- 7 weeks ago
On this week’s TDN Writers’ Room, 20-year-old apprentice jockey Pietro Moran relives his first King's Plate victory aboard Mansetti. The team also relives a memorable Alabama win by Nitrogen and looks ahead to this weekend’s Travers Stakes.
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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 presented by Keeneland.
00:32My name is Bill Finley and I'm the president of the Book and Dano fan club.
00:36Yes, you are. Even without the t-shirt, you're the president of the fan club.
00:41I'm Randy Moss with NBC Sports and the Beyer Associates speed figure team.
00:47Zoe Cadman here with First TV and First Racing.
00:51Sue Finley is in France, Bill. You easily could have worn your Book and Dano t-shirt.
00:57I mean, come on.
00:58I'm sorry. I didn't mean to let you guys down, but, you know, it's hard.
01:03There's orders from above. I got to be a good, good corporate TDN soldier.
01:08Just find a Book and Dano ball cap. That way you can just take it on.
01:12Well, yeah, we don't want you taking the t-shirt off on camera.
01:14Just do the ball cap.
01:17All right. You know what? I'm actually going to look into that.
01:19That would be pretty good.
01:20So anyways, Book and Dano, of course, running in the forego this weekend on the Traverse Day card at Saratoga.
01:27So tons to talk about coming up with the big races at Saratoga.
01:32But before we get there, let's take a look back at what was important last weekend.
01:36The Alabama at Saratoga kind of topped the action around the country.
01:40Remember when Nitrogen was just not a superstar, but a very good turf horse?
01:45Well, that certainly has all changed.
01:48After they took the Wonder Again stakes off the turf, the horse won that one by 17 legs, completely a busing in disguise.
01:56And now the horse has been converted to a dirt horse and gets a nice big grade one win in the Alabama for J.D.
02:03For DJ Stables, John and Len Green.
02:07Really super performance by this horse.
02:10And I think, Randy, the one thing that I liked about it was, you know, when they say, who did you beat?
02:15Well, they didn't just beat good cheer.
02:17They beat the good, good cheer.
02:20I remember after he had come off that clunker.
02:22So I think she ran a race.
02:23And remember how good she was.
02:25Nitrogen was able to beat her on a day where she showed up.
02:28That, to me, says a lot.
02:30Yeah.
02:31And, you know, all credit to Nitrogen.
02:34The race shaped up exactly like we talked about last week.
02:37I mean, there was no pace in the race at all other than Nitrogen's stablemate, La Cara.
02:42And you knew they weren't going to go after each other on the front end.
02:44So as a result, they go 24.94, almost 25 flat for the first quarter, 49.70 for the half.
02:53Good cheer actually ran one hell of a race to be only a length and a half behind Nitrogen at the finish, given how disadvantaged she was by that early pace.
03:04I mean, she needs some pace in front of her.
03:05She's really a closer more than anything else, like the Kentucky Oaks, races like that, bigger fields, more pace.
03:11So the interesting thing to me, and this will sort itself out as the year progresses, but if you could just stop right now and take a snapshot, who would be the champion three-year-old Philly?
03:25Would it be the Kentucky Oaks winner?
03:27Good cheer.
03:27Would it be the Alabama winner?
03:30Nitrogen.
03:31You have to probably consider the Kentucky Oaks maybe a little bit more highly than the Alabama, but they competed against each other head-to-head.
03:39And for the first time, and Nitrogen wins.
03:42So that would be an interesting dilemma if the voting were taking place today.
03:46But it's close right now, Zoe, as we speak.
03:49It is right now, but it always comes down to, what have you done for me lately?
03:53And if she beats her one more time, people are going to forget.
03:57I'm sorry, they'll forget that good cheer actually even won, even ran in the Kentucky Oaks.
04:02People have, people in horse racing have very, very short memories indeed.
04:07It was only a couple of months ago that Mark Cassie was determined that La Cara would take three-year-old Philly honors, and she was soundly beaten by her stable mate.
04:18It was interesting going into the first turn.
04:20I mean, really, Jose did his best effort not to go head and head with La Cara because he was 10 wide.
04:26He just floated Nitrogen wide just to stay off the stable mate.
04:31She probably covered five or six lengths more than everybody else during that first turn.
04:36A good race.
04:37She works faster in the morning than the split halftime of 49 and 4, but she beat them all to the wire.
04:44She did look like she got a little leg wary towards the end of it.
04:47She was a bit wobbly going down the lane.
04:49Good cheer had to tuck inside of her, but she beat her fair and square.
04:53And we found out this morning that Nitrogen will make her next start in the spinster at Keeneland.
05:01I guess the other option would have been the Cotillion for straight three-year-olds, but they decided to go to Keeneland and take on the older horses.
05:07Oh, does that surprise you at all?
05:08No, it's Keeneland.
05:10It really doesn't surprise me.
05:12And maybe Mark's got something else for the Cotillion.
05:15Cotillion's never an easy race either.
05:17All right, so other things that happened over the weekend.
05:22There was a rising star and one, a wow rising star.
05:26And the seventh race at Saratoga on the 16th horse by called It's Our Time broke the maiden by 17 and three-quarter lengths.
05:35Got a 94 buyer, which is second among all two-year-olds that have run this year, to that horse, Brandt, who got a 101.
05:43Trained by Tom Amos.
05:44But, you know, I guess you get excited.
05:47I don't know what the time means so far as two-year-olds because they're a little bit hard to gauge at this point.
05:54But, Zoe, you see a maiden win by 17 and three-quarter lengths at Saratoga.
05:58You got to get pretty excited.
06:00Yes, because there was an awful lot of buzz about that race.
06:04Whit Beckman, the week before, had proclaimed to all and sundry and anyone who would listen that Hiro DeClairs is a freak and he's going to win.
06:12And even the crossing guard knew about Hiro DeClairs.
06:14Hey, what about that freak that Beckman runs today?
06:17So the world was all out on Hiro DeClairs, 525,000 OBS grad, who went off as a favor of some very good works and set some wicked fractions.
06:2822, 44, and 3.
06:31It's our time just simply biding his time.
06:34I mean, he was in front by 10 at the head of the lane and drew off.
06:39He went 109 flat being in front by about 14, covering the six furlongs.
06:44That was a stellar effort.
06:46He's not the biggest horse.
06:48Listening to Tom Amos, he's a Virginia bred, which he thinks may have helped the purchase price.
06:52But it was still a decent purchase price, 425,000, nothing to be sniffed at.
06:58Got some new players in the game, which is always good to see.
07:01And best of luck to them.
07:03He looked like a very smart two-year-old winning on debut.
07:07Yeah.
07:07All right.
07:08This rabbit hole moment is brought to you by Randy Moss.
