California Crown ’24 | Jon Lindo

All. Right welcome in.

It is a September 26th edition of the Horse Racing Happy Hour.

Lou, your beau alongside John Lindo.

How about that little Carlsbad in the house?

How about that? John Lindo joins us from

Southern California, head of the inaugural California Crown.

John, we have wrapped up Del Mar.

I know that makes you sad. Did you have fun at Del Mar this

year? Welcome in.

It's hard not to tell you what if you're not having fun down

there, you're not trying. There it is.

We will be out there in about a month if we haven't, if you

haven't heard us talk about it or we'll be out there of course

for Breeders' Cup. We'll be out there Friday night

at Excalibur Cigar Lounge as well.

If you want to join us for a handicapping seminar.

We'll be hanging out with some friends there.

Some more things to announce with that coming up.

But John, you know, just kind of your letter grade for the meet

at it's it's at Del Bar this year, surprise in the Pacific

Classic, some other really, really good racing getting ahead

of that, that meet that'll start with Breeders' Cup in November.

I'll give it AB Louis for a couple of reasons.

Number one, we we really didn't have a marquee horse for the

Pacific Classic this year. The field sizes were good.

They weren't great, but considering what we've been

dealing with in California with horse population, it's it's as

good as we're going to get out here.

The racing was safe, the weather was beautiful and you know, the

scenery was always good. So all all together it was it

was a good meet. Wherever you are joining us

from, thanks for doing that, whether it's here in Louisville,

where it is, as John has pointed out, quite dark.

I moved a car behind me like it matters.

I don't know why I did that, But yeah, it's very dark.

And we're getting ready for a hurricane.

John, you know, it's funny. I was thinking about this today

because I knew you'd be coming on.

It's amazing what you consider to kind of be normal.

We're just sort of used to these storms coming up from Florida,

coming up from Louisiana, that kind of thing.

And I'm sure you're like, yeah, I don't want to deal with the

hurricane. But at the same time, I'm

thinking, yeah, I don't want to deal with mud slides or fires.

I don't worry about the mud signs or fires, it's the

earthquakes we have to worry about.

Yeah, that's the big one for sure.

There you go. Well, John Lindo joins us at

John Lindo, 60 Thoroughbred LA. Folks, I can't suggest this

enough. You can stream it anywhere.

They're on KLLAKLAA every Saturday, every Sunday.

Go check them out. An hour on Saturday and two on

Sundays. Just a terrific program.

Him, John and friends. That's really how I like to

think about the cast of characters there at Thoroughbred

LA. But we had the Pennsylvania

Derby last week. John, I know you were watching

that. Our friend Jessica Pack

Raquette, who joined me, Andre Bowenco last Friday on the call

for this one. Zach, if you don't mind, go

ahead and pull up the replay of that one and we'll watch.

Seize the Grey, go gate to gate to freaking wire in the

Pennsylvania Derby. Making a big run from mid pack

they go around the far turn sees the Gray has the lead.

Unmatched Wisdom and Stronghold continue to come on the outside.

Uncle Heavy the Pennsylvania bred running a huge race today

sees the Gray has the lead on the outside Stronghold.

Dragoon Guard coming up the rail in the Pennsylvania Derby.

It is anyone's race. It sees the Gray game on the

lead to the outside. Stronghold continues to fight on

Dragoon Guard not getting there. A 16th left to go and sees the

Gray. He's seize the day in the

Pennsylvania Derby. Seize the Greg gets.

Well, there you go, another $1,000,000 race for that horse.

Unbelievable season that he's having.

John. We watch that horse here in the

Pat Day Mile and then as soon as he got out, Lucas was like, hey,

we're going to Baltimore. He wins that thing.

He wins the Pennsylvania Derby as well.

We're talking about horses already raced 9 times this year

and in an era, John, we just don't see horses this often.

I hope he gets a bunch of votes for the Eclipse Award just

because we got to really see this horse a lot.

He did, he got conditions to order in that in the race at

parks, you know, you saw him make the lead and the other

speed didn't go. I don't know why.

And the inside was very good at parks on on last Saturday.

So he rode a kind of a track bias and inside speed bias and

made the lead 6 furlongs and 1:13 and 4:00.

So he was a fresh horse turning from home.

I give credit to Stronghold, the horse from California made a big

looping run, actually stuck his head in front of the 8th bolt.

But he's done that before and kind of flattened out and that's

what he did here. But more power to seize the

great D Wayne Lucas, who is not afraid to run a horse more than

once or twice a year. And he he he benefited from

that. And only 2700 owners in the

winner's circle, so the photographer was pretty happy.

A. Little work there.

That's right. You know, the interesting thing

is, John, we've had two guys who run their horses and one locally

that we talked a lot about here is Kenny Mcpeak.

We talked about running his horses into shape rather than

training them into shape. So we've got to see Torpedo

Anna, for example, many times this year.

Is it? Is it kind of a nice thing that

we've seen these horses that are running so often, winning these

races and I need to run? I forgot my plug one second.

Go ahead and talk. Well, absolutely, I mean, this

is how you become a racing fan. You get a chance to see these

horses go more than once every six or eight weeks if you see

them once a month. And you know, when I was growing

up in the business and learning it, you you saw so and so is

running on Sunday. Let's go out and watch them run.

So you get a little time in there, you get a chance to watch

these horses run time and again and you develop a fan base and

then you look forward to when they're running again.

So it's kind of the old school way and I like it.

I like the fact that that the, you know, these horses know

where these races are on the counter when you one of those

calibers. So there's no reason to dodge it

or take a little time. You can just go ahead and go.

And, you know, Dewayne Lucas has always done this.

He's not afraid to put a horse on a plane either.

So it's, it's good for all of us and that the more you see these

and and they maintain the form, the better it is for the

business. I think on the Philly side, we

know it's going to be Thorpedo, and as the guy who's been around

the game for a really long time, how much do you just enjoy a

Philly like that, that you know you're getting an honest effort?

And frankly, she's probably just going to be the best every time

she shows up. Oh, I love it.

I'd love to see those kind of horses.

You had 4-4 guys riding her on Saturday.

They were putting her in a box and trying to keep her locked

in. And then, you know, they they

probably had to pay 4 jock fees but she still got the money.

That's exactly right. She's fun on that side.

All right, John, we have started a silly game on this show called

Blind Rankings. I stole this from other places.

Of course, like every good radio bit, I have stolen this from

someone else. But your job is to go ahead and

rank these three-year olds. And we are using ones that I put

into my column most recently at the Sporting Tribune.

But I based this on Danielman's DRF rankings.

So if you could go ahead and I'm going to give you a horse and

then your job, Zach, the previous screen, that was from

the last time. There we go.

