randy moss | Horse Racing Free Tips

Coast-To-Coast Pick 5 to Support TAA

The Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance will be the beneficiary of a special charity Pick 5 wager featured on CNBC during its next stop on the 1/ST Racing Tour Saturday. The upcoming day of coast-to-coast racing features 13 stakes races including the GI Santa Anita H., as well as the GII Fountain of Youth S. at Gulfstream Park and the GII San Felipe S. at Santa Anita Park.

NBC Sports will produce and air a two-hour telecast from 4-6 p.m. (ET) on CNBC. Five of the six stakes broadcast on the show will be part of a special All-Graded Stakes 1/ST COAST-TO-COAST PICK 5. The bet is a $1 minimum with a 15% takeout.

1/ST Racing and Gaming and NBC are working together on the special charity Pick 5 bet with the winnings to be allocated to the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance. NBC reporters Nick Luck and Britney Eurton will team up to face off against NBC analysts Randy Moss and Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey in a friendly competition. Each team will have $500 to bet on the Coast-To-Coast Pick 5 with the winnings being donated to the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance.

1/ST Racing & Gaming will donate $1000 to Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance no matter the outcome of the wagers.

“We are proud to support the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance and are always looking for ways to raise awareness and donations to support their great work. This Saturday's 1/ST Racing Tour is shaping up to be an epic day of racing. With 13 stakes races and 263 horses entered at Gulfstream Park and Santa Anita Park, we thought we'd add to the excitement with a little help from our friends at NBC,” said Aidan Butler, Chief Executive Officer, 1/ST Racing & Gaming.

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Brad Cox Joins TDN Writers’ Room Podcast

He just won the GII Risen Star S., has a strong pair entered in Saturday's GII Rebel S. and accounts for 10 horses being offered in the latest round of the Derby Future Wager. When it comes to 3-year-old talent, Brad Cox's lineup has tremendous quality and tremendous quantity. In the spotlight virtually every Saturday that includes a prep race for the GI Kentucky Derby, Cox found the time to join the team for this week's Thoroughbred Daily News Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland to discuss his Derby prospects. Cox was this week's Green Group Guest of the Week.

So far as the Rebel, in which he will start Verifying (Justify) and Giant Mischief (Into Mischief), Cox is optimistic he can pick up another major win on the road to the Derby.

“I think that Verifying is a very good horse,” he said. “The last time out at Oaklawn, he showed the ability to set close to the pace. I think the fractions [in the Rebel] will be similar, maybe even quicker. I don't expect to necessarily be on the lead but somewhat forwardly placed in a good stalking position. If he runs as well as he's training, I think he's going to be right there. He's a good colt. Giant Mischief is also a very good colt. I thought he ran a winning race at Remington [in the Springboard Mile], but, obviously, just didn't get away well. He made a big middle move and then kind of flattened out. This was by design to give him a little time after that race. He had three good runs at two, three positive races. And I thought he showed in his Remington race that he could stretch out. We're looking forward to getting him started at three.”

Like most trainers with top horses and clients, winning the Derby has become a focal point for Cox, who said he's living a dream with this many good horses.

“This has been my dream for a long, long time, to get into this position, acquire good colts from top outfits, top breeders, top owners throughout the country,” he said. “These horses, you need to have a lot of them to be on this stage. That we have so many at this point just proves that we've got a really, really good program. It's a team effort and it's years and years of training young horses and being able to stop on them when they need to be stopped on and then having them ready to go in the fall of their two-year-old year or to begin their three-year-old season to try to make that push for the Kentucky Derby because it is very, very demanding.”

Officially, Cox has won the Kentucky Derby. The Cox-trained Mandaloun (Into Mischief) was awarded the win in 2021 after Medina Spirit (Protonico) was disqualified due to a medication overage. But Cox said he doesn't really feel like he's won the race and wants to win it by sending out the best horse.

