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Will Walden celebrated his first career Grade I victory on opening weekend of Keeneland with Rhetorical's win in the Coolmore Turf Mile. The trainer discusses the breakout score and his plans for the future in this episode of the TDN Writers' Room.
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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 Writer's Room Podcast.
00:00:31My name is Bill Finley. I'll be your host this afternoon.
00:00:33And I am the correspondent for the TDN.
00:00:36And also, I do radio broadcasts on Sirius XM Radio with the legendary Dave Johnson.
00:00:42Me and you, Bill. One and one A.
00:00:44I'm Randy Moss with NBC Sports and the Bayer Speed Figure Team.
00:00:49I guess Zoe Cabment is MIA this week.
00:00:52She's working at the Ocala Yearling Sale.
00:00:55So she does. She has 17 different jobs.
00:00:57So that we get her as much as we do is definitely a bonus.
00:01:01But we'll miss her this week. And I'm sure she'll be back next week.
00:01:04So obviously, this thing to do to start with this episode is to talk about the humongous amount of Breeders' Cup reps and stakes races that were run last weekend.
00:01:14If we talked about every single one of them, this would be a seven-hour podcast.
00:01:18That wouldn't be good.
00:01:19So I'm going to zero in on the ones that I thought were really of the most important.
00:01:24Let's start with the two-year-old males.
00:01:26Three grade one stakes over the weekend.
00:01:28And I thought there was the potential there to have three really good potential superstars come out of it.
00:01:34Didn't quite work that way.
00:01:35But the one who came through in the Breeders' Cup was Ted Noffey, not to be confused with Ned Toffey.
00:01:42Ted Noffey.
00:01:43Okay, I got it right this time, right?
00:01:45He was absolutely dominant in the Breeders' Futurity.
00:01:49Beat a good horse by two and three-quarter lengths over blackout time.
00:01:53Randy, is he the favorite in the Breeders' Cup?
00:01:55Juvenile or his brand?
00:01:57That's a good question.
00:01:58I think Ted Noffey was more impressive in the Hopeful and the Breeders' Futurity than Brant was in his most recent win.
00:02:09Now, Brant was more impressive in his debut, I think, than Ted Noffey has been.
00:02:14So that's going to be interesting for horse players to try to sort out.
00:02:18I think Ted Noffey will probably be the favorite.
00:02:21I mean, I thought he looked really good in the Breeders' Futurity.
00:02:24There was – there's always a danger when you send him around two turns for the first time.
00:02:30We'll be talking about the other spin-thrift Todd Pletcher big favorite this weekend,
00:02:36the two-year-old filly Tommy Joe, who was also going around two turns for the first time in the Alcibiades.
00:02:41And in her race, she got really keen during the first part of it.
00:02:45She didn't relax at all, and it cost her toward the end.
00:02:49So that was what I was really curious to see how Ted Noffey would handle it.
00:02:53Just as cool as a cucumber.
00:02:54They went at a fairly slow clip, especially compared to the Phillies.
00:02:58They went a half and 48.23.
00:03:01So you'd think if he was going to get keyed up, he would get keyed up trying to be restrained off of a slow pace.
00:03:07But no.
00:03:08He was just nice and relaxed sitting outside of the Baffert-trained pace setter litmus test.
00:03:15He had blackout time, a really nice horse right behind him, the Kenny McPhee's second favorite.
00:03:20And when Johnny Velasquez said go for Ted Noffey, he went.
00:03:25And he was just as impressive around two turns as he was in the hopeful.
00:03:30Hopeful, he got a buyer of 98.
00:03:32Breeders Futurity, a buyer of 97.
00:03:34So I think maybe I'm wrong.
00:03:37It'll be at Del Mar, be in California.
00:03:40And that's Brant's home.
00:03:41But I think Ted Noffey deserves probably to be a slight favorite.
00:03:45Yeah, I would agree with you on that.
00:03:47OK, so now we turn to Santa Anita and the American Pharaoh, a race where Bob Baffert had four of the six starters in there.
00:03:54You figure, OK, it's not a matter of who's going to win.
00:03:57It's going to be Baffert.
00:03:58Which Baffert?
00:03:59So one of the few times it didn't work out that way, the winner was, I know some people want to call him Entrepido.
00:04:07It's Entrepido.
00:04:10It's Entrepido.
00:04:11So we got that pronunciation right.
00:04:13He really ran a good race, I thought, Randy.
00:04:16The horse that I was very high on was Desert Gate because he ran so well in the Del Mar Futurity.
00:04:22As a matter of fact, I think you and I both agree that he was probably the best horse in that race.
00:04:26I expected him to come back and really show off and be the winner of this race.
00:04:31But he had to settle for second.
00:04:33The Entrepido was trained by Jeff Mullins, a very improving horse, beat Desert Gate by three quarters of a length.
00:04:41You know, I don't know what the lineup for the I don't think he's going to be better at the horse than Ted Noffey or Brand.
00:04:46But he's no slouch either.
00:04:48I wouldn't be shocked if he won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile.
00:04:51I mean, given all the trouble the Desert Gate had to overcome to finish second to Brandt in the Del Mar Futurity,
00:04:57I was a little disappointed that he didn't come back and win the American Pharoah.
00:05:03I guess Juan Hernandez's hand was forced by the draw.
00:05:08He drew the number one post position.
00:05:09So they went to the early lead.
00:05:11And I know Baffert had four of the six starters in there.
00:05:14But, Bill, what really surprised me was to look out there and see Mike Smith on Christofferson almost head and head with Desert Gate in the first part of the race.
00:05:26And they weren't walking.
00:05:27The quarter was in 22.83.
00:05:30The half was in 46.76.
00:05:34Christofferson, who had a big debut win, was the second favorite behind Desert Gate.
00:05:39And there, Baffert's two favorites were dueling with each other early in the race.
00:05:43I mean, they went fast enough that Christofferson backed up and finished last.
00:05:48He didn't, you know, he was beaten a pretty long way in six.
00:05:51Desert Gate held on gamely until the very end when Intrepido came and got him.
00:05:56But I thought the early exertions by Desert Gate, forced by stablemate Christofferson, really sort of sunk the favorite in there.
00:06:05But still, I agree with you.
00:06:07I mean, I think you would have, even though Desert Gate probably should have beaten Brandt and the Delmar Futurity, I think you would have to rate him no better than third behind Ted Noffey and Brandt for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile.
00:06:20And we're going to talk about the Champagne here in just a minute.
00:06:23And that horse needs to be discussed, too.
00:06:24All right.
00:06:25Well, the horse that won the Champagne is Napoleon Solo.
00:06:29But I think you probably want to talk about It's Our Time.
00:06:32Another one of the horses that was running this weekend that I thought, after the 17 and three-quarter length win in a maiden race, fast buyer.
00:06:40The sky's the limit for this horse, for Tom Amos.
00:06:44He didn't have it.
00:06:45He ran fourth as the two to five favorite.
00:06:48Napoleon Solo got a 94 buyer.
00:06:50I haven't seen Tom Amos offer up any excuses.
00:06:52He's not going to the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, which would make a lot of sense.
00:06:56But, Randy, what did you make of his performance?
00:06:58What did you make of the race?
00:06:59Oh, I thought his performance was outstanding.
00:07:03Now, there are some buyer speed figures of any kind, speed figures of any kind.
00:07:08You have to look and focus on how the number was earned.
00:07:13And you're a horse player.
00:07:14Everybody else out there, I mean, you understand that there are big buyers that are earned with very sanitary.
00:07:23Very easy, very advantageous trips that you kind of downgrade a little bit mentally.
00:07:28And you kind of take those buyers with a grain of salt.
00:07:30And then there are the ones in which you say, okay, this horse is probably better than his buyer speed figure just because of the way the race was run.
00:07:39Okay.
00:07:39Even though Napoleon Solo got a 94, he's better than a 94.
