- 7 weeks ago
Mike Renfro, who played wide receiver in the NFL for 11 years, is now part of the team at CJ Thoroughbreds and is looking forward to this Saturday, when the partnership will send out Tom's Magic in the King's Plate at Woodbine. He joined us on this week's TDN Writers' Room to discuss the promising colt and his history in the sport.
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00:00:00For the love of the worse, for generations to come.
00:00:23Welcome to another edition of the TDN Riders Room podcast presented by Caneland.
00:00:32My name is Bill Finley. I'm a correspondent for the Thoroughbred Daily News.
00:00:36I was just looking at it in my notes there. Sorry. Randy Moss with NBC Sports and the Buyer's Speed Figure Team.
00:00:42Zoe Kavman here with First Racing and First TV. Doodle in the background. He was, oh, there he is. He's alive.
00:00:48He was doing his downward dog, but he stopped. He's going to roll over. Oh, good boy.
00:00:53I have a Saratoga Courts Pole so I can match you. Thanks very much to Mary Lou at Saratoga Courts Pole.
00:01:00She gave me this with my name on as well. So I have my own personal one.
00:01:06And a quick shout out to Marlene Brody at Gallagher Stud. I promised her I wouldn't wear a baseball cap today.
00:01:12She's 93 years young and she hates my baseball cap. So baseball cap is off and I'm ready to go.
00:01:19So you were talking about matching me. See my Saratoga Quarter Pole is right there by my dad's.
00:01:25Your pole is bigger, Randy.
00:01:26By my dad's old silk. There you go. All right.
00:01:29Well, everyone, another good weekend of racing coming up at Saratoga.
00:01:34The feature race will be the Alabama. It's a very interesting race.
00:01:39You have a lot of unknowns in here. What happened to Good Cheer last time out in the Acorn?
00:01:44Nitrogen. Is she really as good on the dirt as she is on the turf?
00:01:47Even the Swedish horse, Queen Azteca. I don't think racing in Sweden is all that good.
00:01:54But and I can't recall the last time we saw a shipper from Sweden, but did win a grade three in Dubai.
00:02:01Then La Cara looks like the other Mark Cassie horse on paper, but she's got a lot of early speed and she will take some catching.
00:02:08But I'm going to go for her old friend, John Green's Nitrogen.
00:02:12The one race she ran on the dirt, it's kind of hard to make something out of it.
00:02:17Three horse field, but she did win by 17 lengths in the off the turf wonder again stakes.
00:02:23And Randy got a 91 buyer by a by a hair, the fastest buyer of her career.
00:02:29I don't have any doubts that she's going to like the mile and a quarter on the dirt.
00:02:32How about you? No, I don't have any doubts.
00:02:36Yeah, there are going to be some people that are going to criticize Nitrogen's win on the dirt in the off the turf wonder again stakes
00:02:44because of the fact that there was a three horse field.
00:02:46But you know what? She's going to think this is a three horse field too.
00:02:51You've got Margie's Intention on the rail with zero speed.
00:02:54You've got Kenzie Queen from the four hole with even less speed.
00:02:58You've got Queen Azteca, the UAE Oaks winner, has no speed and comes from the back of the pack.
00:03:04And you have Good Cheer, who we know has very little early speed and typically is mid pack or farther back.
00:03:10That leaves only La Cara, who is La Cara, who is a confirmed front runner, Mark Cassie, and Nitrogen, Mark Cassie.
00:03:19It's going to be a match race, just like it was in the wonder again, when Nitrogen sat second behind a long shot and just sort of bided her time and then went on to win.
00:03:28The question is just going to be, who's going to be faster?
00:03:33Who's going to be better between La Cara and Nitrogen?
00:03:36I mean, we know La Cara missed her most recent race because of a quarantine situation in her barn.
00:03:44So, you know, she's been working well, but she comes in without the benefit of the race, the prep race that Mark Cassie wanted to use.
00:03:53And the pace is probably not going to be fast because you have the two Cassie fillies up front and nobody else has speed.
00:03:59So, you know, they're not going to go crazy on the front end, which probably works to the disadvantage of Good Cheer.
00:04:05Even if Good Cheer is just fine and you can make an excuse for that last race in the Acorn on a sloppy track, she's still going to be disadvantaged by probably what's going to be a pretty easy early pace.
00:04:18So I think, logically, it just comes down to a match race between La Cara and Nitrogen.
00:04:23As good as La Cara is, I think Nitrogen sits the trip and she'll have a target and I'll take Nitrogen narrowly.
00:04:32What do you think, Zoe?
00:04:32Sue Finley's got a stopwatch out and she's tapping her fingers.
00:04:37That's what I, she's like, hurry up.
00:04:39Okay, I'll be quick.
00:04:41Good Cheer's been working lights out.
00:04:43She looks like she's done really well off a brief freshening here at Saratoga.
00:04:49And she has grown up.
00:04:50She's filled up.
00:04:51I love the way she's been working.
00:04:53She's a multiple graded stakes winner.
00:04:54I cannot sleep on Good Cheer in this race.
00:04:58Nitrogen, when she worked on the dirt on the 25th of July,
00:05:02I ran into Mark Cassie and I said, what about that?
00:05:05He said, that is what I wanted to see, her working on a fast main track.
00:05:10She looked terrific and has been working very well ever since.
00:05:14So he wasn't sure if it was just a sloppy track,
00:05:17but what he saw from her the morning that she worked on July the 25th was exactly what he wanted to see from Nitrogen.
00:05:24So big thumbs up for her.
00:05:25As far as Queen Azteca, she's been training every day after 10 o'clock.
00:05:30Dear old Dr. Hunt, who was kicked by a horse and he's still recovering.
00:05:35So the only thing he's allowed to do right now is follow her around in the golf cart,
00:05:40make sure no one gets near her.
00:05:41She trains on her own, on the track, after everybody has left.
00:05:46And he's been in charge of her going to and from.
00:05:50He'll have to follow her over on Saturday as well due to the quarantine complications that she has to go for in order to run here.
00:05:58So I don't know anything about her.
00:06:00She looks good.
00:06:01She's rather well fed.
00:06:02Um, but she comes in with some good form and Randy and, uh, that race at Maydown is a decent race.
00:06:09Does she fit here?
00:06:11Who knows?
00:06:12I really don't know.
00:06:13Rather well fed as code, by the way, for those who don't know, who don't understand exactly what.
00:06:19The UAE Oaks is a terrible race.
00:06:21And it's always a terrible race.
00:06:23Um, and then she was beaten eight and a half lengths in the UAE Derby and a pretty weak UAE Derby.
00:06:29So I'll be shocked if the barrier was a friend of mine, I'm, I'll root for him, but I'll be shocked if she wins.
00:06:34And Randy, I, I like your scenario about how the race is going to shape up.
00:06:39And I totally agree with you, but I, are you giving good cheer enough credit?
00:06:43I mean, if for some reason, and I don't know what it would be, but if you can draw a line through the acorn, she's the best horse in the race.
00:06:51Yeah, but she's, it's also going to work to her disadvantage.
00:06:54I think the pace in the race and, and La Cara, La Cara, I keep saying La Cara.
00:06:59Um, La Cara is better now than she was earlier in the year.
00:07:03And nitrogen, as we saw in the wonder again, is, is good on dirt, if not better than she is on turf.
00:07:11So in good cheer, remember, we kept talking about how she kept winning, winning, winning, but her numbers were just ordinary.
00:07:17You know, how good is she?
00:07:18She won anyway.
00:07:19She kept winning, but.
00:07:20Can I say, I think she'll be a little bit closer because they're not going to be going rocket fast.
00:07:26And she's been working extremely well.
