NBC Political Analyst Steve Kornacki on TDN Writers' Room Kentucky Derby Show

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Steve Kornacki is more than the political junkie who, for years, has had a way of explaining things when it comes to elections that help make everything make sense. He does so by turning statistics into an easy-to-understand formula and displaying his findings on an interactive map that is known as the big board. But Kornacki sometimes needs a break from politics, and he has found one in horse racing. It’s been his passion since his uncle started taking him to the harness races at Scarborough Downs in Maine. He loves to handicap and approaches racing with the same sort of mind set he uses for politics. The numbers matter. Kornacki will once again be part of NBC’s coverage of this week’s GI Kentucky Derby. But before he left we grabbed him for the TDN Writers’ Room Podcast presented by Keeneland. He was this week’s Gainesway Guest of the Week.

Transcript

00:00:00For the love of the horse, for generations to come.

00:00:29Welcome to another edition of the TDN Writer's Room podcast, a Kentucky Derby edition as

00:00:34you might imagine.

00:00:35My name is Bill Finley.

00:00:36I'm a correspondent for the Thoroughbred Daily News.

00:00:39And if you're wondering who I'm going to pick in the Kentucky Derby, is that give it away

00:00:44perhaps?

00:00:45There you go.

00:00:47I'm Randy Moss with NBC Sports here on the backside of Churchill Downs doing 16 races

00:00:53in all.

00:00:54So not just the Derby and worse, which is why my Hall of Fame driver, Jerry Bailey and

00:00:59I have been back here trying to, you know, dig up some news.

00:01:05Well, you're going to find a lot of good stuff to dig up.

00:01:07I'm Zoe Cabman here with First TV and First Racing.

00:01:12I'm on my day off.

00:01:14I'm actually out in the middle of the desert here.

00:01:16And look, I have a special guest.

00:01:19You haven't seen him in quite a while.

00:01:21We've got Doodle here.

00:01:22Come here, Judy.

00:01:23Hi, Doodle.

00:01:26The Doodle wanted to say hi.

00:01:30I wish I had Lucy to show you.

00:01:34He's having a nice day.

00:01:35Well, guys, we thought we'd do something a little bit different and hopefully fun for

00:01:40this year's rather than going down the field and Randy saying, I don't like this horse

00:01:43and my saying, I do like this horse and whatnot.

00:01:47We're going to have a draft just like you would have in the NFL.

00:01:51And we're going to take all the horses from both the Oaks and the Derby.

00:01:56And we're going to pick them one at a time.

00:01:58You can pick three straight Oaks horses or three straight Derby horses.

00:02:01Doesn't really matter.

00:02:03And then you get five points if you have a winner, three points for second, one point

00:02:07for third. And it should just be fun.

00:02:11And yet when you give your picks, just give a little thought about what you like about

00:02:16them. Zoe drew the I drew the short straw.

00:02:19I'm going to go last. Zoe's going to be first and Randy second.

00:02:22All right, Zoe, this is who is this year's number one pick and the TDN Thoroughbred

00:02:30Daily News Kentucky Derby draft.

00:02:33Well, it's finally ladies first.

00:02:35It's about time you guys clicked on to that.

00:02:37So I'm going to take the Kentucky Derby favorite Baeza is still on the outside looking

00:02:42in as of Tuesday, as of this taping.

00:02:44So we're not including him.

00:02:46Otherwise, he would definitely be in here.

00:02:49I'm going with journalism.

00:02:50In my mind, nobody has trained better.

00:02:54Nobody has looked better.

00:02:56Miss Foley breezed into perfection the other day.

00:02:59That was exactly what they wanted.

00:03:01Big, strong horse, perfect draw for him.

00:03:04It's journalism for me.

00:03:06All right. So I have the number two draft pick.

00:03:08OK, I think journalism is probably two links better than any other horse in the field.

00:03:13But I also happen to think that the second best three year old in the country is Baeza.

00:03:17And I think I think he's going to get in because by the time Isaac gets by the time

00:03:25Isaac gets through with all their veterinary examinations and we've still got three or

00:03:29four days left to go, I'm expecting somebody to drop out or be dropped out.

00:03:36And so I'm going to take Baeza and roll the dice with my draft pick.

00:03:41We weren't going to use him.

00:03:43Isn't that what you said?

00:03:44I let him use him.

00:03:45OK, I would have picked him otherwise because he would have been the top pick, but we

00:03:51were told we weren't using him.

00:03:52That's all. Well, I can't believe you guys left me the most obvious number one pick in

00:03:57the whole draft. Who is the most likely winner of either of these races going to be the

00:04:01shortest price? I'll take good cheer and thank you.

00:04:05I can't believe he still left me.

00:04:06She still left me at the third pick.

00:04:10OK, then I am going to take Grande for trainer Todd Pletcher.

00:04:19He's really impressed me in his local works.

00:04:22He comes in with some very good numbers.

00:04:24I think he's flying under the radar.

00:04:26He actually ran a better number than Rodriguez coming out of the Wood Memorial.

00:04:31He gets a Hall of Fame rider in Johnny V.

00:04:34And I mean, how can I leave Todd Pletcher and Johnny V out?

00:04:36Pick number four, Grande for me.

00:04:40All right, I think one of the key elements in any contest is to understand the rules.

00:04:45I thought we were doing just the Derby and then just the Oaks.

00:04:49So Bill kind of threw me a curveball there with good cheer.

00:04:52I will take then with my next choice, I will take Sovereignty and the Kentucky Derby.

00:05:03All right, well, I will take then my man Sandman.

00:05:09And thanks to John Green from DJ Stables for sending me this shirt.

00:05:13But his record speaks for himself.

00:05:15I think he's one of the horses that's going to benefit from a fast pace.

00:05:19Might need to grow up a little bit, a little bit on the green side.

00:05:22But he ran very well to win the Arkansas Derby.

00:05:24And if he puts it all together in first Saturday in May,

00:05:29I think he'll really make a presence for himself.

00:05:31So Sandman for Bill Finley.

00:05:34Wishing them all the best of luck.

00:05:36My next horse is going to be Quietside going into the Kentucky Oaks.

00:05:40She's eight to one on the morning line.

00:05:42I've really, really liked how she's looked over the racetrack.

00:05:46She just looks so strong.

00:05:48She's keeping Jose Ortiz aboard her for trainer John Ortiz.

00:05:52Perhaps we're going to have an Ortiz win in the Kentucky Oaks.

00:05:56I really like what I've seen from Quietside in the morning.

00:06:00All right, I'm going to lose this draft, I can tell you that right now.

00:06:05I will go simply joking in the Oaks.

00:06:10I think the Oaks comes down to good cheer, Quietside and simply joking and maybe 5G.

00:06:17Oddly enough, I think the Oaks is kind of a classic case

00:06:21of what you see in person or on video

00:06:27and then what you see on paper in the analytics, because watching good cheer,

00:06:32she looks absolutely dominating in all of her races.

00:06:35But then on the analytics, on the numbers, she doesn't have that much of an edge.

00:06:40So which do you believe, your lion eyes or you believe what you see on paper?

00:06:44So I think she's beatable in here.

00:06:46So I think simply joking is going to run big. I'll take her.

00:06:50All right. Well, Tenma didn't run that fast.

00:06:54Her buyer number went down considerably in her last race.

00:06:57She is the best filly from California.

00:06:59It's got Bob Baffert behind her.

00:07:04Do you have any theory? What was the number?

00:07:06She went down to a seventy nine or something.

00:07:09And that was actually boosted.

00:07:10She actually ran. Wow.

00:07:12If you just strictly go by the numbers

00:07:15in the variant, she actually ran a little slower than that.

00:07:17It was a very, very bad race.

00:07:19The sanity votes. Yeah, no, I understand.

00:07:22But she's still, you know, that's

00:07:25that's why I'm getting her as my sixth pick or something like that.

00:07:28But I'll you know, I'll believe in Baffert.

00:07:30She's got a great record.

00:07:31We'll see. She's going to run better than she did last time out.

00:07:34But again, we'll see.

00:07:36I'm going back to the derby for this one.

00:07:38And one of these days, Japan's going to win everything.

00:07:42So I'm going Luxor Cafe.

00:07:45That's right. I knew you were waiting for that.

00:07:48Yes. Oh, I'm dogged in this contest.

00:07:51Yeah, I got I got I got nothing.

00:07:59I got nothing. I mean, I'm empty.

00:08:03I might have to pass.

00:08:04Let's see. OK, I wasn't even thinking beyond Luxor Cafe.

00:08:09I knew no one was going to take Luxor Cafe.

00:08:12OK, how about it's got to be a stretch runner.

00:08:16I he's not definitely not on my short list,

00:08:21but we've already gone through a lot of the horses on my top list.

00:08:25So I'll put I'll take Burnham Square.

00:08:28Have you liked how he's looked there?

00:08:31I haven't seen him.

00:08:32OK, we've been we've got 14 other races besides the derby in the Oaks.

00:08:37And, you know, we're talking to Ian and all that.

00:08:40But as far as watching horses on the track, I don't have time.

00:08:45Unfortunately, I watch videos before the before we do the shows.

00:08:50You tell me, how's he look?

00:08:52He looks good. He looks good.

00:08:53He's not an overly imposing horse like you put next to journalism.

00:08:58Journalism, you're going to be like, oh,

00:09:01but he just skips along over that racetrack.

00:09:05OK, yeah, he's a very plain, ordinary horse,

00:09:07I know from talking to Ian in the past, as a matter of fact,

00:09:11you know, he had one of his buddies saddle him when he broke his maiden,

00:09:14Brian Lynch, and Lynch called him on the phone and said,

00:09:19wow, he's sure not much to look at, but he can run.

00:09:23All right. I will go in the maiden publisher

00:09:26trying to become the first maiden to win the derby since 1933.

