TDN Podcast | Horse Racing Free Tips

Doug O’Neill Talks ‘Questionable’ Haskell DQ, Whip Rules On Writers’ Room

Trainer Doug O'Neill experienced the agony and ecstasy of racing early Saturday evening at Monmouth Park, all in the span of less than 10 minutes. First, his star 3-year-old Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow) won a hard-fought stretch battle in the GI TVG.com Haskell S., which would have been the colt's first Grade I victory after a handful of near-misses.

But quickly after the race, in which Hot Rod Charlie came in on Midnight Bourbon (Tiznow) and the latter soon stumbled and lost rider Paco Lopez, the red inquiry sign lit up on the toteboard. The stewards eventually disqualified 'Charlie', demoting him to last, a decision O'Neill expressed some issue with while sitting down with the crew from the TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland for a wide-ranging discussion Wednesday morning. The podcast can be viewed here; the audio-only version can be found here or on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

“Obviously, I'm so biased, but I thought the disqualification was a little questionable,” he said. “But that's part of the sport, right? It's part of all sports. Sometimes, you think you're safe at home and you're not. It's just a very unfortunate thing, but we're extremely fortunate that both Paco and Midnight Bourbon are OK.”

Debate has raged in the hours and days since the near-disaster in the Haskell about whether or not the whip ban instituted by the New Jersey Racing Commission at Monmouth took away a tool jockey Flavien Prat could have used to prevent the spill. O'Neill, the Green Group Guest of the Week, was cautious with his words, but made clear his disagreement with the new crop rules.

“It's interesting to me how a lot of people make rules who can't really relate to what's going on,” he said. “I wouldn't want to get too involved in the details because I've never been a jockey, but I know a lot of top riders [disagree with the ban]. The riding crop has evolved. It's so ridiculously subtle, and it really just serves as a reminder every now and then. These horses are big animals and the connection between horse and human is strong, but sometimes you need to encourage them to do something you want to do, which a lot of times is to separate from whoever they're running alongside. So yeah, I do wish they'd reconsider that.”

O'Neill, who got choked up on the NBC telecast of the Haskell, explained the roller coaster of emotions he felt from when the gates opened to the time the DQ was announced.

“I'm king of a big softie in that way,” he said. “I got a little emotional seeing Eddie, Hot Rod Charlie's groom, hand off Charlie to Lava Man leaving the paddock, because those two horses have been so amazing to me. I love them both. I watched the race on the apron and never saw anything happen. So I was just elated; I thought we won. All the hard work that Eddie and Johnny and the rest of the team had put in every day leading up to this, I was like, 'Wow, Charlie did it, man. Charlie did it.' Then when I got down there and they said a rider went down, I'm like, 'What?' So that added all kinds of craziness to it and it was a real unique experience. Again, I was just grateful when I heard Paco was going to be OK and that the horse was up running around. So that was all good.”

As for what's next for his current star as he continues to hunt that elusive Grade I, O'Neill was noncommittal, but indicated he was leaning towards either giving Hot Rod Charlie a slight break or running him against elders in the GI TVG Pacific Classic Aug. 21 at Del Mar.

“The beauty of Bill Strauss and Greg Helms and my nephew Patrick, who own him and are very connected with him, is they've been so patient along the way,” he said. “And I think that's why we're seeing a 3-year-old who ran in the Derby who seems like he's just getting better and better. A lot of that, I think, is due to spacing and patience. So under that mindset, I got a feeling that we might not run for a little bit. We'll just have to play it by ear. We're stabled here at beautiful Del Mar Racetrack and Del Mar management's been great. So the Pacific Classic is definitely circled on our calendar, but by no means will we force the issue if we feel we're not ready.”

Elsewhere on Wednesday's podcast, which is also sponsored by West Point Thoroughbreds, the Minnesota Racehorse Engagement Project and Legacy Bloodstock, the writers broke down a stellar opening week of racing at Saratoga and the injunctive relief Bob Baffert received last week to be able to race in New York.

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Maggie Wolfendale Joins Writers’ Room As Show Returns to Studio

It's been a long 16 months since the crew for the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland were all together in their actual studio to record the podcast, and they reunited at last Wednesday morning, welcoming Fox Sports and NYRA paddock analyst Maggie Wolfendale on the show to share excitement about the opening of Saratoga to fans once again and discuss how to pick winning horses based on physical appearances.

“It's not even just the racetrack,” Wolfendale, calling in via Zoom as the Green Group Guest of the Week, said when asked to explain how integral fans and tourists are to Saratoga. “It's that the entire town knows they're racing. You can go anywhere and just sit at a bar and have a conversation about the third race on Friday. Then at the track, everyone has their own places they want to be. There's something for everyone too. It's that old county fair feeling. And it's all about the horses. People line the massive paddock we have and line the walkway from the backside to the paddock, where the horses are like boxers coming in for a big fight. The anticipation before every race is something that I don't think you necessarily see at other tracks the way you do at Saratoga.”

Wolfendale has proven herself an indispensable member of the groundbreaking America's Day at the Races broadcasts, in large part because of her expertise in horseflesh and ability to provide horseplayers insight from a close-up view of the animals.