07:14There's a book that the DRF published called Champions.
07:18It's like a coffee table book.
07:19Paula Welch put it together and then updated it.
07:21So I went back to every champion that has run in the United States, going back to the early 1900s,
07:29just to look and see, did any of them break their maiden by 17 and three-quarters lengths?
07:35The best horses in the history of American racing.
07:38One I came up with, Formal Gold, back in the late 1990s, won by 18 and three-quarters in his maiden race at Monmouth.
07:49Boal Forbes, believe it or not, won by 17 in his career debut in Puerto Rico in 1975 at 35-1.
08:01Wouldn't you have liked to have been in on the ground floor on that one?
08:05A 17-length win for Boal Forbes.
08:08Ruffian won by 15 when she broke her maiden in 1974.
08:12At four-to-one, she wasn't even the favorite.
08:16Ruffian wasn't the favorite when she won.
08:18But I go back to 40 years ago.
08:23I can tell you more stories about this horse than I will.
08:27But I was doing speed figures for Hawthorne in the infancy of the buyer's speed figures.
08:33And I call Andy Beyer on the phone, and I said, you won't believe what just happened at Hawthorne yesterday.
08:40And he said, what?
08:40And I said, a horse broke his maiden, a two-year-old, first-time starter, with a 110 Beyer speed figure.
08:48The horse's name was Meadowlake.
08:50He broke his maiden by 22 lengths in his career debut at Hawthorne.
08:5719 days later, he comes back and he runs in the Arlington, Washington future.
09:00Now, this was just like weeks after the fire destroyed the Arlington grandstand.
09:04So they moved everything over to Hawthorne.
09:07And Wayne Lucas had a horse running, scheduled to run against Meadowlake in the Arlington, Washington future.
09:13And he flies in to Chicago.
09:15And the first thing he does, he walks out on the racetrack because he heard how deep it was.
09:21Meadowlake had run six furlongs in 109 and three.
09:24And he walked out on the track and he turned around and he said to the media,
09:28he said, Secretariat couldn't have run 109 and three on this track.
09:33He said, this horse is going to win by the length of this barn.
09:36And he did.
09:37He won by eight and three quarters, only ran three times in his life.
09:41Big horse, very fast, bad feet.
09:44But that's the closest comp that I could come with.
09:48Meadowlake breaking his maiden by 22, almost exactly 40 years ago.
09:54It'll be fascinating to see what this horse does later in his career.
09:58I'm not crowning him as a champion of any kind.
10:00Obviously, none of us are.
10:02But what a heck of a debut.
10:0494 buyer speed figure.
10:06Yes, certainly was.
10:07And the dam was a very sharp sprint horse in Florida.
10:12Shady summer.
10:13So at least on the bottom line, it's all sprint breeding.
10:16But it doesn't mean the horse won't be able to go long as they stretch out.
10:19So I went to my first ever King's Plate this year.
10:23I really had a great time.
10:24We have the winning jockey, the apprentice Pietro Moran, as the Gainesway Guest of the Week, coming up a little bit later on the show.
10:32So we'll let him tell the story of the Queens.
10:34You know, it's still hard to get that right.
10:37Queen's Plate versus King's Plate.
10:38But we'll let him tell the story.
10:40But I had a wonderful time.
10:42The people up in Woodbine couldn't have been more hospitable.
10:44And it was really – that's a race that everybody, you know, should go see sometime in our life.
10:50But I think the race that mattered most on the card was the E.P. Taylor for Phillies and Mares on the Grass.
10:57And this was one heck of a race between She Feels Pretty and Diamond Rain.
11:03Diamond Rain chipping in for Charlie Appleby.
11:05All of a sudden, the Appleby horses are running.
11:08He kind of was very quiet over the last year and a half or so.
11:11So it was a tremendous race as these two came down to the wire, inches apart.
11:16I think Diamond Rain ran the better race because she got off very – not very slowly, but she didn't get a good break considering that she lost by a nose.
11:26I think that might have made the difference.
11:27A 104 buyer, as we are going to hear about in this show.
11:32And, Randy, I know you think these two are – you already pegged them as horses to watch the Breeders' Cup Philly and Mayor Turf.
11:38Oh, totally.
11:39Totally.
11:39You know, when you – initially, when you look at the form of Diamond Rain, you think, okay, this wasn't one of the real A-list, Godolphin Phillies.
11:49She just won a Group 3.
11:52You know, before that, she won the Lancashire Oaks.
11:55And she was beaten badly in the Ribblesdale last year.
11:59You know, how good is she?
12:01So how good was this race?
12:03Then you dig a little deeper.
12:04She was very highly regarded by Godolphin early in her career, and then she had a couple of setbacks, and now she's just rounding back into form.
12:13Big, beautiful four-year-old daughter of Shammerdahl.
12:17And so I thought she broke pretty darn slowly.
12:20And, you know, I mean, she ran a heck of a race to come within a head of She Feels Pretty at the Wire.
12:26But they were 10-plus lengths ahead of the rest of the field.
12:30And so when you did the numbers, third place ready for Cheryl, fourth place, Venetia, Venetia, all down the line.
12:38Those horses that were left in the dust all typically ran mid to upper 80s on the buyer scale.
12:45And that gives She Feels Pretty and Diamond Rain a very fast 104 buyer.
12:50And She Feels Pretty was pretty ranked, Zoe, the whole way because the pace was slow.
12:55Yeah, Johnny could have really just let her out just a notch, but he knows her better than anyone.
13:01I think going forward, if you're looking towards the Philly and Mare turf at Del Mar, I still will have to give She Feels Pretty the nod simply because she's more tactical.
13:12Those turns are tighter down there.
13:13It's a lot faster run race down there.
13:16And I know that Godolphin has had success at Del Mar a lot of times with their turf horses, which if you think about it in the bigger scheme of things, you're like, really?
13:26Really?
13:27But they've done very well closing late.
13:29But right now, I feel she would get the jump on her.
13:32She needs to leave the stalls just a little bit quicker.
13:34But it was a really fun race to watch between the top two.
13:37Johnny Velasquez on She Feels Pretty was trying to keep her off of an Alabama-type pace, 25, 49, 56, and she was literally dragging him out of the saddle almost all the way around there.
13:50Her most visually impressive races, if you go back on her form, are when she has that quick pace in front of her, the 46s and 47s and 111 for three-quarters of a mile.
14:00And then she's got that turn of foot that's just wow.
14:03So, yeah, I agree with you.
14:05At Del Mar, knock on wood, they all make it there soundly.
14:09I think she's going to be the horse to beat, probably, depending on what they bring over other than Diamond Rain.
14:16The TDN Writer's Room is brought to you by Keeneland.
14:19I'm starting to sound like a broken record.
14:22Let me start again.
