- 6 months ago
Racecaller Frank Mirahmadi is counting down the days until this year's Belmont at Saratoga. He joined this week's TDN Writers' Room to discuss the upcoming Classic event and share his fondest racing memories.
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00:00For the love of the worse, for generations to come.
00:23Welcome to another edition of the TDN Writer's Room Podcast.
00:31My name is Bill Finley.
00:32I'm a correspondent for the Thoroughbred Daily News.
00:34I also co-host of Down the Stretch Radio Show with Dave Johnson every Saturday on Sirius
00:39XM Radio.
00:40Hope everybody had a good Memorial Day holiday.
00:43I'm Randy Moss with NBC Sports.
00:47TD Thornton checking in from a little bit north of Boston today.
00:50I'm a stablemate of Mr. Finley's over at TDN.
00:55Well, guys, some of the news that was made during the week was really sad news, unfortunately.
01:01And let's start with the passing of Christophe Clement at age 59.
01:05A little bit later in the show, we're going to play an ad for West Point Thoroughbreds where
01:10Terry Finley, West Point, used Christophe Clement as a trainer, put it very eloquently.
01:16And I don't think we can even top that.
01:18But he used the same words that I'm prepared to use.
01:24He was such a gentleman, such a class act.
01:28It almost reminded me of some of the trainers who were still around when I came up early
01:34on in the game, like somebody like Woody Stevens or a Mac Miller or someone like that.
01:42You know, just old school, no, you know, no frills, just got the job done.
01:48His numbers are fantastic.
01:50He won 2,576 races, 286 graded stakes races.
01:56Gio Ponte trained in 2009 and 2010.
02:00And that horse was champion turf horse in 2009 and 2010, champion older male in 2009.
02:08And let's not forget Tonalist who won the, excuse me, the 2014 Belmont beating California
02:13Chrome as he was going to go for the triple crown.
02:16So just a real gentleman and the game needs more people like this.
02:21It'll be very mixed.
02:22Yeah, really sad.
02:24He was just 59 years old.
02:26He'd been apparently battling this illness for quite a while.
02:31His son, Miguel, who's been taking on more and more responsibilities, especially as Christos
02:37health issues began to worsen in recent months, is going to take over the reins.
02:43And anyone who has had the opportunity to speak to Miguel about horse racing knows that
02:49the stable will be in excellent hands.
02:53I mean, Clement's record just goes to show you what a trainer can accomplish if they always
02:58put the horse first.
03:01And in this situation, I mean, I think a lot of people who were maybe not closely involved
03:08with the sport, but fans who followed it, I think the news kind of caught them by surprise
03:13because the Clement family was extremely private about Christophe's illness.
03:19The people that were involved in racing on the backside obviously knew about it.
03:23But when we would call at NBC to talk about some of Clement's horses, we would speak to
03:29Miguel and, you know, we would always be requested, you know, to leave that part of it out because,
03:37you know, to respect the privacy of Clement and what the family was going through.
03:42Um, but yeah, just real, uh, real heartbreaking news because he was a, uh, just an unbelievably
03:48classy gentleman.
03:49And what struck me about Christophe Clement also, as, as Bill alluded to old school horsemen,
03:54that comes to mind, but sometimes you think of an old school, anything, and you think set
03:59in their ways and have a certain way of doing things.
04:02Christophe Clement throughout his career, he repeatedly stressed in his, in interviews
04:07and profiles of him that you have to be adaptable as a horse trainer.
04:11You have to be constantly changing and constantly, uh, changing up your ways to, to, to meet the
04:17needs of the horse and the needs of the times as, as the game evolves.
04:20So it will be missed.
04:22Yeah.
04:22I mean, he was very consistent to his 19% winners for his career and you just put him
04:27down for that 18 to 21% every single year.
04:31Uh, and you know, he's going to hit the mark.
04:33Um, here's an interesting statistic though.
04:35Was he a turf trainer or was he a dirt trainer?
04:38Well, it's just a good trainer no matter what, but his excellence on the turf, he won
04:421,952 races on the turf and 624 on the dirt.
04:47Uh, another sad news out last week was the passing of, uh, Don Coombs, uh, who was a
04:52trainer of dust commander who won the 1970 Kentucky Derby.
04:56I would beg to, I, I, I would actually imagine that a lot of these people watching the podcast
05:01don't know who Don Coombs was or don't, didn't know before the reports came out.
05:06And that's part of the story.
05:08Um, as old as we, we three fossils are, I wasn't around from the 1970 Kentucky Derby,
05:13but after that, he was 31 years old.
05:16He looked like he had the whole, his whole career in front of him and it just, he just
05:20never caught on.
05:22I only won 326 races in the rest of his career, retired in 1991.
05:27And, uh, but show you a little bit about him.
05:29He actually fired the owner of dust commander.
05:33You've heard a trainer's getting fired.
05:35Uh, he just apparently this guy, Mr.
05:37Lehman, Robert Lehman, I believe is his name was a real knucklehead.
05:41It was really always, uh, you know, telling him what to do.
05:44He says, Mr. Lehman knows a lot about the construction business, but I don't think he
05:47knows much about horses.
05:49Take your horse.
05:50Goodbye.
05:51So, um, which was interesting.
05:53I, uh, Randy, did you ever meet him?
05:54I, I, I never had the pleasure.
05:56Yeah, he was at, uh, he was stabled at Oakland park, uh, quite often, uh, post dust commander,
06:03obviously way later than, than dust commander.
06:05So I've, I've had a chance to meet him a few times then, and I've often wondered, I ever
06:10asked him if he ever regretted firing Robert Lehman because Robert Lehman wound up, uh, being
06:15one of the best, most successful owners in Kentucky, right?
06:19Run dusty run, smiley Adams trained his horses and, uh, and they won all kinds of stakes races
06:26in the state of Kentucky.
06:27Uh, the Lehman colors did, uh, dust commander was a horse that, uh, certainly is not going
06:33to go down in history as, uh, you know, the, one of the more illustrious derby winners.
06:38He ran in the Hutchison stakes at Gulfstream.
06:41He was 40 to one finished fourth.
06:44Then he came back in the fountain of youth.
06:46He was 62 to one.
06:47He finished 11th in a 12 horse field.
06:50He finished seventh in an allowance race at Keeneland that was in April.
06:56And then he comes back all of a sudden, just boom, boom.
06:59He wins an allowance race around two turns.
07:01Then he wins the bluegrass at 35 to one on a sloppy track.
07:07And that was a key because when he came back in the Kentucky Derby, then nine days later,
07:12he caught another sloppy track and it was a big upset win for dust commander there that, uh,
07:18that cemented Don Combs in Kentucky Derby history.
07:22And, you know, that, uh, that win in the bluegrass was really interesting because,
07:27you know, dust commander was a horse who was very small of stature.
07:32He was barely 15 hands high.
07:34Uh, I don't think he topped out more than 900 pounds.
