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00:00:00For the love of the horse, for generations to come.
00:00:28Welcome to another edition of the TDN Writer's Room podcast brought to you by Keeneland.
00:00:32My name is Bill Findlay, I'm a correspondent for the Thoroughbred Daily News, also co-host
00:00:37of the Down the Stretch radio show on Sirius XM, that famed announcer Dave Down the Stretch
00:00:41Johnson.
00:00:42I'm TD Thornton, a stable mate of Bill's and also a correspondent at Thoroughbred Daily
00:00:47News.
00:00:48Zoe Cabman here with First Racing and XBTV.
00:00:52It's a little gloomy out here today, which is actually nice because it was really hot
00:00:56last week.
00:00:57We're back from the OBS sale, which we'll touch on just a little bit later on, but delighted
00:01:02to be here, guys.
00:01:05So TD, you were kept very busy just about every day over the last four or five days.
00:01:10The never ending saga of the Bob Baffert horses trying to get into the Kentucky Derby.
00:01:17And the short answer is that not Baffert, but Amir Zidan, who owns Muth, sued to try
00:01:23to get the horse into the Derby.
00:01:26He did not win the lawsuit.
00:01:27The judge didn't seem to be particularly sympathetic.
00:01:31And as we speak, on a Tuesday, the Baffert horses still are not allowed to run in the
00:01:36Derby.
00:01:37He has filed, Zidan has filed an appeal.
00:01:40I would be shocked if he wins on appeal, considering how lock solid Churchill's case seemed to be
00:01:46the first time around.
00:01:47But fill in the blanks, TD, what's what's going on here?
00:01:51And did I call it, am I calling it right that this is just kind of a Hail Mary on their
00:01:55part?
00:01:56Well, I think it's been a Hail Mary since 2022, since Churchill Downs Incorporated opted
00:02:04to bar trainer Bob Baffert over the beta methasone positive for Medina Spirit in the 2021 Derby.
00:02:10So we were writing in TDN as far back as January of 22, that it only takes one judge or in
00:02:18this appeals court, a panel of three judges to see it the other way.
00:02:24So we're not surprised that people are throwing legal cases to the wall and seeing if they'll
00:02:29stick.
00:02:30Bob Baffert himself failed at the federal level in 2023.
00:02:33He is not a party to this lawsuit.
00:02:35We should mention that.
00:02:37And he is reportedly training Muth with an eye toward the Preakness stakes.
00:02:40So it could be another story erupting if all of a sudden the appeals court says, well,
00:02:45Muth can run in the Derby and the horse has been pointing for a race that's two weeks
00:02:49later down the road.
00:02:50But yeah, you had the chronology right there, Bill.
00:02:53The circuit court said, no, you do not qualify for a temporary injunction, Mr. Zaydan, on
00:02:59the 18th of April.
00:03:01The very next day, he appealed to the appeals court.
00:03:04Churchill Downs filed their legal answer yesterday as we're taping this, which was Monday, the
00:03:0922nd.
00:03:10And both sides kind of resorted to some sports analogies.
00:03:13You go through the legalese and, you know, Churchill's answer was well over 200 pages.
00:03:20I try in my reporting for TDN, I try and tease out what is relevant to the racing reader
00:03:26or even the general sports reader.
00:03:28And, you know, Amir Zaydan was saying that this banishment of Baffert by Churchill Downs
00:03:34is akin to the New York Giants being barred from the Super Bowl because the host side
00:03:39of the Super Bowl has a vendetta against the state of New York.
00:03:42Churchill Downs responded with their own sports analogy and said, Mr. Zaydan's lawsuit is
00:03:48the equivalent of somebody trying to convince a judge on the cusp of the NCAA basketball
00:03:54playoffs that teams that qualified via the existing standardized system should be tossed
00:04:00out and new teams should be brought in.
00:04:02So both sides are kind of chipping away here.
00:04:06I thought there was some, you know, when you hear the same arguments back and forth over
00:04:11and over, you again, you try and look for what's new in the court filings.
00:04:16Some of the claims I think are going to be very difficult for them to prove if it ever
00:04:18gets to them having to prove it.
00:04:20Mr. Zaydan, one of his things, this is a quote he said, the undisputed evidence is that switching
00:04:26trainers hurts horses and diminishes performance.
00:04:30That was one of the reasons he gave as to why he did not switch from trainer Bob Baffert
00:04:35as he has done in previous years.
00:04:37I think he'd be hard pressed to come up with the numbers behind that other than the two
00:04:40derbies that he participated in without Bob Baffert services.
00:04:45And Churchill Downs on Monday, they rolled out the horse health argument, which I think
00:04:50is always kind of a red flag because in our sport, when we say that horses are in harm's
00:04:56way, everybody's supposed to shut up and take notice and listen and pay attention.
00:05:01And Churchill Downs rolled out the claim that they told the judge, and this is a quote from
00:05:06them, a ruling in favor of Muth jeopardizes the well-being of horses.
00:05:10Now, it might cause them a lot of chaos, it might cause a lot of dysfunction if the judge
00:05:15rules in their favor.
00:05:16I think they too would be hard pressed to prove in a court of law that allowing Muth
00:05:21into the Kentucky Derby is going to jeopardize the well-being of other horses.
00:05:25You always have to be careful when you roll that argument out.
00:05:27It's kind of like the little boy crying wolf when there is no wolf.
00:05:30So unfortunately, I guess to kind of wrap it up here is it's now as we're taping this
00:05:35about 10 days before the Derby, and this is what we're talking about.
00:05:39TD, I've been following you covering this and you've done an excellent job, but I didn't
00:05:45realize that CDI had such a sense of humor.
00:05:48Is that really the statement that they put out about the Derby fever?
00:05:53Because I'm going to read it verbatim.
00:05:55Please read that and then we'll comment on it.
00:05:57Yes.
00:05:58Okay.
00:05:59This is part of the statement.
00:06:00We are pleased with the court's decision today and believe Mr. Zidane may suffer from a case
00:06:06of Derby fever, which is known to spread with exposure to horses and is contagious at this
00:06:11time of year, CDI stated.
00:06:15Symptoms can contribute to questionable judgment and extreme cases can result in litigious
00:06:21behavior.
00:06:22The CDI statement continued, there is no known cure.
00:06:26Nevertheless, we have communicated clearly about the rules of entry, which are the same
00:06:30for everyone and non-negotiable.
00:06:31I read that and I'm like, is this a joke?
00:06:36I too wondered if that was a joke and they are playing very glibly with a very serious
00:06:41subject.
00:06:42And I think one, rather than picking apart what they said, sure, it was an attempt at
00:06:46humor on their part, but readers should know that it's very difficult to get statements
00:06:54out of Churchill Downs when they're on the losing side of things or when things don't
00:06:58look like they're stacked their way in either the court of public opinion or in a court
00:07:03of law.
00:07:05However, when things do go their way, like that statement was issued in the aftermath
00:07:09of the April 18th ruling that said, Mr. Zidane is not entitled to a temporary injunction
00:07:14to get his horse in the Derby.
00:07:16They were all too willing to come out, they were all too ready to come up with a statement
00:07:20like that.
00:07:21And if you're going to be putting out glib statements, well, be consistent with it.
00:07:25Just answer journalist questions.