00:07:44He went his second quarter, second quarter.
00:07:48And it's down a straightaway.
00:07:50All right.
00:07:50It's a one-turn mile.
00:07:51But still, he went his opening quarter in 22.53.
00:07:55The half, 44.24.
00:07:59They scorched through that second quarter.
00:08:02Scorched.
00:08:02And that's what killed It's Our Time.
00:08:04He kept up with Napoleon Solo during that very fast second quarter.
00:08:09And he was done by the time they hit to the top of the stretch.
00:08:12Napoleon Solo opens up and wins by six and a half.
00:08:16Now, other than It's Our Time, the competition behind Napoleon Solo probably wasn't the greatest.
00:08:23And you know the pace is going to be pretty quick out at Del Mar with the Baffert two-year-olds and whoever else goes in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile.
00:08:31I don't think Ted Noffi will be on the pace.
00:08:34But it was an outstanding performance, minded Napoleon Solo, who was the son of Liam's Map out of a scat daddy mare.
00:08:43You know, distance would seem to be okay, going around two turns at a mile and a sixteenth.
00:08:50So, look, I think Napoleon Solo stamped himself as a very legitimate contender at Del Mar.
00:08:57Interesting.
00:08:58So, let's talk now about the Alcibiades at Keeneland, which is run on Friday, one of the stranger races of the weekend.
00:09:04And Tommy Joe was the big hope from Spendthrift Farms, just like Randy had mentioned that Ted Noffi was the big hope for Spendthrift Farms and the Breeders' Futurity.
00:09:14She did win, but it had to be through a disqualification.
00:09:18Very obvious call.
00:09:20That's about the least controversial DQ you'll ever see.
00:09:23Nobody in their right mind would have thought that Percy's Bar should have stayed up.
00:09:26But, Randy, I will say this, even though she officially won the race, she didn't look the same to me as she did when she was winning the spin away.
00:09:36And matter of fact, if Percy Barr didn't come out and bother her, I'm not entirely sure she would have got by her anyways.
00:09:42Oh, she wouldn't have.
00:09:44I'm convinced.
00:09:46In this race, Percy's Bar was the best horse.
00:09:49Now, I don't beef with the disqualification because it was a pretty dramatic duck out by Percy's Bar.
00:09:55Although Tommy Joe was lugging in herself throughout much of the stretch, but still, I mean, that was too obvious to ignore.
00:10:03And it's just unfortunate for, you know, for LeJuan Machado and for Percy's Bar and the connections of Percy's Bar that they have the best horse in the race and don't win.
00:10:12But I was disappointed in the race as a whole.
00:10:15It was a fast pace.
00:10:17Percy's Bar was game holding on.
00:10:19But in my opinion, while we have, I think, an above average group of two-year-olds or average at the worst compared to what they usually are going into the Breeders' Cup,
00:10:32I think we've got a below average crop of two-year-old fillies based on what I've seen so far.
00:10:38I was disappointed that Tommy Joe didn't settle any better than she did, even behind a fast pace.
00:10:45She was really keen going into the first turn, and I know that has to concern Todd Pletcher.
00:10:51But, you know, she ran well in defeat, but I don't think she's going to be the favorite in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile fillies.
00:11:00Yeah, not off that performance.
00:11:02I wouldn't think so.
00:11:03All right, so let's move on now to the frisette.
00:11:05And, Randy, you talked about the weakness of this division.
00:11:09On the show last week, you thought that this race you had mentioned, maybe in an email exchange with me, I don't know if you said it on the show,
00:11:15but you thought the frisette was the weakest of the weakest.
00:11:19It was won by Iron Orchard by a nose.
00:11:21Nice New York bread, three for three.
00:11:23Do you see anything in this race to change your mind?
00:11:25I don't.
00:11:26Buyer's speed figure, 79.
00:11:28Now, you know, 79, you hear that, and you say, oh, wow.
00:11:32I mean, of course, there's no chance at the Breeders' Cup.
00:11:34But then, you know, the top two-year-old Philly speed figure at the Breeders' Cup is going to be in the low 80s.
00:11:40So, it really doesn't rate that far behind.
00:11:43It just sort of is a demonstration of the overall weakness right now in the two-year-old Philly division.
00:11:48Danny Gargan, a really good job with Iron Orchard.
00:11:51Another New York bread you mentioned, like rhetorical.
00:11:53So, a big weekend for the New York bread.
00:11:55She just barely beats a 34-1 shot Riley Toll in a head bob.
00:12:01And now, she's got to go two turns, obviously, at the Breeders' Cup.
00:12:04So, you know, she'll be a long shot, I think.
00:12:06She'll be 10-1 or so.
00:12:09Well, I don't think Explorer will be 10-1.
00:12:12This is the horse that won the Oak Leaf for Bob Baffert.
00:12:15He had two in there.
00:12:16She was a little bit of a disappointment in the Del Mar debutante in her prior start,
00:12:20where she was beaten by Baffert's stablemate, who was not in the Oak Leaf.
00:12:25On paper, this race didn't look that strong to me.
00:12:28But she did win by four and a quarter.
00:12:30She is trained by Baffert.
00:12:32I'm sure she'll take a lot of money at Del Mar.
00:12:34Matter of fact, I'll ask you the same question.
00:12:36Is she going to be the favorite?
00:12:37I think she will.
00:12:38Well, you know, you've got the Baffert factor winning the key prep at Santa Anita by four
00:12:45and a quarter lengths as the two to five favorite.
00:12:48Tommy Joe not finishing very well in the Alcibiades and trying to lug in and not relaxing.
00:12:54I think it kind of all adds up to Explorer being the favorite and Tommy Joe probably being
00:12:59the second favorite.
00:13:00I thought that one of the keys to Explorer in turning the table on her Baffert-trained
00:13:05stablemate that beat her at Del Mar was the blinkers-off angle.
00:13:09You know, Bob wanted to get her to relax a little bit more.
00:13:12Explorer had been on the lead in her two previous races, and this time with Hernandez.
00:13:17She was close, but she settled outside.
00:13:20I think she was third, maybe a length and a half back, length or a length and a half back,
00:13:23which doesn't sound like a lot.
00:13:25But the pace was quick.
00:13:27She was nice off the pace.
00:13:29She went on, finished up nicely, drew off.
00:13:32Buyer speed figure 83.
00:13:34You know, you're not breaking watches here.
00:13:36But within this two-year-old Philly division, I think that probably rates the highest.
00:13:43Nice to see the three amigos back in action with the Breeders' Cup favorite.
00:13:48Mike Pegram, Carl Watson, Paul Whiteman have been obviously partners in a lot of really,
00:13:53really good horses over the years at the Breeders' Cup, even with Midnight Lute going back a long way.
00:13:59But yeah, nice to see the three amigos back with Baffert with the Breeders' Cup favorite.
00:14:04All right, so we'll see how that horse performs in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Phillies.
00:14:10The TDN Riders Room was brought to you by Keeneland, who saw five of their sales graduates
00:14:14take home grade one glory on Saturday.
00:14:17And they were Ted Noffi in the Claiborne Breeders' Futurity, Napoleon Solo in the Champagne,
00:14:22Simply in Front in the First Lady, Iron Orchard in the Frisette, and Intrepido in the American Pharaoh.
00:14:27And the sales company announced that they will be offering a lifetime breeding right
00:14:31to the Red Hot Sire Nyquist at the championship sale on the Del Mar Paddock Wednesday, October 29th.
00:14:37We'll be right back after this message from Keeneland.
00:14:41Ladies and gentlemen, Keeneland welcomes you to the inaugural championship sale
00:14:47for this one-of-a-kind sales event right here at the center of the world championships.
00:14:53Your opportunity to play at the highest level is about to begin.
00:14:59Welcome to the Keeneland Championship Sale.
00:15:02The fastest sources of the week brought to you by the fast sires at Windstar Farm.