“It hasn't felt like winning the Kentucky Derby,” he said. “If you're awarded the race how do you explain that to people? I have to say, 'Oh, yeah, I've won it, but my horse didn't cross the wire first.' If I met a stranger and they didn't know much about horse racing, I'd have to explain how I won the Derby. I definitely don't feel that we've won the Kentucky Derby. We know the Kentucky Derby is not the richest race run in America, but I think it is without a doubt the most prestigious. All the eyes are on racing that day with the telecast, the crowd and everything. And it's the thrill of victory, bottom line. I haven't experienced that thrill and I look forward to it someday.”

Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by Coolmore, the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, XBTV, Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders and West Point Thoroughbreds, Randy Moss, Zoe Cadman and Bill Finley reviewed last week's races at the Fair Grounds, including the Risen Star and the disappointing effort by Hoosier Philly (Into Mischief) in the GII Rachel Alexandra S. Steve Asmussen's 10,000th win was also discussed with Finley predicting that Asmussen is setting records that will never be broken. To preview the G1 Saudi Cup, Cadman caught up with jockeys Mike Smith and Frankie Dettori in a new segment on the podcast, 1/ST things 1/ST at Santa Anita.

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Tom Amoss Joins the TDN Writers’ Room Podcast

Trainer Tom Amoss has never been shy about sharing his feelings about his filly Hoosier Philly (Into Mischief), saying she's the best horse he has ever trained. With Hoosier Philly ready to make her 3-year-old debut in Saturday's GII Rachel Alexandra S. at the Fair Grounds, the TDN team called upon Amoss to join them for this week's TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland to get his latest thoughts on a filly who could be a superstar. Amoss was this week's Green Group Guest of the Week.

It didn't take him long to figure out that Hoosier Philly was going places.

“When she was getting ready to run at the beginning of September, we worked her quite a bit with other horses,” he said. “What she was doing in the mornings in her workouts and her strong moves against competition was unlike anything that we had seen in our barn. I'm not going to tell that I've had all these champions, but we've had a lot of good horses. We've had enough of them through the years since 1987 when I started that I knew this one was just different. Hoosier Philly was different than anything I've had before.”

When last seen, Hoosier Philly was romping to a five-length win in the GII Golden Rod S. at Churchill Downs on Nov. 26. She returned to the worktab on Jan. 28 at the Fair Grounds, posting the first of three straight bullet works. Amoss knows the expectations will be huge come Saturday, but he feels that Hoosier Philly will be ready.

“The expectations have now become so high with her,” he said. “It's almost as if anything less than a win is going to be a huge disappointment, not only to the barn and the ownership but to the general racing public. Hoosier Philly has gone through her preps just as she should. If there's any hesitancy in my voice at all, it's only because she hasn't run since the end of November and this is her first start off the bench. I just want her to show me that she's the same horse she was at two, if not a more mature, better version of that. In the mornings, that's what she's telling us. So, hopefully, we'll see that on Saturday.”

Hoosier Philly has been nominated to the Triple Crown and Amoss has said he will consider a start in the GI Kentucky Derby. (Hoosier Philly closed at 11-1 in the latest round of Derby Future Wager betting). For now, though, Amoss said he's not looking past the Rachel Alexandra.

“She's going to run in this race on Saturday, the Rachel Alexandra,” Amoss said. “What she does after that race is so dependent on how she performs and how she comes out of the race. We'll have a long discussion with the owners so far as what we're going to point to next. But that would be the case with any horse. Getting ahead of yourself and beginning to do this or that is silly. When you think about those odds, the 11-1 in the Future Wager, if we were to go to the Derby I think she might be 11-1 at post time. So why would you want to bet on something like that now? All the talk about the Derby is just a lot of noise. I'm looking forward to Saturday and in her coming back as a healthy horse after the race and, hopefully, a successful one.”

Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by Coolmore, Lane's End, the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, XBTV and West Point Thoroughbreds, Randy Moss, Zoe Cadman and Bill Finley took a look back at the stunning upset by Dreaming of Snow (Jess's Dream) in the Suncoast S. at Tampa Bay Downs and the wins by Litigate (Blame) and Hit Show (Candy Ride {Arg}) in their Derby preps. Looking ahead, the team previewed the Rachel Alexandra S. and the GII Risen Star S. Moss, Cadman and Finley also shared their memories of three notable figures who passed away during the week, Burt Bacharach, Diana Firestone and John Veitch.

Click here to listen to the audio version.

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Amr Zedan Joins the TDN Writers’ Room Podcast

Saudi businessman Amr Zedan has been an owner only since 2017, but in that short period of time he has more than made his mark on the sport. His Medina Spirit (Protonico) crossed the wire first in the 2021 GI Kentucky Derby, his Taiba (Gun Runner) won three Grade I races last year and he has what may be this year's hottest 3-year-old colt in GIII Southwest S. winner Arabian Knight (Uncle Mo). We found out more about Zedan and his racing operation on this week's Thoroughbred Daily News Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland. Zedan was the Green Group Guest of the Week.

Zedan doesn't buy a lot of horses at the sales, but he's not afraid to pay whatever it takes when his team targets a horse. In the case of Arabian Knight, he was purchased for $2.3 million at the OBS April sale. When he buys a horse, Zedan is thinking Derby.

“Our program is specifically tailor made for the Kentucky Derby,” Zedan said. “So every horse we target isa Kentucky Derby hopeful in our eyes. Obviously, once you're up there on the podium and carrying the Kentucky Derby trophy, I mean that feeling is difficult to describe. You just want to do it again and again and again. So that's the plan.”

That philosophy did and did not work with Medina Spirit, a bargain-basement buy at $35,000. He was first across the wire in the Derby but was later disqualified due to a positive for a therapeutic medication. Zedan and trainer Bob Baffert continue to fight the suspension in the courts.

“Look, I won the Derby, right? But I haven't lost it yet,” Zedan said. “There's a big yet there. Right now we're on to the appellate process and we are fully engaged. Let the chips fall where they may. I think we've got a great team and I honestly think we have a solid case. Once the facts are objectively reviewed, I think everything will be reinstated. That's my prerogative. So that's one. Two, I firmly believe everything happens for a reason. I just never felt any ill feelings or any animosity towards Churchill Downs or towards anyone for that matter. It's part of the sport.

Taiba was Zedan's best horse in 2022 and won the GI Santa Anita Derby, the GI Pennsylvania Derby and the GI Malibu S. But that wasn't enough to land the Eclipse Award as champion 3-year-old male. Though he won just one Grade I race, Epicenter (Not This Time) was named champion. For Zedan, that was a major disappointment.

“I didn't expect to win the Eclipse award, but I thought we might have a lot more votes than we got,” he said. “I thought we should have had gotten more than the 66 votes we got just to make it a bit of a closer race. I don't remember a horse that had won three Grade Ones that hasn't at least gotten more votes or let alone win the Eclipse award. So there is that element of disappointment.”

Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by Coolmore,https://lanesend.com/ https://lanesend.com/ the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders, XBTV https://www.kentuckybred.org/and https://www.threechimneys.com/ West Point Thoroughbreds, Randy Moss and Bill Finley took a look back at the races run over the weekends that had implications for the Kentucky Derby. Which horse was most impressive? The consensus opinion was Gulfstream allowance winner Tapit Trice (Tapit), whose name, when properly pronounced, may not be what you think. Moss explained why. And has Frankie Dettori found his mount for the Derby in GIII Robert B. Lewis S. winner Newgate (Into Mischief)? Moss and Finley differed on that subject, with Moss explaining why he thinks Dettori will choose to ride on Derby Day in the U.K. in the GI 2000 Guineas Stakes. The show wrapped up with a look at Saturday's Suncoast S. at Tampa Bay Downs, which features Eclipse Award winner Wonder Wheel (Into Mischief) and the highly regarded Julia Shining (Curlin).

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