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George Krikorian Joins TDN Writers’ Room Podcast Breeders’ Cup Preview Show

George Krikorian has been around the game of racing for a long time and has owned a lot of good horses. But a win in the Breeders' Cup has eluded him. He's 0-for-11. But he has two strong candidates this year in Just FYI (Justify) in the GI Juvenile Fillies and War Like Goddess (English Channel) in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf, where she will tackle males for the second straight year.

Will this be Krikorian's year? Those were among the questions our team asked Krikorian on this week's TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland. He was the Green Group Guest of the Week.

“I'm pretty excited to be here and to have this opportunity and with two horses,” he said. “This is the first time that's happened for me. So it's going to be a pretty special weekend.”

In War Like Goddess, Krikorian owns one of the biggest over achievers in the sport. She sold for $1,200 as a weanling before RNA'ing for $1,000 at Keeneland September 2018. She showed up next at the 2019 OBS June Sale, where bloodstock agent Donato Lanni convinced Krikorian to take a shot on the filly. He bought her for $30,000. All she's done since is earn $2,495,184 and win eight stakes, including three Grade I's.

“You have to give kudos to Donato Lanni because he called me one day and said, 'I've seen this horse and she should not be in this sale and she's going to be overlooked,'” Krikorian said. 'He said, I see in the future that she could be a very special horse.' I told him that I knew that he didn't mind taking the time it takes for a horse to develop. And so that's exactly what we did. We took our time. Just as he predicted, she turned out to be an incredible horse.”

George Krikorian Joins the TDN Writers' Room from Thoroughbred Daily News on Vimeo.

Just FYI is 2-for-2 and coming off a win in the GI Frizette. Despite her strong credentials, this might be a tough spot for her and only because she'll have to take on Tamara (Bolt d'Oro), considered by many to be the most likely winner of any Breeders' Cup race.

“I know that Tamara is going to be a tough, tough horse,” Krikorian said. “The bottom line is you're challenged by any horse that's in a race like this. I think that Just FYI has shown to be a incredibly talented horse and I think that she's going to be a very tough competitor in that race.”

Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders, West Point Thoroughbreds, WinStar Farm, XBTV.com and 1/ST Racing, the team of Zoe Cadman, Bill Finley and Randy Moss went through all the Breeders' Cup races, offering their insights and handicapping opinions. Both Moss and Finley loved longshot Roses for Debra (Liam's Map) in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint. Moss had a less positive take on the GI Breeders' Cup Classic, calling this one of the weakest Classic fields ever assembled. Yet, everyone agreed that this might be the best field ever assembled for the Breeders' Cup Turf. Moss also made a compelling case why Elite Power (Curlin) should turn the tables on Gunite (Gun Runner) in the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint.

To watch the podcast as a video, click here. For the audio version, click here.

The post George Krikorian Joins TDN Writers’ Room Podcast Breeders’ Cup Preview Show appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Michael Banahan Joins the TDN Writers’ Room Podcast

The mighty Godolphin stable leads all Breeders' Cup owners with 16 wins, a testament to both the quality of the horses owned by Godolphin and its commitment to the Breeders' Cup. Godolphin won four Breeders' Cup races last year and is sending a strong contingent of U.S. and foreign-based horses to Santa Anita for this year's event. To find out more about the Godolphin runners for this year's Breeders' Cup and why the event is so important to the stable, the TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland called on Godolphin Director of Bloodstock Michael Banahan to give us answers to our questions. Banahan was this week's Green Group Guest of the Week.

“We embrace the Breeders' Cup because it is championship racing,” Banahan said. “That's what we're trying to do. It's the biggest race day at the end of the year for us. And if we can be fortunate enough to get horses to compete at the Breeders' Cup, we know we're competing with the very best horses not only in America, but across the world. That's where we want to compete at, at the very top level. You see only the very best horses at the Breeders' Cup and we know by the Eclipse Award voting that people put a lot of emphasis on those races at the end of the year.”

While Banahan deals primarily with Godolphin's U.S.-based runners, he is well aware of the success trainer Charlie Appleby, Godolphin's head trainer in Europe, has had in North America. Since 2021 in North America, he's had 56 starters, 24 winners, 23 stakes winners and 15 Grade I wins. His winning percentage during that period of time is 43%. For his career, he's had nine Breeders' Cup winners. How does he do it?

“Charlie is an excellent trainer and a very good horseman,” Banahan said. “He had been with Godolphin for a long time before he took the mantle as the head trainer and would have traveled all around the world and would have seen firsthand the type of horse you need to bring to different destinations, whether it's America, Australia, continental Europe, or wherever it might be, or Dubai itself. He understands that very well, understands what his horses like and which ones will perform well in a race in America where there might be a lot of pace and the race is run over a flat track. They're good horses as well. But sometimes they look like they're elevated a little bit when they get to America in the pattern of a race and the style of a race. Obviously, he's got plenty of them, but he's identified the right horses and you don't really see him just throwing horses in a race and hoping that, you know, some of it'll stick a little bit.”