00:07:30So I think she's fresh and will be closer.
00:07:32So let's turn our attention to Woodbine in Toronto, Canada, where their Canadian version of the Kentucky Derby will be run on Saturday.
00:07:41It's the, no, no longer the queen's plate is now the king's plate, which happened.
00:07:47The name change happened a few years ago when Queen Elizabeth II passed away.
00:07:51Uh, there's 14 horses in the race.
00:07:54Mark Cassie has three.
00:07:55One of the most interesting things about this race, and it comes up every year, it's been won 39 times by Phillies and six times by Phillies since 2007.
00:08:06And now a Philly is the favorite in no time for Mark Cassie, a seven to two morning line favorite.
00:08:13Um, I talked to Mark the other day.
00:08:15He obviously, um, likes no time, but he also said, gave me some pretty good, uh, feedback.
00:08:21On Ashley's archer, his other horse, who's 12 to one, the horse ran twice on the dirt and really didn't show much.
00:08:27Got back on the synthetic at Woodbine last time out, ran her best, ran his best race in quite some time.
00:08:33So he said, don't fall asleep on that horse, but, uh, can another Philly win again, which would make seven since 2017?
00:08:41Um, I don't see why not.
00:08:42The Phillies just, for whatever reason, do great in this race, Randy.
00:08:46Yeah, Zoe, you probably know more about this race than I do.
00:08:48So have at it.
00:08:49I mean, the Philly is the Philly to beat.
00:08:52Uh, she won the Woodbine Oaks and she actually ran a, I don't know what the final time was,
00:08:57but I do know it was faster than the plate trial for the boys that day.
00:09:02So she's, she's a very good Philly.
00:09:04She's a half to a pair of grade one winners in Horse of the Year, Count Again and Ransom the Moon.
00:09:09So she's very well bred.
00:09:11She can, she's taken to that track very nicely indeed.
00:09:15So yeah, she's without question.
00:09:17The Horse to Beat, Mythical Man will be going up for Danny Gargan.
00:09:21It's not often that Danny will run one up there, but you've got an Ontario bred who fits.
00:09:26Why not?
00:09:27He's been training very well.
00:09:28And then obviously we'll talk to Mike Renfro a little bit later on about Tom's magic and his life.
00:09:34He's just never run on synthetic.
00:09:36That may be the only spanner in the works for Tom magic.
00:09:40Will he take to the footing?
00:09:41I think he will.
00:09:42He's by justifying.
00:09:43He should be able to run on just about anything.
00:09:45So I don't believe that's going to be a problem, but you never know until they run on it.
00:09:50Yeah.
00:09:50I can't believe it's been three years since Queen Elizabeth died.
00:09:53I was shocked when I went back and, you know, how many times it's actually been run as the King's Plate.
00:09:58Like Bill, I struggle with that.
00:10:00The King's Plate is the oldest continuously run race in North America.
00:10:04It's 15 years older than the Kentucky Derby.
00:10:07Four horses have run in the Queen's Plate back then and have, or the King's Plate and have gone on to win a Breeders' Cup race.
00:10:17Dan Smartly, Chief Bearheart, awesome again.
00:10:19And most recently, Moira, won it by Seven Links, the Queen's Plate it was in 2022 and went on to win the Philly and Mare Turf.
00:10:28So, yeah, it's often compared to the Kentucky Derby, although the Kentucky Derby is obviously a wide-open race for horses bred anywhere in the world.
00:10:40And the Queen's Plate, King's Plate slash, is strictly limited to Canadian breads.
00:10:48Here's a little factoid that I discovered, too, in my rabbit hole research.
00:10:53Did you know that King Charles is also the King of Canada?
00:10:59Well, yeah, it's an English sovereignty.
00:11:02He is the King of Canada, officially.
00:11:05Yes.
00:11:06Yes, the King's Plate.
00:11:08I knew that.
00:11:09But then I'm English.
00:11:10See the things you learn on the TDN Writers' Room podcast?
00:11:14All right.
00:11:15The PPs are not in yet for the Del Mar Oaks, but I don't want to bypass that race.
00:11:21But not having PPs, I don't know what's going on there.
00:11:25Zoe, you're our California – well, you're our sales expert.
00:11:29You're our Kentucky expert.
00:11:31You're our workout expert.
00:11:32You're our California expert.
00:11:33I throw a lot of stuff on your shoulders.
00:11:36Tell us about the Del Mar Oaks.
00:11:37Who are they expecting, and what's the story going to be?
00:11:39Just don't expect me to go down a rabbit hole.
00:11:42I'm cost-michobic, and it takes too much time.
00:11:45It looks like it's going to be a handful of runners, pretty much the same bunch that ran in the San Clemente.
00:11:50I believe the first five from the San Clemente are all running in there.
00:11:54That's Thought Process.
00:11:55She's the horse to beat for Phil D'Amato.
00:11:58Cassa Lou, she was second in the San Clemente.
00:12:01Will then, Firenze Flavor, and Jungle Peace.
00:12:05Now, there is a new one that will be coming in there.
00:12:07That's Lush Lips coming in from Brendan Walsh, a.k.a. Snapper.
00:12:12And that horse will get Tyler Gaffione, who's taking a bit of a busman's holiday to go out to Del Mar.
00:12:17Rides a couple on, maybe one on Thursday, a couple on Friday, day at the beach.
00:12:22He had a brilliant weekend at Alice last weekend, winning six races on Sunday.
00:12:27So, he's certainly back off his injury he had in the spring very, very well indeed.
00:12:32To me, Lush Lips is the only horse that really stands a chance to beat Thought Process.
00:12:36Right.
00:12:36When Thought Process won the San Clemente, she was a little keen early in the race.
00:12:41You know, she kind of dragged the rider up there toward the front.
00:12:44And that kind of bothered me for a while.
00:12:47But then she did what she always does, and she just ran on with it through the lane.
00:12:51Lush Lips is beaten a couple times by Nitrogen back east.
00:12:53But she's won her other races, and numbers are comparable.
00:12:56So, I think it's a two-horse race, but it should be fun to watch.
00:13:00The TDM Riders' Room is brought to you by Keeneland.
00:13:03It was another big Saturday for Keeneland's September grads.
00:13:06They won graded stakes races across the country and saw two New Rising Stars crown.
00:13:12First off, a $35,000 yearling.
00:13:14Charlene's Dream won the Grade II Beverly D at Colonial.
00:13:18And then at Del Mar Desert Gate, a $100,000 September purchase,
00:13:23gave Bob Baffert his fourth straight Grade III Best Pal stakes and his 12th overall.
00:13:30Then back at Colonial, a $75,000 purchase,
00:13:34Gio Coso won the Grade II Secretariat stakes.
00:13:37Two Keeneland's September grants became new TDM Rising Stars.
00:13:41Golden Tornado was very impressive at Saratoga.
00:13:44And nothing personal at Colonial.
00:13:47Find your next Grade of Stakes winner at Keeneland's September
00:13:50from September the 8th through the 20th.
00:13:52It all comes down to this.
00:13:56Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.
00:13:57The moment that defines the year.
00:14:00When the world's most influential buyers gather.
00:14:03And every decision, every bid, every opportunity shapes the future.
00:14:09At a marketplace that brings the thoroughbred world together.
00:14:13And where futures are forged.
00:14:16Because every moment matters.
00:14:20At the world's yearling sale, Keeneland's September.
00:14:24And now for the fastest horse of the week.
00:14:26Brought to you this week by Life is Good.
00:14:28One of those fast sires at Windstar Farm.
00:14:31Life is Good is into mischief's fastest son to date as a racehorse.