If you could sort of give us your idea of who you think will

fit into these spots, We'll go ahead and do that without

knowing who's coming next. Are you ready?

I am ready. All right, here we go.

We will start with Dornik. I'll put him second.

OK, Dornik, very, very good year so far.

Obviously I think his his breeders have said his last race

will be in the Breeders Cup Classic.

Then off to the breeding shed, but the winner of the Belmont of

course, and after that the Haskell at Monmouth as well.

Your next horse, my friend, is going to be Mystic Dan, the

Derby winner. I'll put him forth just because

we haven't seen him often enough this year.

How much for you, John, do you put into, you know, if you had

an Eclipse award for three-year old?

I actually don't know if you have one or not, but if you had

one for three-year old, would you get, would the Derby give

you a big bump? Or are you looking at overall

resume and including the Derby, you know, as a more, you know,

as an important piece? Or is it, it kind of stands

above, you know, if he never won another race in his three-year

old year, he'd still be in the top five kind of thing.

Well, the Derby's always an important piece like, but you

know, the Eclipse Award is based on what you've done for the

entire year, not for one month of May.

So, you know, and it depends what the competition has done

through the year too. You know, if somebody else moves

forward and continues excellence and keeps improving through the

year, it's, it's something I consider.

All right, now we're going to go to the Pennsylvania Derby

winner. His name is Ceze the Gray.

I think he's got a really interesting resume.

Nine runs this year didn't run until late February.

We get nine runs out of them. Anyway, where would you put Ceze

the Gray in these rankings? Without knowing who the others

are, I'll put him 5th. OK, wow.

It's amazing to me. Can you tell me why I really is

it, do we not value the Preakness now?

Is that what's going on? Is it that the Pennsylvania

Derby field was a certain thing to you winning the Pat Day Mile?

I I think he's a horse that absolutely needs conditions to

order. You know, he won the Preakness

because he made an easy lead. He won the Pennsylvania Derby

because he made an easy lead. When things did not go his way,

you couldn't find him. The Pat de Mile was fantastic.

He may be a better one term mile horse than than anything else.

But there, you know, unfortunately with this, this

group of three deals, you can knock them all a little bit, but

I think he may have a few more holes than some of the others.

If you were in the decision makers for Seize the Gray, not

one of the 2000 owners as you point out, would you run him in

the Breeders Cup Mile or would you try him in the Classic?

Absolutely. The mile I I I agree with.

You, yeah, yeah, I think A2 turn mile for him is absolutely the

way, especially with his running style.

I think if he gets loose on the lead at Del Mar, I think he can,

absolutely. That's it.

Yeah, the way the net track with the short stretch, send him out

of the gate, see how far he'll go.

I think that's totally correct. Sierra Leone is your next horse.

Without knowing who I have left, I'll put him third.

OK, All right. Sierra Leone.

People like him more despite the lack of wins than a, than a

Seize the Gray. What do you like about Sierra

Leone? Is it that he does make his own

trip every time? You know, I, I thought at the

beginning of the year he was the best 3 year old of this crop and

he had had some excuses. A lot of them were self caused.

But you know, you've got to win some of these sometime.

You know, he's, he's, he's danced a lot of dances, but he

just, you know, he's always a bridesmaid, never the bride.

And then you've got to win some races to, to, to be the top of

the group. So the ability's all there.

You know, he might be a better 4 year old if he gets the chance

next year. I just think there's a lot of

maturing there to do. But but the ability is there.

Oh, for sure, I don't. I I've never I've heard a single

person question his his ability or athleticism or any of those

sorts of things. Simply the outcomes of the fact

that he just seems to not want to start races.

It just takes so long for that motor to get going.

Zach, I don't like this because we got to make fun of illman a

couple weeks ago by by I got him to rank justify 5th amongst the

last 10 Derby winners and it made it gave me great, great

pleasure. John Lindo, I want you to

understand that you get fierceness next.

Good job by you. Good job, Good job.

I'm sorry. You get fierceness in the one

line there. How do you feel about that?

I think that's probably where he belongs kind of by default.

You know, he's not a horse I trust.

You know, we've seen him go good and bad, good and bad, good and

bad. But he did step forward in the

traverse and on his best day I I think he is the best 3 year old

in in the nation. He might be the best two turn

horse in general on dirt in the nation on his very best day.

Of course. Lorpito Anna right there with

him in the traverse. How do you feel about your

rankings now that you're looking at them?

I think I'm pretty close. I'll, I'll stay with that, yeah.

OK, very good. All right.

So fierceness, Dornick, Sierra Leone, Mystic Dan and Seize the

Gray. Is there a three-year old that I

did not mention that you would put in the top, maybe a muth or

a domestic product, a forever young, any kind of horse like

that? 22 I would mention Muth

obviously comes back against the older horses this Saturday in

the California Crown. He won the Arkansas Derby.

If he beats older horses, that's something these haven't done.

And the other, how about Raging Torrent?

I mean, he's a horse that beat older horse in the Pad O'Brien.

He's probably going to run in the Breeders Cup Sprint even

though he's qualified a win and you're in in the Breeders Cup

mile. But if he beats older horses

twice in grade one races that that's a pretty good resume

there. You go.

All right, John Lindo, with the West Coast bias in our rankings

this week. Appreciate that very much.

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And John, I wanted to ask you before we get into the

handicapping part of our talk about Santa Anita, Look,

Strata's putting up the money for the purses this weekend.

This is something that they're clearly using.

I, I don't want to use the word gimmick 'cause that's not

correct. But they're using it as a

marketing tool for, you know, for the fall racing at Santa

Anita. It takes a while, John.

And we saw this especially, I think, in a very different way

at Kentucky Downs. Once, you know, things got in,

people started to shoot for those races 'cause they knew the

purses were going to be what they are with this set of races.

I, I asked John Sherver the other day from the LA Times

about this. Do we think this is something

that they're going to keep trying or do you think this is,

hey, we're going to find out how it goes and then and see where

we are next year? You know, I think it's a little

bit of both. I think if they, if they, if

they had their choice, this is what they would want to do.

This is the time of year they would want to do it.

But they've got some obstacles #1 you know, a race at the

California crown to me is always going to be nothing more than a

regional qualifier on the same day.

We've got the Woodward in New York, a mile and eighth of

three-year olds and up and the Churchill Downs, you have the

Lucas Classic 3 year olds up a mile an eighth.

You're you're not going to bring a lot of horses out for this

specific race, even though the purse is higher, because they

can stay home, still, still qualify for the Breeders Cup at

the same distance. So that's one thing they have to

work against. And, you know, you just look at

the timing of this. They put the Pegasus World Cup

in March and and that was kind of a place where they could use

a race like that, but it did cannibalize the Santa Anita

Handicap. So you have to figure out where

you want to go. And I think they'll take a look

at this afterwards. And I don't know if they can

make this race big enough as a stand alone one event, as a

group of races. It's a good day of racing.