07:37Don was an interesting guy in that he was only in, I think his second or third year of training
07:42at the time.
07:43And he was also the exercise rider for dust commander, which was a little bit unusual.
07:47Still is unusual in this day and age to see a trainer who might be an exercise rider of
07:52his own Derby horse.
07:53Uh, at the time, not counting the, the trainers who won the Derby in the 19th century, Don Combs
08:01was the youngest trainer to win a Derby in the 20th century.
08:04In the modern era, we say he was 31 years old and, you know, he did it with an Illinois
08:08bread who costs $6,500 as a yearling.
08:12At age two, he ran in $7,500 claiming races, kind of a small, hard knocking horse.
08:19And when he later went to stud, those were the types of horses that he produced.
08:22But I was reading a bit, uh, before the podcast about, uh, Mr. Lehman.
08:27I was not familiar with him or as familiar as Randy was, but apparently on the day of the
08:32bluegrass, he was often another part of the world, tiger hunting.
08:36That was his passion.
08:37And when Dusk Commander went to the, to run in the Derby, he was there and he brought
08:42all sorts of good luck charms, including these tiger bones, uh, that was supposedly going to
08:47bring him luck.
08:48And I guess it worked.
08:49Um, Dusk Commander developed a filling in the ankle.
08:53There was some pressure about whether or not he should run back in the Preakness.
08:56He did run back in the Preakness and he finished very poorly in that race.
08:59I think he was ninth.
09:00And, uh, Don said, you know, I don't need this pressure.
09:03And he, and he walked away from it.
09:04So I think a lot of times we try to define trainers by one big win and there's more to
09:10them than just that.
09:11So good for him for walking away.
09:13If the owner was a little too much.
09:14And an interesting trivia question, the original trainer of Dusk Commander before the horse
09:18was transferred to Don Combs.
09:20I had no idea until I was reading in Don's obituary and it doesn't say on the past performances
09:25like they do now, the exact point at which the horse changed hands, but the original trainer
09:31of Dusk Commander, Billy Turner, way back when, 1969, when Dusk Commander was a two-year-old,
09:39eight years, obviously, before Seattle slew.
09:42The TDN Writer's Room is brought to you by Keeneland.
09:45A pair of Keeneland September graduates brought home the graded glory on Memorial Day.
09:51Too sharp was exactly that in Monday's grade three winning colors stakes at Churchill going
09:56wire to wire to win by three and a half lengths for her second straight graded stakes win.
10:01Then, out at Santa Anita, Skippy Longstocking earned his ninth win at the graded level in
10:07the grade two Hollywood Gold Cup.
10:09The $15,000 Keeneland grad has now won over $3.6 million.
10:15This year's Keeneland September sale takes place from September 8th to the 20th.
10:19Make plans to attend.
10:21And coming up next on the TDN Writer's Room, Frank Miramati joins the show.
10:26It all comes down to this.
10:30Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.
10:31The moment that defines the year.
10:34When the world's most influential buyers gather.
10:37And every decision, every bid, every opportunity shapes the future.
10:44At a marketplace that brings the thoroughbred world together.
10:48And where futures are forged.
10:50Because every moment matters.
10:53At the world's yearling sale, Keeneland September.
10:58This week's Fastest Horse of the Week is brought to you by track record setting Nashville.
11:03One of the fast sires at Winstar Farm.
11:05Any track record is impressive.
11:06When it takes place at Keeneland, it's doubly so.
11:10And on Breeders' Cup Saturday, the COVID Breeders' Cup, November 7th, 2020.
11:14No spectators.
11:16Nashville started things off that day in the very first race of the Perryville Stakes
11:19by scorching six furlongs in 107.89.
11:25Nashville was booked full in its first two seasons with 368 mares bred.
11:30His first foals are now two-year-olds that you will see in action this year.
11:35Winstar stands Nashville for a fee of $15,000.
11:38But you can call now for late season incentives.
11:42Sunday, Santa Margarita Steaks at Santa Anita brought us our fastest horse of the week,
11:48Seismic Beauty, whose five-length wire-to-wire tour de force earned a buyer's speed figure of 1.04.
11:55Seismic Beauty is a four-year-old Maryland bred filly by Uncle Mo,
11:58owned by My Race Horse and Peter Lidell, trained by Bob Baffert.
12:02She streaked past her four-to-five stablemate Splendora in the opening furlong to take command,
12:07set a quick base, and was never seriously threatened as the eight-to-five second choice.
12:13Seismic Beauty, by the way, was coming off a 10-length allowance win going a mile.
12:20That allowance win and then the Santa Margarita are the only races in her six-race career
12:25in which she has run around two turns.
12:27That's obviously the key for our fastest horse of the week, Seismic Beauty.
12:31Welcome in now to Gainesway Guest of the Week, and it's Frank Miramani, the voice of Santa Anita,
12:42also the voice of Saratoga, which this year means he will be calling the Belmont Stakes
12:47both at the track for the on-track audience and also for Fox.
12:51Frank, that's a big, I mean, you've had so many big moments,
12:55Breeders' Cup, Santa Anita Derbies, but I believe this is the first time you've ever called a triple ground race.
12:59Any nerves? Is it extra thrilling? How would you describe the way you're feeling about this?
13:05Well, I'm pleased to tell you that this will be my second one because I called it last year
13:08for the first time when we had it at Saratoga, and it was an incredible experience
13:14and certainly a lot of nerves, and, you know, once the big Fox broadcast starts,
13:19there's no question the adrenaline goes to a new level, and the key,
13:22and I've learned this over many years, it's almost 30 years now that I'm calling races,
13:26with the big races, the most important thing is to trick yourself into pretending it's a starter allowance event
13:32and that, you know, you know these horses, it should theoretically be easier
13:35because there's no worry about who they are.
13:37You know who they are as a racing fan, and so for me, I think the whole key is to just try to stay calm,
13:44and I specifically remember when I called the Arkansas Derby,
13:48it was the fourth and final Arkansas Derby.
13:50I called in 2015 with American Pharoah when they were coming to the gate.
13:53I just was taking deep breaths, and I kind of leaned into the glass.
13:57I'm like, dude, calm down, relax, and just, you know, use what your idol told you,
14:01which is what Trevor Demmon said to me.
14:02Open your eyes and tell the people what you see, and I think if you keep it simple,
14:07then you can get that out of the way and just try to, you know, celebrate the winners.
14:12Well, your powers of description are obviously unlike anybody else's,
14:17but try to put into words what the Saratoga, the Belmont at Saratoga specifically experience was like last year.
14:29It was incredible, Randy.
14:30I mean, I remember, you know, specifically right before the race when Maggie Wolfendale had the microphone
14:37and she held it out to the crowd.
