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00:00:00For the love of the horse, for generations to come.
00:00:28So welcome to another edition of the TDN Writer's Room brought to you by Keeneland.
00:00:33If you're keeping score at home, a couple of things to point out.
00:00:35First of all, we're taping this on Tuesday, November 28th.
00:00:39So happy Thanksgiving, a little delayed.
00:00:42Also you'll notice the absence of one Bill Finley, who is pretty much under the weather
00:00:46right now.
00:00:47So he won't be with us.
00:00:49It's just us two.
00:00:50We probably don't need introductions.
00:00:52We've done this so often, but just to be consistent, I'm Randy Moss with NBC Sports and you are
00:00:59Zoe Cameron with First Racing and yeah, we're going to replace Bill with Burt.
00:01:06Sue just managed to see Burt Reynolds, my naked Burt Reynolds, so this is going to be,
00:01:12instead of Bill, we're going to have Burt.
00:01:14So I doubt you'll see me on camera much because Sue won't allow it.
00:01:18But yeah, that's Burt.
00:01:21The cosmopolitan pinup circa what, about 1978 or something like that?
00:01:26Oh my gosh.
00:01:27He's lying on a bare skin rug.
00:01:29In fact, he's like resting his arm on his head.
00:01:31You know, it's one of those iconic pictures.
00:01:33Why wouldn't I have it on my piano I never play?
00:01:36A little like Lucy right now.
00:01:38Just kind of laid out on the couch, you know, little spread eagle.
00:01:42I was looking for Doodle, but I can't find him.
00:01:45I don't know where he is.
00:01:46He's out there somewhere.
00:01:47All right.
00:01:48Just me and you, Zoe, as we skip through this.
00:01:51We'll start off with a recap of some of the graded stakes races in Kentucky
00:01:56and also at Del Mar this past weekend.
00:01:59Friday, the Clark handicap at Churchill Downs Trademark,
00:02:02after knocking on the door so often, the improving four-year-old gelding,
00:02:06finally got his first graded win in a tight, tight photo finish over first mission.
00:02:12What were your thoughts on the Clark?
00:02:14I thought he was absolutely terrific.
00:02:16And he was most definitely the best horse at 13 to 1.
00:02:20I'll tell you, Vicki Oliver is one of the most underrated trainers
00:02:24that I think they have on the Kentucky circuit.
00:02:26She's a terrific horsewoman.
00:02:28She's hands-on, and she does a great job.
00:02:31And this is just a combination of all of that,
00:02:34plus some fantastic breeding by the late, great Governor Jones,
00:02:38because this is a whole Governor Jones family.
00:02:41He's by upstart.
00:02:43I thought he was absolutely brilliant.
00:02:46Now, it got close at the end, but first mission drifted out all the way down the lane.
00:02:51I have a sneaky feeling, had first mission got his nose down,
00:02:56that he was coming down, because he pushed him all the way out, the head on.
00:03:01He moves out about 10 paths all the way down the lane.
00:03:04So I think it's just as well that Trademark won, becoming racing's newest millionaire.
00:03:10Congrats to him.
00:03:11And, wow, what a year he's had.
00:03:13He has not missed a beat.
00:03:15He's made over 500,000.
00:03:17He's only won two races, but he's been well-placed.
00:03:20I wrote down where he's run this year alone.
00:03:23Tampa, Keeneland, Churchill, Monmouth, Indiana, Monmouth,
00:03:27Churchill, Keeneland, and Churchill once more.
00:03:31So he's been well-spotted by trainer Vicki Oliver.
00:03:34Yeah, Vicki's not afraid to ship horses around,
00:03:36and she's not afraid to run long shots in major stakes races.
00:03:39And this one paid off to the tune of 13 to 1 with a career-high 102 buyer speed figure.
00:03:44Now, Saturday, several stakes races will focus on the two-year-olds.
00:03:47Whit Beckman, the trainer, will be our Green Group guest of the week.
00:03:50He sent out Honor Marie to win the Kentucky Jockey Club,
00:03:53roaring from off the pace to score a very, I thought, visually impressive win.
00:03:59What struck me the most about that win, Zoe,
00:04:01was the fact that he came from last in a race that didn't have a tremendously aggressive pace.
00:04:08And you watch him gallop out after the race around the clubhouse turn.
00:04:12He was probably 10 in front at the 7.8's pole.
00:04:15Yeah, I mean, he looked just absolutely amazing.
00:04:19He's a son of Honor Code.
00:04:20Now, Riskett, one of the favorites in there for Asperson,
00:04:23he didn't have a comfortable trip at all.
00:04:25He was in trouble the whole way.
00:04:27And Honor Marie just got a dream trip.
00:04:30Safe ground down the backside was way, way last.
00:04:33Bayorana doing his best, I'm not panicking, ever.
00:04:36Very wide around the turn and just one with authority.
00:04:40He drew off like a good thing.
00:04:42Now, he was kept busy by Bayorana, and we'll hear from Witt a little bit later on
00:04:47on where they're going to be headed with him.
00:04:49But it looks like they're going to be going down to New Orleans with him
00:04:52for their terrific three-year-old campaign.
00:04:55They have some good three-year-old races down there.
00:04:57So he was very good, 144.31, a couple of ticks quicker than the girls around that day.
00:05:03But certainly a good horse, certainly one to watch out for.
00:05:07And you mentioned the girls, the Philly counterpart of that,
00:05:10the Goldenrod Stakes won by intricate over Torpedo Anna.
00:05:13I hope people took our advice last week and played the exact back and forth
00:05:17because it paid $32.68 for a $2 bet.
00:05:22Intricate, very visually impressive, but Torpedo Anna, I thought,
00:05:26was also had a very strong effort to finish second
00:05:30because she didn't have the best trip in the world.
00:05:32No.
00:05:33I know you're all about trips.
00:05:35So I'm not sure that intricate could have got a better trip.
00:05:40You heard the race caller saying it was picture perfect.
00:05:44That's a dream trip.
00:05:45You sit in the pocket the whole way, you split horses turning for home,
00:05:49and you draw off like she just drew off.
00:05:51I mean, you don't get a much better trip than that.
00:05:54If you're a jock and you ride that kind of race, you go back to the jock's room
00:05:58and you're like, yeah, that was good.
00:06:00And, yeah, Gafion just showed why he is the leading rider at the Churchill meet.
00:06:05So now as a handicapper, you've got one of these dilemmas
00:06:07the next time these two horses run against each other.
00:06:09Intricate had that dream trip, very good turn of foot
00:06:14when she got through on the inside, spurted away to win by five.
00:06:18But Torpedo Anna, the runner up, broke in the air.
00:06:21She was last immediately, four wide on the first turn,
00:06:24three wide on the second turn.
00:06:26Is that enough to make a five-length difference in the margin of finish?
00:06:30I think probably not.
00:06:32But Torpedo Anna certainly didn't disgrace herself finishing second.
00:06:36You're very much a trip handicapper, and I am not.
00:06:39So you're going to hold that against Intricate.
00:06:43I just think she was the beneficiary of a perfect trip,
00:06:45and had she gone wide like Torpedo Anna, she's still going to win.
00:06:50So that is my feeling, and we'll just beg to disagree on this.
00:06:54But you are very much, and it works.
00:06:56You are a trip handicapper, and I'm obviously not smart enough to be one.
00:07:00But I understand what you're saying.
00:07:02Horses can get perfect trips and then don't capitalize.
00:07:04She got a perfect trip and then sealed the deal with that nice turn of foot
00:07:08and drew off to win by five.
00:07:10Now, West Coast, where you are, I presume, this weekend, Friday,
00:07:14the Grade II Hollywood Turf Cup, Planetario scored a mile upset
00:07:18over the Chad Brown train, Francisco Clemente.
00:07:21Sunday, Saturday, Easter might be the most difficult horse in America to ride.
00:07:26Key to one, two, three finish for trainer Phil D'Amato in the Grade II Seabiscuit.
00:07:30And then Sunday, Mr. Fisk and Bob Baffert defeated Skinner,
00:07:34who was the favorite in the Grade III Native Diver.
00:07:37What were your takeaways from those races?
00:07:41Skinner can't seem to ever win a race, even if he's a favorite,
00:07:45even if he gets the widest, best trip of all.
00:07:48He's camera shy.
00:07:50It's just as simple as that.
00:07:52And I think Mr. Fisk, maybe no one realized quite how good he was
00:07:58compared to all of the other ones that Bob has.
00:08:01It's seemingly like they've just passed the baton to Mr. Fisk now,
00:08:05who's probably going to go on and do great things.
00:08:07As far as Skinner, I don't know what to think about Skinner.
00:08:11If he could run his maiden race again, maybe he's going to win a race,
00:08:14but he's definitely a bit camera shy.
