you're on a horse around the first turn who is last, and there's not another horse
00:03:53within five lengths of him going around the first turn, and it's not just Jose Ortiz.
00:03:58It's so many other top jockeys in America.
00:04:01He goes the entire first turn in the three-path, giving up unnecessary ground.
00:04:07He loses by a length and a quarter.
00:04:09That actually could have cost him the race.
00:04:12Instead of sitting on the rail with no other horse around him, he's out in the three-path,
00:04:17just giving up that ground.
00:04:19It's as if jockeys only believe that geometry matters when they're going around the second
00:04:24turn and they're cutting the corner into the stretch or whatever.
00:04:27It matters just as much on the first turn as it does the second turn, and this sort
00:04:31of thing, we see it all the time.
00:04:33Top riders do it, and it's just maddening.
00:04:36Anyway, that's my soapbox moment.
00:04:38I'm thinking maybe in this instance, he wanted to keep all the dirt out of his face because
00:04:43he's coming off turf races.
00:04:45That's where I'm going, but I get what you're saying.
00:04:48In this particular instance, I think they didn't want him to be covered, but I know
00:04:52exactly what you mean, Randy.
00:04:54Okay.
00:04:56The most widely anticipated race involving three-year-olds this weekend was not the Sam
00:05:01F. Davis.
00:05:02I think it was that allowance race Sunday at Santa Anita.
00:05:06Baffert had a horse, TDN Rising Star, by the name of Maymun, who looked fantastic breaking
00:05:12his maiden.
00:05:13Typical Baffert horse, cost a zillion dollars, went out and ran a very fast number in his
00:05:18debut.
00:05:19He was the heavy favorite.
00:05:21There was another horse from Baffert by the name of Imagination.
00:05:25On paper, didn't look nearly as good as his stablemate, but I think you got to say both
00:05:30ran very well.
00:05:31I think people would have liked to see Maymun draw off and win by five, six lengths, but
00:05:36I think his stablemate just stepped up a bit and was able to nearly beat him, but here
00:05:42we go.
00:05:43We have an embarrassment of riches, more Baffert horses that look like they could be very competitive
00:05:49in the Kentucky Derby, and they'll be spending the first Saturday in May in their stalls
00:05:53in Arcadia, California, but Zoe, what did you think of Maymun?
00:05:58I liked him going in.
00:06:00I'm not a believer that Imagination's not a good horse.
00:06:03I mean, he'd already won twice going two turns.
00:06:06He had experience.
00:06:07Under his belt, Maymun just won six furlong race, which was brilliant.
00:06:13He cost $900,000, Jesse Longoria sold him, but originally he was only a $50,000 yearling.
00:06:19He just worked in nine and three at the OBS sale.
00:06:22So I liked Imagination, and he got the perfect trip by Pratt, who snuck up on him on the
00:06:29far turn and thought he was going to go on by, but Maymun just showing how tenacious
00:06:34he was.
00:06:35Now, let's not forget that he blew the first turn, much like he did in his debut.
00:06:40He took everyone out on the first turn in that race.
00:06:43I mean, I'm surprised there wasn't much more of an inquiry about it because he did not
00:06:48make the turn.
00:06:49He's still very green, but he did show some racehorse tendencies in there for Maymun.
00:06:54They're both good going forward.
00:06:57Yeah, Maymun looked so good when he broke his maiden that I was actually of the opinion
00:07:02that Baffert might have the two best three-year-olds in the country, and I'm not talking about
00:07:06Muth, I was talking about Nysos and Maymun.
00:07:09So I was really looking forward to watching him run, but I agree that Imagination, look,
00:07:15in his race before this, when he won the allowance race around two turns, okay, the horse that
00:07:20finished third in that race that was beating ten and three quarters lengths was another
00:07:24Baffert horse by the name of Cornell, who came back just the other day and broke his
00:07:29maiden looking very, very good.
00:07:32The number wasn't all that good, the speed figure guys in that particular race, but it
00:07:36was the only two-turn race of the day, and I think in hindsight, the race was a lot better
00:07:42than we actually may have given it credit for.
00:07:47So yeah, Maymun showed a lot of tenacity and fighting back along the inside.
00:07:51I'm going to dial it back just a little bit, in my opinion, about Maymun, but I think both
00:07:57horses are horses definitely to keep an eye on going forward.
00:08:02The Bob Baffert Express also has a very good filly in the Las Virginas Stakes, Kinza, who
00:08:09got a 96 when she broke her maiden for Baffert, a 96 buyer figure, came back to face Copion,
00:08:17by Dick Mandela, a two-time winner, the winner of the Santa Ynez Stakes, looked like a two-horse
00:08:22race on paper, maybe Copion I gave the edge to because he had a little bit more experience,
00:08:28but Kinza won quite comfortably by two lengths, didn't run away and win by ten, but it didn't
00:08:35look at any point like Copion was going to get by.
00:08:38So we keep bringing this up, but it's a storyline that we're going to probably talk about on
00:08:44virtually every one of these podcasts between now and the Kentucky Derby.
00:08:48Now this Baffert ban is affecting the Kentucky Oaks.
00:08:52I know Just FYI has got strong credentials, but Randy, I would think with those buyer
00:08:57numbers on Kinza, which are much faster than the horses that were the main two-year-old
00:09:03fillies last year, you'd have to make her the horse to beat in the Kentucky Oaks, and
00:09:08of course she won't be there.
00:09:10So, you know, look, Churchill Downs, I think they shot themselves in the foot, that we're
00:09:15going to have presumably a Kentucky Derby and a Kentucky Oaks is going to be missing
00:09:19some of the very best horses in training, and that's certainly not anybody's idea of
00:09:25a good idea.
00:09:26Yeah.
00:09:27Let me let Zoe start with this first, because I got something else to say about that particular
00:09:31situation at the end.
00:09:32Zoe, what'd you think about Kinza?
00:09:33I thought she was good.
00:09:35Did I love her in this race?
00:09:37No, I was all over Copion.
00:09:39I loved Copion, and looking at them both in the paddock, if you're going to look at a
00:09:44two-turn filly, you're going to look at Copion and not Kinza.
00:09:48We actually looked at her at the two-year-old sale, Dave McCaffin's Grassroots sold her.
00:09:53Now he picked her up for $30,000 at the OBS October sale and managed to sell her for $350,000.
00:09:59We were thinking we might get her for $100,000.
00:10:02She hasn't grown very much and she runs hot.
00:10:05Boy, does she run hot.
00:10:06She's not very big, but she's obviously as game as a pebble.
00:10:09I mean, in her debut, she was brilliant.
00:10:12I was like, wow, two turns, I was like, she looks like a sprinter.
00:10:16She's not getting two turns, and she did, and she did it convincingly over a very nice
00:10:21filly.
00:10:22We'll hear from JJ Hernandez, who I spoke to for First Things First, and he was very
00:10:27impressed with this filly.
00:10:28She runs in a massive pair of earplugs just to kind of keep her feet on the ground and
00:10:33they pull them out right before the gate.
00:10:35I did speak to Pratt about Copion, and he thought that he was going to go on by, and
00:10:40then he was almost like blaming himself for her debut that she won by six.
00:10:45He said, I wish I hadn't been quite so easy on her, and she got a little bit more out
00:10:50of it because she won so impressively and so easily.
00:10:53He thinks that perhaps Mandela had gone a little easy on her and she wasn't quite up
00:10:59to the mark to beat Kinzer.
00:11:01We'll see them rematch a little bit later on.
00:11:03As for Bob and the Oaks, this filly will win the Oaks somewhere.
00:11:07She really will.
00:11:08She'll likely go to Sunderland or somewhere.
00:11:10Maybe we'll see her at the fairgrounds.
00:11:13So look, I agree that that's all we're going to be talking about leading up to the Derby
00:11:18and the Oaks, and that's all anybody's going to be talking about at the Derby and the Oaks.
00:11:22I don't think it's too late for Churchill Downs to do an about-face and to change its
00:11:28mind.
00:11:29We haven't even had the 50-point prep races yet.
00:11:31The Risen Star, I guess, might be the first one of those.
00:11:34I don't necessarily know anything.
00:11:37I don't expect it to happen, but Churchill Downs could still do the right thing.
00:11:43I've even got the press release sort of written in my head, okay, where Churchill Downs says
00:11:49that in the spirit of competition and after consultation with our board of directors and
00:11:55other industry leaders, Churchill Downs Incorporated will conditionally permit horses trained by
00:12:01Bob Baffert to compete in the Derby, Oaks, and other stakes races.
00:12:05Derby and Oaks points accrued will immediately be applied retroactively.
00:12:10CDI strongly believes the Kentucky Derby should annually feature the best three-year-olds
00:12:16in America.
00:12:17Additionally, CDI wishes to avoid unnecessary distractions as it celebrates the 150th anniversary
00:12:24of the Derby.
