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John Fanta joins The Sports Junkies to preview the 2026 Kentucky Derby.
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00:00is john fanta who we typically have on to talk college hoops what's up john
00:05what is happening guys great to be with you on this friday morning and happy
00:09kentucky derby weekend rank rank your kind of your your wheelhouses if you say like i knew you
00:16as a college hoops guy i would say that's your number one wheelhouse but rank your top three
00:21sports wheelhouses well look i'll be i'll be uh candid with you guys of course college
00:28basketball is my main wheelhouse there's no doubt about that and that that is number one you know
00:34i mean i grew up on the west side of cleveland so uh that means that i grew up in
00:40massive massive
00:41browns indians now guardians cavaliers fan so uh those those are the three main wheelhouses but
00:48for me here's my wheelhouse more more than anything uh storytelling and when i joined nbc last august
00:56they said you know if you're up for different challenges you're up for opportunities feel free
01:01to to talk with us and we want to talk with you we want to expand your horizon it's a
01:06huge reason why
01:07why i made the move and look i didn't plan on year one getting a chance to cover one of
01:12the best events
01:13in sports but it's a testament to to the bosses who you know gave me a shot to to step
01:19into a totally
01:20new role not really replacing anybody it's a it's a different energy type of role of storytelling and
01:26also telling the story from the fans lens you know 150 000 people go to this race and we talk
01:34so much
01:35about the trainers and the owners and the jockeys and i've obviously studied that and i'm a part of
01:40that side of it too but one of the cool things that i'm going to get to do is go
01:44all around churchill
01:45downs which is massive by the way and check out different vantage points hear from people i'm
01:51talking with a couple tomorrow that's coming from australia just for this race very cool so the the point
01:57is uh for me the wheelhouse is i love sports like you guys do and i love the story behind
02:04it and i get
02:05a chance to do that in this role joined by nbc sports john fanta he'll be reporting from the infield
02:10at the kentucky derby tomorrow at 2 30 eastern time on nbc and peacock so you know we've been in
02:17the dc area our whole lives we've been to the preakness but i feel like going to the kentucky derby
02:22is like the next level even though the preakness is obviously obviously part of the triple crown
02:26talk about just being there being at churchill downs all that history that that's surrounding you
02:32and obviously that lends into your storytelling through the week well you're talking about america's
02:38longest continuously running sporting event this is what the kentucky derby is it is in a class of
02:47its own in terms of how long it has been running 152 years and just the the history behind the
02:58track
02:59when you walk inside you see the secretary at signage and you feel the vibe of of what what was
03:07the
03:07greatest for starting the greatest run in this sport and you you sit there and you say we're
03:14going to watch potentially we're going to watch another chapter of greatness but could we be
03:18watching a a chapter that starts something it's it's the first leg of the triple crown and when you
03:25walk inside the gates and you talk with people who have been going to 50 60 consecutive kentucky
03:33derbies the tradition just oozes out of the place you look to your right there's a stand for mint
03:40juleps which is the specialty drink that some people love other people say i'm not going to try
03:46i want nothing to do with it but you see that the signage for muhammad ali is honored um you
03:52know
03:52louisville's own and honored inside the track and and at the downs for the history that that uh he's
03:59providing in his career and i just think that that i walked all throughout the grounds yesterday
04:07and i i could feel the vibe that said this isn't just any event uh this is hallow ground and
04:17something's
04:18going to happen here that people have yet to see you know four years ago rich strike as 80 to
04:23one the
04:24second longest shot to win and just the the historical context to this is kind of amazing
04:32guys because when you have history you know that goes back to the 1870s it's connected there's a
04:40horse running emerging market that i think has an honest chance to win that has only had two starts
04:47but chad brown feels like this horse and flobby and pratt who's here's a tip for you he's never
04:53finished worse than fourth in the kentucky derby and he's he's had eight mounts he's never finished
04:57worse worse than fourth wow if that horse wins it would be the first horse to win the kentucky derby
05:02with two or fewer starts since a horse named leonatus in the year 1883 i just think in our sports
05:10world
05:10there's so much of what have you done for me lately and when you're walking around churchill downs you
05:15feel like this is an all-encompassing appreciation for 150 plus years of racing hey can't believe it's been
05:21150 years john one crazy one of the big things about the derby is fashion you know women dress
05:27up they wear hats you know everybody gets decked out have you put a lot of thought into your fit
05:31for the derby that's a big thing it's important i will wear a color tonight that i have never worn