00:07:28It's hard to get information out of Churchill Downs.
00:07:30And then they only seem to supply comments like that when they win.
00:07:34And then they're a little over the top, too humorous.
00:07:37And I'm just going to read the end of it.
00:07:39Contenders cannot sue their way into the Kentucky Derby.
00:07:42We wish Mr. Zidane well in the future.
00:07:44And we appreciate both his passion for the sport and his desire to see his horses compete
00:07:49on the first Saturday in May, which was a little, a little better.
00:07:52Yeah.
00:07:53So maybe it's over.
00:07:55We didn't know that they hired Don Rickles to write that statement for him.
00:07:59I mean, it's just, sorry, I'm glad you brought that up because that was, I mean, it was just
00:08:04more odd than anything else.
00:08:07But T.D., now we're also talking about a timeframe where the horses to run in the Derby have
00:08:12to be on the grounds by this Saturday, April 27th.
00:08:15Right now, as things stand, Muth is not allowed on the grounds because of the Baffert Band
00:08:20situation.
00:08:21Is that, is that, how much of a factor is that in that even if this new judge might
00:08:27in fact rule in Zidane's favor, you know, the wheels of justice spin slowly that it
00:08:32could come after that Saturday, after the Saturday?
00:08:37Well, I think that the, the court of appeals is taking this in an expedited fashion.
00:08:43So I'm, you know, the viewers might already know the result of this.
00:08:47And again, we apologize because the constraints of our taping, we're taping this on Tuesday
00:08:52the 23rd.
00:08:53The ruling on the temporary injunction and the emergency status is likely to come out
00:08:56very quickly.
00:08:58However, the underlying lawsuit could linger for months and then it will be up to Mr. Zidane
00:09:03if he wants to pursue that just to prove a point well after the Derby.
00:09:06It's not going to help Muth get in the Derby after the Derby has been run, but if he wants
00:09:10to try to prove his point, the lower court judge did say last week that this will, we
00:09:16will go over this throughout the summer or throughout the fall or however long it takes
00:09:20to decide the underlying case if it gets pushed that far.
00:09:24Right.
00:09:25There was an interesting letter to the editor in the TDN from Nick DeMarek, who's a very
00:09:29well-known bloodsuck agent.
00:09:30He brought up some good points, though I don't think it's going to change anything.
00:09:36He suggested that by leaving Baffert out, it's now a restricted race or, you know, it
00:09:43doesn't say in the conditions, horses trained by Bob Baffert are ineligible, but it is in
00:09:49effect made some of the better horses in training for both the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky
00:09:54Oaks not allowed to run, just as if there was some sort of condition where you couldn't
00:10:00run a four-year-old in a race for three-year-olds only.
00:10:03And he says if it's a restricted race, should they downgrade it from a grade one status?
00:10:08Should it not be graded at all?
00:10:10That's obviously never going to happen.
00:10:12But if you think about what he said, Zoe, makes a little bit of sense.
00:10:17I mean, we've never seen anything like this, but this is the graded stakes races are supposed
00:10:22to be wide open with no restrictions other than the obvious things, like I said, fillies
00:10:27and age and stuff like that, but never a restriction, basically keeping one stable out.
00:10:33What did you make of what Nick DeMarek wrote and said?
00:10:36I thought he was absolutely right.
00:10:39I mean, those are the conditions in the condition book.
00:10:42It's the Kentucky Derby is a non-restricted stake.
00:10:45So, yes, Nick, who is a very good two-year-old consigner, Dan Nocala, he's sold an awful
00:10:52lot of good horses over the years, and he's a very sharp guy, him and his wife, Jackie.
00:10:57I thought it was a very well-put letter.
00:11:00It was short.
00:11:01It was sweet.
00:11:02It was to the point.
00:11:03And he does have a point.
00:11:06Probably nothing's going to happen, but it was very interesting.
00:11:09It freaked my ears.
00:11:11It's an interesting thought exercise.
00:11:14However, let's widen the lens and look at the setting.
00:11:18Looking back at recent history, we're in a period, I think, when many years from now,
00:11:25people are going to look at the history of the Kentucky Derby and say, this is when it
00:11:28changed.
00:11:29There was this string of dysfunctional derbies, if you want to call them that, starting in
00:11:322019 with the questionable disqualification for an in-race foul of maximum security.
00:11:392020, sure, it was beyond Churchill Downs' control that they had to run the derby in
00:11:44September, but that also altered the derby landscape.
00:11:47It was a different, it was a step away from established history and precedent.
00:11:52And in 2021, we had Medina Spirits disqualification because of the methamphetamine positive.
00:11:58And 22, 23, 24, all three of the past derbies have been run under a cloud of litigation.
00:12:04So I think in the long run, people are going to look back at this era and say, something
00:12:07really changed.
00:12:08I don't know if it's going to be for the good or for the bad.
00:12:12And there's also, you have to understand, what's happening right now is, ever since
00:12:17two years ago, when there were all of the major nine furlong prep races got wrapped
00:12:22up four weeks out from the derby, we've had this news void.
00:12:26It's very difficult, you know, other than horses working and the beauty shots of horses
00:12:30getting baths on the Churchill Downs backstretch, there isn't much hard news going on in the
00:12:35month between when all the last nine furlong graded stakes preps are done and the derby
00:12:40itself on the first Saturday in May.
00:12:42We go from the first Saturday in April until the first Saturday in May.
00:12:46And this is where conversations like this gain ground and percolate because there isn't
00:12:50a lot going on.
00:12:51And there aren't too many other major sports that have the qualifying stage end and then
00:12:56a month of downtime before the big event.
00:12:58Sorry, go ahead.
00:12:59Sorry.
00:13:00I'll say one thing.
00:13:01I mean, I'm immersed in it out here in Southern California.
00:13:05And I don't have a case of derby fever whatsoever.
00:13:08It's I mean, it's how many days are we away?
00:13:11Not that many.
00:13:13And yeah, it's I don't know.
00:13:16I mean, are we covering it correctly?
00:13:18Is it just because I'm out here in Southern California and Baffert doesn't have the favorite
00:13:21going forward?
00:13:22I don't know.
00:13:23But it does not feel like we are 10, 12, 14 days away from the first Saturday in May.
00:13:29It doesn't.
00:13:30I do want to remind you that the TDN Writers Room is brought to you by Keeneland.
00:13:3521 supplements have been added to the April Horses of Racing Age sale, bringing the total
00:13:41offerings to 132.
00:13:44Gosh, that's a lot.
00:13:45The sale will begin at approximately 6.30 p.m. on Friday, April the 26th, the closing
00:13:51day of the Spring Meet.
00:13:53Keeneland will accept approved supplemental entries to the April sale until the sale date.
00:13:59The enhanced digital catalog is available at Keeneland.com.
00:14:03You better take a good look at it.
00:14:04There are some really, really good horses in this sale.
00:14:08And we have a reminder that entries for the Keeneland September Yearling Sale are now
00:14:12open.
00:14:13The sale will start on Monday, September the 9th.
00:14:16The entry deadline is May the 1st.
00:14:18We'll be right back after this message from Keeneland.
00:14:22When the Spring Meet ends, summer success begins.
00:14:27Buy.
00:14:28Sell.
00:14:29Fresh winners.
00:14:31Hot prospects.