00:09:31Randy, I know you'll know this because you know everything.

00:09:33How many maidens have won the derby?

00:09:35I don't know that I would say.

00:09:38I would say one.

00:09:41And I think it was Sir Bart.

00:09:43No. Well, the horse I just mentioned in 1933, Broker's Tip.

00:09:48And then some horse in the 1800s and Sir Barton.

00:09:50So I would say two.

00:09:51It hasn't been done since 1933.

00:09:53Who won it? Yeah.

00:09:54Yeah. All right.

00:09:56So I'll take the maiden publisher.

00:09:59OK, La Cara for me.

00:10:05She, again, has worked terrifically over the trip.

00:10:08She's got speed.

00:10:10Her Ashland race was just really, really pretty to look at.

00:10:14Dylan Davis had many choices to make in here.

00:10:17And he sticks with La Cara, the daughter of Street Sense.

00:10:20She likes Churchill Downs.

00:10:21Don't have a problem with that.

00:10:23She's probably the most seasoned of every horse in here.

00:10:26And I think since the last time I saw her at Delmar,

00:10:32she's really filled out and grown into a beautiful looking filly.

00:10:36So I'm taking her on the up and up La Cara for me and Mark Cassie.

00:10:40I'm so winning this round.

00:10:44Yeah, you're winning it, Zoe.

00:10:46You are Bill.

00:10:47I'm going to be I'm going to fill out the trifecta, unfortunately.

00:10:50I will stick with the closer theme in the Kentucky Derby.

00:10:55I'm trying to exhaust all the logical closers.

00:10:58I think Tiztastic is still out there.

00:11:01I probably prefer publisher a little bit, but Tiztastic won the Louisiana Derby.

00:11:05He's an off the pace horse.

00:11:06He's improving.

00:11:08So I'll take Tiztastic.

00:11:10All right.

00:11:11Boy, how the mighty have fallen with the 15th pick in the draft.

00:11:16I will take the horse that has fallen as far as Shamari Sanders.

00:11:21What was the guy?

00:11:21Kid's first name?

00:11:22Yeah, Deon's son.

00:11:25This was Shadour Sanders.

00:11:28Shadour Sanders is Citizen Bull.

00:11:31I'm getting him the 15th pick in the draft.

00:11:34Last year's breeders Cup Classic winner.

00:11:36I don't really like him in here.

00:11:38And Randy will tell you that he's going to be caught up in a fast pace.

00:11:41He probably will.

00:11:43But we are down to the 15th pick.

00:11:45And this is a horse that, you know, has shown brilliance at times.

00:11:48It's got the best derby trainer in history behind him.

00:11:51Why not?

00:11:53Ah, you got me on that one, Bill.

00:11:55I was going to go for him.

00:11:56So I'm going to go with the other one.

00:11:58Rodriguez, for me, coming out of the Wood Memorial.

00:12:02Hall of Famer Mike Smith, 50.

00:12:04What is he? 58, not 59, as reported.

00:12:09He's 58 because he lied on his jock's license.

00:12:12So I'm going with Rodriguez in the Hall of Famer.

00:12:14I liked his work over the track as well.

00:12:16That's one thing I just like to zone in on is how they look

00:12:20training over that racetrack.

00:12:23All right, I think Citizen Bull sets the pace, by the way.

00:12:28All right, so let's go.

00:12:31Has 5G been taken yet?

00:12:33I don't think so.

00:12:35So I will go back to the Oaks.

00:12:37The winner has got to be either Gucci or Quiet Side,

00:12:41Simply Joking or 5G.

00:12:43So I'll take 5G.

00:12:45I will take the underdog, Little Horse in Louisiana, Cole Battle

00:12:50for Lonnie Briley.

00:12:52Well, guys, let's take a little break here now.

00:12:54And then when we come back, we will talk more about the Kentucky Derb

00:12:58in the Oaks and finish off our draft.

00:12:59Randy's already thrown in the towel, says he can't win,

00:13:02but it's going to be a good contest and somebody is going to have that,

00:13:07you know, $80 winner of the one of the two races.

00:13:10And it's going to be like,

00:13:11I mean, I want to draft ones with our Kong.

00:13:14Let me ask you guys before we go to break.

00:13:16Did you all see the the work yesterday from Citizen Bull?

00:13:21I thought he looked terrific.

00:13:24Really, I did.

00:13:25I didn't see it in person, but I watched the video.

00:13:29I think he's personally well, I guess we can talk more about the pace

00:13:33in the next segment when we talk about the Kentucky Derby, but

00:13:36he looked good.

00:13:38The TDM Writers Room is brought to you by Keeneland.

00:13:41The Keeneland race meet and April sale,

00:13:43which showed gains across the board, are now in the books.

00:13:45And it's now time to turn our attention to Keeneland September.

00:13:49The Keeneland September entry deadline is May 1st,

00:13:52and the impact of book one reaches far beyond the auction ring.

00:13:56It's where the industry's most influential buyers compete

00:13:59and elite yearlings command attention with results that set the tone

00:14:04for the entire sale.

00:14:05Book one is a statement of quality and an opportunity

00:14:09to position your yearlings at the top on a stage where the world is watching.

00:14:39This week, the fastest source of the week is brought to you by Heartland,

00:14:43one of those fast sires at Windstar Farm, Heartland, a $575,000

00:14:50Keeneland September yearling with a champion's pedigree.

00:14:53He's by undefeated Triple Crown winner, Justified, and as a half brother

00:14:57to champion two year old Classic Empire.

00:15:00His only career start before the season began.

00:15:03He's been a champion since he was nine years old.

00:15:05Classic Empire.

00:15:07His only career start, a brilliant one.

00:15:09He was a TV and rising star after earning a 90 buyer speed figure

00:15:13at five and a half furlongs in the fastest time of any two year old

00:15:16at Delmar or Saratoga all that summer.

00:15:19Heartland has been well received by breeders in his first season

00:15:22and stud standing at Windstar for a fee of ten thousand dollars.

00:15:27Fastest horse of the week ran Friday at an allowance race at Keeneland.

00:15:31Remember this name? Unmatched Wisdom.

00:15:34Sounds like a Seth Klarman horse.

00:15:36It is. Trained by Chad Brown, was ridden by Flavian Pratt.

00:15:39This was the horse that began his career last year as a three year old.

00:15:42A perfect three for three.

00:15:44They ran him in the Travers in Pennsylvania Derby.

00:15:47That didn't end well.

00:15:48They laid him up, brought him back in the allowance race at Keeneland

00:15:51for his first start of the year.

00:15:53Bingo. A winner by three and a quarter links with a buyer speed figure of 103.

00:15:59What a nice start to his four year old campaign.

00:16:02Unmatched Wisdom.

00:16:04Our fastest horse of the week.

00:16:11All right, so let's round out the field of our draft

00:16:14picks for the Derby and Oaks extravaganza.

00:16:17The first prize in this contest is a slap on the back from publisher Sue Finley.

00:16:23As she says, job well done.

00:16:25So that's that's what we're all playing for.

00:16:28All right.

00:16:29So we are more than halfway through and the ones that are coming up now

00:16:33are kind of the not not the stellar horses.

00:16:38They've all been taken.

00:16:39But I will take in the Oaks Drexel Hill for my my pick.

00:16:46I'm sure glad we're not playing for money here.

00:16:48I will say that.

00:16:50And with my say, what would what would Commissioner Roger Goodell say

00:16:55with the 19th pick in the 2025 TDN Kentucky Derby Kentucky Oaks draft?

00:17:01Randy Moss selects American Promise

00:17:04in coach we trust.

00:17:06You know, he got a really good thorough graph number in his last.

00:17:10He's either going to move forward or he's going to bounce to the moon.

00:17:13But he doesn't look like a horse physically that can bounce.

00:17:16He's huge.

00:17:18What I'm worried about the most about American Promise.

00:17:21He's he's a big, beautiful son of justify.

00:17:26And because of his size, his first strides out of the gate are not very fast.

00:17:32It takes him a little while to get that engine going.

00:17:35And in the Kentucky Derby and the 20 horse field,

00:17:38if your first strides from the gate are not all that fast,

00:17:42it can be fraught with peril because suddenly the spot gets taken

00:17:45by the horses on either side of you and you're pinched back

00:17:49and you're much further back than you initially wanted to be.

00:17:53And that's my big concern with American Promise.

00:17:55But if he can avoid that

00:17:57once he gets rolling like probably the second quarter mile, I think

00:18:01I think he can he can certainly be heard from.

00:18:07Yeah, I'm I'm in agreement with you as well.

00:18:09That's a good pick.

00:18:11I'm going back to the Oaks for Will Walden.

00:18:13Bless the broken Johnny V.

00:18:16Fresh off a win on the poly track, but does have some good form

00:18:20at Churchill Downs having just missed by a head breaking a maiden there.

00:18:23So bless the broken 30 to one.

00:18:25I'm not sure we get any extra points for long shots, do we?

00:18:30I don't think so.

00:18:31Now, maybe we should have affected that and maybe next year.

00:18:34That's actually not a bad idea.

00:18:36Sorry. All right.

00:18:37I'm going to take the twenty five hundred dollar by chunk of gold.

00:18:40Talk about a horse with the coming off from the wrong side of the tracks.

00:18:46Randy, I'm surprised you didn't pick him as one of your closers

00:18:48where you can eventually get.

00:18:50I like Chunk. OK.

00:18:54I think next year we should go by payoffs instead of points, right?

00:18:58Just price. Just total.

00:18:59Yeah. Total money. Win place show.

00:19:03So let's see.

00:19:05I've used American Promise.

00:19:08I don't really like Neo Equos because he's speed.

00:19:12Chunk of gold's already been taken.

00:19:14Cold battle's already been taken.

00:19:18Are we going all the way?

00:19:20Yeah. Wow.