You know you're going to have good fields.

Yeah. The thing that really stood out,

John, is, is the trend I think we see generally in California

is not, not a move away from dirt racing, but a real emphasis

on the turf racing. In Southern California

especially, we're seeing huge fields for those types of races

as well. Am I off there?

Do you? Because I think that's actually

something that could stick. And frankly, with Breeders' Cup

being at Del Mar next year, I could see more trainers maybe

shipping for at least the turf races at Santa Anita.

Oh, you're absolutely right. There is an emphasis on turf

racing in California. There probably should be with

all the weather conditions back east and stuff.

It is a selling point to get out here and race where you know

you're going to be fast and firm for the most part.

So they're. Having a turf course, like

that's the thing, Like having a turf course that's nice.

Churchill Downs doesn't. So that's, you know, it's nice

to have one in Santa Anita. Well, they do, but it just

happened and you know, how do you not grow grass in the

Bluegrass State? John, I don't.

I can't. I can't.

I hope no one from Churchill's watching this.

I'm about to get a dirty text, but no, I just like, do we need

to we need to have a turf course here.

Figured out. Let's hope they get it right.

They're trying. I I think they are actually,

yes, yeah, yeah. So I do think there is a, a

potential if they can continue to fund this and keep this

going. You see grand motion shipping

for this, for example. I think there is an opportunity

because I don't, I don't know how much they're going to want

to move the Breeders Cup out of California.

I think there's no interest, mutual interest at least between

Breeders' Cup and Churchill Downs, for example.

I think, you know, Keeneland likes having it, but I don't

know how good of a venue Keeneland is for the Breeders

Cup. San Anita is near perfect for

sure. I think the new Belmont will get

one in the next couple of years for sure, and I think it should

as well. But yeah, just that I think

there's an opportunity, like you said, even if it is a regional

qualifier for some of those turf horses to make that trip out

last. Oh, absolutely.

I, I was hoping we would see more, to be honest with you this

week. And we have a few, like I say,

Graham motion, Giorosino sent a horse out.

So we've got a few of the guys. But as far as the dirt races, we

didn't get one shipper for the, the California crown.

And it's actually going to be a field of 6 now indispensable,

who's in the race is actually going to run on Sunday in the

Oklahoma Derby. He's already shipped back to

Oklahoma, so he, he will run there.

So we're just dealing with a field of 6 for $1,000,000.

And you know, if, if, if I'm the putting on the race and putting

up the money, I'd be a little disappointed in that.

Yeah, and half of them with one trainer.

His name is Bob Baffert. That's not unusual, frankly, for

most circuits. If you're running a grass race

in New York, four of them are going to be Chad Browns.

This isn't something that's totally unheard of.

But if you're a guy who's running for a claiming purse and

you see the claiming purses go down, you see the maiden special

purses go down, are you kind of looking like, hey, do we really

need 1,000,000 bucks for six horses?

Are you hearing that kind of chatter?

You're a guy who's owned horses. You don't have to mention any

names. But is there chatter like that

going on in Southern California? Yes, there is, you know, and

again, this is out of their pocket.

They're they're, they're, they're making an effort.

So you got to give them credit for that.

And this was decided long before a lot of these purse cuts are

going into effect. But at this upcoming meet that

opens tomorrow, you know, purse on the purse is day in and day

out, they're going to be down about 10%.

So you see that on this side and they're going to hand all this

other money to a Bob Bavard has 50% of the field in in the

California crown. It it makes you wonder a little

bit. And so, yeah, I mean, if, if I

had that money, would I do it a different way?

Maybe. But you know it's not my fault.

Yeah, there you go. All right, well, let's get into

that handicapping John Lindo with us Thoroughbred LA.

Tell everyone when you're actually on the air.

I kind of prefaced it as an hour on Saturdays and two hours on

Sunday. You can see their ad in the

Daily Racing Forum this weekend. How about that?

9:00 to 10:00 AM Pacific and 8:00 to 10:00 AM Pacific on

Sundays. You can listen to us on the

station website AM 830 KLAA in Los Angeles, or on our

Thoroughbred LA website, thoroughbredla.com.

Could not be easier. Go check out the guys out there.

They do a terrific job for sure. Probably I say this about is

anyone listening probably the best regional radio show about

Thurber racing in the country. So there you go.

All right, so John, let's get into it.

The pick 6 begins with race 5. It is the unzip me two races on

the downhill turf course, which I adore over there.

This is essentially the Sprint Oaks. 3 year old Phillies here,

100K and the Kitty here. I think an interesting field for

this one. We get a full field in this.

The motion shipper is in this race that I mentioned earlier

and we'll see her in here. If I can remember her where she

is in the field, she is in the 11 hole.

I wanted to ask you that to begin.

Is there a gate issue at all with the downhill turf course

being in the 11 or is that OK with this with this layout?

Actually, you kind of prefer drawing toward the outside

coming down the hill. The first turn is to the right.

So if you have speed like 2P does though the grand motion

Philly, you can come out of the gate running, you can save

grounder on that first turn and then the whole field kind of

drops down to the normal rail on the inside coming down that that

sweeping turn before they cross the main track onto the stretch.

So it's an advantageous kind of post for her on a tactical

speed. There isn't a ton of early speed

in this race, so she ought to be relatively close.

I like Flavian Pratt getting on her her best race at six

furlongs and when they actually set off the pace a little bit

and let her finish, I think the rider switch is going to help.

Flavian Pratt knows this downhill course as well as

anybody. He's riding in great form.

I think he won at least three races today at Belmont and I I,

I think she's the right filly in here.

You've got a horse coming back making her three-year old debut

and that was dream fire down on the rail.

Yeah, so I was gonna ask you about her.

You know, coming off the layoff, she was one that really caught

fire last year. They frankly started her in a

stakes there at Pleasanton on the dirt.

She makes the move to the turf. It turns out to be a very

fruitful one. She finishes up with the track

of the Breeders Cup. I'd never hold that against a

young horse especially. Do you think this is a good spot

for her to come back? I do.

You know, she's got a lot of speed and she fights.

She'll fight you. Now she's joining you.

Talk about post. She draws on the rail.

From that rail. You better come out running to

establish that position. So her tactics are already

dictated by the post. She's got to come out running.

But in a race without a ton of early speed, she ought to be

able to work her way forward. And if she can just save a

little ground, save a little ground and come running, she's

got a chance in here off the layoff.