00:14:33One night.
00:14:34One chance.
00:14:36Finish strong.
00:14:38Don't miss out.
00:14:40The Keeneland April Selected Horses of Racing Age Sale.
00:14:44Friday, April 26th.
00:14:51Go.
00:15:22We talked about it last week, but the TDN Writer's Room is now brought to you by Pleasant
00:15:27Acres Stallions in Ocala, Florida.
00:15:29This week, we feature their stallion, Neolithic.
00:15:33He is the highest-earning son of Harland Tolliday, a sire of sires whose sons include none other
00:15:40than Intermischief.
00:15:41Neolithic is out of a stakes-winning and multiple-graded stakes-producing mare.
00:15:45He ran three triple-digit buyers and has produced 68% winners from runners.
00:15:52Not only was he Florida's leading sire, but he was also the leading culminative, second-crop,
00:15:58third-crop, and currently fourth-crop sire by earnings of black-type winners and black-type
00:16:04horses.
00:16:05He is responsible for stakes winners Make It Big, Katton, and Danson & Dixie.
00:16:10Consistently successful, with a $175,000 OBS two-year-old, Neolithic stands at Pleasant
00:16:17Acres for a mere $5,000.
00:16:21The fastest horse of the week is brought to you by the Fast Sires at Windstar, and this
00:16:26week that horse is Independence Hall.
00:16:29Independence Hall is Constitution's only undefeated two-year-old at stud.
00:16:33He won all his two-year-old starts by a combined 17 lengths, including the grade-three Nashua
00:16:39stakes by 12 1⁄4 lengths.
00:16:41In that race, Independence Hall earned a 101 buyer speed figure, the fastest of his crop.
00:16:47He earned another triple-digit buyer at age four, winning the grade-two Fayette stakes
00:16:51by 7 1⁄4 lengths.
00:16:53Look for Independence Hall's first yearlings this summer.
00:16:55He stands for $10,000 at Windstar.
00:16:59Now, who is that fastest horse of the week?
00:17:03That would be none other than Skippy Longstocking, who ran a 107 buyer in winning last Saturday's
00:17:10Oak Lawn Handicap.
00:17:12He enjoyed a perfect trip, stocking in second behind a 60-to-1 stablemate, and has now earned
00:17:17triple-digit buyers at a mile, a mile and a sixteenth, and at nine fur lawns.
00:17:27And we just got done with the OBS April or OBS Spring Sale.
00:17:31And Zoe Cabin, you are expert in this field.
00:17:35What are some of the stories you came back with?
00:17:38Who were the hot sires?
00:17:39Who was everybody talking about?
00:17:41Well, it was a very successful sale.
00:17:43They sold over four days.
00:17:45I was there for a seven-day breeze show.
00:17:48They sold horses in the range of $82 million, 633 horses sold at the auction.
00:17:56It was a 19.2% buyback rate, a little bit higher than last year.
00:18:00Last year, it was 16.8%.
00:18:03The medium was up to 70,000 from 65.
00:18:06All in all, it was a successful sale, but we've seen this time and time again.
00:18:10There's some polarization in the market.
00:18:12All the good ones, everyone's on.
00:18:14I mean, you could be Ray Charles and know that that Tis the Law filly was going to top
00:18:19the sale for $1.9 million.
00:18:22You could also see into the future and know that Hall of Famer Bob Baffert was going to
00:18:26buy her.
00:18:28It's good to be Bob.
00:18:30Bob pretty much left with the top lot on every single day of the sale.
00:18:34He picked up a filly for $775,000 by Caracaro, a new stallion.
00:18:39I like what I've seen from the progeny of Caracaro.
00:18:42I spent some time in Saratoga when actually he ran in the Traverse, and he's a big,
00:18:47good-looking horse.
00:18:48Vekoma, we already mentioned him.
00:18:50Global Campaign really perked my eye.
00:18:53There weren't a whole lot of them in the March sale.
00:18:55He's a half-to-bolt Doro.
00:18:57And he had a lot of horses sell for a lot of money.
00:19:01Volatile, practical joke.
00:19:04I mentioned Tis the Law.
00:19:05Overall, the first crop size did extremely well indeed.
00:19:09But I mean, if you're looking for some of the new ones, Volatile, Global Campaign, Vekoma,
00:19:15they all did great.
00:19:17And what can you say about Tis the Law who stands at Coolmore?
00:19:20That filly was pretty awesome.
00:19:22Now, it's hard to justify spending $1.9 million.
00:19:25However, we'll see.
00:19:28She's already out here in Southern California.
00:19:30She's at Los Alamitos right now.
00:19:32And win, win, win.
00:19:33The sale topper from last year is in Bob's Barn at Santa Anita, and she's doing really well.
00:19:38So lots of good things.
00:19:40You're right, Zoe.
00:19:41Unless it comes to the Kentucky Derby, it's still very good to be Bob Baffert.
00:19:45So another story that was written about and talked about last week, we all know that Charlie
00:19:50Appleby, when he comes over from England with these horses, that his success rate is just unbelievable.
00:19:57Right now, it stands.
00:19:58He's 32 for 83 in North America with a 39 percent win rate.
00:20:03What is even more impressive than that is all 32 winners have been stakes horses.
00:20:0931 of them graded stakes victories.
00:20:12And, you know, this might have been a long time in coming, but it makes perfect sense.
00:20:16He's sending so many horses over here doing so well with them that he's now setting up a U.S.
00:20:22string. It's he said it'll be about 12 horses.
00:20:25It's going to be at Keeneland for the near future.
00:20:27Then go on to Saratoga.
00:20:29And lo and behold, it's already paying dividends in the Elkhorn stakes.
00:20:34The wrong half of the Charlie Appleby entry.
00:20:37Silver knot.
00:20:38It was five to one.
00:20:39One bold act.
00:20:41Who was the one to two favorite finished third.
00:20:44So even when Charlie Appleby sends out a relative dud and bold act, he still wins the race with his second string horse.
00:20:51Zoe, this is exciting.
00:20:54You know, I hope that we see Appleby make, you know, starts.
00:20:57And he's coming to Saratoga, at least in the turf races.
00:21:00I hope that he would be involved in most of the turf stakes races at the meet.
00:21:04I think this is going to be, you know, really positive development and something that can grow from here.
00:21:09You know, it's going to be really interesting.
00:21:11Charlie does so well.
00:21:13Shipping horses from Europe, winning races and shipping them back.
00:21:18And you're kind of turning up the apple cart, so to speak.
00:21:21He's a brilliant trainer.
00:21:22But those horses don't have to spend weeks training on dirt.
00:21:27Whether it be at Keeneland, whether it be at Santa Anita, whether it be at Saratoga.
00:21:33There is a big difference training your turf horse.
00:21:37And they're going to be predominantly turf horses on the main track every day.
00:21:41Which is something that these horses have not had to encounter.
00:21:44They'll, you know, have a little happy hack for a few days when they ship over and try the main track.
00:21:49But there's a huge difference for turf horses training on the dirt every single day.
00:21:55So I'm going to be really interested to see how this pans out.
00:22:00And I have no question that Charlie knows exactly what he's doing over here.
00:22:04But I can remember a couple of years ago at Saratoga when Aiden O'Brien sent a few horses to train on the main track every day at Saratoga.