14:39I mean, I got goosebumps, and it was just one of those moments where I'll never forget the crowd
14:44and the reaction from the people and just understanding the magnitude of this moment,
14:49that this was, you know, going to go down in history as the first Belmont Stakes run at Saratoga
14:55and how important it was, and then, you know, at that point, just, you know, just enjoying that moment.
15:01You know, like you work hard in life to try to get to these moments, so you have to try to enjoy them,
15:06and if you ask race callers around the country, the hardest and sometimes most miserable days are those big days
15:13because there's so much going on, and it's hard to enjoy the moment.
15:17But, you know, when it came to that race, I just looked out there and, you know, a lot of reflection
15:23and just thought about it and just said, all right, man, just focus here.
15:26Keep the blinkers on and give them everything you have, and I was very happy with the way it went.
15:30You don't know because it's all adrenaline.
15:32When you're talking and you're going, it's just there's no time to think.
15:35There's no editing.
15:37You just got to go with it, and if something goes a little bit wrong, which it didn't, thank God,
15:41if it does, you got to just keep moving because there's no second take, but it's quite the experience.
15:47Frank, at Saratoga, we know it is a unique and historic venue,
15:52but its announcer's booth presents some particular challenges for somebody calling the races up there.
15:59Tell us what that's like, please.
16:02It's a very difficult assignment, and the reason it's most difficult is because of how low to the ground the booth is.
16:09And Tom Durkin did a cart talk, actually, brought to you by Gainesway, in fact, on the shows,
16:16and he described that booth better than anybody.
16:19Well, when it comes to adjectives, there's no one better.
16:21So it's no surprise that Tom described that booth in just the best way in that it's almost impossible.
16:28You're bobbing and weaving.
16:30You're low to the ground, which means there's more preparation necessary because you have to learn every nook and cranny.
16:37You know, with announcers, we start with the silks and then the equipment and then, of course, the horse.
16:41But, you know, in this case, you've got to look at the sleeves and just every little bit of the cap
16:47because when horses are across the course or across the track, you can't see them.
16:52And so it's important to be able to have every little thing to identify them with.
16:58But there's no excuse.
16:59I've been doing it there a couple years now, and I'm used to it.
17:02And you've just got to adjust and realize, you know, one thing about Saratoga also,
17:07at the end of the race, a lot of things can happen in that last 100 yards.
17:11So you've got to be careful.
17:12You can't declare something over just yet.
17:14You see those late rallies on the far outside, and they can catch you off guard.
17:19And John Embryal, who's one of the classiest people of all time
17:22and certainly put me in a position to succeed there at Saratoga,
17:26bringing me in to fill in a couple times before he retired.
17:30You know, he gave me some great pointers as to what to pay attention to
17:35and, you know, what the concerns are and what the dangers are
17:39in calling races there when they get to the wire.
17:42Frank, I think all of us on the podcast have the same story.
17:46How do we get hooked on racing?
17:47My dad took me to the track.
17:49And that's what you hear from so many people.
17:52And from personal experience, those were just thrilling memories
17:55and great times in my life.
17:57I understand your story is pretty much identical to that.
18:00A hundred percent.
18:01Grew up in Beverly Hills, was going to the track at a very, very young age.
18:05I don't remember.
18:06There's so many people remember the exact day they were there.
18:08I have no idea.
18:09I do know that we ran the Crystal Water Stakes at Santa Anita very recently,
18:14and he's one of the names that I remember earliest on when I was ancient title,
18:19Crystal Water, you know, and those horses.
18:22So, you know, for me, my best memories come right around in the late 70s.
18:28You know, 1977, you know, when J.O. Tobin defeated Seattle Slew.
18:31We didn't go that day, but I listened on the radio to Harry Henson's call.
18:35And so we used to go as a family.
18:36I've got a brother and my mom and dad, and we would go often,
18:39probably more to Hollywood Park.
18:41Santa Anita was a little further, but we were always there on opening day,
18:44always there for the big cap.
18:46I can't remember a big cap that I missed as a kid, you know,
18:49starting from a very young age.
18:50And so we used to go out there, and then I just loved it.
18:54And to me, you know, we have great sports in Los Angeles.
18:57We've got the Dodgers.
18:58We've got the Lakers.
18:59We've got the Rams.
19:01We had the Rams.
19:02Now we have them again.
19:03But basically, for me, it was horse racing.
19:07I just loved every bit about it.
19:08I loved going and getting autographs from the jockeys.
19:10I just enjoyed everything about it.
19:12And it just became my favorite sport.
19:15And every Saturday and Sunday, all I wanted to do was just go to the races.
19:19And so we would go, and I just have such vivid recollections of where I was.
19:23And I think that's important.
19:24I always tell people when they come to the track,
19:26try to find a different vantage point to watch big races from,
19:29because you'll always remember this later in life.
19:32And for me, you know, I remember where I was for so many different big caps
19:36and Hollywood gold cups and things of that nature.
19:38And we just went.
19:39And then, as a kid, I learned how to imitate voices.
19:44And I think part of that came from living next to a gentleman a couple doors down
19:49named Dawes Butler.
19:50He was the voice of Hanna-Barbera characters, including Huckleberry Hound,
19:55Snagglepuss, Elroy Jensen, Captain Crunch.
19:59And my brother found his driver's license one day on the street.
20:04We lived on Oakhurst Drive.
20:05And he knocked on the door, and he went and gave, he said,
20:09Sir, I found your driver's license on the ground here.
20:12And he met him, and he found out.
20:13And he went in, and he recorded some stuff with my brother.
20:15My brother said, You've got to see this.
20:17So he'd take me.
20:17And then my brother's three years older than me.
20:18So at that point, it's a big difference in age.
20:21And I went in there and watched this old man leaning into a microphone doing,
20:28Heavens to Murgatroyd, Snagglepuss.
20:31And it was like, it was so strange to me.
20:33I remember being fascinated by that.
20:34And I think I had done some voices before then.
20:37But when I try to think about how this started,
20:40I think it's just that view of this old man leaning into a microphone,
20:43you know, doing Yogi Bear and Boo Boo and all these other characters
20:47that I've been watching.
20:48I mean, his Huckleberry Hound, and he made cassette tapes for us,
20:51talking to my brother, his girlfriend, and myself.
20:54And those are memories that I, I mean, I've just been watching him on cartoons.
20:58And now I find out how that worked.
20:59And I think that it made me more fascinated with the idea of imitating voices.
21:03And since we always went to the track, I started what my buddy Jeff DeForest,
21:08a great radio guy in Florida, said to me is one of the most useless talents there is,
21:12which is imitating track announcers.
21:14I mean, who cares if you could imitate track announcers other than a very small audience,
21:18but that's how I got my start in calling races.
21:21It's not like I always planned on being a track announcer.
21:23I think it was certainly meant to be because it was my interest.
21:26But the way that it all happened is such a fluke.
21:29And it just proves that sometimes in life, things are meant to be.
21:33Frank, the announcer fraternity always seems to work to help the young guys coming up.