05:37in my life okay and uh i'll bet there's the tease for for today's show i'm sure that people will
05:44pick
05:44up on it um but i i have two two brand new suits uh mbc the moment i got the
05:51assignment they said
05:52all right it's time to to get you outfitted for this and uh tomorrow is a special three-piece i've
05:59got a hat ready to go uh i've got a pair of shoes also that i'm willing to get rid
06:05of because mike
06:06tariko told me that he's had to totally trash two pairs of shoes over his derby career because
06:15you can get a little dirty uh out there walking around and things can get just a tad muddy
06:20but the point is i've got two brand new suits never before worn just tried them out and uh it
06:27was a
06:28process and i'll tell you what um i i never had to get analyzed so much i walked out of
06:35the the
06:36dressing room uh to to you know for them to look at and you know i just from head to
06:42toe guys
06:43parts of i'll be kidding with you parts of my body i didn't know how to be analyzed wearing a
06:48suit
06:49and uh they they want they want you uh in top form and i'm happy about that the the they
06:57do an
06:57amazing job at mbc and the acting style group so to answer your question uh i will be ready to
07:03go
07:04the fits are ready they're hanging up right now i'm going to put the first one on right when i
07:09get done with you guys excellent and tonight of course is the kentucky oaks which is live in
07:14prime time for the first time 8 p.m eastern on nbc and peacock you're going to be on the
07:19infield for
07:20that as well fill us in on the kentucky oaks and fill in the people that don't know that much
07:24about
07:24it yes so really interesting guys uh from uh from uh the kentucky oaks is made up of the best
07:31phillies so the best female horses three-year-old phillies who's involved with these horses people
07:39ranging from bobby flay to jason worth yes the the phillies great today to dave portland that's great
07:47who leads barstool and just started up his business go go gray stables in the last year
07:53and in in his first year really starting this up he has a horse running guys there are some people
07:58who work 30 plus years and don't get this moment um this horse involves todd fletcher the the great
08:05trainer with a horse named zany that could very well win this race bob baffert uh has a horse in
08:12this
08:12race he had a couple of horses one scratch battle of rouge but he's got explorer explorer in seven starts
08:19has four wins and three runner-up performances chad brown who's a rising star who i think by the end
08:26of this weekend could make a real and even bigger name for himself has a horse named always a runner
08:30and then there's a horse named percy's bar and percy's bar is trained by a man named ben colebrook
08:37who decided with hat freak racing the owner to name percy's bar after a certain percy who was a
08:46longtime bartender at keeneland racetrack and at churchill down so a lot of the horses have extra
08:53meaning and and percy uh is no longer with us but that horse is running for percy tonight and all
08:59the people that percy made happy over the years and i just find guys that's this week when i'm when
09:06i've been around churchill downs i i you know there's a horse running tomorrow named so happy in the
09:12kentucky derby and so happy is owned uh is trained by a guy named mark glatt mark has worked over
09:20three
09:21decades just to get here this is his first derby horse and his wife passed away in february his wife
09:27dina to a sudden cardiac incident and all throughout the weeks mark has been saying this horse running
09:35for my wife is what's getting me through that that is the kentucky derby that is the kentucky oaks
09:42and again you said earlier i can't believe it's 152 years old just think about it churchill downs was
09:49founded by by a guy named meriwether clark who was the grandson of william clark of the lewis and clark
09:55expedition that's the kind of history that we talk about with this event
09:59hmm so john just talk about the field for tomorrow um do you feel like it's pretty top
10:07heavy you know three or four horses that you would bet on to win this or do you think
10:12you know it could go eight nine ten deep uh in terms of a winner eight nine ten deep it's
10:17wide open
10:18is it okay the favorite has not won the last seven kentucky derby right and that's the longest
10:26drought in that column in a long time well renegade has has been in that favorite spot
10:32renegade is running from the one post the one post has not produced a kentucky derby champion
10:39since ferdinand in 1986 so the odds are stacked against renegade this race is wide open because
10:47you have a horse like commandment trained by brad cox that won the florida derby but just got past the
10:53puma uh who's got a trainer in gustavo delgado this horse has run really well javier castellanos
10:59the jockeys had a legendary career keep an eye on the puma keep an eye on bill mott jr alvarado
11:05and
11:05chief wallaby mott and alvarado they won with sovereignty last year they're trying to become
11:11the first trainer jockey duo to win back-to-back kentucky derby since the 70s you have the unknown
11:19you know i brought it up earlier emerging markets only run two races guess what it won both
11:23of them patente with trainer bob baffert people know about bob well guess what if you looked at
11:31the splits of training earlier this week patente made people's eyebrows raised you have the son of