00:12:26Churchill Downs could give credit to the dropping of the lawsuits into Baffert's recent
00:12:32statements as a step in the right direction, and CDI could also say, look, the decision
00:12:39to permit Baffert-trained horses is contingent on two stipulations.
00:12:45First, Mr. Baffert must agree to extended pre-race testing for both therapeutic medications
00:12:54and banned medications, and secondly, Baffert must agree in writing that CDI reserves the
00:13:01right to reinstate the ban at any future date if it believes that Baffert's actions have
00:13:07jeopardized the integrity of America's greatest horse race.
00:13:11It's easy.
00:13:12Churchill Downs could still do this and do the right thing, and I think the entire industry,
00:13:16or 95% of the industry, as well as racing fans, would applaud it, and I think it would
00:13:22actually enhance the reputation throughout the industry of CDI if they were to do something
00:13:28like this, right?
00:13:29If Nysos, if it looks like Nysos is a potential triple crown winner, everybody wants to see
00:13:34the horse run in the Kentucky Derby, and Churchill Downs, I agree, Bill, would be shooting itself
00:13:39in the foot if they continue down this road.
00:13:42Randy, it's a great thought, but it ain't gonna happen, you know.
00:13:46I didn't say I thought it would.
00:13:48It makes too much sense.
00:13:49Things that make that much sense in horse racing never happen.
00:13:52I totally agree with you, and it's the only way to change the narrative, because the narrative,
00:13:59as you mentioned, is all eyes were supposed to be on the celebration of the 150th Kentucky
00:14:04Derby.
00:14:05Now all eyes are going to be on where's Nysos, and where's Muth, and where's Didioua Miniman.
00:14:17Could you imagine if Churchill actually did that, and then Bob was like, oh, screw you,
00:14:21Churchill, I'll see you next year.
00:14:24If you're an owner and a trainer of one of the leading Kentucky Derby horses, okay, yeah,
00:14:29you want to win the Derby, but you don't want to be Country House or Mandaloon and win a
00:14:34Kentucky Derby with an asterisk.
00:14:37And that's what this Kentucky Derby is going to be, if Nysos stays healthy, and the other
00:14:41Baffert horses as well, and they would be front and center, and Nysos would be a heavy
00:14:47favorite in the Derby, and he's not there.
00:14:50It would be a Derby with an asterisk, and I don't think even the other horsemen involved
00:14:54want a situation like that.
00:14:56Totally agree.
00:14:57I do want to remind you that the TDN Writer's Room is brought to you by Keeneland.
00:15:04We already mentioned that the Sam F. Davis winner, No More Time, was a $40,000 purchase
00:15:10from the Keeneland September sale.
00:15:13Let's move on and talk about tickets for the Keeneland Spring Meet, which runs from April
00:15:16the 5th through the 26th.
00:15:18They will go on sale on February the 20th, and Keeneland is accepting entries for the
00:15:242024 April Horses of Racing Age sale, which will be held on April the 26th, that's a Friday
00:15:32after the races, on closing day of the Spring Meet.
00:15:35We'll be right back after this message from Keeneland.
00:15:42At Keeneland, a horse will always be measured in hands.
00:15:49Hands that see, that sense, that speak.
00:15:57Hands that hold our sport to a higher standard.
00:16:01Not for our sake, but for theirs.
00:16:05For the love of the horse, for generations to come.
00:16:09The Fastest Horse of the Week is brought to you by Improbable, one of the fast sires at
00:16:15Windstar Farm.
00:16:16Improbable, a four-time grade one winner, whose first two-year-olds right now are in
00:16:21the barn preparing to run later this year.
00:16:24Improbable, the first horse in Seattle's slew to be a grade one winner, undefeated as a
00:16:29two-year-old, and then to go on to win an Eclipse Award as a champion older male.
00:16:34In this case, Improbable was a four-year-old when he accomplished that feat.
00:16:39Last year, Improbable's yearling sold for up to $650,000.
00:16:43He's from the immediate family of Hardspun.
00:16:45His dad was out of a half-sister to Hardspun, and Improbable stands at Windstar for a fee
00:16:49of only $15,000.
00:16:52Now, the Fastest Horse of the Week won Saturday in the San Marcos at Santa Anita.
00:16:57His name is Miss the Cut, and he got a 100 buyer speed figure.
00:17:01This is the same horse that ran last in the Breeders' Cup Classic.
00:17:04He came back in his next start in the San Gabriel at a mile and an eighth at Santa Anita
00:17:08the day after Christmas.
00:17:09Got a beautiful rail skimming ride from Irad Ortiz and finished second that day to a horse
00:17:14named Easter.
00:17:15Then he came back at a longer distance in the San Marcos.
00:17:18That was key.
00:17:19And got another beautiful rail trip courtesy of Joel Rosario to win that race as well.
00:17:25Again, a 100 buyer speed figure.
00:17:27The co-owners, BZ, Lane Zen, Vinny Viola, EJ Hudson Jr., and Lynn Hudson.
00:17:32And his original owner from England, Ed Babington, have now told trainer John Sadler
00:17:37they're considering bringing this horse to Royal Ascot to run in June.
00:17:42Here's the interesting part.
00:17:43This horse has already won at Royal Ascot.
00:17:46June 18, 2022, he won an undercard race, a minor stakes race.
00:17:53So he does have some experience winning at Royal Ascot.
00:17:56So maybe that's a good reason to send him back.
00:17:58During his 14-year career, Randy Moss had a single season record of touchdowns of 23.
00:18:09He was the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year in 1998 and was kind of a little bit known
00:18:16as a head case.
00:18:17Randy, you're not a head case, but I had no idea you had such a prolific career
00:18:25as a wide receiver for many Minnesota Vikings.
00:18:28What's up with that?
00:18:30This whole thing, I mean, it went viral.
00:18:35So this whole thing started, right?
00:18:38I did a speaking engagement at the University of Arizona at their symposium.
00:18:42And afterward, I had a long talk with Chip Tuttle, who does a lot of advertising work
00:18:46for the NTRA.
00:18:47I've known Chip for a long time.
00:18:48Great respect for him.
00:18:49And we talked about the issues in thoroughbred racing, namely horse safety.
00:18:53And I mentioned the opinion, and we've talked about it, that more is being done
00:18:57right now for horse safety than at any time in our lifetimes.
00:19:01Right?
00:19:02It's ticking downward, the horse injuries, the catastrophic horse injuries,
00:19:09but still, the industry is doubling down on horse safety.
00:19:13So then I get a phone call a month or so later from Chip saying,
00:19:16hey, if you really believe that, would you be willing to go to the Super Bowl
00:19:20and go to Radio Row and talk about horse safety?
00:19:25Since you previously worked at NFL Network for 13 years, you can talk football as well.
00:19:29So that's what I did.
00:19:31And right off the bat, there's a big show in New York on WFAN,
00:19:35which arguably is the biggest sports talk radio station in America,
00:19:40Boomer and Geo with Boomer E. Sison.
00:19:43And the producer didn't bother to really read the email,
00:19:46and he thought he was getting the football Randy Moss.
00:19:49And who wouldn't rather have the football Randy Moss
00:19:52to talk about the Super Bowl than me?
00:19:56And the whole thing went viral.
00:19:58You can find it on YouTube.
00:20:00You can find it on Twitter.
00:20:02They discovered on air that they were getting me
00:20:05instead of the wide receiver Randy Moss.
00:20:08So that's all these radio stations we're talking about all week long.
00:20:11I probably did 15 radio shows from places all around the country.
00:20:16They all wanted to talk about it.
00:20:19Three or four of them booked me only because of that,
00:20:22because they wanted to hear me and to talk about what that whole thing was like.
00:20:27But yeah, I got a chance to talk about the Super Bowl.
00:20:30That's the way these things work, right?
00:20:32All these people, these athletes and stuff, come to Radio Row,
00:20:35and they got something to sell, right?
00:20:38I ran into Baker Mayfield.
00:20:41He had an Advanced Auto Parts shirt on,
00:20:45and he was being tailed by three or four guys from Advanced Auto Parts.
00:20:48And he talks about football,
00:20:50and then he gets in stuff about Advanced Auto Parts, right?
00:20:53Kurt Warner was there.
00:20:55He's represented everything from Amway to Skittles
00:20:58at the Super Bowl on Radio Row.
00:21:00Well, I was there to talk about horse racing and horse safety.
00:21:03So I would talk about the Super Bowl, and fortunately, I picked the Chiefs,
00:21:06and I explained why I thought the Chiefs would win.
00:21:08And then they talk about the Kentucky Derby, and then we talk about horse safety.
00:21:11So I hope it was a good thing.
00:21:14We definitely got plenty of radio exposure
00:21:17and definitely got a lot of unanticipated social media exposure
00:21:22through the whole Boomer and Geo thing.