00:19:23Yeah, I told you last week I have to feel as a throwout.

00:19:25I think I've already taken three of my throwouts.

00:19:33Zoe, help me out here.

00:19:35You're going to win.

00:19:38I mean, if I help you, I'm going to give you my next pick.

00:19:41I'm not helping you. You don't need my help.

00:19:44Oh, you're on your own.

00:19:47All right. Here's the deal.

00:19:49I'll take again. Stretch runner.

00:19:52That's what you need to have, I think, this year in the Kentucky Derby.

00:19:55I think Citizen Bull's the only horse that's got a chance to go wire to wire.

00:19:58But it's going to be really hot early, I think.

00:20:01What if Final Gambit

00:20:04is a lot better on dirt than he is on synthetic?

00:20:08He's only run on turf and on synthetic.

00:20:10We don't know how good he is on dirt.

00:20:12On synthetic, he's not fast enough.

00:20:14We know that from the Jeff Ruby.

00:20:16He won, but he was green.

00:20:18He was just, you know, wasn't a very good field, really.

00:20:21And his figure wasn't all that good.

00:20:23But he's trained really well since he's been here on dirt.

00:20:27Maybe he's five weeks better on dirt than he is on synthetic.

00:20:31And maybe he's going to be another rich strike.

00:20:33So I'll take Final Gambit.

00:20:34I think from Zoe's reaction, that may be who she had in mind.

00:20:38Damn it. Damn you, Randy Moss.

00:20:41So Blinkers off flying Mohawk for me, 30 to one on the morning line.

00:20:46I'm hoping that he's going to be a closer as well with the Blinkers coming off him.

00:20:51So I'm choosing a tough horse in the Kentucky Derby.

00:20:53Wouldn't be the worst thing that's ever happened, right?

00:20:56All right. Yeah, we're getting down to the ones.

00:20:59Randy, I'm going to do the same thing.

00:21:00A horse that that I threw out.

00:21:03But, you know, when we're down to the 10th, 11th pick, you know,

00:21:06you're not going to get the Heisman Trophy winner.

00:21:11I mean, I hate this horse, but he's still sitting out there

00:21:15and he's a good horse, East Avenue.

00:21:17All right. OK.

00:21:25Oh, my gosh, I'm I'm totally screwed in this.

00:21:29I will go at this point.

00:21:32I have no other options.

00:21:35How about I'm just throwing names out who's left?

00:21:38I'll take Owen Almighty.

00:21:40OK, he's game, at least he tries hard.

00:21:44Yeah, he'll be better sitting just off the pace than he was on the lead,

00:21:47although I seriously doubt it.

00:21:49But at this point, I'm grasping for straws.

00:21:53Well, I can't believe nobody's picked the Eclipse

00:21:56winning jockey, Flavian Pratt, just I mean, never mind the horses.

00:22:00Let's go with handicapping the jocks right now.

00:22:02So I'm going to take Pratt on Ballerina de Oro for trainer Chad Brown,

00:22:06a guy who knows how to win good races with Phillies.

00:22:09I yeah, you forgot about that one, didn't you, Andy?

00:22:12Oh, my God. Oh, my God.

00:22:14I was I'm so dead.

00:22:16Yes, I forgot about that one.

00:22:18We just I just I was just sitting in Chad Brown's office when I told you

00:22:22when that's why I was late for Steve Kornacki.

00:22:25And Chad is is very confident that Ballerina de Oro

00:22:29is going to run a a big race.

00:22:32He thinks good cheer is the only horse in there that can beat her.

00:22:35And he's not even sure that that she won't be good cheer.

00:22:40So isn't she a little slow, Randy?

00:22:43On numbers, yes.

00:22:45In her last race in the gazelle, she was a little slow,

00:22:48but she was also running sideways from the quarter pole to the wire.

00:22:52And it was very strangely similar to the conversation

00:22:55we had a year ago about Sierra Leone and his lugging in.

00:23:00So just like Sierra Leone, Ballerina de Oro doesn't do it in the morning.

00:23:05She's straight as a string in the morning.

00:23:07And Chad believes that the 14 horse field

00:23:11enough to keep her mentally occupied enough of a target

00:23:14that he hopes at least that she'll run straight in the Kentucky Oaks.

00:23:18And if she does, he thinks she's talented enough to win it.

00:23:21And so he has her on her draft team.

00:23:23And I don't know. Right.

00:23:25Well, I will take a horse that

00:23:28your horse, Ballerina de Oro, barely beat last time out.

00:23:32And that is early on.

00:23:35Undefeated. Yeah.

00:23:37OK. All right.

00:23:38With with the I don't know what my pick is now,

00:23:42what number it is, but

00:23:47you're handicapping the jockeys, you say, Zoe, because you were a jockey.

00:23:53If Baeza doesn't get in, the best jockey in America

00:23:57will be riding Neo Eclos in the Kentucky Derby.

00:24:01So on that basis, and since he's left and since there's slim pickings,

00:24:06I will I will draft Saffi Joseph

00:24:10trained Neo Eclos from the C2 Racing Stable and Company.

00:24:15OK. Is anyone baffled by the fact that Pratt

00:24:19really didn't have a live derby mount or an Oaks mount,

00:24:22considering the amount of travel he's done this year?

00:24:25Trying to find one.

00:24:27Like it. I'm just completely blown.

00:24:32Which is why he'll probably win the Kentucky Derby with Baeza, right?

00:24:36Yeah. And that's the way.

00:24:37And that's the way these things typically end.

00:24:40I don't know. We'll see.

00:24:41It completely blows my mind.

00:24:43And I would have picked Baeza as my first choice.

00:24:46Had I known we could pick him.

00:24:47Anyway, moving on,

00:24:50I'm going to pick fondly because Randy's not looking at the PPS.

00:24:55And he mentioned that early on was two for two.

00:24:59That is fondly who's two for two.

00:25:02Yes, it is.

00:25:04So I'm just going to steal his thunder because it's Randy.

00:25:08So I'm going fondly in grand motion.

00:25:10Another horse who's looked really good training over the track.

00:25:13She's short on experience, but long on talent.

00:25:18Thank you for so politely correcting my my serious mistake, Zoe.

00:25:23So now we're down to, you know, these are like

00:25:26the rest of you are down to my twenty six, twenty seven, twenty eight pick.

00:25:30I have Anna's promise as the only horse in my top 20

00:25:35that hasn't been taken yet.

00:25:37And to be honest with you, I don't even really know who she is.

00:25:39I didn't study it that hard,

00:25:42but I'll take her at some point in my life.

00:25:45I'm ranked number 22.

00:25:48So there you go.

00:25:51OK, take charge.

00:25:54Milady's probably not going to make the race,

00:25:58although Kenny McPhee told me this morning that he he's

00:26:0270 percent confident that she's going to make the race.

00:26:05So I guess I'm wrong when in my in my estimation.

00:26:09And he thinks she'll run well if she does make the race.

00:26:11So hell, I took my A's and he may not even run.

00:26:15So let's let's go with the take charge, Milady.

00:26:18OK, so that leaves me.

00:26:22I guess I'm going to have to go with admire Daytona,

00:26:27who's by the wrong.

00:26:29I probably I don't know.

00:26:30And out of a Shackleford, my Shackleford won the greatness.

00:26:34So, yeah, admire Daytona for me.

00:26:39Talk to Kate Hunter from Japan this morning, and he's doing

00:26:42he's doing very well, according to the according to our data.

00:26:46The according to our Japanese liaison.

00:26:50Yeah, he's a pretty good looking.

00:26:55So who else are we going to take off the dumpster dive?

00:26:59How about quick kick for me?

00:27:02And I think there's only one horse left.

00:27:05If I'm not wrong.

00:27:06Who's left in the derby?

00:27:07I believe rendered judgment is the only horse left in either race.

00:27:11Correct me if I'm wrong, someone.

00:27:13Yeah, that's right.

00:27:15So Zoe doesn't get a final pick.

00:27:18Oh, she's going to she's going to win this.

00:27:21She doesn't need a final pick.

00:27:23I say you're taking.

00:27:24You can give a render judgment to be a gentleman.

00:27:27I will do that.

00:27:27I will. She was so nicely correct to me when I was wrong about.

00:27:31All right. Render judgment to Zoe.

00:27:33Yes. There you go, Zoe.

00:27:35Sure. Well, that was fun, guys.

00:27:37I wish you all luck.

00:27:39Randy, I don't think your stable is nearly as bad as you think it is,

00:27:43but it'll come down.

00:27:44It'll be decided by the 45 to one shot that runs second

00:27:48in one of these races or maybe even win.

00:27:51So that's likely what's going to happen.

00:27:54But that was fun, guys.

00:27:55We'll have to maybe tweak the rules a little bit next year.

00:27:58And I think the TDN needs to sponsor this

00:28:02so we can give money away to charity or something like that.

00:28:04So first screw go of this.

00:28:06And we'll hopefully have a bigger and better next year.

00:28:12It is Derby weekend, finally, in the bluegrass.

00:28:16And as always, Kentucky Breads figure to put on a show.

00:28:20After all, Kentucky Breads have won the last eight runnings

00:28:24of the Kentucky Oaks and the last 10 runnings of the Kentucky Derby.

00:28:29This year in the Oaks, 11 of the 14 entrants are Kentucky Breads,

00:28:33including Good Cheer, Quiet Side and La Cara, the top three on the morning line.

00:28:39Then in the Derby, Kentucky Breads are even more dominant.

00:28:4118 of the 20 right now.

00:28:44And Baeza as well on the also eligibles bread in the state of Kentucky,

00:28:48including the top choices, journalism, sovereignty and Sandman.

00:28:53Kentucky Breads, buy them, raise them, race them.

00:28:56We all win.

00:28:59With some of the fullest fields in the country and quality racing year round,

00:29:04there's never been a better time to reap the rewards of breeding

00:29:07and racing in Kentucky.