00:14:36Life is Good ran nine triple-digit buyer speed figures, including a 112.
00:14:41As a stallion now, with his first crop of yearlings now hitting the auction rings.
00:14:46Life is Good, if you recall, had that pair of $550,000 yearlings at Saratoga we told you about last week.
00:14:53And shortly after we taped that podcast, Life is Good had a yearling filly.
00:14:58A half-sister to Freakness winner seized the grade that sold at Saratoga Tuesday night for $1,025,000 to Mike Rapoli.
00:15:07Life is Good, of course, was raced by Windstar and now stands at Windstar Farm.
00:15:13Now, the fastest horse of the week comes out of the Sword Dancer on Saturday at Saratoga, a mile and a half.
00:15:20We'll be talking about that race a little later in the podcast.
00:15:23The winner was El Cordobas, making his first start in the United States.
00:15:28Owned by Goodolphin, trained by Charlie Appleby.
00:15:29Appleby said El Cordobas handled the travel.
00:15:33He handled the firm turf.
00:15:34He handled the tempo of the race.
00:15:36He handled the sharp returns.
00:15:38And as a result, El Cordobas' last surge earned a buyer's speed figure of 1.04,
00:15:44which ranks pretty favorably with the top buyers of the year so far in the long-distance turf category.
00:15:50And it makes El Cordobas our fastest horse of the week.
00:15:59And welcome to now the Gamesway Guest of the Week.
00:16:01Football fans remember Mike Renfro from his days with the Houston Oilers and the Dallas Cowboys.
00:16:06What's he doing now?
00:16:06Well, he's a racehorse owner and part of the CJ Thoroughbreds team, along with CJ and Corey Johnson.
00:16:13And we've got a very special event coming up this weekend.
00:16:15CJ Thoroughbreds will be running Tom's Magic in the Queens.
00:16:19Excuse me.
00:16:20I still want to call it Queens Plate.
00:16:22Three years now.
00:16:23I can't get it straight.
00:16:24The Kings Plate at Woodbine.
00:16:27Welcome, Mike.
00:16:27How are you?
00:16:28And you must really be looking forward to this race.
00:16:30We really are, Bill.
00:16:31Well, thank you for having us.
00:16:32And we're doing well and excited about this week.
00:16:35We're all traveling, myself, for the first time to Woodbine Racecourse.
00:16:39And to have an entry in the Kings Plate has been pretty special.
00:16:43We've been pinching ourselves.
00:16:45It's been a plan for several months.
00:16:47The plan actually works out, which is somewhat rare in our industry, as you know.
00:16:51But we're all excited and a lot of attendees.
00:16:55So you were thinking Kings played three, four starts ago?
00:16:58We really were.
00:16:59I mean, we had an Ontario bread.
00:17:02We knew he had some talent.
00:17:04Our friend Zoe on the writer's room with us was very involved in helping select his horse.
00:17:10But, you know, the things worked out.
00:17:12We got to run him late as a two-year-old, showed some promise, won his second start.
00:17:17But, and really since really the first of the year, we've been honing in on this race.
00:17:23And he stayed sound as he can be.
00:17:25And it's worked out.
00:17:26And he's certainly a contender.
00:17:28Well, let's hear you and Zoe talk about the selection process here.
00:17:32I'm interested in this.
00:17:35Well, our leader.
00:17:37Go ahead, Zoe.
00:17:38Yeah, it's full props to Marette Farrell, to be perfectly honest.
00:17:41She's instrumental in finding these guys and going over it with CJ and Corey.
00:17:48And Mike, Mike, what is your proper title with CJ Thoroughbreds?
00:17:52Because I wrote it down and it was like three pages long.
00:17:55I don't know what my proper title is either.
00:17:58It used to be business development when we started.
00:18:01It's an old phrase you get as a salesman after your football days are over.
00:18:06And you want to sell seats at Lone Star Park or the suites when we opened it, when Corey
00:18:12and Steve Sexton opened it 28 years ago, whatever it's been now.
00:18:17I was on the original staff.
00:18:19And that business development slash sales rep has been tagged to me ever since.
00:18:25But, yeah, we just, we helped recruit a few investors.
00:18:28We definitely have some important investors under the CJ Thoroughbreds umbrella.
00:18:31Uh, I would like to say I co-manage the racing partnerships, uh, involved with the horse
00:18:39trainers every day, uh, 35 horses in training, probably a few too many to say the least, but
00:18:46it keeps us active with a lot of, uh, general manager type of, uh, leadership and, and, and
00:18:53quantitative, uh, roles for CJ Thoroughbreds.
00:18:56See, I first met you at Lone Star Park over 30 years ago, and I didn't even know, I'm just
00:19:02finding out that you were actually part of the staff at Lone Star.
00:19:05I mean, I met you at the, what, the post-time pavilion, uh, horses, right?
00:19:10What, how was your, how did your involvement in horse racing begin?
00:19:15Well, in 1988, Randy, to go way back, we were on injury reserve with the Dallas Cowboys.
00:19:21I went to camp my last year, my 11th year turns out to be my last year.
00:19:25And I'm going to play.
00:19:27Michael Irvin's been drafted.
00:19:28He's going to be on one side.
00:19:30I'm on the other, but the man upstairs had other plans.
00:19:33And I started pulling hamstrings and blowing out shoulders and it was over.
00:19:38And I got placed on injury reserve.
00:19:40As you well know, that means you have to work or show up for work during the week, but
00:19:45on game day, you didn't have to, you didn't have a uniform.
00:19:47There wasn't a locker for you and you did not have to participate, uh, or being in the
00:19:52audience.
00:19:53And so I was like struggling, you know, with here's the end of my career.
00:19:57I've done this all my life.
00:19:59And, uh, I was sneaking over to Louisiana downs, which is where we had to go the closest
00:20:04racetrack at the time.
00:20:06And I'd watch the football game on TV and I'd be with my buddies, uh, playing the ponies
00:20:11and, and getting exposed to it.
00:20:13And I actually bought my first race horse, uh, a gilding that had won one race and he
00:20:18went, wins four more after we buy into him.
00:20:21And I just, I'm pinching myself.
00:20:23I'm saying, well, I'm supposed to be in real estate when football's over.
00:20:27That's what I'd studied for interest rates were 20% around the country.
00:20:31Everybody was filing bankruptcy that I knew it was going in, uh, in real estate.
00:20:35And I found the sport of Kings and, and won four in a row.
00:20:39And, and I'm going, what an easy life this is going to be football for till I'm 33.
00:20:43And now I'm going to get to play the, the horses, but Dr.
00:20:47Death was a great, uh, start for me.
00:20:49We ended up meeting, as you mentioned, years later, but, uh, that was the first horse I
00:20:54bought.
00:20:55He won $300,000 that year.
00:20:57And, you know, the rest is kind of history.
00:20:59I've been in and out of it, mostly in it forever.
00:21:03Very cool.
00:21:04What is the best part of your job right now with CJ Thoroughbreds?
00:21:09I mean, what do you most enjoy?
00:21:11Because we see you at the sales and you're like, well, I'll, I'll go bid.
00:21:15I'll, I'll do this.
00:21:15What is your favorite part?
00:21:17Is it just the horses?
00:21:18Do you like the training process?
00:21:21It's, it's, it's, I love the sales, Zoe.
00:21:23I love working with Marat and, um, I love getting up in the mornings and going to the
00:21:28barns with the trainers and seeing our athletes.
00:21:31Um, you know, the correlations I, uh, adjusted to fairly easily from the football world into
00:21:39the racehorse world, the training.
00:21:41I wanted to be a trainer.
00:21:42Well, again, you know, I didn't know what I was going to do.
00:21:44Real estate was horrible.
