Todd Pletcher Talks Belmont Duo on TDN Writers' Room

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Todd Pletcher has a heavy hand in this weekend's Belmont Stakes with morning-line favorite Renegade and his stablemate Powershift. The Hall of Fame trainer discusses the sophomore duo, relives Belmont wins from years past, and shares his thoughts on changing the schedule of the Triple Crown.

Transcript

00:00:18Welcome to another edition of the TDN Writer's Room podcast.

00:00:21My name is Bill Finley.

00:00:22I'm a correspondent for the Thoroughbred Daily News, also co-host the Down the Stretch radio

00:00:27show on Sirius XM with my friend Dave Johnson.

00:00:30How are y'all doing?

00:00:31I'm Randy Moss with NBC Sports and the buyer's speed figure team.

00:00:36Hello, Zoe Catman here with First Racing and First TV.

00:00:43My cat actually just showed up.

00:00:45Did you hear that?

00:00:46Did you hear a meow?

00:00:47No, Lucy didn't either.

00:00:49Yeah.

00:00:50Anyway, cat's here if anybody cares.

00:00:52Can't catch him, but he's here.

00:00:54That was Seinfeld, wasn't it, Bill?

00:00:56Hello.

00:00:59You guys are, I've got to come up with something a little more clever.

00:01:03I mean, you're beating me with all these funny voices and accents each week.

00:01:06Give me a weekend to work on that.

00:01:08I'll come up with something.

00:01:09All right.

00:01:09So we are recording this on Monday at 1138 East Coast time.

00:01:16Later on this afternoon, the post positions will be drawn for the Belmont Stakes at Saratoga.

00:01:22Of course, all the undercard races have been drawn.

00:01:24So we're going to do the best we can.

00:01:26We're not going to go in post position order because we obviously can't.

00:01:29If there's a last minute defection or last minute horse that enters into the field, our

00:01:35apologies.

00:01:36We're going to try to do the best we can.

00:01:37But we've got a pretty good feel for who is going to run in this race.

00:01:41And Renegade's going to win, guys.

00:01:43Guys, I'm going to step out.

00:01:47I'm not stepping out on line because he's going to be the favorite.

00:01:49He was the best horse in the Kentucky Derby, in my opinion.

00:01:53Todd Pletcher will be our Gainsway guest of the week a little bit later on in the show.

00:01:57We'll see if he agrees with that.

00:01:59I thought he ran a tremendous race.

00:02:01No knock on Golden Temple.

00:02:03We'll get to him next.

00:02:04But just everything points to him.

00:02:07He ran a great race.

00:02:08He's trained by a guy who's already won the Belmont a couple of times.

00:02:12And it just sometimes, Randy and Zoe, this game is not that hard.

00:02:18He's the best horse, Zoe.

00:02:20He most undoubtedly probably is.

00:02:23And it'll be interesting to see what Todd has to say in the shoulda, coulda, woulda trip

00:02:28that he had, because I still stand firm that maybe if he was closer to the pace, he might

00:02:35not have been second in the first place.

00:02:37Now, you'll never know that.

00:02:38He's a gutsy little horse.

00:02:41He's probably not going to ever over-impress you with his works or his stature.

00:02:46But he is a very good horse indeed.

00:02:48So he most likely is the horse to beat.

00:02:51Take nothing away from the Derby winner.

00:02:53So, I mean, you obviously can make a decent case that Renegade probably should have won

00:02:59the Kentucky Derby given the start.

00:03:01And he got held up a little bit at one point when he was making his rally coming to the

00:03:05quarter pole.

00:03:06I think it was.

00:03:06And he just gets beat a neck.

00:03:09But you can go either way on that one, I think.

00:03:11To me, what gives him even a better chance to turn the tables in this particular race than

00:03:18if you had just run the Kentucky Derby back again and had a mulligan, is the lack of pace

00:03:24in the Belmont Stakes, as opposed to the Kentucky Derby where you had six speed, where you had,

00:03:29you know, a couple of the other Japanese horses.

00:03:32I mean, that you knew were going to be out there winging it early and was going to be a

00:03:37pretty

00:03:37honest pace.

00:03:38You look at the lineup for the Belmont Stakes, and it looks like Fletcher's other horse,

00:03:42Power Shift, might be the speed of the race.

00:03:44And he's not really technically a true speed horse.

00:03:47So without much speed, to me, that is more of a disadvantage for Golden Tempo than it

00:03:55is for Renegade.

00:03:56I think Renegade probably has a bit more tactical speed than Golden Tempo does.

00:04:02I think he'll be able to get a jump on Golden Tempo, and that gives him a better shot even

00:04:08than I would say ordinarily.

00:04:10Have you been talking to Todd already?

00:04:17Not yet, but we're going to.

00:04:20All right.

00:04:21So let's move on now to Golden Tempo.

00:04:24I assume it would be second choice in the race.

00:04:26If people want to come up with different opinions, I'd be glad to hear that.

00:04:30I don't ever want to speak poorly of this horse.

00:04:32What a wonderful, wonderful run he had in the Kentucky Derby.

00:04:36The Cherie DeVoe story was just magical, and she's one of the bright lights of the sport.

00:04:41I give him a chance, of course.

00:04:43How can you not?

00:04:44But something that Randy just mentioned, this is a completely different race pace-wise.

00:04:49And he came from the clouds last time out, and the race fell into his lap with all the

00:04:54early front runners really, you know, kind of hitting the proverbial brick wall in the

00:05:00stretch.

00:05:00I don't see him getting anywhere nearly that kind of trip in here.

00:05:05The other thing, too, I don't like, as a horse player, you know, what's he going to be here?

00:05:09Seven to two, something like that, three to one.

00:05:11He got 23 to one on him in the Kentucky Derby.

00:05:14I think the major shift in the odds.

00:05:17Would I be shocked if he won?

00:05:19No, but we'll start with Randy on this one.

00:05:23Randy, this race on paper looks like a totally different race, and it looks like a totally

00:05:27different race that is not going to fall into his lap the way the Derby did.

00:05:32I mean, I completely agree.

00:05:34I don't want to downplay the performance that he had in the Kentucky Derby.

00:05:39Obviously, he was helped by the pace.

00:05:42But at the end of a mile and a quarter, he went his last quarter mile in 24.44 seconds.

00:05:49And get this, his last furlong was 12.06.

00:05:53So, he picked it up the last eighth of a mile from the eighth of a mile from the quarter

00:05:59pole to mid-stretch.

00:06:00He was flying, as we all saw.

00:06:03He made up about nine lengths or something like that in the final quarter mile to run

00:06:07down Renegade from behind.

00:06:09I mean, he was rolling.

00:06:11But if you look, if you remember when they ran the Risen Star at the fairgrounds back in

00:06:17February, and we all talked going into that race about what a lack of speed there was and

00:06:24how Chip Honcho was probably going to control the early pace and it was going to give him

00:06:29a pretty good advantage.

00:06:31Whether he was good enough to be Paladin or not, we didn't know, but it was going to be

00:06:35a paceless race.

00:06:36And it was.

00:06:37And Golden Tempo was in there, and he did his thing.

00:06:40He dropped way back.

00:06:41But because of the lack of pace, he finished third, six lengths behind Paladin and Chip

00:06:47Honcho.

00:06:47Now, he's obviously gotten better since then, and a mile and a quarter suits him more than

00:06:51a mile and an eighth of the Risen Star.

00:06:53But when you have that style, Zoe, you are pace dependent to a certain extent.

00:06:59You are.

00:07:00And I think it's very important to see how the track is playing.

00:07:03It'll be the first time this year that they've run on the track.

00:07:07I saw pictures of them out rolling it just yesterday.

00:07:12So it'll be really interesting to see how the track plays.

00:07:16Is it going to be deep because you've got horses on it for the first time?

00:07:19Yes, horses have been training over it, but not as many training over the Oklahoma track

00:07:24as that's been open a lot longer.

00:07:26So it's going to be important to see how the track is playing through Wednesday, Thursday,

00:07:31Friday.

00:07:32And I just checked the weather.

00:07:34I was like, am I looking at Saratoga or am I looking at California?

00:07:39Look, sunshine, not a drop.

00:07:42Ah, nice.

00:07:43In the, not a drop.

00:07:45I'm like, this must be California.

00:07:47It's high, low 80s, lows, low 50s, and sunshine every day.

00:07:53Obviously, that could change.

00:07:55But I'm like, that can't be Saratoga.

00:07:57It looks like it's going to be perfect weather.

00:07:59So a lot of factors will be in play, but yes, it's going to be pace dependent.

00:08:06And let's face it, there's no way he should have been 25 to 1 in the Kentucky Derby.

00:08:12No, no way.

00:08:14Absolutely no way in hell.

00:08:16So yeah, we'll have to wait and see.

00:08:19All right, let's move on now to Chief Wallaby.

00:08:22He'll probably be, I'd imagine, third choice in the race.

00:08:26Um, here's my take on him.

00:08:29Every single time he runs, myself and a lot of other people think it's Bill Mott.

00:08:34He hasn't got to the bottom of yet.

00:08:36He's going to keep improving.

00:08:38He's going to keep getting better.

00:08:39And I, he did run fourth in the Kentucky Derby, beating three lengths.

00:08:44Did have some trouble.

00:08:45I didn't think it was that big a deal.

00:08:48Maybe this is blasphemy because I'm as big a Mott fan as anybody out there.

00:08:53But maybe, Zoe, is this just as good as he is?

00:08:57I don't, I don't think so.

00:08:59And he's got the advantage that, you know, most of Bill's, Bill's horses for the majority

00:09:06of the year, spend six months of the year at Saratoga.

00:09:08So he's home base advantage.

00:09:11Absolutely true homer there for Chief Wallaby.

00:09:14And he's only going to get better from time.

00:09:16He's got this kind of big gangly frame on him and he's just starting to blossom and fill

00:09:23out.

