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MyRacehorse Founder Michael Behrens Joins TDN Writers’ Room

As far as marketing for a nascent, unorthodox racehorse ownership venture goes, you couldn’t do much better than a horse carrying your silks into the Churchill Downs infield as the GI Kentucky Derby winner. That’s what Michael Behrens experienced Saturday, as Authentic (Into Mischief), bought into by his MyRacehorse microshare partnership in June, fought off favored Tiz the Law (Constitution) past the Twin Spires to earn the garland of roses. Wednesday, Behrens joined the TDN Writers’ Room podcast presented by Keeneland as the Green Group Guest of the Week to explain MyRacehorse’s business model and how the startup came to own one-eighth of a Derby winner.

“I am not from the racing world, I’ve been in ad tech and marketing my whole career,” Behrens said of his background. “Growing up in Southern California, Santa Anita was 15 minutes away and that’s where we went to decompress after crazy stressful weeks. Go out there with friends, have a couple of drinks and bet a few races. I just loved it as a sport, but was always very intrigued about how we can get more fan engagement. I started looking around and [found that] people who really were energized and excited about our sport were those that had some kind of interest in ownership, either through friends or a partnership, whatever it may be. And I just left that was where we could scale, where we could get mass adoption to appreciate the sport.”

MyRacehorse, which started as a pilot program in California, went national only last July. The company sells .001% microshares in Thoroughbreds with multiple shares available and returns that are deposited into owners’ accounts and can be withdrawn via its app. Previously acquiring stakes in Grade I winner Street Band (Istan) and graded stakes winner Lazy Daisy (Paynter), MyRacehorse stepped into the deep end when buying 12.5% of Authentic after the colt finished second in the GI Runhappy Santa Anita Derby. Behrens credits co-owner Spendthrift Farm’s B. Wayne Hughes with opening the door to that partnership.

“When I wrote the original business plan for this, I looked at the industry to try to figure out who had the personality, the DNA [for the idea],” he said. “B. Wayne Hughes, with his success in business and his innovation with breeding, I just loved his disruptive nature. I actually used to do marketing for Public Storage, one of his companies. I came out and took [Spendthrift General Manager] Ned [Toffey] through the idea. The next day, Mr. Hughes called me back in and we started talking. He wants the sport to continue to thrive and grow, so he loved the concept. We started partnering on a couple of deals and that relationship has only gotten stronger and stronger over time. Now he’s come in as one of our partners. Our relationship with Spendthrift and Mr. Hughes has been critical.”

Elsewhere on the show, the writers reacted to all angles of the Derby, GI Kentucky Oaks and the many impressive undercard and juvenile performances we saw this week. Plus, in the West Point Thoroughbreds news segment, they discuss the bankruptcy filing of Ahmed Zayat and wonder how it went south so quickly for the owner of the first Triple Crown winner in 37 years. Click here to watch the podcast; click here for the audio-only version.

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Mike Smith Talks Honor A. P., Derby Memories On TDN Writers’ Room

As a Hall of Fame jockey and two-time winning rider of the GI Kentucky Derby, Mike Smith knows his way around Churchill Downs. After having his morning-line favored mount Omaha Beach (War Front) scratched the week of the race last year, Smith is back aboard a major contender in Saturday’s Run for the Roses. Wednesday, the 55-year-old rider who’s still at the top of his game joined the TDN Writers’ Room presented by Keeneland. Calling in via Zoom from Louisville as the Green Group Guest of the Week, Smith talked about his mount Honor A. P. (Honor Code), his past Derby wins, Holy Bull, Arrogate, whether he thinks about retirement and more.

Honor A. P. punched his ticket for the Derby with a win in the GI Runhappy Santa Anita Derby, but was second at 1-5 last out in the Shared Belief S. at Del Mar Smith said he thinks the colt’s improved training and distance capabilities give him confidence in a peak effort Saturday.

