00:00And in this race, we'll start things out with the number one, Zitlos.
00:04You know what you're going to get from this gal?
00:05She's going to drop back.
00:06She's going to make one late run.
00:08It's kind of interesting that seven furlongs is a distance she hasn't really been successful at.
00:13Because when you look at her running style, you would figure she'd be better at a distance like seven furlongs.
00:17But she's actually really good going six furlongs with a short burst.
00:21Do you think she can get a setup in here?
00:23I think she's seen better days.
00:25She's an honest mare, like you said.
00:27You kind of know what you're going to get.
00:28She won six of nine races last year.
00:30She's kind of one of those horses that Steve Asmussen, North America's all-time leading trainer, has just managed perfectly.
00:37You know, takes his shots here and there.
00:39But also, you know, runs her where she should a lot of the time.
00:42I think this is a little above the level she's at right now.
00:44But I wouldn't be surprised if she picks up some pieces.
00:47Splendora has won two in a row.
00:49And she loves Del Mar.
00:50She's three for three over at Del Mar.
00:52She gets a little cut back in here.
00:54Do you think she fits with this group?
00:56I do.
00:56And, I mean, I don't have a super strong opinion in here.
00:59But I think this is a Philly that you don't want to underestimate, maybe because she hasn't kept the best company or some of when she has.
01:06She hasn't won those races.
01:07It seems to me like she's doing as well as ever.
01:10And we know that she likes it at Del Mar, which I already said can be a little bit unique for the horses.
01:15Three for three there.
01:16I'd be surprised if she doesn't run well.
01:18Well, Vava is the next one up.
01:20Vava is a five-year-old mare now.
01:22And last year, middle of 2024, she might have been the best Philly and a mare sprinter.
01:27She just hasn't gotten back to that level, Scott.
01:30Well, I remember.
01:31I mean, I grew up with her in Kentucky.
01:33She was there.
01:34So, that was a couple of years ago.
01:36She was steam right away.
01:37It's hard to continue to be at the top level of your division year in and year out.
01:41I think we've seen her tail off while others have gotten faster.
01:45It could be an incredible weekend for Spendthrift Farms, Scott.
01:48They have live horses in the juvenile, the juvenile Phillies.
01:52And they actually had the favorite for the Breeders' Cup Philly and Mare Sprint, Copian.
01:56And they decided to run her in the sprint against the boys because Tamara could be a really major player in here as well.
02:02So, Spendthrift might be able to win the juvenile, juvenile Phillies and the Sprint and the Philly and Mare Sprint.
02:08They're going to have live contenders in all of those races.
02:10What do you think about Tamara?
02:12Well, there you see her just crushing a field, dominating a field, I should say.
02:16Not crushing, but she dominated them at 2 to 5.
02:18That was off a long layup.
02:20And if you know follow horse racing a lot, these are the kinds of horses I try to beat usually at the beginning of their career
02:25because the Dan Beholder was one of the best, you know, distaffers, if you will, of me and Gino's lives pretty much, but at least this century.
02:35So, this was a highly regarded Philly from right away.
02:37And you see she's gotten better all along.
02:39But that was an eye-popping effort.
02:41Awful layup.
02:42It feels like this has been the plan all along.
02:44I think she's very dangerous.
02:45The talent has always been there.
02:47It was just like some physical issues over the last couple years that kept her away from a while.
02:51And if they've got all those things figured out and she's back doing as well as she looked in that race, she's going to be really, really tough in here.
02:58And I think that might be why they split up Tamara and Kopey.
03:02And they just feel really confident about the chances that she's going to run a big race in here.
03:05Faye Blanche, the 5, Scott, looks like one of the bigger prices coming in from Japan.
03:10What do you do with this one?
03:12I'll say this.
03:13You know, underestimate the Japanese horses at big prices at your own, you know, peril.
03:18I don't follow Japanese racing as well.
03:21They came in a few years ago and dominated at big prices.
03:25They weren't that successful in other years.
03:27Last year, I think, had very little success.
03:30We'll see.
03:31But here for a reason, one of the better horses they have there doing exactly this, kind of middle distances, if you will.
03:38Sweetest Tech is a really cool horse, Scott.
03:40She's run nine times in her career.
03:42She's won seven of them.
03:43I mean, she's beaten some top-class horses like Kopey.
03:46She beat a horse a couple years ago named Adair Manor going a little longer, who is a very nice horse.