00:09:23So I don't think we've seen the best of him.

00:09:25It might not be on Saturday, but he's going to be much better as the year progresses.

00:09:31How about that for sitting on the fence?

00:09:36To me, he's solidly third best in this race.

00:09:41And my opinion about his Kentucky Derby, A, I thought he took a step back from his races

00:09:50in Florida.

00:09:51With the blinkers on, I expected him to take a step forward because it's Bill Mott also.

00:09:57But I didn't think he took a step forward at all.

00:09:59And B, all this talk that I've heard about, you know, all the trouble that he got into and

00:10:05all that.

00:10:05When you watch the race on the drone shot, when you watch the race on the blimp shot,

00:10:11which we have access to at NBC in hindsight, yeah, at the eighth pole, he got in a little

00:10:17tight, maybe three quarters of the length that cost him.

00:10:22It wasn't like one of these things where you put a circle around his name and say, oh,

00:10:26man, he got in so much trouble and he could have beaten those horses next time with a clean

00:10:30trip.

00:10:30No, it wasn't that way at all.

00:10:32He was beaten three lengths.

00:10:33He might've been beaten two and a half or two and a quarter.

00:10:35With the cleaner trip.

00:10:36And they were pulling away from him at the end.

00:10:38So I could see him third best in here.

00:10:40I think he's better than the others we're going to be talking about, but I don't see

00:10:45him turning the tables on Renegade and Golden Tempo unless he really takes a step forward

00:10:50finally.

00:10:52So let's move on to Commandment, who was seventh in the Kentucky Derby.

00:10:57Randy, I'm not big on this horse.

00:10:59He didn't show a whole lot in the Kentucky Derby, but I've got a rabbit hole question for

00:11:04you.

00:11:04And I'll give you, if you can't answer it, I want you to answer next week.

00:11:07When was the last time a grade one winner had to have four different jockeys in four

00:11:14consecutive races?

00:11:16Johnny Velasquez will now ride him.

00:11:18The jockeys show no love to this horse.

00:11:20I don't quite understand it, but he would have to improve to me quite a bit off his, to me,

00:11:27was a pretty disappointing race in the Kentucky Derby.

00:11:30I picked him.

00:11:31I liked him.

00:11:32I thought he was the most consistent horse in the race.

00:11:34Brad Cox, et cetera.

00:11:36He fired every single time out.

00:11:38Didn't show me a whole lot, Randy.

00:11:40Now, okay.

00:11:41I mean, we're, you know, we're sort of paid to do this, to give opinions.

00:11:47Okay.

00:11:47My opinion going in to the Kentucky Derby, just my opinion, I didn't like the way he was

00:11:54training.

00:11:56So, I didn't expect him to run well in the Kentucky Derby.

00:11:59Now, having said that, when you go back and you watch the race, he broke poorly.

00:12:04He broke sluggishly compared to the way he usually breaks.

00:12:07I mean, he was 14th before they ran a 16th of a mile.

00:12:11Was that because he hadn't been training very well and it just took him a little bit, you

00:12:16know, to get into stride?

00:12:17I don't know.

00:12:19Luis Saez tried to play catch up a little bit in the middle of the race and he made

00:12:24a nice little move to get within about three lengths of the leaders at the quarter pole.

00:12:28And then, among others, Chief Wallaby just went by him and obviously, you know, Renegade

00:12:35and then Golden Tempo went by him.

00:12:37So, he flattened out pretty badly in the last eighth of a mile and I didn't particularly love

00:12:43his race, even though he didn't break very well.

00:12:47After watching him train, yeah.

00:12:49Watching him train physically, he's fine.

00:12:52I'm not knocking him any way, shape or form, but watching him lumber around the racetrack

00:12:57is like, how did he even win a race?

00:12:59He won a grade one race.

00:13:00He obviously puts nothing forward in the morning, which trainer Brad Cox has alluded

00:13:05to because he galloped him in company leading up to the Derby because he won't do anything.

00:13:10He put blinkers on him.

00:13:12This is a horse who doesn't want to get out of bed in the morning.

00:13:14He's more of a, let me get up at midday and I'll see you in the afternoon once the sun

00:13:21is in full bloom.

00:13:22He's not an early bird morning type of horse, just like most people aren't morning people

00:13:28either.

00:13:29That's him.

00:13:30So, don't watch him in the morning is my only advice to you.

00:13:33If this race was a mile and a half, I would like him.

00:13:38He's a good horse.

00:13:39You just can't watch him in the morning.

00:13:41Put your blinkers on and just wait till after midday.

00:13:44Maybe you should just train him in the afternoon between the races or something.

00:13:48I know he's got to be frustrating for Brad, but at the end of the day, he's a good horse.

00:13:53He's got his grade one.

00:13:55Brad is probably absolutely wishing this was a mile and a half for commandment.

00:13:59And saying that I didn't like the way he was training coming into the race.

00:14:02I probably violated one of my maxims at the Kentucky Derby.

00:14:05And that is unless you've been watching them train on a regular basis all spring long, don't

00:14:11show up at Churchill Downs and watch him train and make judgments.

00:14:14People do that all the time in the media.

00:14:16You know, oh, he's not working.

00:14:18Well, he never works very well.

00:14:19And I probably fell into that trap with this horse going into the Derby.

00:14:22Maybe I was right for the wrong reason.

00:14:24I have a case in point.

00:14:26When California Chrome went to the Derby, a good friend of mine called me because I'd followed

00:14:31him.

00:14:32We'd been over videoing him at Los Al.

00:14:34And he called me.

00:14:35He's like, Zoe, this horse looks terrible.

00:14:37I'm like, don't worry about it.

00:14:39Watch him when he goes fast.

00:14:40He's absolutely fine.

00:14:41Trust me.

00:14:42He's fine.

00:14:44Well, I don't like.

00:14:45No, don't worry about it.

00:14:46Just look the other way.

00:14:47You don't know what you're looking at anyway.

00:14:49And there you go.

00:14:51California Chrome.

00:14:53Chad Brown has three horses in the race.

00:14:55Emerging market is one of them.

00:14:57The one, the Louisiana Derby, then came back and ran 10th, beaten seven and three quarter

00:15:01lengths.

00:15:02As good a trainer as Chad Brown is, nobody has more respect for him than I do.

00:15:07But that's a lot of lengths to make up, Randy Moss.

00:15:09Seven and three quarters was a little bit too much.

00:15:12I know he won the Kentucky Oaks with a second time starter, but in hindsight, was this asking

00:15:18a little bit too much too early of this horse?

00:15:21It could.

00:15:22It could have been.

00:15:24I mean, his buyer figure from the Louisiana Derby only went down by five points.

00:15:28That's a couple of lengths, two and a half lengths, whatever.

00:15:31And he picked up a little weight to carry as well in the Derby.

00:15:35He'd look to me like a horse that didn't really want to relish the mile and a quarter, but maybe

00:15:39I'm wrong about that too.

00:15:40I can't like him off the Derby, really.

00:15:43I'd like to see him in the flesh because in my opinion, I was there watching him go on.

00:15:49He wasn't a horse who was flourishing at Derby time.

00:15:53He's a light framed horse.

00:15:54He's almost quite feminine to look at.

00:15:57He's a beautiful mover on the racetrack.

00:15:59I have a feeling that the time and maybe a little bit of sun on his back, which obviously

00:16:03he's getting right now at Saratoga, is going to help him.

00:16:08He's going to move forward from the Derby.

00:16:10I think we're going to see a better horse.

00:16:12Is it good enough?

00:16:12I'm not sure.

00:16:15The Derby was definitely, in my opinion, too much too soon.

00:16:18And Chad has said the same thing.

00:16:19But, you know, if you're in, you take a shot.

00:16:23We will hear from Todd Pletcher shortly.

00:16:25He'll tell us, of course, about Renegade and his other horse in the race, Power Shift.

00:16:30This horse on paper probably isn't good enough to win the Belmont Stakes.

00:16:35He's an up-and-coming horse.

00:16:37He's done some impressive things.

00:16:39But, Randy, I would have to throw him onto my tickets for the very reason that he's alone

00:16:45speeding in the race.

00:16:47And if he gets out there in 50, he can't hold on for second or third.

00:16:52I'm going to use this horse.

00:16:54Yeah.

00:16:55High 48s, low 49s, maybe, I think would be more realistic for Power Shift.

00:17:00And I would put him in my Superfecta as well.

00:17:04And I plan to, just because of that.

00:17:06Do I think he's good enough to win?

00:17:07No.

00:17:09You know, but I said the same thing in a completely opposite context before the Kentucky Derby

00:17:17by Golden Tempo.

00:17:18The pace is really going to help him, you know?

00:17:21Do I think he's good enough to win?

00:17:22I doubt it, but I'll put him in my Superfectas, you know.

00:17:27So there you go.

00:17:28He's got pace.

00:17:29I'm watching him work heads up next to Renegade.

00:17:32If you watch the pair of them, sometimes you might think he was Renegade if you didn't

00:17:36know the difference.

00:17:38He's been working very, very well in the morning.

00:17:40And with speed on his side, you have to give him a shot in here.

00:17:44Todd's no dummy.

00:17:47The second of the three Chad Brown horses is Otina.

00:17:53Skipped the Kentucky Derby, coming out of a second-place finish in the Bluegrass.

00:17:57Second-place finish in the Bluegrass, in and of itself, doesn't sound too bad, but got

00:18:00to beat 11 lengths.

00:18:02By further ado, who didn't do much running in the Kentucky Derby.

00:18:07Did further ado, just throw in a clunker, have some sort of excuse?

00:18:10That's altogether possible.

00:18:12But again, as I said, with Emerging Mark, and I know Randy agreed with me here, this

00:18:17horse probably has to improve five, six lengths, if not more, to be a major factor in the race.

00:18:23I don't see it.

00:18:25Step it up.