00:21:25But it was a lot of fun, and then I got back on a plane,
00:21:27and I got a chance to watch the Super Bowl on TV,
00:21:30the way I would prefer.
00:21:32The Boomer and Geo thing was just brilliant,
00:21:35and the two guys were like,
00:21:37wait, hold on, you mean Randy Moss is white?
00:21:40And he's got a bald head?
00:21:43Wait, what?
00:21:45The white man?
00:21:47Randy Moss?
00:21:49And he's talking horse racing?
00:21:51It was hysterical.
00:21:53As I tweeted out, I mean, it's really easy to tell us apart, right?
00:21:56He's the one with hair.
00:21:59And ESPN and their pre-Super Bowl coverage,
00:22:02Randy Moss has a thing that he does every week during the season.
00:22:05You got mossed?
00:22:07It's a big thing.
00:22:09This is what he used.
00:22:11You got mossed.
00:22:13And then he had a good time with it as well.
00:22:15So anyway.
00:22:17So all kidding aside now,
00:22:19and you've been a good sport about the whole thing,
00:22:21how were you received?
00:22:23Were these people,
00:22:25I know that they have a ton of air time that they have to fill,
00:22:27but were these guys, you know,
00:22:29happy to be talking horse racing?
00:22:31That you were putting out a good message?
00:22:34Did that go over well?
00:22:36You know, what was the general reaction
00:22:38as soon as they found out that
00:22:40you had never caught a pass in your entire life?
00:22:42It was a positive reaction.
00:22:44I mean, most of the people
00:22:46that booked me were people
00:22:48that knew me.
00:22:50Because I get a lot of radio calls
00:22:52before the Kentucky Derby
00:22:54if there's a chance to sweep the Triple Crown
00:22:56before the Belmont.
00:22:58So I've already done stuff with a lot of these radio stations
00:23:00in the past.
00:23:02Some of the people involved,
00:23:04some of them were gambling shows,
00:23:06and the people involved were horse racing fans already.
00:23:08But even the ones that weren't, yeah.
00:23:10I mean, I thought it was pretty well received.
00:23:12Kentucky Derby talk
00:23:14is always good for those people
00:23:16because everybody knows about the Kentucky Derby.
00:23:18But not everybody knows that there are
00:23:20two Randy Mosses out there,
00:23:22as it turns out.
00:23:24You know, when we first started doing this,
00:23:26I told my boyfriend, and he's like,
00:23:28well, who do you do it with?
00:23:30I'm like, I'll build Finley and Randy Moss.
00:23:32He's like, wait, wait, wait.
00:23:34You do it with Randy Moss?
00:23:36A podcast with Randy Moss?
00:23:38I thought you were talking about
00:23:40the football Randy Moss.
00:23:42I'm like, no.
00:23:44And I live in Minnesota, so there.
00:23:46Did you at least play high school football
00:23:48or anything?
00:23:50I played junior high football.
00:23:52Yeah, but not high school football, no.
00:23:54I was a baseball guy.
00:23:56The TD and Writer's Room brought to you
00:23:58by the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association.
00:24:00Mare domicile reports,
00:24:02don't forget, should have already been
00:24:04completed for the foals of 2024
00:24:06for the mare's foaling this year.
00:24:08But for those purchased at public sale
00:24:10or those being bred back to a
00:24:12Pennsylvania sallion, don't forget,
00:24:14as soon as your mare enters the state,
00:24:16you need to fill out this mare domicile report.
00:24:18You can find it at pabred.com
00:24:20under the
00:24:22forms tab.
00:24:24And of course, it's very beneficial to have a
00:24:26horse bred in the state of Pennsylvania.
00:24:28Don't forget that PA Sired PA Bred
00:24:30series. The first leg takes place
00:24:32on Pennsylvania Derby Day for
00:24:34two-year-olds, $100,000, two-year-old colts,
00:24:36two-year-old fillies, and the nominations
00:24:38for that series right now,
00:24:40they're $500 until the end of April.
00:24:42Don't forget to take advantage of that
00:24:44because the fee will go up after that.
00:24:50PA Bred, I think we've built a brand
00:24:52at this point.
00:24:54The state of Pennsylvania has the best breeders
00:24:56program in the entire
00:24:58United States.
00:25:00Angel of Empire
00:25:02wins the Arkansas Derby and wins it clear.
00:25:04Caravelle
00:25:06in the Breeders' Cup turf sprint.
00:25:08Pennsylvania and the
00:25:10PHBA have the best state-bred program
00:25:12in the country, bar none.
00:25:14The best breeders awards and stallion awards
00:25:16in the country. The best
00:25:18two-year-old by legendary sire
00:25:20Quality Road. Get it back, $1.5 million.
00:25:22Very, very
00:25:24impressive debut. Cantering Home
00:25:26could not have been more impressive.
00:25:28Coast to coast to the American
00:25:30Pharaoh. He's the real deal.
00:25:32Undefeated and unchallenged
00:25:34at two. He's just too good!
00:25:36He wins the Breeders' Cup
00:25:38Jubilee! Cornish!
00:25:42Cornish.
00:25:47And now it's time for the Coolmore Stallion
00:25:49of the Week, and this week that is Cornish.
00:25:51Cornish's first foals are arriving
00:25:53all across Kentucky right now. We have a
00:25:55couple of them to show you. Here's a filly
00:25:57out of faith and honor, bred by
00:25:59Sun Valley Farm. Here's a filly out of the
00:26:01six-time stakes winner, She's on the
00:26:03Warpath, bred by Robert and
00:26:05Lawanda Lowe. Now Zoe, I know you were
00:26:07very familiar with Cornish
00:26:09and involved in the purchasing
00:26:11of this horse at the sales.
00:26:13Is he stamping these foals?
00:26:15Well, what you're seeing from these two foals
00:26:17which is absolutely fantastic,
00:26:19they both look like big,
00:26:21strong, fast
00:26:23fillies. I mean
00:26:25the one filly on the top's got
00:26:27a back end like a Mack truck.
00:26:29And he's been stamping
00:26:31these kind of fillies
00:26:33with some of his leg
00:26:35and some of his length, but they look strong
00:26:37and they look fast, which is
00:26:39exactly what you want to see from a horse who was
00:26:41undefeated as a two-year-old,
00:26:43never headed in any of his
00:26:45two-year-old races and managed to take that
00:26:47speed around two turns
00:26:49in his two-year-old year. So yes,
00:26:51I give them a big two thumbs up.
00:26:53Two beautiful-looking, big, strong,
00:26:55fast-looking fillies, which is
00:26:57what we want to see.
00:26:59Cornish was the TDN Rising
00:27:01Star, a multiple Grade 1 winner,
00:27:03and the Best Juvenile by QualityRoad
00:27:05stands at Coolmore for just $15,000.
00:27:07Meanwhile,
00:27:09now it's time for the heart of our program.
00:27:11The TDN Writer's Room is brought to you by
00:27:13The Green Group, a tax accounting and advisory
00:27:15firm specializing in the
00:27:17thoroughbred industry and especially
00:27:19keen on saving you
00:27:21money on your taxes.
00:27:23We welcome in now
00:27:25The Green Group Guest of the Week, and it's Frank
00:27:27Taylor. He's the Director of New Business
00:27:29Development for TaylorMade and one of the
00:27:31famous Taylor family members
00:27:33that are so
00:27:35deeply involved in racing. Frank,
00:27:37we're not going to talk horses so much with
00:27:39you today. We're going to talk people.
00:27:41And the reason is you are the person
00:27:43behind Stable Recovery
00:27:45and TaylorMade School of
00:27:47Horsemanship. I'll give you a brief
00:27:49description that it's something
00:27:51to help people that are recovering
00:27:53from substance abuse problems
00:27:55get their lives together and then
00:27:57eventually get jobs within the
00:27:59horse racing industry. But tell me the rest
00:28:01of the story.
00:28:03So a few
00:28:05years ago, about four or five years ago,
00:28:07I was
00:28:09kind of studying
00:28:11a restaurant here in town called
00:28:13DV8, like DV8 from
00:28:15your old wife. And I'd go in
00:28:17there and eat and I was
00:28:19just amazed with how good the food and the
00:28:21service was. And
00:28:23then I learned that they were
00:28:25only working people that were in recovery.
00:28:27So
00:28:29I said, well, maybe this could work in the horse
00:28:31business because the horse business, I think one of
00:28:33their biggest issues today is labor.
00:28:35And so
00:28:37I talked to Rob Perez and his wife
00:28:39who owned the DV8
00:28:41and I said, do you think this would work
00:28:43in the horse business
00:28:45as well as it does in the restaurant business?
00:28:47And their answer was, I think it'll work
00:28:49better because you really
00:28:51are working with
00:28:53animals, you're outside, it's
00:28:55good physical labor
00:28:57which is good for recovery.