00:29:10Purse money in Kentucky is at an all time high,

00:29:13as is average purse per race outpacing California, Florida and New York.

00:29:19Kentucky Breads, breed them, raise them, race them.

00:29:24We all win.

00:29:30PA Bread, I think we've built a brand at this point.

00:29:34It's excitement at every step.

00:29:38Roses for Deborah just set a new track record.

00:29:41On average, for the past decade,

00:29:43Pennsylvania paid over 28 million a year in breeders'

00:29:47awards, restricted races and owner bonuses.

00:29:50Plus, PA Bread shine on the world's biggest stage.

00:29:53Just three states have bred more Breeders' Cup winners.

00:29:56Learn more at pabread.com.

00:29:59The TD and Riders Room, also brought to you by our friends at the PHBA,

00:30:03the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association.

00:30:06And congratulations to Smarty Jones on his first ballot selection

00:30:11into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.

00:30:14The only contemporary selection this year for the Hall of Fame.

00:30:17We always knew Smarty Jones was one of a kind.

00:30:20The 2024 Derby and Preakness winner, eight for nine lifetime,

00:30:24earning over 7.6 million dollars and from the Kentucky Derby

00:30:28now to the Hall of Fame, Pennsylvania Breads perform.

00:30:32Meanwhile, keep an eye out for the likely race, Pennsylvania Bread,

00:30:35Simply Joking, my draft pick, one of them for the Kentucky Oaks.

00:30:40That should be a fantastic race.

00:30:42And Simply Joking is in with a big shot.

00:30:44To learn more about racing your own PA Bread, take a look at the 2025

00:30:48Stallion and Boarding Farm Directory online at pabread.com

00:30:52or call 610-444-1050.

00:30:57We welcome in now the Gainesway Guest of the Week,

00:30:59and he's got a special one this week, Steve Kornacki,

00:31:01a man of many skills.

00:31:03He can cover politics.

00:31:04He can cover horse racing.

00:31:05He can cover the NFL.

00:31:07I think he'd cover just about anything.

00:31:09But he is people may not know this, but because you see him on TV

00:31:13with all his work with MSNBC, that he's a horse racing nut, so to speak.

00:31:18Steve, well, first of all, before we get going,

00:31:21I know you're getting on a plane in a few minutes to go to Louisville.

00:31:24Do you have Derby fever yet?

00:31:25I do. Yeah.

00:31:26I just looking at the forecast, I'm flying into some

00:31:30some tough weather, and I'm just hoping Saturday,

00:31:33Saturday can be kind of the island in the middle of this depressing forecast.

00:31:37But otherwise, oh, who doesn't the first week of May?

00:31:41I think we've all got a little bit of Derby fever going on,

00:31:43but I want to know where this love for horse racing came from.

00:31:47I mean, well, have you been a fanatic for years?

00:31:49Did you grow up riding ponies as a kid?

00:31:52How did it start?

00:31:54Yeah, I mean, I think it's a story for a lot of people, right,

00:31:57where I had a I had a relative, an uncle in my case,

00:32:01who would take me, you know, when I was a kid, take me to the track

00:32:05who was really into it and kind of caught the bug from him.

00:32:08You know, he was he was up in still is, you know, runs a beach store

00:32:13in southern Maine.

00:32:13So we'd go up there in the summer.

00:32:15Scarborough Downs was the local track.

00:32:17You know, it was the it was harness racing.

00:32:20It was the Trotters.

00:32:21But a lot of good a lot of good memories there.

00:32:24And then just kind of kind of took it from there.

00:32:26And here we are.

00:32:27Have you been on a horse?

00:32:29I think there was a birthday party when I was in elementary school

00:32:32and I might have been on a pony, although we're we're doing a piece

00:32:35for for NBC this week to air during the derby where I might get on one.

00:32:39So we'll I'm afraid I'll make the horse nervous. I don't know.

00:32:44So, Steve, what do you have?

00:32:46I'm sure by now you've been working on this probably for several weeks.

00:32:49And you know what?

00:32:51People who haven't watched you on MSNBC don't maybe not know is you're

00:32:55just for not do a phenomenal job of explaining things

00:32:58through numbers and trends and patterns.

00:33:01And you've taken that and transition that to horse racing.

00:33:05What are you looking at?

00:33:06Have you have anything cooked up yet?

00:33:08You're going to be able to say that, you know, so-and-so horse

00:33:10is not a good bet because blank, blank, blank.

00:33:14Yeah, I mean, one of the things we're, you know, we're looking at this is

00:33:18we're hardly alone in this, I'm sure, is the pace scenario in the race.

00:33:22And I think taking it from the angle that, you know, there was that that sense

00:33:26after they introduced the point system, you know, back in 13 that,

00:33:30oh, the sprinters are out of it now and it's slowed down

00:33:33and the speed is holding a lot more.

00:33:34And we saw that for for a long time there.

00:33:37And it seems the last three years, obviously, that's changed.

00:33:40You had that torrid pace in 2022 that got rich strike in there.

00:33:44He had mage coming from off.

00:33:46And then last year, you know, Mystic Dan was sort of mid pack.

00:33:49But I mean, right around him in that trifecta, you know, Sierra Leone,

00:33:52forever young, I mean, you had closers coming in there, again,

00:33:56taking advantage of a pace that heated up a little.

00:33:58So that seems to be the mini trend.

00:34:00And then obviously, when you look at the composition of the field this year,

00:34:05you just see speed, speed, speed, especially on the inside.

00:34:08You get East Avenue there.

00:34:10You may be Owen Almighty.

00:34:11You just see so much of it.

00:34:13You know, it's it's almost I was I was doing

00:34:17one of these podcasts yesterday and I found myself in the middle of it,

00:34:20trying to trying to like almost talk myself into being counterintuitive

00:34:24and say somehow the speed doesn't materialize.

00:34:26But obviously, it's all you see on paper.

00:34:29So were you allowed to tell us

00:34:31kind of how you're handicapping this, because you mentioned all the speed.

00:34:35We saw Citizen Bull absolutely blister yesterday, go 45 and change.

00:34:39You know, there's no way he's not going to be part of the pace.

00:34:43Where are you landing, Steve?

00:34:46I haven't landed yet, and I'm torn, to be honest,

00:34:51because, yeah, I mean, I've got a couple of

00:34:56a couple of closer.

00:34:57I'm really interested mainly in the closers.

00:35:00So, you know, a horse like Grande, you know, maybe more mid pack with Grande,

00:35:05but someone coming from off the pace Grande really interests me.

00:35:09I was a little curious about his tastic, maybe to get to get

00:35:13even a little crazier about a chunk of gold, maybe coming from from way off of it.

00:35:17But I can't. This is a gut thing.

00:35:19This is not a numbers thing.

00:35:21But I can't shake the feeling that it's just everybody says pace.

00:35:25All the pace is there on paper.

00:35:27And maybe a couple of them don't break.

00:35:29Great. A couple of them sit off because they're afraid of the pace.

00:35:32And what happens? Bob Baffert, you know, maybe Rodriguez,

00:35:36Mike Smith goes to the front and takes him around.

00:35:38So I'm scared of Rodriguez. I'll tell you that.

00:35:42Steve was announced in the news media just a few weeks ago that you're staying

00:35:46within the NBC family, but you're not going to be a regular on MSNBC anymore.

00:35:50Instead, you're going to work for the network news and NBC Sports.

00:35:54So it sounds like a nice promotion.

00:35:56Congratulations.

00:35:58But how would this affect your horse racing and NFL coverage?

00:36:02We'll give you more time to do these things.

00:36:04Could you know, they've been sending you to the Derby and I believe the Breeders Cup.

00:36:07But could could we see more of you on NBC's

00:36:13racing broadcasts going forward?

00:36:15I'm not not sure about that.

00:36:17I will say this week, the way it just kind of worked out for a variety of reasons.

00:36:20I'm getting you know, I'm getting to go down earlier.

00:36:24And I think just, you know, I was actually down last week, too,

00:36:27to to start taping something for our for our Derby coverage.

00:36:31And it was I mean, in the past, I've gotten down there, you know,

00:36:34basically 48 hours out and getting a chance to go early,

00:36:38you know, go to the backside, you know, early in the morning,

00:36:41you know, talk to some of the trainers, see the workouts.

00:36:43It's a great perspective I haven't had before.

00:36:45And especially being there last week, you know, before the crowds really got there.

00:36:50You know, I think I got some real insight that I wouldn't have been able to get before.

00:36:54So certainly, you know, it's given me more prep time here.

00:36:58You know, obviously, in terms of more racing, you know, be great if NBC

00:37:02could pick up the third leg of that triple crown again.

00:37:05Unfortunately, we lost that a couple of years ago,

00:37:07but they got me doing the first two legs of it.

00:37:09They got me doing Royal Ascot.

00:37:10That's always a treat.

00:37:12You know, we'll have Breeders' Cup and even got to crash the Pegasus in in January.

00:37:17Bring my family, bring my family on, including the uncle who got me into it.

00:37:20So that's pretty cool.

00:37:22Now, on election nights, will you do the same thing

00:37:25you've been doing on MSNBC for NBC?

00:37:30That's exactly right.

00:37:31How was your Royal Ascot experience?

00:37:35I love it. I tell anybody, I mean, it's like the Derby.

00:37:39You don't have to be a horse racing fan to go over there

00:37:41and just have a great time and just take in the scene.

00:37:43But I will tell you like and this is this is this is

00:37:46there's a bit of bragging here, but it's also like I'm mystified by this.

00:37:50So I tell people about it.

00:37:52The betting over there is obviously it's different.

00:37:55A lot of it's win, essentially win place.

00:37:58They you can do an exact and a try, you know, first two, first three.