00:08:17As far as Planetario is concerned, he's good.
00:08:20He's very, very good.
00:08:22And I think I read in the DRF that he maybe headed to Saudi.
00:08:28Mandela's having a killer meet.
00:08:31I don't know if he's close to leading trainer,
00:08:33but every time I look up, he's winning at graded stakes.
00:08:36He's having probably one of the best meets that he's ever had down there.
00:08:40And Planetario looks like he's going to be hopping on an airplane
00:08:43and going to run in some really, really good stakes.
00:08:46Hector Barrios is one of the best, if not the best,
00:08:50turf riders we have out here in Southern California.
00:08:53He just seems to have a knack just to time things to the minute.
00:08:58And we saw how good he was on the chosen run as well.
00:09:01His finishing style, while he doesn't seem like he's overly aggressive,
00:09:05it's just his timing, which is making him just a really good jockey.
00:09:10So a couple of those races were on the turf.
00:09:13None of the races scheduled to be on the grass this past weekend
00:09:17at Churchill Downs were actually run on the turf
00:09:20because Churchill Downs continues to have major issues
00:09:23with its brand new $10 million turf course installation.
00:09:28And they've had problems with it throughout the calendar year 2023
00:09:32and even before that, actually.
00:09:35I don't know what they can do going forward,
00:09:38but it certainly was a pretty significant issue this fall.
00:09:42Yeah, and I don't know what the deal is.
00:09:46I mean, initially, you know, when they ran the Beverly D on it
00:09:50and then they took the rest of them off, it was just like they put it down
00:09:54and it was just coming up like a carpet that's not tied in at the corners.
00:09:59So, I mean, at this point, do you just rip it up and start again?
00:10:04Yeah, that's going to be a big issue for them next spring.
00:10:09So, obviously, the roots aren't really taking hold, right?
00:10:13Right.
00:10:14It's the same sort of grass mixture that the old turf course had,
00:10:18a combination of Kentucky bluegrass and fescue.
00:10:24The company that they hired to install it,
00:10:27STRI is a group based in the UK that was involved in the turf courses
00:10:33at Royal Ascot, at the Saudi Cup,
00:10:35their consultants for grass with the World Cup soccer,
00:10:39with Wimbledon, with the British Open.
00:10:42But not surprisingly, when you look at the STRI website
00:10:46and they have a tab for showcase projects,
00:10:49Churchill Downs is not included among their showcased projects.
00:10:54So, really, all Churchill can do right now is you can't obviously tear it up
00:10:59right now and start over because you can't get grass to grow over the winter.
00:11:03So, all they can do is just feed it and nourish it the best they can.
00:11:07This past spring, the turf course was functional.
00:11:10It was okay for Kentucky Derby weekend, for example.
00:11:14So, they can just hope that the turf course again comes in
00:11:18and it's acceptable next spring by the time the Kentucky Derby rolls around.
00:11:23And then they've got that big decision you were talking about.
00:11:26What do you do?
00:11:27Do you roll the dice and just keep pressing forward
00:11:29or do you blow the whole thing up and start over?
00:11:32I mean, they've got millions and millions and millions of dollars to spend.
00:11:36Could they not put some kind of tiny little greenhouse just over the turf course?
00:11:43You know how you put, like, straw down and cover it in plastic?
00:11:46Like, do something.
00:11:48I mean, that sounds very basic, but if you have the ways and the means to do it,
00:11:52surely there is a way to grow grass in the winter.
00:11:56I mean, come on.
00:11:57We can fly guys to the moon.
00:11:58You can grow grass in the winter in Kentucky.
00:12:00It can surely happen.
00:12:02They've had a lot of different consultants they've brought in to try to solve this thing,
00:12:05and it is still very much TBD.
00:12:08Let's go across the Pacific Ocean, a couple of big races in Japan this past weekend.
00:12:12We'll go in reverse chronological order.
00:12:14On Sunday, the Japan Cup, the sixth win in a row for the marvelous Equinox,
00:12:20who is rated as the number one horse in the world, and understandably so.
00:12:24And, boy, he was dazzling once again.
00:12:27And he did something different.
00:12:29I was listening to an interview with Christophe Lemaire,
00:12:31and he said that in all his races he's just, like, quickened gradually
00:12:36and just kind of galloped over the top of all the other horses and just taken off.
00:12:41This time, with the horse zipping out to the lead, the World Cup winner,
00:12:46what was his name?
00:12:49Anyway, he opened up like 20.
00:12:51Panthalassa.
00:12:52Panthalassa, who's now been retired.
00:12:54He opened up like 20 lengths.
00:12:56This time he sat, and Christophe said it was the first time he'd actually felt
00:13:02that sudden acceleration that, like, sat him back in his saddle and he took off.
00:13:07He went the final 3.8s in 33 and won in just an absolute gallop.
00:13:14He is a beast.
00:13:16But, okay, you've seen how big he is, right?
00:13:20How much do you think he weighs?
00:13:22Are you good on horse's weight?
00:13:25How big is he height-wise?
00:13:27What would you say?
00:13:28I don't know.
00:13:29He's probably not 17 hands.
00:13:30He's probably not quite that high, right?
00:13:31He's very tall.
00:13:32He looks like he's massive because I think he's so tall.
00:13:36How about 12?
00:13:37I'll go 1220.
00:13:39He's 490 kilos or 95 kilos, which gives you about 1090.
00:13:47That's it?
00:13:48So he's under 1,100 pounds, yeah.
00:13:51He paints a big figure, but I think he's just tall and lean.
00:13:54Like, he's a pure athlete.
00:13:56So now the $10 million question, Zoe, now, literally, more than that,
00:14:01actually, is what they do with him now.
00:14:04What do they do?
00:14:07What do you think?
00:14:08I think they've got one more race to run him in, perhaps,
00:14:11which would be the next one in the series,
00:14:13which would make him, like, the all-time winningest horse in Japan.
00:14:18And it looks like they're probably going to go there,
00:14:20the Amano Kinnan or something.
00:14:24Oh, boy.
00:14:25It would be fantastic to see him race next year, but I don't know.
00:14:29That would be really cool.
00:14:30One other note about him.
00:14:31You know who else is really excited about the success of Equinox?
00:14:35And this is something we haven't really heard.
00:14:37Arthur Hancock.
00:14:38Not only is Sunday Silence the great grandsire of Equinox,
00:14:43if you look at the female side of the pedigree
00:14:45and you go back a couple of generations,
00:14:47you see a filly by the name of Goodbye Halo,
00:14:50who won the Kentucky Oaks in 1988 for Arthur Hancock,
00:14:56was sold to the Japanese at auction for $2.1 million,
00:15:00and winds up being on the female side of the pedigree of Equinox.
00:15:05So you get Hancock on top with Sunday Silence,
00:15:07Hancock on bottom with the seven-time Green One winner in Goodbye Halo.
00:15:12Now, Saturday, the Japan road to the Kentucky Derby continued
00:15:16with the Cattleya Stakes at Tokyo.
00:15:20One turn mile won by Amante Bianco.
00:15:24It's a second consecutive or second win in three starts for Amante Bianco,
00:15:29who is best known, as you know, Zoe, for what he looks like.
00:15:34He is a rare, pure, white racehorse.
00:15:39Did you ever ride a white racehorse?
00:15:41I did once.
00:15:43Not very fast.
00:15:44Definitely not.
00:15:48Not very fast at all, in fact.
00:15:50But Amante Bianco is extremely fast,
00:15:53and this is the one Bill wanted to talk about, the white horse.
00:15:56Like, he's very well related to a lot of good thoroughbreds, including Sadashi.
00:16:01It was the first race for the road to the Kentucky Derby.
00:16:05It just boggles my mind that we're already talking about the road to Kentucky Derby.
00:16:09We just had Breeders' Cup.
00:16:11It's just insane.
00:16:13But this is the first leg for Japan on the road to the Kentucky Derby,
00:16:17so he picks up his 10 points for that.
00:16:21You know that's the 12th race they've had for the road to the Kentucky Derby already?
00:16:26Number 12.
00:16:27Yeah, that was the 12th one.
00:16:29The next one is this Saturday's Remsen at Aqueduct,
00:16:32which we'll talk about in a little bit later.
00:16:36But there's three more races on the road to the Kentucky Derby in Japan.
00:16:41We do know how they love to come over here, so I think it's great.
00:16:45It's fantastic.
00:16:46Amante Bianco.
00:16:47Get it.
00:16:48Let's go.
00:16:49One thing that might work against the Japanese horses coming over to the United States next year
00:16:55is that for the first time in 2024, Japan Racing will have an organized dirt triple crown.
00:17:03They've had a turf triple crown for three-year-olds for a long time.