00:28:59So
00:29:01I didn't act on that
00:29:03immediately. It was just
00:29:05a thought in my mind and actually I got
00:29:07busy and I didn't pursue it.
00:29:09And I
00:29:11but then
00:29:13I kind of got kick-started.
00:29:15Seemed like a terrible thing at the
00:29:17time, but my son
00:29:19my youngest son became an alcoholic
00:29:21and I was
00:29:23you know, I was
00:29:25it really hit me hard and
00:29:27I've been a heavy drinker all my life.
00:29:29And you know, I built a
00:29:31big business. I stayed married for
00:29:3335 years and you know, had a good
00:29:35family and hadn't really suffered the
00:29:37consequences of alcoholism
00:29:39like a lot of people do.
00:29:41I was definitely feeling it and it was time
00:29:43for me to quit and I
00:29:45said I was going to quit for 40
00:29:47lengths in a row and I'd last a week.
00:29:49But that was
00:29:51kind of the straw that broke the camel's back
00:29:53and then
00:29:55I should have bet everybody
00:29:57I knew because I could have made millions
00:29:59if they would have said I'd never
00:30:01quit drinking. But
00:30:03anyway, I quit. It was amazing
00:30:05like a miracle because nobody ever saw that
00:30:07coming and I quit.
00:30:09And when I quit I thought, you know,
00:30:11I'm not going to have any more fun.
00:30:13That was my identity. That's my lifestyle.
00:30:15That's what I did.
00:30:17And I thought, but then
00:30:19once I did it and quit
00:30:21I started feeling better and
00:30:23I was having more fun than I've ever had.
00:30:25And it's
00:30:27from that
00:30:29it kind of spurred me on to
00:30:31start the school of horsemanship
00:30:33which is just an idea
00:30:35of a 90-day program to
00:30:37teach the basics of horsemanship
00:30:39to get people started in like a groom
00:30:41level going on
00:30:43to another farmer to tailor-made.
00:30:45So, you know
00:30:47I had kind of a tough sale job because I went
00:30:49in to my brother. I said, I've got this idea
00:30:51I want to bring in a bunch of heroin addicts
00:30:53and alcoholics and
00:30:55felons in here
00:30:57to work with these horses
00:30:59and they were looking at me like I had two heads
00:31:01and
00:31:03I know how to sell my brother.
00:31:05So I got him to sell. I'm just
00:31:07giving me a 90-day shot at it.
00:31:09And so they
00:31:11were reluctant because there's a lot of
00:31:13concerns, you know,
00:31:15how the
00:31:17clientele is going to respond to
00:31:19it, you know.
00:31:21Is it going to be ODs? Is it going to be this?
00:31:23Is it going to be that? There's a lot of things to be concerned
00:31:25about. But here we
00:31:27are into it, you know,
00:31:29three and a half years and
00:31:31we had a hiccup here or there but nothing
00:31:33major. And
00:31:35we've really, I think, changed a lot
00:31:37of lives. We've
00:31:39introduced a lot of people to the horse business,
00:31:41trained a lot of people
00:31:43and, you know,
00:31:45it's just been amazing
00:31:47results and
00:31:49you know, I give all the credit
00:31:51to God because
00:31:53he put these things in place
00:31:55and it's just been like
00:31:57to me like one miracle after
00:31:59another. You see people changing their
00:32:01lives. You see
00:32:03guys getting jobs. You see
00:32:05families reunited. You see fathers
00:32:07in homes. You
00:32:09see taxpayers become
00:32:11taxpayers.
00:32:13And it's
00:32:15just been an amazing
00:32:17journey so far.
00:32:19You know, at first it was very
00:32:21we didn't know what we were doing. It's just
00:32:23kind of a crawl,
00:32:25walk, run situation
00:32:27and I think we're up to the running
00:32:29situation now. We've really built a great
00:32:31staff. We've got
00:32:33Christian Counselor who's our CEO
00:32:35and we've got a good
00:32:37COO that
00:32:39that's just been hired
00:32:41and we just got a really good team
00:32:43and we're ready to build. We've got
00:32:45about 40 guys in the program now
00:32:47and I believe
00:32:49that we're getting our
00:32:51model figured out, getting our
00:32:53processes, our fundraising,
00:32:55our
00:32:57teaching platform
00:32:59in the right spot and I just think it's got
00:33:01a very bright future. We're in
00:33:03a position to help a lot of people.
00:33:05Well, you are certainly spreading the
00:33:07word. I mean, initially most people
00:33:09just know of
00:33:11Will Walden who graduated.
00:33:13He was like one of the premier,
00:33:15one that everybody's heard of now
00:33:17and you're just doing an absolutely
00:33:19terrific job for an industry
00:33:21that is begging
00:33:23for help. I mean,
00:33:25we need help in every kind
00:33:27of sphere that there is in
00:33:29horse racing, breeding, you name it.
00:33:31People are just crying
00:33:33out for help. Are the people
00:33:35beating down your door to get
00:33:37into the program knowing
00:33:39that there's a job waiting for them
00:33:41afterwards?
00:33:43Yes, I think
00:33:45if we wanted to have 500
00:33:47people in this program by the end of the year
00:33:49that wouldn't be a problem.
00:33:51All we need is space, money and management.
00:33:53It's
00:33:55the need is way beyond
00:33:57what we
00:33:59can serve at this point and
00:34:01always will be in my opinion.
00:34:03It's just such a
00:34:05crisis and a
00:34:07terrible situation
00:34:09and it's
00:34:11destroying society, it's destroying
00:34:13families. It's just absolutely
00:34:15one of the worst epidemics
00:34:17in I think the history
00:34:19of mankind.
00:34:21But the beautiful thing is
00:34:23we have that huge problem
00:34:25and that we have a huge problem
00:34:27with labor in this country
00:34:29and so if you blend those
00:34:31two together
00:34:33they can help solve
00:34:35each other.
00:34:37One of the things about
00:34:39addiction, the positive
00:34:41thing about addiction is
00:34:43it forces people to come
00:34:45to have more of a
00:34:47spiritual connection which I think
00:34:49their lives are much stronger when
00:34:51they have faith and spiritual connection
00:34:53and they're able to live
00:34:55a better life and be better
00:34:57people and do the right things.
00:34:59And then the other side of it
00:35:01that I think is very strong
00:35:03is basically for a person to stay
00:35:05sober they have to help another person
00:35:07and so it's like a snowball effect.
00:35:09You get 10 guys in here
00:35:11and then they each all
00:35:13have to help 5 or 10 other guys
00:35:15and as you get this
00:35:17thing going it's just a mushroom
00:35:19and it's going to
00:35:21bring us back from all the
00:35:23problems we have or hopefully
00:35:25and solve a lot of them.
00:35:27I was very curious about a couple more
00:35:29things about the Stable
00:35:31Recovery Program.
00:35:33It's not just tailor made
00:35:35if it was just you guys it wouldn't work.
00:35:37You need the help of the entire
00:35:39horse racing community
00:35:41in and around Lexington and if you call up
00:35:43XYZ Farm and say
00:35:45I've got a graduate of my program
00:35:47he's looking for work
00:35:49we've really taught him something but
00:35:51he spent a year and a half in jail
00:35:53and he's a recovering heroin addict.
00:35:55Were people
00:35:57ever slamming the phone down
00:35:59on you or were people fairly
00:36:01receptive to taking a chance on these people?
00:36:03You know it's been amazing
00:36:05how open people have been
00:36:07to that.
00:36:09I think the whole environment
00:36:11and
00:36:13employers that own businesses
00:36:15there's such a lack
00:36:17of
00:36:19labor that
00:36:21there used to be oh I'm not going to hire a felon
00:36:23I'm not going to hire an alcoholic
00:36:25I'm not going to do that
00:36:27but now I think they're just very open
00:36:29to that and
00:36:31I was told by
00:36:33Rob Perez he said you know when you're hiring
00:36:35in the groom level you're hiring
00:36:37in a segment of society there's addiction
00:36:39all through society but especially
00:36:41in that level there's a high
00:36:43amount
00:36:45addiction and so you
00:36:47have the choice you can either
00:36:49hire into the treated group or the
00:36:51untreated group and
00:36:53he said what you're going to find out Frank
00:36:55is you're going to like hiring into the treated
00:36:57group because they're
00:36:59getting better and they're trying to do better
00:37:01and he said when you pull somebody
00:37:03out of the fire and help save their life
00:37:05they start
00:37:07developing certain
00:37:09characteristics like the loyalty
00:37:11being grateful working
00:37:13as a team and look it up
00:37:15try to help somebody else
00:37:17and he said when you get that
00:37:19built in
00:37:21it's just those characteristics are so good
00:37:23to build a company and a team
00:37:25and that's been absolutely
00:37:27what I've found.
