TDN Writers' Room | Horse Racing Free Tips

Terry Finley Previews Flightline’s Met Mile on the TDN Writers’ Room

The long-anticipated return of undefeated superstar Flightline draws more excitement by the day, especially now that the John Sadler-trained son of Tapit has arrived at Belmont Park in preparation for Saturday's GI Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan H. Terry Finley, whose West Point Thoroughbreds campaigns Flightline along with Hronis Racing, Siena Farm, Summer Wind Equine and Woodford Racing, has been counting down the days until the Met Mile for quite some time. Finley joined this week's TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland as the Green Group Guest of the Week to chat with hosts Joe Bianca and Bill Finley about the upcoming showdown between Flightline and his top competitors.

“When you think about the race on Saturday, it's not a gimme,” admitted West Point's President and CEO. “I wish it was, but it's not. They don't give million-dollar races away for free. We've got other Grade I winners in there including Breeders' Cup Champion Aloha West (Hard Spun) and Speaker's Corner (Street Sense), who is one of the most talented horses that we've seen in a while. We're going to have to show up in a big way on Saturday. I think we will but man, it's going be a heck of a race.”

Asked about where Flightline could wind up next assuming all goes well in the Met Mile, Finley could not give a definitive answer.

“I really have not posed that question to anybody in the partnership or to John Sadler,” Finley said. “I know John has been thinking about it. I've always thought John was a great trainer and a great person, but to see him perform over the last 18 months has been otherworldly. Obviously he's thinking about either Del Mar or Saratoga and I'll leave it up to him because he has made the right choice step after step after step. We'll put our trust and our confidence in John and his team to do the right thing by this horse.”

Elsewhere on the show, which is also sponsored by Coolmore, Lane's End, XBTV, the Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders, West Point Thoroughbreds and Legacy Bloodstock, the writers previewed the GI Belmont S. and the rest of Saturday's card at Belmont, but lamented the small field sizes in some of the day's most prestigious 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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Randy Moss Makes Case for More Triple Crown Spacing On Writers’ Room

The debate over whether to increase the amount of time between Triple Crown races has been a contentious one over the last few weeks, spurred by the decision of GI Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike's connections to pass on the GI Preakness S. and making a run at the Triple Crown. Randy Moss, the co-lead analyst for NBC Sports' coverage of the Triple Crown, has been out in front on the pro-spacing side, saying that expecting horses to race three times in five weeks is an anachronism in modern racing. Tuesday, Moss joined the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland as the Green Group Guest of the Week to engage with hosts Joe Bianca, Bill Finley and Jon Green in a spirited debate about a topic so important to both the past and future of the sport.

“I think it's pretty basic,” Moss said. “The Triple Crown is undeniably the number one property, so to speak, in Thoroughbred racing, and I think it's incumbent upon the sport to take care of the Triple Crown. And when it sees some weaknesses beginning to develop in the Triple Crown, do something about it to fix it. Right now, it's clear that the Preakness has been weakened, demonstrably, and not every year, but most years, by the two-week gap and by trainers that believe that it's counterproductive to the best interest of their horses to come back in two weeks. It won't make the Triple Crown easier to win because the Preakness will be more difficult. I think that'll balance out the extra time between the races, and I think it just makes it for a better product.”

Moss later made a counterpoint to the idea that the Triple Crown spacing needs to be preserved for historical purposes.

“People say, 'It's always been that way,'” he said. “No, it's been that way since 1960, which was the year that it changed to the current two-week, three-week [break] format. But in the 1940s, when there were four Triple Crown winners, Whirlaway, Assault, Count Fleet and Citation, and all four of them had four weeks between the Preakness and Belmont. In the 1950s, there were three instances where there were three weeks between the Derby and Preakness and six in which there were four weeks between the Preakness and Belmont. It's not as if this current spacing that we've had for the last 62 years was handed down in stone tablets or anything like that. I've gone back and looked for articles in the past about Triple Crown spacing, and it was never an issue. No one ever talked about it. The Triple Crown as a concept was to pit the best horses of a generation against each other in three successive races. That makes the Triple Crown what it is, not the spacing necessarily.”

