TDN Writers' Room | Horse Racing Free Tips

Bloodstock Agent Liz Crow Joins Writers’ Room

On a monumental day in her personal life, star bloodstock agent Liz Crow joined the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland Wednesday for an in-depth discussion. Calling in via Zoom as the Green Group Guest of the Week, Crow talked about her pride in the enormous success of her now dual-champion $100,000 purchase Monomoy Girl (Tapizar), the status of the sale market after a tumultuous 2020, what traits she looks for when buying horses and much more.

“She's taken us on an incredible ride to so many different racetracks and experiences and has done so much for my career,” Crow said of Monomoy Girl, who was named Champion Older Female at last week's Eclipse Awards after taking the Champion 3-Year-Old Filly title two years ago. “It's felt like a family because we've spent so much time together rooting her on. All of us get so nervous. Brad Cox, that's the only horse he legs the jockey up on. His heart is pounding out of his chest for the entire post parade. We all feel that way. It's been one of those stories that's never going to be topped for all of us that have gotten to experience her. And Spendthrift running her next year, it's so good for racing. She's a comeback story.”

Asked about her approach to buying horses, Crow said, “The most important thing for me is to be thorough. I have a team of short-listers, and a team of people that help organize me at a sale. If there are 4,320 horses, we look at all 4,320 of them. We consider all of them, no matter the pedigree, the consignor, the breeder. We go through the process on each horse. As far as when the individual comes out, the first thing I like to look at is their attitude. So often we can forget that these horses are not machines. The way they act in the paddock, the post parade, loading in the gate, the way they're handled in the barn, all that really matters. Then from there, I start looking at their conformation, assessing them from their hip to shoulder, to the way their neck sits in their shoulder. The walk is a little bit overrated to me, especially at 2-year-old sales when you get to see them gallop and breeze. The way they move on the track is so much more important.”

Elsewhere on the show, the crew remembered legendary New Jersey horseman John Forbes, reacted to the major 3-year-old preps of the weekend and, in the West Point Thoroughbreds news segment, provided updates on the historical horse racing story and Knicks Go (Paynter) heading to the Saudi Cup. Click here to watch the podcast; click here for the audio-only version.

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Bill Farish Says He’s ‘Bullish’ On Racing’s Future On Writers’ Room

There are few people in racing more qualified to speak on the health of the sport than Lane's End's Bill Farish. In addition to running the historic farm, Farish is chairman of the board of the Breeders' Cup, chairman of the Horse PAC and serves on the Board of Trustees of the Keeneland Association, the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation and the University of Kentucky's Gluck Equine Research Foundation. Wednesday, Farish joined the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland, calling in as the Green Group Guest of the Week to explain why he's “bullish” on racing's future, share his thoughts on the 140-mare cap and much more.

“I'm incredibly bullish on the future of the sport,” he said. “I think we've got a lot of positives. The state of Kentucky needs to get the historic horse racing deal figured out, because that's a huge, huge boost to the industry. If we can keep those purses where they were heading, and the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act that was recently passed, I think is hugely important for our future. We've got to get the testing right. We need to have greater integrity and more confidence from the bettors in the product. I think that will go a long way in helping that. I was going to say restoring it, but I'm not sure it's ever been there to the degree it should be. I think that's a huge thing.”

Asked about The Jockey Club's new rule capping stallion books at 140 mares, Farish explained his support for the measure, saying, “First of all, I don't think there is as many people on the side of large books as there are on the side of limiting books. But, to me it's quite obvious, we have literally 50% the number of stallions standing in Kentucky that we did 20 years ago. That's a direct result of increased book size. So, I think looking at the list of mares bred this year, there would be literally, I think the number is about 900 mares, to spread amongst other stallions from the stallions that are being bred over 140.”

Elsewhere on the show, the crew reacted to the dominant performance of Knicks Go (Paynter) in the GI Pegasus World Cup, talked about where some of the weekend's dominant 3-year-old colts fit on the Derby trail and, in the West Point Thoroughbreds news segment, broke down the tricky situation surrounding historical horse racing in Kentucky. Click here to watch the podcast; click here for the audio-only version.