21:39And it's, it's kind of, I've, I've, I've likened it to like being a magician,
21:42an established magician, isn't going to tell you the tricks or give you a helping hand,
21:48unless they see you're willing to put the work into it and have some, some talent for it.
21:52So what would be your advice to those young announcers in the pipeline trying to break
21:57through?
21:57What can they do?
21:58And find a different career because it's almost impossible to get involved.
22:02Uh, but don't quit your day job.
22:04But I would say that, you know, I've had some young people that have reached out
22:07and you have to practice.
22:08You know, I was lucky the way it happened for me was extremely fluky.
22:12I could imitate announcers.
22:13Trevor was on vacation.
22:15I happened to catch the president of Hollywood park on the, on the phone.
22:18I told him I could do it without any experience, without ever having practiced with binoculars.
22:22But to be realistic, you have to practice, you have to be ready.
22:26And then you need to, to, to go wherever, wherever the opportunity, um, presents itself.
22:33Um, you know, there was a young guy that I tried to put into a situation and he didn't
22:38want to make a trip to that place.
22:39I'm like, okay, good luck.
22:41Um, so you've got to be willing to do whatever it takes in order to, uh, fulfill and, and to
22:46pursue that dream.
22:48And, um, but practice, um, you know, I've always said this, I believe that what can be done
22:54has been done in race calling.
22:55And so therefore, uh, don't try to get too cute.
22:59You know, no one needs, you shouldn't, your audience should not need a thesaurus to try
23:04to understand what you're saying, uh, during a race.
23:06Don't get cute.
23:07What can't, what has been done, what can be done has been done.
23:10You're not going to out Durkin, Tom Durkin.
23:13You're not going to be able to paint pictures and create those moments.
23:17There are, there are certain people in the world that have done things that aren't going
23:21to be duplicated.
23:22You know, I grew up under Trevor Demmon, Harry Henson, Dave Johnson.
23:26These are great guys that, that like, you know, those guys just aren't around anymore.
23:31I hate to say it, but you know, I'm part of the fraternity.
23:33So I'm taking a jab at all of us.
23:35Those legends, um, have done it and they've set the stage.
23:40Um, and, and so in the end, don't try to like, nothing new is going to come up.
23:45In my opinion, you're not going to develop some new way of calling a race.
23:49It's a pretty, you know, there's a fundamental way to call a race and it's all about accuracy
23:54and then excitement when necessary.
23:56Don't create something that isn't happening.
23:59Um, you know, don't try to pretend something is happening.
24:01That isn't keep it simple.
24:03And in the end, I think that, you know, the tracking answer, if you're not hearing too
24:07much about them, they're doing a good job.
24:08And if in the big race, they capture a moment for you and they deliver, then that's great.
24:14But day to day, you just don't want to hear, you don't want the tracking answer to aggravate
24:18you.
24:19That's what I would say to me.
24:20Don't make people go to the mute button and you've done a great job.
24:24And, and interestingly with some of my impersonation calls, I'm sure there were a lot of mute buttons
24:28and I, and I get it.
24:29And I, and I don't think I'd want to hear a whole lot of impersonations if I had a better
24:32race, particularly the last race of a pick six.
24:35I don't know that I'd want to hear Rodney Dangerfield and Jack Buck trying to give me
24:39the last 16th of a mile.
24:41So I think I've gone from a guy who was like the comedian announcer.
24:46I think I'm actually very straightforward now.
24:48I'm extremely conservative and I firmly believe that for track announcers, there's a horse
24:53that just won the other day at Santa Anita, which is named after my theme for what every
24:58track announcer should do, which is less is more.
25:01The great announcers didn't talk too much.
25:04And a lot of today's announcers can't stop talking.
25:07Yeah.
25:07I was a close friend of the late Terry Wallace who called races at Oakland Park forever.
25:12Terry always told me that the key to being a successful race caller was, yeah, I was having
25:18a good memory, but it was also being able to forget.
25:21Is there anything to that?
25:24You know, it's funny.
25:25I would hate to ever contradict that legend and one of the kindest people.
25:32But I actually, when I meet people, I can't contradict what I tell people.
25:36I say that a lot of track announcers talk about this forget thing.
25:39I don't know.
25:41I understand conceptually what that means, but I don't necessarily believe it to be 100%
25:49true.
25:50But the reason he tells that way, and he's trying to explain that you got to try to forget
25:55because you're going to see the same silks for different horse names.
25:59And I've actually seen great announcers that have actually called the wrong name of a horse
26:07in silks because they call a different horse from that barn.
26:11I think I may have done it once or twice myself and not known it, but I understand what he means
26:16by that because it's important to just, you got to clear your mind in a way.
26:22I've never really understood or felt that I've had to just forget because I'm such a
26:27fan.
26:27It's hard for me to forget anyway, because I remember, but I will say this.
26:31I might not remember what happened three weeks ago, but I'll remember a card from 1985 when
26:36I was in high school and it was big cap day at Santa Anita.
26:38I'll remember the undercard seeing a horse like Delmar Dennis running a mile, right?
26:42But I might not remember who won a decent stake race from a few months ago.
26:48So I do understand, Randy, where he was coming from and Terry is one of my favorite people of
26:53all time and he was so classy about everything and I know down deep, he wanted me to be the
26:58guy to replace him when he was going to be replaced and we had a very warm relationship
27:03and he was just a great guy.
27:04He used to come to Louisiana Downs when I was there as the former voice and he was, you
27:09know, he was Mr. Oaklawn and he made that job what it is today.
27:13And, you know, that place, the track announcer at Oaklawn is one of the most important positions
27:21in the state of Arkansas.
27:22And I certainly enjoyed and embraced that opportunity for four great years.
27:28So, Frank, just for old time's sake, can you give us a race call imitating whomever?
27:34Huckleberry Hound or Snaggletooth or you just make it up.
27:39Give us a, give us a 16th of a mile of Frank Miramati doing an invitation, imitation.
27:44All right, you got to give me, you got to give me some horses, you know, I mean, I mean,
27:46you know, Randy's watched some of these, Randy's always the expert of who the fastest
27:50horses of all time are.
27:51Let's get some good horses that have some tremendous figures.
27:53Let's do the three, three that are going to run in the big three that are going to run
27:57in the Belmont, journalism, sovereignty, and Baeza.
28:02Heavens to Murgatroyd.
28:03I can't believe all three of them made it to the starting gate even.
28:06Heavens to Murgatroyd.
28:07What's going to happen?
28:10And away they go.
28:13Sovereignty in the blue color is going to come with his run on the grandstand side.
28:17And let's see, Humberto, Rispoli, they're writing all kinds of stories about this guy.
28:22Sometimes bad press is better than no press at all.
28:25Some of these guys never heard of him, but now they're all talking about him.
28:30And down the stretch they come.
28:32Here comes Baeza, and will the steward be able to be objective if this guy comes and
28:39mows him down?