00:22:14And they kind of did their usual gallops and they trained and they trained and they trained.
00:22:18And then you couldn't find them with the search warrant.
00:22:20They were tired after training on the dirt for, you know, a month, six weeks.
00:22:25It's a whole different type of training.
00:22:28So that's just my thinking.
00:22:31Call me crazy, but I'm really looking forward to it.
00:22:34That's interesting. I hadn't considered that.
00:22:36I mean, you're trading off the rigors of having a ship cross continents.
00:22:42Which they're very good at. They're very good at it.
00:22:45And now you're going to have to introduce that new variable there.
00:22:48So that is something to think about.
00:22:49Yeah.
00:22:51So I'm sure they'll win everything in sight like they always do.
00:22:54But it's just a little thought in the back of my mind.
00:22:58Yes. Chad Brown versus Charlie Appleby in all turf races at Saratoga this year will be one of the one of the stories to watch.
00:23:06So but it's great to have Appleby over here with an even fuller role than he has in the past.
00:23:13Now I'm going to try and do my best Randy Moss here.
00:23:16Should I take a deep breath right now?
00:23:19The TDN Writers Room is brought to you by the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association.
00:23:25The PA Horse Breeders kicked off their twenty twenty four stakes program with the first two of its twenty three.
00:23:31Am I reading that correctly? Twenty three hundred thousand dollar stakes for PA breads.
00:23:37Wow. The Unique Bella was won by Morning Matcha bringing her earnings to over nine hundred thousand.
00:23:44The Paige McKinney was won by Farmo Power boosting his earnings to over four hundred thousand.
00:23:51His breeder Peter Gian Giulio will receive twenty four thousand in breeders awards just for this race.
00:23:58As PA breeders of PA side horses receive a 40 percent breeder award.
00:24:03I'm getting a PA bread. This is crazy.
00:24:06Also, Witty got his year off to a good start winning the hundred thousand dollar King Tee leather restakes at Laurel on Saturday.
00:24:14Witty is a Pennsylvania half bred brother to Caravelle who is now on stakes races at ages two, three, four and five to become a PA breeder and eligible for a piece of a thirty million dollar breeder incentives.
00:24:30Go to PA bread dot com or give us a call at 610-444-1050.
00:24:38For more information, visit www.pabread.com.
00:24:44The state of Pennsylvania has the best breeders program in the entire United States.
00:24:49When you buy a yearling, it's a little bit like buying a lottery ticket.
00:24:52And we are trying to provide a lottery ticket that the likelihood is to hit the jackpot.
00:24:57Angel of Empire wins the Arkansas Derby and wins it clear.
00:25:01I'm very busy raced away to win the Muniz Memorial Classic.
00:25:05We paid incentives of over 30 million last year to 376 different breeders.
00:25:10For more, go to PA bread dot com.
00:25:18Phenomenal talent, brilliance, had that high speed that he could carry.
00:25:23Jack Christopher to win the champagne.
00:25:26He carried his quality from two to three. He was top notch.
00:25:30Oh, Woody himself would appreciate this effort.
00:25:34He was the most brilliant horse all year. That's all I heard was Jack Christopher, Jack Christopher.
00:25:38He was obviously the one to beat.
00:25:40It is Jack Christopher.
00:25:42He showed a lot of brilliance and speed and ability on the track.
00:25:45So we hope that carries through to these foals.
00:25:48Our foal is the first foal out of the mare.
00:25:51She's got a lot of scope, a lot of quality to her, very athletic.
00:25:55We're really excited about what we're seeing.
00:25:59Lots of Jack Christopher coming through, but just quality through and through
00:26:02and size, athleticism, very, very pleased.
00:26:05Extremely excited about what we're seeing with his first foals.
00:26:09The blue guy in the colt, he's big and strong.
00:26:12Healthy, straightforward, smart, balanced.
00:26:17My sugar bear foal, this filly is beautiful, a lot of bone, correct.
00:26:23I don't know what else you'd want. Can't say enough good things.
00:26:27I don't think size is going to be an issue with the Jack Christophers.
00:26:31They seem to have more length of leg, which is going to lead to more size.
00:26:35I know it's very early days, but they're so easy to deal with as well.
00:26:40Those 7.8 mile type horses, as stallions, it gives you so many options
00:26:45just for breeding lots of winners.
00:26:47There's so many races at those distances.
00:26:50You can breed sprinters by those stallions,
00:26:52and you can breed classic horses by those stallions.
00:26:54Great versatility and potentials there.
00:26:57I think the best is yet to come for Bunnings too.
00:27:00I think we're only going to see that sire line,
00:27:03that branch of the sire line, only continue to improve.
00:27:15With some of the fullest fields in the country,
00:27:17and quality racing year-round,
00:27:20there's never been a better time to reap the rewards
00:27:23of breeding and racing in Kentucky.
00:27:26Purse money in Kentucky is at an all-time high.
00:27:29As is average purse per race, outpacing California, Florida, and New York.
00:27:35Kentucky breds.
00:27:36Breed them. Raise them. Race them.
00:27:40We all win.
00:27:45A reminder that tickets are now on sale for the KTA Kentucky Derby Trainers Dinner,
00:27:49one of the most fun nights of the year on the racing calendar.
00:27:52Featuring the trainers with a derby starter,
00:27:54the night promises good fun, friends, and fun.
00:27:57The event is Tuesday night, April 30th, with cocktails starting at 5 p.m.
00:28:01To buy tickets, visit KentuckyBred.org.
00:28:05And this week's edition of First Things First,
00:28:08we're going to talk about a subject near and dear to my heart.
00:28:11As a former jockey, we celebrated the PDJF Telethon,
00:28:15not only at Keeneland, but also at Santa Anita in the XBTV.com studios.
00:28:21They raised over $393,000.
00:28:25Big donations coming in from Fangel TV, as well as Lane's End.
00:28:30Our own Jessica Peiffer caught up with some of the connections.
00:28:40Just tell us how important this cause is to the jockeys here, especially at Santa Anita Park.
00:28:44Well, this is utmost important.
00:28:48These riders have given their careers,
00:28:52and they really appreciate any money that comes in to help their lives.
00:28:58You know, there's not much that comes in when a rider gets injured after two years.
00:29:04So, this helps them just survive.
00:29:08And the more that comes in, the better, of course.
00:29:11And we've had some great donations today.
00:29:14It's just amazing how people act toward these riders.
00:29:20Armando, Michael, Eddie.
00:29:23Couldn't be more grateful.
00:29:25Yeah, we're grateful that everybody just steps to the plate in these difficult times.
00:29:31But it really helps these riders' lives moving forward.
00:29:35Armando Rivera, I just want to talk to you personally.
00:29:38How much did the PDJF help when you were in your accident,
00:29:41and how much has it changed your life?
00:29:43Well, I mean, there's nothing like the PDJF.
00:29:46I mean, they step up to the plate.
00:29:48I mean, we wouldn't be able to survive without the PDJF.
00:29:51So, I mean, they've done a great ordeal.
00:29:53I mean, the biggest thing in my life is that they have made me able to survive
00:29:57and help me with all my needs, you know, my payments, all my needs.
00:30:02So, I'm very grateful to be here, and I appreciate and tell everybody,
00:30:06thank you for all the love that they have given the PDJF.