“The Santa Anita Derby was a mile and an eighth, Shared Belief was a mile and a sixteenth, so he shortened back up,” Smith said. “And he didn’t get a whole lot of serious training in between the two races. They certainly wanted him to be peaking at this time and not then. I think his best work going into that race was 1:02 something, so he kind of ran a bit sluggishly and finally came running at the end. And actually still ran really well. He ran a 102 Beyer. But since then, we’ve really stepped up his training and put some sharp works into him. Then after his two really sharp works, we did a maintenance work and he did it so nice. He went seven-eighths in 1:27 and galloped out in 40, which was really good. He did that all on his own. So he’s coming into the Derby training extremely well, really fine-tuned and fit to run his best effort.”

Smith has chosen to stay aboard the John Shirreffs trainee instead of taking the return call on Authentic (Into Mischief), who he rode to victory for Bob Baffert in the GI Haskell Invitational.

“They’re tied with each other. The first time they ran against each other [in the GII San Felipe S.], Authentic beat Honor A. P.,” he said. “We’d come off a foot injury, had missed some time, so I knew he wasn’t 100% going into that race. In the Santa Anita Derby, I knew he was. And I thought that the distance would really suit him well. I just truly think that when we’re going to go a mile and an eighth and further, that’s when you see Honor A. P. really start to shine, really start to stand out. And that’s just what made my mind up. I can’t wait to see what he does going a mile and a quarter.”

Smith reminisced on his previous two Derby wins, first aboard 50-1 shot Giacomo (Holy Bull) and second on undefeated favorite Justify (Scat Daddy).

“We were running out west [with Giacomo] where the tracks were really fast at the time,” Smith remembered. “They weren’t suiting him, but he would run second or third and really gallop out strong, so I knew that once we got off the West Coast racetracks, he was going to excel. He was going to run better. Was it going to be good enough for him to win the Derby? I wasn’t really sure, but I was talking myself into it. I’d ridden his father in the Derby. He was a big favorite and ran probably his worst race, so I wanted to redeem his father’s name. I was using that to keep me pumped up and keep me excited. Then the more I looked at the race, I saw that this pace is going to be really hot. This could really set up for me. And that’s exactly what happened.”

“When I was with Justify, it was a whole different story,” he said. “We had all the hype, he was the horse to beat. We actually believed that he had the kind of talent to be a Triple Crown winner. He was that kind of horse. So there was a whole lot more pressure with him.”

Asked about the secret to his longevity and whether or not he thinks about retiring, Smith said, “At times I think about it, but then I think, ‘Well, where else am I going to have this kind of fun?’ I’m having a blast right now, getting the opportunity to ride in these big races. And if I did anything right early on in my career, I really took up physical fitness instead of going out and playing golf and not doing a whole lot. Every morning, I just made it a way of life. I train every morning. If I’m not training myself, I have two different personal trainers that train me at least five times a week. I go at it pretty, pretty hard. I’ve been doing it for a long time and it’s starting to pay off in my later years. I’m still as fit as I was 10 years ago. So for some reason I’m hanging in there. And as long as I can continue to do that, I plan to ride another few years.”

Elsewhere on the show, the crew broke down the Derby and Oaks fields from all angles and, in the West Point Thoroughbreds news segment, reacted to the creation of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act and its corresponding alliance. Then, host Joe Bianca addressed the comments made by Barclay Tagg Tuesday about the racial unrest in Louisville. Click here to watch the podcast, click here for the audio-only version.

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TDN Writers’ Room Celebrates 50 Episodes

It was a special day Wednesday for everyone who works on the TDN Writers’ Room presented by Keeneland, as the crew celebrated its 50th episode of the industry-leading weekly podcast. In a tribute to the show’s creator, the four hosts welcomed producer Patty Wolfe as the Green Group Guest of the Week to discuss her original vision for the Writers’ Room, how it has evolved since then and how she’d like to see it develop in the future.

“I’m a big podcast person and there’s one podcast that I love, NPR Politics’ Weekly Roundup, because it’s reporters, people that are used to just reporting the stories at NPR, never being celebrities themselves,” Wolfe said. “And it was so fascinating to get people who really knew their stuff as opposed to people who just are slick on camera. So I said to Sue [Finley], you’ve got such a smart staff, can we get some writers to sit around and do this? Sue said, ‘We’ve got buy-in here. We’ll do it. We’ll give it a try.'”