00:17:06The JRA and the National Association of Racing, the minor league tracks, the NAR,
00:17:11at OE Racetrack primarily in Tokyo, have now designed a triple crown for three-year-olds
00:17:18late April, early June, and October.
00:17:21The Haneda High, the Tokyo Derby, and what will be called the Japan Dirt Classic in October.
00:17:28So whether that keeps some of the top three-year-olds from Japan in Japan
00:17:33instead of coming over to the United States like Dermis Sotogaki and Continuar,
00:17:36who didn't actually run Continuar last year, and Mandarin Hero, we'll see what happens there.
00:17:42But anyway, the first leg is in the books with Amante Bianco.
00:17:47There's still nothing like the Kentucky Derby, though.
00:17:50I mean, honestly, there's no race that captures a world audience like the Kentucky Derby.
00:17:57And no white horse has ever competed in the Kentucky Derby,
00:18:00so we'll see if Amante Bianco can be white horse number one.
00:18:04Well, let's see if we can do that. All right, let's move on.
00:18:08The TDN Writer's Room is brought to you by Keeneland.
00:18:11Make plans to attend the Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale,
00:18:15taking place from January the 8th to January the 11th.
00:18:19Keeneland's January Horses of All Ages Sale is noted for high-quality broodmare prospects
00:18:24and short yearlings and for being among the final opportunities for breeders to obtain stock
00:18:30as the breeding season nears. That will be February the 14th, Valentine's Day.
00:18:35Supplemental entries are still being accepted.
00:18:39We'll be right back after this message from Keeneland.
00:18:46At Keeneland, a horse will always be measured in hands.
00:18:51Hands that see, that sense, that speak.
00:18:58Hands that hold our sport to a higher standard.
00:19:03Not for our sake, but for theirs.
00:19:07For the love of the horse for generations to come.
00:19:12Every week, the Fastest Horse of the Week segment here on the TDN Writer's Room
00:19:16is brought to you by the Fast Sires at Windstar Farm,
00:19:20the stallion we're going to talk about this week is Constitution,
00:19:23who had three two-year-old winners on Saturday and is the number two sire right now of two-year-olds in America.
00:19:29He's had 26 individual two-year-old winners in 2023,
00:19:34and those have accounted for almost $2.5 million in earnings.
00:19:38One of those two-year-old winners, here's a name to remember, Parchment Paper.
00:19:42He's already a TDN Rising Star from his win at Churchill earlier this month.
00:19:46If you go back and look at that race, that is going to turn out, I think, to be a key race for two-year-olds going forward.
00:19:53Constitution bred 215 graded winners, producers over the past four years,
00:19:57laying a foundation for the future that's already paying off
00:20:00with the season-topping Weanling at Keeneland and making him a top ten sire of yearlings in 2023
00:20:06and Constitution stands for $110,000 at Windstar Farm.
00:20:13Now, the fastest horse of the week, it took place on Thanksgiving Day on a rare,
00:20:18at least for this past week, turf race at Churchill Lounge.
00:20:22It was over a good course. It was the Cardinal Stakes at Churchill.
00:20:26It was won by a horse named Star Fortress making her very first start in the United States
00:20:31for trainer Cherie DeVoe and owners John and Tanya Gunther of Justify Fame.
00:20:37All that Star Fortress did in her very first start in this country was win a graded stakes race on turf
00:20:44by ten lengths in a 104 buyer speed figure, which topped all the buyer speed figures for this past week
00:20:52and makes Star Fortress our fastest horse of the week.
00:21:02All right, Zoe, some other news items to catch up on here.
00:21:05First of all, we had expected to see Mage running the Breeders' Cup Classic.
00:21:10They pulled the plug on that because of some issues back at the training center in Kentucky.
00:21:15They plotted out a very ambitious future campaign for Mage.
00:21:18Now, the news breaks, Mage has been retired to Airdrie Stud.
00:21:26And we've seen time and time again, Airdrie doing a fantastic job of marketing new stallions,
00:21:32standing behind them and breeding their good mares to them.
00:21:35We've seen what they did to collect it to start him off Roadster.
00:21:39They shipped him down to Ocala Stud.
00:21:42He's down there, got a full book down there.
00:21:45So it's probably the best place for him as far as his win record is concerned.
00:21:50He just won two races from seven starts when you consider Rich Strike won two of 14.
00:21:56But he's a very good horse.
00:21:57He's out of that fantastic mare Puka.
00:22:00We'll talk about Dornach, his full brother, a little bit later on.
00:22:05I mean, if Dornach wins the Remson, she's broodmare of the year for sure.
00:22:09So he's from a good line.
00:22:10He's probably the best son of good magic.
00:22:13He is eligible for non-winners of two.
00:22:15It would have been nice to see him compete next year.
00:22:18And I'm delighted that that was the actual plan.
00:22:21It's not a bunch of BS we're hearing about all of a sudden.
00:22:25They scanned him and did everything just to make sure he was good to move forward.
00:22:29He just had a workout at the Thoroughbred Training Center and they had to pull the plug.
00:22:34He still remains the fastest Kentucky Derby winner in the last 15 years
00:22:39to win with 105 by a speed figure,
00:22:42which is pretty cool considering that's a lips justify an American pharaoh
00:22:49to think that he's been the fastest one for the last 15 years.
00:22:53He's had the fastest by a speed figure for any three-year-old over a mile this year.
00:22:58If you really delve into him and just take a look at all the facts and figures in front of you,
00:23:03it's hard to deny he's a really good three-year-old.
00:23:07He was third in the Preakness.
00:23:08He came back to be second in the Haskell before the wheels kind of fell off there.
00:23:11They had penciled in sort of a possible schedule of the Pegasus World Cup
00:23:16and then the Saudi Cup and maybe the Dubai World Cup or one of those two.
00:23:20But when some issues popped up at the Kentucky Training Center,
00:23:23they were going to keep him out for three months or so.
00:23:25Then that was going to preclude running him in those races.
00:23:27We don't talk about this a lot, but it's sort of the same thing with Equinox to a larger scale.
00:23:34When you have a horse that's this valuable, right?
00:23:37And he's by good magic, the son of Kermlin, Derby winner.
00:23:40He's got a lot of value at stud, you would think.
00:23:42And you miss some of those major, major stakes races,
00:23:45the cost of insurance to keep a horse like that running.
00:23:50When you miss some of those huge payday type races,
00:23:54at some point becomes so steep that it becomes a lot easier just to say,
00:24:00OK, rather than go that route, we'll just take the money at stud, which is obviously big.
00:24:07Yeah, $25,000 a pop for him seems like a fair price.
00:24:12He's already at Airdrie.
00:24:13I saw some lovely pictures of the whole crew,
00:24:16the groom included, that all took him to Airdrie and bid him farewell.
00:24:21A little bittersweet for the Gustavo boys, but nonetheless, he's in the best of hands.
00:24:27I mean, Airdrie, Brett Jones just do phenomenal work there with marketing their stallions
00:24:33and breeding a lot of their good mares to them.
00:24:35So I'm wishing them the best of luck.
00:24:37So another news item, we talked about this last week, the 60 Minutes episode on horse racing.
00:24:44Bill Finley could talk about this particular part of the segment a lot more if he were here,
00:24:48but in absentia, we'll talk about it for him.
00:24:52On the TDN website, he's got an outstanding Q&A with Jockey Club Chairman Stuart Janney
00:24:59that we encourage you all to read.
00:25:02Janney had some interesting comments about that 60 Minutes episode.
00:25:06He said that he obviously appeared on the 60 Minutes episode.
00:25:10He said that CBS sat down with him for three hours back in June and also for an hour with Lisa Lazarus,
00:25:16but he said he was not involved in actually encouraging CBS to do that 60 Minutes segment.
00:25:25He said he thought it could have been more positive,
00:25:29but he also thought that the finished product could have been a lot worse.
00:25:34A very interesting interview with Stuart Janney.
00:25:36What were your takeaways on that, Zoe?
00:25:39I mean, anytime you sit down and you get interviewed for three hours
00:25:45for a 15-minute long piece that you're probably going to be in for 25% of it,
00:25:52that's right there, it's worrying.
00:25:54If you don't have full control over the final edit, then someone has an agenda.
00:26:01And I think it's a little bit worrisome to agree to do something without seeing the final,
00:26:06and you never get to see the final final.
00:26:09But yeah, if you're interviewed for three hours,
00:26:11everything that you say is not going to come out,
00:26:13and they're going to have the way they want to narrate it.
00:26:17And that's what came out.
00:26:19Did it come out great?
00:26:20No, it certainly didn't.
00:26:22But I would be worried doing a piece for 60 minutes
00:26:25if I sat down and they interviewed me for three hours and used two minutes of it,
00:26:32the most pertinent points.
