00:00All right, Robert Forbeck is with us from Daily Racing Forum, getting ready for the Run for the Roses coming
00:05up on Saturday, and he'll break it down, give us the latest, and educate people for those who are out
00:10there who are not all that familiar with who's in the race and some of the favorites as well.
00:14Rob, thanks for coming on the show.
00:15It's great to have you.
00:17My pleasure.
00:18Obviously, this is the biggest day of racing coming up in North America, in the world, for that matter, right?
00:24So it's an exciting time for everyone at DRF and in the racing community, and this is the one time
00:31of a year when casual sports fans and hardcore players alike all are concentrating on horse racing, right?
00:37So it's a big, big week for us.
00:40Yeah, definitely.
00:41Can't wait till – I like Friday's events too as well.
00:44But, Rob, before we get to the Oaks and the Derby as well, you know, obviously I am not 100
00:51% familiar with all of this stuff.
00:52Every year, I lean on people like you to kind of tell me who's involved in the races.
00:56So before we begin, my understanding is there was a scratch, one of the horses this morning, Silent Tactic.
01:03I know you told our producer.
01:05So I looked it up, and it looked like there was just some sort of mild injury here.
01:09So how does that factor into any of your handicap, and how does that factor into the field this week?
01:14What kind of horse was this?
01:15Well, I mean, he was 20-to-1 morning line, so he was a long shot,
01:19although a long shot that I thought actually had a chance to come in in the exotics,
01:24maybe third, fourth, and complete your trifectas, superfectas.
01:28So he's out.
01:29That means great white draws into the race.
01:33Might get some play there from some casual fans.
01:35I like the, you know, just like playing names and everything like that.
01:39But, you know, Renegade is the favorite in the race,
01:42and Silent Tactic was second to him in the Arkansas Derby last time out.
01:46So, you know, I thought Silent Tactic had a chance.
01:49He's out.
01:50So it gives great white and those connections a chance to steal the glory.
01:55We've seen over the years, you know, crazy things happen in this race, right?
01:58So you never know.
02:0020 horses.
02:01The only time these horses will ever run against a 20-horse field, right?
02:05So anything could happen.
02:07Yeah.
02:07And, Rob, I did see a story the other day, if I'm not mistaken,
02:11that Churchill Downs ended up buying the Preakness.
02:14I'm not sure if that was accurate, if you heard about that as well.
02:17Maybe you can expand on that exactly.
02:20So they bought the intellectual rights to the Preakness, right?
02:23So Maryland, the state of Maryland, and the New Maryland Jockey Club
02:27are still going to run the events, you know, conduct the races,
02:33handle all the operational aspects of it.
02:35It's just now Maryland is writing a check to Churchill Downs
02:39instead of first racing.
02:41So really nothing is changing any time in the immediate future with that.
02:45But you never know.
02:46There's TV media rights coming up in the next few years.
02:50There's a lot of conversation about, you know,
02:53adding an additional week between the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, right?
02:56Right now it's only two weeks between those two races
02:58and then three weeks to the Belmont Stakes.
03:01In this day and age, horses usually space the races out,
03:04especially the good horses, much further than that.
03:07So there's a lot of thinking that if you add an additional week
03:10between the Derby and the Preakness,
03:12you'll get more horses to come back and run in the Preakness.
03:15Like, for example, Sovereignty last year won the Derby
03:17and did not come back and run in the Preakness, right?
03:20And then he won the Belmont Stakes.
03:23And Sovereignty probably would have won the Triple Crown
03:25if he would have run in the Preakness.
03:27So we'll see where that goes over the next four or five years.
03:30Okay, so that is the big question,
03:32whether it's Renegade or another one of these horses.
03:34By the way, Renegade right now, four to one
03:36to win the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, Rob.
03:38Everyone wants to see the Triple Crown.
03:40So it's like, yes, this is the big event
03:43and the Kentucky Derby is the signature one.
03:46But is there a horse in the field this year that can win all three?
03:50I think most people were more focused on the disappointment last year
03:54of Sovereignty not running and even attempting it.
03:57Yeah, I mean, it was disappointing for the entire game.
03:59And for the sporting world, right?
04:01I mean, there's nothing more exciting, at least in my opinion,
04:03than a possible Triple Crown winner.
04:05And he was such a standout horse.
04:08You know, he was the bus horse going into last year.
04:10I don't really know if there's one of those this year that you're like,
04:13man, this horse could do it.
04:15Although a lot of them are lightly raced so that, you know,
04:19they could come back in a shorter period of time.
04:21As you see there, I've been a big fan of Further Adieu over the last couple of months.
04:26He ran a huge race in the Bluegrass Stakes at Keeneland in his last time at Churchill Downs,
04:32which to me is always important.
04:33He gets the outside 18 posts, which means he'll be able to avoid a lot of the traffic.
04:38Some of those horses on the inside are going to encounter.
04:41I think he's got a great shot.
04:43The Sixth Commandment, all he does is win races.
04:46He's going to come closing at the end.
04:48And Renegade is, you know, probably had the most impressive derby prep in the Arkansas Derby,
04:55owned by Mike Rapoli, traded by Todd Pletcher.
04:59And the important thing on Renegade,
05:01I ran Ortiz, who's been the top jockey the last four or five years in this country,
05:05had a chance to ride seven or eight of these horses, and he chose Renegade, right?
05:09So that's something to take into consideration.
05:12All right, Rob.
05:13Well, enjoy the run for the Roses.
05:14Thanks again for coming on the show and breaking it down.
05:16My pleasure anytime.
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