00:37:29How proud are you
00:37:31of the job you've done as a
00:37:33father as a mentor
00:37:35as the guy that these guys
00:37:37look up to I know we read the story
00:37:39on Josh Bryan I believe he's in there
00:37:41with the room with you right
00:37:43now like how does it make
00:37:45you feel to know at this
00:37:47stage of your life you're
00:37:49in recovery that you have reached out
00:37:51and helped so many people already with
00:37:53more to come?
00:37:55It's very rewarding and
00:37:57it feels good but
00:37:59actually you know I was
00:38:01drinking for 50 years and I was
00:38:03leading a lot of people in the wrong direction
00:38:05so the way I look at it is I've got a lot of
00:38:07ground to make up
00:38:09but when you see guys like
00:38:11Josh and Josh Franks and
00:38:13Mike Lowry and guys
00:38:15that are moving
00:38:17up and their lives are coming
00:38:19together and they're being successful
00:38:21it's just awesome and
00:38:23you know we keep like
00:38:25what we call KPIs on
00:38:27stable recovery that's key predictive
00:38:29indicators and
00:38:31so one of my favorite indicators
00:38:33is we track how many family members
00:38:35are reunited
00:38:37and we're up to almost
00:38:39600 family members reunited
00:38:41you know
00:38:43and that's with
00:38:45just under 100 people
00:38:47graduating but when you
00:38:49you know that's
00:38:51what's awesome is when you and we have
00:38:53graduations you know
00:38:55usually one a week and
00:38:57when the families and the
00:38:59guys have their families come back
00:39:01and they're getting reunited with their kids
00:39:03and their wife and
00:39:05you see that change
00:39:07it's just
00:39:09very very rewarding
00:39:11absolutely that's my passion now
00:39:13that's my biggest thrill
00:39:15you know I get more out of that
00:39:17than selling a million dollar
00:39:19year owner ten million dollar marriage
00:39:21that's what really fires me
00:39:23up now. Frank it's no
00:39:25coincidence that this has been
00:39:27successful and it involves a horse
00:39:29and you know we're learning so
00:39:31much more all the time about
00:39:33the relationship between horses
00:39:35and people
00:39:37they've done some great work with
00:39:39soldiers coming back from the wars with PTSD
00:39:41with horses as well
00:39:43you know I'm not saying you
00:39:45couldn't have made this work if you used
00:39:47zebras or something like that
00:39:49but how important is it
00:39:51is the horse
00:39:53and the connection they make with
00:39:55the people how important is that
00:39:57towards the recovery
00:39:59and what benefit is the horse to these people
00:40:01well it's
00:40:03it's amazing it's like
00:40:05the secret sauce for
00:40:07for stable recovery that's
00:40:09something we have that other recovery places
00:40:11don't have and
00:40:13you know when I
00:40:15first started this we used to have our
00:40:17AA meetings out behind the barn
00:40:19and we would have
00:40:21the guys have been here for a while they would
00:40:23come and then the new guys just showing up
00:40:25a day or two we wouldn't
00:40:27put them to work the first week so they would
00:40:29we get the other guys started working those other
00:40:31guys just hanging around for a ride
00:40:33back to the thing and inevitably
00:40:35these mayors would come up from this big
00:40:37field and those guys would just gravitate
00:40:39down there and start rubbing them on the head
00:40:41and whatever you could just see it's like
00:40:43wow look at that and
00:40:45you know I was born
00:40:47in the horse business and I love horses
00:40:49and they're my passion but
00:40:51you know I
00:40:53didn't really realize how therapeutic
00:40:55horses were or understand that
00:40:57part of it until I
00:40:59started seeing people that are
00:41:01broken interact
00:41:03with those horses and see the peace and joy
00:41:05that comes to them immediately
00:41:07and it's
00:41:09just it's just an amazing
00:41:11thing you know God when he made the horse
00:41:13it was one of the greatest
00:41:15gifts he ever did for man and
00:41:17and to see
00:41:19these horses and you know
00:41:21these horses
00:41:23they can sense when somebody's
00:41:25in pain or they can sense when things
00:41:27and they're not judgmental
00:41:29they don't care if you've got a felony or if you're
00:41:31a heroin addict or whatever
00:41:33they're just there to heal you
00:41:35and
00:41:37it's just amazing
00:41:39to watch and it's
00:41:43it's really a big part
00:41:45of why I think we're successful
00:41:47What's been the biggest success
00:41:49story to date Frank?
00:41:51Did you have someone come in that was
00:41:53terrified of horses or
00:41:55failed so many times
00:41:57and you've got them back on their feet?
00:41:59Well there's so
00:42:01many there's probably 10 different ones
00:42:03that are like the top
00:42:05but you know
00:42:07one of the
00:42:09greatest things that happened was when I first started
00:42:11I
00:42:13talked my brothers into doing it for a while
00:42:15we were just getting started and I was getting people
00:42:17from the Shepherd's House originally before we
00:42:19started Stable Recovery
00:42:21and Mike Lowry and Tyler
00:42:23Maxwell
00:42:25you know they had
00:42:27drug issues, heroin and
00:42:29Will Walden and they all
00:42:31they
00:42:33did fantastic. Will didn't actually come
00:42:35to the program but he'd been to the Shepherd's House
00:42:37a few times and he knew
00:42:39about this. Of course I knew Will
00:42:41he worked there one summer with me
00:42:43and worked with horses at my house
00:42:45and I knew his dad well and
00:42:47so Will was like
00:42:49one of the guys that was like a hopeless
00:42:51case you know he had failed so many
00:42:53times that nobody thought he was ever going to
00:42:55get it turned around but
00:42:57he finally got enough pain
00:42:59and got ready
00:43:01and so he got sober the same
00:43:03time
00:43:05Tyler Maxwell and
00:43:07Mike Lowry got sober. Mike Lowry
00:43:09was a heroin addict that lost everything
00:43:11OD'd in Woodland Park
00:43:13and he was just
00:43:15you know he was about
00:43:17gone, written off. Tyler Maxwell
00:43:19was very similar and
00:43:21so all three of those guys got sober
00:43:23and graduated school of
00:43:25horsemanship. Will graduated from
00:43:27the Shepherd's House
00:43:29and so they come to me and they
00:43:31said hey we want to start training
00:43:33horses and we need to find
00:43:35somebody to buy 10
00:43:37horses to train and
00:43:39we want to buy these
00:43:41auction horses that you pay less than 50
00:43:43for and you can run them against cheaper horses
00:43:45so I was like alright
00:43:47I got to find somebody to
00:43:49find heroin addicts
00:43:51and I'm
00:43:53a pretty good salesman but I couldn't get that one
00:43:55pulled off. So
00:43:57anyway I just took
00:43:59a leap of faith and I said hell I'm
00:44:01going to do it and
00:44:03I was planning on buying
00:44:05you know 10 of them for $20,000 a piece
00:44:07and then me and my daughter Katie
00:44:09and Will got away and got looking at them. We were like
00:44:11the ones that would bring it $40,000 so we ended up
00:44:13spending $400,000 and then I
00:44:15did the budget to take care of them for
00:44:17a year and that was another $400,000 so
00:44:19my wife was getting a little
00:44:21nervous about it so
00:44:23I ended up getting several like-minded
00:44:25guys to take a quarter of it and I took
00:44:27three quarters of it and
00:44:29you know it's just amazing
00:44:31Will stayed sober
00:44:33all those guys stayed sober
00:44:35they've grown and now Will has his own
00:44:37business and good business. He's
00:44:39attracting a lot of clients winning a lot of races
00:44:41Frank you mentioned that
00:44:43you could take in a lot more people
00:44:45if you had the ability to do so
00:44:47I guess
00:44:49you're talking about maybe not
00:44:51having enough financial backing and I was
00:44:53also wondering you know why wouldn't this work
00:44:55also in other racing communities
00:44:57like Ocala or something like that
00:44:59so to
00:45:01see this
00:45:03thing grow and to get bigger
00:45:05whether that's in Kentucky or to spread
00:45:07around the country what do you guys need
00:45:09for that to happen
00:45:11well I
00:45:13think one good thing is
00:45:15it has not grown too fast
00:45:17and we've not
00:45:19allowed it to grow too fast and
00:45:21you know anytime you start
00:45:23a new venture or business you
00:45:25gotta work out the kinks
00:45:27of the operation and
00:45:29we've really been able to work out the kinks
