Bill Finley | Horse Racing Free Tips

Beem Talks Racecalling, Anxiety, on Writers’ Room

Jason Beem was just 23 years old when he had his first panic attack, but remembers it in excruciating detail to this day. “I was in law school at Gonzaga University. I was in constitutional law class and I didn't know what it was and walked out of class and freaked out in the hallway.” That episode was the beginning of over a decade-and-a-half struggle with anxiety and depression that caused him to leave racing for a period, and be hospitalized several times. The popular racecaller and podcast host talks openly about mental health on the TDN Writers' Room podcast, presented by Keeneland, with hosts Joe Bianca, Bill Finley and Jon Green, as the Green Group Guest of the Week.

He said that at times, the depression was so bad that he would have to lie down on an air mattress in the announcer's booth at River Downs because the effort to stay upright was too overwhelming. “My second year at River Downs, I really struggled,” he said. “And that was like the first time I had ever had a real depression and I didn't know what it was. I was in line at Chipotle one day, just crying and I didn't know why. And so I hadn't done a lot of therapy up until then, and so I started doing that and kind of learned what I was dealing with and also that it wasn't uncommon. I think that for me was one of the biggest helps early on was realizing that mental health issues are things that a lot of people struggle with.”

Currently the announcer at Tampa Bay Downs, he talks about being out of racing for a year and half and working as an Uber driver when BetAmerica saw his “Beemie Awards” on Twitter and reached out to see if he was interested in doing something with them. “I said I would love to do a daily podcast,” he recalled. “And that was that was literally like Christmas and we were up and going two weeks later. It really kind of came together pretty fast and, you know, just kind of took the model from what a lot of podcasts were doing; 20 minutes of chat, 25 minutes of interview and then you were out. And we've been really fortunate.”

In other segments on the show, which is also sponsored by Coolmore, the Pennsylvania Thoroughbred Horse Breeders, West Point Thoroughbreds, Legacy Bloodstock and XBTV, the writers discuss the news of the week, including: the ongoing story of California veterinarian Jeff Blea, the 2021 handle figures and how much of that could be from computer bettors, and the continuing legal battles between Bob Baffert and Churchill Downs.

Watch the video version of the podcast here.

Listen to the audio version here, or on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

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In Sweden, It’s a Dog Versus Dopers

In Swedish racing, there's a new tool being used to catch drug cheats, one with four legs and a wet nose.

A 2 1/2-year-old Giant Schnauzer named Lykke (Swedish for happiness) has been put to work by the Swedish Trotting Association (ST) as part of its efforts to wipe out cheating. Lykke is able to detect the presence of illegal substances in a horse by smelling their urine.

“It is impossible to say how common doping would be in Swedish trotting, but it would be naive of me to think that doping does not exist at all,” said Mattias Falkbage, head of investigations at Swedish Trotting. “We take our anti-doping work very seriously and Lykke is our newest tool in the fight against doping.”

Lykke is not yet being used with Thoroughbreds, which is a minor sport in Sweden and far less prevalent than Standardbred racing.

Owned and trained by Fia Mardfelt, Lykke was enrolled in the Hundcampus dog training program, where dogs are taught during a one-year program to smell for such things as explosives, illegal human drugs and gas leaks. It was Mardfelt's idea to teach Lykke to look for illegal drugs in horses and she reached out to Swedish Trotting with a proposal that they enlist the dog in the fight against dopers.

“Lykke has proven to have all the qualities needed for a dog that will work with search assignments at this level,” Mardfelt said. “His personal qualities combined with an enormous analytical ability make him a fantastic tool.”

Falkbage and his team liked the idea and brought Lykke on board in the spring and began training him specifically to find drugs in horses. Lykke officially began his duties about three weeks ago. His handlers use him at the racetrack on race days and also at training centers, where Lykke is used for out-of-competition testing.

“That's what is unique, I haven't read about any other dogs that smell urine in that way,” Falkbage said. “If the dog smells a substance in the urine, it makes a mark and then we take samples, blood, urine, hair. The dog points us in the right direction so far as who we should test. What he does is not enough to get a positive in the courts. We have to take samples also. Lykke just points the way for us.”

Agneta Sandberg, an animal welfare specialist with Swedish Trotting, said Lykke is just getting started.

“Since the spring Lykke has been trained in several preparations and we will train more and more as time goes on. Lykke's capacity is large and there are almost no restrictions for his sensitive nose,” she said.

Lykke is just one tool for a sport intent on ending cheating and has already implemented many of the tools the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) said it will use in U.S. Thoroughbred racing when and if it is put in charge of policing the sport. Samples are being frozen and retested at a later date in the hope that new tests are developed to find previously undetectable substances. A tip line has been installed and whistle blowers are encouraged. Samples are being sent to international labs. Additional manpower has been brought in to ramp up the enforcement efforts and out-of-competition tests are done frequently.

“It should be taboo and shameful to try to give oneself benefits by cheating through doping. Those who try to dope, they should know that we are working against them and we will never stop working against them. They should feel that we are there. They should feel our presence,” Falkbage said.

Having Lykke on board is a big help.

“A lot of people in Sweden are talking about this,” Falkbage said. “Anyone who tries to cheat with the horse, they are probably scared now. They don't know how much this dog can find.”

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Wesley Ward Joins Writers’ Room Breeders’ Cup Preview Show

The TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland produced its third annual comprehensive Breeders' Cup preview show Wednesday, analyzing and handicapping all 14 World Championships races in depth, and welcomed trainer Wesley Ward later as the Green Group Guest of the Week to discuss his five combined Breeders' Cup starters in the GI Turf Sprint and GII Juvenile Turf Sprint and future goals for his barn.