00:30:12www.pdjf.org
00:30:16Donate.
00:30:18They are still accepting donations.
00:30:21It really is a very, very good cause, indeed.
00:30:24All right, I do want to remind you that racing will resume
00:30:27at Santa Anita this weekend, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
00:30:30We do have the Royal Heroin and the Kona Gold Stakes.
00:30:33Perhaps one day, guys, he will get into the Hall of Fame.
00:30:37We'll talk about that a little bit later on.
00:30:39Later on, don't forget as well, myself and Michelle, you will be headed up to Golden
00:30:44Gate Fields for the San Francisco Mile.
00:30:46They'll have a mandatory pick six payout on Saturday, and it looks like it's going
00:30:51to be an oversubscribed field for the San Francisco Mile.
00:30:54I'm really looking forward to going up there where the bay comes to play.
00:31:00And the TDN Writer's Room is brought to you by The Green Group, a tax accounting advisory
00:31:04firm specializing in the thoroughbred industry and designed to save you taxes.
00:31:09We welcome now The Green Group guest of the week, one of the hottest jockeys in the country,
00:31:12Keith Asmussen, of course, the son of Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen.
00:31:17And Keith is actually going to have a mount, it looks like, in both the Kentucky Oaks and
00:31:20the Kentucky Derby.
00:31:21And we welcome him now as The Green Group guest of the week.
00:31:24Keith, my first question is, when your father is so successful as a trainer, why'd you choose
00:31:29being a jockey and not the trainer path that I know he rode originally, but that he settled
00:31:34into and has had such a great career?
00:31:36I think it just comes with being around the racetrack.
00:31:39It was a immediate infatuation of being on the backside and around horses.
00:31:43And I had kind of the progression of hot walker groom, exercise rider, and just absolutely
00:31:49fell in love with being on the back of a horse.
00:31:52And I think it just kind of progressed into that.
00:31:55It's kind of a pipe dream to begin with.
00:31:58And now I think it's a very real profession that I absolutely am in love with.
00:32:03Keith, the pandemic of 2020 really derailed a lot of people's lives, but some people's
00:32:08lives, it altered things for the better.
00:32:12Tell our listeners out there who aren't familiar with your story, what happened to you when
00:32:15you were a student at the University of Texas during that time, and how the trajectory of
00:32:20the pandemic altered your racing career?
00:32:23Absolutely.
00:32:24You know, kind of like I said, I'd always been galloping horses in the morning, but
00:32:27it had only been for, you know, week, stints, month, two months, summer vacation, Christmas
00:32:33break, spring break, anytime I could get away.
00:32:36And you know, I'd gallop horses before high school and then go to school.
00:32:41I was proficient in high school and did have aspirations of going to higher education.
00:32:46So I went to the University of Texas, no racetrack, closest racetracks, probably Sam Houston,
00:32:52but it still followed the sport pretty thoroughly, given my family.
00:32:58And you know, COVID hit March, 2020, and I was working part-time for CPA in Austin.
00:33:05I gave my notice and I called Darren Fleming, my father's longtime assistant who was working
00:33:10at Hot Springs.
00:33:11I was like, put me on the set list tomorrow.
00:33:14My classes has gone remote and I'd never really, you know, galloped horses for that long of
00:33:20a time.
00:33:21And it'd always been something I was really attracted to being a race rider.
00:33:27And you know, I just had the transparent conversation with my parents.
00:33:32I was like, you know, this is something I'd really like to try and it's something I believe
00:33:37I'll cherish and it's not anything somebody could take away from me.
00:33:41Just be an incredible experience, I want to try it.
00:33:44And you know, March rolled around to July and I started riding at Lone Star Park and
00:33:48I rode the duration of that summer and one weekend at Remington.
00:33:53Had an absolute blast, couldn't have loved it any more than I did, but I mean, before
00:33:59I had even started, I had a promise with both of my parents that, you know, I would go back
00:34:04and finish school.
00:34:05I'd already dedicated so much of my time and effort into getting a degree and, you know,
00:34:12somewhat of my physique, a riding career is definitely not a full-life thing most likely.
00:34:19And so, I had that promise with them and that last weekend in August at Remington, after
00:34:26that I hung up my tack and went back two more years of college and I got my degrees and
00:34:32I'm telling you, I graduated May 2022 and it was like graduation and I like ran straight
00:34:38back to the backside with the intention of doing it.
00:34:43It's been so much fun watching you from afar, not only grow up around the racetrack, but
00:34:48seeing the progression that you've made.
00:34:51What did your parents say when you ran from your graduation pretty much to the back of
00:34:56the horse and was like, I fulfilled my part of the promise and now I'm going to be a fully
00:35:01fledged jockey?
00:35:02What did they say?
00:35:03Were they worried for you or they just let you go with it?
00:35:07I'm incredibly blessed with awesome parents that are both understanding and very, I mean,
00:35:12in touch with reality.
00:35:13They, you know, family of riders, my father, my uncle, my grandfather, and my mother's
00:35:18been around it forever and, you know, they're very in touch with the emotional, physical
00:35:26demands of it.
00:35:27And, you know, they were very upfront with me and they've supported me all the way.
00:35:33I'm incredibly blessed with an excellent support system.
00:35:37What about your first winner?
00:35:38Like how was that when you crossed the wire in front the very first time, having seen
00:35:43your father do it thousands and thousands of times and stood in the winner's circle
00:35:47with him?
00:35:48How different was that parallel?
00:35:50Oh, it was unbelievable.
00:35:52I felt like jumping off, passing the wire.
00:35:53I was so excited, but I mean, it's kind of humbling.
00:35:58It's incredibly hard to win a race and I don't think, I guess I was spoiled to it or just
00:36:02thought it'd come easy.
00:36:03And it's been an incredible, meticulous attention to detail and working on a craft.
00:36:09And it is still so hard to get in the winner's circle.
00:36:12And so when it does, it's an immense source of pride and excitement.
00:36:15Keith, you just brought this up, but you're five foot 10 and there's this famous story
00:36:20about out there that you needed a 10 and a half size, 10 and a half riding boot, which
00:36:24apparently the manufacturers of riding boot had never, what?
00:36:27We've never seen that before.
00:36:30You know, it looks like you're doing a great job keeping your weight down, but how big
00:36:34a battle is it?
00:36:35And do you think eventually this might be just a little too hard?
00:36:40It's gotten easier than anything.
00:36:42Just kind of trial and error, figuring out what works and what doesn't work for me.
00:36:47I do respect the reducing because it's something I don't see as, you know, separate to riding.
00:36:52It's like you have to do this to do what you love.
00:36:55And so I think I treat it with an immense amount of respect and, you know, meticulous
00:37:00attention to detail.
00:37:02And it's kind of gone well for me as my parents make fun of my parents and my brothers.
00:37:10I could eat the same thing for dinner for two years in a row.
00:37:13It's like, if I like how it makes me feel and it's working, I was like, I don't want
00:37:17to change anything.
00:37:18And what is that?
00:37:19A lot of avocados, a lot of fish, a lot of eggs, you know, I keep pretty basic.
00:37:24Keith, in the Derby, you'll be riding Just Steel for trainer D. Wayne Lucas.
00:37:29This is a horse who has yet to win a graded stakes race, but he's been second three or
00:37:33four races this year.