00:45:31and we've really got a strong strong team
00:45:33we've got a very
00:45:35good board and Dan
00:45:37Pryde from Darley he runs
00:45:39the board and he does a fantastic job
00:45:41and
00:45:43we just had
00:45:45amazing success raising
00:45:47money it's been the support
00:45:49has been crazy
00:45:51you know we
00:45:53have back
00:45:55early in 23
00:45:57I was getting a little nervous
00:45:59we got down
00:46:01to six weeks of operating
00:46:03capital and
00:46:05this is another God
00:46:07thing is we wrote a grant to
00:46:09the opioid abatement
00:46:11our first grant
00:46:13and for 300,000
00:46:15and
00:46:17the
00:46:19300,000
00:46:21then the
00:46:23same day
00:46:25and
00:46:27250,000
00:46:29so one day we got 550,000
00:46:31we were living on
00:46:33fumes so
00:46:35and then you know it's just
00:46:37amazing the support a lot of it has to
00:46:39do with what
00:46:41the TDM has done for us
00:46:43with all these articles and
00:46:45allowing us to advertise free
00:46:47in there and that's been
00:46:49and then having this segment
00:46:51of the road back
00:46:53you know it's like the greatest
00:46:55ad campaign you could ever have
00:46:57and then you've got people like
00:46:59Lynn and John Green
00:47:01supporting us and you know there's just
00:47:03so many people
00:47:05that are supporting us we had a golf
00:47:07tournament this year and first year
00:47:09we had it and we made 90,000
00:47:11and the next
00:47:13this past year we had a fantastic
00:47:15we had
00:47:1750 teams and
00:47:19a lot of support
00:47:21and we had a matching donor
00:47:23and we ended up
00:47:25making 300 at that so
00:47:27it's really growing
00:47:29and it's expensive
00:47:31and you know
00:47:33I initially was thinking
00:47:35just like you
00:47:37were Bill is you know
00:47:39let's start one in Ocala let's start
00:47:41one in New York I've talked to people
00:47:43there but then after I took time
00:47:45and I thought about it and
00:47:47prayed about it and said you know we got plenty of
00:47:49addicts and horses right here in Lexington
00:47:51so let's really
00:47:53work in this area
00:47:55right now and let's get this
00:47:57let's get this really perfected
00:47:59and get our
00:48:01base built up and
00:48:03then we could
00:48:05grow it from there
00:48:07I applaud you
00:48:09I really do
00:48:11we need more people like you
00:48:13we need more people like you
00:48:15in the business Frank we really do
00:48:17well it's
00:48:19I've been blessed I've had
00:48:21me and my brothers we started out with nothing
00:48:23and we've been blessed a lot
00:48:25and the most recent
00:48:27blessing has been not this time he's been
00:48:29a godsend and
00:48:31so we're trying to get
00:48:33back and trying to do
00:48:35the right thing and keep this
00:48:37business going you know
00:48:39we had a great role model of my father
00:48:41he was like he was always
00:48:43out to help the
00:48:45underdog or the little guy or the guy that needed
00:48:47a job and that was just his
00:48:49that was just the way he
00:48:51operated you know he
00:48:53he
00:48:55he had a very strong faith
00:48:57and he believed that you just don't go to church
00:48:59and express your faith he felt like that
00:49:01you need to take it to work with you
00:49:03every day and you need to express
00:49:05it there and work with people
00:49:07and you know live out what Jesus
00:49:09wants us to do which is to help
00:49:11one another and
00:49:13he's got a great opportunity to do that
00:49:15and I'm
00:49:17actually I'm having more fun right now
00:49:19than I've ever had in the horse business
00:49:21I've had a lot of fun
00:49:23well Frank thanks so much for joining
00:49:25us today as a green group guest of the week
00:49:27and like Zoe I
00:49:29repeat everything she said you know
00:49:31applaud you it's great that you're out there
00:49:33doing this helping both the industry
00:49:35and people at the same time
00:49:37and you know it
00:49:39you should you deserve
00:49:41a ton of praise for this and
00:49:43I'm sure the racing community certainly
00:49:45feels the same way
00:49:47so Frank Taylor thanks so much
00:49:49for being our guest and keep up the good work
00:49:51all right well thanks for all
00:49:53your all support it's been amazing
00:49:55and you know I think
00:49:57the future is bright I think we're going to
00:49:59impact a lot of people and
00:50:01and do a lot of things good for the industry
00:50:03so I appreciate everything you all
00:50:05do cheers Frank
00:50:07as the green group guest of the week
00:50:09Mr. Frank Taylor will receive a
00:50:11free one hour tax consultation
00:50:13from the green group for more information
00:50:15on how the green group can help you
00:50:17and help your pocketbook log on
00:50:19to www.greenco.com
00:50:21www.greenco.com
00:50:23www.greenco.com
00:50:25are you paying too much in taxes
00:50:27the green group can help
00:50:29there's a reason the most successful
00:50:31owners breeders and horsemen select
00:50:33the green group as their tax advisors
00:50:35they save you money and
00:50:37share successful strategies
00:50:39over the past 40 years the green group
00:50:41founder Len Green has owned
00:50:43and bred some of the best race
00:50:45horses in the history of the sport
00:50:47like eclipse award winning champions
00:50:49Jaywalk and Wonderwheel
00:50:51his DJ stable competes at the highest level
00:50:53and has received the games most prestigious
00:50:55honors Len Green's
00:50:57in depth hands on industry knowledge
00:50:59combined with cutting edge tax saving
00:51:01strategies has produced positive
00:51:03results for his clientele and
00:51:05has made the green group the top rated
00:51:07accounting and tax firm in the thoroughbred
00:51:09business for a confidential
00:51:11and complimentary consultation
00:51:13contact us at 732-634-5100
00:51:15or visit our website
00:51:17at www.greenco.com
00:51:19www.greenco.com
00:51:21the green group
00:51:23proven strategies to save you taxes
00:51:25with some of the fullest
00:51:27fields in the country
00:51:29and quality racing year round
00:51:31there's never been a better time
00:51:33to reap the rewards of breeding and racing
00:51:35in Kentucky
00:51:37purse money in Kentucky
00:51:39is at an all time high
00:51:41as is average purse per race
00:51:43outpacing California, Florida, and New York
00:51:45Kentucky
00:51:47breads, breed them
00:51:49raise them, race them
00:51:51we all win
00:51:55the TDN writers room
00:51:57also brought to you by
00:51:59Kentucky breads
00:52:01and that covers a lot
00:52:03with Bob Baffert horses now currently
00:52:05not eligible for the Kentucky Derby this year
00:52:07the TDN has renamed
00:52:09its annual rankings from the
00:52:11Derby top 12 to the
00:52:13sophomore top 12 in order to
00:52:15accurately reflect what
00:52:17we feel like are the country's
00:52:19very best three year olds and who are they
00:52:21of course they're all Kentucky breads
00:52:23you start off with a couple of Bafferts and
00:52:25Isos number one and Muth number two
00:52:27then you got Sierra Leone and Track Phantom
00:52:29we'll talk about them in just a little while
00:52:31as well as Fierceness on down
00:52:33the entire TDN top 12 bred
00:52:35in the Commonwealth State
00:52:37breed them, race them, raise them
00:52:39we all win
00:52:41and but first now
00:52:43first things first Zoe
00:52:45thanks so much Randy and this week
00:52:47on first things first presented by
00:52:49Santa Anita I caught up with winning jockey
00:52:51JJ Hernandez
00:52:53we talked about Kinza
00:52:55but first we started off talking about
00:52:57big orange earplugs
00:53:05congratulations
00:53:07thank you
00:53:09she's a live wire I noticed you had some earplugs
00:53:11on a piece of string when did you take those
00:53:13out going into the game
00:53:15yeah right behind I entered to the game
00:53:17because she was a little
00:53:19excited today
00:53:21she's a little nervous
00:53:23even in the morning
00:53:25but you know she's getting
00:53:27a little good today
00:53:29she was sweating a little bit
00:53:31in the post party
00:53:33I didn't get it for a second time out
00:53:35but you know when I take the post out
00:53:37behind the game I like it because she was
00:53:39quiet she didn't move
00:53:41that's a good sign
00:53:43she was ready
00:53:45she was game on the game
00:53:47first time going long for her you're riding for Bob
00:53:49you've got Flavian breathing down
00:53:51your neck at the half mile point
00:53:53what are you thinking
00:53:55yeah I feel him up there on the backside
