TDN Writers' Room Podcast | Horse Racing Free Tips

Jake Delhomme Joins TDN Writers’ Room Podcast

He's best known as a former NFL quarterback who nearly beat Tom Brady in Super Bowl XXXVIII. But Jake Delhomme, who starred for the Carolina Panthers, is also a passionate horse owner who, along with his father Jerry and his brother Jeff, operates Set-Hut Stable LLC. The Delhomme clan focuses on Louisiana-breds and this year they have come up with one of the best ever. Touchuponastar (Star Guitar) is 11-for-14 lifetime and will run this weekend at Fair Grounds, either against open company in Saturday's $500,000 GII New Orleans Classic or against state-breds the next day in the Star Guitar S.

To talk about Touchuponastar, his love affair with racing and even a bit about his NFL career, Delhomme joined this week's TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland. He was this week's Green Group Guest of the Week.

The Delhommes bought Touchuponastar for $15,000 at the Texas Thoroughbred Association Yearling sale, which has turned out to be quite the bargain as the horse has earned $708,100.

Jake Delhomme Joins the TDN Writers' Room from Thoroughbred Daily News on Vimeo.

“He's been a dream come true, to be quite honest,” Delhomme said. “I was lucky enough to purchase him at the Texas yearling sale. He was one that I followed, along with the breeders, Coteau Grove Farms. They have done a marvelous job of bringing along some fine animals. Andrew Cary is their bloodstock advisor, and I've been involved with Andrew since 2007. The first time I went to Keeneland and bought my first mare there, off of Hill 'n' Dale Farms, he was the director of sales then. We developed a friendship over the years. We'll go to Coteau Grove and see the horses. There was something about this horse I always liked and I watched him grow up. He looks very much like his sire, Star Guitar, who was a great regional racehorse here in Louisiana. So this was one that I had my eye on. I try to buy a couple of yearlings every year, try to breed a couple. We're a fairly small stable, eight to 10 horses. So we went to the Texas sale and I bid just one time. I was watching the action and I was prepared to go a lot higher. It was just one of those good deals and we were lucky enough to get him.”

While his brother Jeff is listed as the trainer, Jake is very hands-on and works right alongside his brother and father.

“I do pretty much anything and everything,” Delhomme said. “I'd like to think we're a selfless stable, to be quite honest. Set-Hut is the owner and Dad and Jeff both train. But I'll be honest, it's all of us. We're there every day. It's a family affair. Had I not played sports, I have a pretty good inclination that I would have gone into racing right away.”

Like many retired athletes that have gone into racing after their careers are over, Delhomme said that the sport fills a need in his life and keeps his competitive juices flowing.

“Racing helps fill that competitive void,” Delhomme said. “I mean I retired when I was, what, 37 or 38 years old? But I retired from football, not from real life. At that age, you're just kind of getting started, so to speak. Racing has given me that avenue. I've never looked for anything else to do once I finished playing. You need something to do because you're used to just this lifestyle of work, work, work, work. I think anyone can attest that being in the horse racing business is just that, work, work, work. It's all the time.”

In our breeding spotlight section we took a look at the Coolmore stallion Jack Christopher and the WinStar stallion Global Campaign.

Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders' Association, Coolmore, 1/ST Racing, West Point Thoroughbreds, WinStar and XBTV.com, the team of Randy Moss, Bill Finley and Zoe Cadman discussed the news that Nysos (Nyquist) has been sidelined and will probably miss all of the Triple Crown races and the latest developments in Maryland, where 1/ST Racing is donating Pimlico to the state. And they previewed the big weekend cards coming up at Fair Grounds and at Turfway Park, where 3-year-olds will vie for Derby points in the GII Louisiana Derby and the GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks S.

To watch the podcast, click here. To listen to an audio of the podcast, click here.

The post Jake Delhomme 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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Rusty Arnold Joins TDN Writers’ Room Podcast

After receiving a seven-day suspension and a $1,000 fine after a horse he trained tested positive for a metabolite of Tramadol, trainer Rusty Arnold went on the offensive.

While he did not argue the fact that the horse tested positive, he has said that it is grossly unfair that the HISA/HIWU continues to suspended trainers for minute amounts of drugs that aren't considered performance-enhancing.

Advocating for a major change in how these infractions are dealt with, Arnold was this week's guest on the TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland. He was the Green Group Guest of the week.

“I can't deny that the horse raced on Tramadol,” Arnold said. “I took my positive and I didn't argue it. I didn't say anything. But after taking it, I wanted to point out that I don't think it's fair. I don't think the system is right on these trace limits. I'm trying to create some positive movement to change the rules and bring about some positive changes.”

