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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.
00:00:31This is the Breeders' Cup edition and my name is Bill Finley.
00:00:33I'm a correspondent for the Thoroughbred Daily News.
00:00:36Also co-host of the Down the Stretch Show every Saturday on Sirius XM Radio with Dave
00:00:40Johnson.
00:00:41Hey guys, Randy Moss with NBC Sports.
00:00:43Clearly I'm not in my office with Lucy behind me.
00:00:47You can see there, right, Santa Anita Live.
00:00:49Got a trash can and two Amazon boxes set up here for my computer.
00:00:54Zoe and I, we're going to sit together in the grandstand, but we figured it would kind
00:00:57of mess up our little Brady Bunch box system here.
00:01:01So we decided just to split up and do it separately, right Zoe?
00:01:04That is exactly right.
00:01:05So I'm here in the grandstand.
00:01:07I'll just give you guys a quick view of the San Gabriel Mountains there.
00:01:12It's a beautiful day.
00:01:13Really, Randy, we should be down in the breakfast marquee drinking the Moses.
00:01:18I mean, we can meet afterwards if you want and just go and knock a couple back.
00:01:22But it's been a beautiful day here today and we look forward to great weather.
00:01:26And I am in the NBC compound if you want to check it out here.
00:01:30There's the trailers.
00:01:31Oh, that looks great.
00:01:32There's my setup.
00:01:33So exciting.
00:01:34There you go.
00:01:35All right.
00:01:36All right.
00:01:37So it's Tuesday of Breeders' Cup week and the entries are out now.
00:01:42What we're going to do is all Breeders' Cup handicapping all the time will be joined a
00:01:46little bit later in the show by George Grekorian, who is the owner of Just FYI and Warlike Goddess,
00:01:52two horses that have strong chances in their Breeders' Cup races.
00:01:56But guys, we attacked the entire card last year.
00:02:00I don't believe we did that well, if I can remember.
00:02:03I know I did terrible.
00:02:05So let's hope that we can give some insights to our many viewers and listeners that might
00:02:10help us out.
00:02:11OK, so let's start with the Friday card.
00:02:13Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint, five furlongs on the grass.
00:02:17And this is a race where the US horses have more than held their own.
00:02:22Four out of five runnings have been won by the US, so don't expect necessarily a European
00:02:26domination.
00:02:27I'm going to go with number 11 Slider in here for John Sadler, one for one on the turf.
00:02:33Looks like this horse from the 11 post is going to get a very nice trip, stalking the
00:02:38speed.
00:02:39Hector Berrios, that will be interesting to see him get a good shot on a Breeders' Cup
00:02:43horse.
00:02:44But, you know, like many of the Friday races, I think I could handicap this 12 times and
00:02:48come up with 12 different horses.
00:02:50Zoe, these are some very challenging races.
00:02:53Yeah, it's wide open and I'm going to be quick because I think we we allotted two minutes
00:02:58per race.
00:02:59So I believe No Name Mets is the horse to beat.
00:03:01He's seemingly got it all, he's speed, he's drawn down towards the inside.
00:03:06Is that is that who you like to Randy?
00:03:08Is he going to carry the pair of us?
00:03:10Oh my God, I'm not sure he can.
00:03:12So that's a lot of weight for George Weaver with Ira Ortiz.
00:03:16But I am throwing in Big Evs in here.
00:03:19That is the four.
00:03:20Tom Marquand riding for Mick Appleby.
00:03:24This horse has looked terrific on the racetrack.
00:03:26He borrowed somebody's bell to practice because we break with the bell over here.
00:03:31And just to get him used to it, he's been leaving the gates like a rocket.
00:03:34So I'm going to put Big Evs on there as well.
00:03:38So Big Evs, the Europeans are all raving about him.
00:03:41He's an extremely fast breaking horse.
00:03:43He's a one dimensional speed horse.
00:03:45He has to have the lead.
00:03:46But No Name Mets also breaks extremely quickly.
00:03:50If you watch his races, he's a one dimensional speed horse.
00:03:53He's drawn to the inside of Big Evs.
00:03:55I think, as Bill pointed out, American speed in these sprints on the turf, typically, or
00:04:01the dirt, typically trumps European speed.
00:04:05And I've been really impressed with No Name Mets most recent races.
00:04:09His last start at Colonial is kind of a key race.
00:04:11The horse that ran third in there, Air Recruit, who was beaten seven lengths, came back and
00:04:16won a stakes race very impressively in his next start.
00:04:19He's in the juvenile turf.
00:04:20So I think they can duel.
00:04:23And I think maybe even No Name Mets can outrun Big Evs early.
00:04:26And since it's just five furlongs, I think No Name Mets will have enough to last and
00:04:32win it.
00:04:33I think that Big Evs does not need the lead.
00:04:36I don't think he's going to be quick enough.
00:04:38He's just been quicker than the rest in England.
00:04:40I think him sitting second will be OK.
00:04:43All right.
00:04:44We move along now to the next race on the card, the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies.
00:04:48Zoe, Randy, any reason to go against Tamara, I see no reason whatsoever.
00:04:53I believe all the hype, the breeding, everybody's in love with the fact that she's the daughter
00:04:58of Beholder.
00:04:59She looked tremendous in the Del Mar debutante for trainer Dick Mandela.
00:05:02She will likely be the shortest price favorite, not just on the Friday card, but on the entire
00:05:07Breeders' Cup card.
00:05:10From a gambling standpoint, if you don't want to take three to five on her, you got
00:05:13to get a little bit creative.
00:05:15I would like a chalky exacta, I guess, candied coming off a win in the Alcibiades for Todd
00:05:19Pletcher looks pretty tough to me.
00:05:21But not only is this, I think, the most likely winner of the Breeders' Cup Friday and Saturday,
00:05:26this is usually it's, you know, you get excited for the older horse races.
00:05:29I'm really excited to watch her run because, you know, if she goes out and wins this by
00:05:33six or seven lengths, I mean, we're talking, we already know she's special, but we might
00:05:37be talking about something extra special after Friday's race.
00:05:40Listen, there's a lot of hype.
00:05:42She's done nothing wrong, but she hasn't gone two turns yet.
00:05:45She's not an overly big filly.
00:05:48And I'm just a little bit concerned.
00:05:51Is she maybe the best horse in the race?
00:05:53Yes, but I'm looking for a bit of a price.
00:05:55I love just FYI.
00:05:56I don't care.
00:05:57She's got a break from the parking lot.
00:05:58We saw half bridled do it with Dick Mandela.
00:06:02This really if she stands next to Tamra, you're not going to see Tamra.
00:06:05I'm sorry, Tamra.
00:06:07She looks like an absolute two turn monster as in the paddock for her maiden race when
00:06:12she won at Saratoga.
00:06:13And I'm like, there's no way she can win going six furlongs.
00:06:16And she did it because she's a good filly.
00:06:18She came back to win going a mile at Aqueduct.
00:06:21She's filled out.
00:06:22She's grown up.
00:06:23I love just FYI, if I can get close to eight to one, I'm going to take it.
00:06:28And I'm rooting for Tamra.
00:06:30Dick Mandela needs some good juju headed his way.
00:06:34Just FYI, along with the other Belmont horses has been training sensationally here at Santa
00:06:40Anita.
00:06:41But but look, I just think Tamra might be in a different class from these other horses.
00:06:45I know she's going to be three to five.
00:06:46I think if you take Tamra and you box her with just FYI and candy, you might possibly,
00:06:53you know, get an upset there and and get a decent price.
00:06:56But to me, it's a three horse race only.
00:06:59Correct.
00:07:01All right.
00:07:02The Breeders' Cup juvenile fillies turf is next.
00:07:04Chad Brown has won this five times.
00:07:07I guess that's not much of a surprise considering Chad Brown's prowess with the fillies on the
00:07:12grass.
00:07:13He has hard to justify in here.
00:07:15Another daughter obviously have justified at six to one in the morning line.
00:07:19This was an interesting race.
00:07:21And from a betting standpoint, I thought was fairly wide open.
00:07:24I think you can easily, you know, try to look for a six, seven, eight to one shot in here
00:07:29that could spring the upset.
00:07:30I would think that the Europeans would have an edge here, but we'll find out.
00:07:34I'm going to go with number nine, Carla's Way, trained by Simon Christopher, ridden
00:07:38by James Doyle, a European.
00:07:41The horse is just getting better every single start.
00:07:44And I think that because she's not an Aiden O'Brien, because she's not a Charlie Appleby,
00:07:49and she's not ridden by Ryan Moore, not ridden by Frankie DeTorre, William Buick, she might
00:07:53be a little bit overlooked in here.
00:07:55I wouldn't like her as the three to one favorite or something like that.
00:07:59But six to one in the morning line off a nice commanding win in a group to last time out
00:08:04at Newmarket on September 29th.
00:08:07That'll be my pick in this race, Zoe.
00:08:10It's wide open as far as I'm concerned.
00:08:11I mean, I can make a case for the Europeans.
00:08:14I'm going to pick one of the Europeans.
00:08:15It's going to be the six Porter Fortuna coming in for Donika O'Brien, this filly trained
00:08:21beautifully over the racetrack this morning.
00:08:24She comes in with a jock who knows how to ride these American tracks, and that is O'Shean
00:08:28Murphy.
00:08:29And if I'm going for the Americans, the one that's really caught my eye training here
00:08:33this week is she feels pretty for Cherie DeVos.
00:08:37She's a big, good looking chestnut filly by a caracante, doesn't get the best of draws
00:08:41in post position number 11.
00:08:43But Johnny V, I think will have her tactically placed, but she's going to get a comfortable
00:08:48trip.
00:08:49And then you have hard to justify on the outside as well.
00:08:52Post position number 12 for her, the Chad Brown.
00:08:55She's a nice filly as well, but maybe an edge to the Europeans.
00:08:58But as far as the Americans, I like she feels pretty.
00:09:01This wasn't the case last year, but typically on this Future Stars Friday, it's been the
00:09:06case that the Americans dominate the juvenile fillies turf and the Europeans dominate for
00:09:12whatever reason, the male version, the juvenile turf.
00:09:16I do think Porter Fortuna is the best of the Europeans, but to me, I've watched all the
00:09:21videos of the Europeans as well as the Americans, you know, the two most visually impressive
00:09:26wins I thought where she feels pretty at Woodbine and Buku winning the Jessamine Stakes at Keeneland.
00:09:33She feels pretty 4-1, didn't like the draw.
00:09:36Buku is 6-1.