If she's as good as she was as a 2 year old, hopefully she's

better growing up a little bit. She's I think she's live in

here, Hickory Berrios, another guy that rides the turf in

California extremely well. So she I think she's a live item

coming back if they go too fast, if these kind of Phillies go

early, you have a couple Phillies that have proven down

the hill, including number six, Zona Verde.

This is a Philly that she's better from off the pace and

she's taking her game to a new level.

Last couple of races have been better and better.

She'll set off the pace. You got the leading rider out

here, Juan Hernandez riding her. You just sit back, let them do

their thing. Fill the motto wins a few turf

races out here in California. So you're in the right barn for

the the course and she's the late threat.

I think those are the three main contenders today in the Unzip

Me. For a horse coming in like a

toopy who's never been on the downhill turf course, other than

saying, hey, I know Flavian Pratt knows the course, hey, she

draws the 11, That's good. Is there a way for you looking

at these shippers who are trying that downhill for the first time

to know if they're going to like it or not or we just kind of

guessing? You have to trust the horsemen,

and Graham Motion has brought a lot of horses to California.

I think he knows what will work and what won't, so I would just

trust him to bring a horse with a who's smart enough or are

mentally capable of handling a different type of turf course.

The next race starts that late pick five.

It will be race 6. It is a made special weight 6

furlong Sprint here. I just wanted to ask you pretty

simply. You can give us your your top

play here I guess. But how do you go about looking

at these state breads? Do you look at it any different?

Are there traders who are better in the state breads?

How do How do you handicap a Cal bread?

Yeah, it's pretty much nuts and bolts to me though.

You're still looking at, you know, work patterns.

These are young horses, so you know who's good with two year

olds, Who do I think is going to move forward?

Things like that and nothing that changes from an open race.

The calibrates to me not quite as deep it feels, but there's a

price source in here I think we ought to look at and that's

number seven. You decide.

This affiliate began her career out in Gulfstream Park of all

places at Cal bred and it looked to me like they basically gave

her a race that a lot of people did that this summer and then

brought their horses to California because of the ship

and win program where you got the shipping stipend and the

purse bonuses. So the the reason for doing that

makes sense. You've got a horse moving to

dirt. She's trained really well on the

dirt since she's got here. She she debuted on on the Tepita

down at Gulfstream Park. I think switching services.

She's got speed and at 15 to one, I think she's live in here.

She'll probably have to beat a horse that's going to be two to

one on the morning line #5 going deep or it's around one time.

It was purchased privately by the Doug O'Neill Barn and she

comes off of work where she went heads up with Lahos who ran.

That was I think second or third in the Pat Day Mile back in May

at Churchill Downs. He's a really nice sprinter.

So the fact that you have a 2 year old Calvert keeping pace

with a three-year old like that, that tell me, tells me there's

ability there. And the other horse in the race

for me, Rizzleberry Rose, comes off a good race at Delmar.

She took a step forward and her second start, you'd like to see

that progression with the two year olds and drawn outside that

she ought to be able to work her trip.

She's got some tactical speed. Rizzleberry Rose the 8 here.

Tiago Pereira gets them out there.

Do you? Does anyone in California know

how Hector Barrios gets his full name in the form?

I know they want him to. There's two Hector barrasses.

There's one in in Pennsylvania and there's one out here.

So Hector wants the middle initial I in the program

whenever possible, just to separate the two.

Got it? All right.

Well, there you go. You ask John Leno questions,

you're going to get answers, people.

You understand me? Hey, by the way, they went back

to the $2.00 Pick 6 at Santa Anita Traditional.

I love the traditional route of that, for sure.

I don't need a jackpot in my life.

I'm I'm good with never having jackpots in my bets.

Do people out there love the $2.00 Pick 6?

Is that what's going on here? No, this is the, I like the

$1.00 pick 6 because if they move it to $2.00, it's not going

to change the bankroll. I have to play it.

I'm just going to have a lot less coverage.

And that's what they're looking for is to get a carry over more,

more than once a meet or I think there were none at this meet

last year with the $1.00 and there was only one or two at at

Delmar the entire summer. So they want to get a jackpot

once in a while because that's kind of what the pick 6 was set

up to do. I understand the move.

So some people will decide to play, some won't and they're

just, they're monitoring. They're they're looking at what

the handle is and and they'll compare it.

If it drops, then they'll adjust it again.

They're trying to find the right niche for that bet.

If they're getting, you know, the numbers that they do say at

a low Sal on a Saturday or Sunday night, something like

that, what do you expect on a day like tomorrow?

What do you think that that pool looks like?

200 grand, 250, something like that.

The pick six, Yes, I'm going to guess so.

Oh, maybe a hundred, 150 somewhere in there.

I don't think it's going to be gigantic because we have all the

the other rolling bits. So yeah, on a on a weekday,

maybe 100, a hundred to 150. They have gone to the

traditional $2.00 pick six there at Santa Anita we get into race

7 starts, the late pick four. It is like two of the all stakes

pick five. There is an all day, or excuse

me, an all stakes pick 5 available as well.

This is the John Henry Turf Classic.

If you don't know who John Henry is, kids go look him up.

An unbelievable horse with an unbelievable story.

I, I, man, I'd love to know. Do they still have that statue

in Arlington? Did they save that?

I hope somebody got it. Anyways, we'll get into this one

though. It is race 7 mile and a quarter

starts on that downhill over the dirt and then get into the main

turf course there 3 and up $750,000.

This starts the three parter of the of the of the California

Crown Series. I love this course, John.

I love that little bit of dirt that you have to run over.

I love the little idiosyncrasies of the different tracks around

the place. I got to ask, man is, is divide

propo or divine popo, as we would say in French?

Is that horse ready for the step up?

He's very alive to me. I like him tomorrow, Louis.

He's the horse that has won two of his first three US starts.

The the middle one the the the other start where he lost.

He had excuses, had a terrible trip.

He'll run all day and he's got some tactical speed.

He's drawn on post #3 tomorrow on Saturday.

So he ought to follow him right behind the speed and just sit

there. Antonio Fresio could just put

him to sleep for the first mile, find a place to run the last

quarter mile, and he'll have to run down his stablemates.

Phil, he trained. He's trained by Phil D'amato,

and he's only got 4 in the race. So, you know, Phil's.

Phil's loaded as usual. He's going to have the favorite

in here #9 Gold Phoenix. You look at the pattern of Gold

Phoenix, he comes off a win in the Delmar Handicap.

Well, he won that race at Delmar last year, came up here for the

John Henry, and he got beat as a favorite.