00:15:15And since we're talking about last Saturday's champagne steaks, let's talk about a champagne
00:15:20winner standing at Windstar.
00:15:22That would be Timberlake.
00:15:24Timberlake, when he won his champagne, won it by a margin of four and a quarter lengths.
00:15:29The future eventual two-year-old champion of that year, Fierceness, was back in the pack
00:15:35in that champagne.
00:15:36And in that race, Timberlake got a buyer speed figure of 93.
00:15:40The other champagne-winning son of Into Mischief, practical joke, when he won his champagne,
00:15:46got a buyer of only 88.
00:15:48And Timberlake is one of only two sons of Into Mischief at stud with a grade one win
00:15:54as a two-year-old.
00:15:55Now, the fastest horse of the week flew under the radar just a little bit this past weekend.
00:16:01But I have a feeling he won't when we get to the Breeders' Cup at Del Mar.
00:16:05I'm talking about Rated by Merit.
00:16:09Remember that name?
00:16:10That was the horse that swept through the In Reality Stallion series at Gulfstream Park
00:16:15as a two-year-old before he went down with bone bruising.
00:16:18He was a perfect four for four as a two-year-old.
00:16:21Her trainer, Michael Yates, won all his races by Open Links, owned by Vinny Viola, a product
00:16:26of Viola's Stallion Battalion Runner.
00:16:28We talked about this horse a lot on the podcast as a two-year-old.
00:16:32Well, he made his three-year-old debut on Saturday at Belmont at Aqueduct in the Discovery
00:16:37Stakes.
00:16:38And he won again.
00:16:40And he won with a buyer speed figure of 105, the fastest of the week.
00:16:45And new trainer, Chad Brown, will now be pointing Rated by Merit for the Breeders' Cup Dirt
00:16:51Mile, where he's expected to face the likes of defending champ Full Serrano, Nysos, and
00:16:57Patch Adams.
00:16:58But for now, Rated by Merit, our fastest horse of the week.
00:17:06Welcome in now to Gainesway Guest of the Week and his trainer, Will Walden, who had a big
00:17:10weekend at Keeneland.
00:17:11Will, thanks for joining us.
00:17:13And the story out of Keeneland for you this weekend was that you picked up your first ever
00:17:18Grade 1 winner with Rhetorical in the Coolmore Turf Mile.
00:17:22Considering you've only been training for a few years, get your first Grade 1, you got
00:17:26a good stable, a lot of good horses.
00:17:28You must be ecstatic about how things are going, particularly with the Grade 1.
00:17:32Yeah, absolutely.
00:17:33Thanks for having me.
00:17:35No, that was really exciting.
00:17:36It's something that myself, as well as the rest of my team, we all, it's why we show
00:17:43up every day, is we want to win at the highest level and be around high-caliber horses.
00:17:51We love every single one of them, no matter what they compete at.
00:17:54But obviously, to win a Grade 1 at Keeneland, it was special.
00:17:58So the story on Rhetorical, for those that may not be aware, is that he's a New York-bred
00:18:06who had been running primarily against New York-bred competition.
00:18:09You've been very patient with bringing him up through the ranks.
00:18:12He'd been dominating, just dominating every New York-bred stakes race and New York-bred
00:18:17allowance race he ran in.
00:18:19And he wins now, stepping up against a Grade 1 competition.
00:18:22On our NBC telecast after the race, I loved your quote.
00:18:27You said, you felt like you were leading over American Pharoah to the Arkansas Derby.
00:18:31Were you that confident and rhetorical going into the Coolmore Turf Mile?
00:18:37I'd said the same thing to Adam Wachtell like a week before.
00:18:40So there is evidence that I felt that way prior to the race and didn't just, you know,
00:18:46fall on hindsight was 20-20.
00:18:49No, it was funny, like Andy Serling, I think, kind of laughed me out of the telecast when
00:18:56I said I was going to run him in the Woodbine Mile after he won the West Point.
00:19:00Or I think it was after he won the Open, too, other than he said that was a bold move.
00:19:05And I was half joking, even though it was an option.
00:19:10We had talked about it.
00:19:11But this horse just required a lot of time, kind of from the time I got him all the way
00:19:19up till now and has, you know, forces to be patient.
00:19:23But, you know, I think, I don't know, my training career, I try to, I've been blessed to work
00:19:34for so many good people, so many good, outstanding horsemen, to name a few, like Todd Pletcher,
00:19:41Bill Mott, Wesley Ward.
00:19:43I never worked for Brad Cox, but I've certainly learned a lot from him, training alongside
00:19:51McKeanlon and Churchill in Turfway and spending a lot of time with him.
00:19:56My wife works for him.
00:19:59So, each horse, you know, there are certain horses, obviously, you train and you think,
00:20:05wow, this guy, i.e. Todd Pletcher or Bill Mott or Brad would have done really well with.
00:20:12And I always felt like this was a Bill Mott type of horse.
00:20:16And so, I just tried to, I tried to make the decisions based on what would Bill do.
00:20:21And Bill wouldn't jump him into a stake too early.
00:20:24He'd space his races out.
00:20:27He'd wait for the horse to mature and come along.
00:20:31And that's what we did.
00:20:33So, I mean, you can thank Bill Mott for rhetorical progression.
00:20:39But, no, you know, coming into this race, Saratoga beat him up a little bit.
00:20:44I wasn't, this was the Coolmore turf mile once we mapped out our Saratoga plan between Everett,
00:20:52Gary, and Adam and I.
00:20:54The Coolmore turf mile was the plan.
00:20:57After the West Point, he was doing good, but I'd seen him do better.
00:21:02And we moved him back to Churchill.
00:21:03We had, we were done, we had come to the end of the meet at Saratoga.
00:21:07So, we vacated that division and dispersed him throughout Turfway and Churchill.
00:21:11He came to Churchill and he was there about 10 days and, you know, all the metrics we use
00:21:18to identify where our horses are at, i.e. appetite, training, the way they look on the road, coat,
00:21:28look in their eye.
00:21:29His, we're just, you know, traveling north in a rapid degree.
00:21:35And then we put him back on the work tab and he's got an excellent kid that rides him out
00:21:43every day named Edgar Quinteros, extremely talented rider.
00:21:48And I use Edgar a lot to bounce things off of because he's such a talented horseman, not just rider.
00:21:56And, you know, I kept asking him, does it feel as good as it looks?
00:22:01And, um, he's worked for a couple other big outfits and been on some nice horses.
00:22:06And, um, he just kept saying, yeah, I mean, this horse is just better and better each week.
00:22:11And that's what it looked like.
00:22:13Um, so it gave us the confidence to take a swing.
00:22:17Uh, the real panic set in on Saturday, the Saturday before we entered Monday is they told
00:22:24me they didn't think I was going to get in because he's a New York bred.
00:22:28He only had New York bred steak earnings, which is like, it's just above allowance earnings
00:22:33pretty much.
00:22:34Um, so I didn't eat for three days.
00:22:38I was able to fit into that suit nice on Saturday because I did a little fasting prior to, um,
00:22:44cause I thought I told Adam, I said, if he gets in this race, I'll feel like I'm leading
00:22:48American Pharaoh over for the, for the Arkansas Derby.
00:22:53And, uh, anyways, he got in and he did the rest.
00:22:56Now, so there's been mental maturity too, right?
00:22:59Because you told us a lot about his one loss to date and the, the fit that he threw pre
00:23:07race before that.
00:23:09Yeah.
00:23:10He was a nightmare that day in the paddock and, you know, it's oftentimes like I kind
00:23:17of almost look at him as a three-year-old right now because it's kind of how many races
00:23:21he's run.
00:23:21And when he was a three-year-old almost looked at him like a two-year-old, um, he just got
00:23:27started so late and then usually you don't worry about him as much lead them over for
00:23:32the first time because there's a lot of shock and awe in their attention.