00:26:34That's the worrying part right there.
00:26:36And some of the things that he said to Bill were interesting.
00:26:40A lot of people were talking about the Jockey Club and the Bessemer Trust
00:26:44and money changing hands.
00:26:46And he said, no, nothing really ever happens with that.
00:26:51It was interesting and a good job by Bill to get Stuart to come on
00:26:55and fair play to Stuart for coming on
00:26:57and answering the tough questions that Bill asked him.
00:27:01Yeah, one of the other interesting aspects to this, to the interview,
00:27:04I thought, you know, Janny acknowledged that he could see why people were upset
00:27:10at the finished product.
00:27:12He felt like when they sat down in June,
00:27:15the emphasis of the piece was going to be on some of the positive aspects
00:27:19that had taken place with HISA, with the investigations
00:27:23and the subsequent imprisonment of Jorge Navarro and Jason Service
00:27:27as an effort to clean up the sport.
00:27:30But in between came the breakdowns at Churchill Downs,
00:27:35at Pimlico obviously with having a meltdown,
00:27:39but really more specifically at Saratoga.
00:27:42And so then CBS decided to maybe go a different route
00:27:46and focus a little bit more on the breakdowns than he had anticipated.
00:27:52Yeah, I mean, not the best look for horse racing,
00:27:56but it's done and we've seen time and time again that people have short memories.
00:28:00So hopefully they'll forget about that.
00:28:03Horse racing has short memories.
00:28:06Another news item interesting to both of us,
00:28:08the announcement that Brittany Ayrton will be leaving FanDuel TV,
00:28:13known previously, of course, as TVG,
00:28:17to pursue, possibly pursue some other opportunities.
00:28:20I know you've known Brittany for a long time.
00:28:23You've seen her grow up out there, really.
00:28:26Your thoughts on that?
00:28:27I'm delighted for her. I really am.
00:28:30She's in the process of moving to New York with a boyfriend
00:28:34and she doesn't have anything written in stone.
00:28:37I think she's just taking a leap of faith and seeing where the apple falls.
00:28:41You know, if you're a free agent, all of a sudden you have more work coming in
00:28:46than you ever know what to do with.
00:28:47You just you've got to have the balls to take that leap of faith.
00:28:51And I was speaking to her dad, Peter, because, you know,
00:28:54she's very good with the money.
00:28:55She squirrels it away.
00:28:57So she's been squirreling it away.
00:29:01I have to remember that.
00:29:05So he's like, yeah, she's squirreled it away
00:29:06and they're going to move to New York and see where it goes.
00:29:09I think she's already got a few offers from, I don't know, here and there.
00:29:13I'm sure she'll continue to do stuff with you guys with NBC, which is great.
00:29:18So, you know, this wasn't always in her future, the horse racing.
00:29:22She just happened to fall into it.
00:29:23I think initially she wanted to be an actress.
00:29:26So, you know, we'll see where it goes.
00:29:29She's a great girl.
00:29:30Hasn't gone to her head.
00:29:32She's good fun to be around.
00:29:34She knows her stuff.
00:29:35She's well rehearsed.
00:29:37I wish her the best of luck.
00:29:38Really do.
00:29:39Yeah, me too.
00:29:40I reached out to her by text yesterday.
00:29:42She is going to continue.
00:29:43Good for us.
00:29:45Her work with NBC Sports covering horse racing.
00:29:48And we've all seen her now for years at NBC and on FanDuel and TVG.
00:29:52She's remarkably talented.
00:29:54Very, as you said, very buttoned up and prepares.
00:29:57And she'll no doubt be a success in whatever she tries to do.
00:30:01And it doesn't have to be in horse racing.
00:30:02It can be in entertainment.
00:30:04It can be in any other guest meeting.
00:30:07TD and Riders Room also brought to you by the PHBA,
00:30:09the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association.
00:30:12And Pennsylvania Brits had a lot to be thankful for over the Thanksgiving holidays.
00:30:15King Kumbale won the Richard Smallstakes at Laurel on Saturday.
00:30:19He's a five-year-old Pennsylvania bred owned by Kingsport Farm
00:30:22and was bred by the late Jonathan Shepard.
00:30:25Two-year-old Philly Pennsylvania bred Shamrock Rose Stakes won handily
00:30:29by the Lilith Boucher bred Carmelina.
00:30:32Six furlongs in 110 flat owned by the Fleet Alex's former connections.
00:30:36Cash is King LLC along with LC Racing.
00:30:40And Pennsylvania has a new stallion for 2024.
00:30:42You remember this one from the Mike Maker Barn.
00:30:45Some like it hot brown.
00:30:47Well-interested next year at Cabin Creek Farm near Gettysburg.
00:30:50The son of Big Brown.
00:30:51Multiple grade one placed and a multiple grade two winner.
00:30:54That brings the Pennsylvania new stallion total to five
00:30:59for the 2024 breeding season.
00:31:02And as always, another reminder, the last leg of the million-dollar
00:31:04two-year-old PA sired, PA bred stallion series.
00:31:07December 27th, two $200,000 races.
00:31:09Phillies Colts at a mile and 70 yards.
00:31:12Go to pabred.com to make sure your two-year-old is nominated.
00:31:16Or if you have other questions, email them at info at pabred.com.
00:31:24PA bred, I think we've built a brand at this point.
00:31:28The state of Pennsylvania has the best breeders program
00:31:31in the entire United States.
00:31:35Angel of Empire wins the Arkansas Derby
00:31:37and wins it clear.
00:31:39Caravelle in the Breeders' Cup turf sprint.
00:31:42Pennsylvania and the PHBA have the best state-bred program
00:31:45in the country, bar none.
00:31:47The best breeders awards and stallion awards in the country.
00:31:50As always, our guest of the week is brought to you by the Green Group,
00:31:54a tax consulting and advisory firm specializing in the thoroughbred
00:31:58industry and especially in saving you money on your taxes.
00:32:03And now we are here with our guest,
00:32:05and now we are here with our Green Group guest of the week.
00:32:08Joining us is trainer Whit Beckman.
00:32:10We've already talked about the big win Saturday
00:32:12for Honor Marie in the Kentucky Jockey Club.
00:32:15Well, Mr. Beckman is the trainer of Honor Marie.
00:32:18Thanks for being with us, Whit.
00:32:20Let's start off with a softball question.
00:32:22What did you think about Honor Marie's chances
00:32:25going into the Kentucky Jockey Club?
00:32:28And give us your analysis of the race after you see it.
00:32:31Yeah, I was, I mean, we were waiting for that two-turn start.
00:32:35So, I mean, going into it, I was fairly confident
00:32:38we were going to see that kind of, you know,
00:32:40new dimension of him being able to really close,
00:32:43you know, and kind of find his best stride.
00:32:45Some of those, you know, one-turn races,
00:32:47you could see he kind of takes a while to get himself,
00:32:49you know, kind of geared up.
00:32:51You know, fortunately in that first start,
00:32:53you know, everything kind of worked out, he got there.
00:32:55That second start, you know, real sloppy track,
00:32:57you know, it was just some tough conditions,
00:32:59but he still ran a really, I thought, legitimate race.
00:33:01And, I mean, going into this, his work prior to it,
00:33:04I wasn't, you know, 100% going to go to the Jockey Club.
00:33:07We were thinking maybe take him down to New Orleans
00:33:09and start there.
00:33:11But, yeah, like I said, he, yeah, he figured it out
00:33:16and was just thrilled to see it happen.
00:33:18How good do you think he is?
00:33:21I don't know.
00:33:23I mean, he's done everything right to this point.
00:33:26Like I said, he's a, he's a young, you know, young horse.
00:33:29He's late fall, May fall.
00:33:31So him early on, just some maturity things
00:33:34and just kind of some rawness about him.
00:33:36We needed a little bit more time to kind of get him going.
00:33:38But now that he's starting to kind of figure things out
00:33:40on the mental side, the physical, you know,
00:33:43we've always known was there.
00:33:45So, I mean, at this point, the way he won,
00:33:47the way he galloped out, especially, I mean,
00:33:49he could go on to be a very legitimate horse.
00:33:51But, I don't know, I've been in this position, you know,
00:33:53working for some other guys before.
00:33:55And sometimes November, you see things that, you know,
00:33:57don't necessarily carry on into the three-year-old year.
00:34:01Yeah, worked for some other guys before.
00:34:03That's a, that's a, that's a nice little way
00:34:05to toss that out there, right?
00:34:07The Chad Brown, Todd Fletcher, Owen Hardy, Saudi Arabia.
00:34:11You've got quite the interesting background.
00:34:13Before we dive into some of that, and it's fascinating.
00:34:15What's next now for Honor Marie?
00:34:19I understand you're going to the fairgrounds.