00:53:57and you know I asked my
00:53:59filly to pick it up and then actually she picked it up
00:54:01and I was like
00:54:03I'm not going to let the other horse
00:54:05pass me too early
00:54:07maybe he's going to pass me in the wire
00:54:09or right after the wire but not on the backside
00:54:11or around the turn
00:54:13I have a lot of filly I was really confident
00:54:15with my filly because when I asked to do that
00:54:17she responded
00:54:19she never let the other filly come by
00:54:21you were here when Omaha Beach
00:54:23was running how cool is it
00:54:25to have seen him run here at Santa Anita
00:54:27and then be riding one of his progeny
00:54:29that was
00:54:31a really good horse
00:54:33I never had the opportunity
00:54:35to ride with him
00:54:37but I saw him in the races
00:54:39and he was a really
00:54:41good horse and now doing this
00:54:43running with him like you say
00:54:45it's a pleasure
00:54:47alright thanks Juan good luck in the next
00:54:49cheers mate
00:54:51Many thanks to Juan Hernandez
00:54:53and yes he is a fast walker
00:54:55I had to keep up with him
00:54:57for talking to us about
00:54:59Kinza I do want to remind you
00:55:01that we have 5 days straight
00:55:03of racing at Santa Anita
00:55:05we'll start on Thursday
00:55:07with a post of 12.30
00:55:09we will race Thursday, Friday
00:55:11Saturday, Sunday
00:55:13and holiday racing on Monday
00:55:15so stay tuned
00:55:17and we'll see you next week
00:55:19and holiday racing on Monday
00:55:21so do join us at the Great Race Place
00:55:23Well the main focus
00:55:25of action in Thoroughbred Racing this weekend
00:55:27is no doubt going to be at the fairgrounds
00:55:29where they have a terrific card
00:55:31including major preps for the Kentucky Oaks
00:55:33the Rachel Alexander Stakes presented by
00:55:35Fasig-Tipton
00:55:37and the Risen Star Stakes
00:55:39I'm going to go into
00:55:41each one of these races
00:55:43but first impressions
00:55:45especially the Risen Star
00:55:47they look great
00:55:49and it looks like the fairgrounds
00:55:51route to the Kentucky Derby
00:55:53and Kentucky Oaks is really popular
00:55:55right now with the trainers
00:55:57because I think they like the spacing
00:55:59of it, you can
00:56:01really do what the modern trainer
00:56:03wants, get 5, 6, 7 weeks
00:56:05in between races and then come into the
00:56:07Churchill Downs
00:56:09Rachel Alexander Stakes, intricate to me
00:56:11is the horse that
00:56:13probably goes through her, she won the Golden
00:56:15Rod last year by 5.25 lengths
00:56:17she's taking the same route
00:56:19for Brendan Walsh that
00:56:21Pretty Mischievous took last year
00:56:23when she won the Rachel Alexander
00:56:25then ran second in the Fairground Oaks and of course won
00:56:27the Kentucky Oaks
00:56:29but a lot of competition, Alpine Prince
00:56:31from Brad Cox, Brad Cox also
00:56:33has Silver Bullet Day winner
00:56:35West Omaha, should be
00:56:37a very good race Zoe
00:56:39Yeah, it really should
00:56:41and I'm with you on intricate
00:56:43we're going to be talking about progeny of Gunrunner
00:56:45not only in this race but also the next
00:56:47race
00:56:49Perfect Shot by Gunrunner in here
00:56:51she was beaten by West Omaha
00:56:53but intricate, back to back wins
00:56:55at Keeneland and at Churchill
00:56:57she was a $280,000 purchase
00:56:59I think the race goes through her
00:57:01but West Omaha
00:57:03has a win over the trip
00:57:05two wins actually
00:57:07at Fairgrounds and any time
00:57:09you can win by 5 lengths
00:57:11at the Fairgrounds
00:57:13that's pretty good, it's a long stretch
00:57:15now going a mile and 70 I believe
00:57:17they go to the first wire
00:57:19not the second wire, but she was in front
00:57:21by 5, so that's a big
00:57:23thumbs up for West Omaha and Brad Cox
00:57:25and I think Louie Sayers is going to take
00:57:27it to them early
00:57:29What a race this is, I mean you've got the winners
00:57:31of the Pocahontas and the Goldenrod from
00:57:33last fall's Churchill Lounge meeting, you've got the winners
00:57:35of the Untappable and
00:57:37the Silver Bullet Day, the two
00:57:39Fairgrounds Oaks preps that have already
00:57:41been run, I agree
00:57:43I'll make it 3 for 3, I loved
00:57:45Intricate's win in the Goldenrod
00:57:47and the reason why I liked it so much
00:57:49it's one thing to come from last place
00:57:5110 lengths back to win
00:57:53when you get a great trip and when you get a fast pace
00:57:55in front of you, if you do it
00:57:57when you have a slow pace in front of you
00:57:59and you're fan 6 wide into the stretch
00:58:01and you're still able to run all the horses
00:58:03down by the 8th pole
00:58:05and then draw off and win, Intricate looked
00:58:07really, really good to me and I know Brendan Walsh
00:58:09says that her training has been
00:58:11uninterrupted throughout this
00:58:13run up to the Rachel
00:58:15Alexandria, looking for horses to play
00:58:17with Intricate, yeah I mean
00:58:19West Omaha looked really good, Alpine Princess
00:58:21is very versatile
00:58:23throw out a couple here
00:58:25you may consider for your exotics
00:58:27the 1 and 2 horses, Tarifa
00:58:29number 1, had a
00:58:313 wide trip on both turns last time
00:58:33at the Fairgrounds, another
00:58:35horse got the jump on her turning for home
00:58:37she was still able to run that horse down
00:58:39now she should save ground
00:58:41and she gets a competitive number
00:58:43as she goes into stakes company for the first time
00:58:45and here's a horse that's about 10 or 12 to 1
00:58:47I think, if you get a chance
00:58:49to go back and watch the replays of the
00:58:51number 2 horse, Pinnock
00:58:53you're going to be really impressed
00:58:55first time out at Woodbine, she beat a pretty
00:58:57average field, maybe even a soft field
00:58:59but last time out at the Fairgrounds
00:59:01in a 5.5 furlong sprint
00:59:03sloppy track, she leaves
00:59:05the gate, she's next to last, she's 3 links
00:59:07back, she runs up, she gets
00:59:09stopped a little bit, she has to pause on heels
00:59:11wait, wait, wait, wait, wait
00:59:13and then bursts through and draws off to win
00:59:15by 4, visually
00:59:17very impressive, she's bred to get the distance
00:59:19so I think you could do a lot worse
00:59:21at a big price than playing
00:59:23Pinnock underneath Intricate
00:59:25and some of your exotics
00:59:27it's conceivable
00:59:29the Risen Star might be the best
00:59:31prep race run for the Kentucky Derby
00:59:33all year
00:59:35maybe the only to be eclipsed perhaps by the
00:59:37Louisiana Derby
00:59:39usually you look at these races
00:59:41and there's one big star and then a couple of horses
00:59:43that you don't think are really going
00:59:45anywhere, I see at least
00:59:474 horses in this
00:59:49race that I think can
00:59:51win the Kentucky Derby
00:59:53actually I'm going to make it 5
00:59:55and that's Anna Marie
00:59:57Sierra Leone, Hall of Fame
00:59:59Catching Freedom and Track Phantom
01:00:01and the
01:00:03deepness of this is
01:00:05tremendous
01:00:07I suppose the favorite is going to be
01:00:09Sierra Leone and he's going to sort of get most
01:00:11of the attention, $2.3 million
01:00:13purchase by the Coolmore folks
01:00:15trained by Chad Brown
01:00:17ran a really good race in the Remsen, looks like he
01:00:19had it won, then Dornack
01:00:21came back in the last couple of strides to beat him
01:00:23but blinkers go
01:00:25on and it's all a story
01:00:27Chad Brown, unlike Pletcher and
01:00:29Baffert, he doesn't really emphasize the Derby
01:00:31that much, but of course
01:00:33for Chad Brown to get his first Derby winner
01:00:35would be a pretty big deal
01:00:37and I think this is one of the best 3-year-olds
01:00:39out there, but I'm taking nothing
01:00:41away from any of those other horses that I
01:00:43talked about, especially
01:00:45Hall of Fame, Randy, I know it's just
01:00:47an allowance race, but a 94 buyer
01:00:49won by 10.25, trained by Steve
01:00:51Asmussen, another guy looking for his first
01:00:53Kentucky Derby win
01:00:55and also owned by Coolmore
01:00:57Coolmore spent $2.3 million
01:00:59on Sierra Leone
01:01:01and $1.4 million on Hall
01:01:03of Fame, so you have $3.7 million
01:01:05worth of horse
01:01:07flesh in the Risen Star
01:01:09so a terrific race
01:01:11both by Gunrunner, Sierra Leone
01:01:13and Hall of Fame, you mentioned
01:01:15the popularity of this series at the Fairgrounds
01:01:17you mentioned a couple of the reasons
01:01:19they like, horsemen like the distances, a mile
01:01:21and an eighth for this race, and then a mile and
01:01:233.16s for the Louisiana Derby, they like