28:42Very good.
28:43Very good.
28:45And, Frank, I got you.
28:46I want to ask you a non-racing question because it's also one of the most fascinating things
28:50about you.
28:52If horse racing is near and dear to your heart, I think I know what a second in so far as
28:57near and dear to your heart.
28:58What's your story with pizza?
29:00Well, I'm actually one of the fattest vegetarians in North American history.
29:05I don't eat meat.
29:06I don't eat chicken.
29:08And I don't eat fish.
29:09I don't eat anything that's walked, talked, or breathed.
29:12So I've had very strange eating habits.
29:14You've heard of the no-carb diet.
29:16Well, you're looking at a man closer to 300 than 200 pounds.
29:20And it's because the all-carb diet is not very healthy.
29:23So I do not recommend it to anyone.
29:25But as a young kid, I think what happened with me is I never, at about age 10, 11, or
29:3112, where we like grilled cheese, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a slice of pizza,
29:36I stopped eating meat right around that time.
29:38Seventh grade was the last time I ate any meat.
29:40My mom paid me 20 bucks to try to eat this steak.
29:43I took a few pieces.
29:43I couldn't take it anymore.
29:45And she gave me the 20 anyway.
29:47It was an A for effort.
29:48Anyway, I just don't like those things.
29:51It's not like an animal-based thing.
29:53I just was grossed out by meat and fish.
29:56Never had Chinese food in my life.
29:58Never had seafood in my life.
30:00So I love cheese pizza.
30:01And actually, I like, you know, I tell people that for me, if it's a car, which I'm in,
30:07and sorry, I had to turn on the air conditioning because I was starting to schvitz it up a little
30:10bit.
30:11But if I was a car, the cheese light would be illuminated to warn me like, hey, buddy,
30:17you know what I mean?
30:19Like, let's be real.
30:19So, and as we know, as Randy mentioned, you know, I went through colon cancer.
30:23By the way, that was right after that audition.
30:25I didn't get the job at Santa Anita, and then I almost went down for the count a few months
30:29later.
30:29And I got to give a shout out to Dr. Angelo Chinisi and all my surgeons who saved my life
30:34in one of the biggest miracles of all time with stage three.
30:38But anyway, cheese pizza is my favorite food.
30:41And so needless to say, in Los Angeles, we are challenged.
30:46But on the East Coast, it's a beautiful thing.
30:49And I just love plain cheese pizza, easy on the cheese, ideally.
30:53And it's just my favorite food.
30:55And it never gets old.
30:57It's really scary that to me, it's almost like a pet.
31:00Like, you feed a dog the same thing every day.
31:02Like, how does this dog keep eating, you know, whatever it is, Cal Can or Top Choice?
31:07Like, don't they want some variety?
31:09And to me, I get excited.
31:10Like, I watch Dave Portnoy's pizza reviews.
31:13My mouth waters looking for a cheese slice.
31:15And that's it.
31:16Simple, no toppings ever.
31:18And certainly, it's amazing how many times you order light cheese and you get extra cheese.
31:23I beg people.
31:24I say, listen, I want it to be where I'm almost complaining that there's not enough cheese
31:28on there, please.
31:29And when they do it right, they do it right.
31:31And if you're anywhere near Belmont Aqueduct, one of the best slices in the world is called
31:36New Park Pizza.
31:37It's five minutes away.
31:38When I was calling it Aqueduct in 2017, 2018, I used to do the early changes, and then it
31:45would go to Talking Horses.
31:46I would Uber there, get my hat trick, three slices of New Park and a Coke, and we'd be
31:51right back in time for the late changes and the card.
31:54But the East Coast definitely has the far superior pizza.
31:58I do eat pizza every day.
32:00I don't recommend it for obvious reasons.
32:02And if you do, you might want to exercise a little bit.
32:03I've got to write this down.
32:05New Park Pizza, cheese pizza, easy on the cheese.
32:09Over there, it's fine.
32:10You can eat all the cheese they give you at New Park Pizza.
32:13You'll love that place.
32:14There are a few by Monmouth Park, too.
32:16Reach out and I'll give you a long list.
32:18Federici's in Freehold might be the best pizza.
32:22Ralph's, by the way, if you fly into Newark, Ralph's in Nutley, New Jersey, legendary.
32:28And I always have to give my man Rico at Rockefeller's on Prospect Avenue in Long Branch near Monmouth Park.
32:35A shout out.
32:35His Sicilian is among the best in the country.
32:38We want to thank Frank Miramati, the announcer for the Belmont Stakes, also for all things Saratoga and Santa Anita for coming on this week as the Gainesway Guest of the Week.
32:47As always, very entertaining, Frank.
32:50Have a great Belmont week and we'll see you up in Saratoga.
32:53Honored to hang out with some very talented individuals on the show today.
32:57Thank you, Bill.
32:57Thanks, TD.
32:58And thank you, Randy.
32:59Frank Miramati, our Guest of the Week, brought to you by Gainesway, the home of Lightning Fast, grade one winning sprinter.
33:05Here, Drain the Clock, it's always impressive to win the Woody Stevens Stakes on the Belmont Stakes undercard.
33:11That's a big race for breeders.
33:12Even more impressive in Drain the Clock's case because he became the first horse ever to defeat champion sprinter Jackie's Warrior in a one-turn race.
33:24Drain the Clock also won the Bayshore, the Swale, and physically he's an imposing presence.
33:30Drain the Clock stands at Gainesway for a fee of $10,000.
33:33He is a son of McLean's music.
33:36Gainesway, power, passion, performance.
33:46Drain the Clock will win and win by as much as he wants.
33:49Drain the Clock will bound home the winner.
33:57Drain the Clock, Jackie's Warrior, drain the clock by a head.
34:00Drain the Clock will win and win by as much as he wants.
34:03$120,000.
34:05$100,000 to the back.
34:12PA Bread, I think we've built a brand at this point.
34:16It's excitement at every step.
34:19Roses for Deborah just set a new track record.
34:23On average for the past decade, Pennsylvania paid over $28 million a year in breeders awards, restricted races, and owner bonuses.
34:31Plus, PA Bread's shine on the world's biggest stage.
34:34Just three states have bred more Breeders' Cup winners.
34:37Learn more at pabread.com.
34:40The TD and Riders Room brought to you by the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, a.k.a. the PHBA.
34:47Congratulations to Deanna Manfredi.
34:51She has become the first female president of the PHBA.
34:55She's a longtime owner and breeder.
34:57She's the owner of the Ascoli Pacino Farm.
35:00And Deanna has been a board member of the PHBA since 2016.
35:06Big news in the organization.
35:07Meanwhile, don't miss the first two Pennsylvania Bread Steaks of the Year, the Leifard Steaks and the Alphabet Soup Steaks.
35:14That'll take place this Friday, May 30th at Penn National on the Penn Mile Undercard.