00:38:04But they were like, you know, they were baffled at the betting windows

00:38:08when I was putting down, you know, because they've got fields there

00:38:10that are like, you know, 20, 25 horses.

00:38:12So my approach in those is I and I don't know European racing that well.

00:38:16So I will do exact the boxes, try boxes.

00:38:18That's essentially what I do when I go over there.

00:38:20So I'm betting a try box.

00:38:21And the tellers are are like confused what I'm trying to ask for.

00:38:25They do have the bet.

00:38:26There's a bit of a language barrier, I guess, or, you know, whatever.

00:38:29But it's a totally I I I hit the two years in a row.

00:38:35I hit the try.

00:38:36And this is like the dream.

00:38:37This is the dream story.

00:38:38I will I will be telling this one till I die.

00:38:40I go to cash the ticket last year and I shut down the line

00:38:44because they didn't have the it wasn't that it was a good payout,

00:38:48but it wasn't it would not shut down a line in the United States.

00:38:52But they I guess people just don't bet them that much.

00:38:55So I got, you know, I got someone taking video of me.

00:38:57We got it on NBC last year, going up to the teller.

00:39:00And she says, I'm sorry, sir.

00:39:02We're going to have to shut the line down so I can pay you.

00:39:04I said, that's my head.

00:39:07I had doubled in size there.

00:39:09You achieved every horse player's dream.

00:39:16Steve, what kind of handicapper are you?

00:39:18What do you focus on?

00:39:20Not a good one.

00:39:24Always, always hoping to do better.

00:39:26No, I look, you know, I do like speed figures.

00:39:31Yeah, very.

00:39:32You know, I pay a lot of attention to speed figures, you know, to the buyers.

00:39:36It's been really interesting, you know, hearing Randy, you know, talk about those

00:39:40just given his just he does them

00:39:43and, you know, trying to figure out pace scenario in a race.

00:39:45Obviously, we're talking about that here with the Derby.

00:39:48But, you know, trying to figure out, you know, are they going to go fast up front?

00:39:52Is this going to set up a, you know, a closer?

00:39:56And then, you know, just just looking for little angles

00:39:58in terms of like beatable favorites.

00:40:00And, you know, I like playing around with formulator on DRF,

00:40:05you know, looking at like trainer stats and trying to pile a couple of variables

00:40:08on top of each other.

00:40:09See if I can see if I can uncover something there.

00:40:13Steve, you mentioned you'd gone to Churchill already.

00:40:16Are you allowed to say what kind of features that you've shot already?

00:40:20Do you have a favorite person on the backside?

00:40:23Yeah, so we're this is we're I got to go finish it, hopefully.

00:40:28So I hopefully I'm not getting ahead of myself on this one,

00:40:31but I think we're going to have a profile of D.

00:40:33Wayne Lucas to run on Derby Day, you know, getting a you know,

00:40:39obviously talk to him about American Promise this year,

00:40:42but really talking about just he's 89 years old and he's still at it.

00:40:46And he's actually having kind of a renaissance the last few years.

00:40:50You know, I he's somebody I just I admire him.

00:40:54I always I always have.

00:40:56And I tell people who don't follow horse racing much.

00:40:59I just say, think of think of whatever your your big sport was when you were

00:41:02growing up and think of who like the star of that sport was when you're growing up.

00:41:06And that's what for me, following horse racing in like the 90s.

00:41:10That's what Lucas was.

00:41:12I mean, he owned the sport.

00:41:13He owned the Triple Crown series when I really started paying attention to it.

00:41:17And then to watch like, you know, all these other trainers come up,

00:41:20you know, he gets surpassed.

00:41:22Baffert comes up, Pletcher, his assist, you know, all of them come up.

00:41:25And he really kind of fades out of it there in terms of being a big player nationally.

00:41:30But he doesn't quit.

00:41:31And he just keeps getting up, you know, getting to the barn at four in the morning.

00:41:35And so he's winning the Oaks at 86.

00:41:38He's winning the Preakness at 88.

00:41:40And it's just I just I love that story.

00:41:44Are you a fanboy?

00:41:45Yeah, unashamedly.

00:41:47Yeah. So, Steve,

00:41:53I'm going to explain something.

00:41:54I want you to explain something to people.

00:41:56You talk about what kind of handicapper you are, but you left out

00:41:59the most important element in your handicapping.

00:42:02And tell people what.

00:42:04First of all, there are no 13 horses in the derby this year.

00:42:09No, there is. There is.

00:42:11Publishers are 13. Oh, my goodness.

00:42:13So he's got to be a century.

00:42:14All right. What is this crazy system?

00:42:17And actually, I know because you inform us from time to time when you have big hits.

00:42:21Tell us about that.

00:42:22I think it was a pick for a pick five at Naira.

00:42:24You hit using this and for a huge score.

00:42:27OK, now you got me talking about that.

00:42:29Ask God. Now you're going to ask me about my pick five.

00:42:31This is you know, this is dream stuff.

00:42:33But no, this is this comes from the uncle I was talking about there.

00:42:37You know, a minute ago, he he got this from a guy

00:42:41who was a jockey's agent at Suffolk Downs in Boston.

00:42:44Back in the 1960s.

00:42:46And the guy told my uncle, it's simple.

00:42:48You just take the last three finishes for a horse.

00:42:51You know, seventh place, second place, fourth place.

00:42:54It adds up to 13.

00:42:55That's a 13 horse.

00:42:57And that's the magical number.

00:42:58So bet the horse key, the horse, do whatever you will with it.

00:43:01So that was, you know, when my uncle started taking me as a kid,

00:43:05he would give me the form and that was my job.

00:43:07It was just find the thirteens and circle them.

00:43:09And that was the thing he could tell my mom,

00:43:11you know, because she got a little little upset that he was taking me.

00:43:15He said, well, he's learning math.

00:43:17Yes, that was how he did it.

00:43:18And then the story all comes around like my uncle with the 13 system.

00:43:22And the other thing he hates, he hates favorites.

00:43:24He's always giving you a hard time if you bet the chalk.

00:43:26So we're at the Pegasus this January down in Florida.

00:43:30And they they put me out with my family.

00:43:32He's there with me.

00:43:33Just make a pick for the turf race.

00:43:34It was a fun little thing.

00:43:35And there was a 13 in the turf race, the Pegasus turf.

00:43:39It was nation's pride.

00:43:40He was a 13 and he was also like seven to five.

00:43:42So my uncle actually on the air, they asked who he liked.

00:43:45And he said the 13 horse nation's pride.

00:43:48And we haven't stopped.

00:43:49We'll never stop giving him grief for this, because we tell him now

00:43:52you had one chance in your entire life to make a pick on national television.

00:43:56And you went with the chalk and the chalk lost.

00:43:59Well, welcome, Randy Moss.

00:44:01I'm sure you have some questions for your colleague.

00:44:03Randy was there.

00:44:05How's it going, guys? Good.

00:44:07Obviously, on the on the backstretch at Churchill Lounge, I was

00:44:12we were actually sitting in Chad Brown's office when the podcast began.

00:44:15My apologies, Jerry Bailey's chauffeur, but he's absent right now.

00:44:20What's that?

00:44:21I said he could have joined us, too.

00:44:23We could have had a party.

00:44:25Yeah, no kidding.

00:44:26I'll tell you this.

00:44:27I wanted to make sure I came on in time for Steve.

00:44:31The single one of the single best things NBC has ever done

00:44:34in their horse race coverage is is bring Steve Kornacki on with his

00:44:39his enthusiasm for the sport and his knowledge of the sport.

00:44:42It obviously, as you can tell, he's not just some, you know,

00:44:46it's political junkie that has a small interest in horse racing. He's

00:44:51he he probably knows as much about horse racing as he does about polling and

00:44:55politics. So that makes it awesome.

00:44:58You're you're making my head big here, Randy, although I got to tell you,

00:45:02I'll tell everybody this you might remember.

00:45:04So again, this was at the Pegasus this January.

00:45:07You know, my family's down there.

00:45:08So after the after the race, White Abario wins and Randy walks past us

00:45:12and we just start talking and my uncle starts saying, wow,

00:45:16that was that was really impressive.

00:45:17You know, gee, I'm trying to figure out

00:45:19what do you think the buyer is going to be for that?

00:45:21And I said to him, you know, he makes the buyers.

00:45:24It blew my uncle's mind.

00:45:28I mean, there was a lot of talk about Spirit of St.

00:45:30Louis as well, because I loved him and you guys were all over him.

00:45:35There was a big celebration.

00:45:37And where were you on the rail when that happened?

00:45:39What's Randy like to work with?

00:45:41But you don't actually have to sit together.

00:45:43I get to watch the show.

00:45:45That's the thing where I'm at the betting window with with Edzo and Mappernier.

00:45:49And then we get to we get to watch the show.

00:45:51And I get to I'm sitting there trying to, you know, put picks together to go bet.

00:45:55And then I hear what Randy say on the set and I say, oh, no,

00:45:58I got it all wrong again.

00:45:59Oh, if you asked him about Wayne Lucas yet.

00:46:03Yeah, I was telling him we're that's hopefully

00:46:08we'll finish that up this week and get it on.

00:46:09This is like, yeah, Randy took me over.

00:46:11In fact, I met Wayne last year right before the Preakness.

00:46:15Randy and Jerry took me over and, you know, half an hour.

00:46:19He just kind of held court with us, told stories,

00:46:22unbelievably sharp recall.

00:46:24And I remember leaving.

00:46:26You know, he had just deal.

00:46:27He had seized the gray.

00:46:28And neither one obviously was that highly regarded.

00:46:30And as I asked him, you know, yeah, what do you think?

00:46:32And he said, you know, I actually kind of like the gray one.

00:46:37Fabulous. Wait, Jerry and I had talked to Wayne earlier that morning

00:46:42and we didn't we were worried.

00:46:45We didn't think he was doing all that well.