01:01:25the progression, they like the timing of it
01:01:27they also love
01:01:29the Fairgrounds racing surface
01:01:31trainers
01:01:33absolutely adore being able to train
01:01:35at the Fairgrounds because of the
01:01:37surface and also because of the weather
01:01:39you don't have the freeze-thaw thing
01:01:41that you get at other places like New York
01:01:43or Oakland, so
01:01:45that's, the combination
01:01:47of things really makes this a popular
01:01:49a popular destination
01:01:51for Kentucky Derby contenders
01:01:53it's such a tough race
01:01:55I mean, all the things I liked about
01:01:57Intricate, you can also say the same things
01:01:59about Honor Marie
01:02:01in the race that Honor Marie ran in the Kentucky
01:02:03Jockey Club, come from behind
01:02:05well-backed, slow-paced,
01:02:07fanned wide, wins anyway
01:02:09and I thought at the time, wow, this horse
01:02:11is a legitimate Kentucky Derby horse
01:02:13and then along comes Sierra Leone, along comes
01:02:15Hall of Fame, I'm going to give the edge
01:02:17to Hall of Fame, just a slight edge
01:02:19even though he's gone from a
01:02:21maiden race into
01:02:23graded stakes company and he's given up
01:02:25a lot of experience against these other horses
01:02:27I may be just
01:02:29getting a little too carried away with the maiden win
01:02:31but I really liked, visually
01:02:33the way he won it and the fact
01:02:35that the pace was so fast
01:02:37and then he just re-brakes at the top of the lane and draws off
01:02:39but Zoe, I could
01:02:41see this going any one of a number
01:02:43of directions. It's such a deep
01:02:45field, I mean, when we consider
01:02:47that last year's
01:02:51last week's stake at
01:02:53Oaklawn Park, 800,000
01:02:55grade 3, this is
01:02:57400,000, it's a grade
01:02:592, so we've got DeSorma
01:03:01with one in here, Joey Foster,
01:03:03Bette Whitworth, Chad Brown,
01:03:05Todd Pletcher, McPeak,
01:03:07Asmussen, Brad Cox,
01:03:09Pletcher, Mott, Asmussen,
01:03:11Dallas Stewart, it's just
01:03:13a full field of
01:03:15I'd like to be down there just eyeing
01:03:17these horses in the paddock to be perfectly honest
01:03:19I've seen a few of them already
01:03:21we look very
01:03:23hard at Sierra Leone
01:03:25who sold for 2.3 million
01:03:27he was sold by
01:03:29Gainsway and I can honestly tell you
01:03:31I have never seen
01:03:33a better looking yearling
01:03:35than him. Absolutely
01:03:37beautiful son
01:03:39of Gunrunner. Now, is any horse
01:03:41worth 2.3 million? I don't know
01:03:43I think the mud kind of took him
01:03:45out of his game, he was a long way back
01:03:47when Dornoch beat him and snuck up the inside
01:03:49last time out, but I believe
01:03:51there is a whole lot more
01:03:53there with the blinkers on for Sierra
01:03:55Leone. We know Asmussen
01:03:57knows how to get one ready and
01:03:59you better believe that Hall of Fame
01:04:01will be fit and ready to run the race of
01:04:03his life in here. And
01:04:05funnily enough, they were both bought, they're both by Gunrunner
01:04:07but they were both bought out of the same sale
01:04:09as well, the Fasig-Tipton
01:04:11sale, so I am really looking forward
01:04:13to this race, I truly am.
01:04:15The one thing that concerns
01:04:17me about Sierra Leone
01:04:19he showed some tactical speed in his debut
01:04:21and then you mentioned the mud that he catches
01:04:23in the rimson, but he just
01:04:25completely dropped the bit
01:04:27and took himself way back
01:04:29early in the race for no real
01:04:31apparent reason.
01:04:33They're putting the blinkers on for this race
01:04:35Chad's going to try to use those maybe
01:04:37to keep him a little more focused in the first
01:04:39part of the race and hopefully get him a little closer
01:04:41but that just kind of always
01:04:43concerns me just a little bit
01:04:45when a horse can just completely lose
01:04:47focus and take
01:04:49himself out of the race, so it'll be interesting to see
01:04:51if the blinkers can
01:04:53wake him up a little bit in the first part of the
01:04:55race and exactly how far back he is.
01:04:57Before we
01:04:59wrap it up, a quick mention of the fact
01:05:01that Toby Keith,
01:05:03country western star, passed away last week
01:05:05at age 62, known
01:05:07mainly for his music, but
01:05:09in horse racing circles, he was an owner
01:05:11and breeder, raced
01:05:13under the name of Dreamwalking Farm
01:05:15Dreamwalking was one of his
01:05:17hit songs.
01:05:19The cool thing about it was
01:05:21he didn't just stay in the background
01:05:23he was a big advocate for horse racing
01:05:25I know he did some stuff for the
01:05:27Breeders' Cup as a racing ambassador
01:05:29and anytime somebody put a microphone
01:05:31in front of them, he couldn't say enough
01:05:33good things about the sport.
01:05:35Music fans will miss him and so will
01:05:37people in the thoroughbred racing industry.
01:05:39Randy, did you ever meet him?
01:05:41Yeah, one time. Really nice guy
01:05:43very approachable by anybody
01:05:45especially if you wanted to talk about horse racing
01:05:47because he absolutely
01:05:49loved the sport. To hear the stories
01:05:51that were told after his death
01:05:53from the people that were the closest to him on the road
01:05:55when he was performing
01:05:57right up until the time he went out on stage
01:05:59he had the TV on
01:06:01with all the replays and he was studying
01:06:03the past performances and things like that
01:06:05and he died this past
01:06:07Monday of stomach cancer
01:06:09Friday he had a horse win
01:06:11at the fairgrounds and Monday
01:06:13he had a horse win at the fairgrounds
01:06:15horses that he bred
01:06:17so yeah, it's a loss for horse racing
01:06:19and it's
01:06:21really a tragedy.
01:06:23It was a great call by John Dooley
01:06:25if you could go back and listen to it again
01:06:27John Dooley really, he knows what's going on
01:06:29it was a very, very good call
01:06:31at the fairgrounds. Good guy
01:06:33great loss. The TDN
01:06:35Writer's Room once again is brought to you by
01:06:37XBTV. This week's
01:06:39work of the week is National
01:06:41Treasure. He worked five furlongs
01:06:43in 101 and 3 on Saturday
01:06:45for Hall of Fame at Bob Baffert
01:06:47the winner of the Pegasus World Cup
01:06:49in his last start. National
01:06:51Treasure is leaving for Saudi
01:06:53today along with Wida Bario
01:06:55for a crack at the
01:06:57$20 million Saudi Cup
01:06:59and just watching him guys
01:07:01there is no way he could possibly
01:07:03be training any better
01:07:05whatsoever. This is
01:07:07an atypical feat on the
01:07:09dashboard work. Having already
01:07:11shipped all the way down to Florida and coming
01:07:13back, Bob Baffert's got to be
01:07:15licking his chops with how well
01:07:17National Treasure is doing. He
01:07:19is the biggest threat along
01:07:21with Dharma Satakaki
01:07:23in this year's $20 million
01:07:25Saudi Cup
01:07:27as we talked
01:07:29about initially right in the
01:07:31aftermath of the Pegasus World Cup, Baffert
01:07:33said he was inclined to keep National Treasure
01:07:35in the United States and not send him overseas
01:07:37but when he came out of the race so well
01:07:39and now he's training so well
01:07:41and there's $20 million at stake
01:07:43and he's going to be the favorite. How can
01:07:45you not go over there and take a shot?
01:07:47Do you think he'll be favored over Wida Bario?
01:07:49I do.
01:07:51Probably.
01:07:53We'll see. Or Dharma Satakaki!
01:07:55No.
01:07:57Take your pick. Any of the three.
01:07:59Did I say that well? Were you impressed with that, Randy?
01:08:01You did. You did.
01:08:03Thank you for practicing.
01:08:25...
01:08:27...
01:08:29...
01:08:31...
01:08:33...
01:08:35...
01:08:37...
01:08:39...
01:08:41...
01:08:43...
01:08:45...
01:08:47...
01:08:49...
01:08:51...
01:08:53...
01:08:55...
01:08:57...
01:08:59...
01:09:01...
01:09:03...
01:09:05...
01:09:07...
01:09:09...
01:09:11...
01:09:13...
01:09:15...
01:09:17...
01:09:19...
01:09:21...
01:09:23...
01:09:25...
01:09:27...
01:09:29...
01:09:31...
01:09:33...
01:09:35...
01:09:37...
01:09:39...
01:09:41...
01:09:43...
01:09:45...
01:09:47...
01:09:49...
01:09:51...
01:09:53...
01:09:55...
01:09:57...
01:09:59...
01:10:01...
01:10:03...
01:10:05...
01:10:07...
01:10:09...
01:10:11...
01:10:13...
01:10:15...
01:10:17...
01:10:19...
01:10:21...
01:10:23...
01:10:25...
01:10:27...
01:10:29...
01:10:31...
01:10:33...
01:10:35...
01:10:37...
01:10:39...
01:10:41...
01:10:43...
01:10:45...
01:10:47...
01:10:49...
01:10:51...
01:10:53...
01:10:55...
01:10:57...