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Stanley Cup Champion Erik Johnson Joins Writers’ Room

As far back as he can remember, and that includes 15 long years and over 900 career games in the NHL, defenseman Erik Johnson of the Colorado Avalanche has been chasing the ultimate dream of winning the Stanley Cup. A week and a half ago, Johnson, who also owns ERJ Racing over in our corner of the world, realized that dream, as his Avalanche took out the two-time defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning in six games in the Stanley Cup Final. Still glowing from that triumph, Johnson joined the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland Tuesday as the Green Group Guest of the Week to describe the whirlwind he and his teammates have been on since last Sunday night, his plans to take the Stanley Cup to Del Mar for Pacific Classic day, his thoughts on the vastly improved safety of California racing and more.

Asked to compare his Cup victory to potentially reaching the mountaintop in racing, winning a race like the Kentucky Derby with ERJ, Johnson didn't mince words, saying, “I've never won the Derby, but I imagine this feels 1,000 times better. Because when you're an owner in the Derby, you're a spectator and you have no impact on what happens. When you're part of a team that wins the Stanley Cup, and you're actually out there doing it with your teammates, and it's something that you've put your whole life into since you were a kid, you can't top this feeling. It's just amazing, and I'm lucky because not a lot of people get to experience this. I've played with a lot of great players who never won.”

Southern California racing, mired in so many negative headlines during the rash of breakdowns at Santa Anita in 2019, has made–unfortunately–smaller headlines for a drastically improved safety record in the two years since. Johnson, who primarily races in California, was asked about the work California racing has done to correct such a dire problem.

“I think they've done a great job,” he said. “No matter what, you're not going to escape the negativity. There's always going to be someone that's upset. But seeing the statistics that have come out recently, there probably was a need for some reform and the leadership has done a really good job throughout the state. I think what's really helped is those pre-race checks. Every horse gets checked out, and I'm sure it makes some owners upset because some of their horses won't run after you've paid 30, 60 days worth of bills getting your horse ready to run, then they pull it out. But for the betterment and longevity of the game, those are things that needed to happen and steps that needed to be taken. So overall I think [California officials] should be commended. They've done awesome, and the game is now in a much better place than it was just a couple of years ago.”

Elsewhere on the show, which is also sponsored by Coolmore, Lane's End, the Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders, XBTV, West Point Thoroughbreds and Legacy Bloodstock, the writers reacted to a weekend full of huge performances on the racetrack and Terence Collier's letter to the editor criticizing Bill Finley's argument for fewer stakes races. Click here to watch the show; click here for the audio-only version or find it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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HKJC Executive, New TOC President Bill Nader Joins Writers’ Room

As a well-respected industry veteran of several decades coming off an immensely successful run as an executive with the Hong Kong Jockey Club, Bill Nader could likely write his own ticket for most jobs in the industry. It was recently announced that after 15 years in Hong Kong, Nader would be coming home to America and become the new president and CEO of the Thoroughbred Owners of California. Tuesday, Nader joined the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland as the Green Group Guest of the Week to talk about why he left Hong Kong for the TOC, his analysis of the current state of California racing, what lessons can be taken for America from the growth of Hong Kong racing and more.

“I was coming back anyway and had made the decision to leave at some point this year,” Nader said of returning home. “We've been pretty much locked down [in Hong Kong] for the last three years, so I haven't been back [to America] for three years. My family used to come visit from time to time, but they haven't been able to do that. So I was ready to wrap it up and head home. Then this opportunity presented itself and through the process of getting to know the board at the TOC, I became very comfortable with their commitment and dedication. I'm certainly not a California guy, but I'm very familiar with the rich history of racing in California. Even now with a horse like Flightline who may be the world number one when the rankings come out next month, and you think of horses like Arrogate, Zenyatta, California Chrome, Best Pal, going all the way back to Seabiscuit, it's a rich, rich, rich history. You have some of the world's most beautiful racetracks, great weather, so there's so much to build on there. I'm excited for the opportunity.”