00:46:46He didn't seem to be that sharp.

00:46:48He didn't really seem to be in a very good mood.

00:46:50And we were going to bring Steve over to talk to him like in an hour.

00:46:54And so Jerry and I were like, oh, my gosh, you know, I hope this is going to go.

00:46:58OK, and all.

00:46:59And we brought Steve over and Steve sat down next to Wayne

00:47:02in folding chairs right outside of his tech room.

00:47:05And Wayne just lit up.

00:47:07And and Wayne and Steve had they walked down memory lane

00:47:12going way back and Wayne was just loving it.

00:47:15He was he was so into it and so engaged

00:47:19and so fascinated to talk to Steve.

00:47:21And that was that was fantastic morning for everybody.

00:47:24Very cool. All right.

00:47:25Well, Steve Kornacki is great having you on for a few minutes here.

00:47:29I'm going to look forward to your coverage on NBC on Saturday,

00:47:33along with Randy Moss and Jerry Bailey.

00:47:35And I'm not just saying this because you two guys are on here.

00:47:39You guys do an unbelievably good job with these broadcasts.

00:47:42It's so professional and you guys are so knowledgeable.

00:47:45But Steve, enjoy all your things you do on TV.

00:47:48I guess I'll be watching you more on NBC News now instead of NMSNBC.

00:47:53Congratulations on the promotion and have a great derby day.

00:47:56Hey, thank you.

00:47:57Really happy to be on and happy to be part of the ride with NBC and Randy.

00:48:01I'll see you down in Louisville.

00:48:03Yeah, I'll see you soon at some of those two hour production meetings.

00:48:05Yeah, here we go.

00:48:08Our guest of the week, my man, Steve Kornacki brought to you

00:48:11courtesy of Gainesway, who's wishing the best of luck

00:48:15to flying Mohawk in the Kentucky Derby, as well as the champion

00:48:18Kentucky bred female turf force and multiple grade one winner.

00:48:22She feels pretty.

00:48:24Who looks like a solid favorite in the modesty on Oaks Day,

00:48:27both flying Mohawk and she feels pretty are by the Gainesway Sire.

00:48:31Cara Conte, a multiple group winner, a two French classic

00:48:35and Breeders' Cup mile winner as a three year old.

00:48:38Where Cara Conte recorded a 110 buyer speed figure.

00:48:41Cara Conte stands at Gainesway for fifteen thousand dollars.

00:48:46Gainesway power, passion, performance.

00:48:50The sun shines bright on Cara Conte.

00:48:53His first crops of racing age are showing brilliance on the racetrack

00:48:57with a high percentage of stakes winners.

00:48:59His versatility is evidenced by winners on all surfaces across the globe.

00:49:04Spandarella could not have been more impressive.

00:49:06She feels more than pretty.

00:49:08She feels fantastic.

00:49:09It is all she feels pretty.

00:49:13The sun shines bright on this value sire.

00:49:16Cara Conte standing at Gainesway.

00:49:20On this week's edition of First Things First,

00:49:23I stay with the Kentucky Derby and stay with the morning line favorite.

00:49:28In journalism, I caught up with Umbi Rispoli to talk about his travel plans.

00:49:39Umbi, you just won the snake on Jungle Beach.

00:49:41You flew back.

00:49:42Take me through your travel the last couple of days.

00:49:47Uh, yes.

00:49:49Well, pretty simple.

00:49:50Friday after races, I went to the airport.

00:49:55I flew from LAX at 10 o'clock.

00:49:58Landed perfect time, even 10 minutes in advance to Cincinnati.

00:50:02Matt come to pick me up, grab the car, drive to Churchill.

00:50:07Unfortunately, the track wasn't in the condition to work with the horse.

00:50:09So Michael and Aaron, we decided to work with the horse.

00:50:14So I jump right away around and I run to Louisville,

00:50:17grab the other plane to try to make it back for the races here.

00:50:21And once I landed at nine o'clock in Atlanta, everything was beautiful.

00:50:25I was on time, but my first plane went canceled.

00:50:29So then find another plane to come to Burbank, keep delay, delay, delay.

00:50:33And I would land here around 538.

00:50:35So the race was a racy compromise.

00:50:37So I was really upset.

00:50:39I spent five hours and a half in Atlanta.

00:50:41I couldn't eat anything because I was trying to keep my weight anyway.

00:50:45Then I flew back to Louisville.

00:50:47I went to to the shop.

00:50:49I went to buy some clothes because I haven't.

00:50:51I have nothing.

00:50:52So now I made to the draw.

00:50:53Where did Aaron Wellman tell you to go shop?

00:50:56Aaron Wellman asked me to go into Baby Gap to buy some clothes.

00:51:01So he said, no problems.

00:51:03Go to Baby Gap, buy some stuff, come to the draw.

00:51:07So but yeah, at the end of the day, at the end of the day,

00:51:11it was it was good to be there.

00:51:13And it was even good to be to work with the horse this morning.

00:51:16He looked as good as I have ever seen him this morning.

00:51:20Gave me goosebumps watching him.

00:51:23Look, I had a good feeling.

00:51:24Be on top of him.

00:51:25I know then when he works by himself, he's a little bit lazy.

00:51:28So I like to have him like that.

00:51:30You know, it's a kind of horse.

00:51:31He's a presser, but he's very smart.

00:51:32You know, when he has a company around him or a target ahead of him, he knows.

00:51:36But you can see like when when we we get into the track

00:51:39and Marco, the the the the the rider, he's a he's a rider.

00:51:45We are next to each other.

00:51:46We jog to the to the we back up to the wire.

00:51:50He jog, quiet.

00:51:51And you can see as soon as I turn around, he put his head like that on a chest.

00:51:56He knew right away that he was going to work.

00:51:58It's a very smart horse.

00:51:59He's really intelligent.

00:52:01Look, can't be more proud than that.

00:52:02I'm happy then Michael, Aaron and everybody.

00:52:05They were they were happy with the work.

00:52:08Look now, just knock on wood.

00:52:09We keep the finger cross until

00:52:13keep the finger.

00:52:13Thank you, bro.

00:52:14Patrick Valenzuela.

00:52:17Keep a finger cross until next Saturday.

00:52:19Hopefully everything went well.

00:52:21Happy with the draw.

00:52:22Yeah, honestly, honestly, really happy.

00:52:24All concerned how there is a lot of speed on my inside.

00:52:28A couple of other speed on the outside.

00:52:30You know, it's all about to break.

00:52:32Well, you know, keep my finger finger cross.

00:52:35Then, you know, that gates are really tight.

00:52:36He's a big boy.

00:52:37So hopefully he will have a good job of getting out of there.

00:52:41I think of going to the wire is going to be very important

00:52:44to sit myself behind a nice horse and hopefully bring the roses on.

00:52:54Many thanks to Rispoli.

00:52:56And yes, Baby Gap is a real thing.

00:52:59All right.

00:53:00Do want to remind you that not only are they racing at Churchill Downs,

00:53:02but we're also racing at Santa Anita.

00:53:05You can come and watch the Derby and Oaks from Santa Anita.

00:53:08We open the doors on both days at seven thirty a.m.

00:53:12The first race at Churchill will go off at eight a.m.

00:53:15Pacific time.

00:53:16Come and watch and wager on the Kentucky Derby

00:53:19and a plethora of races at the Great Race Place.

00:53:23Well, Derby Week is more than about just the Kentucky Derby and the Kentucky Oaks.

00:53:28There are so many stakes races up and down the cards of these two days.

00:53:31And I got to tell you, there's some really, really fascinating races.

00:53:36You have some big stars coming back off of layoffs.

00:53:38It's going to be a great handicapping riddle.

00:53:40And I think that the both the Friday and Saturday cards

00:53:44don't turn in just for the Derby because you're going to miss a lot.

00:53:47So this one is a grade two.

00:53:49And I picked only grade ones after this.

00:53:51But how can you not talk about the Ali Sheba stakes?

00:53:54Because you have in here fierceness against Lockt,

00:53:59the stable mate, who is also in very good form.

00:54:02So Pletcher's got the big two in here.

00:54:04Lockt coming off a win in the San Anita Handicap by eight and a half lengths.

00:54:08And then fierceness.

00:54:11We know all about him, how well he ran in the Breeders' Cup Classic.

00:54:14I did notice and I know it was 100 years ago.

00:54:17But Lockt did face fierceness in,

00:54:21let's see, in the ninety two thousand and twenty three Breeders' Cup Juvenile

00:54:26beating by six and three quarter lengths.

00:54:28As good as Lockt is, fierceness is the horse that, you know,

00:54:31some people thought actually thought deserved horse of the year

00:54:33because he ran such a gallant race in the Breeders' Cup Classic.

00:54:37He seems to have put that erratic stuff behind him.

00:54:41Hasn't had any problems with that since the Derby of last year.

00:54:44He's just a fabulous horse.

00:54:46I think he's probably the best horse in training.

00:54:48That's all I'll take.

00:54:49I'm in agreement with Bill here.

00:54:51I've watched all the works on all of these and fierceness.

00:54:55Remember how he was just an OK workhorse,

00:54:58kind of looked like a three year old filly just going through the motions

00:55:01with Danny Wright aboard him.

00:55:03His recent works at Palm Beach Downs

00:55:06have been nothing short of unbelievable.

00:55:10Pulling Danny out of the saddle is something I've not seen before.

00:55:14Maybe it's not a good thing, but physically watching him on the track,

00:55:18he looks like he's come back bigger, better, stronger, more focused.

00:55:25And like a real proper horse.

00:55:27So I'm going to go with fierceness.

00:55:29But my God, it's such a hard decision.

00:55:31I do like Locked in here.

00:55:33It is really Todd Pletcher's race to lose because he can kind of choose

00:55:38how these two do their running.