00:18:27Oh, yeah.

00:18:27There you go.

00:18:30It's an inside joke, folks.

00:18:34I mean, he's got a pedigree.

00:18:36He's, what is, Zoe, correct me, is he half-to-gunrunner?

00:18:41Yes.

00:18:42I think he is, a half-brother-to-gunrunner.

00:18:44And he's had some foot problems that they've been working on.

00:18:47He may or may not run in the bar shoe that he's been training in, but Chad thinks that

00:18:53he should take a step forward in this race.

00:18:56But is he good enough to win?

00:18:58There's not a race on his past performances that would make you think he's good enough

00:19:03to hit the board.

00:19:06All right, we turn now to Vitruvian Man.

00:19:10No, thank you.

00:19:11Step it up.

00:19:12Step it up.

00:19:13He's going to really have to step it up, that horse.

00:19:15He's going to be out there wing-dinging.

00:19:19Well, coming off a third-place finish badly beaten in the San Anita Derby, one for six lifetime,

00:19:25having won by nose.

00:19:25Because Doug O'Neill's won with some crazy outcomes, but no, hard to get excited about

00:19:32this horse.

00:19:33Anything to say about Vitruvian Man, Randy?

00:19:36Not really.

00:19:37I mean, in talking to Doug O'Neill before the San Anita Derby, he ran him in there despite

00:19:40the fact that he didn't have any prep race as a three-year-old.

00:19:45He said he's a very good horse.

00:19:47Maybe this is not the right spot for him, but his next time after this race, he should

00:19:53take a big step forward and get really a lot out of this race.

00:19:57I can see him improving, but improving enough?

00:20:00I don't know.

00:20:02So before the draw, it looks like there'll be nine horses in the race and growth equity

00:20:06will end up with him.

00:20:07Not to say that he's last on our nine rankings, but we threw him in some sort of random order

00:20:14in here.

00:20:15Another Chad Brown horse, ran in the Peter Pan.

00:20:19I thought the Peter Pan was a really poor race.

00:20:22You know what he's got to do, Zoe?

00:20:24He's got to step it up.

00:20:25He does.

00:20:27And, you know, I really don't have a whole lot to say about growth equity, but what do

00:20:31we all feel about the draw?

00:20:32One hole, 10 hole?

00:20:35One hole, you know, where do we think it's a good spot to be?

00:20:38Does it really matter?

00:20:40That's what I was asking.

00:20:41I'm not sure it does.

00:20:43I don't think it does.

00:20:44Nine horses, long run to the first turn.

00:20:47No real defined speed horse.

00:20:49So, you know, you don't have that strategy, you know?

00:20:52So it doesn't really matter.

00:20:54There can be no one.

00:20:55Oh, my God, I've got the one hole.

00:20:56What am I going to do?

00:20:57There's no excuse.

00:21:00Nope.

00:21:00I would agree with Randy.

00:21:02I don't think it's going to be.

00:21:03It always could turn out to be.

00:21:04Watch poor Renegade get the one post again and get slaughtered at the start.

00:21:08But on paper, it doesn't look like it's going to have much of an effect or you wouldn't think

00:21:13would have much of an effect on the race.

00:21:15OK, so that is the breakdown of the horses getting ready to start on Saturday's Belmont

00:21:20at Saratoga.

00:21:21With the last ever Belmont Stakes, or so we suppose, to be run at Saratoga, the new Belmont

00:21:26Park will be ready to go in 2027.

00:21:28Here's what we're going to do.

00:21:30We're going to take a little break.

00:21:31We're going to hear from Keeneland.

00:21:32And then when we come back, none other than Todd Pletcher, you've already heard us talk

00:21:35about Renegade and his other horse in here, Power Shift.

00:21:39He's going to tell us more about those horses.

00:21:41Stay with us.

00:21:41I do want to remind you that each and every week, the TDN Writers' Room is brought to

00:21:45you by Keeneland.

00:21:46Keeneland's September graduates picked up a trio of graded stakes wins this past weekend

00:21:51across the country on Saturday.

00:21:54First, it was the $1.1 million grad Cornucopian who won the grade three Aristides in fine fashion.

00:22:01And then Percy Blamente came home first in the grade three Jacques Cartier stakes at Woodbine.

00:22:07And finally, back at Churchill Downs, Lagunos crossed the wire first to win the grade three

00:22:13Arlington stakes.

00:22:14This year's September sale begins on Monday, September the 14th.

00:22:18Be there or be square.

00:22:20Make plans to attend.

00:22:22We do this so your granddaughter can work on a farm someday.

00:22:27So the stands will still be packed in 50 years.

00:22:32That's why we come to work every day.

00:22:34Obsess over every single detail.

00:22:39Because the story of racing is written one moment at a time.

00:22:44And the future of our industry deserves nothing less.

00:22:49Keeneland.

00:22:50Every moment matters.

00:22:52The fastest horse of the week brought to you by the Fast Sires at Windstar Farm, home of stallions.

00:22:58Like Audible, who was very well represented this weekend by his daughter, Splendora.

00:23:04Last year's Breeders' Cup Philly and Mare Sprint winner.

00:23:07Remember, Splendora was somewhat flat at Churchill Downs in the Derby City Distaff on the Kentucky Derby undercard.

00:23:14But she rebounded in a big way on Saturday to win the grade two Shawnee stakes.

00:23:19Again at Churchill Downs, defeating former champion two-year-old Philly Immersive for her fourth graded win.

00:23:25Audible is currently the leading fourth crop stallion by black-tie horses with 14 already this year.

00:23:33The proven son of Into Mischief stands at Windstar for $7,500.

00:23:40So Splendora is now a part of Bob Baffert's new Kentucky satellite stable, and so is our fastest horse of

00:23:47the week.

00:23:47The aforementioned Cornucopian, who won the Aristides about an hour after Splendora took the Shawnee stakes.

00:23:55Like Splendora, Cornucopian had been disappointing on Derby Day, finishing a well-beaten fifth in the Churchill Down stakes.

00:24:02But he came back in the Aristides to run 108.41 under Flavian Pratt for a career-high buyer's speed

00:24:10figure of 103.

00:24:13Cornucopian is the son of Into Mischief, owned by the Avengers.

00:24:16He's now a leading early contender for the Breeders' Cup Sprint, and Cornucopian is our fastest horse of the week.

00:24:28And we're welcoming now the Gainesway Guest of the Week, and it's none other than Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher.

00:24:33Obviously, you know what he did in the Kentucky Derby with a very good run from Renegade, who finished second,

00:24:40beaten by Golden Tempo.

00:24:42And Todd, obviously, Renegade did not have the best of the trips.

00:24:46He was banged around quite a bit at the start.

00:24:48In your heart of hearts, do you think you ran the best horse in the Kentucky Derby?

00:24:53There's no doubt about everything that we feared drawing the one hole happened.

00:24:58You know, all the things that we felt like could potentially go wrong kind of happened in the first 16th

00:25:04of a mile.

00:25:04And for me, it's very difficult to gauge how much that takes out of a horse when you get bumped

00:25:11around as much as he did.

00:25:14But as far as where we ended up position-wise, I think we knew it was going to be a

00:25:19fast pace.

00:25:20We knew we wanted to settle back, make a run like we did in the Arkansas Derby.

00:25:23That part of it we got to do.

00:25:25It just can't help but think, you know, had that bumping around in, you know, the first 16th of a

00:25:31mile.

00:25:31I feel like had to impact his performance somewhat.

00:25:34So, to me, you know, he ran a winning race.

00:25:37He just didn't finish first.

00:25:39Yeah, with just a neck separating Golden Tempo and Renegade at the wire.

00:25:43There's a lot of shoulda, coulda, wouldas there.

00:25:45He also got held up just a little bit coming to the top of the stretch in traffic, you know.

00:25:50But looking at the Belmont on paper, and I know you've probably thought about this if you haven't actually seen

00:25:55some past performances,

00:25:56but there's very little early speed.

00:25:59So, I mean, legitimate early speed like we had in the Kentucky Derby.

00:26:03It should be a relatively tepid early pace.

00:26:08And so, that just makes me think maybe that Renegade might get more of a jump, especially with a clean

00:26:13break,

00:26:14may get more of a jump on Golden Tempo than he got in the Kentucky Derby.

00:26:19Have you thought about that at all?

00:26:22We have.

00:26:23And, you know, I think he's tractable enough that if Irad needs him to lay a little bit closer to

00:26:30the pace, he's capable of doing that.

00:26:32That was part of our strategy in Arkansas and Churchill to take back, settle, and make one run

00:26:39because we felt like that suited his style and the pace scenario of those races was favorable for that.

00:26:45But, you know, I think he can be closer if we need to.

00:26:47And, you know, that's going to kind of be up to Irad to sort out as the race unfolds.

00:26:54And, Todd, I want to stay on that theme that Randy just brought up.

00:26:58And we haven't mentioned yet that you're also running Power Shift in this race.

00:27:02Very good horse in his own right.

00:27:04Nothing to denigrate him.

00:27:06But is one of the reasons why you entered him in this race is to guarantee a faster pace for

00:27:11Renegade?

00:27:13No, that's he's in no way in there as a pace setter or a rabbit for Renegade.

00:27:17He's in there on his own merits.

00:27:19He's a horse that we've always had very high hopes for.

00:27:22Now, we did discuss, you know, how does he affect Renegade's chances as far as running him in there?

00:27:27And we all agreed that, you know, that he complements Renegade's running style.

00:27:31They won't be in each other's way early.

00:27:33And, you know, Power Shift could possibly be the pace setter.

00:27:37And if, you know, it unfolds the right way for him to do that effectively and give himself his best

00:27:43chance to win,

00:27:44then by all means, you know, we won't take away what comes easily for him.

00:27:48So that's what it looks like to me on paper anyway.

00:27:51No such thing as ladies first here, Todd.

00:27:54How are you, by the way?