00:23:36So gravitated towards the people and, and the sites they've never seen that they don't
00:23:44usually, if they have a tendency to be, uh, bad actors or to lose their composure, cool
00:23:51in any way that kind of gets dissuaded.
00:23:53Um, their first time over there, the second time over there is when you got to look out
00:23:58and we brought him over for the second time, even though we had schooled him.
00:24:03Um, he just, he was bananas in there and, uh, everything from the time he got into the
00:24:10paddock till breaking bad from the gate to being ranked into the first turn.
00:24:15He was just, and it's just because he's got an appetite for racing.
00:24:18Like he wants to do it.
00:24:20He loves the game and, uh, he broke bad and all his peers leave him away from there.
00:24:25And he, I read, I think had to sit down on him into the first turn of that race.
00:24:30And I thought he still ran a game race in defeat really.
00:24:35Um, but we've just had to bring him along slowly, you know, and it's look, it's, it's,
00:24:40he's not this time over distorted humor.
00:24:43It's storm cat over distorted humor.
00:24:45And that's a bloodline that runs hot on either side, let alone when you combine them both
00:24:50together.
00:24:50So will the next step obviously would be the breeders cup mile.
00:24:56The waters were deep in the cool more turf mile, but they get even deeper come to the
00:25:01breeders cup.
00:25:02Will you go over in the breeders cup mile and feel like you're leading American Pharaoh
00:25:06over for the, for the Arkansas Derby?
00:25:09We'll see how he trains up in between.
00:25:11Um, he came out of the race great and he's doing well now.
00:25:14You're right.
00:25:15And it's, it's going to be deeper waters.
00:25:16I do believe, um, tactically because of how tactically he is, he will suit that turf course
00:25:23pretty well.
00:25:23I believe, um, I think that turf course will, in style of running, I'll suit him.
00:25:29It's a short stretch, which doesn't necessarily favor all Europeans, but I do think it will
00:25:34favor this horse.
00:25:38Well, you'll have some group one Europeans in the field at the breeders cup, but you beat
00:25:42a group one European in the cool more mile and Diego Velasquez and beat him pretty handily.
00:25:46Uh, elsewhere this past weekend, it wasn't just rhetorical.
00:25:51I mean, you had a speed shopper who finished second out in California in the Rodeo drive.
00:25:58Uh, and then Gordon pass ran third in the bourbon.
00:26:02So what, what is your breeders cup roster looking like right now?
00:26:07Speed shopper?
00:26:08Is he likely?
00:26:11Uh, speed shopper is probably not going to go.
00:26:13Um, that race, I believe the Rodeo drive came up significantly lighter than the breeders
00:26:20cup, Philly American turf would.
00:26:22Um, and now it, I think it'd be an easy decision if she'd want to win your end, but I don't
00:26:29know that we'd, we got to pay to ship her home and then pay to fire, fly her back with
00:26:35all the fees that, that incur.
00:26:37She's lightly raced.
00:26:38Um, we thought that, that trip out there went extremely well.
00:26:44Um, looks like she'll run on as a five-year-old and just don't want to, just don't want to
00:26:50ask too much.
00:26:51If she's meant to go to the breeders cup, we think it'll be in 2026, probably not 2025.
00:26:56All right.
00:26:59I don't know.
00:27:00You're winning, you're winning 25% on the year.
00:27:03You have the one grade one is the bar as high as it's ever going to be, or are you going
00:27:07to set the bar is the goal to set the bar higher starting with next year?
00:27:12Yeah.
00:27:12I mean, the goal in life, uh, is always to keep moving forward.
00:27:17And, um, you know, we're extremely pleased with how this year has gone, but we have goals
00:27:26that are, you know, um, bigger than that.
00:27:30And we want to just, uh, I think as a team, as a collective want to, you know, we want to
00:27:36train on Saturdays.
00:27:37We want to have, um, we love racing, so we want as much action as possible.
00:27:42And, um, you know, I think there's, there's more out there to conquer and, um, I'd be lying
00:27:49to you if I said we were satisfied.
00:27:53So your father, of course, Elliot Walden, uh, is at Windstar Farm.
00:27:57Uh, and I read somewhere that, uh, in your younger days, you actually got on distorted humor when
00:28:06he was a stallion and, uh, exercised him occasionally over at Windstar.
00:28:12Uh, you mentioned how hot he ran as a racehorse.
00:28:15Uh, how was he as a stallion and what was it like to get on him in the mornings?
00:28:20Uh, I also broke two-year-olds in yearlings over at Windstar and several other places and
00:28:26riding him as a 23-year-old was much more difficult than breaking any yearling I ever had to break.
00:28:33Really?
00:28:33Uh, yeah, he, I mean, full lather, um, every day.
00:28:38Uh, but it wasn't like a, it wasn't an anxiety.
00:28:41Like I didn't, I didn't blame him for doing it.
00:28:43Like it was really good exercise.
00:28:45But I mean, as soon as you through, as soon as you tighten the girth on that horse, you
00:28:49had to be really, really still.
00:28:50Like you'd ride, they've got a, they've got two big paddocks, um, stallion size paddocks
00:28:57that are probably, I don't know, maybe an acre each.
00:29:02And then they've got a fence that goes around the perimeter of those paddocks.
00:29:06So it's like a little grass track.
00:29:09Um, and if you moved an inch on him, he'd go bananas.
00:29:13He'd just blow up underneath you.
00:29:15And, um, he was, he was really interesting to ride.
00:29:20It was a cool relationship to be.
00:29:21It was really, it was like, you know, it was like hanging out with one of your star athletes.
00:29:24Like I grew up, like he was, he's almost the same age as me, you know?
00:29:29And, um, you know, to be able to go out there and, and, and do that with him, uh, three or
00:29:35four times a week, it was a lot of fun, but he definitely ran pretty hot.
00:29:39Do you think most stallions enjoy being ridden or is it just sort of a nuisance to them?
00:29:45No, I think they enjoy it.
00:29:47I think, you know, I think it's a part of their, it's in their DNA.
00:29:51And I think it's such a, they, if they identify with it so much, right.
00:29:57From, from their track life, like they obviously like in order to be as good a racehorses as
00:30:03they had to be in order to stand somewhere for the fees they have to stand for, they had
00:30:09to be pretty good on the racetrack.
00:30:10And that had to be a positive experience.
00:30:13So I do think when you throw the saddle on their back, you can feel them kind of swell
00:30:18up underneath you.
00:30:19I think it's good to get that blood circulating the way it does when they, when they get excited.
00:30:24And to be honest, most of them were, most of the ones I got on were, were complete gentlemen
00:30:30and, and anything, any kind of rare, you know, any kind of bad actors we had, there, there
00:30:37were some that we didn't ride because we felt like we didn't ride every stallion just to
00:30:41ride every stallion.
00:30:42We, there were some that stayed in the barn because we didn't feel like they enjoyed it.
00:30:46We didn't feel like it was positive for them.
00:30:48Anybody that acted up, it was, it was merely just, they were playing around.
00:30:52They were enjoying themselves.
00:30:54It wasn't because they didn't want to be, we didn't feel like it was because they didn't
00:30:57want to be doing what they were doing.
00:31:00All right.
00:31:01Will, you've been very open about your past history and your substance abuse problems.
00:31:06Obviously you're doing much better, if not perfect, I would imagine right now.
00:31:11But Frank Taylor put together this program, Stable Recovery, which you were involved with in
00:31:16the very beginning.
00:31:17And could you just speak to the good this has done for not just Will Walden, but for people
00:31:23on the backstretch, people trying to overcome their own problems?
00:31:27It seems like he's working miracles.
00:31:30Yeah, absolutely.
00:31:33Frank Taylor and Christian Counselor are the ones that, that founded Stable Recovery.
00:31:39And I'm trying to think out, Christian ran the program that I went through.