Godolphin owns Cody's Wish (Curlin), last year's GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner. He was named for Cody Dorman, who was born with a rare genetic disorder called Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome. Banahan said the Dorman family is hoping to be at Santa Anita to see if Cody's Wish can repeat in the Dirt Mile.

“When he ran in the Whitney in Saratoga, when the family was going to the paddock people were giving them a round of applause and cheering them when they went by,” Banahan said. “I think it's even goes further than racing itself. It's hit people outside the industry, just the general public. People who don't have any interest in racing or just a marginal interest have really caught on to this great story. Hopefully, they'll all make it out there and be there to cheer Cody's Wish on in what will be his last race.”

Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by 1/ST Racing, the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, WinStar Farm, Lane's End, the KTOB, XBTV and West Point Thoroughbreds, the team of Zoe Cadman, Randy Moss and Bill Finley discussed the story of trainer John Pimental, the 68-year-old trainer who had won just one race this year but is facing a possible suspension of up to three years because a horse he trained tested positive for methamphetamine and because investigators from the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) found a container of Levothyroxine on his truck. Finley called for HIWU to begin to employ common sense when it comes to its decisions and, especially in this case, not upend the life and career of a trainer who quite clearly was not trying to dope his horses with performance-enhancing drugs.

Live from Santa Anita, Cadman gave her report card on some of the workouts she had seen during the week from Breeders' Cup horses. She was so impressed with a seven-furlong workout by Arabian Knight (Uncle Mo) that went in 1:24, she declared: “They're all running for second money behind Arabian Knight in the Classic.”

It's too late for 'TDN Rising Star' Nysos (Nyquist) to make the Breeders' Cup, but his 10 1/2-length win in a maiden race at Santa Anita on Saturday was a worthy topic of discussion. And why did trainer Bob Baffert choose to ride Kyle Frey on the colt? Cadman has the answer, and it might surprise you.

Click here to watch the podcast as a video or here to listen to the audio file.

The post Michael Banahan 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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Pat Day Joins The TDN Writers’ Room Podcast

Just a few days removed from his 70th birthday, Pat Day joined the TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland to talk his career, what he's been up to since retiring in 2005 and, most of all, the Breeders' Cup. Day rode Wild Again to victory in the inaugural GI Breeders' Cup Classic in 1984 and it was an historic win that helped turn the future Hall of Famer into one of the biggest stars in the sport. Day was this week's Green Group Guest of the Week.

“What that race meant for my career was monumental,” Day said. “First of all, let me back up. In January of 84, that was when I came to Christ. I was a stone alcoholic and a drug addict and was still highly successful in the midst of that. On January 27th of 1984, I accepted Christ into my life and got set free from that addictive lifestyle. I recognized that God had blessed me with tremendous talent and ability and opportunities and I started treating that with the respect that it deserved. Subsequently, I had an incredible year capped by the victory with Wild Again in the inaugural Breeders' Cup. That helped secure my first of four Eclipse Awards. I don't know that you could put a price on just what that did for my career. It was tremendous and catapulted me to the next level. I started getting opportunities after that to participate in the major races all over the country and to ride some of the top choices in those races.

If the Wild Again win was Day's top Breeders' Cup moment, his loss to Sunday Silence aboard Easy Goer in the 1989 Classic was surely his worst.

“When they came off the turn, Easy Goer was slow to change leads,” Day said. “He finally did. When he did, he caught on and accelerated, but obviously it was too little, too late. There was just so much hanging in the balance. The Eclipse Award for top 3-year-old. Horse of the Year. There were some tremendous accolades that hung in the balance. That Breeders' Cup was hard and the second hardest pill to swallow with him would have been the Preakness. I think I rode a horrible race and I think that I cost him the race in the Preakness. Easy Goer was a great horse. The best I ever rode. I know the record doesn't reflect it but I still think he was better than Sunday Silence.”

Who was his toughest opponent?

“Day in and day out, the smartest, strongest rider I rode against on a regular basis was Jerry Bailey,” Day said. “He would draw up a game plan and he was able to implement that game plan just about every time.”

Who was the most competitive rider he ever went up against?

“With that subject, Angel Cordero's name always comes up,” he said. “We would laughingly say he could ride two or three horses in a race. Angel, I love you, man. He was an astute handicapper. And if he handicapped the race and he felt that you had the horse to beat, he was going to beat you. He felt like if he beat you he would win the race. He was very competitive.”

Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by 1/ST Racing, the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, WinStar Farm, the KTOB, XBTV and West Point Thoroughbreds, the team of Zoe Cadman, Randy Moss and Bill Finley discussed Frankie Dettori's decision to postpone his retirement and focus on U.S. racing in 2024 and the GI Kentucky Derby. The team agreed that Dettori, who has been riding in top form this year, deserved at least one more year. Finley predicted he might decide to keep riding for two or three more years. They also reviewed last week's action which included a win by European shipper Mawj (Ire) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}) in the GI Queen Elizabeth Challenge Cup S. at Keeneland and the ultra-impressive win by City of Troy (Justify) in the G1 Dewhurst S. at Newmarket.

To watch the Writers' Room, click here. To view the show as a podcast, click here.

The post Pat Day 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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Aron Wellman Joins the TDN Writers’ Room Podcast

It was a huge week for Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and its President and Founder Aron Wellman. Over a 24-hour period, Eclipse swept the two Grade I stakes races run during Keeneland's Fall Stars Weekend. It began with a win by Candied (Candy Ride {Arg}) in the GI Alcibiades S. on Friday. Twenty-four hours later, 'TDN Rising Star' Locked (Gun Runner) came through with a determined win in the GI Breeders' Futurity. Both will now head to Santa Anita for the Breeders' Cup.

Eclipse couldn't quite pull off the trifecta when Anisette (GB) (Awtaad {Ire}) ran a game second in the GII Rodeo Drive S. at Santa Anita.

To talk about his Keeneland wins, his Breeders' Cup plans and the latest on Nest (Curlin), who did not run well in the GI Spinster S., Wellman was this week's Green Group Guest of the Week on this week's TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland.

Wellman admitted that he wasn't overly confident with Candied. She was coming off a three-quarter length win in a maiden special weight race at Saratoga and would be facing the likes of 'TDN Rising Star' V V's Dream (Mitole), who won the GIII Pocahontas by 8 3/4 lengths, and the undefeated Grade I winner Brightwork (Outwork).

Aron Wellman Joins the TDN Writers' Room from Thoroughbred Daily News on Vimeo.

“I'll give (Trainer) Todd Pletcher, of course, the credit,” Wellman said. “Any time you train a filly to win her debut going six furlongs and then win a Grade I race after that with just that one start under her belt, well, that is just an epic achievement. I would say I was mildly surprised by the win. We were hoping to get valuable Grade One black type with her. We thought we would accomplish that, and anything beyond that would be cherry on top of the cake. She's a very gifted filly. She's done nothing wrong.”

While Candied was 4-1, Locked was sent off at 3-5, not surprising since he was coming out of a super maiden effort at Saratoga, where he got a 96 Beyer figure in a 7 1/4-length win. This time around, it wasn't easy. Locked was caught four to five wide on both turns and then he had to battle a determined The Wine Steward (Vino Rosso) in the stretch before edging clear to win by a half-length.

“In my handicapping, I didn't make him 3-5 by any stretch of the imagination,” Wellman said. “When the post positions came out, I didn't mind that he was drawn wide because he's such a big, long-striding, high-cruising speed type individual. I thought that if we could keep him in the clear, that would be okay. We just didn't want to be five wide going into the first turn and five or six wide around the far turn. But Jose (Ortiz) had to make some decisions during the course of this race. He was wide and chasing into a pretty soft pace and Jose pushed the button at the right time, which under normal circumstances probably would have been a little premature. But considering the slow fractions, knowing that it was the short stretch finish, I thought it was a really smart ride on Jose's part. It did concern me a little bit when he had so much momentum coming off the elbow of the turn and then didn't separate from The Wine Steward. I was very concerned inside the eighth-pole that The Wine Steward, who was an undefeated horse with three races, wasn't going to back down and he didn't. But you could tell that Locked was kind of reserving something in the tank.”

The one thing that didn't go right for Eclipse was Nest's race in the Spinster. She was fourth, beaten 11 1/4 lengths. In her prior start, the GI Personal Ensign, she finished third, losing by 4 1/4 lengths. Eclipse co-owns Nest with Mike Repole.

“Nest didn't have her best day on Sunday in the Spinster,” Wellman said. “So far as going to the Breeders' Cup, I think we're just going to have to evaluate her over the next 10 days to two weeks and see how she responds. Todd Pletcher is going to consolidate all of his Breeders Cup hopefuls at Keeneland, so she's already there, which is nice.”

Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by the 1/ST Racing, the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, WinStar Farm, the KTOB, XBTV and West Point Thoroughbreds, the team of Zoe Cadman, Randy Moss and Bill Finley took a look back at the dozens of major stakes races run over the weekend. Finley said that the win by Up to the Mark (Not This Time) in the GI Coolmore Turf Mile S. was the performance of the weekend. The team was also high on the win by 'TDN Rising Star' Muth (Good Magic) in the GI American Pharoah S. Repole's pronouncement that the owners need to take greater control of the sport was a major subject of discussion. The consensus was that it will be hard for Repole to pull this off, but that if anyone can do it it is him.

Click to either watch this podcast as a video or to listen to the audio.

The post Aron Wellman 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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