00:27:55I thought I'd just jump in and get a chance to say something.

00:27:58You doing okay?

00:28:00Doing well, Zoe.

00:28:01How are you?

00:28:02I am great.

00:28:03I've got two questions.

00:28:05The first is, do you ever wish that Mike Rapoli had never said I'd rather win the Belmont than the

00:28:10Derby?

00:28:13I think he changed that after he won the Belmont, you know, so.

00:28:16So, yeah, no.

00:28:19And then, yeah.

00:28:21And then the second one, if you could describe Renegade, because having seen him in person and watched his races,

00:28:29I was struck when you see him on the track and watch him run, he seems like a big imposing

00:28:34horse.

00:28:35But he's not really.

00:28:36Can you describe his stature and what kind of horse he is?

00:28:40Obviously gutsy.

00:28:42Yeah, he is.

00:28:43He is a very gutsy horse.

00:28:45He's very determined.

00:28:46But he's a real gentle, you know, horse to be around.

00:28:50He's a real quiet horse.

00:28:51He likes to take his naps a couple times during the day.

00:28:55You know, he's not an overly aggressive colt or anything.

00:28:59To me, physically, he's kind of your classic throwback to the oil paintings you see from the, you know, the

00:29:05real thoroughbreds of the early 1900s.

00:29:08He's got a great shoulder and heart girth and kind of, you know, a little bit of a slender, sleek

00:29:14build about him.

00:29:16Very easy horse to train.

00:29:18Very straightforward.

00:29:19You know, never, never puts a foot out of place.

00:29:23Guessing at about the 16th pole, you thought you had the Derby won?

00:29:30Yeah, that was, that ended up being a pretty tough beat because, you know, at the 16th pole, I thought

00:29:36we were going to get there.

00:29:37And then, you know, I thought we might even battle back late.

00:29:41And, uh, but, uh, yeah, it was, uh, and it was one of those, you know, so many emotions go

00:29:47through your mind watching these races, especially, you know, ones like this.

00:29:50And so you go from like being really upset the first hundred yards to then, you know, okay, you know,

00:29:56we kind of got back into position.

00:29:58We wanted to, we're okay here.

00:29:59And then see him making a move on the turn and now you're waiting on him, you know, a place

00:30:04to go.

00:30:04And so, you know, but then once he got clear, I thought, I thought he would, you know, I thought

00:30:09he had the ability to kind of outkick everyone.

00:30:12But I tell you, I thought Jose Ortiz wrote a, wrote a really brilliant race.

00:30:16I mean, he had, he had a clear strategy.

00:30:18He wanted to, he wanted to drop down, save as much ground as possible and identify where Irad was on

00:30:25Renegade and follow him around there.

00:30:26And he, he did that and, you know, it worked out perfectly for them.

00:30:31Todd, you've won the Kentucky Derby.

00:30:33You've won the Breeders' Cup Classic.

00:30:34You've, of course, won the Belmont Stakes numerous times.

00:30:37I'm just wondering, so far as how you rate those races, are, do you rate them in any particular, I

00:30:43mean, I'm sure the Kentucky Derby is number one.

00:30:45But how important is the Belmont Stakes to you, a New York guy, a guy who's had a lot of

00:30:52success in it, where do you rank that among the major accomplishments of your career?

00:31:00Oh, I mean, I've always said that, you know, my favorite win was Rags to Riches in 2007 Belmont, you

00:31:05know, it was our first classic.

00:31:06And for her to win, you know, beating a horse like Curlin, first Philly, I think at that time in

00:31:11105 years or whatever, that, that was the most exciting race.

00:31:14But to me, I rank the Belmont second to the Kentucky Derby in races that we want to win.

00:31:20And a big part of that is just, you know, Garden City, New York, 10 minutes away from Belmont, where

00:31:28we've lived for, you know, for the last 25 years, where our kids grew up, where they went to, went

00:31:33to school and high school.

00:31:35And, you know, when you go to soccer games and everybody's, you know, knows that you're running in the Belmont,

00:31:42it's kind of our hometown, hometown race.

00:31:44So it's, it's always been, been one of our favorites.

00:31:49So that being said, how do you feel about moving the Triple Crown to like one month, one month, one

00:31:56month?

00:31:57Do you think it should move or do you think it should stay like it is?

00:32:01I think we need to, I think we need to make some changes.

00:32:04You know, we've got to mix things up.

00:32:06We've got to, we've got to continue to try to improve.

00:32:08And, and, you know, I think, I think one way to do that is to stretch them out.

00:32:12To me, the, you know, May, June, July argument makes a lot of sense.

00:32:17I think if we can see the same horses running in these races more often, it'll, it'll be good.

00:32:23So, you know, I think as everyone's been talking about, we're, we're not as a sport necessarily heading in the

00:32:31right directions by a lot of metrics.

00:32:34And so we need to make some changes.

00:32:35And I think this would be a positive one.

00:32:38So there's also been a trial balloon floated out there, Todd, to move the Preakness one week and make it

00:32:46three weeks after the Derby instead of two.

00:32:48My contention has been that that will barely move the needle, if at all, because trainers like yourself and the

00:32:54other leading trainers don't really want to run back in three weeks either.

00:32:59What's your thought about that?

00:33:01Yeah, I don't think it's enough of a move.

00:33:04I agree with you.

00:33:04I think, you know, we didn't need to do at least four weeks in between the Derby and the Preakness

00:33:10and then at least four weeks in between the Preakness and the Belmont.

00:33:13If we want to, if we want to keep all the same horses running in these races, you know, the,

00:33:18the more time we can give in between and still hopefully have a short enough time that we can keep

00:33:23the interest level high.

00:33:24I mean, the Derby is, it's phenomenal.

00:33:27It's over what, 22 million viewers, you know, and, and I mean, that's, that's top, top shelf stuff for, for

00:33:34any sport.

00:33:35So, you know, if we can somehow build some momentum off that and keep carrying it through and, and, and

00:33:41let's say that it gives, you know, the best horse, the best chance.

00:33:44And we have more horses winning the first two legs that can only, only benefit the, I mean, the Belmont

00:33:49to me is, you know, one of the greatest sports spectacles there is when there's a triple crown on the

00:33:54line.

00:33:55So if we can do that more often, then I think we should.

00:33:59Coulda, shoulda, woulda, had you won by a neck?

00:34:02Would you have second guessed running back in the Preakness?

00:34:07What would Wayne would have done?

00:34:08I don't think so.

00:34:08I mean, there's no doubt what Wayne would have done.

00:34:14We know that one.

00:34:15Yeah, no, yeah, that one's easy.

00:34:17That one's easy.

00:34:19Yeah, I honestly, I, I, I don't know that, that he would, would have been ready.

00:34:24You know, I think a lot of these horses lose a little bit of weight during the, you know, campaign

00:34:29up to the Derby and then the Derby knocks a little more off of them.

00:34:33So, you know, he, he's, like I said, he's kind of a, you know, lighter made kind of horse.

00:34:37And I think it was going to be, you know, back a little too soon for him.

00:34:42And now, that being said, you know, I ran Super Saver and I ran always, always dreaming back.

00:34:47And my confidence level was very low when I did it.

00:34:50But I felt like, you know, that it was the right thing for the sport to run, you know, in

00:34:56the Preakness to hopefully give the industry a chance to have a, you know, a triple crown candidate.

00:35:01But, I mean, I didn't remember, you know, being very concerned that this was just, you know, back too soon.

00:35:07But they were both healthy and they were okay.

00:35:09And it's like, you know, we got to, we got to give it a try.

00:35:11But, like I said, my confidence level wasn't, wasn't great.

00:35:15Isn't it funny how times have changed now to where we've seen Bill March, Sharidovo?

00:35:20It seems like you, it's a different mindset to where you feel you could skip if you wanted to.

00:35:26Yeah.

00:35:26And I mean, I think that's more indication of why we need to, you know, spread out the calendar a

00:35:31little bit.

00:35:32But, yeah, I mean, people have asked me, like, you know, what are your most disappointing, what's your most disappointing

00:35:37loss?

00:35:37And, you know, to me, it was those two because I felt like, you know, you let the entire industry

00:35:43down.

00:35:43You know, the biggest thing we can have is a Belmont, the triple crown at stake.

00:35:49And so, you know, when you lose the Preakness with the Derby winner and that's no longer, you know, a

00:35:56hope for anyone, I felt like those were, you know, the most disappointing.

00:36:00Todd, let's switch gears for a minute.

00:36:02And, of course, on a big day like Saturday, you can have other runners in.

00:36:05And the Met Mile is, my goodness, I mean, one of the races that you just wake up in the

00:36:10morning and dream about.

00:36:11You've put both Vibe and Antiquarian into the race.

00:36:17I want you to talk about both those horses, but particularly Vibe, why you scratched out of the race this

00:36:22past Saturday at Churchill to run in the Met Mile instead.

00:36:26Yeah, I mean, you know, the obvious reasons for switching it.

00:36:30But we thought originally we might run Disruptor for the same ownership connections or part of the, you know, Rapoli

00:36:38has an interest in both of those.

00:36:40And so we thought we might split them up that way.

00:36:42When we decided we need a little more time with Disruptor, Mike said, look, the horse has won his last

00:36:47couple of races going a mile.

00:36:49Well, you know, the Met Mile is a grade one.

00:36:52The Blame is a nice race, but it doesn't really do anything as far as stallion value.

00:36:56So, you know, it's really about, you know, sticking at the mile distance and also, you know, potentially taking a

00:37:03swing and, you know, a historic grade one race, a stallion making race.

00:37:08So that's part of it.

00:37:09I think, you know, to me, the real mystery here is what happens out of the Wilson shoot.

00:37:15You know, I mean, I've seen some really bizarre results.

00:37:18We've had some horses run really well out of it, and we've had some horses run terribly.

00:37:25And, you know, so I don't know.