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Jack Wolf Joins TDN Writers’ Room

Fresh off a dominant Grade I win by his Starlight Racing’s Charlatan (Speightstown) and a newly-minted ‘TDN Rising Star’ for his outfit, Jack Wolf joined the TDN Writers’ Room presented by Keeneland Wednesday morning. Calling in via Zoom as the Green Group Guest of the Week, Wolf talked about the highs and lows of 2020 with his barn star, Thoroughbred aftercare and more.

Charlatan’s 3-year-old campaign featured dazzling victories but also a disqualification for a positive drug test in the GI Arkansas Derby and a long layoff that forced him to miss the GI Kentucky Derby. Luckily for Starlight, they also owned a piece of a colt named Authentic (Into Mischief) who carried the flag to a Derby victory and presumptive Horse of the Year trophy.

“It was a roller coaster,” Wolf said. “Initially we had three big horses in there of which Charlatan looked like he was probably going to be the best of the three with Eight Rings and Authentic. Then all this stuff happened. We went to Arkansas and got the disqualification there, then we had to remove a small chip [in his ankle] and that put everything up in the air. In any case, when you’ve got somebody like Bob Baffert adjusting to all these changes, I think we have a little bit of an advantage over everybody else. Then we had Authentic, who [because of the Derby postponement] had seven weeks between the Haskell and the Derby. I don’t think Authentic would have won the Derby if it was run May 2, and it all just worked out. Crazy business.”

Two weeks after Charlatan’s devastating GI Malibu S. win, 3-year-old filly Jouster (Noble Mission {GB}) kept Starlight spirits high with an 8 3/4-length maiden romp Sunday at Gulfstream to earn ‘Rising Star’ honors. The $360,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga buy was a beaten favorite in her first two starts on dirt before relishing the turf in Sunday’s graduation.

“I think we’ve got her on the right surface now,” Wolf said. “The field that she beat the other day, there were some pretty nice horses. I was talking to one of our partners last night and he asked if I thought we’d win the race. I was at the race. So, I’m not going to go down there without thinking we’re going to win the thing. But, in any case, I didn’t think we’d win by 8 3/4 lengths. She’ll probably run in an allowance race next and we’ll point for something like the Belmont Oaks and some of those longer turf races, in the summer.”

Elsewhere on the show, the writers reacted to the passing of Juddmonte Farms’ Khalid Abdullah, discussed the swift industry backlash to Eric Guillot in the West Point Thoroughbreds news segment and looked forward to the beginning of Derby prep season. Click here to watch the podcast; click here for the audio-only version.

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Gagliano: HISA Cost Shouldn’t Come From Horseplayers

As American racing prepares for a new era under the recently-passed Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA), many in the sport are wondering how the new group will be paid for. The text of the bill did not make clear what the funding mechanism would be, except that the new authority would oversee drug testing and track safety nationwide with the aid of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.

Jockey Club president Jim Gagliano recently joined the Thoroughbred Daily News's Writers Room podcast to answer his and other questions about the industry's future.

“I don't think it should come out of the horseplayers' pockets,” Gagliano said of the HISA cost. “Every state funds its regulation differently. The problem that we faced when we were considering that matter, is there's really no one-size-fits-all that we could push down to the states. The most important thing we want to do is make sure we capture first the current expenses, and then that those were brought forward. After that, the Authority will work with each state and through its racing commission to determine what the number is. I suggest the simplest way is to share [the costs] between the tracks and the horsemen. But honestly, there's a lot of details to be considered.”

HISA has been a big focal point for The Jockey Club through out 2020. Now that HISA has been passed, Gagliano was asked what organization's focus will be.

“There's plenty,” Gagliano said. “How we market the sport. The opportunity of television, which thank goodness, during this pandemic, to see the amount of live televised hours of horse racing has been a godsend. We've talked about scheduling. We need to put the product in a place where it can have the best showcase. Other areas: HISA is going to put USADA into a role and there are now rules that will be in place that will change the sport, we believe. Investigations, that's something that racing has not done very well over the last bunch of years. I anticipate The Jockey Club will continue to invest in those kinds of resources to make sure that things we don't want to happen in our sport, don't happen.”