00:21:45I got lucky with Dr.
00:21:47Death and got exposed to that.
00:21:49But, uh, I thought about, you know, there's training deals.
00:21:53It's pretty easy.
00:21:54My dad was a professional, uh, athlete for the Calc for the Cleveland Browns.
00:21:59He coached 10 years in the NFL.
00:22:01Everybody asked me why I never wanted to do it.
00:22:04And I said, you know what?
00:22:04This training in these horses is pretty similar.
00:22:07And, uh, the only thing that I didn't like was that four 35 o'clock alarm that I was seeing
00:22:12that most of them have to get up to.
00:22:14But I really did back to your question.
00:22:16I enjoyed the mornings and I still do.
00:22:19And I enjoyed bringing new people to the races.
00:22:23Corey Johnson and CJ Thoroughbreds.
00:22:25We've, we've done a lot of, uh, marketing in Texas, certainly in other places, but we've
00:22:32brought a lot of new players into the game.
00:22:33We love that part of it too.
00:22:35And it's such an exhilarating sport, especially if you can get up to the winner's circle.
00:22:39As we all know, it's like no other.
00:22:42And to say that, and I really mean it being an ex NFLer and growing up in the sport, you
00:22:48know, maybe the most popular sport in America, if not the world.
00:22:51And I got exposed to it my whole life and now getting exposed to the thoroughbred racing
00:22:56game for the last 30 plus years now, it's just, um, I'm pinching myself, but it is a
00:23:01fabulous game and to win a race really at any level, but when you're getting to play where
00:23:05we get to play, it's really special.
00:23:07So going, going way back, Mike, did you ever act at all on that early desire to be a trainer?
00:23:13Did you ever go to work for anybody or anything?
00:23:15No, I never, I never did.
00:23:17I, I went to the barns to see our horses and, uh, I was going to, like I said, Louisiana
00:23:22Downs and, uh, Frankie brothers actually trained Dr. Death for the first few months.
00:23:27He was just about to retire.
00:23:29It was semi-retirement and, uh, Gene Norman, a good name you'll know, Randy and, uh, David
00:23:35Vance and those guys were kind of the first four or five trainers, three or four trainers
00:23:40that we used.
00:23:41Uh, but I saw their workload and their, that early alarm was quickly, quickly turning me
00:23:47the other direction for sure.
00:23:50Mike, I want to get back to, uh, Tom's magic and Zoe, uh, this is a question for you as well.
00:23:55It's by justify and he can run.
00:23:58I had to get him for only $200,000.
00:24:01Got lucky.
00:24:02Yeah, I think I, I, Zoe and Morett, when, when, when they give us the short list every
00:24:10night, we go over it, we have a budget that's, that's, uh, in the ballpark of where we like
00:24:16to, to go $150,000, $200,000.
00:24:19And I think Zoe said it right.
00:24:21It's as simple as that.
00:24:22I mean, he had, he needed a little time, not from anything that stands out in my memory on
00:24:28the vet list, but he came to our farm instead of going directly to Florida.
00:24:32Like we normally send him to Ocala.
00:24:35Uh, he came to our farm and just chilled for about 60 days.
00:24:39And then he went on, um, to Kevin, uh, no Myers at Silver Springs right there in Lexington.
00:24:45Um, but bottom line is, I think we just got lucky, Zoe.
00:24:50I mean, that's the way I'm looking at it.
00:24:52He's just a big growthy horse.
00:24:53He just needed some time.
00:24:55And in fairness, uh, you know, we all saw Atesha Von Bluchers with us as well.
00:24:59He just needed some time.
00:25:00And Mike Stidham's done a brilliant job with him.
00:25:03He really has.
00:25:03He's given him the time to grow and just do everything his own way.
00:25:08Yeah, we've been blessed to, uh, have horses with Mike over the years.
00:25:14He was one of the first trainers that I had at Lone Star Park when I was actually working
00:25:18there and putting small little partnerships together.
00:25:20But, um, Mike and I had won a couple of races with some less expensive horses.
00:25:26Um, actually won a couple of stake races at Lone Star.
00:25:29So Mike and I go way back.
00:25:31Zoe said, we all know he's a fine trainer and he's done a wonderful job with this horse
00:25:35managing all the way with no hiccups, knock on wood.
00:25:39So Mike, you, so you're an ex-professional athlete.
00:25:42You've been involved in thoroughbred racing in several different aspects.
00:25:47Uh, what are your thoughts on what the sport needs to do?
00:25:52Where the sport may be falling short and attracting new fans and maybe,
00:25:57maybe some ideas about what could be done?
00:26:00Well, I don't know.
00:26:01I'm working with a guy that really spends a lot of time, Corey Johnson.
00:26:04Um, he wants, you know, he was a track management, been recently at Maryland and
00:26:09the, uh, start of the Pembeco reconstruction.
00:26:12And he's always, uh, HBPAs around the country, Iowa, and we're, we're working hard in Wyoming.
00:26:19And we may have some opportunities in Arizona now as we're all seeing, but I, I get to sit
00:26:25beside a guy that has a lot of great ideas.
00:26:27Um, and I, I think we just have to keep bringing them to the racetrack and getting them to the
00:26:33races. I, I don't know what, I have a great marketing idea to bring fans back, but as we
00:26:40all know, whether you're an ex-player, uh, uh, a wealthy owner, if you're, uh, somebody
00:26:46that has the time or the, uh, the resources to bring back some, some, uh, marketing ideas,
00:26:52you know, we, we, we did it very well at Lone Star Park for many years, uh, seven or eight,
00:26:57nine years getting to host the Breeders' Cup. Corey and Sexton had a lot of great ideas and
00:27:02you just got to keep bringing them back. You know, it's disappointing. We've, we've struggled
00:27:06in Texas for a lot of reasons. We don't have time to go into today since, since those good
00:27:11days. But, um, the bottom line is we, I still try to get people to come to our track, uh,
00:27:17right there at Lone Star Park. And, and they do, they all enjoy a good time. Uh, but I think
00:27:22from a horse ownership, and I'm sure that's what you were asking more about is, is, uh,
00:27:27I think FanDuel and what you guys do and just continue to promote the game. It's the gambling
00:27:34part of it is certainly a huge proponent of it. Um, but I just think we got to get them
00:27:39to come and one time, one at a time is what I work on and we'll have, I do it kind of subtly.
00:27:46I'm not a big loud talker. I don't like to talk a lot about myself, uh, even on this podcast
00:27:51and we're not doing much of that. So that's good. But, uh, the bottom line is I just try
00:27:55to get them to come. I've probably gotten personally a hundred people in the game, but
00:28:00if we could all do that, I think the game would be doing a lot better. And, uh, whether
00:28:04it's a small level or a bigger level, but we've CJ Thoroughbreds does a good job at that.
00:28:10And we're just trying to do it one at a time.
00:28:13What's going on in Wyoming? I looked up CJ Thoroughbreds last winner and it's two Steve's
00:28:19won a two year old stake at Wyoming Downs just a couple of days ago.
00:28:24We have some great friends that have some roots in Wyoming, Randy Bradshaw, who we all
00:28:29know, Eugene Joyce and family who we all know. Uh, Corey, uh, made a deal to bring
00:28:37the stallion, the great runner, two year old champion, I think. Correct me. Dennis's
00:28:42moment that Dale Romans had a few years ago.