So there's no guarantee he's going to repeat that for him

once again. And he draws outside and in a

post 9, he's a horse that likes to sit inside and get covered

up. So jockey Calfrae is going to

have his work cut out. They kind of start halfway on

the turn crossing down the the turf cores before they cross the

dirt. He's going to have to figure out

how do I get this horse inside? How do I get him covered up and

then work out a trip. So it's not an ideal draw for

him. He's a he's a good horse and he

does win races and he'll fight you.

But I just think at a low price. He's 72 in the program.

I think he'll go lower. I think maybe he's a horse you

want to try and beat in there. The one shipper we have is Will

and Will Walton. I was saying Big Blue line out

here, but he was running on the dirt back east.

I don't know why they chose this race to try it.

He's going to have to prove it to me.

So I think the locals will probably have the advantage.

And when you're talking about turf stakes, you're looking at

the Phil D'amato, the only non Phil D'amato horse that I I like

a little bit #5 Dicey Mokara. This is a horse that's got more

tactical speed than the the other horse.

He'll be close up, but it's been a while since since he's won.

He'll he likes to run second, third and 4th and it's kind of

frustrating. He's got the ability.

It's, it's, you know, does he want to do it?

Yeah. I wanted to ask you about a

couple other in this field. Is this just looking at it?

Does this feel like the spreadiest of the races in this

sequence? I think the ADD down the hill is

probably going to be yeah, but I I think if you start with Phil

here and you sprinkle in something else and you get on to

the next race. Got it.

I I did want to ask about masterpiece coming in for for

the Dutro barn. Juan Hernandez gets them out

here. So the horse that was close in

that Delmar handicap you just mentioned was in the Eddie Reed

earlier the the Delmar version, if you will, Adam Island and 8th

one win this year. That was frankly, that was an

aqueduct a long time ago. Is that a horse that can get

back to format at San Anita place where he's won before or

has ever won before? Excuse me?

I tried him last time he and he had an absolute perfect trip in

the Del Mar Handicap, absolutely no excuse at all.

And they just ran by him. You know, he's a horse that

he'll, he'll rattle off a couple of wins.

You don't know when he's going to do it, but he'll run a couple

in succession. Then he he won't win for a long

time. And to me, he's kind of in one

of those cycles right now where he's just not winning.

He's got the ability, he's a he's and he's a beautiful horse.

I like to watch him run but I hold grudges as well and he owes

me money from last time so. Yeah, two more I wanted to ask

about. There goes Harvard, gets back to

the turf. Interestingly enough, this horse

actually has two wins and six tries as a on turf as opposed to

two wins and 12 tries on the dirt.

We see this a lot more in California than we do in other

places. Horses switching surfaces

especially, you know, just to just to get a race, frankly.

Is this a horse that could surprise a little bit and

actually pick this one off? You know, he they take the

blinkers off. He was purchased privately

before his last race. And so the connections to me are

kind of fishing around to see what can they do to make him

better. He has ability.

He won the Hollywood Gold Cup at San Anita going a mile and a

quarter on dirt and that's a grade one race.

But it's been a long time between wins for him.

And he's just, he's a horse to me without a style.

I don't know what is the trip that's going to get him a win.

I think he has to be relatively close from post 10.

He probably has to go. But they take the blinkers off,

so that means maybe they're trying to take the speed out of

them. I don't know what they're going

to do, Louis. Baldacoff is on the outside.

Flavian Pratt gets them out. Is that perhaps enough to get

that horse over the top here? He hates the Santa Anita turf.

Hates the Santa Anita turf. Phil d'amato has said it many

times. I always bet him when he ships

across the country. Because the formal reverse.

He likes the Delmar turf, he hates the Santa Anita turf.

I won't touch him. I'll try and beat him.

If he beats me, fine, because I that's just my opinion.

I know that's not what he wants, so I'll just go someplace else.

There you go, 5 for 25 lifetime on the turf is Baldikoff, that

is. That's a hard race for me to

pick out, John, I'll tell you that.

That was not an easy one for me to put together.

The late pick three starts in Race 8.

If you are just catching up on Santa Anita or perhaps just

haven't seen the articles or those sorts of things, New $3

minimum late pick three at San Anita available.

Only 15% on the take out. John, As far as pick threes go,

that lines up with say you know, the turf pick three at Ellis or

or at other places. That's a really playable bet.

I love the reduced take out, especially late in the day.

Guys are trying to make a little score.

You raise the minimum a little bit so they can't spread too

much and there's a chance to make a make a decent hit.

So I I commenced San Anita for that.

They're doing that. They have a late double that's

going to be $5 and these are best that replace those golden

hour bets that were flip flopping between Golden Gate and

Santa Anita. So good for them for doing this

in and reducing that take out and and giving a player a shot

at it. I will say this when they when

they announced that golden gay fields was closing, my first

thought was, Oh no, the golden hour bets that I mean, and

that's that's how much of A degenerate I am, John.

That's just how these things. I respect my.

But that's where my brain went. I'm really happy to see this.

I think this is such a terrific addition to the betting because

I love a pick 3, but man, when I look down and I see like 22% and

I see like 25% of different tracks, it just sucks so much of

it out of me. I'm always playing these for a

buck and a half, 2 1/2 bucks, 3 bucks, whatever.

So it's nice to see that they're going to make everybody play

that way and they're they're at least trying something like

those golden hour bets. Because frankly, John, we saw so

many times that $5 double or that $1.00 pick four, it always

paid a little more than what I expected.

You feel that? Absolutely.

I just don't think that that people can cover all the numbers

like you can on a $0.50 bet. And so that that's what I'm

looking for, a chance, you know, if I can beat a couple of

favorites, I'm going to get paid.

Yeah, it's one of the reasons I love the $1.00 minimum on the

Pick 4 over at Los Isle too, because it just, it forces you

to really zone in instead of just spreading.

I'm gonna go all in two races. No, we're not doing that with a

dollar. You're not you.

Don't have, no. We're supposed to handicap,

right? That's right.

That's right. That's exactly right. 750K in

the till here for this. 1-3 and up again, 6 1/2 on that downhill

turf. Big invasion draws the 11 you

mentioned. That's good on the downhill.

Is he the favorite? He's the three to one morning

line favorite in this race and you know, he snapped back to to

life last time winning the Harvey Pack over at Saratoga.

And he was second in the British Cup Tour Sprint last year at

Santa Anita going 5 furlongs. I think the 6 1/2 is probably

good for him. And the key to this race, Louis,

there's just a ton of speed. You've got the 6 1/2 track

record holder Noble Reflection in this race, but you look at

his form, he is very, very fast. But you when he runs without

Lasix like he has to do on Saturday, he's not the same

horse. So even though he'll move

forward because he likes his turf course, I just think that

last 8th of a mile might get to him and he's going to take

horses like Fast Buck with him and probably Air Force Red.