00:31:47I was a part of the inaugural Stable Recovery group, but I actually got sober in a different
00:31:54house that, that Christian was running.
00:31:56And they used to, I remember everybody used to say, when I would tell them where I was,
00:32:00what, what facility I was at, they would say, oh, that's Black Belt Recovery over there.
00:32:04Um, meaning they took it very serious.
00:32:10And I think Stable Recovery's got a really good peer-driven, um, peer-held accountable
00:32:19program, um, where it's a big group of guys and everybody's given some responsibility over
00:32:28there.
00:32:28And they're given responsibility to hold their brother to their left and to their right
00:32:33and check and hold them accountable.
00:32:36And I think when you've got brothers in arms walking through something, it's way stronger
00:32:41than trying to walk through it by yourself.
00:32:43And then you add the equine component, um, which I've seen personally melt the hardest of
00:32:52hearts, um, and break men down into just, you know, getting in touch with a side of themselves
00:32:59that they've never been in touch with before having in a really long time, probably since
00:33:03childhood.
00:33:05Um, you add both those things together, uh, and you create this brotherhood that's surrounded
00:33:11with this, um, everyday mission to take care of this, this beast, right?
00:33:20This, this horse that, uh, that requires attention requires detail, um, requires a tenderness that
00:33:29maybe these guys aren't used to having or even being shown.
00:33:34Um, and it's this really unique environment that I think people feel safe in, um, and it's
00:33:42not to mention it's in a, it's in a beautiful part of Nicholasville, Kentucky.
00:33:47Um, the guys aren't locked down 24 seven, you know, there's freedom there as well.
00:33:52But, um, the guys that are, that are staff over there and the graduates that come around,
00:33:59I go around and hang out there.
00:34:01It's just this, it's just, this, this trauma bonding, like unique brotherhood that I don't,
00:34:08it's really tough to put into words.
00:34:10I hope I'm, I'm doing it justice, but I would advise anyone that's, um, that's struggling
00:34:17or, you know, feels like there's nobody that understands.
00:34:22Um, I had to do it too.
00:34:24You can raise the white flag and, and ask for help and, and there will be, there will
00:34:30be a guy, there will be a team of guys that rally around you, um, and let you know that
00:34:35not only can you get through it, but here's how.
00:34:39And we'll also, um, at the very beginning, I know you hired several stable recovery people
00:34:45to work for you.
00:34:46Do you still have a bunch of them and what are their roles?
00:34:49I don't have a bunch.
00:34:50We've got one guy right now, his name's, uh, Jeremy Fennell and he gallops and acts as
00:34:58a foreman slash assistant for us at Turfway.
00:35:01He's kind of a Swiss army knife.
00:35:03Um, he was a quarter horse jockey out West and a bunch of bush tracks out there.
00:35:08Um, really talented hand on the back of a horse.
00:35:11But, um, as Jeremy made it through stable recovery and came to me, you know, he just came as,
00:35:18as an exercise rider and as he's progressed in his personal life, he's also wanted to
00:35:24progress in his personal, in his professional life as well.
00:35:27And so he's taken on added responsibility.
00:35:29He was on rhetoricals head in the, uh, in the wind picture of the Coolmore turf mile.
00:35:34Um, he was the gentleman holding rhetorical.
00:35:37And, uh, he was also, he galloped Minaret station last year when he went out to the Breeders
00:35:42cup and, um, he's a really valuable member of the team as well as, you know, a lot of
00:35:48women and men that aren't in recovery, um, are to us, but Jeremy's the only guy we have
00:35:54right now.
00:35:55Um, usually towards the spring when Keeneland comes around, because it's so much closer
00:36:01to, that's also a tricky thing about, you know, you, if they go up to turf where they
00:36:09go to Churchill, you kind of pull these guys that are new in recovery from the only support
00:36:14group and network that they know, which is centered around Lexington.
00:36:17So generally we bulk up on stable recovery guys.
00:36:20When we go to Keeneland for the spring and stay there through the summer.
00:36:24Um, and that's just, that's more as much for them as it is, uh, anything.
00:36:30Right.
00:36:31Well, I'm good.
00:36:31Thank you so much, Will.
00:36:33You were really good and, uh, really looking forward to seeing how you do in the Breeders
00:36:36Cup.
00:36:37It's going to be exciting.
00:36:38I appreciate it, Bill.
00:36:39Randy, thank you very much for having me.
00:36:42Our guest of the week, Will Walden was brought to you by Gainesway home this year to a new
00:36:47stallion in Chargett.
00:36:49And Chargett has been a busy boy in his first year at Stud.
00:36:53He covered 235 mares.
00:36:58So he was very popular with the Breeders and why not?
00:37:00He topped triple digit buyer mark on four different occasions, including that trademark
00:37:06win in the Dwyer.
00:37:08Remember he won by 23 lengths in that race and got a buyer of 111, but he also ran a
00:37:14106 in the suburban stakes, the highest figure of anyone going that mile and a quarter distance
00:37:19back in 2023.
00:37:20The dam of Chargett, I'll take charge.
00:37:23It was a $2.2 million Keeneland September yearling, and she passed on those good looks to her son.
00:37:29So Chargett's got pedigree, he's got brilliance, and he's got the looks.
00:37:34Gainesway, power, passion, performance.
00:37:37Chargett is pouring it on, winning the Dwyer by the length of the stretch.
00:37:55Chargett wins it convincingly in this grade two suburban.
00:37:58Well, Intrepido stamped his ticket to the Breeders' Cup Juvenile with a win in Saturday's Grade
00:38:13One American Pharoah Stakes at Santa Anita.
00:38:15Zoe Cabin, who's on assignment for us right now at Ocala, talked to his owners, Ruben
00:38:20Islas and Michelle Arthur after the race.
00:38:29Ownership groom of Intrepido.
00:38:31Now, he had a different name when you guys bought him.
00:38:33How did we come up with this name?
00:38:35I came up with the name because I wanted the name Intrepid, and I don't know if you ever
00:38:39heard from your Spanish teacher that Ropa Dome in Rope and Sopa Dome in Soap.
00:38:43Well, apparently, if you put an O on Intrepid, it becomes Intrepido, and Intrepid was taken.
00:38:50So I was like, I want this horse is Intrepid, and so I became Intrepido.
00:38:54You guys have had such success.
00:38:57I know you credited Mike Panda.
00:38:58How did you find these horses?
00:39:00He's talented.
00:39:01He's a genius.
00:39:01I am a tiger.
00:39:02That's Mike.
00:39:04All right, so how excited are you?
00:39:05Like, you are up against three Bafferts.
00:39:07You win the race.
00:39:08We're watching the race right here.
00:39:10I mean, what were your thoughts when you saw him coming down the lane?
00:39:13I knew that he could do that.
00:39:16I really did.
00:39:17I was just incredibly nervous looking at the odds on the board, but he did it, and when
00:39:23he finished, he looked like he had more, you know.
00:39:25More to go.
00:39:26More to go.
00:39:27I told Mike before the race, I said, here's what's going to happen.
00:39:31He's going to break, right?
00:39:32He's going to be doing really well.
00:39:33He's going to come out.
00:39:33He's going to be second.
00:39:34He's going to get jammed up a little bit.
00:39:36He's going to hold back, but he's going to finish strong at the end.
00:39:38That's exactly what happened.
00:39:40You guys excited to go to Brita's Cup?
00:39:41Yes.
00:39:42It's 20 minutes from our house, so it's perfect.
00:39:45Fabulous.
00:39:45You might get a plus one there, too.
00:39:47I'm coming.
00:39:49All right.
00:39:49There's room at the end.
00:39:51I'll be there.
00:39:51Enjoy your champagne.
00:39:53Thank you so much.
00:39:54Cheers.
00:39:55Well done.
00:39:55Cheers.
00:39:56Intrepido.
00:39:56Intrepido.