11:36bill mott riley mott with a horse named incredible that has really run well and uh ran a great uh
11:45virginia stakes uh down in virginia so the point is i don't believe uh that this is one two or
11:52three
11:53horses i do believe that this is a wide open race i also believe uh keep an eye on a
11:59japanese horse
12:01denon bourbon you know it's been it has been uh about 50 years since a horse outside of north
12:09america won the kentucky derby but there are trends in the horse racing world that suggest that an
12:16international horse is going to get it done one of these years the international side has only gotten
12:21better so i just brought up five or six the two horses that i've really zoned in on are so
12:27happy
12:27and emerging market and i i do think that if i pick the third it would be chief wallaby those
12:33would be
12:33the three horses that i'm most intrigued by when i'm looking at tomorrow's board so happy emerging
12:38market and i'm sorry was the third chief wallaby okay all right those would be the three i would zone
12:44in on i'm placing my bets as we speak as we speak my friend joined by nbc sports john fanta
12:51who's going
12:51to be reporting from the infield at the kentucky derby tomorrow saturday at 2 30 p.m eastern on nbc
12:57and
12:57peacock uh switching gears to one of your fortes college hoops is the university of maryland about to
13:04explode in college hoops what do you mean explode well they got a lot better roster this year than
13:12they did last year true define explode i was gonna say well look i mean i mean i think that
13:17buzz is
13:18going to have a bounce back season uh i i think that with their recruiting class coming in i covered
13:25baba
13:26oladotun a bunch in high school and a really versatile player at six foot ten you know they go and
13:32they get
13:33dj wagner who who's just that guy's produced a lot of winning uh at arkansas he's he's he's a gritty
13:40player he's a good combo guard that fits what buzz wants you go and you get bishop boswell one of
13:46the
13:46things that i look at guys is who did you play for who were you coached by wagner was coached
13:52by john
13:53calipari bishop boswell comes from tennessee it means he was coached by rick barnes so for me that's
13:59really smart by buzz uh he he's gone about the transfer portal the right way and they've they've
14:06certainly loaded up robert jennings is another intriguing talent coming over from the big 12 at
14:10oklahoma state they've got a lot of versatility and they got several guys that are bred right around
14:15six foot five to six foot eight tall six foot nine and that's what buzz's teams need to be buzz's
14:21teams
14:21they're not going to win a beauty contest they are going to win a we're going to defend our tails
14:26off and
14:27we're going to make you uncomfortable when you're on offense and we're going to force turnovers and
14:32then we will be able to capitalize this team's got more dogs uh last year's team did not and it
14:37was
14:38very apparent early on that last year's team had injuries as well but it was very apparent
14:42that that was a that was a squad that just one couldn't score in the half court but buzz has
14:49had
14:49teams not be able to score in the half court uh consistently but his teams have made up for it
14:54on
14:54the defensive end this team on paper should be able to do that they got some good freshmen coming
14:58in caden house i think could could be a real upside talent so explode i don't know if i would
15:05say
15:05explode in the big 10 the big 10 is the best conference in college basketball right now it
15:10just produced its first national champion in 26 years but if you're maryland here's the goal the goal
15:16is okay find a pathway to the top seven in the conference and when people you know people want to
15:21roll their eyes at that it's because michigan is in the conference uh it's because purdue's had a
15:27spot reserved in that role michigan state exists and illinois exists so if you're maryland how do we
15:32finish in the top seven how do we make the ncaa tournament and then for year two how do we
15:36win a
15:36game in the ncaa tournament and then you have to build on that you have to say here's where we're
15:41at
15:41how do we get to a second weekend and eventually a final four maryland basketball is an amazing program
15:47with a great fan base uh last year that team gave him no reason to really show up or root
15:53for
15:53but buzz williams has had too amazing of a career for me to think that this stays down the drain
15:59in
15:59year two i like what he's done i like the talent he's identified and i think they've got experienced
16:04and guys who have won john appreciate the time as always of course you got the kentucky derby tomorrow
16:10but tonight the kentucky oaks live in prime time for the first time 8 p.m on nbc and peacock
16:15you'll be on the infield for the show we'll be checking out your outfits and uh good luck with
16:21your shoes thank you guys very much thank you for having me and i'll see you down the road
16:27appreciate it all right john appreciate it all right so he gave so happy he gave um i can't read
16:37my
16:38writing chief wallaby and what's what's the third emerging market emerging markets yeah those are the
16:45three horses to look at what you want in stocks too oh sometimes love the birds all right gotta
16:52take a break if you want to chime in 1-800-636-1067
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