00:37:26I don't know if you want to draw inside.

00:37:28I don't know if you want to draw outside.

00:37:30I, you know, to me, I'm looking forward to seeing the Met Mile get back to a track where it

00:37:36can be run around a true one turn mile.

00:37:41But does the turn and a half help a horse like Antiquarian as opposed to a one turn mile?

00:37:49Yeah.

00:37:50I think it could.

00:37:51I think it, you know, maybe stretches the mile out a bit.

00:37:54And, you know, he's obviously a horse that's a grade one winner at a mile and a quarter.

00:37:57So you could argue that.

00:37:59Todd, before we let you go, I have one more question.

00:38:02A horse that we used to talk about an awful lot sort of flying under the radar, out of sight,

00:38:07out of mind.

00:38:08Oh, I don't want to get the name mixed up.

00:38:11Ted Noffy.

00:38:12How is he doing?

00:38:15He's doing well.

00:38:16He's in Ocala.

00:38:17He's getting pretty close to having his first breeze.

00:38:20And, you know, I would think within the next probably two or three weeks, we'll have him back at Saratoga

00:38:25and, you know, could potentially make a race, you know, late in the Saratoga meet.

00:38:31And so, yeah, we're looking forward to getting him back.

00:38:36But the reports have been good from Ocala.

00:38:39Is the Travers out of the question?

00:38:42Travers is out of the question.

00:38:44I don't see how we could be ready to go a mile and a quarter by then.

00:38:48I can't let Todd go without asking him about some of his babies.

00:38:51The last time we had you on, you mentioned you had some life is good.

00:38:54They've come out firing, guns blazing.

00:38:58Who's the best one you've got, Todd?

00:39:01I honestly don't know yet.

00:39:05I think we do seem to have a pretty strong group.

00:39:13My dad always says every year, you know, this is the best crop we've ever had.

00:39:16I think he might be right this year.

00:39:19So we'll see.

00:39:20But, yeah, it's early.

00:39:21A lot of our, you know, more favored ones are just kind of getting into Saratoga, just getting their first

00:39:30quarter mile, first three age breezes.

00:39:32So we got a ways to go.

00:39:34But I think we should be well represented, you know, during the true Saratoga meet.

00:39:40Perpetual runs on Thursday.

00:39:41What can you tell me about her?

00:39:42And just being nosy because I loved her at the sale.

00:39:46Drain the clock, Philly.

00:39:48Yeah, we're going to put blinkers on her for her debut.

00:39:51And, you know, she's been a little bit curious in the mornings, kind of looking around a little bit.

00:39:55She broke very sharply in her last gatework, but she veered out a little bit.

00:39:58But she drew the one hole, so obviously the break is key.

00:40:03But, you know, I think the drain the clocks have been impressive in the two-year-old sales.

00:40:08And he's one that I would expect to have quite a few juvenile winners.

00:40:12Cool.

00:40:13Very good.

00:40:14Well, Todd, thank you so much for your time.

00:40:16I know it's a busy week.

00:40:17You got so much going on with the Belmont Stakes on Saturday.

00:40:20Best of luck with Renegade and all your other runners on Saturday's card.

00:40:23And thank you for being our Gainesway Guest of the Week.

00:40:26My pleasure.

00:40:27Thank you, guys.

00:40:28Thanks, Todd.

00:40:29Good luck.

00:40:30Our guest of the week, Todd Plutcher, came to you courtesy of Gainesway Farm,

00:40:34the home to Breeders' Cup mile winner, Karakonte,

00:40:37who is now building an impressive reputation as a dominant turf value sire,

00:40:44punching well above his stud fee to get high-class runners on both sides of the Atlantic.

00:40:49On this side of the Atlantic, Karakonte is the sire of a champion turf female.

00:40:55She feels pretty as well as grade one Del Mar Oaks winner, Spinderella.

00:41:01And the best news of all, Karakonte stands at Gainesway for a fee of only $15,000.

00:41:07Gainesway, power, passion, performance.

00:41:11The sun shines bright on Karakonte.

00:41:14His first crops of racing age are showing brilliance on the racetrack with a high percentage of stakes winners.

00:41:20His versatility is evidenced by winners on all surfaces across the globe.

00:41:25It is all she feels pretty.

00:41:28Yet another grade one for this magnificent daughter of Karakonte.

00:41:33And his offspring are lighting up the sales ring.

00:41:36$300,000, Emma, thank you.

00:41:38Karakonte standing at Gainesway.

00:41:42On this week's edition of First Things First,

00:41:44I caught up with trainer Aggie O'Donies and her star of her barn, Almond Joy.

00:41:55Okay, Aggie, it's Monday morning.

00:41:57You've had, you know, a good 24 hours to recover and the big mare here.

00:42:02How are you both doing?

00:42:04I'm still on cloud nine and she's still floating on air.

00:42:08Came out of the race great.

00:42:10Legs are cold and tight.

00:42:11She's still a big, strong, sound filly.

00:42:15And she had a little acupuncture treatment this morning, a little massage.

00:42:20And she's doing great.

00:42:23Would she be one of your most favorites of all your favorites?

00:42:27I mean, you have a lot of favorites.

00:42:28I love them all.

00:42:29I would, but how can you not?

00:42:32How can you not love this girl?

00:42:33She's, she's what everyone would dream of having in their barn.

00:42:37And she's a bit of a ham.

00:42:39She loves all the attention.

00:42:40She loves to run.

00:42:42And she likes the whole pomp and circumstance of it.

00:42:45She presents in the paddock.

00:42:46I mean, she's just having fun.

00:42:48Talk to me about the balls.

00:42:50We can mention that what it took to run her back in a week, Aggie.

00:42:57I was very confident.

00:42:59I know it was, it was a bold move.

00:43:02And I just, when that strikes me, it doesn't strike me often.

00:43:06But when it strikes me as the right thing to do, I run with it.

00:43:10And I, and she was giving me every sign that the grass race took nothing out of her.

00:43:16In fact, if anything, she was a little mad.

00:43:17Like she didn't get to do her thing.

00:43:19And she, she had everyone in the world come over and check her and go over her.

00:43:24And she jogged up and down that road as sound as a bell and bend her, flex her, twist her.

00:43:28And she did nothing but squeal and kick at them when they, when they walked away.

00:43:32And, and so I loved it.

00:43:35And, uh, I felt, I felt great walking her up there.

00:43:38So it's, I'm glad she, she, she came through for me.

00:43:42All right.

00:43:42Well, let's go take a look at a big brother.

00:43:44Where's she going to head to next?

00:43:46Uh, we'll go to Del Mar.

00:43:48Uh, first week of August is the Clement, uh, Clement Hirsch.

00:43:52Yeah.

00:43:53Yes.

00:43:54And, uh, it is, uh, Raiders Cup win and you're in.

00:43:58So that's an exciting, exciting part of it.

00:44:01I think she's, she's pulling me over cause I'm keeping her from her breakfast.

00:44:04Ah.

00:44:05Uh, maybe that's what's going on.

00:44:07Well, we won't keep her any longer.

00:44:10Can you give us a little info on Vodka Vodka, Almond Joy's big brother?

00:44:14I mean, that's gotta be cool to have two in your bar.

00:44:16So the ball's in his court now.

00:44:18They've been going back and forth on who's earned the most money.

00:44:21And it's, uh, his, his sister's got the one up on him right now.

00:44:25And I don't think it'll take him long to balance that out.

00:44:29Um, he had a great race in New Mexico, but when he came out of the gate, he stumbled and

00:44:34pulled a shoe off.

00:44:35He actually had an amazing performance running that race on three shoes.

00:44:39I was so impressed, but it bruised the foot.

00:44:41So we've been nursing that back.

00:44:42He's just about ready to, uh, get back to serious training and we'll see if we can make

00:44:47a race at Los Alamitos in the Betrando.

00:44:50Does he like his teddy bear?

00:44:52He loves his teddy bear.

00:44:53He's sometimes very gentle and other times kind of tough on him.

00:44:57He's been throwing them around a little bit.

00:45:00Uh, but you know, tough guys need teddy bears.

00:45:09Many thanks to Aggie and Almond Joy.

00:45:12Aggie really is a true horseman and we wish her the best of luck with Almond Joy.

00:45:16She's such a brilliant, brilliant filly and she's fun to be around.

00:45:21All right, let's talk about Santa Anita this coming weekend.

00:45:23We will race Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

00:45:26Come and join the Belmont steaks with us.

00:45:28Enjoy the Belmont steaks and come and have a little tipple of wine.

00:45:31It's uncorked.

00:45:33You can find everything you need to know on the Santa Anita website to get your tickets

00:45:37for the wine festival at Santa Anita.

00:45:39And don't forget Friday, Saturday, and Sunday this weekend, the following weekend, we'll close

00:45:44out with a four day weekend of racing Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday to close out the summer meet.

00:45:52Randy and Moss and I are in agreement on this.

00:45:55Outside of the Breeders' Cup Saturday, the Saturday Belmont card is the single best card of racing

00:46:02that there is 365 days a year in the United States of America.

00:46:07There's so many big races.

00:46:08We could talk about all of them.

00:46:10We could go 15 minutes on the rest of them.

00:46:13But then once we get to about the four hour mark on this podcast, you guys would all start

00:46:17falling asleep.

00:46:18So why don't we just zero in on what I think are some of the bigger races on the day.

00:46:25And even though it's a grade three, I got to talk about the true north.

00:46:28You know why?

00:46:29We never.

00:46:31Where's your t-shirt with Paco?

00:46:33You know, I should have worn it today, especially since Sue Finley, who was always yelling at me

00:46:39for wearing my Book of Dana t-shirt.

00:46:41She's in France and she's not even paying any attention to this.

00:46:44That's my bad.

00:46:45Of course, I'm picking Book and Dano, but this is no easy race.

00:46:49Ben Tornado, we know how good he is.