00:09:37I like her draw from post three.
00:09:39So I'm going to go for a bit of a price and take Buku from well back in the pack to win
00:09:44it.
00:09:45Buku, it's 6-1 in the morning line.
00:09:47All right, now we go move on to the eighth race.
00:09:50Here's Cup Juvenile, obviously a mile and a 16th on the dirt and an interesting field
00:09:56in here.
00:09:57You have a field of 11.
00:09:59And originally I was going to go with Prince of Monaco for Bob Baffert.
00:10:04Just I like the fact that he beat Muth and then Muth came back and looked so good winning
00:10:09in his next start when he came back in the American Pharaoh.
00:10:13But I took a second look at this and I said, you know, what's wrong with number four Timberlake?
00:10:18A winner of the Champagne Stakes, Brad Cox is the trainer.
00:10:22This horse is getting better with each start, getting better as being stretched out by into
00:10:28mischief.
00:10:29And last time out, the horse ran the best race of its career with blinkers off.
00:10:34I love the way Brad Cox, you know, gets horses good and they keep improving start after start
00:10:39after start.
00:10:40An interesting race, a tough race.
00:10:43Obviously Baffert will be very, very tough with Prince of Monaco, wind me up and Muth.
00:10:48He's got three very strong contenders in here.
00:10:51So Timberlake will be my pick.
00:10:53And if anybody wants to give me an opinion on fierceness, I'd like to hear that.
00:10:57Wins by 11 first time out in a maiden race and then gets beat 20 lengths in the Champagne.
00:11:02Never in a million years I think Todd Butcher would wheel him back here in the Breeders'
00:11:07Cup.
00:11:08But just the mere fact that he's doing so makes me believe that he feels the Champagne
00:11:12is a complete throwout.
00:11:13I wouldn't overlook that horse fierceness at six to one on the morning line.
00:11:16I'll tell you why he's here, Ripoli.
00:11:19It's the Breeders' Cup.
00:11:20It's Ripoli.
00:11:21If you like him, I would just say draw a line through that race.
00:11:25He's looked terrific training here as he should.
00:11:27Todd's not going to bring a horse here with any problems.
00:11:30But for me, it's going to be Muth.
00:11:34I just love the way he's trained over this track here at Sant'Anito.
00:11:38You can keep Prince of Monaco.
00:11:40I don't think he's the same horse that we saw in the summer.
00:11:43I love Muth.
00:11:44He'll get JJ Hernandez.
00:11:46He's managed to settle off of horses.
00:11:48His works have been terrific.
00:11:50It's between him and Locked.
00:11:52I believe those are the two that you need going forward.
00:11:55And they've both come out of the best races, especially Locked.
00:11:59So here's the story on fierceness, Bill.
00:12:01In the Champagne, he obviously caught a very sloppy racetrack, which he had never been
00:12:05on before, clearly.
00:12:07He was pinballed around a little bit, leaving the starting gate, bumped in a couple of different
00:12:11spots.
00:12:12Then he was sort of squeezed back a little bit, about an eighth of a mile out.
00:12:15So he finds himself behind horses.
00:12:17They steered him to the outside.
00:12:18He made a run to the quarter pole and then pitched it.
00:12:21And it bothered Todd Pletcher.
00:12:23But he said the horse has come back to train so sensationally that he had to give him a
00:12:29chance to run in the Breeders' Cup because he looks just as good as he looked before
00:12:33he had that huge maiden win at Saratoga.
00:12:36What that means for me, the horse has an outside draw, fierceness.
00:12:40The horse has speed.
00:12:42They're probably going to have to use it.
00:12:44So I think Prince of Monaco probably has to go to the lead from post position number
00:12:48two, especially since Muth showed a different dimension last time, stalking.
00:12:53And I think fierceness and Prince of Monaco kind of hook up during the early part of the
00:12:58race.
00:12:59I think it's going to guarantee an honest pace.
00:13:01And I really like Locked in there.
00:13:03Look, Locked had a terrible trip in the Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland, and he won anyway and
00:13:09got a good number anyway.
00:13:12So I think this race belongs to Locked to win or lose.
00:13:15He's got legs for days, Randy.
00:13:17He looks like a supermodel.
00:13:18He is a tall, leggy guy.
00:13:21Looked really good out here.
00:13:23All right.
00:13:24The final race on Friday is the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf.
00:13:28One mile, Randy, as you said, that this is one where the Europeans have done very well.
00:13:33I'm not going to go too far out on a limb here.
00:13:35I'm going to let Aidan O'Brien guide me in this race.
00:13:38He's got three horses in here, and he's putting his main man, Ryan Moore, on the two River
00:13:42Tiber where, unquestionable, we'd be ridden by Frankie DeTore.
00:13:46Now, obviously, not a problem that Frankie DeTore is riding this horse, but he is not
00:13:50the stable rider for Aidan O'Brien and Ryan Moore is.
00:13:54This is a horse coming off a nice finish last time out in the Middle Park Stakes.
00:13:58Before that, the Prix Mornay hasn't quite been getting it done at the Group 1 level,
00:14:03won a Group 2 before that.
00:14:04This is coming out of two of the biggest two-year-old races in all of Europe.
00:14:09I don't think the Americans are very strong here at all.
00:14:13All the figures, Randy, are mainly like your buyer figures in the 70s, that sort of thing.
00:14:18I would think that this race is really ripe for a European to win.
00:14:23Let's see.
00:14:24You don't have many.
00:14:25Is Aidan the only one with a ... Yeah, all three.
00:14:30There's only three Europeans in here, and they are all Aidan O'Brien.
00:14:35I would love to give Carson's run a chance, not just because he's a good horse, but because,
00:14:38again, it's that great story of the young man that has the same disability as the young
00:14:44man that Cody's Wish was named by, but I can't take a horse from the 14 Post going a mile
00:14:48at Santa Anita.
00:14:50I'm with you with River Tiber, and the thing that I really like about him is that he's
00:14:54not one of those, oh, let's pull an audible and go to Santa Anita.
00:14:59He's been pointed for this race specifically.
00:15:02He didn't have a race two weeks ago.
00:15:03He didn't have a race a week ago.
00:15:05This was the race they've been targeting for here.
00:15:07Aidan's army came out here on the racetrack this morning, and there were about a dozen
00:15:12horses.
00:15:13He was in amongst them and handled everything superbly.
00:15:16He didn't get hot.
00:15:17He's got carrying good flesh on him.
00:15:19He looks terrific, and you're getting the services of Ryan Moore.
00:15:23I like River Tiber in here.
00:15:25I'm going to throw you a long shot that you'll be like, who?
00:15:29Stay hot for trainer Peter Ayrton.
00:15:31He's a son of Summerfront.
00:15:33He ran in this race in 2014.
00:15:35He's ridden by Freysou, said one start going two turns on the turf, and it was very, very
00:15:42good indeed.
00:15:43Now, he did just break his maiden.
00:15:45He's 20 to one in the morning line, and he has trained incredibly.
00:15:49Do not stay off of stay hot.
00:15:52All right.
00:15:54I like a cold two nine exacto.
00:15:55River Tiber over endlessly.
00:15:57I think visually, endlessly is the most impressive of the Americans in this race.
00:16:02And look, I like River Tiber as much or more than I like Tamara in the juvenile Phillies.
00:16:09Back in June, Aiden O'Brien thought that River Tiber could be his best two year old, right?
00:16:15He won his first three starts.
00:16:17He's lost his last two.
00:16:18The horse that he was beaten by in his last two starts is a horse called Van Deek, who
00:16:23might be the best two year old sprinter at Simon Christopher's in Europe.
00:16:28And River Tiber had excuses for both of those races.
00:16:32He was not 100% for either one of those.
00:16:36Now he's come back.
00:16:37They worked him with unquestionable at Valley Doyle before they brought him over here to
00:16:41Santa Anita.
00:16:42He destroyed unquestionable in a workout at Valley Doyle.
00:16:46This horse is clicking on all cylinders right now.
00:16:48He has a great post for this race.
00:16:51So I like River Tiber over endlessly cold two nine exacto.
00:16:56I do want to remind you that the TDN Writers Room is brought to you as always by Keeneland.
00:17:01Keeneland closed out their full race meet on Saturday with $201.7 million in all source
00:17:10wagering.
00:17:11That's a lot.
00:17:12That's the second highest full meet handle and the fourth highest handle in Keeneland
00:17:16history.
00:17:17We now look ahead to the Keeneland November breeding stock sale, which starts next Wednesday,
00:17:22November the 8th.
00:17:23Plenty of time to fly from Santa Anita back to Lexington, Kentucky, and there are plenty
00:17:28updates worth checking out, like Technical Alanisys, who just won the Athenia stakes
00:17:33over the weekend.
00:17:35She will sell during book one, as well as some late additions like Lemon Bell, the Dam
00:17:40of Gravesree winner, Ray's cane.
00:17:42He's in good form right now.
00:17:44There are many, many more.
00:17:45Do check out Keeneland and we'll be right back after this message from Keeneland.
00:17:53At Keeneland, a horse will always be measured in hands.
00:18:01Hands that see, that sense, that speak.
00:18:08Hands that hold our sport to a higher standard.
00:18:12Not for our sake, but for theirs, for the love of the horse, for generations to come.
00:18:21In this week's edition of First Things First, well I'm at Santa Anita, so why don't we take
00:18:26a look at a lot of the Breeders' Cup contenders working out over Santa Anita's main track,
00:18:32the training track, and the turf course.
00:18:34I also managed to catch up with Frankie DeTore.
00:18:38In fact, I got so close, I literally took the boots off him, and it's for a good cause.
00:18:51It's for a good cause, it's for a good cause, it's for a good cause, it's for a good cause.
00:19:21It's for a good cause, it's for a good cause, it's for a good cause, it's for a good cause.
00:19:51All right, we're back. Frankie's back. I literally just took the boots off him.
00:20:06You can see he's in his slippers. This is for charity, for the TCA, but more importantly, Frankie,
00:20:11we are delighted to have you back.
00:20:13Can I have the boots back? No, I'm joking. I got a new pair that you had.
00:20:16Anyway, this is going to go for a good cause, and I'm pleased to be back.
00:20:19Come and watch us. Thank you.
00:20:21Delighted to have him back.
00:20:29Many thanks to everybody. I've bugged all week long.
00:20:31Many thanks to Frankie DeTore. You can actually go online to the TCA and bid for those boots.
00:20:39Yes, I literally took them off his feet.
00:20:41They are well worth bidding for.