14:23A couple of grade one winners and some TDN Rising Stars came out of this weekend's racing from around North America.
14:30These are all Keeneland September graduates who will lead off with She Feels Pretty, a $240,000 Keeneland September yearling.
14:38She's now won eight of 12 races, including five grade ones.
14:42One of them, of course, was this past weekend's grade one EP Taylor Stakes at Woodbine for Cherie DeVoe.
14:48And later in the day, Velocity upset the grade one Del Mar Oaks at 35 to 1.
14:54She was purchased for just $27,000.
14:57And then, perhaps the best of all, it's our time, a $425,000 Keeneland September graduate became a TDN Rising Star with an eye-popping 17 and three-quarter length debut at Saratoga.
15:13That is the sixth Rising Star for not this time, just in the past five weeks.
15:18Find your next Graded Stakes winner or TDN Rising Star at Keeneland September from September the 8th through the 20th.
15:27It all comes down to this.
15:29Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.
15:31The moment that defines the year.
15:33When the world's most influential buyers gather.
15:37And every decision, every bid, every opportunity shapes the future.
15:43At a marketplace that brings the thoroughbred world together.
15:47And where futures are forged.
15:50Because every moment matters.
15:52At the world's yearling sale, Keeneland September.
15:57The fastest horse of the week brought to you by the fast sires at Windstar Farm, such as Independence Hall.
16:05Let's go back last week.
16:06Friday, August 15th.
16:08Delaware Park, fourth race.
16:10Won by Freely Held.
16:12Skip forward the next day.
16:13Saratoga, second race.
16:14Won by Victory Hall.
16:16Five hours later, Run for Justice wins the first at Evangeline.
16:19An hour after that, Perfect Gamble takes the fourth at Canterbury.
16:24That's four winners in a little more than 24 hours.
16:26All sired by Independence Hall.
16:29He was a Stakes winner at 2, 3, and 4.
16:32Six and a half furlongs to nine furlongs.
16:34His sons and daughters are winning literally everywhere.
16:36And you can look for Independence Hall's second crop yearlings at Keeneland September.
16:42Now, the fastest horse of the week we have already discussed at She Feels Pretty's 104 buyer speed figure in the E.P. Taylor.
16:50That topped the list, but not by much.
16:52The very next race after the E.P. Taylor at Woodbine was the Bold Venture Stakes for Sprinters on Topedo.
16:59Won by a five-year-old in a romp named Simcoe, who got a 103 buyer.
17:04So, the two fastest buyers of the week, just 35 minutes apart at Woodbine, She Feels Pretty, the fastest horse by a nose.
17:16Welcome in now to Gainesway Guest of the Week, and it's the guy who was right in the center of things at the Kings Plate on Saturday.
17:22Only 20 years old, still a bug, but Pietro Moran was a winning rider on board Mancetti.
17:27He's having quite a year, but I'm sure that he would consider this one of his career accomplishments.
17:32Pietro, are you still on cloud nine right now?
17:35Yeah, I'm still, no, I still can't believe it.
17:40So, win the biggest race in Canada, and yeah, I'm just still flying high.
17:46Pietro, when you began riding pretty much full-time in 2024, you rode a couple races in 2023.
17:53If I had told you at that time that not only would you ride in the next two Kings Plates without the Apprentice Allowance, of course,
18:00but you would win one of them, but you thought I was crazy?
18:04Yeah, like, I never would have thought that I'd get a Kings Plate opportunity my first full year.
18:13And, like, I don't know, I just, I'm so thankful for the opportunity.
18:18Obviously, Kevin Attard has been a huge supporter of my career and getting me started,
18:23and he's given me countless opportunities, and obviously my first plate was won,
18:28and now my second one and my first winner is huge, and I wouldn't be here without him.
18:36So, let's talk about your career for a second.
18:38First of all, do you prefer Pietro or Peter?
18:42Pietro.
18:43Pietro, okay, all right, good, we got that out of the way.
18:45So, you're from a large family.
18:47Your father, David, was a rider and still is a rider.
18:50You competed against him in the Kings Plate.
18:52We assume, it's not always the case, though, we assume that this is a situation where
18:57you always wanted to follow in your father's footsteps and become a jockey.
19:03Is that true?
19:04Yes.
19:04Yeah, from probably before I can walk or talk, I always wanted to ride horses and be a jockey,
19:11and I could never see myself doing anything else, and I was always just so into the game
19:16and watching my dad, and I was always just working towards getting to riding races,
19:24and slowly it became a reality.
19:27How is it growing up with eight brothers and sisters?
19:31Are you the oldest?
19:32Are you the middle?
19:33Like, where do you land in these nine children?
19:37I'm the second oldest of the nine children.
19:39So, I have a lot of younger siblings, and my older brother is also, he exercised rides
19:46at Woodbine for Kevin Attard, and he was actually the outrider that brought me back after winning
19:53the plate.
19:55So, yeah, it was a pretty special moment, but yeah, it's a lot of kids, a lot of good
20:01and bad days, but I'm very lucky to have them all and have their support.
20:06So, what did your brother say when he picked you up?
20:09Because you would have been the first person that you really spoke to.
20:12What were his first words?
20:14Were you crying?
20:15Like, how is it?
20:17It's like winning the derby up there.
20:18Yeah, it was, we were just both in shock.
20:21Like, even my dad, he pulled up next to me, and we were all together there,
20:25and it was just a special moment between the three of us that, like, man, we did it.
20:31Like, you know, the biggest race in Canada, and, you know, after watching my dad for so
20:37many years, and I just, he was just so proud in that moment, and same with my brother.
20:42And, Pietro, the way the race unfolded, you rode a really smart race.
20:49You got the horse to the front.
20:50You didn't have to go too fast to do so.
20:53Was that the plan, or did it just sort of fall, did you just sort of fall into the lead?
20:57Because it looked like the first 50, 60 yards, you weren't really pushing him to go to the
21:01front.
21:02Did you just sort of inherit the lead, or what was the plan?
21:05Yeah, the plan, like, he's a naturally, naturally speed horse.
21:09He's got a lot of speed out of the gate, and the plan was just to get him out, and with
21:14the one hole, just try not get down on the inside, boxed in, and then when I saw Jose
21:21Lascano on the four horse, just kind of drift out and make everyone else take back, and
21:27it didn't seem like he was too keen on the lead either.
21:30I just, we kind of just inherited it.
21:33I know my man said he was traveling really smooth.
21:36He was relaxed, was comfortable, and I was like, if he's going to give it to me, I'll
21:41take it.
21:41And that's how it worked out, and the rest of the trip was just clean and easy, and it
21:48paid off.
21:49So how much longer now do you have your apprentice bug?
21:53Till early January.
21:55Till early January.