00:28:45We did a deal and took him. He is actually standing in outside of Cheyenne at a place
00:28:52called Rodeo Ranch. We're supporting him with our mayors and other clients are supporting
00:28:57him. Um, we are huge into the, uh, Corey really is huge into the HR, HHR play there. Uh, the
00:29:05breeders and stallions awards are, are going up tremendously over the last few years. I think
00:29:11they're up to about eight and a half million a year now. Um, we are participating as owners and
00:29:17supporting, uh, a fine stallion we hope in Dennis's moment. Um, but we we've run, I think we've had
00:29:24nine outs maybe, uh, with three different horses and, and, uh, CJ Thoroughbreds. I don't want to say
00:29:31we're dominating. That would be a little cocky, but we we've had some success there. We've, we've won
00:29:36three fraternity races that we've won in and a couple seconds and a few others. And it's just,
00:29:42it's been a lot of fun, but I think Corey, um, again, Randy Bradshaw, the Joyce's, some of those
00:29:47people are, are active and, uh, we're just trying to help Wyoming. And like, like I said earlier,
00:29:53Corey's just, we're going state by state, but we actually have some, some skin in the game with
00:29:58Dennis's moment standing in, uh, in Wyoming.
00:30:01Mike, uh, as you're well aware, Jason worth a retired baseball player has followed the same
00:30:07path you have. He's so enthusiastic about the game. He's younger than you. Uh, he only retired
00:30:13from baseball a few years ago, but he, every time you ask him, he says, this is the perfect
00:30:18antidote for a athlete retiring. I get to be competitive. I get to root for my team or my
00:30:24horse. He, he, he called the horse racing, the most underrated sport there is. And he sees it from
00:30:30the pro athletes eyes. Do you see the sport the same way? Is this filled the void that would have
00:30:35happened when you retired?
00:30:37A hundred percent. Couldn't agree with Jason more. Any ex athlete that spent some time, at least
00:30:42at the highest level for a while will tell you the same thing. There's been others before me
00:30:47and there's, there'll be others, you know, after Jason, but any pro athlete that gets in the game,
00:30:53it's, it's hard. We have a lot of ex teammates. Jason may have a few, I have a lot more because I'm a
00:30:58lot older. We have a lot of teammates that struggle life after the fame and the fortune,
00:31:03right? And whether it's Hollywood actors, uh, pro athletes, whoever it may be, if they're in the
00:31:10spotlight and they've been exposed to that lifestyle, it can be very difficult. And horse
00:31:16racing is an unbelievable. I mean, I've, I have not, since I caught a touchdown pass 35 years ago,
00:31:23plus and shared and raised my hand and spiked the ball or whatever we did. I, the only time that
00:31:30I get to run and, and be joyous and act like a 12 year old again is when our horse crosses that
00:31:37finish line. And, uh, it's, it's just a fabulous sport that only, uh, you got to get into play, but
00:31:45ex athletes. I've had teammates, uh, Danny white, Earl Campbell, uh, Dave Casper, uh, bum Phillips,
00:31:55my ex coach, all of those have been partners with me over the years. And the few times that we got to
00:32:01the winter circle to see that smile and that jubilation that they have, it just, we get to
00:32:06be kids again. I've seen Corey Johnson run down the paddock at 68 years old, watching a $40,000
00:32:13claimer at Lone Star, go to the finish line. And I haven't seen him do that other than at the horse
00:32:19races. Right. And so, but back to your point, Bill, yes, it's, it's a, it's a great transition.
00:32:25Um, I wish I could work more on it. The guys that play with me didn't get wealthy and didn't have
00:32:32maybe the exposable income they do today, but Jason and Brickman and Bergman and these guys that,
00:32:38they can expose their teammates to it. They're going to, they're going to find out that it's,
00:32:42it's hard to find anything that can match horse racing. If, if you've been at the other level
00:32:47of pro sports, like they have, you know, who else has a really good race source right now?
00:32:51Mike Zimmer. Does he really? Yes. He's got a, he's got a very, very good, uh, older horse right now.
00:32:59Who's, uh, who's running around the Midwest in Kentucky. I think it's called not this boy or
00:33:04something like that, but he's a very, very, yeah, very good. Thanks for, thanks for telling me. I, I,
00:33:09we lost him as our cowboy assistant last year when they hired the new guy and I haven't spoke to him,
00:33:14but I'm going to reach out and, and, uh, and say hi and talk about that.
00:33:19So I got, I got two questions for you. Uh, Saturday, uh, what kind of chance do you have
00:33:25of being a 12 year old boy and raising your arms and yelling and screaming when the horses
00:33:29cross the finish line and the Kings play?
00:33:31Well, I haven't handicapped the field and not like you, I'm not the greatest and I don't spend a lot
00:33:38of time at it. I, I realized as a pro athlete long answer, but when we're 14 point underdogs or 14
00:33:46point favorites in that locker room, we're not reading those lines and it's really irrelevant.
00:33:53But, uh, back because most of the time my buddies would call me Randy and they go, Hey, how's Earl
00:34:00doing? How's bum doing? How's door set doing? How's your practice doing? These were early days
00:34:05in my career. And every time I would say, Oh, I saw, I saw so-and-so out Thursday night drinking
00:34:11beer. I don't know if he's going to be ready for the game Sunday or, or any negative or positive.
00:34:16I could say, Oh, we've been brilliant all week. I mean, we're on, we're ready four times out of five,
00:34:22whatever I said, the joke became what Mike said, cause we're going to bet on the other way because
00:34:27it never turned out as expected and horse racing, as you well know, it's not much different,
00:34:32but a quick analysis of the race. I think the Philly, uh, is it Cassie's Philly's obviously the
00:34:39favorite and a fine horse. There's four or five others that have odds similar to ours, but you know,
00:34:45we've not done anything bad. Uh, we, we took a little hiccup in the Transylvania. I believe the
00:34:50mistake was at Keeneland where we ran back. We just got a slow pace on a little bit of a soft
00:34:55course. And she just kind of followed them around and didn't have her kick, but he'll, she, I say he,
00:35:01it's a he obviously, but Tom will be pressing the pace a little bit off of it, but pressing.
00:35:07And I just don't, hopefully he's good enough. It's a mile and a quarter. Um, you know, there's,
00:35:12there's a, uh, there's a good chance. We're going to be at least doing this at the 16th pole
00:35:16and hopefully it continues to the winner's circle. So. All right. And part two of my
00:35:21question here, when you were a minute ago, when you were talking about your career,
00:35:24talk about the man upstairs, I thought you were going to start talking about Jerry Jones.
00:35:28So what, uh, Vegas is not giving the Cowboys much love this year. Uh, what are you optimistic at
00:35:36all? You know, I mean, what's it been around is it been 30 years since we, I mean, maybe we've
00:35:46gone too deep in the playoffs, maybe one time in 30 years. Um, but let me, as you well know,
00:35:54I follow horse racing 24 seven. Now my wife's not the biggest football fan in the world. That's
00:36:01why I married her 40 years ago. She didn't care less what I did and she likes racing better than
00:36:07football. So I'll, I'll follow the scores. I don't know who's on anybody's team anymore. I just
00:36:13spend all my time with the horses and love it. But I, I, I pulled for the old, uh, Oilers,
00:36:20which are now the Tennessee Titans. Amy Adams, the owner, Bud was her father, as you know, Randy,
00:36:25and, and, uh, he was my original owner with bum Phillips. And then when I got traded to the Cowboys,
00:36:31uh, the year I was on injury reserve was Tom Landry's last year to coach. And when that season
00:36:36was over, Jerry bought the team in January. So I never really worked for Jerry. I missed him by,
00:36:42I guess, 30 days, but, uh, living here in the Metroplex and nationwide, if you're football,
00:36:47I mean, they always think the Cowboys are going to the Superbowl. So there's probably about a half
00:36:52a dozen teams, at least on paper to me that are better than they are right now. So maybe that's
00:36:57my long answer. Good luck. One. I've got one last question. What about Renfro's reception?