00:20:43I do want to remind you that racing does continue on Thursday at Santa Anita,
00:20:48and we'll have closing day on Sunday.
00:20:50It's not all over after the Breeders' Cup. Closing day on Sunday here at the Great Race Place, guys.
00:20:58All right, so let's pick things up with the Saturday card,
00:21:00which we begin with the Big Ass Fans Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile.
00:21:05Randy, are you allowed to say ass on NBC? What's the rule for that?
00:21:11It's always been big fans. They never want us to say big ass fans.
00:21:15I don't know if NBC has kind of come off that a little bit.
00:21:18It's only been like five or six years now that big ass fans is nominated.
00:21:22So I voted for big ass fans, but we'll see.
00:21:26All right. You know, it's kind of in this day and age. Come on, guys, lighten up.
00:21:29Call it big ass fans, you know. Exactly.
00:21:32All right, so I'm going to be Scrooge here, and I'm going to pick against Cody's Wish.
00:21:37And I'm going to pick against him for the same reason I didn't like him last year, even though he won.
00:21:42He is not a two-turn horse.
00:21:44He is one for four around two turns, the one win coming in this race last year.
00:21:50I think the reason why he was able to win last year and very well could win again this year is because he's just maybe better than these horses
00:21:58and is able to get the job done at something that is not his specialty.
00:22:03But as the favorite, I can't take him.
00:22:06So if you don't like him, I think the horse that you do like is Zozos for Brad Cox.
00:22:13And, you know, here's a horse on the other end of the spectrum, loves to go to the mile three for three.
00:22:18He's a legitimate two-turn horse, whereas Cody's Wish isn't.
00:22:22Now, granted, his wins in grade threes and whatnot don't really stack up to what Cody's Wish has been doing class-wise.
00:22:30But, you know, I just can't take Cody's Wish as the favorite doing something that I think is still,
00:22:37and I said the exact same thing last year and I was dead wrong, but I'm willing to say it again this year, is outside his comfort zone.
00:22:42So I'm a Brad Cox fan, Zozos in the Breeders' Cup, big ass fans, Dirt Mile.
00:22:50There you go. So I was prepared to pick against Cody's Wish.
00:22:53The horse that I was going to pick was Practical Move.
00:22:56And as anyone knows now who's watching this, Practical Move tragically had a heart attack this morning as we taped this on Tuesday morning on the racetrack in Santa Anita.
00:23:08So he was the only horse in there, really, that I thought was capable of beating Cody's Wish.
00:23:15I like Zozos. I love Brad Cox.
00:23:17I just think they're two different kinds of horses.
00:23:20I think Chargette on his best race could conceivably beat Cody's Wish, but Chargette is so enigmatic.
00:23:27He has to have things exactly his way,
00:23:29no kickback at all during the running of a race before Chargette is really going to fire his best.
00:23:35National treasure. I just don't think he's quite fast enough, you know.
00:23:41So look, I didn't like the way Cody's Wish won his last race, his last time out in the Vosburgh,
00:23:50but I still think that he is head and shoulders the best horse in here.
00:23:54So I'm not going to try to get too creative.
00:23:58I'm going to copy and paste exactly what Randy said.
00:24:01It's going to be Cody's Wish for me.
00:24:02My heart goes out to Tim, the ACT team, and Millie and their whole team with Practical Move.
00:24:08That was devastating this morning.
00:24:10So really thinking of them, Cody's Wish is going to be the horse to beat in here for me,
00:24:15but I am throwing in a long shot in here.
00:24:18And hey, sometimes he can just throw one down, and that's Skippy Longstocking.
00:24:23Coming off a win at Charlestown.
00:24:25Now, there's a handicapping angle that I'm pretty sure no one else is going to use.
00:24:30Have we ever had a Breeders' Cup winner come out of Charlestown, Randy?
00:24:33Mr. Deep Dive? Couldn't possibly have, right?
00:24:37I have no idea, Bill. I haven't dove that deeply into Charlestown, no.
00:24:43Why? I didn't think I could stump you on anything. There you go.
00:24:46But that was a pretty obscure question.
00:24:49Hey, nobody likes National Treasure?
00:24:52No.
00:24:52Preakness winner? Okay.
00:24:54Yeah, yeah, yeah. Bob Baffert.
00:24:56Yes. I mean, beat a weak field in the Preakness and has done absolutely nothing.
00:25:00And got with a perfect trip and has done nothing since.
00:25:03Okay. All right. So we move along now to the Breeders' Cup Philly and Mayor Turf.
00:25:08I've picked in Italian in just about every race she's ever run in, including this race last year.
00:25:15But a mile and a quarter? I don't think so.
00:25:19I was disappointed in her last time out in the First Lady.
00:25:22She ran well in this race last year to get beat a length, but was a mile and three-sixteenths.
00:25:27So she's got to go another sixteenth of a mile.
00:25:29So I think you have to go look at the Europeans in here.
00:25:32And there's two that look very good. One is Inspirol for John Gosden,
00:25:37and the other is Warm Heart for Aiden O'Brien.
00:25:40Both are coming off Group One wins.
00:25:42Matter of fact, both have won two Group Ones in a row.
00:25:46I have a hard time separating them, but I'm going to go with Inspirol.
00:25:51And I just think that she is right now in razor-sharp form.
00:25:54It looks like her last couple races, last time out with Frankie Abort,
00:25:58she wins the Sun Chariot Stakes at Newmarket, you know, wins it by three and three-quarter lengths.
00:26:03Now, here's the other interesting thing about her, is that she's a miler.
00:26:08And why is she in this race rather than the mile at this race at a mile and a quarter?
00:26:14Well, you know what? If John Gosden thinks this is the right race for her,
00:26:19who am I to argue with John Gosden? He's one of the greatest of all time.
00:26:22So I like the John Gosden angle. I like the fact that she's in great form.
00:26:27But if she gets beat by the other top European in here, Warm Heart, I wouldn't be surprised.
00:26:34So Inspirol wins the Sun Chariot Stakes last time out at a mile at Newmarket.
00:26:38She wins by three and three-quarters lengths,
00:26:41which is like the equivalent of a ten-length win in America,
00:26:44because they only run the last quarter of a mile in Europe.
00:26:47And visually, she looked even better than that.
00:26:50I mean, she exploded on the inside when she got a seam in there.
00:26:55So I think it's going to be very tough to beat Inspirol in here.
00:26:57The difference between Inspirol and Warm Heart, Inspirol is stepping up from a mile,
00:27:02Warm Heart is coming down from a mile and a half.
00:27:05They're both two very good fillies. But I'll say this, Bill,
00:27:08you're picking now to get off of N-Italian?
00:27:12This was an inspired choice by Chad Brown to go for this mile
00:27:20and a quarter and run Gina Romanica in the mile as opposed to vice versa.
00:27:25Yes, it's a mile and a quarter compared to a mile and three-sixths,
00:27:28but don't forget it's downhill the first part of it,
00:27:31and there is absolutely no other speed in this race.
00:27:35So N-Italian is going to have an even easier lead this year than she had last year.
00:27:40And she is going to be a very tough customer,
00:27:43I think, even for Inspirol and Warm Heart to run down in the last part of this race.
00:27:49You may be ruing the fact that you finally got off of N-Italian in here.
00:27:54Well, if you pick her twice in a row at two to five and she loses both times,
00:27:58then it's just logical for you to say I'm signing the divorce papers ready to move on.
00:28:04I mean, I love her. She's a great filly.
00:28:06But for those reasons, I guess I'm using my heart a little bit more than my brain in there.
00:28:11And but you know, no, she'll run a good race.
00:28:14But boy, if we're a mile and an eighth, Randy,
00:28:17I'd pick her, but a mile and a quarter just seems to be tad outside her range.
00:28:21But you make a good point. I mean, Chad Brown,
00:28:25the way he maneuvered these two fillies does say a lot about his confidence about her.
00:28:31I thought for sure she'd be in the mile and Gina Romanek would be in this.
00:28:34So did I. So did I. Other way around. But that's not how it worked out.
00:28:38All right. So now we go. Zoe, Zoe, Zoe, Zoe.
00:28:44You're going to be spitting bricks when you take a look at an Italian.
00:28:47I've never seen dapples on her like they look right now.
00:28:50She looks terrific. She's either that or she's ready for the breeding shed.
00:28:54I'm not sure which, but I've never seen her looking like she looks here right now.
00:28:58I saw her trotting off the track at about 930,
00:29:01and she looks as good as I've ever seen her.
00:29:05Maybe all she needed was Bill to get off of her.
00:29:09So maybe I think that may be the key with her.
00:29:13As far as the mile and a quarter, it's downhill.
00:29:15You need to run up and down this turf course if you ever come out here
00:29:18and then you'll you'll realize a mile and a quarter is not a big deal.
00:29:22Inspiral is definitely the one to beat.
00:29:24John Gosden knows exactly what it takes to win this race.
00:29:27Cheveley Park knows exactly what it takes.
00:29:29Frankie DeTore, he won in these silks twice before.
00:29:33The Cheveley Park silks. It's Inspiral for me.
00:29:37I can't talk you off of an Italian.
00:29:39I will throw a long shot in here who has won over this track,
00:29:44going a mile and a quarter and has trained brilliantly.
00:29:46You know how sometimes you turn your head and you keep catching the same horse every day?
00:29:52It's Didier. The same every day I see her
00:29:56and I have to look twice. She's number 401.
00:29:58I'm like, who's that? She looks really good. It's Didier.
00:30:01Who's that? It's Didier. Every day.
00:30:04I've caught her. She is going to outrun those odds.
00:30:06And I think she's going to get bet down the Chaminade board.
00:30:10Fifth race on Saturday's card is the Philly and Mayor Sprint.
00:30:15Randy on buyer numbers. This is an absolutely two horse race.
00:30:18Good night, Olive and Society.
00:30:20I mean, they're the only two that are capable of throwing in those huge numbers.
00:30:26With Echo Zula. Now, we don't we never did quite know which race Echo Zula was going to go in.
00:30:30But had she have gone in this race instead of the sprint for males,
00:30:35obviously she would have been a huge contender. If Society shows up and runs her very best race,
00:30:40she could beat Good Night Olive. But I think if you look at the two of them,
00:30:45I know that Good Night Olive is going to show up. She runs a race every single time.
00:30:49And it's remarkable that last time out,
00:30:52she ran a career best buyer of 108 and got beat by two and a half lengths,
00:30:59which goes to tell you how good Echo Zulu was before she got injured.
00:31:04She loves the distance. She's six for eight.