21:56Okay, and just so for people that, you know, maybe don't follow woodbine racing that they're
22:01early, this is not a situation where it's like, you know, oh, look, an apprentice jockey
22:05won the Kings play.
22:06What a surprise.
22:07I mean, you're the leading rider right now as an apprentice at Woodbine, and I went back
22:13in the record books, and I could only find three riders in the history of Canada racing
22:19that finished a year as the leading rider in Canada in races one as an apprentice.
22:26Sandy Hawley, going way back, 1969, Mickey Walls in 1991, and most recently, Emma Jane
22:35Wilson in 2005.
22:38That would be quite an accomplishment.
22:39If you met, I'm assuming you've met Emma Jane, for sure, right?
22:42Yeah.
22:43Yeah.
22:43Okay.
22:44What about Sandy Hawley and Mickey Walls?
22:46I've met both of them.
22:48Yeah, they're obviously very talented riders.
22:51Those are some big names to hear next and to fill.
22:56But no, yeah, all great riders and great people.
23:00And no, it'll be a huge accomplishment to be next to them in history.
23:07You've been dubbed the Baby-Faced Bandit.
23:10Is that something that you like?
23:13I mean, I think it's quite fitting.
23:14You stole the king's plate, the Baby-Faced Bandit.
23:18I don't know.
23:18It's just something that's stuck, I guess.
23:22Honestly, I don't really care.
23:23I just go out there and ride races.
23:25That's all.
23:26How tall are you?
23:28I'm about 5'7", 5'7".
23:32Yeah.
23:32So you're pretty tall, but did you struggle a little bit?
23:37Will you be glad to lose your bug?
23:40No, not at all.
23:41I mean, I've always been, since I've always wanted to be a jockey,
23:44I was always very dedicated and watching my weight since I was younger.
23:50I always wanted to eat healthy and fitness freak and whatnot.
23:55And just because this is where I wanted to be, this is what I wanted to do.
23:59So I was always lighter than I should have been.
24:02And no, I'm still very light and I'm able to, no, I don't have to stress or do nothing.
24:09So you said, so your older brother is an exercise rider and picked you up after the race.
24:14So let me do the math.
24:15That means you've got seven other younger siblings.
24:18Are there any others in the jockey pipeline, perhaps?
24:24Perhaps in the making.
24:25I mean, I have a few younger sisters that, no, everyone loves to ride and love the horses.
24:30I have a few younger sisters that also love the horses and are riding crazy.
24:35So who knows, maybe in a few years' time, they might be at the track and could be riding eventually.
24:42And Pietro, when you lose your, when the woodmine meet is over in December, you'll still have the bug, but just for a couple of weeks.
24:50What have you planned for this winter?
24:52Where do you think you're going to go?
24:56I'm definitely planning on going somewhere this winter.
24:59But the whereabouts, I'm not sure yet.
25:02Still a little bit away.
25:04Obviously, there's wherever opportunities take us.
25:07There's a lot of good meets down in America throughout the winter.
25:12So we'll see where we fit in and get the most opportunity.
25:18And then how about where are you going to be five years from now?
25:21Where would you like to be five years from now?
25:26Well, I would love to be, obviously, somewhere in the States.
25:30And, you know, obviously, my dream is to be able to ride in all the big races, those grade ones, and search for good horses every year.
25:41For, obviously, the Derby and then the Breeders' Cup at the end of the year.
25:45And just to be able to go around the country and ride in the big races everywhere and just chase good horses.
25:54So that's the goal.
25:56How much of a help has your agent been?
25:58Do you have the same agent as Kazushi Kimura had?
26:02Yes.
26:02Tom Patton is my agent.
26:04He's been a huge, huge support.
26:07I mean, from the get-go.
26:10You know, he does a great job handling.
26:13You know, his relationships with all the trainers and owners and all the grooms and hot walkers, exercise riders.
26:21Just a relationship with everyone.
26:24It's important to get along with everyone and respect everyone.
26:27And he does that.
26:29And he respects the business.
26:31And, you know, he does a great job.
26:33And, you know, I'm very lucky to have him.
26:36Would you have an eye on an Eclipse Award?
26:38Because, obviously, you started off the year thinking Sovereign Award winner.
26:43But, I mean, you're also eligible for Eclipse Award voters down here to take a good look at you.
26:48Yeah, it's definitely in reach.
26:50And, no, we're, I mean, we're working towards it.
26:54And, yeah, hopefully if the year keeps going well, we'll be in consideration for it anyway.
27:01I'm going to make you four to five right now to win the Eclipse Award.
27:04I mean, that's the way you're going right now.
27:09From the time you rode your first race, how long did it take you to get that win, that initial victory?
27:17I think it took me 12 months to get my first win.
27:22I started riding in the fall of 2023.
27:27And the plan was to not overdo it because of the way the apprenticeship works up here is after your fifth winner,
27:35you go from a 10-pound bug to a 5-pound and you get a calendar year with, obviously, a winter extension because we don't race in the winter.
27:44So, I was just the plan to win on four races, get as much experience as I could.
27:50I wasn't doing a whole lot, but I was mainly riding for Kevin Attard just to help me get going.
27:57And, yeah, no, lucky enough, I was happy that I was able to get the experience and not win four right off the bat and that's it.
28:07And, like, not learn a whole lot.
28:09So, I was able to learn a bit and it took a bit for the first one, but once it came, it just kept rolling.
28:17So, there's not any, at least not that I'm aware of, any jockey schools in North America.
28:22You basically grew up in jockey school as the son of a jockey.
28:28Did your success right now as the leading jockey at Woodbine, does that surprise you at all?
28:35Or were you expecting your skills would kind of get you there?
28:41Well, I never was expecting it, but I always thought I wanted to work hard and I was going to work hard to get to this moment.
28:49I mean, yeah, I never expected anything, but, no, I always thought that I could do it and that, no, no matter what happens, no, I'm going to work hard and just always try to do my best every day.
29:06And, no, and so far it's paying off.
29:08And, Pietro, with all that comes into being a jockey and all the time it takes, I wouldn't think you had time for most anything else, but I understand you're working towards your college degree and you're trying, you know, obviously you can't go full-time to school, but tell us more about that.
29:25What are you studying?
29:26Where are you studying?
29:27And how hard is it going to be to get through all this trying to do both?
29:31Yeah, my parents always wanted me to finish school, which was first and foremost, and a lot of people have encouraged me, even at the track, no, you've got to finish your school because you never know what happens in life.
29:48So, yeah, I started, what year was it, I don't even remember, I think it was 2024, I finished two years already, and, yeah, I'm at, it's actually University of Guelph-Humber, which is literally right across the road from Woodbine Racetrack, so it works out, you know, easy access, I mean, it's right across the road.