00:46:52You've got imagination coming off a nice run in this grade one Churchill Downs.

00:46:59Randy, can my friend Ben, excuse me, my friend Ben Tornado.

00:47:02I better edit that out.

00:47:04My friend Book of Dano, can he get it done?

00:47:07I think he's going to need his Vanderbilt.

00:47:10He's going to need to run back to his A-level race because Ben Tornado,

00:47:17we talked about this in the aftermath of the Dubai World Cup.

00:47:21It's easy to look at the Golden Shaheen, the sprint race that Ben Tornado came out of,

00:47:26and say, well, you know, who's Dark Saffron?

00:47:28I mean, he didn't run his race clearly.

00:47:30But if you go back and you look at the analytics for that day,

00:47:33the Dubai Golden Shaheen was a very good race.

00:47:37In my opinion, Ben Tornado fired and somehow just got outrun.

00:47:42And so I'm expecting him to come with another one of his really good races,

00:47:47like he ran in the Breeders' Cup.

00:47:49And that's the challenge for Book and Dano.

00:47:52Imagination is obviously a good horse.

00:47:54I don't think the Saudi sprint, the whatever it is, I always pronounce it wrong.

00:48:00Riyadh?

00:48:01Riyadh.

00:48:02I always say re-die.

00:48:05The Riyadh sprint was not as good, in my opinion, as the Dubai Golden Shaheen.

00:48:09But, yeah, I mean, it's going to be a good race.

00:48:12Ben Tornado is going to be so, so tough.

00:48:15When he throws in a 46 and change, a few works out,

00:48:19that's what signifies his readiness.

00:48:22So he's going to be tough.

00:48:23Do not take anything away from imagination,

00:48:26who maybe wasn't on his best when he won at Churchill Downs,

00:48:32but Bob's fine-tuned him since then, and that is where Pratt stays.

00:48:35And then I've got one long shot in here that I think deserves a look.

00:48:40Let me find him.

00:48:40Sorry, I'm not going Book and Dano, Bill.

00:48:43Well, Illuminaire for Todd.

00:48:47This horse loves Saratoga.

00:48:48He's two for three at Saratoga.

00:48:50He's really got to step it up big time, but it wouldn't surprise me if he hit the frame.

00:48:56Boy, no love for Book and Dano.

00:48:58And even I got to tell you, he's going to have a very hard time beating Ben Tornado.

00:49:02But I would have to resign my presidency of the Book and Dano fan club,

00:49:07of course, if I didn't pick him in this race.

00:49:09All right.

00:49:09The Woody Stevens is always a good race.

00:49:12Seven furlongs for three-year-olds.

00:49:14And what makes it an especially good race is, Randy, how exciting is crude velocity?

00:49:20Bob Baffert actually toyed with the idea of running this horse in the Preakness.

00:49:26And you know what?

00:49:27He would have been the heavy favorite in the Preakness.

00:49:29Because he's coming back against Englishman again,

00:49:32who would look so good winning that Fairgrounds Allowance race.

00:49:35But crude velocity beat him on the square last time out.

00:49:39Now, granted, this race is a little bit shorter.

00:49:41So that might help him.

00:49:43But, I mean, if you can't get excited about crude velocity,

00:49:47who can you get excited about, Randy?

00:49:49To me, this is as good a race as the Met Mile.

00:49:52This is just a fantastic race.

00:49:54The rematch, and what a race it was, crude velocity versus Englishman.

00:49:58And you look at the, like, the buyer speed figure, I think, was 100,

00:50:01which doesn't really do the quality of that race justice,

00:50:05because they were running so fast during the early part of that race.

00:50:10At the six furlong mark, they'd run a buyer figure of 107.

00:50:14So they were flying.

00:50:16And that race was much better than the buyer speed figure would indicate.

00:50:19But then, you know, then you've got obliteration.

00:50:22And how good was he on the Preakness stakes undercard?

00:50:26I mean, he was fantastic.

00:50:27And I know Steve Aswison's got a very high opinion of him.

00:50:30Throw in Solitude Dude, who's no slouch.

00:50:32Taj Mahal is cutting back to seven furlongs.

00:50:36Zoe, this is one hell of a race.

00:50:37Oh, my goodness.

00:50:38Is it ever?

00:50:40Is it ever a good race?

00:50:42Obviously, the top two will be crude velocity and Englishman,

00:50:46and they flip-flopped this time.

00:50:47Last time crude velocity was six of 11, Englishman drew the rail.

00:50:51So as soon as they broke, crude velocity flopped on him like white on rice,

00:50:57and those two just zing-zang the whole way around there.

00:51:01It's a credit to crude velocity that he was able to keep going like that.

00:51:05It's a credit to Englishman.

00:51:07Yeah, he had to wave the flag at the end of the day.

00:51:09How much faster are they going to go today when they cut back in distance on Saturday?

00:51:15Oh, my goodness.

00:51:16It's going to be a terrific race.

00:51:17And they're right next to each other, and they're not the only two in there,

00:51:21like you mentioned, but they most definitely are the top two in there,

00:51:25and they are the quickest.

00:51:27Zoe, going from a mile to seven furlongs, will that help Englishman?

00:51:32It's going to help both of them.

00:51:34Okay.

00:51:34Honestly, it will help both of them.

00:51:37Without question, it's going to help both of them.

00:51:39It's just a question of, are they just going to go too fast?

00:51:42Now, interestingly enough, crude velocity doesn't need the lead.

00:51:46Right.

00:51:47He doesn't need the lead.

00:51:50He's just quick, and Flo's going to want to get him out of trouble.

00:51:53The stuff he overcame in his very first start,

00:51:57I don't think a horse could ever have that kind of brutal trip again and win.

00:52:04That was about as bad a trip as you're ever going to see a horse get.

00:52:07Like three times checked, broke slow, just terrible.

00:52:11And he has a habit of not breaking the quickest anyway.

00:52:16So, yeah, it's going to be a terrific race.

00:52:18I love crude velocity.

00:52:20He's just a beautiful picture of a horse.

00:52:23And the Englishman is a stud to look at.

00:52:27Well, let's move on to the race that, again, everyone is excited about.

00:52:31How can you not be excited about the Metropolitan Handicap?

00:52:34Nysos, Vibe, Antiquarian, Saudi Crown, Raised by Merit, Knightsbridge, Journalism.

00:52:40I mean, this is an all-star team of horses going in there.

00:52:44I think you could go in a lot of different directions.

00:52:46I assume Nysos would likely be the favorite based on what he did in the Saudi Cup

00:52:53and also the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile.

00:52:55You know what, guys?

00:52:57This might be foolish, but I'm going to give Knightsbridge one more chance.

00:53:01I have no idea what happened to him.

00:53:03Maybe Zoya Randy can come up with a reason why he didn't run his best in this Churchill Downstakes.

00:53:08But he was just breathtaking down in Florida in the Gulfstream Park Mile.

00:53:13And I know those are grade threes.

00:53:14Maybe he didn't beat that much.

00:53:16But maybe, you know, I got egg on my face at this point.

00:53:20But I had the time to say, I thought this was the best horse in the country.

00:53:23I'm not willing to give up on him, Zoe.

00:53:25We all thought he was the best horse in the country.

00:53:28And we all got egg on our face.

00:53:30I don't think anyone particularly picked against him in the Churchill Downstakes.

00:53:36You know, Todd brought up a very, very, very good point about the Wilson shoot.

00:53:43Now, if you've ever been to Saratoga or you're at Saratoga, go out and take a look at it because

00:53:49it's a very tricky turn to navigate.

00:53:52That first turn, if you're in the one hole like Nysos is, it's tough because those horses come over on

00:53:59you quickly going into the first turn.

00:54:02So Flavian's going to have to be at his absolute best.

00:54:06Now, does he need the lead?

00:54:07I don't think he needs the lead, but he's going to have to be in a comfortable catbird seat because

00:54:12when the rest of the field comes over and there's a lot of speed to the outside of him, Flavian's

00:54:17got to be in a good spot not to get cut off going into that first turn.

00:54:21It's a brutal first turn.

00:54:22I'm with Todd.

00:54:23I can't wait for it to be back in New York proper at Belmont and run at the one mile,

00:54:29one turn distance because this is what, one and a half turns.

00:54:35It's probably the best met mile I've seen in a long, long time, but it's going to be tough to

00:54:41navigate that turn with a lot of good horses.

00:54:43It's going to be a really, really good jockeys race to watch.

00:54:47Two months ago, when I first heard that Michael McCarthy was leaning toward the met mile for journalism, I thought,

00:54:53oh, good luck.

00:54:54Good luck going up against the Knightsbridge.

00:54:57But then, you know, again, we all had egg on our faces about Knightsbridge.

00:55:02And then you go back and you look at his past performances.

00:55:04And in that five-race win streak, four-race win streak where he looked so good, he beat BU, Eliminate,

00:55:12Super Chow, Wind Up, Back Em Up, Steal Sunshine, and Flying Liam.

00:55:17You know, no grade one horses in there at all.

00:55:21Yeah, right.

00:55:22And so we knew going into the Churchill Downstakes that he was really going to be tested for class, so

00:55:28to speak, like he'd never been tested before.

00:55:31Even Bill Mott said that, and he flunked the test on that day.

00:55:35So, to me, this comes down to Nysos versus journalism.

00:55:39And I could go either way.

00:55:41You know, I really, really like journalism's race in the Oakland Handicap against Wadabario and Sovereignty.

00:55:48You know, I thought his comeback race was really good in defeat.

00:55:52And Nysos is Nysos.

00:55:54I mean, he gave Forever Young all he could handle.

00:55:56So, yeah, fun race.

00:56:00Absolutely going to be a fun race.

00:56:01Tell you what we're going to do.

00:56:03We're going to take a little break.

00:56:04We're going to hear from our friends at the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, also for the KTOB.

00:56:09When we come back, we'll talk about a couple off-the-track issues that were in the news this week

00:56:13in horse racing.