So I think this race will be won by a stalker or something from

off the pace, and that puts Big Invasion in the race.

There's a Calvert in here that Jeff Siegel, the Morning Light

maker, made seven to two in the program #1 Johnny Padres.

And I thought this horse would be 8 to 1.

He he ran super down in the Green Flash at Del Mar last

night. He was getting to Notorious,

who's going to be one of the favorites in the Breeders Cup

Turf Sprint, and that was going 5/8.

He's won down the hill before. He doesn't have any early speed,

but he gets Umberto recently back who rides him very well.

He gets the right pace and if you can just figure out

someplace to get a clear path in the stretch, he'll come running.

I I want more than seven to two to bend him straight up, but I

definitely have to use him. A big invasion to me is probably

the one to beat. Although, you know, he hadn't

won for a while last time. So does he put that race back

together or does he go and regress a little bit?

I'm not sure about that, but on his on his good day, he's right

there. I'm going to use those two

horses. There's a horse named first

piece coming off of route races. I think he's better down than

than the hill than he is going a mile.

Mike Smith rides him. Well, we talked about noble

reflection. I will probably use him on a

ticket just because if he's 5 in front crossing the dirt, I I

don't want to see that and go, Oh no, you know, this is more of

a, you know, save, save face kind of thing than than really

liking the horse. But he's going to be in front

and even the three-year old King of Gosford for Phil d'amato, you

look at his record, he's run 3 Sprint turf sprints in in the

United States. He's won them all.

So he cuts back from a route race.

I don't know if he's good enough to beat these older horses, but

he hasn't gotten beat sprinting yet.

There's a horse in here in Two Rivers Over whose last race was

in UAE in March for Doug O'Neill.

Interesting spot for this one. Does he have a shot here?

Yeah, I don't know what to do with him.

I I thought he was a better horse on dirt, you know, and I

thought, I kind of thought he was a Miller, but Millers tend

to do well down the hill. I don't know if this is a prep

for something else. I was surprised to see him in

the interest. He's good enough to win it.

I just don't know if he's a fish out of water here or not.

So again, if you're spreading this race, I I wouldn't be, it

wouldn't be a bad idea to throw him in because you don't want to

see him come firing because he's got ability.

It's the classic Doug O'Neill too, right?

This is the one that Doug O'Neill wins and we all go, what

the hell was he thinking? And then it's totally right,

right? You're crazy.

Nice one. Yeah, our guy Steve, who hangs

out with the Show, has texted in Jonny Padres, the pitcher for

the Brooklyn Dodgers. Is that him, John?

That is him. Nick Alexander, the owner

breeder names a lot of horses after ball players and other

athletes and golfers and and then he uses also war heroes

too. So a lot of different names and

it's funny to hear some people pronounce some of these names of

people we know. It's like, that's not him, but

that is Johnny Padres. There you go race 9 is the Cali

crown, the California crown, 1,000,000 bucks here, 3 and up a

mile and an eighth on the dirt course there at Santa Anita.

By the way, a proper stretch at Santa Anita, not that short

weird one. They've got a Del Mar.

I'm just kidding, John. And so we will get a longer

stretch duel between someone. John.

We always play a game with the biggest race of the day, and

this one we're going to play because in Otter of a Crown,

we're going to call it Prince or pauper, OK?

So you're going to tell we're going to go horse by horse here,

all six of them. So this will be a shorter

segment, but we'll go all six of them and you tell me if they've

got a chance to win, if they're a Prince or if they're a bum and

they're a pauper, OK. You got.

It all right so let's go through new gate is in the one This is

the first of the Bob Baffert's three trainees in this race.

Johnny V gets the amount here. 3 for 10.

Lifetime has won twice in sanity before.

Never been worse than second win of the Robert B Lewis.

For example in February, a four year old son of Into Mischief

John. Is he a Prince or a pauper?

He's a pauper. He to me, he's the third best of

the of the three Bob Baffert horses in here.

Yeah, he he's a kind of a horse that's been content to nibble a

little bit lately and he needs absolute perfect conditions to

win. I don't think he gets it

Saturday. OK, All right, so again for

those keeping track at home, Pauper 1, Prince 0.

The second horse is some Sanidor.

This is an interesting one to hear.

The Argentine bred Mike Smith gets the mount for Richard

Mandela. Looked really good last out at

Monmouth under Mike Smith. How about that?

A guy who knows that course really, really well shifts back

to San Anita where he is over three lifetime, but one for one

at this distance. Prince or Pauper here.

You know, this is a hard horse for me.

I think he's a popper. I just don't think he'd beat a

terrific field of Monmouth last time.

He's had some chances here at Santa Anita.

He came out well regarded. I was really surprised that

trainer John Sadler, who brought him from South America, sold him

to Richard Mandela so quickly. It's not the MO of the modus

operandi of the Ronas Racing Group to to give up on a horse

that quickly. So I'm going to guess they know

what they've got or what they didn't have, and I'm going to

make him a popper. Yeah, he looked really good in

the Santa Anita Handicap, right? I mean, it just ran out of time.

Frankly, if he runs, if he runs that race again, he might win on

Saturday. He's got a, he's got a chance.

I agree. Yeah, OK, there you go.

All right. The three is the favorite.

His name is National Treasure, of course, was the winner of the

Preakness in 2023, Comes back. He has since won in the Pegasus

in January and, of course, dominated the Met Mile this

year, a mile and an eighth under Flavian Pratt for Bob Baffert.

Prince or pauper here. He's a Prince.

He's a horse that needs to have the lead.

Once he gets the lead, he'll fight you for it.

He didn't make the lead in his last start.

And that was that he was, you know, when when he didn't get to

the close to the front end after going wire to wire in the mile,

I thought, well, now you know, he's got no chance.

And, and that's kind of what you just throw it out because that's

just him. He should make the lead in this

race. So, and if National Treasure

gets away with the first half mile and he's got a length or

length and 1/2, his heart just swells.

So he'll be tough. And he likes Santa Anita.

He's been here before. And you know, it's Bob Baffert,

Flavi and Pratt. They've won a few of these kind

of races. Just a little bit.

The two of them 30% overall, their last 46 races together.

Katona is the four horse and here Tiago Pereira and Doug

O'Neill. The two of them pretty common,

Pretty common match up here at Santa Anita. 31 tries, 13% over

the last ran 7th in the Pacific class, a second in the San Diego

Handicap before that at a mile and a 16th.

I think a mile and an eighth is about as far as this horse wants

to go. Is he a Prince or a pauper?

I think he's a pauper. He's never beaten these kind of

horses. He's in good form right now, but

I think those those races he comes out of at Del Mar were a

little bit soft as well. These are better horses that

he'll face Saturday than he was facing down there at a distance

that may be stretching him a little bit.