00:34:21Is that where your winter base is going to be?
00:34:23Yeah, we're going to take him down.
00:34:25Actually, we're shipping out this afternoon.
00:34:27We're going to kind of get things set up.
00:34:29I'm actually going to be, I'm going to leave some horses here.
00:34:31You know, to kind of utilize the Turfway program.
00:34:33We've got some Kentucky breads that I think fit well.
00:34:35But, you know, we've got about eight stalls,
00:34:37ten stalls down there in New Orleans.
00:34:39So we'll, you know, take some of our better dirt horses
00:34:42and turf horses down there for the winter.
00:34:44Have you spent the winter in New Orleans before?
00:34:47But you're going to be diving backwards and forwards, right?
00:34:50Yeah, I've never like gone and stayed the whole winter
00:34:53or kept the strain down there.
00:34:55You know, when I worked for Todd, we'd ship in.
00:34:57You know, I'd spend some, you know, weeks at a time.
00:34:59But I've never been there for the long haul.
00:35:01Last year, we went to Tampa.
00:35:03The year before, we stayed around here.
00:35:05We're still just trying to, you know, a new stable,
00:35:07trying to kind of get our bearings and figure out
00:35:09what's best for, you know, our program and our horses.
00:35:11And, you know, this is a, it's a new thing for us.
00:35:13But, you know, I just, I think it's got a lot of perks
00:35:17for our horses.
00:35:19And I think they'll fit down there.
00:35:21So how many horses would you have in training?
00:35:23Because that's always a tough ask to split your stable
00:35:25at such an early age.
00:35:27It can be tough.
00:35:29It is. It is.
00:35:31It's building a staff, you know, you've got to feel
00:35:33comfortable and, you know, moving back and forth
00:35:35and knowing that things will be, you know,
00:35:37taken care of in both places.
00:35:39But we've only got, let's see, after shipping a few out,
00:35:42a few going to sales, we're, you know, about 20 right now.
00:35:44So, I mean, we've always been a small stable.
00:35:46We're not necessarily, you know, having to worry
00:35:48about those big numbers.
00:35:50But, you know, you split 10, 20, either way,
00:35:52you know, it's still got the same challenges.
00:35:55So Honor Marie was your very first Graded Sticks winner.
00:35:58You just went out on your own in 2021.
00:36:01You've got five years with Chad Brown,
00:36:03about six years with Todd Pletcher.
00:36:05In between, you detoured to Saudi Arabia.
00:36:07I want to ask you about that because we had
00:36:09Jimmy Jerkins on last week to talk about Saudi Arabia.
00:36:12I watched it.
00:36:14Okay. Well, first of all, how much does your experience
00:36:17handling, being around top three-year-olds with Chad
00:36:21and especially with Todd, how much is that going
00:36:24to help you now with Honor Marie, you think, going forward?
00:36:27I think just kind of, you know, sitting in
00:36:29and just being a part of a lot of, you know,
00:36:31what they did and strategizing towards, you know,
00:36:34taking from this point, November, when you know
00:36:36you've got something to work with.
00:36:38And then obviously as other things develop,
00:36:40but you don't really, you know, kind of notice it
00:36:42until this point now when you kind of go back
00:36:44through, you know, your experiences and you kind of
00:36:46just, you know, you have an idea about, you know,
00:36:49obviously what it takes to make it there
00:36:51and how things just have to go so perfectly.
00:36:53And, you know, with tons of three-year-old options,
00:36:55you know, you just kind of got to figure out
00:36:57what you have, you know, with your horse
00:36:59and then, you know, where they're going to best fit
00:37:01and just, you know, there's a lot of moving parts
00:37:03that, you know, have to come together.
00:37:05And we all know how this is like,
00:37:07probably one of the, you know,
00:37:09you got to have some luck on your side too.
00:37:11That being said, you are opting to go to New Orleans
00:37:13with your big horse.
00:37:15Are you trying to avoid Todd and Chad?
00:37:17Because they don't have stables there
00:37:19in the wintertime.
00:37:21Well, what's the reasoning for going to New Orleans?
00:37:23Yeah, I'm not trying to avoid them specifically
00:37:25or anybody specifically.
00:37:27I think just, you know, I've spent a lot of time
00:37:29in South Florida and just trying to figure out
00:37:31I think New Orleans, you know,
00:37:33just being part of the Kentucky circuit
00:37:35and then the New Orleans circuit, you know,
00:37:37this is, Louisville's where I'm from,
00:37:39Louisville's my home base, you know,
00:37:41being a Churchill track and just trying to figure out
00:37:43somewhere where I'm excited they've got
00:37:45a beautiful turf course.
00:37:47I think it had a lot of things,
00:37:49not just specific for three-year-olds
00:37:51that just suit our stable, you know.
00:37:53They do have, you know, climbing races on turf.
00:37:55They have just, and it's not,
00:37:57like I said, it's not as tough as Gulfstream.
00:37:59I don't think, you know, you look at the,
00:38:01I mean, you're in your first job,
00:38:03but you kind of started off at the University of Pletcher
00:38:05before you wound up being some,
00:38:07around some of the top horses in the country
00:38:09with Chad Brown.
00:38:11I think you're 41 years old.
00:38:13You made the comment when you went on your own
00:38:15that you felt you might be even over-prepared
00:38:17as far as the actual hands-on training aspect
00:38:19of the horses goes.
00:38:21What's been the biggest challenge for you
00:38:23in developing a racing stable now
00:38:25as the head coach, so to speak,
00:38:28instead of a coordinator?
00:38:29I mean, early on, when you only have a few horses,
00:38:31you know, there's some things you kind of get used to
00:38:33in big stables, you know, just with breezing
00:38:35and company and trying to find things
00:38:37that, you know, work to help develop your horses.
00:38:39Staff is another big thing, you know.
00:38:41I think that's one of the underplayed things
00:38:43about how important it is to have
00:38:45a really good, solid staff behind you.
00:38:47Like, it's impossible to do this on our own,
00:38:49so to kind of, as we went on,
00:38:51it was a lot of turnover early,
00:38:53and, you know, it's kind of really settled down,
00:38:55and I've got, you know, a pretty static group
00:38:57of guys and women, and just,
00:38:59you know, getting all that,
00:39:01where I can kind of, you know, do my thing
00:39:03and trust that things are going to be executed,
00:39:05you know, kind of the way we've set it up to do,
00:39:07that's, I think, probably the biggest accomplishment.
00:39:10And then, obviously, you know,
00:39:12recruiting some better horses, you know,
00:39:14better owners, and just, you know,
00:39:16getting the support from the people
00:39:18that have been with us from the get-go.
00:39:20And it's, like I said, there's challenges every day.
00:39:22There's a lot of stress, you know.
00:39:24It used to be, you just have to kind of go home,
00:39:26and you don't necessarily have to worry
00:39:27after hours, but, you know,
00:39:29just kind of balancing it all
00:39:31and just, you know, trying to be
00:39:33where you need to be at the right place
00:39:35at the right time.
00:39:37Because now you're a businessman now
00:39:39as well as a horse trainer, right?
00:39:41Yeah, I think that, yeah, exactly.
00:39:43The business aspect of, you know,
00:39:45running a racing stable,
00:39:47and I've had some help, you know.
00:39:49I've got my sister who's, you know,
00:39:51been doing my books and helping me
00:39:53with the payroll and just a lot of the ordering,
00:39:55just a lot of the stuff that, you know,
00:39:57I can take a picture of me
00:39:59so I can really focus on, you know,
00:40:01being on the ground in the morning
00:40:03with the horses and just giving that
00:40:05as much of my attention as possible.
00:40:07And I'm learning.
00:40:09I'm learning on the fly, you know.
00:40:11It was one of those things
00:40:13that probably wasn't my strong suit
00:40:15when I, you know, came into this.
00:40:17But we're, yeah, starting to kind of
00:40:19pick up the pieces.
00:40:21And that's smart because that is
00:40:23one of the trials and tribulations
00:40:25to being a trainer now.
00:40:27You need someone to assist you
00:40:29with that, which is one of the major
00:40:31hurdles for young trainers now.
00:40:34Totally agree.
00:40:36Like, she's been unbelievable.
00:40:38And, you know, I haven't had
00:40:40to enter anything in there.
00:40:42She does everything for me.
00:40:44She's on top of it all.
00:40:46It's that I know what I'm doing,
00:40:48but it's like one of those things.
00:40:50It's just an extra step on an already
00:40:52extremely, you know, just busy.
00:40:54And with things changing so rapidly,
00:40:55you've got to have somebody
00:40:57in your corner that's, you know,
00:40:59especially kind of reaching out
00:41:01and preparing me for things that,
00:41:03you know, I may not notice.
00:41:05Yeah, you've got to have a good team.
