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Louis Cella Joins the TDN Writers’ Room Podcast

Another Oaklawn meet is underway and with the Arkansas track offering the highest purse structure in the country during the winter months, expectations are that it will be another banner season in Hot Springs. To discuss the Oaklawn season, the TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland called upon track president Louis Cella to explain why Oaklawn has become such a phenomenon. Cella was this week's Green Group Guest of the Week.

“It's because we don't charge $12 for a beer,” Cella said when asked how Oaklawn continues to draw such big crowds. “We just gave away six tons of corned beef, two sandwiches and a Coke for a dollar last Saturday. To put that in perspective, we had thunderstorms and rolling electric blackouts all day Saturday. Yet we had close to 15,000 people giving away six tons of corned beef because that's their expectation. That's what they want to do. It's all part of having fun. It's part of the excitement of what we offer. We continually focus on affordability and the $2 bettor and more importantly, family.”

Cella has made some changes since taking over as track president in 2017, including the building of a hotel on track grounds. Another is a longer meet. For this meet, Oaklawn will be open from Dec. 9 through May 6. Cella said the extended season has been a success.

“It is working,” he said. “More importantly, our horsemen seem to love it. It fills in a gap. Equally important is that the city of Hot Springs and our community love it.”

And when it comes to the question that always seems to come up whenever Oaklawn is involved…

“I get asked that all the time, when are you going to put in a turf course?” Cella said. “We're not going to put in a turf course. The time of year that we run, call it December to April to May, means we might have to start turf racing in April. It's just not conducive for us.”

Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by Coolmore, the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, XBTV and West Point Thoroughbreds, Zoe Cadman, Randy Moss and Bill Finley discussed the latest chapter of the Jason Servis story. Servis is facing four years in prison, which Finley said would be a surprisingly light sentence considering that Jorge Navarro got five years. Other subjects included the announcement by the Federal Trade Commission that the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority cannot go ahead with plans to start its anti-doping and medication control (ADMC) program on Jan. 1 and the suspension handed down by the New York Gaming Commission to NYRA clocker Rich Gazer for changing the distance of a workout. Moss called Gazer's suspension “an absolute joke.”

In on-the-track news, the crew took a look back at the win by Faiza (Girvin) in the GI Starlet S. at Los Alamitos and looked ahead to this weekend's action, which includes the GII Los Alamitos Futurity and the Springboard Mile at Remington Park.

The post Louis Cella Joins the TDN Writers’ Room Podcast appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Nick Luck Joins the TDN Writers’ Room, Talks BC European Contingent

The Green Group Guest of the Week on the latest edition of the TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland, commentator Nick Luck, who works both sides of the Atlantic, was asked what are the best storylines out of Europe when it comes to this year's Breeders' Cup. With a deep and talented group of shippers coming to Keeneland, there was no shortage of answers, starting with the story of Highfield Princess (Fr) (Night of Thunder {Ire}).

“I think Highfield Princess is right up there as one of the great storylines,” Luck said of the Europen sprinting star who will contest the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint. “She's in the Turf Sprint against Golden Pal, so this is one of those races where you can genuinely say the best American in his or her division is facing the best European in his or her division, both with brazen speed. That sets up as a perfect clash. You have the Coolmore ownership on one hand with Golden Pal against the slightly more blue collar origins on the other. It's got everything that a Breeders Cup race should have.”

Then there's jockey Hollie Doyle. She could have two favorites in Nashwa (GB) (Frankel {GB}) in the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf and The Platinum Queen (Ire) (Cotai Glory {GB}) in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint.

“Hollie Doyle is the most successful female jockey that's ever been in Europe,” Luck said. “She's a ground-breaker, someone who's really threatened to shatter the glass ceiling more than any other female rider has before. She's got meaningful chances with The Platinum Queen and Nashwa in the in the Breeders Cup Filly & Mare Turf, and that's a race that will test her a little bit more against some of the best American turf riders. So we'll see what she's made of tactically there.”

Trainer Charlie Appleby will be well represented with a group led by Modern Games (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), the likely favorite in the Breeders' Cup Mile. Appleby is 14-for-28 in North America since 2021, including wins with Modern Games, Space Blues (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) and Yibir (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) in last year's Breeders' Cup. He is making it look easy.

