Jayson Werth Discusses Nerves and Horse Racing on Radio Row

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00:00SportsGrid's coverage inside the big game rolls on right here from Radio Row. Sam Yarnell alongside Jason Wirth.

00:07Jason, thank you for taking the time for us. How are you enjoying your time on Radio Row so far?

00:10Well, first time here, it's quite the experience. It was pretty cool. I thought we'd come in and see what's up and

00:17promote Icon Racing a little bit and support Philadelphia.

00:21Yeah, so let's talk about Icon Racing just a little bit, Jason. First of all, obviously in your post playing days,

00:27what kind of got you interested in horse racing and drew you to get a start in that kind of business?

00:33So it's weird, you know, obviously we would follow the Kentucky Derby, but that's like most sports fans,

00:40that's about as far as you go, right? Maybe you follow the Triple Crown,

00:43but outside of that, if you're not in horse racing, that's about all you know. And that was me,

00:49you know, about four years ago. I played golf with some guys that owned some Florida breads.

00:53I was like, this looks like fun. Let me, you know, how do I get into this?

00:57Grabbed a, you know, they call it owning the legs, you know, like 25% of a horse.

01:01And I went to Tampa Bay Downs on like a Tuesday and it was like, you know, Tuesday afternoon,

01:07like two or three in the afternoon, a low-level claiming race.

01:11Like, it'd be like going and watching like an 8-ball game.

01:14Sure. And, you know, I got, like I owned this horse, so I'm like, hey, there's my horse, you know.

01:20I'm like, it's cool. You go in the paddock, you know, you tell good luck and then they go out and they run, you know,

01:25get on the track to warm up. And I'm like, why am I nervous?

01:32I don't get nervous. Like, you know, I never got nervous.

01:35And all of a sudden I'm like sweating and then like the gates open and then, you know,

01:40I've been retired for like three years. And that's when it was like, oh my God,

01:44I feel like I'm back on the field. Yeah. And so it was that,

01:47it was that type of feeling like, this is incredible.

01:50I get to feel like I'm playing again. And this was for a low-level race.

01:54So it was kind of like the, you know, the hook, line and sinker.

01:57Like that was my entry into it. And I was so intrigued. I was like, well,

02:02how do I get more, I need more horses. Right.

02:05So I started buying some more horses, partnering with some people,

02:09kind of learning about it. You know, it's a tough sport to get into, right?

02:11It's like, how do you get into horse racing?

02:14And then a couple of years ago I was at the sale in Keeneland

02:19and I walked into the bar and there was a, I could have went left, I could have went right.

02:23I went right. So I was like, oh, I know those guys.

02:26I started talking to Danny Gargan, the trainer of Dornach.

02:28And he's like, you should get on this horse. I got this horse, you know,

02:31just grab 10% or whatever. Just, you know, just experience it. Sure.

02:34I was like, I don't know. Oh, you know, he convinced me. All right. So,

02:39that turned out to be a life-changing venture. I mean,

02:43Dornach changed, really changed the course of time. And,

02:46and now he's kind of been the reason why we started Icon Racing. And then,

02:50and this whole thing we're doing.

02:52Dornach, obviously the winner at the Belmont. Jason,

02:54you talked about that nervousness with these horses and being an owner and having

02:59a stake in them. Tell me what's more nerve wracking to you.

03:01Having a horse about to run in the Belmont or stepping into the batter's box to

03:05face a former Cy Young winner.

03:06Yeah. I never got nervous playing baseball. I mean, biggest games, you know,

03:09World Series, whatever. I was, I was always calm and no problem.

03:14So this whole, the whole nervousness thing is like, it's kind of new, you know?

03:18And so it's, that's what intrigued me the most. Like, man,

03:20I can't believe that the sport of these horses can just, you know,

03:24evoke this much emotion, you know? And so for a retired athlete,

03:29it's really, it's really tough to figure out, like, you know, how do you,

03:32how do you, you know, recreate, you know, what you did every day.

03:36There's those like those, those emotions. And, you know,

03:38the pre-race nerves is one thing,

03:40but when they open the gates and the horses are running,

03:43like that's when you started getting fired up. It's like,

03:45I tell people those horses come around the turn.

03:47It's like being in the dugout, bases loaded, you know,

03:50two run game and one of your teammates hits a ball into the gap and you're,

03:55you're, you're waving around the guy from first and you're going crazy.

03:57You're punching your teammates and you know,

03:59you jump so high you hit your head on the dugout. And that's like,

04:01that's what it's like on race day when those, when the gates open. So,

04:04you know, it's just, it's a, it's like a full spectrum of emotions.

04:07You can't really create it any other way. And for retired athletes or anybody,

04:12I think horse racing is a great sport. That's why we're trying to,

04:15we started Icon Racing to really bring people into the sport on the ownership

04:18side.

04:19All right. So we're here at the big game.

04:21We only got a couple of minutes left here, Jason,

04:23give me your thoughts and give me a pick for the the big game coming up on

04:27Sunday.

04:27Well, obviously Eagles all the way. You know,

04:30my time in Philadelphia was unbelievable. So go birds.

04:34But I'm also a gambling man. And if you had to ask me my, my, my,

04:38my best bet outside of some of the kind of like,

04:43you know, props bets. My best bet I think is Eagles first half.

04:48Love it. All right. Well, Jason Werth,

04:50thank you so much for popping on with us.

04:52Make sure you're checking out Icon Racing,

04:54keeping up with all the Jason's horses throughout the racing season. Jason,

04:57thanks so much, man.

04:58Go birds.

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