00:37:03Well, every once in a while I get talked into, uh, naming a horse. Tom's magic was named after a
00:37:12great heart, a great friend of Corey Johnson's who passed away with ALS. Some of his family members
00:37:17will be there. Uh, I got talked into by our small group of owners that we need to name something after
00:37:23Renfro. And I was involved as Randy might remember in a catch early in my career in the AFC championship
00:37:30game against the Steelers. There was no instant replay yet, Zoe. And so I make this catch.
00:37:37Unfortunately, the referees after huddling up for a couple of minutes, decide I was out of bounds,
00:37:42but the replay is people are watching it on national TV on the, on the broadcast,
00:37:47they're getting the replay. The referees had no access to it. And so incorrectly,
00:37:52they made a call that decided, uh, they decided I was out of bounds. Well,
00:37:56that's Renfro's catch or Renfro's reception that if you're old enough to remember me and have as
00:38:02little hair as Randy does, he probably remembers the catch, but it was a 1979 catch that, uh,
00:38:09I can't believe I said 79, but my second year in the league might've propelled us to win this,
00:38:14to go to the Superbowl. We ended up losing to the Steelers, the great Steeler teams of the late
00:38:19seventies and early eighties, but it was a catch we needed late in the game that would have tied the game.
00:38:23But as me and Joe green tells me every time I see him, he still is in the Metroplex down here in
00:38:28Texas because Mike, you did get messed around on that call. You should have been a touchdown,
00:38:33but at the end of the day, it was not going to matter because our Steelers were going to beat
00:38:37your orders. And he's told that to bump Phillips, Earl Campbell. And when he tells it to me, I say,
00:38:42yes, sir, Mr. Green, I'm probably right. So anyway, the horse. Oh, that was your question. I thought
00:38:49you want to talk about me. I'm sorry. No, Zoe, the horse is doing great. We've got it. Uh,
00:38:54we had to gild him. He's not run yet. As you probably know, I think he'll run first week at
00:38:59Laurel. Uh, Justin Nixon is a trainer. I've not even met, uh, smaller operation. I think Corey got
00:39:08to knowing better when he was working at the, the Preakness Pimlico, uh, stuff the last 18 months.
00:39:13And we just gave him our first horse and that's where he's at. I, Bill, not had him for a while.
00:39:19Do you have to gild your namesake? Do what, dear? Do you have to gild your namesake?
00:39:24I know. Hopefully not. Hopefully not. Zoe, I'm going to see you in a couple of weeks, right?
00:39:31Yeah, you will with bells on. Okay. Randy, we, uh, I, I heard, by the way, I wanted to mention
00:39:39one thing about, do you still play basketball? A little. Yeah. I heard you were quite the
00:39:44player. In fact, Corey Johnson said when you used to cover him, he couldn't even get a shot
00:39:49off. You were so good. Is that a true story? Is he just, he's just bragging on you. He said
00:39:55you can play. Corey has never seen a shot. He couldn't get off. Okay. You covered him well
00:40:02enough that he didn't make any though. It sounds like. Well, that's not right. Anyway, I wanted
00:40:08to mention that because I didn't know you were the athlete. I don't meet many media stars.
00:40:12They're ex-athletes. Well, Mike Renfro, thanks so much for spending some time with us on the TDN
00:40:18Writers Room podcast in our Gainesway Guest of the Week segment. Good luck at Woodbine with Tom's
00:40:24Magic and the King's Plate. And I know you told the Woodbine Press Department it would be the
00:40:28quote unquote biggest prize you've ever won in sports. So that says something about how much you're
00:40:33looking forward to this race. Once again, Mike, good luck in Canada. And I'll actually be seeing you
00:40:37up there. Thank you guys. Look forward to seeing you.
00:40:40This week's guest of the week, Mike Renfro, brought to you by Gainesway, home to the hot
00:40:45young stallion, McKenzie. McKenzie's two-year-old golden tornado whipped open Saratoga maidens
00:40:52on Saturday by three and a quarter lengths in a solid clocking golden tornado, a promising
00:40:58horse to watch. Meanwhile, Gainesway is also offering golden tornadoes yearling half sister
00:41:04at the upcoming Keeneland September yearling sales. She'll be hip number 1267. She's a daughter
00:41:10of Olympiad out of the Mayor Ruby Trust, who by the way, is booked to be bred again to McKenzie
00:41:17in 2026. Gainesway, power, passion, performance.
00:41:22It's a domineering display by the ultra-talented McKenzie. McKenzie in a dominant performance.
00:41:31One to be able to get to a hall of two million, two hundred thousand.
00:41:36Chancer McPatrick proves best. Chancer McPatrick wins the champagne impressively. It is going to
00:41:43be all Scottish. Lassie, if she wins the present easily.
00:41:54So let's look ahead to this, look back, I'm sorry, let's look back at last weekend where the
00:41:58sword dancer was the grade one stakes race on the Saratoga card. And this race, even now, I still
00:42:06don't quite get what William Buick was doing, picking Nations Pride over El Cordobas. Even though
00:42:12Nations Pride was seven to two, and El Cordobas was four to one. And I love Nations, excuse, I love
00:42:18El Cordobas. I said, this got to mean something. Buick must know what he's doing here. And in a
00:42:23sense, he did because the horse ran a good race. But Randy, if you were to talk to Jerry, your friend
00:42:28Jerry Bailey about this race, I guarantee you he would have said that Fravian Pratt rode the perfect
00:42:34turf race. Oh, he did? Perfect. Saved ground every inch of the way until the top of the stretch,
00:42:39found a seam to get through. He won the race as much as El Cordobas. I mean, William Buick's a
00:42:44tremendous rider. But Fravian Pratt won the race. He made the difference. Yeah. Buick, I guess Buick
00:42:52knew from talking to Charlie Appleby and maybe even from, I don't know if he'd been on the horse in the
00:42:56morning at all. But in Nations Pride, as we talked about last week, is kind of a most recently has
00:43:02been kind of hit or miss depending, you know, he's been very inconsistent. But Buick obviously thought
00:43:07that the horse was primed and ready to run his A race, which he probably did. I mean,
00:43:13he was a little keen during the first part of the race, a little bit difficult for Buick to get him
00:43:18to relax. Finally, he went on with it going into the second turn or the final turn, opened up two
00:43:24and a half, three lengths, looked like he was home free turning for home. And then El Cordobas ran him
00:43:29down. As you pointed out, Pratt sat on the fence and just saved ground all the way around, tipped out
00:43:34through the lane, finished strongest in between horses. So 104 Buick, you know, good race.
00:43:42They were all a little keen. The only one with cover who was still pretty keen was El Cordobas.
00:43:48So Farbridge ran a bit free when Joel swung him out. They were going a good lick too. 47 and two
00:43:53is nothing to be sniffed at going a mile and a half at Saratoga. It went 112 and four and he had an
00:44:00absolutely perfect trip. El Cordobas, the Spanish bullfighter. His name was Manuel Benitez Perez in
00:44:08the 1960s. He was a massive rabbit hole. He wins a sword dancer. How cool is that?
00:44:17So I started looking up the horses. Now there've been five horses named El Cordobas over the years.
00:44:23What the hell? Who was El Cordobas? I did the same thing with bullfighter.
00:44:26I beat you. Beat you down the hole. You beat me to the rabbit hole.
00:44:31And Naira announced prior to the race that the sword dancer for here on end will be named after
00:44:36Christophe Clement. Very nice touch there. And certainly something that is well worth noting
00:44:43what a great trainer was and a great accomplishment it was as he had won that race many, many times.