Asked what she looks for in 2-year-old races in particular, she said, “They have the least form to go on, and they take the most prep work. But then sometimes, that prep work goes out the window once you see them in the paddock or on the track. You do your homework, you look at pedigrees; who might have that precocious pedigree that says they can win early, who's suited to different surfaces, who might be one that is crying out to get more distance as the 2-year-old season progresses. But when you look at them physically, a lot of times it comes down to the horse who is just the most physically mature, who's the furthest along from that physical standpoint. You can see the other ones are still developing, because the ones that are physically mature, they're just going to be bigger and stronger than their competition.”

Elsewhere on the show, which is also sponsored by West Point Thoroughbreds, Legacy Bloodstock and the Minnesota Racehorse Engagement Project, the writers looked forward to the Saratoga and Del Mar meets before being joined by TDN International Editor Kelsey Riley to reflect on the great Galileo. 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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West Point CEO Terry Finley Talks First Captain, Owners’ Responsibilities On Writers’ Room

Represented by undefeated 'TDN Rising Star' First Captain (Curlin) this past weekend when the chestnut captured the GIII Dwyer S. at Belmont, West Point Thoroughbreds' CEO Terry Finley joined the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland Wednesday morning. Calling in via Zoom as the Green Group Guest of the Week, Finley talked about the next steps for West Point's prized 3-year-old, the growing purchasing power of partnerships across racing, owners' responsibility in cleaning up the sport and more.

“He's probably going to have to take another step forward, but at least we're in a spot in the middle of his 3-year-old year where he can take that step forward,” Finley said of three-for-three First Captain, a $1.5-million yearling buy owned in partnership with Siena Farm, Bobby Flay and Woodford Racing. “I think he's right on the cusp and obviously so far hasn't done a whole lot wrong. He's been brought along by a pretty good trainer in the likes of Shug McGaughey and his team. So we're excited. And the thought of going to Saratoga—we've never gone to Saratoga with the prospect of getting to the Travers. So that in and of itself is really, really exciting for all the partners and for the West Point team and everybody associated with us.”

The conversation turned to racing's ongoing and developing efforts for reform, and Finley was asked what level of responsibility lies with owners when it comes to employing trainers who are taking an edge.

“We have a part to play,” he said. “I'm not accepting of the guys who are winning at 30% and have made a lot of money and gotten a lot of pictures taken, then their trainer gets popped and they're like, 'Oh, I didn't know.' I just tell owners out there, if your trainer spent 20 years at 14% or 17% and now they're at 29%, you should be asking questions. You know what you've done. There aren't enough variables in training a horse to move an operation from 17% to 29%. So at that very basic level, you have to ask questions and raise an eyebrow. Everybody can do their part. And I think we're getting to the point where people and major organizations in the industry have stood up and said, 'No more.'”

Elsewhere in the show, which is also sponsored by West Point Thoroughbreds, the Minnesota Racehorse Engagement Project and Legacy Bloodstock, the writers broke down an action-packed holiday weekend of racing, discussed the two-year suspension for Parx trainer Richard Vega and celebrated their upcoming return to the Writers' Room studio. 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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BetMakers’ Dallas Baker Talks Fixed-Odds Wagering On Writers’ Room

Sorely needed in the American horse betting landscape, fixed-odds wagering–bets where the player is guaranteed the odds displayed at the time he or she bets a horse and isn't affected by late parimutuel odds drops–is set to debut in the States later this month at Monmouth Park via Australian bookmaking company BetMakers. Wednesday morning, BetMakers' head of international operations Dallas Baker joined the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland to discuss the logistics of implementing a fixed-odds system to try to replicate its success in Australia, how confident he is that the technology will eventually be adopted nationwide, potential crossover with traditional sportsbooks and more.

Calling in via Zoom as the Green Group Guest of the Week, Baker explained how a horseplayer at Monmouth can place a fixed-odds bet, saying, “There will be separate tellers for tote bets and fixed-odds bets, but you just go up to the teller as you normally would with a tote bet and say, 'I want $20 to win on number one in race one' or whatever it is, and away you go. There will be displays all around the course with what the fixed-odds market is. When you're betting fixed odds, the price at that time is the price you get, which is very important to the customer, but you'll also get to see the most recent fluctuations of that horse, since it's a liquid market. So you'll get an idea about what the popularity or the unpopularity of that horse has been as well.”

One of BetMakers' ultimate goals is to have fixed-odds wagering be available and attractive for sports bettors, and Baker said carving out even a small slice of the exploding sports betting market in America would be a major boon to racing.

“We've seen this great boom of sports betting in the past three years since PASPA [the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, which effectively banned sports betting outside of a few states] was repealed, and the team that repealed it has been part of our team,” he said. “If you look in New Jersey alone, at the moment we're seeing close to $1 billion a month that's being invested in sports betting. As a racing industry, if we can tap into that and be moderately successful, get 10% of that figure, that's another $100 million being invested into racing, which, with the right modeling, can then go back towards funding the sport. The key to getting the sports gambler is giving the bookmakers something to market and fixed-odds betting is something the bookmakers want to market. I've spoken to a lot of the betting firms and they say they actually want to spend the majority of their marketing budget in the next few years on horse racing. That opens up a whole new gambit of people and organizations with deep pockets who really want to aggressively market racing to acquire new clients.”

Elsewhere on the show, which is also sponsored by West Point Thoroughbreds, the Minnesota Racehorse Engagement Project and Legacy Bloodstock, the writers laid out what to watch for on a blockbuster holiday weekend of racing, analyzed the most recent story about Bob Baffert in the Washington Post and announced a special on-scene show for the Writers' Room's upcoming 100th episode. 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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