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Brook Smith Joins TDN Writer’s Room Podcast

The families and children who rely on the Backside Learning Center have a GI Kentucky Derby horse to root for. Sierra Leone (Gun Runner), the winner of the GII Risen Star S. at the Fair Grounds, is partially owned by Brook Smith, who is part of a partnership led by Coolmore. Smith has been a generous supporter of the Backside Learning Center and, through the Purses for a Purpose program, donates a portion of his earnings every time a horse of his picks up a check. Smith joined this week's TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland to talk about Sierra Leone, how he got involved with Coolmore and his philanthropy. He was the Green Group Guest of the Week.

“I have had some good fortune and had a lot of great, amazing people around me,” he said. “But, for me to really enjoy something it has to have some kind of social component to it. I mean, what's the point otherwise? I started learning more about the backside learning center and realized the backside is the backbone of the racing industry. Those are the workers that get up early and they have a tough job. It's a tough duty. They have the business and the industry in their blood. And the budget that the Backside Learning Center had was kind of anemic, especially when you consider all the money that flows through the industry. So, when I sat down with a few of the folks there, I said there's got to be a program where the owners can and should contribute a percentage of their purses to elevate the foundation. I was looking at what the backside learning center's programing is, and how they ran their, their nonprofit. I thought this deserves, a few more logs on the fire. So we came up with this Purses for a Purpose.”

His association with Coolmore started when he invested in a business partially owned by Charlie Pearson, who is John Magnier's son-in-law. From there, Smith connected with the Coolmore team and that led to him owning a piece of Sierra Leone and Hall of Fame (Gun Runner), who was seventh in the Risen Star.

“They're great folks, good friends and we started doing some business together and have had success,” Smith said. “One thing led to another, and I was introduced to the Coolmore ecosystem. Their breeding, farming operation in Ireland is second to none. And they are just amazing people that are wildly successful. Somewhere along the way, they asked if I would you be interested in maybe becoming one of their partners? I thought, 'Wow, that's a great opportunity? Coolmore, they play at the top.'”

Sierra Leone is the first legitimate Kentucky Derby contender Smith has owned. How has he kept his feet on the ground?

“I'm just trying to have fun with it and enjoy it,” he said. “And I can use the opportunity to be a voice for places like Purses for a Purpose and maybe a few other non-profits. It's not just coveting the moment, but reveling in it and reveling in it with everybody involved. These things can change in a step. I'm just hopeful that the horse stays sound and healthy. He seems the type.”

During the stallion spotlight segments of the podcast, the crew sang the praises of Coolmore stallion Jack Christopher , who stands for $40,000, and the WinStar stallion Audible, who stands for $15,000.

Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association, Coolmore, the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, 1/ST Racing, West Point Thoroughbreds, and XBTV.com, the team of Randy Moss, Bill Finley and Zoe Cadman reviewed the major races run last week, which included Sierra Leone's win in the Risen Star and the victory by Tarifa (Bernardini) in the GII Rachel Alexandra Stakes. The team looked back at the career of Echo Zulu (Gun Runner), who had to be euthanized after getting cast in her stall. Moss and Cadman explained why they voted for her for champion female sprinter over Goodnight Olive (Ghostzapper).

To watch the Writers' Room podcast video, click here. To listen to an audio version, click here.

The post Brook Smith Joins TDN Writer’s Room Podcast appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Kenny McPeek Joins TDN Writers’ Room Podcast

No one was hotter last week than trainer Kenny McPeek, who won two stakes at Oaklawn over the weekend, one a prep for the GI Kentucky Derby, the other a prep for the GI Kentucky Oaks. McPeek scored with the filly Band of Gold (Preservationist), who, at 24-1, won the Martha Washington S. Two races later, it was the colt Mystik Dan (Goldencents), who was an impressive eight-length winner of the GIII Southwest S. at odds of 11-1. That meant there was plenty to talk about when McPeek joined this week's TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland. McPeek was the Green Group Guest of the Week.

Though Mystik Dan had been a bit inconsistent during his brief career, McPeek said he always knew the colt had ability.

“This horse is really fast,” McPeek said. “He has been from the beginning. Initially, I ran him twice in sprint races and afterward I kind of regretted it a little bit because we had to retool him a little bit. He's so quick, but you had to kind of re-teach him and he needed to learn how to go longer. What he did this past weekend was pretty special in the sense that we've been teaching him to sit off horses. Let him just go easy and then learn to utilize that speed. The last three furlongs, it looked like he was shot out of a cannon.”