00:56:14Stay with us here on the Thoroughbred Daily News Riders Room Podcast, presented by Keith.

00:56:19The TDN Riders Room brought to you by our friends at the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, the PHBA.

00:56:26Let's talk about Penn Mile Night.

00:56:28Last Friday night at Penn National, of course, the Penn Mile itself was won by Alpeland.

00:56:33DJ Stable, Mark Cassie, Javier Castellano drew off nicely to win by four lengths.

00:56:38But Pennsylvania breads were also showcased in a pair of $75,000 stakes.

00:56:43Mata Rosa won the Leifard stakes for breeder Blackstone Farm trainer Ridley Mott and owner DeSales 85.

00:56:51And then, in the alphabet soup handicap, F-35 rolled through the stretch to win convincingly.

00:56:59Written by Castellano, of course, who also rode Alpeland in the Penn Mile.

00:57:03Bred by Equivine Farm, owned by the Elkstone Group, and trained by Brittany Russell.

00:57:09And elsewhere this week in Pennsylvania Bread News, Witte, the half-brother to Caravelle, won his seven-year-old debut

00:57:16at Laurel this past weekend.

00:57:18Witte has now earned almost $1 million, and will look to target graded stakes next.

00:57:24Or at least his connections will.

00:57:25I don't think Witte really knows the difference.

00:57:27You can get more information about the PA Bread program by visiting www.pabread.com or calling Brian Sanfortello at

00:57:35610-444-1050.

00:57:38The Pennsylvania Breeding Program is the best program in the country.

00:57:43The stallion awards, the owner bonuses, also the restrictive races and the stakes races for Pennsylvania Breads.

00:57:50Last year, 321 Pennsylvania breeders earned Breeders Awards.

00:57:5522 Pennsylvania breeders earned over $100,000.

00:58:00We have the best program in the country.

00:58:03Take advantage of the fantastic program that we have.

00:58:06Learn more at pabread.com.

00:58:08With some of the fullest fields in the country, and quality racing year-round,

00:58:14there's never been a better time to reap the rewards of breeding and racing in Kentucky.

00:58:20Purse money in Kentucky is at an all-time high, as its average purse per race, outpacing California, Florida, and

00:58:28New York.

00:58:29Kentucky Breads.

00:58:31Breed them.

00:58:32Raise them.

00:58:33Race them.

00:58:34We all win.

00:58:39Breed and race in Kentucky for the ultimate home field advantage.

00:58:44And take advantage of all those purses while you're at it.

00:58:47Kentucky Bread Golden Tempo won the Kentucky Derby.

00:58:50Kentucky Bread Napoleon Solo, of course, dominated the field to win the Preakness Stakes at Laurel.

00:58:56And now Kentucky Breads will seek a sweep of this year's Triple Crown Saturday in the Belmont Stakes,

00:59:01where the probables include Golden Tempo, Renegade, Commandment, Chief Wallaby, Emerging Market, Growth Equity,

00:59:07all bred in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

00:59:10Other recent Kentucky Bread Grade 1 winners include Formidable Man, who won the Shoemaker Mile at Santa Anita.

00:59:16Thought Process won the Gamely, also at Santa Anita.

00:59:19And the winning didn't stop on the track.

00:59:21Back in the auction ring this spring, a Kentucky Bread son of Flightline broke sale company records,

00:59:27selling for $10.5 million at OBS Spring in April.

00:59:31For more information on breeding and racing your very own Kentucky Breads,

00:59:35and of course, Kentucky offers an unmatched competitive advantage,

00:59:39you can visit www.kentuckybreads.com or registerkbif.com.

00:59:48Ensure your horse is KTDF and KTBIF eligible.

00:59:54A lot of acronyms there to secure your share of lucrative awards worldwide.

00:59:59Well, there was a couple news stories that took place off the track during the week that was,

01:00:04and the one that I've been trying to follow, and I've been following this for a long time,

01:00:08and people that have listened to this podcast know it's a big issue with me,

01:00:12is the CAW wagering.

01:00:13And it's a big issue for a number of reasons, one of which there's no transparency.

01:00:18Nobody up to this point has told us anything that we really need to know.

01:00:22How much is bet?

01:00:23How much are these guys winning?

01:00:24What kind of rebates they're getting?

01:00:26So to their credit, the New York Racing Association held a Zoom meeting with members of the racing media.

01:00:32They didn't answer all the questions,

01:00:34but they gave us much more information than anyone has ever given before when it comes to CAWs.

01:00:42And it's remarkable because not only are they taking bets from these guys,

01:00:47they also are part owner of the Elite Turf Club,

01:00:49which is the operation that funnels the bets into the pools,

01:00:54the ADW, so to speak, that they do.

01:00:57So I give Nara a whole lot of credit.

01:00:58The numbers that jumped off the page for me were this.

01:01:02Since they put in these quote-unquote guard rails,

01:01:05which keeps the CAW players from making their massive wagers at the very last second,

01:01:11which is really where much of their edge comes from,

01:01:15before they put in those guard rails,

01:01:17the total amount of handle,

01:01:19the percentage of handle from the CAW players was anywhere from 20% to 22%.

01:01:24It has now dropped from 12% to 13%.

01:01:28That's a very significant drop.

01:01:32As you would expect from that,

01:01:34the handle has also dropped 8% to 10%.

01:01:37And they also want to talk a lot about volatility,

01:01:40that these wild swings in the prices.

01:01:44Now, we don't see that too much.

01:01:45We really don't see it at all in the wind pool anymore

01:01:47since they closed that down to the CAW players two minutes post years ago.

01:01:52So they took a look at the Xacta prices.

01:01:54And it's not as evident in the Xacta

01:01:57because you don't see that right up on the tote board flashing all the time.

01:02:01But you got plenty of Xactas that went from $70 to $40.

01:02:04So the volatility on those, what they call volatility,

01:02:08and I'm not sure what their metric was,

01:02:10their measuring point, was down 40% to 50%.

01:02:14Congratulations to the New York Racing Association

01:02:16for trying to do something to solve a very big problem.

01:02:19And double congratulations for them coming out of the shadows

01:02:23and finally talking about this, Randy.

01:02:25Yeah.

01:02:26I don't want to go overboard with that, though.

01:02:28Look, I think the New York Racing Association,

01:02:31in particular David O'Rourke,

01:02:32do deserve a lot of credit

01:02:36for being one of the only ones

01:02:40that are willing to come out and discuss it publicly

01:02:42to a certain extent

01:02:44and then to actually implement policies

01:02:48that are an attempt, at least,

01:02:50to try to do something about it.

01:02:51The reason I don't want to give them too much credit

01:02:54is because, like you pointed out,

01:02:56they're a part owner of CAW.

01:03:00And it's just...

01:03:02Look, it's an absolute travesty

01:03:04in the sport

01:03:05that the major racetrack owners in America

01:03:10have invested

01:03:12and are part owners of the CAWs.

01:03:15And here's why.

01:03:16Because the bottom line is,

01:03:19there's many reasons,

01:03:20but the bottom line is that

01:03:21what always separated thoroughbred racing

01:03:24from the casinos

01:03:25and betting on the horses paramutually

01:03:28from betting in the slots

01:03:30and the blackjack tables

01:03:31and the craft stables

01:03:33is that in casinos,

01:03:36the casino operators

01:03:37had a vested interest in you losing.

01:03:40You lose, we win.

01:03:42Thoroughbred racing,

01:03:43pari-mutual racing

01:03:44was completely different.

01:03:45The racetrack operators

01:03:47theoretically had no skin in the game.

01:03:49They didn't really care who won.

01:03:51They were the middleman.

01:03:52They took their cut.

01:03:53They divided it up

01:03:54among the winning tickets.

01:03:55We're done.

01:03:56They would actually root

01:03:57for the favorites to win

01:03:58because it kept more money

01:03:59in circulation.

01:04:00But actively,

01:04:01they had no real vested interest.

01:04:05And now,

01:04:07the racetrack owners

01:04:08are competing with their customers.

01:04:11And that's just,

01:04:12I don't know why

01:04:12they didn't, you know,

01:04:14think twice or three times

01:04:16about that

01:04:16before they went into this thing

01:04:17X number of years ago.

01:04:19But it is not

01:04:20a healthy situation

01:04:22for the sport at all.

01:04:23It's a gigantic

01:04:25conflict of interest.

01:04:26Okay?

01:04:27So that's why

01:04:28I don't want to give Naira

01:04:29too much credit,

01:04:30but they do deserve,

01:04:32definitely,

01:04:32in my opinion,

01:04:33do deserve credit

01:04:34for at least publicly

01:04:36tackling this head-on.

01:04:38Yeah,

01:04:39they most certainly do,

01:04:40and they're the first ones

01:04:41to do it,

01:04:41so we'll have to give them

01:04:42credit for that.

01:04:44The handle's down.

01:04:45It begs me to wonder,

01:04:47what's the vested interest now?

01:04:50It'll be really interesting

01:04:52to see what the handle is

01:04:55over Belmont Stakes weekend.

01:04:57Is it going to be up?

01:04:58Is it going to be the same?

01:04:59Or is it going to be down?

01:05:00Are people

01:05:01that got pissed off

01:05:03with the core players

01:05:04going to suddenly

01:05:05delve back in,

01:05:06you know,

01:05:07some of these

01:05:09singular whales,

01:05:10so to speak?

01:05:10Are they going to be like,

01:05:11great,

01:05:11I'm going to play New York.

01:05:13The cores are out.

01:05:14So I don't know

01:05:15if this is a test

01:05:16or what the deal is,

01:05:17but there has to be

01:05:18a vested interest

01:05:19for the folks at Naira

01:05:22to do this

01:05:23in the first place.

01:05:24But you know what?