Nader was later asked what has made Hong Kong racing so successful under his tenure, during which annual handle more than doubled from HK$60 billion to HK$133 billion, and whether the formula behind that success can be translated to American racing.

“I think it comes down to quality control, number one,” he said. “The two segments you really want to make sure you take care of are horse owners and horseplayers. If you get those two things right, then the foundation is solid. We've made tremendous investments in increasing purse money and handle. When you look at what makes racing attractive to the horseplayer, it's good field sizes, quality racing, great liquidity, and integrity. On integrity, have our own racing lab, one of the world's best racing labs, at Sha Tin. Our racing stewards are very good and vigilant in protecting not only the integrity of the sport but the integrity of the wager. There's also vertical integration here within the Hong Kong Jockey Club framework, where everything is under our roof. So we're not only the operator, we're the regulator, we do our own food and beverage, we do own our show, we do our own broadcasting. The people who work here in the key positions are among the best in the world. So everything structurally is in a great spot.”

Elsewhere on the show, which is also sponsored by Coolmore, the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, XBTV, West Point Thoroughbreds and Legacy Bloodstock, the writers discussed what to do about a redundant national stakes schedule, analyzed NYRA's suspension of Bob Baffert and previewed a busy holiday weekend of racing. Click here to watch the show; click here for the audio-only version or find it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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HISA CEO Lisa Lazarus Joins Writers’ Room

With the July 1 implementation date for the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act rapidly approaching, there has been a feverish push to get tens of thousands of horsemen and horses registered in time as well as an education effort to get the industry's stakeholders up to speed on the Act's myriad rules and regulations. Tuesday, Lisa Lazarus, the CEO of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority–the governing body tasked with implementing HISA–joined the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland as the Green Group Guest of the Week to provide updates on the registration drive, the possibility of scratches of non-registered horses post-July 1, where HISA stands with its drug enforcement partnership and more.

“From my metrics, I feel like [registration] is going very well right now,” Lazarus said. “We have about 26,000 persons plus horses registered, and the trajectory of registrations is on a very steep incline. We're doing everything possible to answer questions and make sure people have the tools to get registered. We've heard some concerns from people that, if they register, they're giving up a lot of rights. They don't know what the drug and medication control program is going to look like. So we're going to be rolling out a feature that allows people to unregister very easily at any time, should they ultimately change their mind. But my view is that once we get going on July 1, everyone's going to realize that this program is actually supportive, that it's not going to be punitive.”

Asked about the drug enforcement section of the law, which is scheduled to go into effect Jan. 1, 2023, Lazarus said, “That's very close to getting up and running. In early May, we appointed the Center for Drug-Free Sport to be the enforcement agency, and they've created an entity called the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit, which essentially has five pillars: testing, lab accreditation, education, science and prosecutions/investigations. We're working on equipping all of these pillars to be ready to go Jan. 1. We have some top people and experts in their field involved, and this is important–the anti-doping and medication control rules are posted on our website now for public comment. So if anybody wants to have their say or wants to be heard on any particular issue, please make sure to comment before the end of the month.”

The conversation turned to the Texas Racing Commission, which has said it will stop the interstate importing and exporting of simulcast signals in order to avoid the umbrella of HISA's regulation.

“As you might have read, I went down to Texas to meet with the Texas Racing Commission and their executive director, Amy Cook, as did my general counsel, John Roach. We tried really hard to find a solution. Ultimately, Texas's view is that, given the way their racing commission's regulations are written and structured, they don't have the authority to allow another regulator to come in and regulate any portion of horse racing. Obviously, we believe that's not consistent with the federal law and what Congress ordered. In Texas right now, the only [Thoroughbred] track running is Lone Star and they only run until July 23. So it's really 22 days that's at issue, and I had really hoped we could reach a resolution, however we'll then have from the end of July to Jan. 1 to try to find a way forward with Texas.”