35:21To learn more about Pennsylvania breeding, all things Pennsylvania racing,
35:25take a look at the 2025 Stallion and Boarding Farm directory online at pabread.com
35:29or give them a call the old-fashioned way, area code 610-444-1050.
35:36Well, the great Preakness controversy, Umberto Raspoli versus Flavian Pratt,
35:40and who is at fault as journalism and goal-oriented player playing bumper cars in the stretch run of the Preakness,
35:47it just won't go away.
35:48And as soon as you think you've heard everything, Steve Asmussen went on the Steve Bix radio show.
35:57And usually trainers, they are pretty good about not rocking the boat or not criticizing other people in the industry.
36:06But he said, this is a great line.
36:09He says, Umberto's got to quit riding him like a rented mule.
36:14So read that into what you would like.
36:16Um, the, uh, I then talked to Raspoli myself afterwards, and, uh, he was very, uh, you know, he, he was sort of shaken by this.
36:27He, first of all, he said, he doesn't think he did anything wrong.
36:30Neither do I, but you guys, I don't know, Randy doesn't agree with me.
36:33But, um, he, he said that, that, that, that it was, you know, it was troubled.
36:37And matter of fact, he told me this was before, uh, Memorial Day, before Monday,
36:41that he was going to have a private meeting with Flavian in the jockeys room at Santa Anita.
36:46Cause they both either that day said to be just two good friends sitting down and trying to work things out.
36:51So, um, but the Steve Asmussen thing sort of set it, uh, on fire again.
36:57But on top of that, I'm going to say, um, also what Steve talked to, to, uh, Steve Asmussen talked to Steve Bick.
37:04This I do agree with.
37:05He says he blames the rough riding on the lack of attention from the steward.
37:09And he's right about that.
37:11This is a perfect example.
37:13Um, they had the inquiry up for what?
37:1520 seconds, 30, a minute, maybe at the most.
37:18Um, they gave neither rider a days or a suspension.
37:22Maybe they didn't deserve one or not, but, um, how they were able to, you know, I look,
37:27I hate inquiries that go on for 10 minutes, like who wouldn't, but how were they able to assess
37:32everything that happened in an inquiry that literally probably was two minutes or less.
37:37So I think Steve made some good points, but, um, I'm in, I'm, uh, I remain in the risk bully camp.
37:45Randy, I want to hear your take before I weigh in.
37:48Okay.
37:48Uh, first.
37:52Let's talk about the stewards and then we can get into recently a little bit.
37:57Um, the stewards released a official statement Friday afternoon after reviewing the films
38:05and speaking with the writers involved, we, the presiding stewards of the 150th running
38:09of the Preakness stakes came to the unanimous decision not to take action against Favien Pratt
38:14or Umberto recently period paragraph.
38:16That's it.
38:17Nothing else.
38:19Okay.
38:19Should there have been a disqualification?
38:23Should there have been a suspension?
38:25That's, you know, that's a judgment call.
38:28Obviously, you know, um, if they had suspended or taken action against one of the two writers,
38:33uh, then there would have been, uh, a question about why there wasn't a disqualification if
38:38they'd taken action against recently, but I mean, this is a perfect example and I'm not
38:44saying they did anything wrong in their actions, but this is a perfect example of the state of
38:49stewarding in the United States.
38:52The second leg of the triple crown, we get a statement like that and that's it.
38:57Nothing about why, why did they take no action against either writer?
39:02Explain, explain what your thinking was a unanimous decision.
39:06Okay.
39:06Good for you.
39:06That's great.
39:07Now, now tell us what you saw and what you think and, and what led you to the decision
39:15not to take action against either writer.
39:18That's what they do in other countries.
39:20And the state of stewarding in the, don't even get me going on the Churchill Downs situation,
39:25but, um, you know, and I, again, I'm not saying they did something wrong by, uh, not disqualifying
39:32or not suspending or fining either of the two writers.
39:36Yeah.
39:37The, the inquiry should have been up there for longer.
39:39Definitely.
39:40But the fans, the participants, everyone is owed more of an explanation by stewards than
39:48what we got.
39:49And it's not just the Pimlico stewards.
39:51This happens freaking everywhere.
39:53There needs to be much more transparency from American stewards, especially when you're
39:58talking about the, about the triple crown.
40:01Now quickly about the ride, uh, Flavian told you, Bill, a lot of the same stuff that we had
40:07talked about a week ago.
40:08It looked like the journalism was not responding and that's probably why he went inside.
40:14Randy, you said Flavian, you mean Umberto.
40:16Excuse me, Umberto, right.
40:18Uh, was not responding.
40:20That's why he went inside instead of going four or five wide.
40:23It looked like he had, uh, he had picked out, um, you know, clever again, Asmussen's horse
40:30as one of the horses to beat and a horse to follow.
40:33And that turned out to be disastrous when the horse backed up into his face.
40:38And then he was put into a situation, you know, other prominent riders, historically prominent
40:45riders have come out and said, when you're on a horse, that's a big favorite like that.
40:50You don't put yourself in that kind of situation.
40:52You know, you, you get your horse into the clear that that's the most important thing.
40:56But what I took exception with the most really was his quote with you, um, the gap was there
41:05and that's why I took it.
41:07That's, that's recently talking to third bread daily news.
41:11I didn't see a gap.
41:13And a lot of people that watch the blimp view, the drone view and watch the race didn't see
41:20a gap.
41:21And I think that's the primary problem that most people have with the ride.
41:26And it could be the, also the fault of Flavian, you know, Flavian may have come over a little
41:31more aggressively to try to close the door than he should have, but I didn't see a gap there.
41:38Randy, um, in the, right in the aftermath of the race, um, your partner, Jerry Bailey was
41:43pretty critical of Flavian Pratt.
41:45Um, and you know, again, every, you know, maybe everybody shouldn't take a deep breath
41:49before they make any sort of comments that, but, uh, I mean, I respect Jerry Bailey as
41:54much as any writer of current or past anybody.
41:58And his opinion was that it was Pratt's fault.
42:01Have you talked to Jerry about this since then?
42:03Oh, Jerry and I, Jerry and I talked constantly about it, um, during commercial break.
42:09And even while, uh, Donna brothers was, was talking to Umberto on the racetrack, um, I had
42:16a special, uh, a special TV view set up that I can rewind and go back and look at things.
42:23And I was, and I was looking at the drone shot right away and I was disagreeing with Jerry
42:29when we were, you know, when we were, uh, on commercial break and when Donna was talking,
42:35um, Jerry's like, well, why don't you say it on the air?
42:39Well, it, that I probably should have, but you know, I mean, Jerry's a hall of fame writer.
42:43Jerry has his opinion.
42:44I think people are more, uh, you know, more interested in hearing his opinion about a riding
42:50situation than my opinion, but my opinion definitely was that there was no hole there and that out
42:58of desperation, he decided to create, try to create a hole instead of going around.