03:51And she's really fast.
03:53She's just had some physical issues that have kept her off the track, kind of like we were saying about Tamara.
03:57But she's brilliant on her best day.
04:00There just might be some other early speed in here that could compromise her a little bit.
04:04You don't see the horses that, you know, win.
04:06She won on the Derby week of May of 2023 in a very live race for Michael McCarthy, who doesn't crank runners at first asking.
04:13Always that talent, but took a while to get back to the races.
04:16You don't see those horses kind of resurrect their careers all that often.
04:20But she has, against lesser of late, she's got a pretty good chance in here.
04:24The problem is the public is going to think she's got maybe even a better than pretty good chance.
04:29And that last half furlong might be a little bit of an issue.
04:33That's a really good point.
04:34And without Kopey in here, she's going to just take a lot more money.
04:37She's not going to be as fun of a horse to bet on.
04:39Haul and Ice is a big price.
04:40And she's pretty quick.
04:41She may try to keep Sweet Azteca company early in the race.
04:45I don't know if she's as fast as her, but she can maybe be a nuisance to her.
04:49Well, I'll tell you this.
04:50They spent a lot of money to get her in the race.
04:52What is it, $100,000 of supplemental holes for the Breeders' Cup?
04:55They were one of those that supplemented this filly.
04:57You know, I don't know if they knew what they were going to run into.
04:59Maybe they decided in advance that, you know, but they clearly think this filly is doing well.
05:04She had things her way in that race in the Princess Rooney, where I thought she was a pretty good play that day because there wasn't a lot of speed.
05:11It feels like a lot to ask, but at the very least, you would think she's going to put pressure on the favorite Sweet Azteca.
05:17Bob Baffert has a very strong hand in this race.
05:19Scott, any of the three Baffert runners winning would not shock me at all.
05:23Hope Road is a grade one winner, just won the ballerina last time out.
05:27She has speed, but she can sit off the pace.
05:30That's what I really liked about her ballerina win.
05:32She sat just off.
05:33She moved to the lead.
05:34That was the first time Jose Ortiz was jumping aboard her.
05:37He just seems like a really good fit for her as well.
05:40I don't really have many knocks on her.
05:41I think she's right there on the list of top contenders.
05:43It's interesting.
05:45We're looking at horses.
05:46A lot of times the effective mares, which are the dams in your past performances on the track, don't end up living up to billing their progeny.
05:55You see Beholder.
05:56Now look at Marley's Freedom, the dam in this one.
05:59She was a very good seven, really good seven furlong horse that ended up in the Bob Baffert barn, was in the Bob Hess barn.
06:06And now her progeny is doing kind of exactly what she did.
06:10It's hard to really knock her.
06:12She brings one of the best resumes into the race and should get a good trip right outside the main speeds.
06:17Yeah, that lady you were talking about, Marley's Freedom, she was favored in the Breeders' Cup Philly in Mare's Sprint.
06:22And I think she lost that race by a half length.
06:24She ran really well that day, too.
06:26So we'll see if the daughter can get the job done in the big race.
06:30We move to the number nine here, Scott.
06:32This is Rishi, who I think fits very well in this group.
06:35If you look at a lot of her races earlier in the year, she was facing other Baffert runners who I think were the more highly regarded horses in those situations.
06:43Like recently, Cavalieri, Seismic Beauty, Cavalieri.
06:47Those are the three horses that she was defeated by.
06:50Seismic Beauty is going to be favored in the Distaff.
06:52Cavalieri was one of the highly regarded Bafferts.
06:55And I think sometimes Rishi didn't get the great trip.
06:57She was having to get kind of pulled back off the pace.
07:00Or she was sort of being the horse who would run off and kind of set the pace for horses with the target.
07:06I think she's going to be ridden a little differently in this race.
07:09Sit off the pace a bit with some late punch to the outside.
07:13What do you think about Rishi in here?
07:15It's interesting.
07:15With Luis Saez taking over, a more aggressive rider than most, you would think he would want to hustle into the race.
07:21But the outside draw will give him options.
07:23And it is a cutback, you know.
07:24So when you're looking at the PPs, these races are run faster.
07:27She's going to get a good trip.
07:29I wasn't really in love with her before talking to you.
07:31But I know you're high on her chances.
07:32And I don't have a super strong opinion in the race.
07:35So probably defer to you and use her on just about everything.
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