Elsewhere on the show, which is also sponsored by Coolmore, the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, XBTV, West Point Thoroughbreds and Legacy Bloodstock, the writers pushed for the Met Mile to return to Belmont day and discussed the impending return of trainer Peter Miller. Click here to watch the show; click here for the audio-only version or find it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

The post Randy Moss Makes Case for More Triple Crown Spacing On Writers’ Room appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Chad Brown Talks Preakness, Triple Crown Spacing On Writers’ Room

Already a four-time champion trainer, Chad Brown became a two-time Classic-winning conditioner Saturday at Pimlico when his Early Voting (Gun Runner) scored in the GI Preakness S., five years after Brown took down the Preakness using a similar formula with Cloud Computing (Maclean's Music). Tuesday, Brown sat down with the crew of the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland from his headquarters in Saratoga Springs as the Green Group Guest of the Week to talk about his decision to skip the GI Kentucky Derby with Early Voting paying off, why he's in favor of keeping Triple Crown races' spacing the way it is, what's next for his other top sophomores Zandon (Upstart) and Jack Christopher (Munnings) and more.

Asked about his recent comments in support of the Triple Crown's current calendar alignment, somewhat surprising given that Brown runs his horses less frequently than average, he said, “I prefer to space my horses out and give them rest, but my answer was really based on the history of the sport. When I got into horse racing right here in Saratoga Springs, I was drawn to the rich, rich history and prestige of the sport. I'm really an old-fashioned guy. I like to stick to the basics. I'm not really in favor of too much change at the top, in the real pillars of the sport, meaning Triple Crown races and older track settings. I don't like changing the names of stakes races. Ironically, I'm in favor of changing things and adapting over time in my training system, but the things that most define the history of the sport, I would leave alone.”

Elsewhere on the show, which is also sponsored by Coolmore, Lane's End, XBTV, the Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders, West Point Thoroughbreds and Legacy Bloodstock, the writers reacted to the Preakness and followed up on last week's debate about the future of the Triple Crown. 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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Graham Motion Talks Importance of Taking Shots On Writers’ Room

In an era where trainers are increasingly hesitant to run their horses frequently and/or in races where they might be longshots, Graham Motion is a throwback. It often pays off for his perennially successful outfit, as it did on Saturday at Belmont, when his Highland Chief (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}), dismissed at 19-1 in a five-horse field, upset defending champion turf male Yibir (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) and MGISW Gufo (Declaration of War) in the GI Man O' War S. Tuesday, Motion joined the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland as the Green Group Guest of the Week to talk about why he's steadfast about taking shots and running his horses, how he feels about the current state of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act, the upcoming Royal Ascot trip for his undefeated Spendarella (Karakontie {Jpn}) and more.

“I think we are very cautious these days,” Motion said of modern trainers. “I think everyone's so worried about that [win] percentage. I think you can learn a lot from watching a guy like Wayne [Lukas], who's never been afraid to take a shot. I think we're just so caught up in being careful. It's so easy to ship across the country now. It's so easy to avoid races that you think are too tough. At the end of the day, that takes a little bit away from the sport, which is to see who has the fastest horse, and the challenge. I kind of live for that. That's what I find so exciting. That's why I love going to Ascot, because it's out of the normal and it's a challenge for these horses. That's what it's all about, right?”

An early supporter of the HISA reform law that has since hit hiccups in potential implementation, Motion was asked how optimistic or pessimistic he is that the program will take full effect and the new rules will fundamentally improve the sport.

“It's going to be difficult, there's no doubt about it,” he said. “I realize there are issues with cost and where the money is going to come from. What I don't understand and what frustrates me a little bit–I'll probably get chastised for saying this, but–we're running for these extraordinary purses. We're running for $100,000 with maidens. Couldn't we put some of that money aside toward the integrity of our sport? I don't understand it. Improve the backstretch, improve safety, improve the integrity of our sport and put some of this money toward HISA. It's going to be a difficult task. I was disappointed when USADA dropped out. I don't know much about the new arrangement. I'm surprised how little, quite frankly, we read about it. So, look, I'm optimistic it's going to happen. I hope everybody eventually gets on board because I think it'll be game changing, and it's going to take a while. There are going to be some hiccups along the way.”

Elsewhere on the show, which is also sponsored by Coolmore, the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, XBTV, West Point Thoroughbreds and Legacy Bloodstock, the writers had a thorough discussion on the proposals to increase the spacing of Triple Crown races and previewed a Rich Strike-less Preakness. 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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