Arnold said the only way the drug could have gotten into the horse's system is through environmental contamination and that HIWU's zero tolerance stand on drug positives is unrealistic.

Rusty Arnold Joins the TDN Writers' Room from Thoroughbred Daily News on Vimeo.

“I have no doubt that it came from contamination,” he said. “But my major objection is that in today's society, there is no such thing as zero tolerance. There needs to be a level and if the medication is under that level it won't be a drug positive. I'm trying to move forward and trying to make a positive change. Too many people are getting involved in similar situations right now. It's one every day or one every few days. And I disagree with it.”

Arnold said he heard from over 300 people since his ordeal became public and said the overwhelming sentiment was that he was being treated unfairly.

“The response has been very good, a little bit overwhelming actually,” he said. “I answered over 300 emails and texts over the next 48 hours. I would say 99.9% were positive and that included support I received from several Jockey Club members, which very much surprised me. The one thing that was the theme that echoed between every one of them was, 'this isn't what we signed up for with HISA. This isn't what we thought it was going to be. We thought we were going to catch guys that were clearly cheating. We didn't know that the everyday guy that's out there trying to do his job was going to be snared by the gotcha mentality.'”

In our breeding spotlight section we looked at the Coolmore stallion Tiz the Law and the WinStar stallion Audible.

Domestic Product | SV Photography

Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association, Coolmore, 1/ST Racing, West Point Thoroughbreds, WinStar https://www.winstarfarm.com/and XBTV.com, the team of Randy Moss, Bill Finley and Zoe Cadman reviewed the major races from last week, which included the one nobody could bet on–the GIII Tampa Bay Derby–won by Domestic Product (Practical Joke). Cadman said she was impressed by the performance of the Chad Brown-trainee, while Finley said he was underwhelmed because of the weak field.

There was also talk of the win by Kinza (Carpe Diem) in the GIII Santa Ysabel S. Kinza is arguably the best 3-year-old filly in training but because she is trained by Bob Baffert she cannot run in the GI Kentucky Oaks. Cadman was in Ocala for the March OBS 2-Year-Old Sale and gave a scouting report on which freshman sires she thinks will stand out during the sale.

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

The post Rusty Arnold 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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Todd Fincher Joins TDN Writer’s Room Podcast

Todd Fincher, a standout on the New Mexico circuit, picked the perfect time and place to pick up his first Grade I win. His stable star Senor Buscador (Mineshaft), who was overdue to collect a big win, got the job done in the GI Saudi Cup. With a purse of $20 million, it is the richest Thoroughbred race in the world. Fincher joined this week's TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland to discuss his popular horse, the reasons why he likes training in New Mexico, what are the prospects of a stallion career for Senor Buscador and more. Fincher was this week's Green Group Guest of the Week.

The margin was a nose. Did he know he had won and what made the difference this time?

“Just a little less bad luck is all that we really needed for this to happen,” Fincher said. “Because every time he puts himself in a terrible position. The Japanese jockey (Yuga Kawada, the rider Ushba Tesoro) really did a good job. He had me in a bad position for a long time. We didn't have anywhere to go. He had us in a bad spot, and we had to wait down the stretch. When that horse finally cleared us that was when we could move out and make our run. Junior (Alvarado) timed that perfectly. That's why we were so emotional. Because we never thought he was going to win until the last second, and we still didn't know if we won because the finish was so close.”

Senor Buscador will now head to Dubai for the GI Dubai World Cup. Run at a mile-and-a-quarter and around two turns, that race seems like a better fit for Senor Buscador than the one-turn, mile-and-an-eighth Saudi Cup. But Fincher said the real key to victory in Dubai will be whether or not the early pace is fast enough to set up his late run.

“He needs some kind of setup,” Fincher said. “I don't know why he does it, but he takes himself back right out of the gate. If you watch the Pegasus, he out broke National Treasure and then, three jumps later, he's four lengths behind him. So, he does that to himself and he's not going to change that style. And we can't change it. So, you're still going to need a pace because he's not going to get up there mid-pack and hang around. So, he needs an honest pace.”

Fincher has been training since the late nineties and has been the proverbial big fish in the small pond that is New Mexico racing. Does he ever see himself moving on to a tougher circuit?

“You have to have the horses to make a move like that and I just don't have them,” he said. “I have a ton of New Mexico breds. We break usually 30 to 50 horses a year, and 95% of them are New Mexico breds. Last year, we broke two Kentucky breds and one Louisiana bred, and the rest were New Mexico breds. So, it's not like I normally have the right horses to do it. But this year, we actually broke 15 Kentucky breds and a couple of Louisiana breds. So, we might have an opportunity to take a stable somewhere. But you can't go somewhere with two or three horses and set up a stable and think people are going to bring you horses”.