McPeek has won the GI Preakness S. and the GI Belmont S., but a Derby win has eluded him. He came close with his first ever runner Tejano Run (Tejabo), who was second in 1995. But, overall, he is 0-for-9 in America's greatest race. How badly does he want to add a Derby win to his resume?

“For me, being from Kentucky, it is a big deal,” McPeek said. “I think any horse trainer wants to win a race like that. But it's got to come together on its own. If it happens, it happens. If it doesn't, it doesn't. I'm not going to put all my eggs in the one basket and say I haven't won the Derby so I haven't had a full career.”

Band of Gold was a badly beaten fifth in the Untapable S., but McPeek wasn't about to give up on her after she won her debut, a maiden race at Churchill Downs.

“Any filly that wins first time out like she did at Churchill Downs is obviously talented,” he said. “I think that she got a little confused in her second start at the Fair Grounds. We ran her in the Untapable, but she never really figured out what she was supposed to do out there. She was the one that we somewhat had to regroup with.”

In the stallion spotlight segments, the podcast featured Coolmore's Tiz the Law (Constitution), who stands for a fee of $20,000. The focus was also on Audible (Into Mischief), who stands at WinStar Farm for a fee of $15,000.

Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, 1/ST Racing, West Point Thoroughbreds, and XBTV.com, the team of Randy Moss, Bill Finley and Zoe Cadman reviewed the ultra-impressive win by Nysos (Nyquist) in the GIII Robert B. Lewis. Because he is trained by Bob Baffert, who remains under a ban at Churchill Downs, he cannot run in the Derby. The panel agreed that the absence of Nysos and the other Baffert runners could turn into the type of controversy that could overshadow the race itself. The discussion also included the GIII Holy Bull S., in which the heavily favored champion Fierceness (City of Light) didn't have the best of trips on his way to a third-place finish. All agreed that it was a subpar race from a horse who shows signs that he can't handle adversity. The podcast closed with a look at the story of trainer Jeffrey Englehart, who is facing a two-year suspension for clenbuterol, which he insists was administered to the horse before it came into his barn.

The post Kenny McPeek Joins 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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Kentucky Downs VP Of Racing Ted Nicholson Joins TDN Writers’ Room

It's the meet that keeps getting bigger, richer and better every year. During the seven days of racing that makes up the Kentucky Downs meet, there will be 11 stakes races worth at least $1 million and it looks like the all-turf establishment is on track to set another handle record. How has Kentucky Downs done it? Ted Nicholson, the track's vice president of racing joined the TDN Writers' Room Podcast presented by Keeneland to talk about one of the sport's great success stories. He was this week's Green Group Guest of the Week.

With so much money available for purses and with such a short meet, some wonder why Kentucky Downs doesn't add race days? Nicholson said the main reason for not doing so is to make sure the turf course is not overused.

“What's obviously on everybody's mind these days is safety,” Nicholson said. “So, if I added a day, it would have to be a day where it would be almost like a spare day. Because the reality is we run 75 races over a turf course and we have three lanes. That means you're running an average of 25 races on each lane. That's a lot of pounding. I've got the best turf guy in the business with Butch Lehr, who was at Churchill for 45 years. But even Butch would shake his head and say, 'no, I wouldn't do it.' I think we're going to be at seven days for a little while until I can figure out how I can add a fourth lane.”

Kentucky Downs has always been known for having one of the lowest takeouts in the sport, so it came as a surprise when it announced that the takeout was going to be increased by one percent in all pools this year. The horseplayers weren't happy.

“It wasn't an easy decision and it wasn't made in a vacuum,” Nicholson said. “The decision was really a tough one and the reason behind it was that I had to find a way to find some revenue. It's great to have great big purses and we had a record handle last year. But when you're running only for two weeks, you have an inordinate amount of expenses to put on a temporary show. I have a lot of tents, I have a lot of temporary expenses. I have 60 people that live here temporarily, which means I put them up in hotels to pull off this show for two weeks or three. They're here typically for three weeks. So, I have a lot of expenses. They're all going up. Even the people that you see in between the races, those folks that are on the turf and they're tamping down those divots. Those folks used to work for $10 an hour. Now it's $25. So, you can see where my expenses have gone. On top of that, you we got a bill from HISA for $650,000 for a seven-day race meet. Before I was paying the state of Kentucky $48,000 for the same exact thing. Because our expenses have been skyrocketing, I felt like had to go a little higher.”

Will Kentucky Downs ever erect a grandstand? It's unlikely.