00:31:07She wins this race last year off a similar pattern where she comes in off the ballerina.
00:31:12Society's a hard horse to figure. I mean,
00:31:14remember how everybody was just raving about her after she won the cotillion last year at Parks
00:31:20and then she runs one, two, three real stinkers in a row and then gets good again.
00:31:26But her good was in the grade three at Ellis Park in Chicago.
00:31:30And Randy, you really might have to check into this because her last race was at Charlestown.
00:31:36All listeners are going to want to know, hey, Randy,
00:31:39has a horse ever come out of Charlestown to win the breeders?
00:31:42We got another one, but the pink ribbon steak, she gets a 106 buyer,
00:31:47but she's just, you know, she's just too inconsistent for me.
00:31:50So good night, Olive, and we'll be a strong favorite.
00:31:55But that's where I'll go. Bill, watch NBC on Saturday and you will have your answer about Charlestown.
00:32:01You will. You will. You will hear it from me, right?
00:32:04Yeah, I will go down that rabbit hole. Take that deep dive.
00:32:08It is a two-horse race on paper, and I think it's a two-horse race.
00:32:11It will be a two-horse race in the flesh.
00:32:14The thing with society, it's pretty clear, I think,
00:32:18is when she's in against horses that she's superior to, she's the bully.
00:32:24She beats them down. She opens up. She looks tremendous.
00:32:27She runs huge numbers. When she's in against horses where she really has to,
00:32:32you know, has to really double down and then she kind of tends to throw in the towel.
00:32:39But she's training exceptionally well here at Santa Anita.
00:32:43So I'm expecting her to run a good race.
00:32:45Good night, Olive, will not run her 108 by her speed figure that she ran in the ballerina.
00:32:51She got a beautiful trip sitting just outside of Echo Zulu.
00:32:55It was like a match race all the way around, you know, perfectly sanitary trip.
00:33:01Now she gets the worst of the draw in postposition number one, going seven furlongs, always a bad draw.
00:33:07But what I'm expecting is clearly unhinged and Ida
00:33:11and maybe some other horses to stretch out the race early
00:33:14and provide enough room for Ired Ortiz to maneuver Good night, Olive, off the inside.
00:33:20And look, there's only one female racehorse in America.
00:33:22This is fast as good night, Olive, going short distances.
00:33:25And that was Echo Zulu. And unfortunately, she won't be participating.
00:33:29So good night, Olive, is I think a clear winner here.
00:33:33Good night, Olive. For me, I do like society.
00:33:36My only question is she's so sharp right now.
00:33:39When she worked the other morning in 37, it was like Carlos was trying to hold an elephant from water.
00:33:45She may just be a little bit too sharp.
00:33:47She does get a good draw on the outside.
00:33:49I'd be more concerned about her if she was drawn inside.
00:33:52I think he can just float her out, maybe just layer off some horses,
00:33:56but they're going to be going quick up front.
00:33:58Seven furlongs over this track is testing.
00:34:02Good night, Olive. She can sit wherever she's going to be sitting in the catbird seat.
00:34:06It's her race to lose for sure.
00:34:09Kirsten Bartsch will probably clunk up and get a piece of it late.
00:34:12She's a filly who always runs good and she's way better around one turn.
00:34:16So I might expect her to pick up the pieces.
00:34:19Maybe, maybe she could be second. I'm not sure.
00:34:22But she's coming into it the right way.
00:34:25That's an inspired exacto right there. That's good.
00:34:27I like that. Breeder Cup Mile is next on the card.
00:34:32And I'm going to sound like I'm talking out of both sides of my mouth.
00:34:35We had this long discussion about in Italian versus Gina Romanica.
00:34:38I'm going to take Gina Romanica here after I talked about
00:34:41why I wouldn't take an Italian in the mile.
00:34:44She's kind of at least from a buyer standpoint.
00:34:46Randy, she's a one race wondered at 105 last time out in the first lady kind of came out of nowhere
00:34:52where she ran down stable mate in Italian.
00:34:55But the fact that that Chad Brown is looked at this horse
00:34:59and figured that this is the right spot for her going a mile again,
00:35:05makes me think that he knows that that mile distance just is the perfect distance for her.
00:35:11You got to worry about the Europeans in here. Casa Creed's a terrific horse.
00:35:15You've got some when you've got Master of the Seas,
00:35:19who is the, you know, Charlie Applebee good dolphin giant of the race.
00:35:25But again, and you know, Zoe, help me out with this after when you get your chance.
00:35:30How bad a post is post 14 going a mile on the turf at Santa Anita?
00:35:35I mean, yeah, I can't take as good as Master of the Seas is I can't take him from the 14 post.
00:35:42Yeah, it's it's horrible. He's going to have to drop in and that's what he does anyway.
00:35:48Yeah, it's it's horrible. He did look good working over the tracks.
00:35:52I'd be worried about how he's handling it. No problem whatsoever.
00:35:56They took him and gave him a spin over the turf course pretty much the day he got here.
00:36:01But post position 14 is very, very tough.
00:36:03It's going to have to get a Hall of Fame ride from Bill Buick. Who do you like?
00:36:10Oh, I like I wasn't really into song line
00:36:15because all I've seen her do is hobby horse around here,
00:36:18but they actually let us stretch her legs a little bit because she looked pokey to me.
00:36:22Just cantering as slow as like I can walk faster than she's been cantering.
00:36:27But once she stretched her legs a little bit today,
00:36:29I really liked how she looked and that was over the dirt over the dirt today.
00:36:34So I'm going to take some lying in there. I like Marsh.
00:36:38I can't quite understand the seven furlong drill on the dirt that she had here because she looked horrible,
00:36:43but she's trained very well since she's not a dirt horse.
00:36:46She looked like a tough horse working on the dirt.
00:36:50But who am I to argue with Saeed? So I like her as well.
00:36:55And I've got to use Casa Creed. I keep telling you horses look good
00:36:59and they're supposed to look good, but he always shows up.
00:37:04So if you like song line in the flesh,
00:37:07if you go back and watch the videos of her last two races, you'll like her even more.
00:37:12You talk about a horse with a devastating closing kick.
00:37:15Okay, but having said that, I'm going for the 12 to 1 on Gina Romanica.
00:37:21I'm with Bill here, but for a little different reason out.
00:37:25Look, the reason why Gina Romanica,
00:37:28in my opinion, is in the mile is not because Chad has more confidence in her at a mile.
00:37:34It's because in Italian with the downhill part of the mile and a quarter
00:37:39and the lack of speed in the filly and mare turf in the super firm turf
00:37:44that in Italian is going to get to help her stretch out.
00:37:47I think he felt like her best chance was at a mile and a quarter
00:37:51and Peter Brandt doesn't want to run his two fillies against each other.
00:37:55So they just leave Gina Romanica at the one mile distance.
00:37:58She won at last time. But look, horse racing is about getting from point A to point B faster
00:38:06than the other horses and the way you measure how fast horses get from point A to point B is by the clock
00:38:12and Gina Romanica at Keeneland the same day with very comparable pace setups,
00:38:19okay, ran approximately a half a second faster than up to the mark and Master of the Seas.
00:38:27Her final quarter mile was faster than up to the marks it
00:38:32and yes, the race seems like it came out of nowhere on paper,
00:38:35but she had some excuses earlier in her races.
00:38:38She was quickly improving. Chad told Peter Brandt.
00:38:41He said I'm telling you she can beat an Italian.
00:38:44She is a Breeders' Cup level horse. We need to give her this opportunity.
00:38:49And so I think at a price, I like Gina Romanica hooked up in Exotics with Songline
00:38:55and Kalina the other filly from France.
00:39:01TD Riders Room brought to you as always by the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association.
00:39:05Two Pennsylvania breads will be competing at this Breeders' Cup.
00:39:08Of course, you know by Caravelle, the defending champ in the turf sprint.
00:39:12Same race. Roses for Deborah, the improving filly. Takes on the boys as well.
00:39:16More on her later. Last weekend at Belmont at Aqueduct,
00:39:20there was a Pennsylvania bread double. Erdenhine Farms homebred Jamestown broke his maiden
00:39:25and then the Blackstone Farm bred filly Eula Cold won later in the day for trainer Bill Mott.
00:39:30And don't forget, another reminder, the last leg, December 27th,
00:39:34the PA Sired PA Bread Stallion Series coming up at Parks.
00:39:38$200,000 races, both at a mile and 70 yards. Two-year-old Colts, two-year-old fillies.
00:39:43Check out the pabread.com website to make sure your two-year-old is nominated.
00:39:47And if you have any questions, you can email them at info at pabread.com.
00:39:55PA Bread, I think we've built a brand at this point.
00:39:58The state of Pennsylvania has the best breeders program in the entire United States.
00:40:06Angel of Empire wins the Arkansas Derby and wins it clear.
00:40:10Caravelle in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint.
00:40:14Pennsylvania and the PHBA have the best state-bred program in the country, bar none.
00:40:19The best Breeders' Awards and Stallion Awards in the country.
00:40:23TDN Riders Room, brought to you by the fast sires at Windstar Farms.
00:40:27The sponsors every week of the Fastest Horse of the Week.
00:40:30This week, we're going to spotlight again Nashville,
00:40:32the track record-setting son of Spitestown.
00:40:35Three years ago on the Breeders' Cup undercard,
00:40:39remember the Perryville Stakes at Keeneland,
00:40:40when Nashville ran faster than the Breeders' Cup Sprint.
00:40:44By nearly a full second, going six furlongs and 107.89.
00:40:48He was kind of his own stallion advertisement in that race.
00:40:51And he had some other great races as well.
00:40:53At the Fairgrounds, the fastest sprint at the Fairgrounds.
00:40:55Winter Meet, when he broke his maiden at Saratoga.
00:40:58TDN Rising Star, 11.5 length win.
00:41:01He's by sire of sires.
00:41:02Spitestown, the first foals of Nashville,
00:41:05expected to hit the ground next year, or will hit the ground in 2024.
00:41:09Nashville Stan Studd at Windstar Farm.
00:41:12Fastest Horse of the Week, won on Sunday.
00:41:14Belmont at Aqueduct in the Hudson Stakes for New York Breds.
00:41:18Rottne turned the tables on New York traffic with a very impressive win,
00:41:23earning a buyer speed figure of 100.
00:41:25Rottne trained by Mike Maker.
00:41:27Jose Lascano blamed himself for Rottne's most recent defeat
00:41:31at the hands of New York traffic.