00:39:57From Saturday, October 11th through Sunday, the 19th, come out and celebrate Oktoberfest
00:40:08at Santa Anita.
00:40:09Two weekends packed to the brim with Bavarian food, live music and entertainment, including
00:40:14cornhole, keg rolling, and stein-holding competition.
00:40:17I'm not sure what that is, stein-holding competition, but it sounds like fun and a costume contest.
00:40:23Sounds like fun indeed.
00:40:24Come on out to Santa Anita.
00:40:27Let's now talk, move on from the juvenile divisions to the other big races who were
00:40:30run over the weekend.
00:40:31We'll start with the spinster, and you can't help but not like Thorpedo Anna.
00:40:36She was horse of the year.
00:40:38Kenny McPeak, you know, was so ambitious with her, ran her in the Traverse, ran a great race.
00:40:43She did not have it at all.
00:40:47She was up close early, looked like she might have a chance, tired badly to finish fourth.
00:40:52And, Randy, I think there were some hints before this race.
00:40:56She was still a good horse.
00:40:58She just didn't have that kind of dominance that she had as a three-year-old.
00:41:03I know she won the Fleur d'Elia, grade one.
00:41:05But in some of her other races, she just didn't look like the old Thorpedo Anna.
00:41:11I talked to Ken McPeak the other day.
00:41:13He's definitely not going in the Breeders' Cup class.
00:41:15And it says it's likely that she'll be retired, which will be the right thing to do with her.
00:41:22The winner in that race was Jin Jin, who won by a head over the three-year-old Nitrogen.
00:41:28Jin Jin, to show the difference between Thorpedo Anna in her prior start and in this race,
00:41:35Jin Jin finished fourth beating nine and a half lengths by Thorpedo Anna and the Fleur d'Elia.
00:41:40So, real, I guess, Jin Jin improved, and Thorpedo Anna obviously ran one of the four races of her prior.
00:41:47We've seen it before so many times with top, top-class female racehorses over the decades
00:41:54that can be just absolutely, incredibly dominant.
00:41:57And then when they decide that they're done with the sport
00:42:01and they don't really have enthusiasm about running anymore,
00:42:04their form can just completely deteriorate.
00:42:07I mean, there have been so many good fillies that this has happened to.
00:42:09And you're right.
00:42:10I mean, you saw some hints during the year with Thorpedo Anna.
00:42:14She wins at Oak Lawn, but her numbers weren't as good as they were in the Breeders' Cup and earlier.
00:42:20And then she runs a dud race at Churchill Downs with no apparent excuse.
00:42:24She did rebound a little bit when she won the personal incident and got a good number.
00:42:28But honestly, if that race had been a couple of jumps farther, she was going to lose that, right?
00:42:34I mean, Darth Vader was really running at her hard and was going to go by her if the race had been a little bit longer.
00:42:40So she just, she was a no-show.
00:42:42She had a good trip and just decided that she was done at the top of the lane.
00:42:47And if you look at the race on paper and you, okay, we're going to take out Thorpedo Anna,
00:42:51you know, who's the most likely winner?
00:42:53At that point, you would probably say Scylla or Nitrogen.
00:42:56But I thought Luis Saez rode a hell of a race on Jin Jin, right?
00:43:02Just put her on the lead.
00:43:04There's not a ton of early speed in there, really.
00:43:06I thought Scylla might go to the lead, but, you know, Junior Alvarado, obviously,
00:43:11that was not the strategy for Martin Alvarado.
00:43:14And so the lead was wide open at that point.
00:43:17And Saez, as he is wont to do, aggressively took it.
00:43:21And that was the difference in the race.
00:43:23It came down to a dramatic head bob between Jin Jin and Nitrogen.
00:43:27And Jin Jin got the bob.
00:43:29Now, you know, being Calumet Farm, they like to run in all the big races,
00:43:33which I think is one reason why she was, what, 18 to 1?
00:43:37Yeah, 18 to 1.
00:43:38I think I said this on the NBC telecast.
00:43:40When a lot of people see a Calumet Farm long shot, they just think,
00:43:43oh, this is just Calumet throwing mud against the wall,
00:43:45hoping something will stick in a big race.
00:43:47And it, you know, it kind of causes people to lose some confidence in those horses.
00:43:52But Jin Jin probably, because she's Calumet for sure,
00:43:56and because she deserves to, will probably go on and run in the Breeders' Cup Distaff.
00:44:00Nitrogen now, Mark Cassie said, she is likely to run in the Distaff as well.
00:44:06Neither one will be favorites.
00:44:08Bob Baffert is loaded right now in California with Seismic Beauty,
00:44:12who I think got a 110 buyer in the Clement Hirsch in her last race,
00:44:17and a triple-digit buyer before that.
00:44:19And she's training very well.
00:44:21And then Cavalieri, who just won her prep last week at Santa Anita,
00:44:27despite breaking poorly from the gate.
00:44:29So Baffert's got a great one-two punch,
00:44:31with Darth Vader also lying in the weeds out there for the Distaff as well.
00:44:36All right, let's turn our attention to the first lady at Keeneland.
00:44:39This is a prep for the Breeders' Cup Philly and Mayor Turf.
00:44:42Chad Brown had won this race the last seven years in a row,
00:44:47and Jeremy Plunk, a very, very good handicapper,
00:44:53came up with a great note on our show.
00:44:55Of the seven straight Chad Brown winners,
00:45:00every one of them was the other Chad Brown,
00:45:03the second choice among the two.
00:45:05So what did I do?
00:45:06I picked the other Chad Brown, who was Suggesta in there,
00:45:09and she ran okay.
00:45:10Didn't embarrass me by any chance.
00:45:12But the winner was Simply in front,
00:45:15coming off a nice win at Kentucky Downs.
00:45:18And you talk about Luis Saez riding a good race.
00:45:21I think a very underrated rider in the United States right now.
00:45:24Is this Ben Curtis?
00:45:25He really looks good to me.
00:45:27So Simply in front, I assume,
00:45:30is on our way to the Breeders' Cup Philly and Mayor Turf.
00:45:32And Chad will have to try to start that streak all over again next year.
00:45:36Yeah.
00:45:37Now, we've seen this over and over throughout the years.
00:45:40But typically, when you have,
00:45:42even in major stakes races and even on the grass,
00:45:45when you have finishes like this, right,
00:45:48Simply in front wins by a neck.
00:45:50Suggesta was a neck in front of Choysha in third,
00:45:53who was a head in front of Deep Satin in fourth,
00:45:55who was a head in front of Pinup Betty in fifth,
00:45:58who was less than a length in front of Heredia in sixth.
00:46:01When they're that closely bunched, okay,
00:46:04it's not like they're all going to run fantastic races at the same time.
00:46:09Typically, that's a result of kind of a mediocre race,
00:46:13where nobody is really running fast enough to completely take charge.
00:46:18And when you look at the numbers for this race,
00:46:20this was a speed figure quandary.
00:46:23Because the first lady on the buyer scale, for example,
00:46:28comes up 16 points slower than the Coolmore Turf Mile.
00:46:34And the Coolmore Turf Mile,
00:46:35you would expect to be run around 100 or in the low 100s.
00:46:40So you subtract 16 from that,
00:46:42and when you get the mid 80s for the first lady.
00:46:45You know, we kind of bumped it up a little bit,
00:46:48you know, gave these horses a little bit extra credit,
00:46:51but still, Simply in front gets a buyer's speed figure of only 91
00:46:55for winning this race.
00:46:57I think they're going to go on and run in the Breeders' Cup Mile,
00:46:59or at least Eddie Keneally is thinking seriously about it.
00:47:04And she's capable of running faster than a 91.
00:47:06She ran a 96 when she almost beat A.G. Bullet,
00:47:09sprinting at six and a half for as long as the Kentucky Downs before that.
00:47:12So she is capable of better, but you're looking at,
00:47:16if they run in the Breeders' Cup, 20 to 1, 30 to 1 for Simply in front.