01:05:24Whatever it is,

01:05:25well done,

01:05:26and I look forward

01:05:27to seeing what the handle is

01:05:28at the end of

01:05:29Belmont Stakes weekend.

01:05:30And O'Rourke

01:05:32has even made some noise

01:05:33about doing something

01:05:35to rectify,

01:05:36you know,

01:05:37my second pet peeve

01:05:38in this whole CAW thing,

01:05:39and that is

01:05:40that they have given

01:05:42the major CAW bettors

01:05:45an advantage

01:05:46that normal bettors

01:05:47don't have,

01:05:48and that is

01:05:48direct computer access

01:05:50into the pools

01:05:51where they can run

01:05:52their algorithms

01:05:53and look at

01:05:53for last minute

01:05:54inefficiencies

01:05:55and capitalize on that

01:05:56that the average

01:05:57horse player can't.

01:05:58And O'Rourke

01:05:58has made some noises

01:06:00about trying

01:06:01to come up

01:06:02with a way

01:06:03for the average

01:06:04horse player

01:06:05to have that same

01:06:07sort of access

01:06:08to the mutual pools

01:06:09as the CAW players do.

01:06:11Now how he would

01:06:12pull that off,

01:06:12I don't know,

01:06:13but he's talking

01:06:15about it.

01:06:15And that's huge.

01:06:18So other news

01:06:19that happened

01:06:20on the racetrack,

01:06:21this kind of came

01:06:22out of the middle

01:06:22of nowhere.

01:06:23Napoleon Solo,

01:06:24shortly after winning

01:06:25the Preakness,

01:06:26was sold.

01:06:27And the new buyer

01:06:29is somebody

01:06:30or something

01:06:31called Espoir Inc.

01:06:33They did not want

01:06:34to say who they are.

01:06:35I never quite understood

01:06:37that.

01:06:37Someday somebody's

01:06:38going to find out.

01:06:39People in racing

01:06:40have strange ideas

01:06:41when it comes to secrecy

01:06:43and a lack of transparency,

01:06:44but that's neither here

01:06:45nor there.

01:06:45I looked them up.

01:06:46I couldn't find

01:06:47any word

01:06:48won about who they are.

01:06:50But I think Al Gold,

01:06:51the owner,

01:06:52made a real smart move here

01:06:53because, again,

01:06:55what's the old axiom

01:06:56that you use

01:06:57in the stock market?

01:06:58Buy low, sell high.

01:06:59Yeah.

01:07:00Buy low, sell high.

01:07:02Could you have

01:07:03ever sold

01:07:04higher

01:07:04than after this horse

01:07:06winning

01:07:06the Preakness stakes?

01:07:07And to be fair,

01:07:09I mean,

01:07:09I don't, again,

01:07:10just like I don't

01:07:10want to knock them,

01:07:11but it certainly

01:07:12wasn't the dream

01:07:13Preakness of all time.

01:07:15Good move by Al Gold,

01:07:17I believe.

01:07:18I think,

01:07:19and I haven't spoken

01:07:20to him about this.

01:07:21I'm glad he's keeping

01:07:22Chad Summers as the trainer.

01:07:23I'm glad that they're

01:07:24still pointing for the Haskell,

01:07:26but he's going to put

01:07:26some shekels in his pocket

01:07:28to show up at

01:07:28September Keeneland

01:07:29and buy some nice horses.

01:07:30I'm sure he's going

01:07:31to reinvest this money

01:07:32right back into

01:07:33the business, Zoe.

01:07:35Most likely he is

01:07:36and well done to him.

01:07:37You know,

01:07:38bird in the hand

01:07:39is worth two in the bush,

01:07:40so to speak.

01:07:41Bought for $40,000

01:07:42at Keeneland September,

01:07:44sold for God knows

01:07:45how much.

01:07:45It had to be an awful lot

01:07:47for Al Gold,

01:07:49whose home base

01:07:50is the Haskell

01:07:51at Monmouth Park.

01:07:52He says he'll be there

01:07:53with his buddies

01:07:54of 40 years

01:07:55watching it in the box.

01:07:56It's going to be

01:07:56bittersweet for him

01:07:57for sure,

01:07:58but he'll be there

01:07:59to root on his buddy

01:07:59Chad Summers

01:08:00who picked out

01:08:01this horse himself.

01:08:02He picks out

01:08:03all the horses

01:08:04for Al Gold,

01:08:06doesn't even go

01:08:06by a catalogue.

01:08:07If you see him

01:08:07walking around the sales,

01:08:09he's just got

01:08:10bits of papers,

01:08:11sale slips in his hand

01:08:12and no catalogue.

01:08:13He just looks at the horses

01:08:14like that.

01:08:15So,

01:08:15well done to that team

01:08:17and good job to Chad

01:08:19for keeping a hold

01:08:19of the horse.

01:08:20You better keep winning

01:08:21because new owners

01:08:22because new owners

01:08:22can be fickle.

01:08:23They want results.

01:08:25So,

01:08:26good luck to him

01:08:27in the Haskell.

01:08:28Obviously,

01:08:28I think

01:08:29the one thing

01:08:30we do know

01:08:30about the transaction

01:08:32is that David

01:08:33and Gordo

01:08:34have broken

01:08:35the transaction,

01:08:36so he knows

01:08:37where the money

01:08:38came from.

01:08:39The TDN

01:08:41Writer's Room

01:08:41Work of the Week

01:08:42is brought to you

01:08:43by First TV.

01:08:44Now,

01:08:44Renegade put in

01:08:45his final serious

01:08:46piece of work

01:08:47for the Belmont Stakes

01:08:48on Friday morning,

01:08:49May 29th,

01:08:50at Saratoga

01:08:51on the Oklahoma

01:08:52training track.

01:08:53Many thanks to Leah

01:08:54and First TV

01:08:54for getting this work.

01:08:56Todd Pletcher

01:08:57sent the Kentucky Derby

01:08:58runner out

01:08:59for a final

01:09:00runner-up

01:09:01for a final

01:09:01bullet-style

01:09:02drilling company

01:09:03with his stablemate

01:09:04and fellow

01:09:05Belmont hopeful

01:09:06Power Shift.

01:09:07This is what

01:09:08the clock has had to say.

01:09:09He breezed a very sharp

01:09:10half-mile

01:09:11in 48 and 3,

01:09:13the 7th fastest

01:09:14of 61

01:09:15at the distance.

01:09:16Just last week,

01:09:17Pletcher switched things up

01:09:18from their previous

01:09:19joint work

01:09:20on May the 21st.

01:09:21Renegade breezed

01:09:22on the inside

01:09:23this time

01:09:24and started

01:09:25about half a length

01:09:26in front of Power Shift.

01:09:27They have been

01:09:28regular workmates

01:09:29for quite some time.

01:09:33Be a smarter bettor

01:09:35with First TV,

01:09:36the best horses

01:09:39with thousands

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01:09:41morning workouts

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01:09:51Everything you need

01:09:53to be informed.

01:09:54Be smart.

01:09:56Bet smart.

01:09:57With First TV.

01:10:02All the thrills.

01:10:06Fraction of the bills.

01:10:11Experience the power

01:10:13of the partnership.

01:10:17Change your life,

01:10:18make new friends,

01:10:19and compete

01:10:20at the highest level

01:10:21of thoroughbred racing.

01:10:24West Point Thoroughbreds,

01:10:26the gold standard

01:10:27in racing partnerships.

01:10:28Visit westpointtv.com.

01:10:32And the TDN Writers Room

01:10:33also brought to you

01:10:34by West Point Thoroughbreds.

01:10:36Another week,

01:10:37another stakes win

01:10:38for West Point.

01:10:40Two weeks ago,

01:10:41remember we told you

01:10:41about Intricate Spirit

01:10:43winning the Paradise

01:10:43Creek Stakes

01:10:45at Aqueduct.

01:10:46Trainer Miguel Clement,

01:10:47Jockey Manny Franco.

01:10:48Well, guess what?

01:10:49We talked about

01:10:50the Penn Mile

01:10:51in the Penn Oaks.

01:10:52Clement and Franco

01:10:53back at it again

01:10:54when Bandiagara

01:10:56rallied to prevail

01:10:57in her North American debut

01:10:59on Friday night

01:11:00at Penn National.

01:11:01She's a three-year-old filly.

01:11:02She was imported

01:11:03from France

01:11:04last fall.

01:11:05West Point,

01:11:06meanwhile,

01:11:06has 11 horses

01:11:07lined up for races

01:11:09during the Belmont

01:11:09Stakes Festival

01:11:10at Saratoga

01:11:11this weekend,

01:11:12including

01:11:13Counting Stars

01:11:14in the Acorn

01:11:15on Friday

01:11:16and Vibe

01:11:17in the Met Mile

01:11:19and both

01:11:19Battle of Normandy

01:11:20and Integration

01:11:21in the Manhattan.

01:11:23Well, that wraps up

01:11:25this week's show.

01:11:26I want to thank

01:11:26our Gainsway guest

01:11:27of the week,

01:11:28Todd Pletcher.

01:11:28I want to thank

01:11:29my partners,

01:11:30Zoe Cabman

01:11:30and Randy Moss.

01:11:31And I want to thank

01:11:32the people who work

01:11:33behind the scenes,

01:11:34the directors

01:11:35and the producers

01:11:36who make this show

01:11:37work so well.

01:11:38Sue Finley gets no credit

01:11:39whatsoever

01:11:39because she's on vacation.

01:11:40So all the credit

01:11:41will go to Katie Petruniak,

01:11:43Anthony LaRocca,

01:11:44and Aliyah LaRocca.

01:11:46Enjoy the Belmont Steaks

01:11:47on Saturday

01:11:48from Saratoga.

01:11:49Well, plenty to talk

01:11:50about next week

01:11:51on the TDN

01:11:52Writer's Room podcast.

01:11:53Once again,

01:11:54thanks for listening.

01:11:55Thanks for tuning in.

01:11:55See you next week.

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