Elsewhere on the show, which is also sponsored by Coolmore, Lane's End, the Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders, XBTV, West Point Thoroughbreds and Legacy Bloodstock, the writers reacted to an eventful week at Royal Ascot for American connections, lauded Santa Anita for its continued improvements in safety and previewed the career debut of the show's filly namesake. Click here to watch the show; click here for the audio-only version or find it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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Donegal Racing CEO Jerry Crawford Talks Belmont Score On Writers’ Room

The winner's circle after Saturday's GI Belmont S. surely rivaled any in Triple Crown history in terms of population after Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo) crossed the wire three lengths to the good. In addition to Mike Repole and his substantial crew of family and friends, the celebration contained the massive partnership of Donegal Racing, which brings all of its investors along for the ride with every horse it purchases. Tuesday, the CEO of Donegal, Jerry Crawford, sat down with Joe Bianca and Bill Finley of the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland as the Green Group Guest of the Week to discuss the experience of sharing the Belmont triumph with so many people, how he uses algorithms to shop the sales, Donegal's new initiative to give their winning jockeys future stallion shares and more.

“When we had about 350 people at the Kentucky Derby, I had about had enough of the phone calls saying, 'Hey Jerry, can we get two double beds in our hotel room instead of one king bed?'” Crawford joked. “But I wouldn't trade it for anything. We had over 200 people at the Belmont, I think Mike had 80-something. He's been giving me a hard time, saying he never thought he'd be partners with somebody who brought more people to the races than he did. But the key thing about everybody owning part of every horse is that nobody ever gets disappointed–if we have a big horse in any year, nobody gets left out or feels like they bought the wrong horse.”

Asked about the background of the algorithm that guides him to buy particular sale horses, Crawford said the formula–and Donegal itself–was borne out of frustrations in trying to handicap, not win, the Kentucky Derby.

“About 2003 or so, my son Connor and I were talking about why we always get our asses kicked betting the Derby,” he said. “It seemed like one longshot after another would come along and we would be out of it. So we decided to try and find an algorithm that would help us pick a Derby winner. This is way before Donegal. What we discovered is that we couldn't find an algorithm to pick a winner, we were only able to pick horses that could not win under our algorithm. So I said to my very patient wife Linda, 'I'm going to take $250,000 to Lexington to the [Keeneland September] yearling sale and buy a horse that fits our algorithm', and she was cool with it. This was in 2008, when the stock market crashed, and when the stock market crashes, people stop buying boats and diamonds and racehorses and the rest. I ended up buying eight horses for $405,000 because of the market. One of those horses was eventual stakes winner Paddy O'Prado, who finished third in the Derby and fit our algorithm to a tee. So we proceeded from there. I did worry flying home from that sale that there was going to be hell to pay when I told my wife I bought eight horses, not one, but we got through that, and it's been good since.”

Crawford and Donegal had a unique experience this spring, winning the Belmont and also having a deep connection to the Derby winner. Keen Ice scored the most significant victory of the Donegal partnership's lifetime when upsetting Triple Crown winner American Pharoah in the 2015 GI Travers S. Retired to stud for 2018, the multimillionaire son of Curlin has had mixed early results, but will forever be the sire of a Derby champion after 80-1 Rich Strike upset the Run for the Roses. Crawford was asked if he felt pride in that, even as Mo Donegal ran fifth with a tough trip that day.

“You use the right word, we were very, very proud to have been the people who picked out Keen Ice at the yearling sale,” he said. “Fortunately we weren't second [with Mo Donegal], so I'm glad [Rich Strike] won because it certainly flatters Keen Ice, who was a very special horse. It was a stunning victory when he beat American Pharoah up at Saratoga. I always stop to thank the Zayats in any conversation like this, because they were true sportspeople in running American Pharoah that day. They didn't have to do that. But by being sporting and putting the horse in the race, it gave us a chance for one of the biggest days in the history of horse racing.”

Elsewhere on the show, which is also sponsored by Coolmore, the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, XBTV, West Point Thoroughbreds and Legacy Bloodstock, the writers reacted to all the action from Belmont weekend and analyzed the implications of the Texas Racing Commission killing its simulcasting signals as a way to avoid the purview of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act. Click here to watch the show; click here for the audio-only version or find it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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