00:37:34You were on him in his last start, and I assume you'll be partnering with him in the mornings.
00:37:40You're going into the Derby with the pressure of it being your first Derby, obviously, but
00:37:44not the pressure of riding a favorite.
00:37:46You'll be riding a long shot here.
00:37:48Tell us something about Just Steel that the betting public doesn't know about him that's
00:37:52not evident in his past performances.
00:37:54Oh, man.
00:37:55The first thing I wanted to like, just like shout is evident in his past performances
00:38:00as a horse that's, you know, competed at the pinnacle of the sport for the duration of
00:38:05his lifetime.
00:38:06You know, breaking his maiden at Saratoga, winning the Ed Brown at Churchill, every prep
00:38:11at Oak Lawn, and has showed up as a competitor every single time.
00:38:15I was lucky enough to work the horse before he ran into Smarty Jones and thought the world
00:38:19of him immediately.
00:38:21He's a massive, big striding horse with a ton of talent, class, and an excellent mindset
00:38:27that, I mean, just gives you a world of confidence in him.
00:38:31You speak of the pressure of the Derby, but I mean, when you ride a horse like that, he
00:38:37just gives you unbounded confidence in him.
00:38:41And how is it riding for the coach?
00:38:43I mean, not only do you ride Real Steel, but you're going to ride Lemon Muffin in the Oaks
00:38:47for Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lucas, who basically you grew up around as well.
00:38:52I mean, that's got to be such an awesome feeling and your dad must be so, so proud of you.
00:38:59Awesome feeling.
00:39:00Like you said, a horseman that has literally changed the game into what it is.
00:39:03And for him to put his confidence in your ability, I mean, there's nothing more invigorating
00:39:08than that on a professional level.
00:39:11Our families are incredibly intertwined, I believe, like he and my grandfather got connected
00:39:18in 1964, like Park Jefferson in South Dakota and went down to Laredo, Texas together.
00:39:23And that's where my grandfather and grandmother have been for the rest of time.
00:39:31And you spoke about my father being excited for me and I do feel like it's an incredible
00:39:37source of pride for him as well because he is my biggest mentor, teacher, coach, supporter.
00:39:44And I mean, he's literally taught me the majority of the things I know, because I am
00:39:54an extension of him and his horsemanship.
00:39:57Can it be tough riding for him sometimes because he is meticulous?
00:40:00What happens if you mess up?
00:40:03Like how is that dynamic?
00:40:06He is notorious for being critical of jockeys, but it's because he expects the best.
00:40:10And I believe that's the level I aspire to compete at.
00:40:15And I do believe I'm malleable enough that he will make me into an incredible rider,
00:40:21which is my aspiration.
00:40:23Keith, we never got to really see what kind of jockey your father was going to turn out
00:40:27to be since he didn't last very long.
00:40:29But your uncle was one of the greatest jockeys of the modern era.
00:40:32Of course, Cash did a lot of good things in the U.S., was even better over in Europe.
00:40:37So far as riding goes, has he been a mentor?
00:40:40And what do you do?
00:40:41Do you touch base with him?
00:40:42And does he give you tips on riding?
00:40:45Absolutely.
00:40:46And something that is so incredible about Cash that I mean, you'd always heard the lore
00:40:52growing up.
00:40:53Then when I started riding and I could articulate better questions and had a better understanding
00:40:58of what to ask, it was it was unbelievable, his knowledge, like you would start a sentence
00:41:04and you're like trying to say what you mean and he already knows what you're talking about.
00:41:10And he can totally walk you through what small alterations you need to make because I mean,
00:41:17at the end of the day, anybody can give you advice and say anything, but it's more the
00:41:23application and the ability to be around, you know, a volume of horses that allow for
00:41:29repetitions because that's where your horsemanship is ultimately derived from.
00:41:34Keith, you seek out and you seem to thrive on that type of honest feedback.
00:41:40And I'm just wondering if you could give people who haven't had a chance to watch you ride
00:41:44every day, if you could give an honest feedback of yourself, what do you consider your strengths
00:41:49as a jockey and what are some things that you think you need to work on?
00:41:53Yeah.
00:41:54Kind of just the honest feedback thing, I believe I've, you know, made great progression
00:42:00because of incremental improvements just with watching all my replays critically but still
00:42:07constructive.
00:42:08I don't try to change too many things at once, a great strength of mine I think is recent
00:42:14that I feel is giving me like a parabolic like improvement is, you know, just I drop
00:42:20my irons a little bit and I feel like my center of gravity got a little bit behind
00:42:24their withers.
00:42:25And so, my transition from raiding to riding got a lot smoother and I thought horses were
00:42:30getting very comfortably for me.
00:42:33And I think that's one of my strong suits.
00:42:36I believe I have a very good idea of what this horse needs to do to perform at his best
00:42:43level going into a race just by having, you know, intentional handicapping going in and
00:42:49understanding of the stock that I'm riding.
00:42:52Things to improve on would just come with repetitions and that's being, you know, smoother
00:42:56switching sticks, being more in rhythm late, deep stretch and getting better every day
00:43:03so I couldn't be more excited about, you know, the trajectory I'm on.
00:43:07How about brother Eric following in your footsteps?
00:43:10How did that come about?
00:43:12He's doing great at Sam Houston, I actually just watched him the other day and I'm like
00:43:15look at that!
00:43:16There he goes!
00:43:17He's won what?
00:43:1825?
00:43:1926 races?
00:43:20He had a stellar Sam Houston meet and two weeks ago he won a race at Oaklawn and now
00:43:24he's racing at Lone Star.
00:43:26Have you two ridden against each other?
00:43:29Yep, Churchill and Oaklawn.
00:43:31How was that?
00:43:32Couldn't be more fun.
00:43:35No, it's incredibly special and I take pride in thinking that I was a source of inspiration
00:43:41for him because it's such a feeling that's so incredible you want other people to experience
00:43:48it.
00:43:49It's truly so much fun and at the end of the day, to be on a thoroughbred racehorse
00:43:55at full flight, there's no feeling that's even close.
00:43:58It's incredibly profound and so to see him also be able to do it and have success is
00:44:04unbelievable.
00:44:06Keith, your father rides you a lot but so do now a lot of other trainers.
00:44:11You're not just riding for him, for instance, the Lucas thing.
00:44:15There's been plenty of races now where you're competing against your father.
00:44:19How does that feel like and do you have any stories of beating him by a nose or something
00:44:24and he wants to come back that he doesn't know if whether he should hug you or strangle
00:44:28you?
00:44:30You know, just really doing my best at hustling business or identifying horses that I want
00:44:36to ride in particular spots and being upfront with connections and I am very excited with
00:44:43how business has picked up as far as riding against my father.
00:44:48Funny stories.
00:44:49It's like the Arkansas Derby.
00:44:50His riders come back.
00:44:51He's like, what happened?
00:44:53I was watching Keith.
00:44:55Oh, that's awesome.
00:45:02With regard back to Just Steal in the Derby, we haven't drawn the post positions yet so
00:45:06obviously we don't know where you're going to be breaking from in the gate but do you
00:45:10and the coach, have you gotten together and do you have kind of an ideal trip mapped out
00:45:14for Just Steal?