00:41:32So he turned the tables on that rival and did it in stylish fashion.
00:41:36Rottne, New York Bred, Hudson Stakes, last week's Fastest Horse of the Week.
00:41:46As always, the TDN Writers Room is sponsored by The Green Group,
00:41:50which brings you our weekly Green Group Guest of the Week.
00:41:53The Green Group, a tax consulting and advisory firm specializing
00:41:56in the thoroughbred racing and breeding industry,
00:41:59and specializing, of course, in saving you money on your taxes.
00:42:03For more information, you can email The Green Group,
00:42:06or go to the website, that's even better, at www.greenco.com.
00:42:12And we welcome in now The Green Group Guest of the Week.
00:42:15Owner George Krekorian has two major contenders in the Breeders' Cup.
00:42:19Just FYI, in the juvenile fillies.
00:42:22And that remarkable older mare, Warlight Goddess, in the Breeders' Cup turf.
00:42:26George, thanks for joining us.
00:42:28And let's go back to the day at Belmont at Aqueduct on October 7th,
00:42:32when both of them won grade one races.
00:42:36The Frazette was won by just FYI,
00:42:39and then Warlight Goddess won the Joe Hirsch Invitational.
00:42:42You've been a good owner with a lot of good horses for a long time.
00:42:45So far, was that the best day of your owning career?
00:42:48Absolutely. Winning two grade one races in 30 minutes is pretty special.
00:42:53Well, you've obviously had a lot of success in the thoroughbred business, Mr. Krekorian.
00:42:57I mean, you haven't won a Breeders' Cup race yet.
00:42:59But, I mean, you've been involved in the Breeders' Cup before plenty of times.
00:43:03You've had Warlight Goddess, two and a half million.
00:43:06A Hollywood Story, a million. Star, a million.
00:43:09Mucho Unusual, almost a million.
00:43:12So, what is it like now to be here at Santa Anita,
00:43:15with two horses like this that are front and center in their races?
00:43:20Well, I'm pretty excited to be here and have this opportunity and having two horses.
00:43:25It's the first time that's happened for me.
00:43:27So, it's going to be a pretty special weekend.
00:43:33George, before I jump in, just thanks so much for being here.
00:43:36We're delighted to have you here.
00:43:38I know it was a bit of a pain going back to the hotel and running all over the place,
00:43:42but let's lead off with Warlight Goddess.
00:43:44And I just saw Donato Lanni over my shoulder,
00:43:49and he's the one that was responsible for purchasing her for $30,000.
00:43:53When you got her many moons ago for $30,000, what were your thoughts?
00:43:58Did you think, well, you know, I might be at Breeders' Cup in 2023?
00:44:01I mean, how did you gauge her progress over the years?
00:44:06Well, you know, you have to give kudos to Donato Lanni because,
00:44:11you know, he called me one day and said,
00:44:13I've seen this horse and she should not be in this sale that she's in,
00:44:20and she's going to be overlooked.
00:44:22And he said, I see in the future that she could be a very special horse.
00:44:29And he said, I know that you don't mind taking the time it takes for a horse to develop.
00:44:35And so, that's exactly what we did.
00:44:39And we took our time, and just as he predicted, she turned out to be an incredible horse.
00:44:47George, at the time, were you even aware that she sold for $1,200 as a weanling and R&A for $1,000?
00:44:54I mean, here she is in the Breeders' Cup turf, a grade one winner,
00:44:58and at the yearling sales, nobody wanted her for $1,000.
00:45:03Were you even aware of that at the time?
00:45:05Yes, Donato told me that, you know, that the horse had R&A'd and, you know,
00:45:10and now the horse would be selling for $30,000 or $40,000, he thought he could get it for.
00:45:19So, I was aware of that.
00:45:23So, I understand, I hear through the grapevine, George, you're a pretty good handicapper.
00:45:26So, the post-position draws didn't treat either of your horses particularly well,
00:45:32but Warlight got us now back against the boys again, where she's had success in the past.
00:45:39Mile and a half, tough heroes in there.
00:45:41How do you gauge your chances?
00:45:43Well, you know, at first when I saw we got the outside post, I was a little concerned about it.
00:45:51And then more I thought about it, you know, if you're inside, you can get into a lot of trouble and get stuck.
00:45:59I think actually being on the outside now might actually work to our advantage,
00:46:05because she'll get a chance to break out of the gate, find a good position, hopefully, and take it from there.
00:46:11And what about the super firm turf you're likely to get at Santa Anita,
00:46:15as opposed to the softish ground that she went on at Aqueduct?
00:46:21I don't think that's going to be a factor.
00:46:22I think she'll be fine either way.
00:46:27I'm not worried about the draw for her whatsoever.
00:46:30The outside is the best spot to be on coming down this hillside turf course.
00:46:34So for me, that is a big thumbs up.
00:46:37I've seen her in the morning.
00:46:38I watched her train in Saratoga, and she's tough.
00:46:41She goes in draw reins.
00:46:43They train her late in the morning.
00:46:45They got special compensation to go out to the training track and train her the wrong way.
00:46:50So at six years old, she's as tough now as she was as a two-year-old.
00:46:56Well, what she's doing is she's dictating, because she's the one that sets up her own morning schedule.
00:47:01They give her exactly what she wants, okay?
00:47:05She's a princess.
00:47:07So can I say she's a typical woman?
00:47:09Because I am a typical woman.
00:47:10She's been acting like a typical woman.
00:47:12I think I'm allowed to say that, right?
00:47:17Everybody in the barn and the team that Bill Mott has is incredible.
00:47:23But they just give her everything she asks for.
00:47:26I know Bill was going to body clip her, and he asked me, but I was too busy.
00:47:31And then he said, actually, you might not want to, because she's very tough, and she's a bit of a madam.
00:47:36So I think I might have dodged a bullet.
00:47:40George, in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, you have to go up against the horse that most people think will be the heaviest favorite in the entire sequence of Breeders' Cup races,
00:47:50and Tamara, who is the daughter, of course, of Beholder.
00:47:55Just FYI, two for two, nothing wrong with her form.
00:47:59But again, Randy said you're a good handicapper, so handicap that race.
00:48:03Can Just FYI step it up enough to beat Tamara?
00:48:06Well, I know Tamara's going to be a very, very tough horse.
00:48:10And, you know, the bottom line is you're challenged by every horse that's in the race.
00:48:16And I think that Just FYI has shown to be an incredibly talented horse.
00:48:25And I think that she's going to be a very tough competitor in that race.
00:48:31All right, George, we talked about the purchase of Warlike Goddess for $30,000.
00:48:36On the topic of Just FYI, let's go back to 1999 when you bought another filly for $35,000 by the name of Starer,
00:48:48who wound up making a million dollars, who ran in the Breeders' Cup twice, and is now the Grand Dam of Just FYI.
00:48:58So you're the breeder as well as the owner.
00:49:00How special is that to have that background, that connection with Just FYI?
00:49:06To me, there's no greater experience than having a horse that you bred turn out to become a Graded Stakes winner.
00:49:12I mean, to me, that gives me more pleasure than anything else.
00:49:20That's super cool. I want to know, who is the genius who came up with the anagram for the name Just FYI?
00:49:29Because I can't believe that no one else thought of it.
00:49:32And it is absolutely brilliant.
00:49:35I was just sitting there one night, drinking a glass of wine, looking through a list of names that I thought might fit Just FYI.
00:49:44And I thought, why not just Just FYI?
00:49:47So that's how we came up with the name.
00:49:50It's absolutely genius.
00:49:52Oh, and some of the best names in horse racing history, George, have come as a result of adult beverages.
00:49:58So that's a good choice.
00:50:03George, tell us a little bit about your background.
00:50:05Your father was a trainer. You grew up in Salem, New Hampshire, just outside Rockingham Park.
00:50:11Having grown up in New Hampshire, I hope you're a Red Sox fan.
00:50:15But, you know, how did this all begin?
00:50:18Well, yes, I grew up about a mile from Rockingham Park.
00:50:21My dad was a trainer.
00:50:27And as a kid, I would hang around outside the gates.
00:50:30I couldn't get into the track.
00:50:32And I'd try to get people's programs and resell them to people coming into the track.
00:50:38And then, you know, from there, I got to work at the track doing all kinds of different things.
00:50:45I worked for Harry Stevens, you know, concessions and doing that.
00:50:50And I would work on the backside, walk horses in the morning and those kinds of chores.
00:50:59So that's how we got started.
00:51:02And as you know, in New England, unfortunately, there's no racing anymore.
00:51:07But they used to have all these great, great tracks, you know, with Suffolk Downs and Rockingham and the tracks in Rhode Island, Narragansett and so forth.
00:51:16And that's sad to see that they're all gone now.
00:51:19And how did you wind up in the movie theater business?
00:51:24Just by accident.
00:51:26I just happened to be walking through a mall near my home in Southern California here.
00:51:35And I had taken my daughter to shopping.
00:51:40She needed something for school.
00:51:41And as I was walking around, there was this whole level in the mall that it's only been open for two years.
00:51:49But all the stores had closed on this level.
00:51:52So they had gone out of business.
00:51:54And as I walked through, I thought, we don't have a theater in our community.
00:51:59It might be a good idea if we had a movie theater here.
00:52:02And I took it upon myself to go talk to the mall manager the following Monday and said, I'd like to see if I could put a theater here.
00:52:11And he said, well, how many do you have now?
00:52:14What circuit are you with?
00:52:15I said, oh, I have no experience.
00:52:19And so how many movie theaters did that lead to?
00:52:24Over the years, I think I've built maybe close to 30 complexes.
00:52:31So probably over 300 screens over the years.
00:52:38Wow.
00:52:39Wow. So what do you do now in your free time, George?
00:52:43I don't have any free time.
00:52:52I have to keep working because I have to feed all these horses.
00:52:57We've heard that before.
00:53:00Well, maybe if you go two for two in the Breeders' Cup, George, you won't have to worry about that anymore.
00:53:05You can find some free time because you're running for a lot of money with two very, very good horses.
00:53:11Well, George, thanks.
00:53:12So you didn't ask my question, though.
00:53:14Are you a Red Sox fan?
00:53:15Oh, absolutely.
00:53:16And thank you.
00:53:17There you go.
00:53:18Sometime I'll tell you a story.
00:53:19I ran into Ted Williams once and we had an argument.
00:53:23Really? I'm going to hear that story now.
00:53:24Yeah, we don't want to tell you that now, but it might take too much time.
00:53:31You know, he could be famously he could be famously cranky from what from what his reputation is or was.