I just think, you know, if he's, if he runs his best race, maybe

he picks up 3rd or 4th, but I don't think he'll win.

OK, all right, two more to go. Muth is in the five our one

three-year old in here. I should check before I said I

think he's a three-year old in here.

Yes. OK, obviously you you mentioned

that Arkansas Derby. I think you can make a case that

that's one of the best runs by a three-year old this year,

frankly about how he dominated the field there.

Underwan Hernandez again this horse is 5 for seven lifetime, 2

second place finishes. Prince or Paul Perard Muth the

bad for training. Absolutely a Prince.

This is the horse you have to watch because the race last

time, the shared belief that he came off the layoff to win at

Delmar was just a prep for this. And I, I love the way he wanted

at Delmar. He galloped out really well.

My notes where he's going to move forward in in a big way off

of this win. He's trained super out of the

race at Santa Anita, his home track.

He's got tactical speed now. He faces older horses for the

first time, so that's a step up. But I, I, we know he'll get the

mile an eighth. He did it in the Arkansas Derby.

It's just a matter of, you know, I don't think Bob Baffert is

going to put National Treasure and Muth head and head.

You know, that's not going to be the case.

So you got to think Muth being outside is just going to stalk

him. Can he run by a, a seasoned

older horse like, like National Treasure?

And if he does, then he goes to the Breeders Cup Classic.

So this is a huge race for Muth. He's a major player for sure.

What do you think the result has to be for him not to go to the

Breeders Cup Classic? I if he looks like he's a tired

horse at the end of this race, you know, if he flattens out the

last eighth of a mile, he if he runs through the wire, he'll be

making through. Start off a layoff next time,

Then I then I think it's worth the go.

All things considered, Baffert, Zadon, all the things, is there

a chance we see Muth as a four year old?

I haven't heard one way or the other.

I, I, I honestly don't know the the fact he's had gaps in his

racing activity. Obviously things haven't gone

perfect. I'd like to see it because I I

think he was the the best old, the best 3 old we had out here

earlier in the year. We never really got a chance to

see it. I hope he can string some races

together now and we can see what he's really made of.

Had Muth run in the Derby, what would you have thought?

You think? He would have been a contender.

I don't know if he would have won it because with racing luck

in a 20 horse field you need that, but he would have been a

contender. Yeah, I think he would have been

part of the the either the pressing crowd or what have you,

and he would have had a a pretty good trip there.

Frankly, I think Juan Hernandez might have even made the trip.

Speaking of trips, Senor Buscador, a horse that's going

to need a trip because he likes to come from off the pace.

Joe Talamo gets them out here. Are you surprised that Joe

Talamo keeps getting them out aboard Senor Buscador before we

call him a Prince or a pauper? No, I, I thought he rode the

horse well down at Delmar in in the Sprint race, the Pat

O'Brien, and that's a sneaky good.

It doesn't look like much on paper, but the he didn't have a

whole lot of pace to chase and he ran well and he galloped out

well. We knew it was a prep for this.

I think he got out of it what he needed to get.

He'll move forward in this spot. Obviously the winner of the

Saudi Cup this year. The horses earned over 12

million in his career I think. A really cool story, frankly.

A son of mine shaft a $10,000 breeding job for the Peacock

family. Talmo gets the them out for

Fincher. Prince of Pauper here.

I'm going to make him a marginal Prince.

He needs some pace to set him up and that's the problem.

We just talked about the pace scenario.

Bob Baffert controls the race on the front end.

I don't see his two horses going head and head.

So are they going to come back? I doubt it.

And so that leaves a lot of work for Senor Buscador over a track.

Traditionally Santa Anita is a track you don't want to be too

far back any at any point in any race.

But I do think he'll run a better race than he did last

time. I think he'll he'll run a good

one. Is it going to be good enough to

beat these horses? If everything goes 100% correct,

he's got a chance to win. Todd Fincher, 26% second off the

layoff, very clearly set this horse up in the paddle.

Brian, just to get his legs back underneath him in that one, as

John mentioned, did run pretty well because frankly, at one

point he was way out of it in place, running in the back of

the field and made some good strides around that one turn

there at Del Mar. Indispensable's not running.

If you had been part of the connections for Indispensable,

would you have run him in this race or would you have shipped

him to Remington? When I see Mutha National

Treasure, I book that flight to Oklahoma and I get him out of

here as quick as I can. There you go.

All right, so that has been Printer Pauper presented by no

one. How about that?

Yeah, there you go. All right, so we'll go to the

last race here. The City of Hope Mile is a grade

2. It's a mile, folks.

How about that? On the turf course there at

Santa Anita. No need for dirt at all.

Du Jour is in here, but I think John, my favorite turf horse

based in North America, his name is Johannes.

He's in this field. Is this Johannes and a bunch of

dudes or is a horse like Dujour alive?

Well, he's he's the man out here.

He's the best turf horse in California.

We talked about that. I think earlier in the year

before he started, I thought he was the best turf force in

California and he's not done nothing to to sway me off of

that. He's won all three starts this

year, including the Eddie Reed last time.

He cuts back for a mile, an eighth.

That's not going to be a problem.

He's he's tactical and he's just a really good turf force that

hasn't had any blips on the screen.

Everything's gone right. He's 4:00 to 5:00 on the program

for a reason. But you know, we have one

shipper in here and that's grand motion's horse, Triceri, a

three-year old facing older horses.

And this horse has been really impressive this year.

You know, the the American turf over there at the at Churchill

Downs. Every time I think they're going

to beat him, he re rallies. He's he's just game and there

isn't a ton of early speed. The only, well, the confirmed

frontrunner I think is number 9 conclude who comes off a win,

you know, in the Delmar Mile and he came back to his best form.

He'll probably be in front to carry tracking him and Johannes

will be looking at those two and and it'll be a tactical race and

I think those are the three. But if Johannes runs this race

again, he'll beat those horses. Johannes Is this his best

distance? Is this what he'll run in the

Breeders Cup? Yeah, he's going to go to the

Breeders Cup mile out of this race.

Jim Yachting's been pointing this.

He's he's had this group of races on for a while and

everything's gone according to plans so far.

Were you impressed with him in a mile and an eighth?

Because I really was. I loved him.

Yeah. I, I thought he was a winner

every step of the way. And, you know, you wonder, will

they run the same in a mile in length that he did a mile.

And he and he finished up the same way.

So we know he's got that run. And, you know, he's a horse,

too. If something goes wrong and he's

further back than he has to be, he'll still finish.

So he is not one-dimensional. He'll make his own trip.