30:17So, in the fall, I'm not obviously as busy there, maybe on the dark days of Woodbine, I go there and I have a few classes for this fall planned.
30:31The winter, I'm not sure yet, we might have to take some online classes, but no, I was always told by my advisor there, who's been a huge help with organizing my schedule,
30:42and no, it doesn't matter how long it takes you to finish, but that you're going to finish, so, no, and it's a program that I enjoy as an athlete, no, it helps me understand myself, my body, and exercise and everything, and also for a horse as well.
31:02So, you're a busy young man, so you're right, so you're right against your father, right?
31:08Be honest now, have you ever slammed the door on him during a race, or has he ever slammed the door on you?
31:15Yeah, he's actually shut me off a few times, cost me a win or two a couple times, and I wasn't too happy about that.
31:23But, no, we get along pretty good out there, and obviously, if I don't win, I hope he wins, and I think he feels the same way for me.
31:36But, no, we're both big supporters of each other, but we also want to beat each other just as much.
31:43He must not have known it was you, right? It must have been, like, totally...
31:47He was in front, and I was coming up, and, yeah, he kind of just went out that little bit, closed the door on me.
31:54I had to go around him. I ended up running second, just got beat, and he ran third, so I was...
32:00So, you beat him anyway?
32:02I beat him anyway, but I still, it cost me the race.
32:05Pietro, have you ever had an instance where you had to claim foul against him?
32:08You wouldn't have there because you finished ahead of him, but have you ever claimed foul on your father?
32:14I haven't yet, no.
32:15It doesn't look like you would hesitate to.
32:18Yet.
32:21We've seen the highs and the lows of the game.
32:24It was a year to the date of your first ride that you actually had a spill, and you broke your back.
32:29Did you ever think, what am I doing from that point?
32:34I mean, you bounced back very quickly, and you got right on with it, but, I mean, that's a pretty serious injury in your first year of riding.
32:41Yeah, I mean, it's coincidental that it happened on a year to the exact date that I rode my first race, but no, it never really turned me off of racing.
32:54I mean, as soon as I was in the hospital, I just couldn't wait to get back.
32:59I think the hardest part was thinking of how long it would take to get back to riding, but slowly but surely it came about.
33:07And I think it just motivated me more for this year and also to be able to reflect on the ups and downs of the game and just mentally how to deal with every situation.
33:20Now I'm a lot more, you know, after a loss or a day with no wins, I'm a lot more, I'd say, cooler now than if I was last year, being a bit more disappointed.
33:31So, no, that's obviously safety is the most important, and just to go out and enjoy every day and do your best.
33:39Very good.
33:40Well, Pietro, thank you so much for joining us.
33:42Congratulations on the King's Plate win and looking forward to seeing how your career progresses in the years ahead.
33:48I'm sure you are a TDN rising star, at least a two-legged one.
33:52Anyway, so, Pietro, thanks so much for joining us, and congratulations once again on winning the King's Plate.
33:58Thank you very much for having me.
33:59Appreciate it.
34:01Guest of the week, Pietro Moran, brought to you by Gainesway, the home of stallion Cara Conte.
34:07We told you about She Feels Pretty a couple of times now in the EP Taylor.
34:11Well, She Feels Pretty happens to be a daughter of Cara Conte,
34:15who, of course, is best known on these shores for winning the 2014 Breeders' Cup Mile as a long shot at Sandinida.
34:21But Cara Conte also won a classic in France, the French 2000 Guineas.
34:26His maternal grandsire is Sunday Silence.
34:30He was bred in Japan.
34:31He sired graded stakes winners on turf and dirt and stakes performers in seven different countries.
34:37And best of all, Cara Conte stands at Gainesway.
34:40Power, passion, performance.
34:43The sun shines bright on Cara Conte.
34:47His first crops of racing age are showing brilliance on the racetrack with a high percentage of stakes winners.
34:53His versatility is evidenced by winners on all surfaces across the globe.
34:57Spandarella could not have been more impressive.
35:00She feels more than pretty.
35:01She feels fantastic.
35:03It is all.
35:04She feels pretty.
35:07The sun shines bright on this value sire.
35:10Cara Conte, standing at Gainesway.
35:12So, the big race on Saturday, of course, on a huge card at Saratoga is the Traverse.
35:19The card is loaded with grade one races up and down.
35:22You know, you have the best three-year-old in the country in sovereignty.
35:26But I have a little bit of a problem getting excited about this race.
35:30Or too excited.
35:32Because he just looks like, you know, he's going to go out and do his job like he does every single time out.
35:36Two to five in the morning line.
35:37And they only have five horses.
35:40And realistically, there's only one magnitude.
35:43It was an interesting contender that would have even the, you know, snowball's chance in hell of beating sovereignty.
35:50But, you know, do you take a horse even with his good numbers?
35:53And his numbers of late are as good as sovereignty's.
35:56But at the Ohio Derby, not at the Ohio Derby, the Iowa Derby, running against a horse that won the Kentucky Derby in Belmont.
36:02Bill Mott has planned all summer to get him to this race.
36:05I'm sure he's going to be as fit as can be and as sharp as can be.
36:09The sovereignty train just keeps rolling along.
36:11Anybody think that there might be a different story?
36:13It's tough to go against him, to be honest.
36:17But let me tell you, magnitude is a very, very sharp horse.
36:22You can go back on First TV.
36:24Now, he just worked an easy half in 50 in the fog over on the training track just a few days ago.
36:30His work two back with his gallop out was phenomenal.
36:34Probably one of the best works that I've seen from him.
36:36He galloped out like a freight train on the main track, on the track he'll be running at.
36:42Sovereignty is going to have to have his running shoes on to catch him.
36:45Now, we've seen him be closer to slower paces.
36:49Last time he ran, they went crawling again, 48 and 2, 1, 12 and 2.
36:56And he was much closer.
36:57Now, magnitude can hold him off going 46 and change and keep going.
37:02He has the ability to rattle off 12, 12, 12.
37:06While he doesn't really have a good turn of foot, he can just knock off these quick fractions.
37:11And Sovereignty is going to have to catch him.
37:13He's not to be sniffed at, his magnitude.
37:17Yeah.
37:17I mean, that's your race right there.
37:18I mean, he's got the number one post.
37:21Bracket busters right outside of him with a little bit of speed, but not – I don't think he's got magnitude's level of speed.
37:28Ben Curtis, you know, just jacks him to the front.
37:32And that seems to be the way he wants to be ridden.
37:34And, yeah.
37:36I mean, but Sovereignty, look.
37:37I mean, he's a deserving heavy favorite.
37:40He's a beast, right?
37:42I mean, we do this poll every week.
37:45It's a Breeders' Cup Classic poll, I think it's called.