00:53:38Yes.
00:53:39Yeah, so we had gone with my cousin to I used to go to a lot of Red Sox games when I was a kid.
00:53:48And and my cousin was always wanted to get everybody's autograph and he couldn't get Ted Williams autograph.
00:53:56And and we found out that after the games and he did not like all the other players that would walk to the hotel.
00:54:04He would drive a car to the back of the hotel and get out and go in through the kitchen to avoid,
00:54:11you know, having to run into all the people.
00:54:17And so we went ran behind a hotel when we found out what his routine was.
00:54:24And sure enough, that day they lost the game.
00:54:26And he comes flying in and this blue Ford Fair Lane into the parking garage,
00:54:33slams the door, starts walking quickly across the street to go into the kitchen.
00:54:38And my cousin runs up to him and asks for an autograph.
00:54:41And he said, kid, if you want my autograph, you need to come to the game.
00:54:46My cousin starts crying because he said, well, we've done that many times and I can never get your autographed, you know.
00:54:54And I said, because you're not there.
00:54:57So Ted Williams wouldn't give me the autograph.
00:54:59I turned around to Ted Williams and I told my cousin to my cousin and I said, that's OK.
00:55:04He's just a cheap bastard. He started chasing me.
00:55:11I was 12 years old, 13 years old and started chasing me.
00:55:16But then he turned around, went into the hotel.
00:55:19And he still didn't get the autograph, did you?
00:55:21We did not. Years later, I got his autograph at a store.
00:55:26Right. Well, very good. Well, George, thanks so much for spending some time with us.
00:55:32Easy to root for you as you're a Red Sox fan and so am I.
00:55:36So let's hope that you have a great Breeders' Cup and maybe we'll catch up with you again soon.
00:55:41Thanks for being our guest this week on the Green Group Guest of the Week segment.
00:55:44Yes, thank you. Thank you all very much. Have a great day.
00:55:47Good luck. Thank you. Yes.
00:55:50And thank you for that. Thank you for that warm and fuzzy Red Sox story.
00:55:53Bill really appreciates that, especially.
00:55:56And as this week's Green Group Guest of the Week, Mr.
00:55:59George Krikorian of Warlike Goddess and Just FYI Breeders' Cup fame.
00:56:04This weekend, we'll receive a free one hour tax consultation from Lynn Green et al.
00:56:10at the Green Group for more information on how the Green Group can help you.
00:56:14Again, that website is www.greenco.com.
00:56:19Are you paying too much in taxes? The Green Group can help.
00:56:23There's a reason the most successful owners, breeders,
00:56:25and horsemen select the Green Group as their tax advisors.
00:56:29They save you money and share successful strategies.
00:56:33Over the past 40 years, the Green Group founder,
00:56:35Len Green, has owned and bred some of the best racehorses in the history of the sport.
00:56:41Like Eclipse award-winning champions, Jaywalk and Wonder Wheel.
00:56:44His DJ stable competes at the highest level
00:56:47and has received the game's most prestigious honors.
00:56:50Len Green's in-depth, hands-on industry knowledge,
00:56:53combined with cutting-edge tax-saving strategies,
00:56:56has produced positive results for his clientele
00:56:58and has made the Green Group the top-rated accounting
00:57:01and tax firm in the thoroughbred business.
00:57:04For a confidential and complimentary consultation,
00:57:06contact us at 732-634-5100
00:57:11or visit our website at www.greenco.com.
00:57:15The Green Group, proven strategies to save you taxes.
00:57:20With some of the fullest fields in the country
00:57:23and quality racing year-round,
00:57:25there's never been a better time to reap the rewards
00:57:28of breeding and racing in Kentucky.
00:57:31Purse money in Kentucky is at an all-time high.
00:57:34As is average purse per race,
00:57:36outpacing California, Florida, and New York.
00:57:40Kentucky breds.
00:57:42Breed them, raise them, race them.
00:57:45We all win.
00:57:50The TDN Writers' Room is brought to you by the KTA and the KTOB.
00:57:55We're here for Breeders' Cup, so listen to this.
00:57:57Kentucky breds have accounted for 240 Breeders' Cup victories,
00:58:03including 27 wins in the Breeders' Cup Classic.
00:58:0727, oh my goodness.
00:58:09This year, 111 Kentucky breds will be on stage
00:58:13at the Breeders' Cup, including 10 of 13 in the Classic.
00:58:18To highlight just one of the many globe-trotting
00:58:21Kentucky thoroughbreds performing this weekend
00:58:23at the Breeders' Cup, King of Steel was bred in Kentucky
00:58:26by Bon Chance Pham, campaigned by Ammo Racing.
00:58:30In his last start just two weeks ago,
00:58:32he defeated all the horses in the Quipco Champion Stakes
00:58:36at Acme and has now returned to his home country
00:58:39to take on the Breeders' Cup turf.
00:58:42You got to take a look at this horse, guys.
00:58:44He is absolutely massive and looked terrific out here.
00:58:47Training, we'll talk about his chances in just a minute,
00:58:50but he's just one of the many Kentucky breds
00:58:54which will be on the main stage this weekend
00:58:56in the Breeders' Cup.
00:58:59All right, let's turn our attention to the second half
00:59:01of the Saturday card, starting off with race seven,
00:59:04which is the Breeders' Cup Distaff.
00:59:06And as I look at this, Handicapping 101,
00:59:08a dare, manner, idiomatic, and randomized,
00:59:12three major speed horses in this race,
00:59:15three very good ones.
00:59:17Doesn't it have to set up for a closer?
00:59:19One would think, question is, which closer
00:59:22is going to be the one that is going to get
00:59:24that kind of trip?
00:59:25And I picked Claire Eyre last year.
00:59:28She ran her eyeballs out.
00:59:30I'm going to pick her again this year,
00:59:31despite the fact her last race was not good at all
00:59:35in the personal ensign.
00:59:36That was in the swamp.
00:59:37She got beat 17 lengths and change,
00:59:40but last year she came in off also a pretty weak performance
00:59:44in the personal ensign, though she did have some problems
00:59:46at the gate that day and ran very well
00:59:49in the Breeders' Cup Distaff.
00:59:51Steve Asmussen, if you can have her right,
00:59:53and who better to have behind you than Steve Asmussen?
00:59:56If he can have her right, she's going to get the trip.
00:59:58Four to one in the morning line.
01:00:00Not really wild about that.
01:00:02I was hoping more about six, seven to one.
01:00:04And Zoe, I've been reading that she's training very well.
01:00:08She really is.
01:00:11You know, I don't know if she's as good now
01:00:13as she was maybe a couple of years ago,
01:00:15but her work over this track was terrific the other day.
01:00:19She's looked the part.
01:00:20The barn has been raving about her.
01:00:23So I like Claire Eyre.
01:00:24Do I like her on top?
01:00:26In the flesh, I've loved her all week.
01:00:28She looks like a cult going into this.
01:00:30I'm just concerned about Idiomatic
01:00:32and her galloping style to go fast on the front end.
01:00:35Maybe her and Adair Manor
01:00:37are going to try and take each other out.
01:00:39I'm not really quite sure, but I do like Idiomatic.
01:00:44I'll take a piece of Claire Eyre.
01:00:46And after listening to Chad Brown
01:00:48talk me onto search results, I've got to use her as well.
01:00:51I've never heard him talk so highly
01:00:53about one of his horses than he did to me
01:00:55at the barn this morning about her.
01:00:58And that definitely piqued my interest
01:01:01in watching her physically on the racetrack.
01:01:03She always looks good,
01:01:05but she might look just a little bit better.
01:01:07But I think it's Idiomatic's race to lose.
01:01:11Randy doesn't agree.
01:01:13Well, no, I think Idiomatic is a fantastic horse.
01:01:18She's in good form right now, obviously.
01:01:20She's maybe the biggest horse at the Breeders' Cup.
01:01:22I don't know.
01:01:23But when you look at the pace scenario here,
01:01:25Bill ticked off all the speed horses.
01:01:26There's even another one, Bill, because before the draw,
01:01:31Tom Amos was talking about that he thinks Hoosier Philly
01:01:36may be better on the early lead.
01:01:38So they put blinkers on Hoosier Philly for the disc staff
01:01:41with the intent of showing speed and trying to get the lead.
01:01:45And then, lo and behold, she draws post position number one.
01:01:48So now you've got Hoosier Philly
01:01:50and Idiomatic and Adair Manor and Randomized.
01:01:54You've got all this speed in here.
01:01:56And Idiomatic might wind up between horses in a speed duel.
01:02:00And she's had beautiful, sanitary front-running trips
01:02:03in all of her recent races.
01:02:04She's the kind of horse you've got to try to take
01:02:06a shot against as a favorite.
01:02:09And so I like the X-ACTA of Clairier and search results.
01:02:14One way or the other, I'll put Clairier on top.
01:02:17But I think it's going to come down to those two.
01:02:19Search results will get first run on Clairier.
01:02:23She'll be closer to the pace.
01:02:25And that might put her over the top.
01:02:27But look, if they run their best races,
01:02:30I think Clairier's a better horse.
01:02:32So that's why I'll put Clairier on top.
01:02:34Let's see which Clairier shows up in the disc staff.
01:02:37All right, the Breeders' Cup turf is next.
01:02:39Seven of the last eight runnings have been won by Europeans.
01:02:42I'm a big up-to-the-mark fan,
01:02:45especially liked his race last time out
01:02:46in the Coolmore turf mile at Keeneland.
01:02:49But I just still got to think that as good as he is,
01:02:53you got some very serious European horses coming in here.
01:02:57And yeah, they're not bringing the JV in for this race.
01:03:03So Auguste Rodin, he throws in a clinker every so often.
01:03:08But who's to argue with a horse
01:03:09that's won the Irish Champion Stakes,
01:03:11the Irish Derby, and the Epsom Derby?
01:03:14I mean, that is a mighty trifecta coming in
01:03:17for Ryan Moore and Aidan O'Brien.
01:03:20So I will go with a European
01:03:23and the one that I think is the best European of this bunch.
01:03:27Randy?
01:03:29Look, the Europeans totally kick ass in this race,
01:03:33and for good reason. They're bred to go a mile and a half.
01:03:36American horses typically aren't,
01:03:38and they're bred to run on turf anyway.
01:03:40And this is the strongest European contingent
01:03:43that we've had in the Breeders' Cup turf
01:03:44in a long time, between Auguste Rodin
01:03:47and Mostadoff and King of Steel and Onesto.