43:05And that's what led a to the victory when he got through and B to all the bumping and
43:11the problems that, uh, that ensued.
43:15So I'll say this, I think, so we're dealing with three issues here that number one is the
43:19race itself.
43:20Uh, number two is the alleged controversy in the aftermath.
43:24And number three is the stewarding.
43:26Um, I would say for the race itself, I was glad to see that the outcome of the Preakness
43:32was not touched by the heavy hand of over adjudication that seems to be prevalent, not just in horse
43:38racing, but in a lot of our sports in this day and age.
43:41Uh, I thought it was a hell of a race.
43:43I thought it was an exciting race.
43:44And I think whether, you know, it might not be politically correct to say this, and I
43:49want this to be taken in the correct context, the danger of horse racing is part of the
43:53allure.
43:53When you watch downhill ski racers, knowing that they might fall, that that that's part
44:00of the allure, knowing that they're doing something that you and I could never do.
44:02And when you watch horses running in a tight pack like that, and jockeys taking chances
44:07to win a big race, that's something that the normal person can't do.
44:11And, uh, I liked, you know, I, I've, I thought the outcome was exciting and I was glad to see
44:16that it was not changed, uh, or stepped upon by the stewards.
44:20As far as the controversy, it's, it's really in some respects only a controversy because
44:25we, the media make it a controversy.
44:27I mean, Steve Asmussen is very much entitled to his opinion.
44:30Every racing fan out there is very much entitled to their opinions.
44:34That's what horse racing is all about batting back and forth with opinions.
44:37But I think the, the telling line from Umberto Rispoli and Bill's story from last week is
44:42that, Hey, both Flavien Pratt and I, this is Umberto speaking in the story.
44:48We don't have reputations as being reckless riders.
44:50We're not going out there trying to put each other in danger or fellow riders in danger.
44:54And I think more than people realize the riders police themselves.
44:59And if these two guys are going to have a private conversation and exchange words, and
45:04it's really none of our business, how it, how it comes out.
45:07So I think that it's only a controversy to the extent that we're going to fuel it.
45:12Um, I do have to say, I, I agree with Randy on the, the stewarding.
45:16I mean, these are the pinnacle races in our sport, the triple crown races and the breeders
45:21cup.
45:21And in the case of the Derby where they took six days to come out with a, an alleged whipping
45:29violation ruling against junior Alvarado.
45:32And then they released that kind of, uh, like a Friday news dump by putting up a ruling on
45:38a public agency, uh, Kentucky horse racing, uh, commission website right before the weekend.
45:45I mean, come on, this is, this is the Kentucky Derby.
45:47A decision should have come out the next day.
45:49There's no racing at Churchill downs on the Sunday after the Derby.
45:53And similarly, there's no racing at Pimlico on the day after the Preakness.
45:56I don't know why the stewards needed six days to be swayed perhaps by the, by the public
46:02opinion that's swirling around out there.
46:04I don't think they were work spending every waking moment working on that statement that
46:08came out on a Friday before a long holiday weekend.
46:11We call that in the, in the journalism business, we call that a news dump makes it difficult for,
46:16for reporters to ask follow-up questions.
46:17So I, I do agree with Randy that these things need to be adjudicated a little more quickly
46:22and in step with the prestige of the races that they're judging.
46:27Well, let's hope.
46:28So we had junior Alvarado in the Derby.
46:29We had this, uh, going on in the Preakness.
46:32Can we have a Belmont stakes with no controversy and just may the best horse win?
46:37And, um, we'll obviously be talking about the Belmont a lot more on our next podcast,
46:42which will be, this is, we have, uh, one more to go between now and the Belmont stakes.
46:46But, um, right now, um, unless people start to look at the field and say, Hey, wait a minute,
46:52there's only six horses.
46:54I'm going to throw so-and-so in there.
46:55Cause you never know.
46:56But right now, um, there's only six confirmed by, I mean, I wouldn't even say there's six
47:01confirmed.
47:02So we don't have the official confirmation from journalism, uh, yet, but sovereignty by
47:07Aza Hill road, Rodriguez and heart of honor.
47:10So you're looking at a five or six horse field for the Belmont.
47:14Um, you know, there's no point pointing any fingers at anybody, but I just wonder what happened
47:19to the idea that all these horses were going to skip the Preakness.
47:22So they'd be fresh to run in the Belmont where the hell did everybody go?
47:28And I think one point that's, that, that, that's a, that's a sub point of what you just
47:33said is, you know, how about this notion that California is California racing is ready to
47:39fall off the map into the Pacific ocean.
47:42I mean, three of those five or six horses that are going to show up in the Belmont are
47:46California based.
47:47I mean, we've got journalism by Aza and Rodriguez, all of them based out at Santa Anita park.
47:52Where are, where are all these East coast horses?
47:54I imagine a few of them will come out of the woodwork.
47:56It's the Belmont, it's Saratoga.
47:57Certainly there are triple crown nominees out there.
48:00Yeah.
48:01Look, if it was a mile and a half, I don't know if Rodriguez would be running, but at a
48:05mile and a quarter, I mean, they wanted to run him in the Kentucky Derby.
48:08They couldn't.
48:09Their original plan was to run him in the Preakness.
48:12They decided against that.
48:13So the Belmont stakes is the spot for Rodriguez other than, and heart of honors in this
48:18country, uh, he's got no place else to run a dirt horse in Europe.
48:22You know, this is the spot for heart of honor.
48:25Other than that, I mean, I think the reason there's no more Derby horses in the Belmont
48:31is that the Kentucky Derby was very conclusive.
48:35I thought that the first three finishers were clearly, no doubt about it, uh, the best horse,
48:44the best three-year-olds out there.
48:45And I think by a reasonably sizable margin.
48:50So to have sovereignty and Baeza and hopefully journalism, if all is well with him, uh, back
48:57in the starting gate for the Belmont stakes, uh, will be a fantastic thing for the sport.
49:01I mean, I pointed out last week, my concerns about journalism historically horses run more
49:09poor, I don't say more poorly, uh, they don't run as well in the Belmont stakes if they have
49:17run previously in the Preakness stakes or the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness stakes.
49:22That would be my primary concern about journalism.
49:24And I think it would be a mistake to run him, but I hope I'm wrong.
49:28I would love nothing more than to see journalism, lay it down and mix it up in spectacular fashion.
49:34It would be fantastic for the sport.
49:36And, um, going forward, I think it may, hopefully it may convince trainers that might be on the
49:43fence about running in the Derby and coming back in the Preakness and then the Belmont to
49:47maybe, uh, reevaluate.
49:49I don't think, you know, I don't have much hope about that, but it would be nice if that
49:53were the end result.
49:54The TDN Writer's Room is brought to you by First TV, the sponsor of the work of the week.
50:01Rodriguez worked seven furlongs in 124 and four-fifths for trainer Bob Baffert on Friday
50:07at Santa Anita Park.