“I can't tell you many times people have said to me, 'I love this atmosphere, so don't ever change it,'” Nicholson said. “When it comes to putting up a grandstand, I think would change the genuine feel of of what Kentucky Downs is really all about. I think people love the ability to just pull up and tailgate at the top of the stretch or pull out their folding chairs and set up on the rail. That's the essence of what this place is. We want to try to improve every year, but not lose the real true essence of what this place is all about.”

Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders, WinStar Farm, XBTV.com, Stonestreet Farms, Lane's End and https://www.threechimneys.com/ West Point Thoroughbreds, the team of Zoe Cadman, Bill Finley and Randy Moss reviewed the Saratoga meet, touching on what went wrong, what went right and the changes that may be coming to the upstate New York track. Those changes include moving the 2024 and 2025 GI Belmont S. to Saratoga while Belmont Park is being rebuilt and installing a synthetic track that would complement the dirt track and the two turf courses. Also, the team looked back at the GI Pacific Classic, won by Arabian Knight (Uncle Mo), as well as the 32-day suspension handed down to Del Mar rider Antonio Fresu for whip violations.

Click here to view the podcast video or here to listen to the audio version.

The post Kentucky Downs VP Of Racing Ted Nicholson Joins TDN Writers’ Room appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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John Velazquez Joins TDN Writers’ Room Podcast

The credit for the win in the GI Preakness S. goes to National Treasure (Quality Road), but the assist goes to Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez. Able to get to the lead and then slow the pace down to a crawl, Velazquez put in a perfect ride on his way to his first ever win in the Preakness. Fresh off his victory, Velazquez joined this week's TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland. He was this week's Green Group Guest of the Week.

“It was just one of those things that worked out perfect,” Velazquez said of his Preakness trip. “You plan it but you never dream that you'll have the trip we had. The only thing that I was worried about…I saw Irad Ortiz (the rider of Blazing Sevens (Good Magic) warming up his horse in the post parade and I thought he was going try to get closer to the pace. If he wanted to get close to that pace, he was going to have to go fast enough to go across from me. So when I broke, I started drifting my horse out. So then when I pushed him out he started grabbing his horse back and he went backwards. I thought, 'Okay, he's out of there'. And I went right back to the inside. And that kind of slowed the pace really well.”

The race came down to National Treasure and Blazing Sevens in the stretch and National Treasure gamely held off his rival to win by a head. Velazquez and Ortiz were in close quarters the whole way and the two bumped. It sometimes seems that every time Ortiz is in a stretch battle something happens. Velazquez's thoughts on Ortiz and whether or not he too often crosses a line?

“I don't think he's a dirty rider,” Velazquez said. “I think he definitely crosses the line and does it a lot. I have talked to him many times. I try to teach him that we can be aggressive, but we have a line that we have to put in there. For him, it's hard to control. For me, I've been riding for a long time, so I always try to take the edge as much as I can, but try not to cross those lines. We all make mistakes. But I try to make as few mistakes as possible so I don't cross the line.”

Velazquez also revealed that he was almost taken off of National Treasure before the Preakness.

“I had to plead my case,” he said. “I made a few phone calls and I pleaded my case. I had to explain what happened in the Derby (where he rode Reincarnate (Good Magic), who was surprisingly close to the early pace), and I'm going to leave it at that.”

Should National Treasure start in the GI Belmont S., Velazquez thinks the mile-and-a-half will not be an issue.

“His gallop-outs are really strong every time,” he said. “He's always given me the feeling that he can do more and, obviously, he put it together in the Preakness. He put in a really good effort and his gallop out was really, really good. So I think the mile-and-a-half shouldn't be a problem. The way he gallops out, he's always giving more and more.”

Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by Coolmore,https://lanesend.com/ the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders, 1/st Racing, WinStar Farm, XBTV, Lane's End and https://www.threechimneys.com/ West Point Thoroughbreds, Bill Finley and Randy Moss reviewed the Preakness and the incredible highs and lows Bob Baffert experienced during the day. The breakdown of Havnameltdown (Uncaptured) and the way it was covered by the mainstream media was a major topic of discussion. Finley said that it is time for the sport to take another look at synthetic surfaces, noting that horses are 3 1/2 times more likely to die in a dirt race than they are in a synthetic surface race. With the Belmont next, Moss and Finley took a look at the story of Forte (Violence) re-emerging in the Triple Crown and wondered if he will be ready for his best after what would be a 10-week layoff and some missed training time due to the bruised hoof that led to his being scratched from the Derby.

Click for the video of the latest podcast or the audio-only version.

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