00:55:39Obviously, fierceness will go forward and then Locked can go wherever

00:55:44with Jose Ortiz, but Locked, he looked amazing when he won the Santa Anita Handicap.

00:55:49He's a big horse who covers an awful lot of ground, the son of Gunrunner.

00:55:54Yeah, I think Pletcher runs one, too.

00:55:55I think it's a fierceness, Locked, exact a cold.

00:56:00I mean, the only reason I say that with any confidence

00:56:03is that I think Locked is probably better at distances longer

00:56:07than the mile on the 16th of the Alisheba, the mile and a quarter.

00:56:11Santa Anita Handicap was by far his best race,

00:56:14although he was on the lead turning for home, really.

00:56:16I mean, he made a huge move in there.

00:56:18But what's going to happen in here, I think most wanted is going to go to the lead.

00:56:22Fierceness is going to flip outsiding with Johnny Velasquez and Stalk,

00:56:26and then fierceness is going to get first jump on the field.

00:56:28And so, yeah, I think fierceness is just too good.

00:56:32I don't quite know what to make about the audible.

00:56:36I think I don't want to make too much of it.

00:56:38Fierceness was supposed to run next weekend.

00:56:41And then Mike Rapoli decided kind of at the last minute before entries on Saturday

00:56:45that he wanted to have a horse running on Saturday.

00:56:49And and fierceness was the one.

00:56:51So Todd had to completely kind of reroute

00:56:55fierceness to the Alisheba.

00:56:57But I mean, you know, he was ready to run.

00:56:59He was breezing very well, like Zoe said.

00:57:02The La Troyenne is the seventh race on the Friday card at Churchill.

00:57:07And I mean, from a handicapping standpoint,

00:57:11nothing needs to be said other than Torpedo Anna is going to be one to nine.

00:57:17Going to win in the the goofy payoffs they have with the sense.

00:57:20I think she's going to be like two dollars and 18 cents to win.

00:57:24Something like that.

00:57:25I certainly wouldn't put a pick against her.

00:57:28And the only thing I think you can do is try to figure out

00:57:31who might run second and third for an exact.

00:57:33And I'm pretty high on the two Chad Brown horses.

00:57:37Regency and randomized.

00:57:39Probably the biggest threats for second and third of the two.

00:57:42I like randomized more.

00:57:44She stumbled at the start of the personal ensign back in August

00:57:47and ran pretty poorly.

00:57:49Haven't seen her since then.

00:57:51But the race that I really like was the Ogden Phipps before that,

00:57:54where she ran against a huge stacked field and include idiomatic.

00:57:59And she won that one.

00:58:01And also in that one beat her stable mate ran a raging sea

00:58:06with several links behind her.

00:58:07So I'm going to an extra special pick in here.

00:58:10I'm going to give you not just the winner Torpedo Anna,

00:58:13but I'm going to give you the exact Torpedo Anna over randomized.

00:58:18All right.

00:58:18And I'll give you the exact.

00:58:19And I will take your exact and flip it.

00:58:22Oh, right.

00:58:24I like randomized on top

00:58:27of Torpedo Anna with raging sea in the third spot.

00:58:30So we can make that trifecta.

00:58:32And it's it's even possible. Right.

00:58:34I mean, I'm not saying it's likely, but I would even play a trifecta

00:58:40of randomized raging sea Torpedo Anna in that in that order.

00:58:46I think Torpedo Anna might be vulnerable here

00:58:50coming off a couple of races at Oaklawn Park

00:58:52in which she towered over the competition

00:58:56and didn't really have to dig down.

00:58:58And the numbers weren't all that great because they didn't need

00:59:01to be all that great.

00:59:03And now suddenly she's going to find herself for the first time

00:59:06since the Breeders Cup in a race with, you know, horses that are

00:59:13really, really top quality horses.

00:59:15So at one to nine or one to five or two to five

00:59:20or whatever she's going to be,

00:59:21I think it's worth this time to take a shot against her.

00:59:27We shall find out.

00:59:29The next race we're going to do is the Churchill downstate.

00:59:32Oh, I'm sorry.

00:59:33So, you know, he forgets it was ladies first earlier.

00:59:39And now it's like, ladies, I'm going to go.

00:59:44You're going to win the draft.

00:59:46So, Bill, just, you know.

00:59:49OK, so I was disappointed initially

00:59:52that Cavallari did not make the trip for Bob Baffert.

00:59:56She was originally slated to run in this race.

01:00:00She's been working fine.

01:00:01Bob just didn't feel now was the time to tackle Torpedo Anna.

01:00:05I'm inclined to disagree with him, but it's Bob Baffert.

01:00:09You know, he knows what's best for the horses.

01:00:12I really like the works of Raging Sea and Randomize.

01:00:16They work together for Chad Brown down there at Payson.

01:00:19And I think Raging Sea just got the edge over Randomize.

01:00:23Both of these are coming in off a layoff.

01:00:25Raging Sea just put it to Torpedo Anna in the Breeders' Cup.

01:00:29She can latch on to her again.

01:00:32And like Randy said, I would love nothing more than see

01:00:35Torpedo Anna win on Oaks Day.

01:00:37But I'm going to try and beat her with Pratt and Raging Sea

01:00:42because he's going to latch on and not let her get away from him whatsoever.

01:00:49Very good.

01:00:50So let's move on now to another fascinating race, the Churchill Downstakes.

01:00:54And Zoe, before I give my pick, I need an opinion from you.

01:00:58How has Nysos been working?

01:01:00Oh, how has he been working?

01:01:03He went 124 out of the gate the other day with Hope Road.

01:01:07Who's going to run?

01:01:09Is she running in this race?

01:01:10What number race are we on?

01:01:11I've got to scroll through the entries.

01:01:14It's the eighth race on Saturday.

01:01:17OK, the eighth. I'm getting to it.

01:01:22Yeah, he worked like an absolute beast out of the gate.

01:01:27I mean, it's not often that you see horses work in 124 out of the gate.

01:01:32So I'm sticking with Nysos.

01:01:33It's been a long time in the making to get him back to the track.

01:01:38He had a really nice breeze there at Churchill Downs, not 45 and change

01:01:41like Citizen Bull, but a nice 48 and four, a leg stretcher.

01:01:46You're getting Pratt.

01:01:47He's undefeated, but would not put him on the plane

01:01:51if he did not think he was in tip top shape.

01:01:55So Nysos for me, four to one, if you can get it, not going to happen.

01:02:00Oh, we shall see.

01:02:03I know poor Bookham Dano, he's in real, real tough here.

01:02:08My my favorite horse, I got a T-shirt for him, too, by the way.

01:02:11So if he wins, I have to wear my Bookham Dano T-shirt next week.

01:02:14But now he's this is just he's a very good horse, but he just in too tough.

01:02:19There's some absolute killers in this race.

01:02:21OK, my pick will be mind frame.

01:02:24And part of it is, Zoe, I don't quite trust Nysos.

01:02:28He's four years old, making only his fourth lifetime start.

01:02:31Hasn't run in a year and three months.

01:02:34As good as Baffert is to have those

01:02:38obstacles in front of him.

01:02:39Can the horse really overcome all that in a normal situation?

01:02:44Yes, especially a Baffert horse.

01:02:46But in a stakes race this tough with this many horses,

01:02:49I'll take my hat off to him if he wins this race.

01:02:51He is a superstar.

01:02:53Let's hope you can just stay healthy.

01:02:54So if it's not him, it's my pick is mind frame for Pletcher and Ripoli.

01:02:59He didn't really impress me very much in the Gulfstream Park mile.

01:03:02I was kind of a just kind of a pedestrian win.

01:03:06But you look back at what he did last year, running second in the Haskell

01:03:09and Belmont, but ran in the Belmont his third lifetime start and ran second.

01:03:14I think he can move up off the Gulfstream Park mile.

01:03:17And I think he is the one to beat.

01:03:20All right, look, Ed, in my opinion,

01:03:24given what we've seen so far from Nysos and the reputation that Nysos has,

01:03:29I think Bob, as in Bob Baffert is

01:03:34going to be is is has been extremely cautious

01:03:39about when and where he runs Nysos back.

01:03:43And the fact that he has chosen this spot to ship Nysos

01:03:46to run him on Kentucky Derby Day

01:03:49in a race with this many good horses and he knew this was going to be

01:03:53a loaded field.

01:03:54I think that's an extreme show of confidence for Baffert.

01:03:58He could have looked for an easy allowance race,

01:04:00try to sneak him in on Derby Day or Oaks Day or whatever.

01:04:05Do like he did with Cornucopian and, you know, take him to New York

01:04:08and try to sneak him in a race somewhere else.

01:04:10No, he chose this spot.

01:04:12And I think he's definitely the worst to beat.

01:04:15And that's who I'm going to take.

01:04:16The horse that I think he's got to fear the most is Mulligan.

01:04:20Who breaks from the far outside,

01:04:23Rudy Brissette, hasn't run since the Cigar Mile,

01:04:25where he was second behind Locke, beating just a length and a half.

01:04:28Didn't have the best trip really in the Breeders' Cup.

01:04:32I don't think he's really a six furlong kind of horse.

01:04:35I think seven furlongs is better for Mulligan.

01:04:39And he gets seven furlongs here.

01:04:41So I think it comes down to Nysos and Mulligan and banishing.

01:04:46There's my there's my trifecta right there.

01:04:49All right.

01:04:49I'll move on to the 10th race, which is the Derby City Distaff.

01:04:54And, you know, Randy, I'll pose this to you.

01:04:57First, I don't know what to do with Copian.

01:05:00That that race in the Santa Monica 110 buyer figure

01:05:04kind of came out of the middle of nowhere, though.

01:05:06She did run a 97 in her prior start.

01:05:10You know, I just think that she's got to regress off that

01:05:14or that that number is a little bit of an aberration

01:05:18because she just never showed that kind of ability before.