37:48And right now, I've got Sierra Leone 1 and Sovereignty 2.
37:53But I could go either way with that.
37:54I mean, it's like this far apart, I think.
37:57Sovereignty might be just the best horse in America, period, on dirt at a mile and a quarter.
38:02But, yeah, it'll be a fun race to see if he can, again, do what he's been doing and run down a horse-like magnitude.
38:11And, Zoe, it seems that Ben Curtis made a big difference on this horse.
38:16When he got the mount for the Risen Star, that's when he won by nine and changed that big race.
38:20And then he came back and won the Iowa Derby.
38:23He is someone from your country, a Brit.
38:27Tell us more about the Ben Curtis story, because he doesn't ride very much for Steve Asmussen.
38:32He rode him at the fairgrounds, and that's kind of where they first hooked up.
38:36In fact, it was funny.
38:37I was talking to Scott Blasey on the rail, and I just wasn't thinking.
38:40I'm like, who's riding him?
38:41He's like, well, Ben, of course.
38:43Why would we take him off?
38:45He's like, he's just going to go, and he's going to ride him.
38:47Ben came over a few years ago and spent a couple of winters in New Orleans and did really well.
38:54He was like second, third, leading rider.
38:56He got hurt.
38:56He was supposed to ride.
38:58He actually did wind up riding Whit Beckman's horse in the Derby.
39:01He got hurt a couple of months before the Derby and was knocked out of a couple of the preps.
39:06But he's a good rider.
39:07He's a very strong rider, and he's not scared to take the lead, which is exactly what magnitude needs.
39:13And he's going to go as fast as he can for as long as he can.
39:16Yeah, if you remember the narrative on Risen Star Day when this horse really stepped into a different league, was that it was a biased racetrack.
39:26It was a very, very speed and rail biased track, and Asmussen and Ben Curtis in the paddock were on the same page.
39:33He had the number 12 post position in a 12-horse field, and the strategy was we got to get to the rail.
39:39Just jack him out of there and take the rail if you can get it.
39:43And so because of that, the 108 Byers speed figure, there were still maybe some skeptics when he ran in the Iowa Derby.
39:52How good is this horse?
39:53He benefited from a bias on Risen Star Day.
39:57And boy, I mean, he showed in the Iowa Derby that he is that good.
40:01Yeah, and he missed the Kentucky Derby with a chip in the knee, so it wasn't a serious injury.
40:06If Sovereignty wins this race as he clinched a three-year-old title, you don't usually clinch it in the summer, but I would say he absolutely, with Traverse Kentucky Derby and Belmont and Jim Danny on his resume.
40:18So he may not even have to win this, as a matter of fact, to clinch the three-year-old championship.
40:25We'll keep an eye on what journalism does.
40:27They have not yet announced his next start.
40:29But, you know, it's fun to see Sovereignty out there.
40:32Sometimes he's, you know, boring.
40:34It's a boring race when they're so good, and it doesn't seem like there's much of a combination, but much in the way of competition.
40:43But having said that, that's a statement about how good Sovereignty is right now.
40:48The TD and Riders Room, also brought to you by the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association.
40:53Friday evening at Penn National, seven-year-old Four Harp got another turf sprint win, this time in the Marshall Jenny Stakes for Pennsylvania Breads.
41:04Four Harp was bred by St. Omer's Farm.
41:07Congratulations to his owners, LC Racing James Bonner and Wellesley Stable, and to trainer Butch Reed.
41:13The Marshall Jenny is a $75,000 stakes, part of the millions available strictly for PA breads during 2025.
41:22Meanwhile, stallion Brody's Cause has a new stakes winner.
41:27He's not talking.
41:28Who won the $50,000 Muckleshoot Derby on Sunday at Emerald Downs.
41:35Brody's Cause, I'll get it out, stands at Equistar in Annville, Pennsylvania.
41:41To learn more about breeding and racing Pennsylvania breads, go to pabread.com.
41:45I'll get this out.
41:46Or call 610-444-1050.
41:51The Pennsylvania Breeding Program is the best program in the country.
41:55The stallion awards, the owner bonuses, also the restrictive races and the stakes races for Pennsylvania breads.
42:02This year, eight breeders are on track to earn over $200,000 in breeders' awards, and two could hit the million-dollar mark.
42:12We have the best program in the country.
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42:19Learn more at pabread.com.
42:20With some of the fullest fields in the country, and quality racing year-round,
42:27there's never been a better time to reap the rewards of breeding and racing in Kentucky.
42:33Purse money in Kentucky is at an all-time high, as is average purse per race, outpacing California, Florida, and New York.
42:42Kentucky breads.
42:44Breed them.
42:45Raise them.
42:46Race them.
42:46We all win.
42:51The TD and Writers' Room brought to you by Kentucky breads.
42:55They cast a pretty wide net.
42:57It's a little hard to narrow this down every week.
43:00Let's see.
43:01She Feels Pretty wins the EP Taylor for Lyle Stables, Roy and Gretchen Jackson of Barbaro fame.
43:06Trainer Cherie DeVoe, Breeder Payson Stud.
43:08Nitrogen gets her first grade one dirt win in the Alabama, owned and bred by DJ Stable, trained by Mark Cassie.
43:15Velocity wins the Del Mar Oaks on turf.
43:19That's a grade one.
43:20She was bred by Peter Blum Thoroughbreds.
43:22Now she's owned by Team Journalism, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, trainer Michael McCarthy.
43:27And, of course, this week, a field of five go on the Travers.
43:31All Kentucky breads, topped, of course, by the Godolphin, owned and bred sovereignty, trained by Bill Mott.
43:37All right, so we're going to go now and look at the other big races on the Saratoga card.
43:43And you've got a bunch of grade ones.
43:46And the personal ensign, Thorpedo Anna, is the story in there.
43:50By the way, Randy, did you see that they sold a half interest into Thorpedo Anna to Hillendale and Marshawn Lynch?
43:57So you're our football expert.
43:59Zoe's our expert on 18 other things.
44:01You're our NFL expert.
44:02Tell us about the Marshawn Lynch story.
44:04No comment.
44:05I'm not a fan.
44:08Yeah, he has rubbed a lot of people the wrong way over the years, hasn't he?
44:11Yeah, yeah.
44:12I'm a fan of his as a football player.
44:13He was a hell of a football player, right?
44:15But, yeah, I'll stop there.
44:18All right, so he will not be appearing on our podcast.
44:21Let's put it that way.
44:22But, anyways, it was interesting.
44:24Guys, I'm going to pick against Thorpedo Anna in here.
44:26And I love her to death.
44:28She's such a cool horse.
44:30But the thing I don't like, and I'll keep this before we move on to Zoe,
44:33I'll stay with Randy on this.