A minute 34 flat was the final time for the Del Mar Mile that

was won by the outside horse and conclude.

Is that repeatable and is that a winning time at Santa Anita?

That'll be right on the cusp. He'll probably, he'll have to

run a better race and he was all out to do that.

He'd be an Almond Eras by a nose, but he's been kind of

working his way into shape all all summer long.

He had a couple of races where they, they were trying to teach

this horse how to rate and they took him back in his first two

starts coming off the layoff, let him finish up a little bit

in the Delmar Mile. OK, let let he's fit now.

Let's go. They put him on the lead and and

they ship loose. And that was a good race for me.

He's a personal friend of mine. Yeah, I hold grudges, but I also

keep pals of mine and, and he was very good to me at Delmar

that day. So he's a he's a fast horse that

on his best day and, and again, he's one of those horses that'll

fight you. You can get to him, but can you

get by him? You know he'll get brave if you

leave him alone. What do you think would help the

most if we're trying to make money on a ticket, beating

Johannes or beating the Bafferts in the California crown?

Beating Johannes I think, cuz I think most tickets will use both

of the Bafferts so I think that'll cover it if one of them

win. But if you can beat Johannes

4:00 to 5:00 on the program, the shortest price in the sequence,

then all of a sudden your, your, your payouts go way up.

Would you rather? Let's assume and This never

happens, but the morning lines hold and the the the morning

line maker gets it right and du jour is 5 to 1 and trickery is 8

to one. Which one would you rather bet?

The value is trickery to me du jour.

He's a horse that's kind of gotten off the path of winning

lately and I I couldn't make an excuse for his last race.

He was just kind of dull. Trickery hasn't run a bad 1 yet

and I've learned to respect him because I think he's beaten me a

couple of times and and they had him and they couldn't get him

and one of those kind of things. So you respect those kind of

horses that that do that? If someone is playing the late

pick three and they asked you, hey, what should I do in this

last race? Is this where you save money and

just use Johannes? It depends on your budget and

what you're trying to do. You know, if you're trying to

slam dunk something, you single Johannes and try and maybe

spread a little bit getting in there to find the price.

You know you can go. I don't think the late pick 3 is

going to pay a bundle because the baffled horses in in in race

9 are kind of eat going to eat that up.

So if you're just going to try and make a a profit, you know,

maybe use Johannes and maybe one other one.

I would use trick rate 8 to one because that would boost that

pay off if I get lucky. He's the horse we don't know out

here where he fits. I think Johannes will beat the

California horses. It's the one that we don't know.

Maybe you use just in case. Well, John, I appreciate it very

much. He's at John Lindo 60 on

Twitter. I will always had wanted to ask

you are there 59 other John Lindos on Twitter?

No, just one sick guy in front of his computer working all the

time. There it is.

All right. Well, he's John Lindo.

He's our Southern California guy.

We appreciate him very much joining us here on the Horse

Racing Happy Hour. And John, here's here's the

problem we got. I'm going to be out there in a

month. You and I were at Santa Anita

two days together last year and didn't see each other.

We need to fix that problem. You understand me?

You know, I, I, I will be out in Las Vegas.

I have to do a seminar on that Friday night after the first

day, but I will be out there. In fact, I might have to do

something on Wednesday out there.

What do you get out here? Thursday early.

OK, so I have to see what I have going on there, but one of my

major sponsors on my radio show is asking to come out and do

some stuff in their studio and when they call you go do it.

So we'll have to play it by here and.

By the way, we're on the Sporting Tribunes, the Twitter

feed here, bunch of people. They're based in Las Vegas

actually. So John is a go to at the South

Point. Make sure that you keep track of

all those things as well, John. Really appreciate it, man.

I'll see you in a month. And enjoyed it and we got to get

together for sure. I'm with you.

Thanks, John, Appreciate you. He's John Lindo, Thoroughbred LA

again, thoroughbredla.com. Go check them out.

Great program every Saturday and Sunday, KLAA out there on the

West Coast if you are any of our subscribers there in Southern

California. So thanks to John for joining

us, of course, here on the horse Racing happy hour.

Zach, you are welcome to jump on screen with me here.

I wanted to tell people we'll have it up on the platform

tomorrow. I'm talking to Tony Kalo.

He calls races at Turfway in Ellis, but when he's not doing

that, he is sitting on the desk at Churchill Downs.

He will join me on Ramon and Co tomorrow at 10:20 Eastern Time

to preview the stakes races this coming Saturday at Churchill

Downs, including the aforementioned Lucas Classic and

some other races as well. Going to be a wet one up here,

Zach. The Akak, What are the great

races? Just because I like to say Akak.

Yep, that I agree with that. I'll give you that one, Louis.

I, I, it reminds me of an AT, at little at at the, is that a Star

Wars reference? Did you just do a Star Wars

thing? That is a Star Wars reference.

Look at me understanding Star Wars references on the fly.

How about that? I, no, it, I, it's one of those

night races and they do the themes every year.

The theme is Oktoberfest. And I talked to Caitlin free

earlier this week and I said, are you doing the lederhosen?

And she, she rightly pointed out it's like $300 to get

laderhosen. Oh, yeah.

And I, I, I mean, you could get the cheap $20 ones off of

Amazon. Come on.

I sided with Caitlin on this one.

She's like, I'm just putting on some flannel and dealing with

the rain. I'm like, that's, that's that's

Oktoberfest. That's good.

Yeah, sure, yeah, sure. You get pulled out on this show,

Caitlin, for you understand me 100%.

I I'm not even lying. I was called.

That's a full call out. Oh man, that's a good stuff.

If you did miss our episode earlier in the week, I had John

Sherman on from the LA Times. Just a preview, all things

happening at Santa Anita right now and leading into the

Breeders Cup there at Del Mar. We'll be out there again that

Friday night, the 1st of November.

John will be in Vegas. We'll be in San Diego at

Excalibur Cigar. If you ever wanted to meet

producer Zach, that's your opportunity.

So that night as well. So make sure you get in on that

Tuesday of Breeders' Cup week. I'm very excited to announce

here at Louisville. We'll be doing a seminar as well

at the BA Colonial that's out next to Iroquois Park.

Go visit my friends in the South Bend of Louisville.

Come on out from 6:00 until 9:00.

My buddy. Yep, of course, my buddy J

Shepherd will be there with his cigars.

And we are about to announce something very, very fun as far

as an ADW sponsor as well. We'll have some giveaways and

different things out there. Please come and buy a beer so

that I don't have to pay for the space.

That's all I'll say. All right, there you go.

He's he's produced through Zach and I'm Louie Rabeau.

Hey, Sherva. I ended this thing in less than

54 minutes. This has been the horse racing

happy hour.