00:41:07And, you know, that's what we're building.
00:41:09So Todd obviously is in the Hall of Fame.
00:41:11Chad will be a first ballot Hall of Famer.
00:41:13Just looking at them on the surface,
00:41:15it seems like they may be kind
00:41:17of different types of trainers.
00:41:19But I'm sure when you're, you know,
00:41:21when you're on your hands and knees
00:41:23in a stall or when you're dealing
00:41:25between the two guys,
00:41:27what are a couple of the key takeaways
00:41:29that you got out of your time
00:41:31with Todd and then also with Chad?
00:41:36Well, I guess I think about this two ways.
00:41:38There's one way is like I'm the only one
00:41:40that really knows that.
00:41:42So I don't know if I want to tell everybody
00:41:44what the differences are,
00:41:46because I don't know that anybody else
00:41:48has sat so close to either one of them.
00:41:50But I mean, fundamentally, like I said,
00:41:52training horses is, you know,
00:41:53you walk them, you gallop them,
00:41:55you do the things that get the horses,
00:41:57you know, from point A to point B
00:41:59from our standpoint of trying to get them fit.
00:42:01And just I think a lot of it comes down
00:42:03to attention to detail, you know,
00:42:05keeping the horses happy, healthy,
00:42:07just making sure you can make adjustments on the fly.
00:42:09You know, there's just so many little nuances
00:42:11that are so similar.
00:42:13I mean, differences, I don't think
00:42:15there's as many as people would want to,
00:42:17you know, fight for out there.
00:42:19Like I said, they're two different people,
00:42:21you know, and two different kind of,
00:42:23but at the same time,
00:42:25they're both just incredibly,
00:42:27just, you know, focus driven.
00:42:29And you see that with the success,
00:42:31they're in there every day,
00:42:33they're hard workers, they're just,
00:42:35they set the example that, you know,
00:42:37lays the groundwork for the culture of the stable
00:42:39for everybody else to show up
00:42:41and to kind of inspire that.
00:42:43That's tough, you know, for everybody
00:42:45to be on board with, you know,
00:42:47your business and what you're trying to accomplish
00:42:49and, you know, try to make them feel
00:42:51as part of the team as possible.
00:42:53So, you know, I think that's
00:42:55a big takeaway from your year in Saudi.
00:42:57Where were you?
00:42:59What happened?
00:43:01And why did you come back?
00:43:03Yeah, I went a couple of times.
00:43:05I went on two different occasions.
00:43:07It's funny, I watched Jimmy's interview
00:43:09the other day, and I was finding,
00:43:11like, he's kind of downplaying
00:43:13how challenging it is.
00:43:15You know, there's just, there is,
00:43:17you know, the first time I think
00:43:19takeaway is like, it's just a totally
00:43:21different culture, you know,
00:43:23it's just kind of getting used to.
00:43:25Like I said, the environment was harsh.
00:43:27It was very difficult.
00:43:29There's a lot of things that we take,
00:43:31you know, just kind of suppose
00:43:33are going to be part of what we,
00:43:35with vets and blacksmiths and everything,
00:43:37but feed programs.
00:43:39And it was just a totally different scenario
00:43:41having to kind of build it all
00:43:43from absolute scratch and figure out
00:43:45how to, you know, move around certain,
00:43:47you know, luxuries we have here
00:43:49that we didn't have over there.
00:43:51So, I mean, it was, it did prepare me
00:43:53for a lot of things.
00:43:55And remember, you don't really have control.
00:43:57It's like here, we just have the opportunity
00:43:59to control so much more.
00:44:01Over there, you just kind of had to go with it.
00:44:03Did you learn any Arabic swear words
00:44:05or are they too buttoned up over there
00:44:07to actually swear?
00:44:09I don't know if I learned any swear.
00:44:11I mean, I don't know.
00:44:13It's sometimes like listening to them talk.
00:44:15You don't know if they're yelling at each other
00:44:17or just having a conversation.
00:44:19They get very emphatic and aggressive
00:44:21with the language, but I mean,
00:44:23I learned a lot.
00:44:25So, I don't want us to OD on Saudi Arabia here,
00:44:27but how did you get over there?
00:44:29I'm not, technically, I mean,
00:44:31you got on an airplane,
00:44:33but what led to you going
00:44:35from the United States to Saudi Arabia?
00:44:37The first time, I guess,
00:44:39I was, you know, working for Todd
00:44:41and there was a group over there,
00:44:44not one of the princess stables,
00:44:46but it was a major,
00:44:48what they call Bedouin stables,
00:44:50so non-royalty, but they got my name.
00:44:51They had known I'd worked, you know,
00:44:53top level in the US for a while.
00:44:55They reached out to me and at that point,
00:44:57I'd been with Todd for, you know,
00:44:59over six years and just kind of
00:45:01discussed things with him and just kind of,
00:45:03you know, stayed where I was kind of thinking
00:45:05and, you know, it just kind of felt like
00:45:07at that point in time, you know,
00:45:09it just felt like the right move.
00:45:11Wow. And the second time?
00:45:13Second time, I was actually working.
00:45:15I had come back.
00:45:17I was spending a year and a half
00:45:19working with Owen Hardy.
00:45:21And was with him for about 14 months
00:45:24and then I got contacted from another guy
00:45:26who I got pretty close with over there
00:45:28and he said there's a new stable coming,
00:45:30be a great opportunity.
00:45:32Should probably, you know, at least entertain
00:45:34and I wasn't ever really intent on going back.
00:45:36It was so, you know, tough the first time,
00:45:38but everything kind of worked out at that point.
00:45:40You know, I had a baby,
00:45:42like a daughter on the way
00:45:44and, you know, it just seemed like a good idea
00:45:46to go over, maybe save a little money
00:45:48and just, you know, see if it worked out.
00:45:49It didn't end up working out.
00:45:51I came back when she was born
00:45:53and didn't end up going back
00:45:55and then I got hired by Chad's in there after.
00:45:57So it proved to be the right, you know, right decision.
00:45:59But yeah, tried it again.
00:46:02Looking on a business card,
00:46:04Whit Beckman, international man of mystery.
00:46:06There you go.
00:46:08So now here we are.
00:46:10I mean, you're going to have a top two-year-old
00:46:14slash three-year-old when you get down to the fairgrounds.
00:46:16I don't want to jinx you or anything,
00:46:17but what would it mean to you
00:46:20as a person who grew up in Louisville,
00:46:23graduated from high school in Louisville,
00:46:25to get back to Louisville
00:46:27with a Kentucky Derby contender?
00:46:29Yeah, that's, I mean,
00:46:31I'd be lying if I didn't say
00:46:33that was the dream all along.
00:46:35I mean, for us to grow up here,
00:46:37you know, that's the race.
00:46:39That's part of our, you know,
00:46:41big time culture.
00:46:43It would be a dream.
00:46:45And I know, you know, being November
00:46:47and how difficult it is,
00:46:49I try not to get too, you know,
00:46:51too focused on that, on the end goal,
00:46:53but just kind of stay, you know,
00:46:55here in the moment and just understand
00:46:57that like, you know, what needs to be done
00:46:59and I've seen what needs to be done
00:47:01and we'll just kind of continue to follow the,
00:47:03you know, the ball as it lies,
00:47:05not worry about where the shot needs to go,
00:47:07but just kind of, you know,
00:47:09focus in on the moment.
00:47:11That being said, getting your first-ever
00:47:13stakes win at Churchill Down,
00:47:15the home where you grew up,
00:47:17and you got a stake.
00:47:19But yeah, it was like,
00:47:21if I could have picked anywhere in any race,
00:47:23that was the one.
00:47:25I had a couple runners that weekend.
00:47:27I felt like a few of them had shots
00:47:29and like, if I was going to win one of them,
00:47:31that was the one.
00:47:33You know, just super thrilled the horse
00:47:35was able to show what I've been seeing
00:47:37in the morning for quite some time.
00:47:39Well, Whit, thanks so much
00:47:41for taking the time with us.
00:47:43Congratulations on the success of Honor Marie.
00:47:45Continued success going forward,
00:47:47and thank you guys for having me.
00:47:49And as this week's Green Group
00:47:51guest of the week,
00:47:53Whit Beckman, as he develops
00:47:55his new racing stable
00:47:57and gets into all the nuts and bolts
00:47:59of actually running a business.
00:48:01Good news for Whit,
00:48:03he receives a free one-hour
00:48:05tax consultation from Lynn Green
00:48:07and the Green Group.
00:48:09Again, for more information
00:48:11on how the Green Group can help you
00:48:13in the thoroughbred business or not,
00:48:15go to www.greenco.com.
00:48:17When it comes to taxes,
00:48:19the Green Group can help.