During the stallion spotlight segments of the podcast, the crew sang the praises of the WinStar stallion Improbable, who stands for $15,000, and the Coolmore stallion Tiz the Law, who stands for $20,000. His first crop are now 2-year-olds and will be hitting the track shortly.

Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by WinStar Farm, the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association, Coolmore, the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association,https://www.kentuckybred.org/https://www.nyrabets.com/ 1/ST Racing, West Point Thoroughbreds, https://www.winstarfarm.com/and XBTV.com, the team of Randy Moss, Bill Finley and Zoe Cadman reviewed the Saudi Cup, the GII Rebel S. and the GIII Honeybee Stakes at Oaklawn. They also looked ahead to this weekend's races, which will include major preps for the GI Kentucky Derby in the GII San Felipe S. at Santa Anita and the GII Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream. There was also a discussion of the Jeffrey Englehart story and whether or not HISA should expand its role so that it can oversee the sales.

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

The post Todd Fincher 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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Frank Taylor Joins TDN Writers’ Room Podcast

Frank Taylor, the director of new business and development for Taylor Made, knew that there was an acute labor shortage in Kentucky, with farms unable to find reliable help. But Taylor thought he had a solution. Identify those who were struggling with substance abuse problems, put them into a recovery program and, when they are ready, teach them horsemanship skills that can make them candidates for jobs throughout the industry. Thus, Taylor created Stable Recovery, a rehabilitation program, and the Taylor Made School of Horsemanship.

What he didn't know at the time was whether or not farms would be willing to take a chance on individuals that had been in prison and/or struggled with drug addiction. He soon found out. His programs have been embraced in the Lexington area and several graduates have landed steady jobs and have moved on to meaningful lives.

Taylor joined this week's TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland to talk about his programs and their many success stories. He was this week's Green Group Guest of the week.

Taylor said he arrived at the idea of starting the program when confronting his own alcoholism.

“Once I did it and quit, I started feeling better,” he said. “I was having more fun than I've ever had. It was that that kind of spurred me on to start the School of Horsemanship. It was going to be a 90-day program to teach the basics of horsemanship, to get people started off at, say, a groom level, either for Taylor Made or another farm. I had kind of a tough sales job. I went to my brothers and said, 'I've got this idea, I want to bring in a bunch of heroin addicts and alcoholics and felons in here to work with these horses.' They were looking at me like I had two heads. I just wanted a chance to make it work. They were reluctant because there were a lot of concerns. But here we are, 3 1/2 years into it. We have had a hiccup here or there, but not many. I really think we have changed a lot of lives. We've introduced a lot of people to the horse business and trained a lot of people. The results have been amazing.”

The program has been so successful that Taylor would like to expand, but, for now, it's a matter of one step at a time.

“If we wanted to have 500 people in this program by the end of the year, that wouldn't be a problem,” he said. “We need the space, money and management. The need for something like this is way beyond what we can serve at this point and always will be. It's just such a crisis and a terrible situation. It's destroying society, is destroying families. It's just absolutely one of the worst epidemics in the history of mankind. The beautiful thing is, is we have that huge problem and that we have a huge problem with labor in this country. If you blend those two together, they can help solve each other.”

It's been proven that working with horses can solve all kinds of problems for people, whether that be soldiers suffering from PTSD or individuals with drug issues. Taylor knows that the horses deserve a lot of the credit for the success of these programs.

“The horses, they are like the secret sauce for stable recovery,” Taylor said. “That's something we have that other recovery places don't have. I was born into the horse business and I love horses and they're my passion. But I didn't really realize how therapeutic horses were or understand that part of it until I started seeing people that are broken interacting with those horses and seeing the peace and joy that comes to them immediately. It's just an amazing thing.”

In the stallion spotlight segments, the podcast featured Coolmore's Corniche, who stands for just $15,000. The focus was also on Improbable, who stands at WinStar Farm for a fee of $15,000.

Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association, Coolmore, the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association,https://www.kentuckybred.org/https://www.nyrabets.com/ 1/ST Racing, West Point Thoroughbreds, https://www.winstarfarm.com/and XBTV.com, the team of Randy Moss, Bill Finley and Zoe Cadman delved back into the Bob Baffert ban at Churchill Downs, which also extends to the GI Kentucky Oaks, which means the impressive winner of the GIII Las Virgenes S. Kinza (Carpe Diem) will be shut out. Moss agreed that the Derby week races might deserve an asterisk if Baffert's horses are all banned, but he argued that it's not too late for Churchill to change its mind and to lift the Baffert ban. The team took a look at the GII Risen Star S., to be run this Saturday at the Fair Grounds and all agreed it will be by far the deepest Derby prep run so far this year.

For the podcast video, click here. For audio only, click here.

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