00:00And what is cool about races like this is I think we have an absolute standout on paper in Ted Noffey and what he's done.
00:06These are lightly raced two-year-old Scott, and a lot of horses are talented in here.
00:10They could easily jump up with a big performance and improve from one start to the next.
00:15I mean, like a horse like Blackout Time.
00:17I wasn't particularly as high on him as some of, I think, our colleagues are that I've been talking with.
00:22But this horse has run twice.
00:24The debut was not bad.
00:25It was a runner-up effort.
00:26Then he took a big step forward in his second start.
00:29He won by almost 10 lengths over at Ellis Park.
00:33So, I mean, his dam was a great at stakes when you're going a mile and a half on the turf.
00:37Distance should be no problem for him.
00:39It's interesting, and we're going to end up gushing over a horse that's going to be a short price.
00:44Right, yeah.
00:44Nobody else in the field has done anything wrong, and this is a horse that hasn't.
00:48I mean, that runner-up effort to Dazzle D'Oro for a barn that doesn't win first out.
00:53Dazzle D'Oro was big-time steam, and then this horse comes back and wins by a pole.
00:57It looks like, to me, McPeak really, you know, likes to win at Keeneland.
01:01He's been pointing to this race since.
01:03You know, we don't have on top, but I think this horse can run.
01:06Big Dom won first time out of the box.
01:08The McPeak barn and the Tom Amos barn.
01:11Those barns have been so good over the last couple months with their young horses.
01:15Tom Amos has had a bunch of first-time starters and young horses winning all over the place.
01:19One of them was this guy, Big Dom, and he was still a little green late, but he was very, very determined here late to get this victory.
01:28This has to be a horse named after the bodyguard for Nick Serial.
01:32The Eagles guy?
01:33Oh, yeah, right.
01:34Has to be, right?
01:35I don't know.
01:36McKenzie, but for those out there, which is probably all, you know, who Big Dom is.
01:39But, yeah, workman-like effort compared to one of his stablemates that wowed at Saratoga.
01:46But, again, he's done nothing wrong, and his barn has been winning races in bunches.
01:51The track announcer at Gulfstream Park was really enjoying getting the chance to say the name.
01:56Di Chisette for the number three here.
01:58That's Pete Aiello, who talked about Di Chisette, which is the number 17.
02:02I mean, I got to say, like, I wish this race wasn't so competitive because visually this horse is really honest, Scott.
02:11He had trouble.
02:12He had to kind of sit behind and shuffle out.
02:14I just don't know how good the company he was facing is, and this is such a huge step up.
02:19But I really do respect this horse, and I'm going to keep an eye on him for a softer spot than this because he does have some serious ability.
02:26He's just in a little tough this weekend.
02:27They're coming because of Florida bred, certainly a sprinter bred to sprint.
02:32That's the issue I have more than anything, stretching out the two turns and the class tests.
02:37It's a lot to ask.
02:38We move to Spice Runner for trainer Steve Asmussen.
02:42He won a graded stakes race at Churchill Downs in the Iroquois, so he actually already has some Kentucky Derby points.
02:48And he is a full brother to a horse named Gunite, who's a multiple grade one winner.
02:52Gunite was a sprinter, though, and I'm still not quite sure how good Spice Runner is and maybe how far he wants to go.
03:00Like a few of these horses, Scott, because they're young and they're lightly raced, he was very green in the stretch, kind of zigging and zagging, but he still did get up to win.
03:08I saw a lot of Gunite when I was there in Kentucky live covering that product, and they never thought, they didn't think immediately that he was going to be a sprinter.
03:17It just kind of worked out that way.
03:18They were very high on him originally.
03:20And the one thing I'll say about this horse is he just keeps moving forward, and he beat a horse that was favored pretty heavily last time out for the Eddie Keneally Barn in Comport.
03:29Now, I don't have, you know, highest hopes for this horse in this race, but Steve Asmussen knows how to manage a horse, obviously, and get them to be better.
03:37And he's progressed nicely and built up to his first two-turn test in a very good style.
03:42And you pointed out a horse named Comport.
03:44That horse beat him two times in a row, and then he came back and turned the tables on him.
03:48So you like to see that improvement that you were just hitting on.
03:51Litmus Test ships out for Bob Baffert.
03:53It's kind of interesting that Baffert has so many, and this was the one that he decided to ship out.
03:58I do think he feels like this is a horse who wants a little bit more distance.
04:02He, Litmus Test wins his debut.
04:05I thought it was a pretty nice debut.
04:07And then in his second start, he was chasing a stablemate, a lone speed winner.
04:12He was kind of wide.
04:13He didn't really get much of a trip, but both of his siblings won going long.
04:17So this is a horse who might just be a little bit better with more distance, Scott.
04:20I think on paper, six horses could get, you know, look like they could run second in this race.
04:25And he's the one that I think has as good a chance as any.
04:28It's a tough thing to figure out why Baffert opted to ship him, run four in the American Pharaoh at Santa Anita.
04:35And this is the one he chose.
04:37Is that a good thing, a bad thing, you know?
04:39But Litmus Test makes some sense.
04:41Ted Noffy is the horse to beat in here.
04:44His name came about off of a typo on social media.
04:47Ned Toffy is the name of the general manager of Spendthrift Farms.
04:51And they made a mistake when he was going to be interviewed.
04:54So they ran with this name.
04:55They've had fun with it.
04:56This is a really nice horse, Scott.
04:58And I actually interviewed Ned for our next week off the track podcast.
05:02And they're really high on this guy.
05:04And I mean, his two wins, not only has he been impressive, but what I like, he sits off.
05:10He's like push button.
05:11He's not just a runoff speed horse.
05:13You can ask him to take back a little bit and then go.
05:16He just seems like a pro.
05:18Yeah, I'm not sure about the pedigree for getting distance.
05:20I don't think it matters.
05:21And I think he a little bit surprised them last time out.
05:24Not that he was good, but he ran that huge in his second start.
05:27I think they have high hopes for this horse.
05:29He's going to take a lot of beating if he takes the trip.
05:32We've got Big Dom for the football fans.
05:34We've got Ewing for the basketball fans and the NBA fans there.
05:37Ewing is two for two, Scott.
05:39He's a great at stakes winner.
05:40I think he's probably the quickest horse in here.
05:43So I do have some concerns about the distance.
05:45He was a little green late in his race, but certainly quick and has some talent.
05:49Yeah, I'm not sure about the distance.
05:51But Griffin Johnson, if you've seen him on some of the telecasts, he's involved in this
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