Originally intended as a medium to recap and preview racing and sales based out of a refashioned conference room in the TDN offices, the podcast quickly morphed into an opportunity for the writers to delve into deep, structural issues within the sport and speak candidly in pursuit of finding solutions. It also has now turned into a video recording done over Zoom, an innovation of necessity in response to the pandemic shutting down the original “studio”.

“From show one, I said. ‘Oh, this thing’s got a life of its own,”” Wolfe added. “It changed a lot from the initial thought, for the better. Who knew the kinds of stories that were going to come your way? This crazy year that has been in the sport, outside the sport, there was no topic [the hosts] weren’t willing to tackle. One of the things I enjoy the most is how honest it is. There’s no feeling of, ‘Hey, let’s take this polite approach and be deferential.’ No, you let it out. And that’s been the biggest surprise and treat for me. It just went its own way.”

Elsewhere on the podcast, there was plenty to discuss from The Jockey Club’s Round Table, and the writers zeroed in on the debate over whether and how to shrink the disproportionate number of claiming races run in America with the goal of creating a safer environment for lower-level horses. They then explored Bill Finley’s article from Wednesday’s TDN about the issues plaguing Equibase’s new Gmax timing system at tracks across the country and the wide-ranging implications that come from incorrect clockings. In the West Point Thoroughbreds news segment, the topic turned to the extensive delay of Monmouth paying out its purses and how it particularly affects smaller stables. Click here to watch the podcast, click here for the audio-only version.

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Christophe Clement Joins TDN Writers’ Room

There was no hotter trainer on the grounds through opening weekend at Saratoga than Christophe Clement, which is saying something considering the array of champion and Hall of Fame conditioners that occupy the backstretch of America’s premier race meet. After winning five races from 13 starters in the first four days of the stand, including a pair of graded stakes victories, Clement joined the TDN Writers’ Room presented by Keeneland to discuss his hot start.

Calling in via Zoom as the Green Group Guest of the Week, the French-born trainer also touched on the increased competition for imports from Europe, summer and fall plans for his leading 3-year-old turfers and how his stable bounced back from tragedy earlier in the year.

Asked about hitting the ground running following the coronavirus-forced interruption of racing in New York, Clement said, “The pandemic has been a challenge regarding the workforce and the organization of the barn, but I think we’re very lucky in New York. NYRA and Martin Panza did a great job and we’re just lucky to race here. It’s probably more challenging for the people who only have one string, but we’re lucky because we do have a string in Saratoga before the meet. That makes it much easier.”

In addition to capturing the GII Hall of Fame S. and GII Lake Placid S. last weekend at the Spa, Clement also unveiled a ‘TDN Rising Star’ with Momos (Distorted Humor) romping in the first 2-year-old race of the meet.

“I’ve got a very good group of 2-year-olds this year,” Clement said. “Momos is all about speed. He’s built like a very fast horse. He’s not big, but he’s very well balanced. My only instruction to [Manny] Franco was, ‘We know the horse is very fast, don’t make it too complicated.’ He gave a very good ride and he was always in control. That’s pretty exciting.”

Clement’s operation is likely a sentimental favorite for many in the industry this year after dealing with the devastation of losing 10 horses in a trailer fire on the New Jersey Turnpike last month. Speaking candidly about how to cope with that kind of loss, Clement said simply, you can’t.

“I don’t think you cope with that,” he said. “That phone call, I think it was 3:45 or 4:00 in the morning from the state trooper, it’s the worst of the worst. I’m lucky in a way because I train for amazing owners, so in a way they made it easy on me. But no, nobody can cope with that. That’s the worst.”

Elsewhere on the show, the writers gave their takeaways from the rest of the weekend’s big racing including the GI Haskell S., discussed the temporary closure of Del Mar and the increasing unlikelihood of fans in the stands for the GI Kentucky Derby. Then, in the West Point Thoroughbreds news segment, they used the return of Maximum Security (New Year’s Day) as an opportunity to look back on whether anything has changed with racing’s drug problems in the four-plus months since the bombshell FBI indictments. Click here to listen to the podcast and click here to watch it on Vimeo.

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