00:48:21There's a reason the most successful
00:48:23owners, breeders, and horsemen
00:48:25select the Green Group
00:48:27as their tax advisors.
00:48:29They save you money
00:48:31and share successful strategies.
00:48:33Over the past 40 years,
00:48:35the Green Group founder, Lynn Green,
00:48:37has owned and bred some of the best
00:48:39racehorses in the history of the sport,
00:48:41like Eclipse Award-winning champions
00:48:43Jay Walk and Wonder Wheel.
00:48:45His DJ stable competes
00:48:47in-depth, hands-on industry knowledge
00:48:49combined with cutting-edge
00:48:51tax-saving strategies
00:48:53has produced positive results
00:48:55for his clientele
00:48:57and has made the Green Group
00:48:59the top-rated accounting and tax firm
00:49:01in the thoroughbred business.
00:49:03For a confidential
00:49:05and complimentary consultation,
00:49:07contact us at 732-634-5100
00:49:09or visit our website
00:49:11at www.greenco.com.
00:49:13The Green Group,
00:49:15proven strategies to save you taxes.
00:49:17One of the most
00:49:19exposed fields in the country
00:49:21and quality racing year-round.
00:49:23There's never been a better time
00:49:25to reap the rewards
00:49:27of breeding and racing in Kentucky.
00:49:29Purse money in Kentucky
00:49:31is at an all-time high
00:49:33as is average purse per race
00:49:35outpacing California,
00:49:37Florida, and New York.
00:49:39Kentucky breds.
00:49:41Breed them.
00:49:43Raise them.
00:49:45Race them.
00:49:47This newsroom is brought to you
00:49:49by Kentucky Breds.
00:49:51Kentucky Breds win
00:49:53all over the world.
00:49:55Last week, it was Daily Motion,
00:49:57a three-year-old filly
00:49:59by Medaglia D'Oro,
00:50:01out of Day at the Spa,
00:50:03you remember her,
00:50:05who won her career debut
00:50:07in Deauville.
00:50:09Daily Motion was purchased
00:50:11for just $150,000
00:50:13at the OBS March sale
00:50:15by Hubert Gee.
00:50:17Purse per race in Kentucky
00:50:19outpaces all other
00:50:21leading jurisdictions,
00:50:23including Arkansas,
00:50:25New York, California,
00:50:27and Florida,
00:50:29and grew by a massive 47%
00:50:31year after year.
00:50:33That's a lot of money
00:50:35they're giving away.
00:50:37For more information
00:50:39on racing and breeding
00:50:41in Kentucky,
00:50:42visit KentuckyBreds.com.
00:50:44Breed them.
00:50:45So Zoe, let's now look ahead
00:50:47to some of the stakes races
00:50:49in New York and in California
00:50:51this weekend on Saturday
00:50:53at Aqueduct,
00:50:54not just the Cigar Mile,
00:50:56always a late November,
00:50:57early December highlight
00:50:58at the Big A,
00:50:59but also the Gopher Wand
00:51:00for fillies and mares,
00:51:02and I want to focus
00:51:04on the two-year-olds.
00:51:05We've got the Rimson
00:51:06and the Demoiselle,
00:51:07both at a mile and an eighth.
00:51:08The Rimson in particular
00:51:10has a lot of the big-name
00:51:11horsemen in it,
00:51:12as you would expect.
00:51:13The Probables,
00:51:14the peepees haven't come out yet
00:51:16as we tape this,
00:51:17but Pletcher's got a couple,
00:51:18Chad Brown's got a couple,
00:51:19Bill Mott, Brad Cox,
00:51:20Linda Rice,
00:51:22but Dornach is in there,
00:51:24and I think he's going to be
00:51:26the heavy favorite,
00:51:27especially, Zoe,
00:51:29if you listen to trainer
00:51:30Danny Gargan.
00:51:32And we do listen to Danny.
00:51:33We trust in Danny Gargan.
00:51:36Danny's a good friend of mine,
00:51:37and he's always a very
00:51:38colorful person.
00:51:40When you see him
00:51:41wherever he is,
00:51:42I put a call out to him,
00:51:43and I'm like,
00:51:44you're definitely running, right?
00:51:45And he's like,
00:51:46yeah, yeah, I'm running.
00:51:47He's doing great.
00:51:48Dornach has,
00:51:49perhaps didn't live up
00:51:51to the expectation
00:51:52that he would win
00:51:53first time out
00:51:54and be all of a sudden
00:51:55a two-year-old champion.
00:51:57That's what he was billed at
00:51:58at the beginning of Saratoga.
00:52:00But nonetheless,
00:52:01he's never really run
00:52:02a bad race.
00:52:03He broke his maiden
00:52:04in fine fashion,
00:52:05winning by six and a half
00:52:06last time out.
00:52:08And that's exactly what,
00:52:09you know,
00:52:10Danny wanted to do with him.
00:52:11He went a mile and 16th.
00:52:12He managed to go two turns.
00:52:14And he looked like
00:52:15a good thing
00:52:16under Louis Sayers
00:52:17when he did it.
00:52:18I think he is most definitely
00:52:20the one to beat.
00:52:21He's the full brother to Mage.
00:52:22If he does win this,
00:52:23I think we're going to put Puka
00:52:25in as broodmare of the year.
00:52:29But yeah,
00:52:30he is the one to beat,
00:52:32but he's not the only one in there.
00:52:33It looks like there's probably
00:52:34going to be a full field.
00:52:36There could be 10 or 12 in here
00:52:37when the entries are done.
00:52:39Domestic product
00:52:40is certainly solid in here.
00:52:42For trainer Chad Brown,
00:52:43he's got just two starts
00:52:44to his name.
00:52:45Broke his maiden
00:52:46by five-something lengths
00:52:48at Belmont,
00:52:49at Aqueduct
00:52:50in his last start.
00:52:51So,
00:52:52while the Remsen,
00:52:53when you look back
00:52:54in the history of
00:52:55Kentucky Derby winners,
00:52:56does not jump off the page,
00:52:58this could be a very good race
00:53:00indeed.
00:53:01And perhaps it might be
00:53:02the best edition yet.
00:53:04Might be,
00:53:05especially if Dornuck lives up
00:53:06to Danny Gargan's expectations.
00:53:08Gargan called him
00:53:09the best horse he's ever trained.
00:53:10You look at his past performances,
00:53:12he's had three lifetime starts.
00:53:13He got beat first time out,
00:53:14okay.
00:53:15He was sprinting,
00:53:16he was on a sloppy track,
00:53:17he was at Saratoga.
00:53:18Next time they sent him
00:53:19to the sapling,
00:53:20he gets a two-turn mile at Monmouth.
00:53:21He was beaten by noted,
00:53:22trained by Todd Pletcher,
00:53:24who has certainly
00:53:25not distinguished himself
00:53:26that highly
00:53:27since the sapling.
00:53:28But if you go back
00:53:29and you watch the sapling,
00:53:30Dornuck had a brutal trip.
00:53:34So, that's why
00:53:35he was one to two
00:53:36when he ran at Keeneland.
00:53:38And he ran 145
00:53:39for a mile and a 16th
00:53:40on that day
00:53:41on a track
00:53:42that was not fast at all.
00:53:44Big speed figure
00:53:45that day for Dornuck.
00:53:46So, it'll be fascinating
00:53:47to see if he repeats that
00:53:50going a mile and an eighth
00:53:51in the rim.
00:53:52So, what about the cigar mile
00:53:53and go for one?
00:53:54Anything stick out to you there?
00:53:56I mean, it's Chad Brown,
00:53:57isn't it?
00:53:58Chad Brown's won
00:53:5922 greatest stakes on the year
00:54:01and he looks like
00:54:02he's going to try
00:54:03and finish with a bang
00:54:04not only at Aqueduct,
00:54:05but at Del Mar this weekend.
00:54:07Cigar mile,
00:54:08Brown will have a creative,
00:54:10Casillas, Dr. Ardito,
00:54:12looks like Senor Buscador
00:54:13is going to go in there
00:54:14for trainer Todd Fincher.
00:54:16Be good to see him
00:54:17get in the win column.
00:54:18Ever so mischievous,
00:54:20what do you make of him?
00:54:21He's likely to be
00:54:22the lone three-year-old in there.
00:54:24Yeah, I mean,
00:54:25he's in a pretty tough spot,
00:54:28but this is not
00:54:29the strongest edition of this race.
00:54:31No.
00:54:32In the past,
00:54:33we've seen some really,
00:54:36really stellar Cigar miles.
00:54:38This year,
00:54:39maybe not so much.
00:54:41So if there was ever a spot
00:54:42for a three-year-old
00:54:43like that to win,
00:54:44this might be the one.
00:54:46He certainly has run
00:54:47some big races in his past.