00:45:16You know, it's incredibly malleable at this point because it's, I mean, we haven't even
00:45:21drawn the posts.
00:45:24There is an ideal and we've had conversations but as far as, you know, kind of getting it
00:45:29down to specifics, I don't think we're close without a draw.
00:45:32You mentioned before we came on, you're in Louisville right now.
00:45:37You do ride at Keeneland on Wednesday.
00:45:39By the time this airs, you probably will have ridden already.
00:45:42Talk to us about who you ride on Wednesday and what kind of pressure you might be under.
00:45:49I made the joke before we started the podcast, walking around the back side this morning
00:45:53at Louisville, people asking me if I'm nervous for the Derby, are you anxious?
00:45:58I'll say, shoot, I'm nervous for tomorrow.
00:46:01I ride Indy Biancone's Ziva libretto tomorrow and she's my girlfriend.
00:46:08I'm nervous for that, man.
00:46:09One day at a time.
00:46:11That's pretty awesome.
00:46:13Yeah, the pressure will be on riding your girlfriend's horse.
00:46:15For Patrick Biancone, let's just be clear, you've got two of them that you have to please
00:46:20tomorrow.
00:46:22And an exceptional horseman as well.
00:46:24I was lucky enough to go down to Gulfstream multiple weekdays during the Oaklawn meet
00:46:28earlier in the year and thought the world of his horsemanship and understanding.
00:46:34It's great.
00:46:35I will say one thing.
00:46:36You might be about the best spoken jockey that we have ever had on this podcast.
00:46:41Absolutely.
00:46:42Hands down.
00:46:43You may be the only one to use the word parabolic in an interview.
00:46:48Yeah, right.
00:46:51Yeah, that master's degree has served you well.
00:46:54All right.
00:46:56So we want to thank Keith Asmussen.
00:46:57What a great story.
00:46:58He's only about in his second year of riding and he's getting to ride in the Kentucky Derby.
00:47:03Not only getting to ride in the Kentucky Derby, but being able to ride for one of the greatest
00:47:07of all time, trainer Wayne Lucas.
00:47:08Keith, thanks so much for everything and best of luck in your career going forward and best
00:47:12of luck in the Derby and the Kentucky Oaks.
00:47:14Thank you, Bill.
00:47:15Thank you guys for having me.
00:47:17As the Green Group guest of the week, Keith Asmussen will receive a free one hour tax
00:47:22consultation with the Green Group and the way he's winning races.
00:47:25He's going to need this, by the way.
00:47:27For more information on how the Green Group can save you taxes, visit www.greenco.com.
00:47:31I'll be right back after this message from the Green Group.
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00:49:04Earlier in the show, we talked about Neolithic standing at Pleasant Acres, Stallions in Ocala,
00:49:21while they also stand Bodie Express, a Grade 1 winning, multiple-graded, stakes-placed
00:49:26son of Bodie Meister.
00:49:28Bodie Meister, of course, is already the sire of two champions, including the 2017 Kentucky
00:49:33Derby winner, Always Dreaming.
00:49:36Bodie Express was the runner-up to maximum security in the Grade 1 Florida Derby.
00:49:40He was also a maiden that day, let us not forget that.
00:49:44He beat multiple Grade 1 winner, Code of Honor, in that race as well.
00:49:48He also defeated Code of Honor and By My Standards in winning the Grade 1 Clark Stakes.
00:49:53He holds the record for one mile on the main track at Goldstream Park West, a.k.a. colder.
00:50:00That is a very slow racetrack in 135.58.
00:50:04Bodie Express is out of the City Zip daughter, Pair de Terre, who is a half-sister to graded
00:50:10stakes winner, millionaire, Stormy Lord.
00:50:13The immediate family also has produced multiple Grade 1 stakes winner and course record setter,
00:50:18Influent.
00:50:19Bodie Express' first two-year-olds run this year.
00:50:22He already has a two-year-old sell at OBS March for $85,000.
00:50:27He stands at Pleasant Acres for a mere $3,500.
00:50:58What a tremendous horse he was and what he accomplished.
00:51:01And then jockey, Joel Rosario.
00:51:03Now I voted for all three of them, and I'm a pretty tough voter.
00:51:07I tend to only, I try to look at the ones that are, I go beyond the very good.
00:51:14You're very good, you're not a Hall of Famer.
00:51:16To me, a Hall of Famer is something special.
00:51:18So everybody's going to have beefs with this.
00:51:19I know, Zoe, you're going to bring up Kona Gold, because people bring that up all the
00:51:23time about why isn't he in the Hall of Fame.
00:51:25Honestly, I didn't vote for him.
00:51:26But my one that is, why doesn't John Sadler get into the Hall of Fame?
00:51:31He's the only other one.
00:51:32I voted for four horses and or people.
00:51:36And the work he did with Flightline, the horses of the year he's had, the job he's done with
00:51:42these older horses that have just been so phenomenal in his barn.
00:51:47That's my only knock on this.
00:51:49They don't tell you what the vote is, so you don't know if he lost by one vote or if he
00:51:53lost by 50 votes.
00:51:56That was the only way that my ballot wasn't exactly who got in.
00:52:00I voted for Justify Gunrunner, Joel Rosario and John Sadler.
00:52:04Zoe?
00:52:05Well, maybe when Eagles Flight wins the Breeders' Cup Classic, he'll get in then.
00:52:10We're going to talk about Eagles Flight in a minute.
00:52:12He's a half brother to Flightline, but yeah, he is most definitely a candidate.
00:52:17I'm delighted about Justify and Gunrunner, who not only, it's rare, they prove it on
00:52:22the racetrack and now they're proving it in the breeding shed as well.
00:52:25Those two stallions have been absolutely phenomenal.
00:52:29As for Joel Rosario, I remember when he came down from Northern California, he was like
00:52:34this spotty little kid who just showed up and was just brilliant.
00:52:40He did really well, you know, learning how to speak English.
00:52:44And you know, you could ask him, I remember interviewing him one day and at the end of
00:52:48the interview, I'm like, you know, this race is on the grass, right?
00:52:51And he's just such a natural that it didn't matter.
00:52:55Things come to him so easily, like he doesn't overthink things, which make you a Hall of
00:52:59Fame jockey.
00:53:00Who cares if he doesn't know he was riding on the grass?
00:53:02He rode the race as it came up.
00:53:04And I think that is one of his key strengths is that he does not overthink things.
00:53:10So I'm delighted for Joel Rosario as well.
00:53:12I can't believe that he's been riding for that long and he's already in the Hall of
00:53:17Fame.
00:53:18It seems like it was just yesterday.
00:53:19It really does.
00:53:20I'm aging myself.
00:53:21And he's only 39 years old.
00:53:24I mean, it's a quirk of the way our sport is and the way the Hall of Fame is.
00:53:29And I don't vote.
00:53:32The Hall of Fame is not my thing.
00:53:33But you know, we vote in athletes who are still competing or athletes who had very short
00:53:39careers if they're racehorses.
00:53:41So for example, I would think that Joel's going to have some maybe some of his better
00:53:46years ahead of him.
00:53:47And he's already a Hall of Famer.
00:53:48And then you look at Justify who crammed by virtue of his triple crown win.
00:53:52And it was a scintillating spring of 2018.
00:53:56But he's a Hall of Famer based on only three and a half months of clocking in and clocking
00:54:00out.