01:03:50So if an American is going to beat those horses,
01:03:52I think it's going to have to be an American horse.
01:03:56Let's look at it from a buyer speed figure perspective, okay?
01:03:59It goes into the Breeders' Cup turf
01:04:01with like a 1.10 or a 1.12 or something like that.
01:04:05And for as impressive visually as Up to the Mark was,
01:04:09when he won the Coolmore Turf Mile at Keeneland,
01:04:12I'll go back again to what I said about Gina Romanica.
01:04:16She ran a half a second faster than Up to the Mark did.
01:04:20Okay, we re-timed the races. The times were accurate.
01:04:24So a 100 buyer speed figure
01:04:28is not going to cut it against Auguste Rodin.
01:04:31Am I expecting Up to the Mark to run better than that?
01:04:33Yes, but I don't think Up to the Mark
01:04:38on the evidence that we've seen,
01:04:41even though he's the best turf horse in America,
01:04:43in my opinion, is going to be as good as Auguste Rodin.
01:04:45It's Aiden O'Brien and Coolmore for me.
01:04:48Wow, both on Auguste Rodin.
01:04:51I can't trust him. I did see him out on the track this morning.
01:04:55He got a little bit warm, but that's normal for him.
01:04:58I love Mustardaff.
01:04:59The fact that he skipped the champion stakes to come over here
01:05:03puts him firmly in my wheelhouse.
01:05:06Jim Crowley knows him very well.
01:05:08Frankie was just purely subbing for him
01:05:10last time out in the Chubmont International.
01:05:13They pulled an audible. They took him out of the champion stakes
01:05:16the morning of the race due to the softened ground.
01:05:19He loves to hear his feet rattle.
01:05:21I think he's going to absolutely fly in this race.
01:05:24I love Mustardaff in the mile.
01:05:27And who? Oh, I just lost my pee-pees.
01:05:30Who else am I going to use in there with him?
01:05:33I mean, it's a really good race. I'll give you a long shot. Bolshoi ballet.
01:05:37He's been a different horse than we saw him before
01:05:40when he came over to Saratoga.
01:05:42Didn't get hot. Didn't get washy.
01:05:43Same thing here the other morning.
01:05:45It's a bit of a price at 15 to 1.
01:05:47Don't sleep on Bolshoi ballet.
01:05:49King of Steel. Saw him come out this morning.
01:05:53He's huge. He had a very, very tough race in the champion stakes, which he won.
01:05:59He had a really strong gallop around here and got very hot this morning.
01:06:03I'm just worried that he might be tipping over the edge.
01:06:07So I'd probably like to watch him train just a couple of more days
01:06:12and really make my mind up. He's big.
01:06:15They call him the police horse. He's massive.
01:06:18He physically trained very well,
01:06:21but almost a little bit too much on the bridle when horses are boiling over
01:06:24and had a lovely gallop around and got very hot.
01:06:27So it's Mustardaff for me and you guys can beat me with August Rodin.
01:06:33We go now to the Breeders' Cup Classic for the first time
01:06:36in the 40-year history of the Breeders' Cup.
01:06:38Will not be the last race on the card.
01:06:39NBC has got to get off the air with horse racing to go to Big Ten football.
01:06:46That's the world we live in where college football rules the day, unfortunate,
01:06:50but you can watch these races on FanDuel TV.
01:06:53The races after the two races after the Classic.
01:06:56A lot of news in and out of the Classic.
01:06:58We all know that Go Rocket Ride was injured early in the week.
01:07:02Mage not doing well.
01:07:04They decided not to bring him in.
01:07:05And then this morning, Tuesday,
01:07:07Arcangelo, they announced that he will not be running either
01:07:11as he has had some problems
01:07:12and they weren't getting him quite right for the race.
01:07:15With Arcangelo out, Arabian Night will be the favorite.
01:07:18I don't think there's much doubt about that.
01:07:21I know people have been, including our friend Zoe Cabot,
01:07:24have been raving about the way he's been training.
01:07:27But what kind of trip is he going to get in here to me
01:07:31with, you know, he's got the three post.
01:07:35He's going to try to go to the front,
01:07:37but isn't Saudi Crown going to be right on his,
01:07:40just within inches of him the whole way,
01:07:44trying to back him down and make sure that he doesn't get an easy lead.
01:07:48So I'm going to get a little tiny bit weird here.
01:07:50I think bright future for Todd Pletcher is going to get a perfect stalking trip behind those two.
01:07:56This is a horse that he probably hasn't run his best race yet.
01:08:00I know the Jockey Club Gold Cup was not the strongest race,
01:08:03beat Proxy, Randy's favorite horse, by a nose,
01:08:06but I'm counting on him improving a little bit.
01:08:09And I think if there is a little bit of a speed meltdown in here,
01:08:12just about anything can happen.
01:08:14So I'm going to get a little bit weird.
01:08:16The Japanese horse is Dermis Otagaki.
01:08:19Remember him way back in the Kentucky Derby?
01:08:21He hasn't run since then.
01:08:22The one that they're all talking about is Yushpa Tesoro.
01:08:25I don't have the faintest idea what to do with him.
01:08:28I mean, we were all raving about the Japanese horses around Triple Crown time
01:08:32and how well they were doing. Wouldn't be the least bit surprised if he won.
01:08:36But I'm just going to stick with my pick
01:08:38and see if Todd Pletcher can pick off a win in the Breeders' Cup Classic.
01:08:43This is a good year for the Classic not to be the last race on the Breeders' Cup program.
01:08:46It's the first time it's happened in 40 years.
01:08:48This might be the most uninspiring Classic field in 40 years.
01:08:53It was already a lackluster race before all the dropouts,
01:09:00you know, now adding Arcangelo to the list. From a pace perspective,
01:09:05okay, Saudi Crown is drawn inside of Arabian Night.
01:09:10I'm just telling you, I don't think there's any chance
01:09:14that Arabian Night is fast enough to outrun Saudi Crown to the lead and drop over.
01:09:22I think the best that Arabian Night could hope for is a head-to-head speed duel with Saudi Crown.
01:09:29Okay, if they want to avoid that,
01:09:32they've been training Arabian Night to sit off of horses if necessary.
01:09:37And so that might ultimately be the trip that they try to work out
01:09:41because Saudi Crown is a very fast horse early.
01:09:45So then the hope is that they're going to stalk Saudi Crown,
01:09:47okay, get him to relax, hopefully, which he's never done before in a race,
01:09:52and then just go by Saudi Crown when the time comes at the top of the stretch.
01:09:56The problem with that is that Saudi Crown fights and he fights and he fights.
01:10:02And Arabian Night is not going to just blow by Saudi Crown.
01:10:06If he relaxes, then it's going to be a dogfight to get by Saudi Crown.
01:10:11That's why it sets up for Guaida Barrio and for Bright Future
01:10:16and for other stretch runners in there.
01:10:17Look, Guaida Barrio, I'm not going to overthink this. He came off the fastest prep race.
01:10:22I have great respect for Rick Dutrow.
01:10:25The horse did have some hiccups in training,
01:10:28but he has been given, you know, I've really delved into that and the horse is just fine.
01:10:35The horse is okay. And a repeat of that last race at Saratoga in the Whitney and he's gone.
01:10:43He's long gone because there's nobody in this race that's that fast.
01:10:47So, look, Ushpa Tesoro, one thing about him, he's on a win streak.
01:10:52Okay, but don't forget the Dubai World Cup win.
01:10:56Okay, we don't put buyer speed figures on those races,
01:10:58but I can tell you this, it was about five buyer points slower than Dermis Sotogaki's win in the UAE Derby.
01:11:07So what do you make that? If you make it like a 105-106,
01:11:09that's only like a 100 for Ushpa Tesoro in the Dubai World Cup,
01:11:14making the Dubai World Cup a pretty lackluster kind of race.
01:11:18So that's why I think he's pretty beatable.
01:11:21I like the Whitney Exacto all over again. I like why did Mario and Zan done? One, two.
01:11:27Certainly food for thought there. I like it.
01:11:29I like you've basically played out the race perfectly because I loved Arabian Nights work,
01:11:36but that's what he does. He works brilliantly.
01:11:39I'm just not sure how good he is against other horses in the afternoon.
01:11:44He's by far the horse that's worked the best over this track.
01:11:48There is no question, but he's never really blown anyone away in the afternoon.
01:11:52So that got me thinking, do I look at Saudi Crown?
01:11:56I was fortunate enough to see him on the track this morning and he looks superb.
01:12:00He's filled out. He's grown up. But how good is he? He's got speed.
01:12:04He doesn't seem to want to quit. I like wider barrio in there.
01:12:09I think I've just got to find someone that will close
01:12:11and I'm probably just going to go with Ushpa Tesoro
01:12:13because I've just loved the way he's acted over this track since he got here
01:12:18and I think it's going to be a pace meltdown up front.
01:12:22I can't honestly give you one horse that I really, really love in the classic.
01:12:27So I'm going to go with that one and root for the Japanese.
01:12:31Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint is next, the penultimate race on the card
01:12:35and I'm going to pick a Pennsylvania bred.
01:12:38I'm sure our sponsors will be delighted to hear that,
01:12:41but I'm not going to pick the Pennsylvania bred.
01:12:43No, no, no.
01:12:45Oh, come on, Randy. All right.
01:12:48Don't do this. Don't do this to me, Bill.
01:12:53All right. I can't, Randy. I'm sorry.
01:12:56I can't. I'm not changing my mind.
01:12:58Look, when we both cash in on roses for Deborah, we'll look like heroes next week.
01:13:03That's the other Pennsylvania bred in the race.
01:13:07She runs in the Smart and Fancy Stakes at Saratoga, a terrific race, gets a 102 buyer.
01:13:12The race last time out at Parks, the Turf Monster is a complete throwout.
01:13:17The race was, they say it was run on the turf.
01:13:20It was run on green painted mud.
01:13:24That was the worst conditions you might ever see for a turf race ever.
01:13:29Even though she didn't run that bad, she ran third.
01:13:31That race is a total throwout. The 102 buyer before in the Smart and Fancy.
01:13:36It looks like she's going to get a good trip from the under Irod Ortiz.
01:13:41And so it's going to be a Pennsylvania bred just not care about.
01:13:44I'm sorry, Randy. You know, again, let's let's do this together.
01:13:48We'll be here. OK. All right, Bill.
01:13:52It's the benefit of going first, too. I like that.
01:13:57So every now and yeah, every now and then, you know, we watch these races and and you're looking.