00:47:23Yeah.
00:47:23It doesn't look like a Breeders' Cup winner is coming out of that race.
00:47:26So back at Santa Anita,
00:47:28the Chilling's Worth was not one of the big grade one races on the card,
00:47:31but it's definitely worth talking about.
00:47:33Tamara is back.
00:47:34She has only run once since the 2023 Breeders' Cup.
00:47:39Obviously has some sort of problems with trainer Dick Mandela.
00:47:42has been dealing with.
00:47:43She, of course, is the daughter of the Great Beholder,
00:47:46and that in and of herself makes her a very popular horse.
00:47:50I don't know if she can run two in a row as good as this,
00:47:55considering that maybe she does have a hole in her somewhere,
00:47:57but she was really good.
00:48:00She won under a hand ride under Mike Smith.
00:48:02And now for the Breeders' Cup Philly and Mayer sprint,
00:48:05we've got the showdown of Mandela versus Mandela,
00:48:09Tamara versus Copia.
00:48:10And that's going to be an awful good race, Randy.
00:48:13Tamara versus Copian versus Sweet Azteca versus Hope Road.
00:48:20Yeah, it's going to be a sensational, sensational race.
00:48:24Tamara has had a series of little setbacks.
00:48:27It's not just one problem.
00:48:28And sickness in there as well.
00:48:31So they've been very patient, the people at Spent Thrift.
00:48:33By the way, what a huge weekend Spent Thrift had.
00:48:36But they've been very patient with Tamara being by Bolt Doro out of Beholder.
00:48:42I mean, she's worth being patient with,
00:48:44and she sure rewarded them with this win.
00:48:47The 95 buyer puts her right in the hunt there.
00:48:50And it's a home game for her in California,
00:48:53so why not run her against Copian and see what happens?
00:48:56Because obviously, she's a Philly with a lot of quality.
00:48:59Over in Japan, there was actually a race that had ramifications for the Breeders' Cup.
00:49:05And it was called the Nippon TV H-I-A.
00:49:09Nippon TV High, I suppose, what it was.
00:49:12But Forever Young, who keeps going back and forth between overseas and back to the States,
00:49:17is being pointed for the Breeders' Cup Classic.
00:49:20And this was his prep.
00:49:21I watched the replay of it, Randy.
00:49:23I didn't really know.
00:49:24It was his first start, by the way, since the Dubai World Cup.
00:49:26I didn't really know what to make of it.
00:49:28First of all, I noticed it wasn't even a graded stakes.
00:49:30It was a listed stakes.
00:49:32So I don't imagine he was running against real stars.
00:49:36Did he impress me?
00:49:37Not really.
00:49:38Was he unimpressive?
00:49:39Not really.
00:49:40Just kind of did what he had to do.
00:49:42Maybe that's what the connections expected from him.
00:49:44Just give him a nice race, tighten the belt, and get ready for the Breeders' Cup.
00:49:48So there's nothing about this race that would discourage me from playing him in the Breeders' Cup.
00:49:52But there was nothing particularly about this race that made me say, oh, wow, watch out for Forever Young.
00:49:57Yeah.
00:49:57It's exactly, I think, what they were hoping for.
00:49:59I don't think they wanted to see some sort of super brilliant effort out of him coming off the bench first time out that might set him back a little bit.
00:50:07I think they just wanted a nice workmanlike win to see that Forever Young is still Forever Young.
00:50:12They wanted a dominant win, but nothing overly, overly dominant.
00:50:17And I think that's exactly what they got.
00:50:18Very similar to his prep last year before he was sent over for the Breeders' Cup Classic, in which he finished third.
00:50:25I think he's being underrated here.
00:50:30I really do, because I said it on NBC, I'll say it again, out of all the dirt races run around the world this year, in my opinion, the fastest, the best dirt race of all was the Saudi Cup, where Forever Young beats Romantic Warrior, thanks to Jamie McDonald's brain fart.
00:50:51I mean, it was a, you know, Romantic Warrior was the best horse, but when they both run a buyer that estimated, approximates a 120, 118, 119, 120, right in that range, I mean, Forever Young stepped into the next level.
00:51:08He really did.
00:51:09He ran an unbelievable race.
00:51:11It took a lot out of him, apparently, because that, plus some pre-race issues with quarantine, meant that in the Dubai World Cup, he didn't run very well at all.
00:51:23I mean, let's face it, I mean, he's, you know, he couldn't beat some, you know, hit show in the Dubai World Cup.
00:51:31So he clearly didn't run nearly the same kind of race he did in the Saudi Cup.
00:51:35But now they've given him time to recuperate.
00:51:38They've given him a nice prep race.
00:51:39If Forever Young can get back to that form in Saudi Arabia, he'll win.
00:51:45He'll win the Breeders' Cup, classic.
00:51:47And unless sovereignty just really takes another huge step forward.
00:51:53And he'll probably be, I mean, what do you think his price will be with all the betting options in there?
00:51:57Six, seven to one.
00:51:59Or higher.
00:52:00Yeah.
00:52:01Because you've got sovereignty, you've got journalism, you've got, you know, you've got fierceness, you've got Sierra Leone,
00:52:06you've got Mindframe, you've got all these horses, you know, with sexy form on paper.
00:52:12And then you've got Forever Young has kind of been, you know, what have you done for me lately?
00:52:15He might be 10 to one in there.
00:52:16I don't know.
00:52:17But he'll be a decent price.
00:52:19And if he runs the Saudi Cup back again, beware.
00:52:24Sounds like Mr. Moss might make a little wager on Forever Young on Breeders' Cup Day, huh?
00:52:28Well, you know, it's a little bit like rhetorical in the Coolmore Turf Mile, okay?
00:52:35There's handicapping where you go, if you're just trying to pick a winner, you know, and that's it.
00:52:41You go with the percentages.
00:52:43You go with the horse that's the highest percentage chance to win.
00:52:46But if you're playing the horses, you've got to look at the value, right?
00:52:51And rhetorical was nine to one on the board because he was a New York bred.
00:52:56He looked so visually impressive.
00:52:57You know, Forever Young might not have the highest percentage chance to win because you don't know if he's going to get back to that Saudi Cup form.
00:53:05But if he's going to be eight to one or ten to one, then suddenly it becomes worth taking a shot.
00:53:12The TD and Riders Room, also sponsored by the PHBA, the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association,
00:53:17the three Pennsylvania sired, Pennsylvania bred stakes races run on Pennsylvania Day at the races,
00:53:23finished out the Pennsylvania Stallion Series for 2024-2025.
00:53:28There are point standings among Pennsylvania breds.
00:53:31The breeders of the top three point earners receive an additional bonus of $50,000 over their regular person breeders awards.
00:53:40And they were split as follows.
00:53:42The winner, honorable win.
00:53:44Congratulations to her breeder.
00:53:45That was Pewter Stable that earned the first place prize of $25,000.
00:53:50Second, Carousel Queen earned $15,000 for her breeder, Dennis Johnson.
00:53:55And there was a tie for third between Riedland and Diedland, bred by Barbara Rickline and Gabe Rispo,
00:54:02and the Boys Warrior, bred by Warriors Reward, LLC.
00:54:06They split the third place prize of $10,000.
00:54:09Meanwhile, the next two $75,000 PA sired, PA bred stakes for older males and older females
00:54:16will be run Wednesday, October the 22nd at Park.
00:54:20So don't miss all the Pennsylvania bred action.
00:54:23For more information on the program, reach out to Brian Sanfantello at 610-444-1050
00:54:29or just log on to pabred.com.
00:54:34The Pennsylvania breeding program is the best program in the country.
00:54:39The stallion awards, the owner bonuses, also the restrictive races and the stakes races
00:54:45for Pennsylvania breeds.
00:54:46This year, eight breeders are on track to earn over $200,000 in breeders awards,
00:54:53and two could hit the million-dollar mark.