00:54:01So Gunrunner is the one that stands out to me among the group there.
00:54:06His career nearly overlaps with Justify's.
00:54:08Let's not forget that Gunrunner won his final race, the Pegasus Invitational, three weeks
00:54:16before Justify won his maiden race.
00:54:18And Gunrunner was almost two horses in his career.
00:54:21He was a capable three-year-old, but he was outstanding at age four and age five.
00:54:27Let's not forget that, you know, his derby aspirations didn't pan out even though he
00:54:31ran third in the 2016 derby.
00:54:34But he then lost the Haskell.
00:54:36He lost the Travers.
00:54:37He lost the Pennsylvania Derby.
00:54:38He lost the Breeders' Cup dirt mile in succession.
00:54:41And then kind of as an afterthought, Steve Asperson ran him in the Clark handicap at
00:54:45the end of November of his three-year-old season.
00:54:48And boom, that was it.
00:54:49He took off.
00:54:50He won seven of eight races and concluded his career with that impressive double in
00:54:54the Breeders' Cup Classic and the Pegasus World Cup.
00:54:57So Bill, hold on, hold on, Bill, hold that thought, just one minute.
00:55:02Seeing as you're on the voting committee, what do I have to send you to get kind of
00:55:09voted in?
00:55:10If you're holding a giant bottle of Casa Azul or a giant bottle, do you want these to get
00:55:16Kona Gold in?
00:55:17Is this what I got to send you?
00:55:18Oh, yeah.
00:55:19I'm the hype.
00:55:20Everybody has a price.
00:55:21You send me those.
00:55:22I'll vote for Kona Gold for sure next year.
00:55:23Perfect.
00:55:24Done.
00:55:25I can, I can be, I can be bribed.
00:55:28There's no problem with that.
00:55:31OK, not much going on on the racetrack last weekend, but I did want to bring up two races
00:55:36because I think what we're looking for now in these races for older horses is, you know,
00:55:42there's such a that camp, that division started off so weak this year because everybody and
00:55:49I mean, everybody with really the only exception being White Aberio retired.
00:55:53So who's going to fill the void?
00:55:54Skippy Longstocking, I thought, looked pretty good in the Oakland handicap, but it was one
00:55:58of the weaker on handicaps we've seen for a while.
00:56:02Maybe they need to raise the purse.
00:56:03I mean, one point two, five million is not enough, and they might as well just make it
00:56:07five million.
00:56:08They got the money.
00:56:09Go ahead and do it.
00:56:10And then I thought a horse that is maybe more promising than even Skippy Longstockings is
00:56:16Kings Barnes, who won the Louisiana Derby last year, then flamed out and then was brought
00:56:21back and won the Ben Ali in a second start this year for Todd Pletcher.
00:56:25Looks like that horse showed a lot of promise last year.
00:56:28It didn't pan out.
00:56:29Pletcher's brought him back and he get him to be one of the leaders of the division.
00:56:33I think he's got a shot.
00:56:34I would think, you know, come Breeders' Cup time, that might be a horse we're taking seriously
00:56:38in a race like the classic.
00:56:41The rare specialist at a mile and three sixteenths.
00:56:44Well, he's he's lightly raced.
00:56:47He's only raced seven times, but he's won five of those races and two of his wins at
00:56:51that kind of an oddball distance.
00:56:53We know it most obviously for the Preakness.
00:56:55He didn't compete in the Preakness.
00:56:56He won the Louisiana Derby at a mile and three sixteenths, and then he won on Saturday at
00:57:00Keeneland.
00:57:02Yeah, Kingsbarns look really good.
00:57:04And he was the recipient of a really good ride by Louis Sayers, who took him back from
00:57:09off the pace because he broke right on the engine and he rode him very, very smartly.
00:57:14So I think he's got a big future ahead of him this year.
00:57:17And as for Skippy Longstocking, just keeps winning.
00:57:21He's just an overachiever without question.
00:57:24He's just a cool dude.
00:57:26You know, one thing that might come out of this, if they stay healthy, could Skippy Longstocking
00:57:31perhaps wind up in the same race as White Abario?
00:57:34And if that happens, how much would Steffi Joseph want to win that?
00:57:37I mean, he'll say all the right things because he's not a guy that courts controversy or
00:57:42anything like that.
00:57:43But that would be a big story within a story.
00:57:46And I'm sure he would love to take him down on the Whitney or something like that.
00:57:50So stay tuned for that.
00:57:52And we just talked about Gunrunner being one type of force at age three and then later
00:57:56at age four and five.
00:57:57Well, same story, maybe not at the same level yet for Skippy Longstocking.
00:58:02But at age two and three, he was two for 13, didn't run in the Derby, but he was fifth
00:58:07in the Preakness.
00:58:08He was third in the Belmont Stakes.
00:58:10And now at age four and five, he's won five of his last 10 and he takes it on the road.
00:58:15I believe he's won his last seven races at seven different racetracks.
00:58:18Yeah, the Charlestown Classic was absolutely superb around 16 turns at Charlestown.
00:58:26He's not a horse for course.
00:58:27He really isn't.
00:58:28He's he's almost like a throwback horse.
00:58:30Like you can throw it.
00:58:31He'd thrown a clunker every now and then, but he just keeps on chugging.
00:58:36The TDN Writers Room is brought to you by XBTV.
00:58:39Now guys, pay attention to this work.
00:58:42I already tipped my hand a little bit earlier, but the work of the week is Eagle's Flight,
00:58:47who worked five furlongs solo in 59 and four for trainer John Sadler this past Thursday.
00:58:53Who's Eagle's Flight?
00:58:55You might ask.
00:58:56Great name, by the way.
00:58:57He's none other than the unraced three-year-old half-brother to Flightline by Kerlin in the
00:59:03John Sadler Barn.
00:59:05He's been working steadily towards his career debut.
00:59:08No word from the Sadler Barn when he's going to run, guys, but judging by this work, that's
00:59:13a good time.
00:59:15Did it on his own and he looks tremendous.
00:59:18We'll probably see him in the entry box very, very soon.
00:59:21Homebred for Summerwind Farm.
00:59:56All the thrills.
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01:00:24TDN Writer's Room is brought to you by West Point Thoroughbreds.
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01:00:32This week, there's a very special opportunity to join West Point Thoroughbreds by bidding
01:00:36on a 2% interest in the unraced kitten's joy two-year-old colt, Nelson Gate, to benefit
01:00:42Habitat for Humanity's Veterans Build Program.
01:00:46We're all aware that Terry Finley went to West Point as an Army veteran, and this program
01:00:51helps veterans stay in their homes by providing repairs, ramps, and other modifications.
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01:01:20That's a wrap on this week's show.
01:01:27I hope you enjoyed it.
01:01:28I want to thank TD Thornton for filling in for Randy Moss, who has some NBC business
01:01:32to do today, and also our regular Zoe Cadman did, again, her terrific job, and she went
01:01:38so far as to imitate Randy.
01:01:41Very good job there, Zoe.
01:01:43Also want to thank our producers, Katie Petruniak, Anthony LaRocca, and Alila LaRocca.
01:01:47Have a great week of racing.
01:01:50We'll be talking more, of course, about the Kentucky Derby.
01:01:52See you then.