44:37First of all, she had that race in the La Troye where she didn't run very well at all.
44:40Then she came back and won the Fleur de Lis.
44:42But she was faster as a three-year-old than she's, for the most part, running now as a four-year-old.
44:50I almost take that as a bad sign.
44:52And she's still very, very good.
44:54She probably will win this race.
44:56But I don't think she has improved from her three-year-old year.
45:00And if she hasn't, she might be vulnerable, Randy.
45:02Yeah.
45:03I mean, the Travers is a one-off.
45:05I mean, they ran a hole in the wind that day at the Travers when she almost beat Fierceness.
45:09Other than that, she's running at least a race in the Fleur de Lis, about the same, basically, as she was running last year.
45:17But you're right.
45:17I mean, she hasn't taken a step forward, necessarily.
45:20She deserves to be the favorite here.
45:23But I'll tell you what, when she gets out to Del Mar, if she gets out there for the Breeders' Cup Distaff, the water's going to get a little deeper than it is here in the personal incident, even though this is a grade one.
45:33Not a terribly amazing race.
45:37She's a horse to beat without question.
45:39I mean, she's got this.
45:40She's got heart.
45:42And I do have to say that her last work was good here on the training track just a few days ago.
45:47So that's very encouraging to me.
45:50I like Leslie's Rose for Todd Bletcher.
45:52She's yet to cross over the 100 by a speed figure mark.
45:56She's a four-year-old by Intimus Shift.
45:58I really liked her last race at Saratoga, taking down the Shoeby.
46:02She beat Raging Sea.
46:04You know, she's like a year younger than them.
46:07So I'm going to take Leslie's Rose.
46:08But torpedo, Anna, without question, the horse to root for and the horse to beat.
46:14So just if you're keeping score, I'm going to take Leslie's Rose as well.
46:18That'll be my pick in here.
46:20Tenth race on the card is the Alan Jerkins Memorial.
46:22This is something you don't see every day.
46:24Bob Baffert has three horses in.
46:26So it must be a race at Del Mar, right?
46:27No, he has shipped three horses in for this race.
46:31And I really, I mean, they all have a good chance.
46:33This race, every single year, comes up just dynamite.
46:38But I really like Barnes in here.
46:40And first of all, I mean, I guess it doesn't really mean that much right now.
46:43But remember, this is one they spent $3.2 million on.
46:47And after winning the San Vicente, you think, well, this horse is going to be a top contender for the Kentucky Derby.
46:53Well, San Felipe is beat by journalism.
46:55We know how good he is.
46:56And then he really stubbed his toe a little bit at the San Diego Derby.
46:59I think it's obvious what happened to this horse.
47:01He didn't want to run that far.
47:04You know, even though his race in the San Felipe was very good, his races before that, he was undefeated in the two sprints.
47:10I think Baffert is signaling that he's going to turn this horse into a sprinter and that the Breeders' Cup sprint would be the main goal for him as opposed to the Breeders' Cup classic.
47:22But, you know, then there's so many good horses in here.
47:26This is a great race.
47:27It's going to be fun handicapping it.
47:28But I think they're going to get some of their $3.2 million back in the Alan Jerkins on Saturday, Zoe.
47:35It's a good race.
47:37It is a very good race.
47:38You've got a grade one winner on the rail.
47:40That's Patch Adams.
47:41He ran a 99 by a speed figure.
47:44He's not to be sniffed at.
47:45Middle of money.
47:46It's not often you see Bob's horses bounce.
47:48He's not a shipper to Saratoga.
47:51He's been stabled here since he broke his maiden.
47:54A hundred by a speed figure on the 3rd of August, and they're running him right back.
47:58He's been training forwardly here.
48:00He'll get Rosario.
48:02Barnes will much prefer one turn.
48:04Chancellor McPatrick, he was all out to win the Restricted Curlin.
48:08I like Verifier.
48:10Verifier in here for Resolute Racing.
48:13Three for three on the year.
48:15He was a million-dollar two-year-old at the OBS March sale.
48:18He's been training very well.
48:19He's a half-brother to a TDN Rising Star and Golden Tornado who won here at Saratoga just last weekend.
48:26Smoke and Wicked's been working.
48:28Very well up here for Dallas Stewart.
48:30He just took down the Amsterdam.
48:32So if you're looking as a betting race, this is an excellent betting race.
48:38And then Captain Cook on the outside with the blinkers off for Pletcher.
48:41It's an excellent betting race.
48:44Yeah.
48:45I mean, I agree that Barnes is probably the horse to beat.
48:49When you go back in the San Felipe, you'd remember he gave journalism all journalism could handle.
48:55And then it was nine-and-a-half lengths back to Rodriguez in third, who came back in his next start and wins the Wood Memorial.
49:02And that was at a distance that may not be Barnes' best.
49:05He may be better around one turn.
49:07Last time we saw Barnes, he was trying to run interference for Citizen Bull in the Santa Anita Derby,
49:13trying to mess with journalism a little bit there back in the pack.
49:16But Verifier, right?
49:18I mean, in the Maxfield stakes at Churchill, he spits out Smoke and Wicked after a battle.
49:23And Smoke and Wicked, all he does is come back and wins the Amsterdam with a 101 buyer's speed figure.
49:28So that really flatters Verifier.
49:30And don't sleep on Madiket Road.
49:33He had a bad trip last time in the Woody Stevens.
49:35He stumbled at the start, rushed up along the inside, got that taken away from him,
49:40had to ease back and kind of come around a little.
49:42He ran a better race, I think, than that second-place finish to Patch Adams and the Woody Stevens might look like on paper.
49:51And by the way, Zoe, I thought it was an unwritten rule that you had to pick Chancer McPatrick every time the horse runs.
50:01No? That's not the case here?
50:04I'm over it.
50:05Oh, okay, okay.
50:09Well, can Baffert win two grade ones on the same day at Saratoga?
50:13He's going to try.
50:14We just talked about his horses in the Alan Jerkins, and the next race is the Ballerina, grade one.
50:19I like Hope Road.
50:21This is a horse that I think probably bounced last time out in the winning colors when she was beaten at Churchill at four to five.
50:29The two starts before that, look at the 104 and the 102 buyer.
50:32Take that into consideration.
50:34And look who she was running against.
50:36She ran into that monster Copian, lost to her three straight times.
50:40The last one and the next-to-last one, she was second behind her.
50:46This race, I don't think, came up nearly as tough as some of the other races on the card with a nine-horse field in here.
50:54But that's my pick, Hope Road.
50:55Can Baffert do it again, Ms. Cadman?
51:00You've got to root for her.
51:02It's not often you see a filly of this quality out of a Breeders' Cup winner or grade one winner.
51:08Marley's Freedom, owned and bred by Cicero Farms.