“If you have the depth of talent that he has, obviously, that makes it easier,” Luck said. “But there have been plenty of high-profile trainers who've had the patronage of high-profile owners before who haven't done as well as him. Even Aidan O'Brien, who has a great record in the United States, pales by comparison when you look at strike rates. One of the things that motivates Appleby most is finding the right opportunities for his horses. And if he has a whole bunch of Grade I or Grade II horses finding where they fit best. He likes to use the international calendar to exploit that. If he has three dozen beautifully bred horses by Dubawi, he knows he can't target them all at the British classics. They'll find their natural metier running in those turf races in the United States. He's just exploited that to a tee. Then he gets them to get confident, then they get better still.

Elsewhere on the show, panelists Randy Moss, Zoe Cadman and Bill Finley took a look back at the stunning defeat suffered by Baaeed (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) in the GI Champion S. at Ascot and a look ahead at the prospective fields for the GI Breeders' Cup Classic and the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff. The podcast, which is also sponsored by Coolmore, XBTV, The Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, Three Chimneys, West Point Thoroughbreds and Legacy Bloodstock, also included a discussion of what's next for Hall of Fame jockey Kent Desormeaux, whose return is unclear after he recently served a 60-day suspension. The writers jumped on the opportunity to implore other states beyond Kentucky to give the bettors a break and revert to penny breakage, but didn't hold out much hope that it would happen. The penny breakage system in Kentucky has meant an additional $1.1 million has been returned to bettors since the system was implemented at the start of the Ellis Park meet.

Click here to watch the podcast and here to listen.

The post Nick Luck Joins the TDN Writers’ Room, Talks BC European Contingent appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Todd Pletcher Joins the TDN Writers’ Room Podcast

Todd Pletcher, this week's Green Group Guest of the Week on the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland, has 12 Breeders' Cup wins, a total that figures to be on the rise next month. Pletcher said he will have at least eight horses running in the Breeders' Cup, a group headed by his dynamic duo of Nest (Curlin) and Malathaat (Curlin) in the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff, Life Is Good (Into Mischief) in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic, Forte (Violence) in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile, Annapolis (War Front) in the GI Breeders' Cup Mile and Chocolate Gelato (Practical Joke) in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. Last but certainly not least, Pletcher will send out Major Dude (Bolt d'Oro) in the GI Juvenile Turf and Happy Saver (Super Saver) in the Classic. He said that Lost Ark (Violence) is a possible starter in the Juvenile.

“At this point, it certainly could be,” Pletcher said when asked if this is the best Breeders' Cup lineup he has ever had. “We couldn't be more pleased with the group that we have.”

Pletcher is particularly strong in ths Distaff where he will likely send out the favorite and the second choice. Both Nest and Malathaat will come into the Breeders' Cup off of wins over the weekend. Nest won the GII Beldame S. and Malathaat won the GI Spinster. Who is better? Pletcher said he doesn't know.

“I truly don't know which one is better,” he said. “I think they're both spectacular fillies. They have so much in common, being by Curlin and out of A.P. Indy mares. They have terrific dispositions and are easy to train. The one difference that we know that maybe not everyone else can see is that Malathaat tends to run to her competition a little bit. She knows when she makes the lead and tends to idle when she does. Nest has that unique ability to cruise and then quicken, like we saw in Alabama, the Coaching Club and the other day in Beldame. She's head and head and then, boom, she's five in front. It will be interesting to see how the race unfolds, how much pace is in there. Malathaat will probably be in a position where she has to come after Nest at some point.”

Overshadowed by Flightline (Tapit), Life Is Good is somewhat flying under the radar when it comes to the Classic. That's partially because his Beyer number dipped to a 97 when he won the GI Woodward S.

“The Woodward was the only two-turn race of the day and it was run on a sloppy track that was changing throughout the day,” Pletcher said. “I honestly don't know if the Beyer figure was correct or not. If you look at ThoroGraph or Ragozin he ran much faster than that. He went the final three-eighths in 36 1/5, which is pretty hard to do no matter what the circumstances are. I think that Law Professor (Constitution) ran the best race of his life to be second and it was another 10 lengths back to Keepmeinmind (Laoban). He didn't win by 19 1/4 lengths like Flightline did, and I think that was the comparison everyone was looking for. But we are running back in five weeks so we wanted to be ready to run and ready to win but also be thoughtful that we had five weeks to go to the Classic.”

Pletcher is hoping that Life Is Good gets the kind of fast track in the Classic that he appears to prefer.