01:14:04Hang on. I'm scrolling up in my past performances here.
01:14:08Live in the dream is a very, very fast horse, by the way.
01:14:11But I just don't think live in the dream is going to get the right kind of trip.
01:14:17And I don't I don't even need to look at the past performances. What the hell?
01:14:21Every now and then you watch these races on video and you're looking for fast speed figures.
01:14:25Right. Which is, you know, it's always I'm a speed figure guy.
01:14:28But you also want the expletive kind of race, like the holy when you watch a race.
01:14:36So you watch roses for Deborah, like three races back
01:14:39and you're watching the video of the race and you're like, holy, what?
01:14:43What a turn of foot. Not only does she run fast. Oh, my.
01:14:47Oh, my God. She's, you know, boom. She's in front and drawn away.
01:14:51And you're like, wow. Then you watch the next race and it's like, holy.
01:14:56And then again, last race, you throw it out because of the green mud and bottomless turf.
01:15:01Right. Forget it. She's going to win and she's probably going to be six to one or eight to one.
01:15:08Look, she's the best horse in the race.
01:15:11And you and me, Bill, or maybe Zoe, too.
01:15:15Go ahead, Zoe. No, no, you two can hold hands across the finish line together.
01:15:23And I'll root for you both.
01:15:26I'm looking for it to be an absolute speed meltdown with living the dream.
01:15:31Steve and Jolene Delomo's are fantastic people.
01:15:36And they were the only ones that made any sense of fun at the draw yesterday
01:15:40because it's supposed to be fun, right? Those guys are here to have fun.
01:15:44That horse is quick, but I think him and Azarac are going to burn themselves out on the front end.
01:15:48He's super, super quick. He will give them a shout at some point.
01:15:52But I want a closer and I'm going to go with the horse down on the rail.
01:15:55Big invasion. And Christophe Clement to close in a pace meltdown in the sprint.
01:16:04We shall find out. OK, the day ends with the Breeders' Cup Sprint,
01:16:08which is race 11 on the card, scheduled for five o'clock local time, eight o'clock East Coast time.
01:16:15About that point, Michigan will probably be up 21-0 on Purdue on NBC
01:16:19as we're watching this on TVG slash FanDuel.
01:16:25You know what? I'll go right back to Gunnite. He is throughout the season was one of the best sprinters.
01:16:32You know, he had that duel with elite power. They're going back and forth.
01:16:35He beat him in the forego. Steve Asmussen tried him in the mile on the park start mile.
01:16:40It just didn't work out. He was beaten at one to five that day.
01:16:43He's back where he belongs at six furlongs. I didn't have to think that hard about this.
01:16:47I respect elite power. He's a terrific horse.
01:16:50But I keep going back to the forego where they met last time out.
01:16:54And Gunnite was just the better of the two that day. Doesn't mean that, you know,
01:16:58they're not machines and one can have a good day and one could have a bad day.
01:17:01But I'll go with Gunnite and Steve Asmussen. OK, by all accounts,
01:17:08by the way, you typically want to handicap.
01:17:11This race should be won by Speedboat Beach because for the Breeders' Cup Sprint,
01:17:18there is a shocking lack of speed in the Breeders' Cup Sprint.
01:17:21I'm talking real serious top level American Breeders' Cup Sprint speed like we're accustomed to seeing in this race.
01:17:28So Speedboat Beach is probably going to make the lead and probably going to make a clear lead.
01:17:31But is he as good as elite power or Gunnite? I don't think so.
01:17:35I just don't think so. I don't think he's as fast as they are.
01:17:39The forego, Gunnite was advantaged by two things.
01:17:44Number one, the pace, 23.16, 46.1 for the half.
01:17:49So he got the jump on elite power. Secondly, elite power was spotting him six pounds in that race.
01:17:56And now they come back at level weight at 126.
01:17:59And I don't think that was elite power's best race anyway.
01:18:02So to me, elite power is what? 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 race win streak before that.
01:18:10I think he goes back to putting a W in his win column.
01:18:12I just think he is clearly the best dirt sprinter in the world.
01:18:19I'll raise you the chosen Vron. He's won his last eight.
01:18:23It's a great story.
01:18:26Forgotten about him. He looks as good as you've ever seen him.
01:18:30And he is going to be completely ignored. 5 to 1 on the morning line.
01:18:34Take a swing at the chosen Vron. Elite power's good. He worked good.
01:18:39But you know, when he left the pole, I didn't see that want, that fire in elite power
01:18:44that made him jump in the bridle when he left the pole.
01:18:46Now, obviously, Bill said he's a smart old horse and only does what he has to.
01:18:51That's why he works him in company. But I don't know.
01:18:54I think it's the chosen Vron's day to shine.
01:18:56So I'm going to go with him and Hank Tabarios.
01:18:59And Speedboat Beach is going to be right there.
01:19:02Yeah, you can do a lot worse than take California based horses in the Breeders' Cup sprint at Santa Anita.
01:19:10It's been a time tested formula. Dr.
01:19:13Shivel is a really nice horse.
01:19:15Obviously, the chosen Vron is a win machine.
01:19:19So this is this is a better race than the Breeders' Cup Classic.
01:19:23This is the finale, Bill.
01:19:25You know what Mike Smith's going to do?
01:19:27He's going to flow everyone wide on Speedboat Beach. Elite power on those guys.
01:19:31Mike's going to get the three or four path. He's going to stay exactly where he is.
01:19:35He's in the seven hole, right? It's going to stay there. They're going to have to come around him.
01:19:38He's going to pack all these guys wide. If I'm riding this race,
01:19:42I'm going inside of Mike Smith because he's going to stay out in the seven hole.
01:19:47And the chosen Vron is so small, he can just go wherever he wants.
01:19:52The TDN Writer's Room is brought to you by XP TV.
01:19:55I already spoke about him once. I'm going to speak about him again.
01:19:59This week's work out of the week is Ushpa Tasora.
01:20:02Now, if you manage to watch the work,
01:20:04you probably don't realize where it started and where it finished.
01:20:08So it started about the 5.8 pole and he galloped off.
01:20:12I think Mike Wells for the DRF got him in like 17 for the opening eighth of a mile.
01:20:17And this is basically a prototypical Japanese work.
01:20:21He picked it up, picked it up, picked it up down the lane,
01:20:24and really picked it up around the far turn.
01:20:28They actually gave him a final time of 49 and 2.
01:20:31That was on Sunday right here at the Great Race Place ahead of the Breeders' Cup Classic.
01:20:37Don't sleep on Ushpa Tasora, the Dubai World Cup winner.
01:20:41We'll be right back after these messages from XP TV.
01:20:51All the thrills.
01:21:21Fraction of the bills.
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01:21:39West Point Thoroughbreds, the gold standard in racing partnerships.
01:21:43Visit westpointtb.com.
01:21:46All right, before we get into West Point Thoroughbreds,
01:21:49I want to ask Zoe a question about Ushpa Tasora, the workout horse of the week, XP TV.
01:21:55I vote for Ushpa Tasora as the horse most likely to screw up the start of the Breeders' Cup Classic.
01:22:05Did you see that gate, the gate stuff, Zoe, with Ushpa Tasora?
01:22:09What do you make of that?
01:22:11Yeah, well, you know, he's a big horse and he's not used to dangly bits around his dangly bits.
01:22:17So where the gate crew stands in the gate,
01:22:21it's a little bit lower than they have over in Japan and everywhere else he's raced.
01:22:27So when they got him in and they closed him up, he didn't like it.
01:22:30He started kicking and absolutely having a cow.
01:22:33Now, they did take him out and he had a cow again and they walked him through the gate a few times.
01:22:40He had no problem walking through the open gate because he didn't have to stop and have the sides touch his back end.
01:22:47So walking through was no problem with the gate open.
01:22:49They can have that open and walk him in.
01:22:51So what they're going to do tomorrow is put the pads on him.
01:22:54They're going to utilize these with all of the Japanese horses.
01:22:58It just squishes them a little bit and stops the back of the gate touching the dangly bits.
01:23:04So we look forward to seeing him school in the gate tomorrow.
01:23:07I think he's going to be fine.
01:23:10Honestly, if that doesn't fill you with confidence about Ushua, it's a sorrow.
01:23:14Okay, and his dangly bits. We'll see.
01:23:17All right. Meanwhile, meanwhile, the TD and riders through is brought to you by West Point Thoroughbreds.
01:23:23Joining a West Point Thoroughbred partnership can vault you all together now into the world of instant camaraderie.
01:23:29West Point wrapped up a great Keeneland fall meet five wins and all at Keeneland,
01:23:33including one on Friday with King's Ovation, trained by Dale Romans.
01:23:37Little known fact I'm going to give you right now.
01:23:39King's Ovation, five-year-old, is co-owned by my old friend and colleague Tom Hammond of NBC.
01:23:46He has the Peacock Stable, which has the NBC peacock on the silks.
01:23:51Tom, there's a copyright on that peacock.
01:23:53I hope you cleared that with the authorities before you put it on the silks.
01:23:57West Point's now, of course, on to the Breeders' Cup, where they'll have a couple of hundred partners at Santa Anita entertaining this weekend.
01:24:05Friday, West Point, two big chances.
01:24:07Slider, Bill Finley's pick in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint,
01:24:11and Carson's run in the Juvenile Turf, who got marooned out there in postposition 14.
01:24:16Best of luck to all of the West Point partners.
01:24:19To learn more, visit westpointtb.com.
01:24:28Well, that's a wrap on this week's show.
01:24:32Hopefully, you've learned something from our team about the Breeders' Cup, and hopefully we've given you some winners.
01:24:37And it's been an educational, dangly, what was that, Zoey?
01:24:42Dangly bits.
01:24:44Dangly bits.
01:24:45Okay, there you go.
01:24:47I've been doing this for a hundred years and have never heard dangly bits before, but only here do you learn about dangly bits on the TDN Writer's Room podcast.
01:24:55Anyways, great thanks to my teammates, Randy Moss and Zoey Cabin.
01:24:59I want to thank our editors, Katie Petruniak and Anthony LaRocca.
01:25:03And excuse me, I do that every week.
01:25:05I demote them.
01:25:07They're the producers, co-producers, Katie Petruniak and Anthony LaRocca, and our editors, Leah LaRocca and Nathan Wilkinson.
01:25:14Thanks, everybody, for tuning us in.
01:25:15Have a great Breeders' Cup weekend.
01:25:17We'll talk to you next week.
01:25:25© 2019 University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences UGA Extension Office of Communications and Creative Services