00:44:49And again, kudos to Naira for doing that. Arlington Million, I was really disappointed in
00:44:57Mystic Dan. I mean, I know like he had never been on the turf, but Zoe, you talked about the work the
00:45:02other week and I listened to you and you said that you thought it was a really good work. He didn't run
00:45:07terrible, but he's obviously not a turf horse. He goes back to the dirt now. Integration, the horse that
00:45:13just can't ever seem to win the big one. Same, same kind of story here, but his stable mate for
00:45:19Shug McGahee, Fort Washington, got the job done. Zoe, your thoughts? I was delighted for Shug.
00:45:26Really good horseman, sent them both there. Maybe a little bit of a surprise, the stable mate won.
00:45:33I mean, for me, it wasn't a race to get overly excited about. I was a little bit excited about
00:45:38Mystic Dan, but he didn't run badly. He just didn't run great. Looks like he'll go towards the
00:45:43dirt mile and point towards Breeders' Cup that way, but it wasn't a terribly intriguing race just
00:45:49because nobody wants to run in the Arlington Million. I just don't get it. It should be a
00:45:54full field. Still a million dollars. Well, let's run the same day as the Sword Dancer is part of the
00:45:59reason. Well, I don't know. It's just disappointing. I mean, it's doubtful that this race is going to
00:46:06really have any bearing at all on the Breeders' Cup turf when we get down to Del Mar on November
00:46:14the 1st. Fort Washington had been mostly a grade three kind of horse. He's obviously improving a
00:46:20little bit, but still. The Europeans win this race 80% of the time, and really the only time they don't
00:46:25is when the U.S. has a horse like Bricks and Mortar or English Channel or a horse like that. I mean,
00:46:32Grand Sonata was beaten to half length in this race. He's won for his last 16.
00:46:36I mean, this is not, you know, an incredibly relevant race, I think, when you look at it
00:46:42from a Breeders' Cup perspective.
00:46:45Back at Del Mar, surprise, surprise, stop the presses. Bob Baffert won both stakes races
00:46:49for two-year-olds over the weekend. He won with Desert Gate and the Best Powell Stakes,
00:46:54paid a whopping $240. This is the 12th time he's won the Best Powell Stakes, and he's won now
00:46:59four in a row. Comes back the next day in the Sorrento and wins that race for Phillies
00:47:04with Himika, Himika, Himika, H-I-M-I-K-A, whatever the hell you want to call it. Also
00:47:09paid $240. Baffert has won that race 10 times, third straight. Randy, you were talking recently
00:47:17about how a lot of these horses that were early two-year-olds really don't materialize and don't
00:47:23do their best running around Kentucky Derby time. So that could be the case with Desert Gate.
00:47:27But it is worth noting that Nyquist won this race in 2015. So this is not an impossible route
00:47:34to get to the Kentucky Derby or to get a good horse. But I just look at it, the field stunk.
00:47:41Desert Gate's probably Baffert's sixth best two-year-old would be my guess. But congratulations
00:47:46to him. He just owns these things. Yeah. When I refer to the two-year-olds that run real,
00:47:51I'm talking about the ones that run like 100 buyer speed figures that are like supersonic,
00:47:56fast as two-year-olds typically. And it makes sense. You know, they're not going to be mile
00:48:01and a quarter type horses on the first Saturday in May. I thought, you know, I thought the best
00:48:06pal winner looked good. I was particularly impressed, Zoe, with Himika. I think she looks to me like
00:48:13she should be a solid favorite, early favorite right now for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Phillies
00:48:18on the same track. Yeah. Daughter of Carlin sold by Nick DiMarek's pin-hooking business down
00:48:25there in Ocala at the OBS April sale. They paid 900,000 for her. And she just looks like a race
00:48:30horse. We looked at her at the sale. She's just this beautiful, long striding, two turns is most
00:48:37certainly in her wheelhouse. Didn't get the easiest of trips. Didn't break that well. I think I read a
00:48:43quote where someone said Hernandez was patient on her. No, not patient. Not patient. I don't know what
00:48:50they were thinking. Not patient at all. Started going at her and she rushed up there. They went
00:48:5522 and won the first quarter. So I don't know how fast she went, 21 and change, because she split
00:49:01horses down the backside to make the lead. So she drew off nicely. She's a really, really nice filly.
00:49:09A lot to like there. Desert Gate, son of Omaha Beach, owned by the Carmen, the Three Amigos.
00:49:15They paid 260 for him. He did what he was supposed to do as well. Not sure who he beat,
00:49:21but you can only beat who you run against. You'll be proud of me, Zoe. I refrained from
00:49:25interrupting you when you started quoting Del Mar Fractions. Oh, good. Thank you.
00:49:29You're welcome.
00:49:35Last week, Witties, Pennsylvania-bred yearling half-brother by Justify, if you recall, sold for
00:49:42$1.4 million at the Saratoga sale. And Witties promptly showed again what that bidding was all
00:49:49about. The Pennsylvania-bred six-year-old rolled from last to first in the $150,000 Van Cleef
00:49:55stakes at Colonial Downs on the Arlington Million undercard to bring his earnings to just under
00:50:00$900,000. Congratulations to Witties' co-owner, Mark DeTample, and to co-owner and trainer,
00:50:08Elizabeth Merriman. To learn more about breeding and racing your very own PA Breds, go to pabred.com
00:50:14or call 610-444-1050.
00:50:18The Pennsylvania Breeding Program is the best program in the country. The stallion awards,
00:50:25the owner bonuses, also the restrictive races and the stakes races for Pennsylvania breads.
00:50:30This year, eight breeders are on track to earn over $200,000 in breeders' awards, and two
00:50:37could hit the million-dollar mark. We have the best program in the country.
00:50:43Take advantage of the fantastic program that we have. Learn more at pabred.com.
00:50:48Be a smarter bettor with First TV. The best horses. With thousands of exclusive morning workouts.
00:51:04All at your fingertips and delivered right into your inbox. Everything you need to be informed.
00:51:12Be smart. Bet smart. With First TV.
00:51:18The TDM Rises Room is brought to you by First TV. This week's First TV of the week is none other
00:51:25than Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty. He worked for the first time since winning the grade two
00:51:31Jim Dandy Stakes Saratoga on July the 26th. He won an easy four foul-longs over the Oklahoma training track
00:51:38in 48.99 and galloped out in 102-2. Assistant trainer Neil Posnanski was aboard him once more.
00:51:47Trainer Bill Mott called the work simply a maintenance work in preparation for the August 23rd.
00:51:52Travis Stakes said, Mott, he's not at full speed. That is for sure.
00:51:57I was on hand. I can attest. He looks fabulous going in towards the Travers.
00:52:03All right. Let's turn our attention to the fiasco race at Saratoga on Saturday. The last race of the card
00:52:11was scheduled to be run at a mile and eighth. Actually, it turned out Dave Grenning from the
00:52:16racing forum was the one who pointed this out to the stewards. And if he didn't, they may not have
00:52:21ever noticed. Because Dave's reporting says, at first they told him, you're wrong. We ran it at the
00:52:26right race. But it was supposed to be running a mile and eighth. It was running a mile and a 16th.
