1/ST Things 1/ST: Frank Mirahmadi and Jimmy Barnes on Their Namesakes

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00:00Now I know you guys have missed it and we've been away for a while, but it is time, drumroll please,

00:06for another edition of First Things First presented by Santa Anita and First Racing.

00:14We caught up with Miramardi and Barnes, the two-legged humankind,

00:20to find out exactly what they thought about their four-legged friends.

00:30Happy to be joined by track announcer at Santa Anita, Frank Miramardi.

00:34Frank, before we get to the four-legged Miramardi, let's talk about opening week at Santa Anita.

00:40And it was amazing for me, but how was it for you?

00:43It was awesome. Anytime you look downstairs at this beautiful facility,

00:47we have an incredible, probably the most incredible arena, so to speak, for the big crowd.

00:54And to see the people show up, we know what's happening opening day,

00:57but all opening weekend, and then New Year's Day, I thought everyone was caught off guard and surprised.

01:02Maybe Dollar Day is not a thing of the past. People showed up, there were long lines,

01:06they were having a good time, and more importantly, we had great racing, safe racing.

01:10So I think so far, management's very pleased with what we see.

01:13All right, let's get to the meat. Let's talk Miramardi.

01:16I was a little rude in my analysis of him, saying he might have lost his best friend, but boy, did he pull it out.

01:22He did. Juan Hernandez knows him and Baffert knows he needs to be on the front end.

01:25His race before was a complete throwout because he got caught behind horses.

01:29The question I had is that the horses had some issues early in his career, much like his namesake.

01:35So I was wondering whether he could overcome some of the obstacles that he had faced,

01:40because once he got discouraged last time, when he gets uncomfortable, he just shuts it down.

01:45But Juan put him on the lead and he kept going, and it was a very powerful performance.

01:49And for those who believe in speed figures, he had a very good 98 buyer speed number, which is solid.

01:54I was hoping triple digits, but maybe we'll get that in the big cap.

01:57How does it feel to have a horse named for you that wins and you're calling the race?

02:02I mean, isn't that pretty awesome?

02:04It is. I got to call his debut. He got drilled.

02:07I did get to call when he broke his maiden. That was a lot of fun.

02:09And then this win was really almost a defining moment.

02:13I think when he gets the stakes, it'll be a defining moment.

02:15But I think he showed that he is indeed a stakes caliber and perhaps grade one caliber horse.

02:20And a stellar performance from Miramadi, who takes him all the way.

02:25Miramadi scores by four and a half.

02:29I'm joined right now by Jimmy Barnes, the assistant to Bob Baffert.

02:32And of course, the namesake, the first.

02:34I'm the human Barnes.

02:35I love it.

02:36Did Emmer call you and be like, is it OK if I name this horse after you or he just did it?

02:40They surprised me with it.

02:41And, you know, I was honored.

02:44I was a little nervous, but, you know, it's working out well so far.

02:48I would say so. Perfect two for two.

02:50Now, you've been around, obviously, all of the good Bob Baffert horses.

02:53Do you have a little bit of favoritism, though, because he's your namesake?

02:56Well, no, not really.

02:58I love them all.

03:00And was it nerve wracking for you to watch your namesake run?

03:03Well, it was a little bit.

03:05You know, I had a little bit of a nod in my stomach.

03:07But, you know, it'll only get better after this.

03:11Well, now we can jump up and down and be excited.

03:13Congratulations.

03:14Thank you, Michelle.

03:18I want to thank Jimmy and Frank Miramardi very much indeed.

03:22And just a reminder that racing does continue this Friday at Santa Anita.

03:27It's been a little tricky to figure out the post times because we've got so many races.

03:32Friday, we have a 10 race card on Friday that will start at noon.

03:37There are. Let me see.

03:40I wrote it down somewhere because there's so many.

03:43One hundred and two horses entered on that Friday 10 race card on Saturday.

03:48We start at 1130 a.m. for 11 races and some ridiculous number like 110 horses entered in that card.

03:59We had an opening two week total sources handle of over 90 million dollars.

04:06And kudos to all of those people that came out the past two weeks.

04:09There were over 94000 people that visited Santa Anita.

04:14Kudos to everyone and kudos to the racing office as well for getting all these races to go.

04:19It looks like it's onwards and upwards right now at Santa Anita.

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