“Life is Good's weapon is his speed, his ability to go fast and keep going,” he said. “What I am looking for is to hopefully get him on a track for the first time in a while that is a really fast track, a true glib surface. The entire meet at Aqueduct the track has been very slow. Prior to that, Saratoga was a very deep, demanding track. In Dubai, we caught a really deep, demanding surface. I am hoping at Keeneland we get a speed-favoring track, one that, for the first time in while, will play to his strengths.”

Elsewhere on the show, panelists Randy Moss, Zoe Cadman and Bill Finley voiced their own opinion on the Nest-versus-Malathaat debate. When asked who is the horse to beat, there were two votes for Nest and one for Malathaat. The podcast, which is also sponsored by Coolmore, the KTOB, Lane's End, XBTV, Three Chimneys, West Point Thoroughbreds and Legacy Bloodstock, also included a deep dive into last week's major races and a look ahead at what's in the offing this weekend, including a shout-out to the jumpers who will vie Saturday at Far Hills in the GI Grand National.

Click here to listen to the podcast and click here to watch.

The post Todd Pletcher Joins the TDN Writers’ Room Podcast appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Martin, Trainer of Tyler’s Tribe, Joins Writers’ Room Podcast

The 2-year-old gelding Tyler's Tribe (Sharp Azteca) is the fastest horse in Iowa–maybe the fastest horse ever to come out of the Hawkeye State–and has won his five career starters by a combined 59 3/4 lengths. But does that make him good enough to win a Breeders' Cup race? The Green Group Guest of the Week on this week's TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland was his co-owner and trainer Tim Martin, and when the big event rolls around, he'll be going into the race with confidence.

“For me, it's going to be different, that's for sure,” he said. “I've never had a horse who can run at this level. I'm only doing this because of this horse. I never wanted to just go to the Breeders' Cup. I only wanted to go if I had a legitimate shot. This is a really nice horse, and I think we have a shot. He's fast. He just gallops when everyone else is running. I know there will be some really good horses in there, but we don't know what we've got because no one has ever challenged him.”

How good is Tyler's Tribe, who is an Iowa-bred?

“We just don't know,” he said. “Every time the rider [Prairie Meadows' leading jockey Kylee Jordan] rides him, she comes back and tells us she had more horse, that she wasn't even asking him to run. Every time she says he had more left. So I don't know how fast he could go. He runs with them and then when they get to the lane he just takes off.”

Martin said it's likely that Tyler's Tribe will run in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint. He has never run on the grass, but Martin doesn't believe the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile is a good fit because his horse has never run beyond six furlongs.

“I'm leaning toward the short race,” he said of the 5 1/2-furlong heat. “If I were going to experiment with him, I would have liked to do it before a big race. I know he's fast. I know he's super fast, so I'm thinking our best chance is the turf race. I think he will like the turf. There is turf in his pedigree. He's got some siblings who have done well on the turf. I know he's fast and that he can run short. Long? I just don't know. It would be hard to stretch him out right now.”

Martin said he and co-owner Tom Lepic have fielded plenty of offers to sell the horse, but have told everyone the answer is no. One of the reasons is a sentimental one. The horse is named after Lepic's grandson, Tyler, whose long battle with leukemia has turned a corner of late.

“I've had some good offers for him,” Martin said. “But I've never had a horse anywhere close to this in my career, and he's named after Tyler. We never wanted to sell him and it doesn't matter what the offers have been. We had a couple offers for $500,000. They could have offered $1 million. We still wouldn't be interested. He's not for sale. We're having fun and I've always said you can't put a price on fun.”

Elsewhere on the show, which is also sponsored by Coolmore, the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, XBTV, Three Chimneys, West Point Thoroughbreds and Legacy Bloodstock, the Writer's Room unveiled its new lineup, which consists of Bill Finley, Randy Moss and Zoe Cadman. The trio went over last week's big races and the controversy surrounding Sonny Leon and his ride aboard Rich Strike (Keen Ice) in the GII Lukas Classic S. and his subsequent suspension. The win by Life Is Good (Into Mischief) in the GI Woodward S. was also part of the discussion, with Moss saying the race may have been better than it looked at first glance. The team also reviewed the GI Awesome Again S., won by Defunded (Dialed In), and Christophe Soumillion's antics in France and looked ahead at this weekend's blockbuster lineup of graded stakes and preps for the Breeders' Cup.

Click here to watch the show or click here for the audio-only version.

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