00:52:32Even Frank Miramati's call in the first quarter, he goes, and the fractions is 26 flat? He has this
00:52:38question in his voice. How is this possible that they could be going this slow? I wrote a pretty
00:52:44strong column in the Thoroughbred Daily News talking about the situation in the New York
00:52:49Steward stance where the Gaming Commission steward, Braulio Baeza Jr., fines you if he doesn't like
00:52:56the way you chew gum. He'll give you a $4,000 fine. And he's done it over and over and over and over
00:53:02again to people that were just good people that did nothing but minor things. Remember the clocker,
00:53:08Richie Gazer, that whole fiasco. He fined Frank Gabriel Jr. So my question is, who's holding him
00:53:16accountable when they make a mistake like this? And it's not, you know, they don't do this obviously
00:53:22every day. But you also go back to that Great White Way stakes a couple years ago, where they,
00:53:29yeah, I'm not even gonna say apparently, they did take down the wrong horse in there. So,
00:53:34you know, they did a judge, jury, and executioner, especially Baeza. And I don't know who he answers
00:53:42to. I think the New York Gaming Commission is probably not paying much attention to this.
00:53:48It's a mess for sure. It is a mess. I think I read something in the DRF today that they're going to
00:53:56have someone, it's their own job to call the starting gate and make sure it's at the right
00:54:03spot each race from now on. So hopefully that won't happen again. I can tell you this,
00:54:08either Thursday or Friday last week, it was in the wrong spot on the backside, because I had some
00:54:13friends back on the backside, picnicking, watching the races, and they parked it in one spot. And
00:54:19then, hey, hey, it's in the wrong spot. And then they moved it. But so they caught that one.
00:54:25So at least they're gonna have somebody's going to be responsible for calling the starting gate and
00:54:31making sure it's in the right spot. But I did trigger a pick six carryover. And there was one horse in
00:54:37that race that was flying. So who knows? I'm not saying that horse would have won, but I'm sure
00:54:44there's some disgruntled bettors out there. It was a turf race, right? Yes. Yeah. And what was the rail
00:54:51out? Yes. Yes. Okay. I'm not jumping with the defense of New York stewards, but with the rail out on
00:55:00the turf where the poles are not, you know, really close up to where the gate is, it's much easier to
00:55:07make that kind of mistake than it is on the dirt where you never have to worry about, you know, rails
00:55:13being out and which path, you know, where's the gate supposed to be when you have a 15 foot rail,
00:55:19whatever. But still, I mean, a major racetrack like Saratoga, you can't, that can't happen.
00:55:26You've got one job. It can't happen. One job.
00:55:31So another news story that broke during the week, Tyler Connor, 31 year old rider who was
00:55:36badly injured a couple of weeks back at Colonial Downs in a spill. He's been, he has been taking to
00:55:44social media to keep people up on how he's doing. He apparently he's, he's still having a pretty hard
00:55:50time. He said that he has full use of his legs, but he says, said in this, that actually it's his
00:55:55arms and particularly his left arm and left hand that are giving him a lot of trouble. But he, he got
00:56:02up there and said, I'm not doing this anymore. And I give this guy so much credit for being brave enough
00:56:08to say, and smart enough to say, I'm not risking my life anymore. And Zoe, I wonder why more jock,
00:56:16I mean, you know, some jockeys go through their whole career and the worst thing that ever happens
00:56:19to them is maybe they break their collarbone, but it's such a dangerous sport. I'm surprised more
00:56:24people don't do that and just say, you know what? It's not worth it. I don't know what he's going to
00:56:30do right now. He's come across as a very bright young man in these videos he sent out. I wish him well,
00:56:35but, uh, I, I just wonder why, you know, this is really the only time I can remember someone
00:56:41saying something like this. Well, I'm wishing him the best of luck. Case in point, he was briefly
00:56:47paralyzed, either nerve damage or something. So I'm sure if you think that you're paralyzed,
00:56:55you have all these thoughts going through your head and then you're not like, you're like, well,
00:57:00that I don't ever want to risk that again. I mean, I'm not putting words into his mouth, but
00:57:04he did say that there was a brief period of time where he couldn't feel his legs and that's
00:57:10frightening, extremely frightening. So he's like, I'm done. And he's a tall guy. I'm sure he fights
00:57:15his weight as well. There's the lots of mitigating factors. So hopefully he's going to make a full
00:57:21recovery and go and find something great to do. Maybe he'll go into broadcasting.
00:57:26Yeah. I know. Could we use him on the TDN writer's room podcast someday? All right. Next time Zoe can't
00:57:34make it. We're going to fill them in with Tyler Connor. Uh, okay. So I had left out, um, you're
00:57:40our expert in ABCDEF. I think I left out the sales. Um, so, um, we talked last week after the first day
00:57:48of the Saratoga sale, basic tip in Saratoga sale. Uh, the numbers are very good as they've been, um,
00:57:53sales throughout the country so far this year, but all hell broke loose on the second day when
00:57:58they were just flying off the racks at million, this, and a million that, uh, give us your wrap
00:58:03up on the second day of the sale. And, uh, why were people so eager to spend on the second day?
00:58:09It was insane. Like we said on this podcast last week, I'm like, well, last night was,
00:58:14was busy, but the second day was just insane. They sold 25 individual horses for more than a million.
00:58:22Two of them more than 2 million. So all the records were up. And then you have people coming
00:58:28back for the New York bread sale that just concluded as well. So the main sale, the select
00:58:34sale, they sold over a hundred million dollars worth of horses. I think the RNA rate was 11%,
00:58:40which is super low. So that sale went through the roof. Some people that didn't manage to get
00:58:46horses at that sale moved on to the New York bread sale thinking, you know, buy some horses over
00:58:52there. No, same thing. They sold over 23 million and change worth of horses. Their buyback rate,
00:59:01I believe was 21%. It was 26% last year. The average was up 15%. Uh, we saw horses that ordinarily
00:59:10we went in thinking there was a street sense Philly. Oh, you know, we might get her for a buck 50 or
00:59:16200. No, 400,000. Chad Brown, not happy with buying all the other horses at the other sales,
00:59:23shopping for New York breads as well. So she went for 400. There was a practical joke. He made 525
00:59:29from Indian Creek. It's a good time to be a horse seller. And this is just going to roll over
00:59:36into Keeneland because there were a lot of people that didn't get orders filled.
00:59:40You have the a hundred percent depreciation and the stock market is doing very well as well. So
00:59:46everything's thumbs up right now for the business of selling horses, buying them's a little tricky,
00:59:51but selling them is great. And the TD and writer's room is brought to you by West Point Thoroughbreds,
00:59:59the West coast division of West Point flexed its muscle on Saturday with a two bagger, a double
01:00:05at Del Mar final boss, won a nice allowance race and Crystal clean scored a debut victory. John Sadler
01:00:13trained both of those. And by the way, Sadler also has West Point's indispensable gearing up for the
01:00:20Pacific classic. That should be a good one on August the 30th. Meanwhile, West Point was active at the
01:00:25phasing tip to New York bread yearling sale at Saratoga on Sunday and Monday. We know you're curious.
01:00:31That's piqued your interest. So if you want to check out West Point's latest editions, just go to
01:00:35www.westpointtb as in thoroughbred.com.
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01:01:13All right. Well, that's a wrap on this week's show. I want to thank my partners, Randy Moss and Zoe
01:01:18Cabin, our Gainsway Guest of the Week, former NFL receiver Mike Renfro, and the people who work behind
01:01:24the scenes are producers and directors, Sue Finley, Katie Petruniak, Anthony LaRocca, and Aaliyah LaRocca.
01:01:30Randy, where's your dog today? Where's Lucy? There you go.
01:01:34There she is.
01:01:35Yep. Hi, Lucy. And Doodle, too. How about that?
01:01:39Oh, she moved. She says hi.
01:01:41Doodle's been doing some yoga. He just missed the mat, though.
01:01:44Okay. Thanks so much for tuning us in. We'll talk to you again next week here on the TDN Writers Room
01:01:52podcast. Saying goodbye for Bill Finley, Randy Moss, and Zoe Cabin. That's a wrap.
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