Asked whether he's happy with the niche he's carved out for himself as mainly an elite 2-year-old and turf sprint trainer or if he has bigger goals to win Classic races, Ward said with a laugh, “I'm glad I'm good at something. I'm fortunate that I have a good number of owners who are backing me with these types of horses. But obviously, I'd like to get into different categories and Classic distances. I had my first [Kentucky] Derby starter this year [Like the King]; ultimately he was a grass horse, but it sure was a lot of fun getting over there and I would like to get back with a really good chance.”

Elsewhere on the Breeders' Cup preview extravaganza, which is also sponsored by Coolmore, XBTV, West Point Thoroughbreds, Lane's End, the New York Thoroughbred Breeding and Development Fund and Legacy Bloodstock, Joe Bianca, Bill Finley and Jon Green gave out longshots to watch this weekend, explained which favorites they think are vulnerable and broke down all the pace scenarios in a potential Breeders' Cup Classic for the ages. Click here to watch the podcast; click here for the audio-only version or find it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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Baby Yoda is the Sport’s Most Unlikely Star

This is the story of Baby Yoda (Prospective): Bought shortly after he broke his maiden for $10,000 at Pimlico, he ran a 114 Beyer figure in a Saratoga allowance race, tying him for the fastest number on the year, and will now be sent into a graded prep for the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint. It sounds impossible. But it's not.

“It's crazy,” said Baby Yoda's co-owner Adam Wachtel. “It's hard to rationalize or accept. It's highly unusual to see something like this. He ran for $10,000 nine weeks ago and for him to go out an accomplish what he did in such a short period of time is just not something that you see. It makes you shake your head.”

Wachtel admits he wasn't paying any attention to Baby Yoda when the 3-year-old gelding made his debut May 30 at Pimlico for trainer Charles Frock and owner Gerald Burns. Baby Yoda won by eight lengths that day, but posted a moderate Beyer number of 69.

He came back in a first-level allowance race at Pimlico and ran third, but this was the race that got Wachtel to take notice. He is always on the lookout for horses that are off the radar but running fast numbers. Baby Yoda ran a 10 1/2 on the Ragozin Sheets, which, Wachtel felt, was good enough to compete against all 3-year-old sprinters not named Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music).

“We look at numbers with Len Friedman of Ragozin data,” Wachtel explained. “We go over horses each week. Forget about the race where he broke his maiden for $10,000. I didn't even look at that. When he finished third in the 'a other than' in Maryland he ran a great race. A friend of mine says that I buy a lot of Rocky Balboas. This guy fit into that category. The sire was a darn good race horse. I know he hasn't been an exciting stallion. But there was enough there and I really liked the replay.”

Wachtel had his vet go over the horse and had his agent reach out to the Maryland connections. Within a few days he had acquired Baby Yoda for an undisclosed price. Whatever it was, it is no doubt among the most anyone ever paid for a son of Prospective. Now standing in Korea after beginning his stud career at Ocala Stud, Prospective's biggest win came in the 2012 GII Tampa Bay Derby.

The new ownership group, which also includes Pantofel Stable and Jerold Zaro, sent Baby Yoda to Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott and kept its fingers crossed. Ironically, they had the Florida-bred pegged as a future turf horse and entered him in a starter allowance at Saratoga on the grass, but the race did not fill. Plan B was a dirt starter allowance July 17 and the result was a 1 1/4-length win.

Baby Yoda fans | Sarah Andrew

At that point, Wachtel's expectations were still not sky high. Winning a starter allowance only proves so much. But, after talking to Mott, he started to look at things differently.

“After Mott had had him for about 10 days, two weeks, I asked him, 'Bill, what do you think about this horse?' He said, 'I love him.' I said, 'Come on, really?'” Wachtel said. “Bill said it again. He told me that the horse was really neat, had a lot of talent and was a runner. Bill doesn't usually make statements like that, so for him to say what he did made me think this horse might really be alright.”

The Sept. 4 allowance brought together a deep field of 10 and several among the group seemed to have potential. Ridden by Jose Ortiz, Baby Yoda won by 4 1/4 lengths and completed the 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:14.33. The time of the race took on a whole new level of significance when the Beyer number came out. The only other horse to run a 114 Beyer this year is Flightline (Tapit). His big figure, ironically, also came in a first-level allowance race, a sprint at Del Mar the day after Baby Yoda's race. Among 3-year-olds, Essential Quality (Tapit) is next on the Beyer list, with a 109 from his victory in the GI Belmont S. Knicks Go (Paynter) ran a 113 Beyer in the GIII Prairie Meadows Cornhusker H.

Baby Yoda's Ragozin number in the Saratoga allowance was a 4 3/4.

“I've been doing this a long time and have had a lot of good horses but that, what he did, kind of blew me away,” Wachtel said. “I was unbelievably impressed and thrilled.”

Wachtel is reasonable enough to know that there's every chance this fairy tale will go off in another direction.

“Is he a freak or will he regress from that race? I don't know,” he said.

Nonetheless, the plan is to give Baby Yoda the type of test that a 114 Beyer seems to deserve. Wachtel said the next race will be in a stakes and said the GI Vosburgh S. and the GII Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix S. at Keeneland are among the possibilities.

“I've always been a guy who looks at data and how fast they have run,” Wachtel said. “Every race he has run over his last three races have been really fast and, the other day, he did it easily. I will rely on my Hall of Fame trainer to tell me how well he is doing. If he continues to train well, why not take a shot with him in a stakes?”

Why not? It's not logical that a $10,000 maiden claimer could win a graded stakes race, but what about this story is?

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