00:54:56We have the best program in the country.
00:54:59Take advantage of the fantastic program that we have.
00:55:02Learn more at pabred.com.
00:55:06Be a smarter bettor with First TV, the best horses.
00:55:13With thousands of exclusive morning workouts.
00:55:20All at your fingertips and delivered right into your inbox.
00:55:25Everything you need to be informed.
00:55:28Be smart.
00:55:29Bet smart.
00:55:30With First TV.
00:55:32The work of the week is brought to you by First TV.
00:55:38On Saturday, Seismic Beauty worked six furlongs in 112.20 for trainer Bob Baffert.
00:55:44Four-year-old daughter of Uncle Moe is a perfect two-for-two in graded stakes.
00:55:48Seismic Beauty won the grade two Santa Margarita at Santa Anita in May
00:55:51and came back to win the grade one Clement L. Hirsch at Del Mar on August 2nd.
00:55:55She heads next to the November 1 Lawn Jeans.
00:55:58Reader's Cup to Steph.
00:55:59Well, it's that period of time after the big preps for the Breeders' Cup until we get to the Breeders' Cup itself.
00:56:05Pretty quiet in horse racing.
00:56:06Is one grade one this weekend at Keeneland, the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup for three-year-old fillies on the grass.
00:56:13It's a fascinating race because you have two horses in here that really have a lot of quality.
00:56:18And first is Laura Lynn trained by Graham Motion.
00:56:20Five-for-five lifetime coming off a win in Saratoga Oaks Invitational.
00:56:24And if she's not going to win, I would imagine the winner is going to be Fionn.
00:56:30I hope I'm pronouncing that right.
00:56:31Who does have a loss.
00:56:33It's a six-for-eight lifetime.
00:56:35But did win the grade one Belmont Oaks.
00:56:37I went with her over Laurelin.
00:56:40I thought she had a little more class.
00:56:41Like that grade one win.
00:56:43But two very good horses.
00:56:44I'd love to see them hook up.
00:56:46And, you know, maybe I'm getting off on a tangent here.
00:56:49But I wish American trainers wouldn't – if somebody wins this race and wins it impressively, they ought to go in the Breeders' Cup.
00:56:55They just don't.
00:56:56It's three weeks.
00:56:57We can't run back in three weeks.
00:56:58There's a three-year-old.
00:56:59The Europeans have no problem with that.
00:57:02I mean, how many three-year-olds have they brought over to run against older horses and done very well?
00:57:06But, Randy, am I right?
00:57:07Is it a two-horse race?
00:57:09Yeah, probably so.
00:57:10I mean, Laurelin's a perfect five-for-five.
00:57:12We talked about the buyer that Simply In Front got of 91 when she wins the First Lady.
00:57:17I mean, Laurelin's coming off a 94 buyer in the Saratoga Oaks.
00:57:22She's just getting better and better and better with every start.
00:57:26I mean, this is, as always, this is a really, really good field in the QE2.
00:57:33Fion's six-for-eight lifetime.
00:57:35So, yeah, I think those are the two logical favorites.
00:57:37I thought it was interesting that Ollie Sangster, the European trainer of Simmering, scratched her from the First Lady in order to run in the QE2.
00:57:48And, yeah, I mean, you're right.
00:57:51You don't see that much action from QE2 to the Breeders' Cup.
00:57:57And what's unusual about the Breeders' Cup Philly and Mare turf in that regard, in my opinion, and I don't know why this is.
00:58:06I can't explain it.
00:58:08But the record of American-based three-year-old fillies in the Breeders' Cup Philly and Mare turf is absolutely horrible.
00:58:20It's something like, I don't have the, I should have my notes in front of me, but I don't.
00:58:24It's something like 0 for 45 or something like that.
00:58:27They've never won.
00:58:28They've never really come close, I don't remember.
00:58:31But it's just terrible.
00:58:32And yet, European three-year-old fillies run wonderfully in the Philly and Mare turf.
00:58:39I don't know why there would be such a major difference.
00:58:43But I think that's one reason why you don't see many American three-year-old fillies go from the QE2 to the Philly and Mare turf, just because historically, they just don't run very well.
00:58:55Switching gears here, a sad note in horse racing last week.
00:58:58Jeff Siegel, who was one of the foremost handicappers on the West Coast, passed away.
00:59:03And Randy, Jeff was not only a nice guy, but most people thought he was among the best handicappers in the country.
00:59:13I mean, his opinion was fantastic.
00:59:17And, you know, that's mostly what I'll remember about him.
00:59:20I do want to read something that Zoe texted me because she knew him better than both of us because she worked with him on the West Coast.
00:59:26And, of course, again, we said she's in Ocala.
00:59:29She says, you can just say it was a really good guy and a great friend of mine.
00:59:35I saw him in his past couple of weeks, and he's off to a better place.
00:59:39Randy, just a good guy and really loved the game.
00:59:43And, you know, he's going to be missed.
00:59:46Yeah.
00:59:47He had been diagnosed with cancer, I believe, maybe about a year ago or so.
00:59:50And he rallied a little bit.
00:59:52And then, as is unfortunately often the case, it caught back up with him.
00:59:57And what a fantastic guy.
01:00:00Just and loved horse racing.
01:00:03Just so passionate about horse racing.
01:00:06And he was a good rider.
01:00:09W-R-I-T-E-R.
01:00:12Not like jockey rider.
01:00:14He was an outstanding rider.
01:00:16He was an owner.
01:00:18He and Barry Irwin founded Team Valor.
01:00:22He was a fantastic published newspaper handicapper.
01:00:26He was a great line maker, a program odds line maker.
01:00:31He succeeded John White for a while as the line maker, official line maker at Santa Anita.
01:00:37He was a guy of many talents.
01:00:39Super, super nice guy.
01:00:40And I tell you this, the respect I had for Jeff Siegel, when I was in the newspaper business a long time ago,
01:00:46I was working for the Dallas Morning News when Lone Star Park opened.
01:00:50And our sports editor at the Dallas Morning News wanted to have a box for simulcasting around the country.
01:01:00Of all, he said, I want the best newspaper handicappers in America.
01:01:04And I want their selections to be in our box every day in the Dallas Morning News.
01:01:09So, East Coast, I got Russ Harris.
01:01:12West Coast, I got Jeff Siegel.
01:01:15And they were, in my opinion, the two best published handicappers in the United States.
01:01:22And, I mean, Jeff was good at everything he did and just a prince of a guy.
01:01:27It's really a shame.
01:01:28It sure was.
01:01:29It is definitely a shame he will be missed.
01:01:31And the TD and Riders Room is brought to you by West Point Thoroughbreds.
01:01:35West Point connected in a big way in a Breeders' Cup Challenge.
01:01:39When you're in prep, when two-year-old Intricate Spirit took the grade three futurity stakes for trainer Miguel Clement
01:01:45that punched his ticket to the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint.
01:01:50At the same time, there was a sale going on over in France associated with ARC Weekend.
01:01:55And it was the ARC sale, and Miguel Clement picked up a couple of French stakes fillies
01:02:00that will be owned by West Point and some of Clement's other owners.
01:02:04They'll be brought to the United States to race in 2026.
01:02:07That's exciting for West Point.
01:02:09For more information on all of West Point's horses, you can go to www.westpointtb.com.
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01:02:46Well, that's a wrap on this week's show.
01:02:51I want to thank our Gainsway guests of the week, Will Walden, along with my partner, Randy Moss.
01:02:56Zoe Cadman should be back next week.
01:02:58As I mentioned earlier, she's down in Ocala working her way there.
01:03:01I want to thank the people that work behind the scenes to really help make this show what it is.
01:03:06Sue Finley, Katie Petruniak, Anthony LaRocca, and Aaliyah LaRocca.
01:03:10Enjoy the weekend of racing, and we'll talk to you next week.
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