01:05:20No, we're close to her.

01:05:21But if she runs back to that and Hope Road is in this race,

01:05:24Hope Road is in Zoe.

01:05:25If she runs back to that, she's going to win.

01:05:28She's going to win.

01:05:29But I want to I'll believe it when I see it.

01:05:33So I'm going to go with Chad and Ways and Means in here.

01:05:37Horse has been pretty consistent, didn't run great in the Breeders' Cup

01:05:41Philly and Mayor Sprint, but has a nice 58 and four workout at Churchill

01:05:45on April 26th, which is just a couple of days ago.

01:05:49And the Flavin Pratt Chad Brown combination.

01:05:52We know how strong that is.

01:05:53The horse has the ability to win.

01:05:55Can't she can't run a 110 buyer and neither can anyone else in this field.

01:06:00So it's either Copian by many lengths or something kind of strange

01:06:04is going to happen here.

01:06:06I love horses that run too fast.

01:06:09In this particular case, I think Copian can run six or seven points

01:06:14on the buyer scale slower than Sheriana Santa Monica and still win.

01:06:18And this is for my money, this is the best, deepest, strongest

01:06:25undercard stakes race of the two days.

01:06:29I would put the Churchill downstate second.

01:06:31So I think the two seven furlong races for older males and older females

01:06:35are just came up gangbusters.

01:06:38And still, I think Copian is a deserving favorite in your eight to one

01:06:44in the program line is a fantasy.

01:06:46She's eight to one in the line.

01:06:48Yes.

01:06:49Yes.

01:06:49I think you're looking at more like eight to five than eight to one.

01:06:52Eight to five might be a little short given this field.

01:06:56But no, Copian to me is is the real deal.

01:06:59So I will take her.

01:07:01She had a little training interruption, Zoe, in February.

01:07:04After the Santa Monica.

01:07:06So that's why she hasn't run since then.

01:07:08But she's training well.

01:07:11Yeah, she's training very, very well indeed.

01:07:13In fact, Jessica Pfeiffer, who works with us, Santa Anita, she actually took off

01:07:17Sunday because she's gone there specifically to get on Copian for Dick Mandela.

01:07:22She rides her every day and she says that she can be a little bit high strung,

01:07:27perhaps a little dingy.

01:07:28So Dick wanted her there.

01:07:30So I'm with you.

01:07:31I like her.

01:07:32But why is nobody pick Vava?

01:07:35She's four for four at Churchill Downs.

01:07:38She's coming off a layoff.

01:07:39Yes, she flopped in the Breeders Cup, but she loves Churchill Downs.

01:07:43She loves the distance.

01:07:45She won the race last year.

01:07:46She's a grade one winner.

01:07:48She's six to one in the morning line.

01:07:50Give me Vava all day long.

01:07:53Why don't you pick her then?

01:07:55I don't know.

01:07:56I don't know.

01:07:57I don't know.

01:07:58I don't know.

01:07:59I don't know.

01:08:00I am.

01:08:02Yeah, you are.

01:08:02I thought you were sticking with Copion.

01:08:05No, no, no, no.

01:08:06I'm going to go with Vava over Copion.

01:08:08It's a lot for Copion to handle.

01:08:11All right.

01:08:12This is as good, if not better of a race.

01:08:15This this race is the Breeders Cup.

01:08:17Philly Mayor Spratt, except maybe better.

01:08:20All right, folks, let's move on to the race before the Derby,

01:08:23and it is the Turf Classic grade one million dollars.

01:08:28I really like a horse in here and our friends at West Point Stable,

01:08:30I think will be thrilled to know that I picked integration.

01:08:35I hated him in the Maker's Mark mile for a couple of reasons,

01:08:40one of which I thought the race was way too short for him.

01:08:43I shouldn't say I hated him, but he had been doing so well

01:08:46at a mile and a half mile and three eighths.

01:08:49All of a sudden he shows up in a one mile race.

01:08:52I knew there wasn't going to be much pace in there.

01:08:54And he had to be Carl Spackler, who's an awfully, awfully good horse.

01:08:59He ran and he ran really well in here to finish second with the Torea board.

01:09:04I'm fine with the rail draw.

01:09:06And I think that extra eighth of a mile is going to make all the distance.

01:09:10He should be much better at a mile and a half than at a mile.

01:09:15He he he over exceeded last time out.

01:09:18Let's put it that way.

01:09:21Ladies first.

01:09:24Oh, thank you.

01:09:25I don't really have a massive opinion in this race.

01:09:28This is a very good betting race for the fact that there's not an overwhelming

01:09:32favorite, in my opinion.

01:09:34So I'm going to go with running B.

01:09:36He kind of had his gimme race at Tampa in the Tampa Bay Stakes.

01:09:39All of a sudden I got flies buzzing around me in here.

01:09:43So I don't know where they've come from.

01:09:46I'm in the middle of the desert.

01:09:48There shouldn't be any flies anywhere.

01:09:50Anyway, so running B.

01:09:52Calumet from Pratt was a boredom when he won the Tampa Bay.

01:09:55He sees fit to ride him back.

01:09:58And there's no overwhelming favorite unless I'm missing something.

01:10:02I'm going to take the five to one on running B.

01:10:06All right.

01:10:07Well, let's go.

01:10:08I know there are no buzzards circling overhead.

01:10:11You are. There's a

01:10:14not yet.

01:10:17All right. I agree with Bill.

01:10:19I'll take integration, even though this has been

01:10:22the Chad Brown Stakes.

01:10:24I think he won.

01:10:24I think he's won it four years in a row or something like that.

01:10:27It's some crazy, you know,

01:10:30predictable given Chad and his success with older male grasshorses

01:10:35and female grasshorses of any kind, to tell you the truth.

01:10:38But anyway, I integration's last race

01:10:42against Carl Spackler, the Bill referenced.

01:10:44I didn't quite know what to make of it, whether it was the ride

01:10:48from Frankie to Tori or if it was the horse

01:10:51that took himself off the bridle.

01:10:54But he was right there early, broke extremely well.

01:10:58He was in a great position and then suddenly just completely dropped

01:11:02the bid, dropped six lengths back, and it was a slow pace.

01:11:07And that allowed Carl Spackler to get a huge jump on integration.

01:11:12And there was no way integration was going to overhaul Carl Spackler from behind.

01:11:17But he ran a really good race to re-rally and finish second.

01:11:21So in this spot, even with Chad Brown,

01:11:25I agree with Bill, and I'll take integration.

01:11:28The TDN Writers Room is brought to you by First TV.

01:11:31Grade one stakes winner Sweet as Tecca.

01:11:34Now in the barn of trainer Richard Boulters was out on Saturday morning

01:11:38to post her second workout at the Great Race Place

01:11:41as she continues progressing towards a racing return.

01:11:45She's been off since finishing fourth in the grade three Chillingworth Stakes

01:11:48for trainer Michael McCarthy.

01:11:50Now with Boulters, the Grey worked five furlongs in a minute flat

01:11:54after going four furlongs last Saturday, April 19th in 47 and three.

01:11:59The grade one Beholder Mile victress was spotted back mid-March

01:12:03when she resurfaced at San Luis Rey Training Center with a three furlong breeze

01:12:08as she posted her first work since last October.

01:12:11Certainly one to watch, Sweet as Tecca.

01:12:15Be a smarter better with First TV, the best horses.

01:12:24With thousands of exclusive morning workouts.

01:12:31All at your fingertips and delivered right into your inbox.

01:12:36Everything you need to be informed.

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01:13:01Change your life, make new friends and compete at the highest level

01:13:05of thoroughbred racing.

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01:13:12Visit WestPointTV.com.

01:13:16The TD and Riders Room brought to you by West Point Thoroughbreds

01:13:20and is West Point loaded on Kentucky Derby weekend.

01:13:25First of all, Saturday, an epic three hour stretch for West Point.

01:13:29Sandman and the Kentucky Derby integration in the turf classic.

01:13:34Then Carson's run, Vava, all graded stakes winners running within that three hour

01:13:40span in the Derby and in the undercard.

01:13:43Also joining them stakes place to Maui Strong as West Point

01:13:47embarks on one of the biggest days in its history.

01:13:50Of course, Sandman is the cherry on top of the sundae, breaking from post

01:13:5417 in the Kentucky Derby as West Point's eighth Derby starter.

01:13:59Just like in 2017 with Always Dreaming, St.

01:14:02Elias Stable is the co-owner of Sandman as Terry Finley and Vinnie Viola

01:14:06once again are dreaming of Derby roses, this time alongside co-owners

01:14:12D.J. Stable and C.J. Stable.

01:14:27That is a wrap up of everything going on this weekend at Churchill.

01:14:32What do you make of the render your line for who wins the draft contest?

01:14:37Zoe, three to five, me six to five, you two to one, something along those.

01:14:42Three to five, even money and eight to one.

01:14:46Wow. You really don't like your picks.

01:14:49Yeah, I don't like my picks.

01:14:51I usually don't like my fantasy draft in football either, though.

01:14:53So if my ace gets in, you know.

01:14:59Yeah, that would be a big one.

01:15:00Yeah, it was a risky move, but it could really pay off for you.

01:15:03No doubt about it.

01:15:04All right. That's a wrap on this week's show.

01:15:06I want to thank my partners, Randy Moss, Zoe Cabin, our Gainesway

01:15:10guest of the week, Steve Kornacki, and our producers and directors

01:15:14behind the scenes, Sue Finley, Katie Petrunia, Anthony LaRocca and Aliyah LaRocca.

01:15:19Everybody have a great Kentucky.

01:15:20Oh, and Doodle. Hi, Doodle.

01:15:22It's good to see you.

01:15:23Everybody have a great Kentucky Derby weekend.

01:15:26Should be fascinating.

01:15:27We'll see you next week. We'll wrap it all up.

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