51:11So wishing Ron and Bob the best of luck here.
51:13She gets a good draw on the outside.
51:16She's a fresh filly coming in, comes in with bullet works with Bob from Del Mar.
51:20So without question, she's the horse to beat.
51:23My main squeeze just took out the state-bred Johnson stakes.
51:27When she gets loose on the lead, and I'm not sure she will be, she can be extremely tough, and she likes Saratoga.
51:34So I'm going to throw her in there as well.
51:36Yeah, I'll take a Hope Road Scylla.
51:38Yeah, exactly.
51:39And by the way, I mean, maybe Hope Road bounced a little bit in her last start, the winning colors.
51:45She also didn't get a very good trip.
51:48She broke awkwardly, right, when the gate sprung.
51:52And you see in the form in the past performances all the time, you see the little trouble comments at the end.
51:58And it says, Bump Start.
52:00And so you go back and you watch the race, and you're like, get out of here.
52:04That was like a rub, you know, or a tiny little brush, you know.
52:08They kind of overdo it sometimes.
52:11This one, after she broke a little awkwardly, was a legitimate, solid, sound bump.
52:18She and a horse named Benedetta came together really hard.
52:21And then at that point, she rushed up toward the pace.
52:25Well, they went in 21.14 for the opening quarter at Churchill with the big run-up.
52:30But still, I mean, she really expended a lot of energy in the first part of that race after the slow start.
52:36So I can give her that one.
52:38She was also running against a very, very good horse in Two Sharp, who's sidelined and won't be in this race, obviously.
52:46But yeah, I like Hope Road as well.
52:49All right, so let's turn to the forego now.
52:51Gee, who do you think Bill Finley is going to pick in here?
52:54You know, and I try to make, you know, I try to have fun with this whole thing.
52:58And, you know, Bookumdano is New Jersey bread.
53:01I live in New Jersey, and I know a lot of, you know, New Jersey people.
53:04And it's been such a tough go for them over the last couple of years because Monmouth only runs a few, a short meat, and there's not any slot machine money or whatever.
53:13So to see a Jersey bread be this good, and this is as good a Jersey bread as we have seen in a long time.
53:19But now you look at the Alfred Vanderbilt where he ran a 111, which was a, you know, sensational number as best of the year.
53:28Now he comes back in the forego.
53:30And normally I'd look at a horse like this, and, you know, I'm going to pick him.
53:34He could be running against Man of War.
53:35I'd pick him.
53:36It doesn't matter.
53:37But that, well, he's going to bounce off the 111.
53:40Maybe that's something to worry about.
53:42Randy, I don't think he's going to bounce.
53:44I think that's how good he is.
53:45I think he's a 111 horse now.
53:48And, you know, I think he will win.
53:50And I think your figure, when we're talking about it next week, will be in that 110 to 112 range again.
53:57I just think he's that good.
53:59And he's always been good.
54:01He broke his maiden by nine and a half at Monmouth.
54:03I mean, right from the start, this is a horse that really advertised himself.
54:07And I remember we don't do speed figures, obviously, for Saudi Arabia.
54:12But when Forever Young won the Saudi Derby back in more than a year ago, February of 2024, making the numbers, looking at the other races that day, a lot of American horses, it was easy to make numbers.
54:25And Forever Young's buyer speed figure for that race, estimated, but pretty accurate, comes out to be 100.
54:31And we're like, but wait a second, he only beat this horse, Bookum Dano, by a head.
54:37So you're telling us that Bookum Dano also got a 100 buyer speed figure?
54:42Yes.
54:43Bookum Dano was that good in that race.
54:46And lo and behold, you know, we've seen him equal or top the triple digit mark now five more times since then.
54:53He's just a really, really nice horse.
54:57Go Dano.
54:58Go Dano, indeed.
55:02Well, should be a great day of racing at Saratoga.
55:05We also are looking forward to in a couple of weeks at Del Mar, the Pacific Classic.
55:09We'll talk a lot about that, I'm sure, in an upcoming show.
55:12It should be a very interesting traverse.
55:15Well, actually, maybe it'll be a boring traverse because sovereignty looks so darn good in there.
55:20But what can magnitude give him a fight?
55:24That's the whole story of the race.
55:26It's time for the first TV work of the week.
55:29And it is really works of the week as we have two works, not one, both on Saturday, comprising of four older horses, all of which are trained by Todd Pletcher.
55:40First, here is Locked on the outside with Fierceness on the rail.
55:44Now, Fierceness is bouncing back very, very well, working 47.66 on the main track.
55:51Look out for him next time he runs.
55:54Mindframe and Antiquarian followed that pair with a five furlong breeze.
55:58They were both timed in 101.50.
56:00Both of them are headed to the August 31st Jockey Club Gold Cup, while Pletcher is keeping Fierceness' options open.
56:09He's considering the Gold Cup, the Grade 1 Pacific Classic at Del Mar, the Grade 2 Lucas Classic at Churchill, and the Grade 2 Woodward Stakes at Aqueduct.
56:19Lots of options there for Fierceness.
56:21Be a smarter bettor with First TV, the best horses, with thousands of exclusive morning workouts, all at your fingertips and delivered right into your inbox.
56:43Everything you need to be informed.
56:46Be smart.
56:47Bet smart.
56:49With First TV.
56:51All the thrills.
56:58Fraction of the bills.
57:03Experience the power of the partnership.
57:08Change your life, make new friends, and compete at the highest level of thoroughbred racing.
57:16West Point Thoroughbreds, the gold standard in racing partnerships.
57:19Visit westpointtv.com.
57:24And the TD and Writer's Room brought to you by West Point Thoroughbreds.
57:28West Point got its fifth victory of the Saratoga Beat last week when She's Country scored by six lengths on the turf in her career debut against New York Breads.
57:37She's Country was an $80,000 purchase at OBS April.
57:41She's trained by George Weaver and was ridden by Ired Ortiz.
57:45Talk about a bright future.
57:46She's Country's a two-year-old.
57:48Among West Point's other Saratoga winners have been Ewing, the winner of the Saratoga Special, and a couple of other two-year-olds, Maiden graduates, Curtin Call and Intricate Spirit.
57:59Well, that's a wrap on this week's show.
58:05Been a lot of fun talking to my compatriots about the big races at Saratoga, including the Travers, and the big performance last weekend in the Alabama by Nitrogen.
58:15I want to thank my co-hosts, Randy Moss and Zoe Cabman.
58:18And I also want to thank people that work so hard behind the scenes to make this a very, what we think is a really pretty cool podcast.
58:25And that would be Anthony LaRocca, Alita LaRocca, Katie Petruniak, and Sue Finley.
58:29Thanks to everyone.
58:30Good luck in the Travers.
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