50:09The winner of the Grade II Wood Memorial at Aqueduct, Rodriguez was scratched from the
50:13Kentucky Derby due to a bruised hoof.
50:16After bypassing the Preakness, he is, quote, ready for a trip to Saratoga, unquote, for the
50:22June 7th Belmont Stakes.
50:24That's according to co-owner Tom Ryan.
50:27And really, at about this time of year, who isn't ready for a trip to Saratoga?
50:31But first, coming up next, a recap of the Memorial Day weekend action from Santa Anita.
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51:33Race them.
51:33We all win.
51:38The TD and Writers Room also brought to you by Kentucky Breads.
51:42To no one's surprise, it was another successful classic weekend for the Commonwealth.
51:47Nine horses ran in the Preakness of those nine.
51:50Seven were Kentucky Breads.
51:53And it was a Kentucky Bread Superfecta.
51:55Journalism.
51:56Gosger.
51:57Sandman.
51:58And goal-oriented.
51:59That was the 11th consecutive Preakness Stakes victory, by the way, for Kentucky Breads.
52:05Kentucky Breads.
52:06Breed them.
52:07Raise them.
52:08Race them.
52:08We all win.
52:10Well, the Memorial Day weekend.
52:12No more Met Mile on Memorial Day.
52:14That bugs me.
52:15I know how important it is for the Saratoga card.
52:18But the Met Mile card on Met Mile Day on Memorial Day at Aqueduct was, it looked like a Thursday at Prairie Meadows, to be honest with you.
52:30But so now you're coming into a situation where the racing shifted from east to west.
52:37The big races of the weekend were the three graded stakes races run Saturday, excuse me, Monday at Hollywood Park.
52:46And I think the storyline and the headline is, Saffy Joseph introduces himself to west coast racing.
52:53He apparently had never run a horse in the west coast, excuse me, in California in his life.
52:59So what does he do?
53:00First of the three races, a grade one gamely.
53:02He wins with Be Your Best with a beautiful ride by Arada Ortiz.
53:08It's one of the few times as a handicapper, you predict something and it works out fine.
53:12I picked this horse because I didn't think there was any other speed in the race.
53:16It was nice to hear Arada Ortiz say afterwards, yeah, I knew I was the only speed in the race.
53:20That's why I took off and beat him then.
53:23And then in the Hollywood Gold Cup, Saffy wins again with Skippy Longstockings.
53:27And that was a part of, we played part of, showed part of his record in the ad we played earlier.
53:34But this has got to be the most well-managed horse in horse racing.
53:39I mean, he's not a wide abario.
53:41He's not fierceness.
53:43He's not any one of the top three or four or five horses in training.
53:48Yet at the end of the day, you look down and he's made $3.6 million winning 11 races, including six graded wins.
53:56So, Saffy Joseph has certainly shown that he can handle this horse and knows where to put him.
54:04Arada Ortiz aboard for both of them.
54:06And in the Shoemaker Mile, the story was the race was very, very competitive.
54:11King of Gosford with a perfectly timed ride by Flavian Pratt.
54:16No elbows were thrown.
54:17Nobody bothered anybody else.
54:19And King of Gosford got up in the last jump or so to win the grade one Shoemaker Mile.
54:25Randy?
54:26Well, Saffy doesn't run often at all in California.
54:31He has previously run in the Breeders' Cup races at Del Mar and Santa Anita.
54:37I think one time he sent Be Your Best out last fall for a stakes race.
54:41And he sent Drain the Clock once to Del Mar a long time ago for, I think, the Bing Crosby for a stakes race.
54:48But his visits to California have been few and far between, as you pointed out.
54:54So, I mean, with Skippy Longstocking, right?
55:00I agree.
55:01Expertly managed.
55:03These are the tracks that Skippy Longstocking has run at in his career.
55:07Gulfstream Park, Churchill Downs, Aqueduct, Pimlico, Belmont, Mountaineer, Parks, Tampa, Keeneland, Prairie Meadows, Charlestown, Santa Anita, Oak Lawn, Saratoga, and Del Mar.
55:23There are 15 different racetracks in 32 starts.
55:28I mean, Saffy has picked out the spots where he thought the horse could best succeed.
55:35And the horse has won nearly one-third or actually more, slightly more than one-third of his races now.
55:41I think the big question mark in the Hollywood Gold Cup was the mile and a quarter distance.
55:45If you recall, Saffy had bypassed the Breeders' Cup Classic now for two years in a row because he felt like the horse was better suited for the Breeders' Cup dirt mile than the mile and a quarter.
56:01But this was not among the strongest fields for the Hollywood Gold Cup.
56:06And so he decided to take a shot, and it was proven to be the right decision.
56:12And his stablemate, Be Your Best, she's working on a similar kind of varied past performance block because if you look at her cut in the racing form, she won her very first two starts back in 2022, racing for a different trainer at that point.
56:31But then she went two years between then and her next win in November of 24.
56:37Since then, she's been on an absolute tear.
56:38She's won four of her last five races, winning stakes at a mile, a mile and a sixteenth, a mile and three-eighths, and also nine furlongs like we saw over the weekend.
56:50This was her first grade one race, and she was in complete command on the front end.
56:54But the key for her is needs the firm turf.
56:57The other note that I took out of those three races, King of Gosford, a horse who apparently is kind of a handful in the morning, according to trainer Phil D'Amato.
57:06And really, the timing of the move was everything by Flavian Pratt in that race because King of Gosford is a horse who only does just as much as he needs to do to win.
57:18And Flavian Pratt was about seven lengths behind at the quarter pole, still almost five lengths in arrears in the final furlong, and was just up in time to win it.
57:26Nicely done.
57:26The TD and Riders Room brought to you by our friends at West Point Thoroughbreds.
57:32And West Point wishes to extend its deepest condolences to the family and to the team of trainer Christophe Clement, one of West Point's go-to trainers over the past decade.
57:43Terry Finley said, quote,
57:45Christophe was not only one of the most respected and accomplished trainers in our sport, he was also a true gentleman and family man who embodied integrity, class, and dedication.
57:57He will be truly missed.
58:01All the thrills.
58:05Fraction of the bills.
58:10Experience the power of the partnership.
58:12Change your life, make new friends, and compete at the highest level of thoroughbred racing.
58:23West Point Thoroughbreds, the gold standard in racing partnerships.
58:27Visit westpointtv.com.
58:33So that's a wrap on this week's show.
58:36I want to thank my co-host, Randy Moss and TD Thorne.
58:39Thank you for filling in for Zoe.
58:41Frank Miramati, we want to thank him.
58:43He was our Gainsaway guest of the week.
58:45Also, our producers and editors who worked so hard behind the scenes and did such a great job.
58:49Sue Finley, Katie Petruniak, Anthony LaRocca, and Aaliyah LaRocca.
58:53We'll be back next week and talking a lot of Belmont steaks.
58:56Hope you join us then.
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