00:54:48As far as the go for wand,
00:54:50what about Cherry Manda
00:54:51winning that match race
00:54:52by like 25 lengths?
00:54:54She's always been
00:54:55one of my favorites,
00:54:57especially having to film her
00:54:58in the morning with the works
00:55:00because she's just
00:55:01such a pleasure to watch
00:55:03because she's just
00:55:04so excitable.
00:55:06Like when she works,
00:55:07she's all out all the time.
00:55:09She's got one way or no way,
00:55:11and that's how she won
00:55:12the match race
00:55:13that she won by 25 lengths.
00:55:15Is she the one to beat
00:55:16in the go for wand?
00:55:19Possibly.
00:55:20Of course,
00:55:21you've got to take
00:55:22trip handicapping, Zoe.
00:55:23You've got to take
00:55:24those easy trips
00:55:25like in a match race.
00:55:26With the grain of salt,
00:55:27you've got to look for value.
00:55:28If a horse wins by 25,
00:55:30people are going to be
00:55:31jumping all over it, right?
00:55:32So you've got to try
00:55:33and get a shot against it.
00:55:34All right, so
00:55:35that's Aqueduct.
00:55:36Del Mar also has
00:55:37some big races this weekend.
00:55:38As much as I would like
00:55:39to see Dornoch
00:55:41in the Rimsen,
00:55:42if I was going to be in person
00:55:43at any of these races,
00:55:44let's see.
00:55:45I've got a choice.
00:55:46I can be at Aqueduct
00:55:47in late November,
00:55:48or I could be at Del Mar
00:55:50any time of the year.
00:55:52I've got some serious
00:55:53Del Mar envy here.
00:55:54Tell us about
00:55:55what to expect
00:55:56this weekend out there.
00:55:57You'll go to Del Mar
00:55:58every day of the week
00:55:59and twice on Sunday.
00:56:00It looks like the weather
00:56:01is going to be great
00:56:02down there.
00:56:03They're going to have
00:56:04some really,
00:56:05really good stakes races
00:56:07this weekend.
00:56:08Of course,
00:56:09it's closing weekend
00:56:10at Del Mar.
00:56:11What have we got going on there?
00:56:12You've got the Hollywood Derby,
00:56:13the Grade 3 Jimmy Durante
00:56:15for two-year-olds,
00:56:16the Stormy Liberals stakes,
00:56:17that's 5.8 on the grass,
00:56:19the Matriarch,
00:56:20and the Cecil B. DeMille stakes
00:56:22as well for the two-year-olds.
00:56:24Let's talk about
00:56:25the Matriarch first.
00:56:26Chad Brown's going to run
00:56:27four in there.
00:56:28He's won five
00:56:29of the last six runnings.
00:56:31This could be
00:56:32like a monumental weekend
00:56:34for Chad Brown.
00:56:35Looks like he's going to have
00:56:37Beau Bute Cash,
00:56:39Fluffy Socks,
00:56:40and Surge Capacity,
00:56:42who was very strong
00:56:43in the Valley View
00:56:44last time out.
00:56:45White Beam,
00:56:46the winner of the Grade 1,
00:56:47Diana.
00:56:48Closing remarks
00:56:49will be the Local Hope
00:56:50for trainer Carla Gaines.
00:56:51She's doing great.
00:56:52She's won four graded stakes
00:56:54on the year,
00:56:55so she'll be the Local Hope.
00:56:56And then you've got Speed
00:56:57in there for Ruby Nell,
00:56:58and Dick Mandello's winning
00:57:00just about everything
00:57:01he chooses.
00:57:03Love the way
00:57:04Surge Capacity looked
00:57:05in her last race
00:57:06at Canelon.
00:57:07And Chad certainly,
00:57:08as you pointed out,
00:57:09has a knack
00:57:10for gauging
00:57:11which of his horses
00:57:12will handle
00:57:13the really firm
00:57:14Southern California turf.
00:57:15Which ones to send out there?
00:57:16Plenty of success there.
00:57:17All right,
00:57:18XPTV Work of the Week.
00:57:19What do you got?
00:57:20We've got
00:57:21Speed Boat Beach.
00:57:23Oh.
00:57:24Speed Boat Beach.
00:57:25Man, he looked good.
00:57:26He's one that you really
00:57:28want to work solo,
00:57:29which did not happen.
00:57:32So,
00:57:33the TDN Writer's Room
00:57:34is brought to you by
00:57:35XPTV.
00:57:36This week's
00:57:37Work of the Week,
00:57:38as I mentioned,
00:57:39is Speed Boat Beach.
00:57:40He worked a handy
00:57:41four furlongs.
00:57:42Now, he got some
00:57:43unwanted company here.
00:57:44And you can see
00:57:45the guy's feet
00:57:46are absolutely
00:57:47on the dashboard,
00:57:48working in 48 and 1
00:57:50on Sunday.
00:57:52Now, he looks like
00:57:53he's going to be entered,
00:57:54along with stablemates
00:57:55Hijazi and Fort Bragg
00:57:57in the Grade 1 Malibu
00:57:58Stakes on Opening Day,
00:57:59December the 26th
00:58:01at Santa Anita.
00:58:02Speed Boat Beach
00:58:03was last seen
00:58:04finishing fourth
00:58:05to Elite Power
00:58:06in the Grade 1 Breeders'
00:58:07Cup Sprint
00:58:08at Santa Anita.
00:58:09And if he keeps
00:58:10working like this,
00:58:11he'll be certainly
00:58:12one to beat.
00:58:28music
00:58:46All the thrills.
00:58:50Fraction of the bills.
00:58:55Experience the power
00:58:56of the partnership.
00:59:00Change your life,
00:59:01make new friends,
00:59:02and compete at the highest
00:59:03level of thoroughbred racing.
00:59:07West Point Thoroughbreds,
00:59:09the gold standard
00:59:10in racing partnerships.
00:59:11Visit westpointtb.com.
00:59:15TD and Writer's Room
00:59:16also brought to you
00:59:17by West Point Thoroughbreds.
00:59:19It was a busy
00:59:20Thanksgiving weekend
00:59:21of racing for the
00:59:22West Point Partners
00:59:23in the Kentucky Jockey Club,
00:59:25won by Honor Marie.
00:59:26Their promising
00:59:27two-year-old stretch ride,
00:59:28trained by Dale Romans,
00:59:29was right up there
00:59:30on the pace all the way
00:59:31and held on to finish
00:59:32a nice third
00:59:33the next day on Sunday.
00:59:34Northern Invader
00:59:35finished second
00:59:36in the Commonwealth Stakes
00:59:37for three-year-olds,
00:59:38originally to be run
00:59:39on the turf,
00:59:40moved to the dirt.
00:59:41And they also visited
00:59:42the Winner's Circle Saturday
00:59:43in a maiden special weight,
00:59:45a very nice performance
00:59:47by Legalize,
00:59:48who won that race
00:59:49at Churchill
00:59:50in only his second
00:59:51lifetime start.
00:59:52If you're interested
00:59:53in joining
00:59:54a West Point partnership
00:59:55and vaulting
00:59:56into the world
00:59:57of instant camaraderie,
00:59:58go to westpointtb.com.
01:00:02Zoe likes that part.
01:00:04I do, I do.
01:00:05You know, that's one
01:00:06of the words I can
01:00:07never really say,
01:00:08camaraderie.
01:00:09Camaraderie.
01:00:10It's a horrible word
01:00:11for me to say.
01:00:12I can say it,
01:00:13but if I read it,
01:00:14I can't say it.
01:00:15I just have certain
01:00:16words like that
01:00:17that just flummox me.
01:00:19All right.
01:00:20I think we're done here.
01:00:22We are done.
01:00:23We miss Bill Finley.
01:00:24Bill, get well quick
01:00:25and come back next week.
01:00:28Thanks to everybody.
01:00:29Zoe, thank you.
01:00:30Thanks to Whit Beckman,
01:00:31our Green Group
01:00:32Guest of the Week,
01:00:33Katie Petruniak,
01:00:34Anthony LaRocca,
01:00:35Allie LaRocca,
01:00:36and Nathan Wilkinson.
01:00:38And Lucy.
01:00:39Look, she's doing her
01:00:40best deadfall.
01:00:41Lucy is very comfortable
01:00:42right now.
01:00:43What's that?
01:00:44I don't know.
01:00:45I don't know.
01:00:47What's that?
01:00:48She's doing her
01:00:49best dead dog impression.
01:00:50Yeah, she likes
01:00:51the stiff-legged look
01:00:52about this time of the day.
01:00:53I'll have to take her
01:00:54out of here pretty soon.
01:00:55Thanks, everybody,
01:00:56and we'll see you
01:00:57next week with Bill.
01:00:59Cheers, Randy.