Maryland Million 2024 | Kali Francois, Dan Illman, Jon Piassek

All right, who needs music? Not these folks.

Horse racing. Happy hour from my back porch in

Louisville, KY. My name is Louis Revo.

Thanks for hanging out with us tonight.

Another show about Maryland. I get it, people.

You don't like these, you like illman.

I don't understand that part. But illman's back.

How about that? That's a good part of these

things. But we welcome in friend of the

show Kelly Francois as well. They'll be desk mates this

weekend. And I, I racked my brain on

this. I really don't know who that's

better for. I I don't think it's good for

either of you, to be fair. What do you mean by that?

Certainly. You know exactly what I mean.

Yeah. No, that's all right.

No. No, no, let's talk this out

buddy. Let's no, no.

Don't you be coming for Dan. Whoa, I don't think I was coming

for Dan at all there. How about?

That, yeah, I think it's, I think it's a great team, to be

perfectly honest with you. And I think we're gonna have a

fantastic time for Maryland. Millions celebrating the

horsemen in Maryland, celebrating the breeding

industry in Maryland and it's nice to have a great day with

stakes racing and you don't have to have a Todd Pletcher or a

Chad Brown win everything. We're going to have some of the

local guys and gals on display and that's what I'm looking

forward to, as well as big fields and good betting races.

Louie's Louis is just jealous because his wife.

Won't let him out of the house. His wife won't let him out of

the house. They they draw like a batting

circle for you out there. I'm out of the house.

I'm on the back porch hiding from my family.

Thank you very much. That's right.

How about that? Yeah, that's very different.

So what you're saying is the late pick five will pay more

than the 200 bucks to pay to Keeneland today.

Is that what I'm hearing, Dan? I think there's a very good

chance of it. I, I would hope so with this,

with these fields and these handicappers.

Well, maybe not because people are going to actually be playing

what we're saying. Oh, that is a problem.

I agree with that. Yeah.

There you go, Kelly Francoise on.

We last saw one another, Dan, in the state of Kentucky.

Kelly had a nice time here. I don't know if she was ready

for that. I, I did, you know, I was really

surprised with the how much of A blast I had, especially, you

know, the kicking it off on your show really just like set the

scene and it was, it was a good scene to set.

So well done. Well done to you for that.

Yeah, I Kelly, I thought was gonna big time me Dan.

It was hilarious. We get to she's like, I'll jump

on. We have a production meeting at

11. I know your show ends at 11, so

I'll jump on right before that. We get to like 1054.

Our heart out is 1057. I got nothing.

That very nice woman that I met, you know, via very digital

things isn't there. And then boom, Kelly Francois

shows up. We go a minute over the heart

out and boom, here we are. I'll tell you what, that's

awesome. Her word is her bond, Louis, and

I have to admit, I honestly think she had such a great time

in Kentucky because after going on your show, the expectations

had to be so low that everything was so wonderful after that that

it just made Kentucky seem so great.

So everyone that goes to Kentucky, go on this show first,

be disappointed, and then experience the joy.

The killer part is she hung out with me and then she was like,

oh, Kate and Bradar's over there.

I'm going to go over there. And that's always the thing to

do. Yeah, that's exactly how it

works. No brainer.

It is a no brainer I. Agree, I hadn't met her yet, I

had to go over and say hi. Oh, no, literally, there's no

sarcasm in that last comment. All the rest of it was sarcasm.

That part was not, well, not from Dan, that's not.

Dan's not capable of sarcasm. He's just mean.

But no, you know Katyn. No.

All of us run to Kaden. Don't worry about that.

She's probably man, she's up there.

Dan's very good on Radio. Kaden's exceptional on radio.

She's very, she's very pleasant on radio.

So it works out. She's.

Exceptional in a couple of different ways.

Oh yeah, she also knows her. She knows her bleep as well.

That's right. So it is Maryland million

Saturday, the Jim McKay Maryland million of course, out there in

Maryland. I wanted to get into some

replays first though, because I love to get on these kind of

topics especially, but Dan wanted to get Callie's thoughts

as well. But I was at Keeneland on

Saturday, probably their best day of racing outside of any

Breeders' Cup that they ever have there between the Futurity

and then the, of course, the mile races that they run as

well. Zach, if you could pull up Carl

Spackler winning the mile there in the richest race ever run

there that wasn't a Breeders' Cup race.

I want to ask them if we've got a potential Breeders' Cup winner

of an American turf horse going two turrets against older

horses, Not a common, not a commonality in the Breeders Cup.

But Zach, if you could go ahead and pull up Carl Spackler

getting the lead and keeping the lead there in the mile at

Keeneland to close the stakes card there.

I'll also explain why Dan is totally right about the the

field size is mattering a lot this weekend in Maryland because

something happened be to be betting that should not have

happened based on the the short amount of money that I bet this

weekend. Zach, you got it ready.

I say as I go to a drink and I shouldn't have done that.

All right, So we'll get to that in a second, but I wanted to

essentially ask two questions of the of the two of you.

Which of the American surf horses is most likely to win

their respective race in the Breeders Cup?

Is it Cogburn? Is it Carl Spackler, one that I

know Dan has seen multiple times in person.

And here is Carl Spackler, the stretch of that race, Spirit of

Saint Louis the 3rd. Carl Spackler has the lead.

Carl Spackler in front. And here comes Spirit of Saint

Louis on the outside, running B toward the inside.

The Talk of the Nation Mountain Bears a wide 5th.

And Carl Spackler, it looked for just a moment that they were

bearing down on him. Now he hits another gear.

He's got the lead back out to 3 1/2.

More than Lux is coming stoutly late, but here's The Wire.

Carl. Spackler wins the Cool More Turf

Mile. And thank you very much to Kurt

Becker and the team at Keeneland for that call of the race at the

Augusta National of Horse Racing, which is Keeneland

Racecourse in Lexington, KY. I think Kurt Becker for all of

that, he did a great job. He had the horse right.

That's all the counts of horse racing calling races at least.

Dan, what would you say? What says you?

Do you think it's a Carlos Backler type that can get out

front, stay out front when we're used to Euros trying to close at

the end? Or is it a Cogburn simply

because of the speed? Either Cogburn, simply because

of the speed and the competition.

He's already shown he's dominated this division all year

long. I think if Cogburn just shows up

with his A minus race, he's supposed to win the Breeders Cup

Turf Sprint because we know all of the protagonists.

No one from Europe, I think is really going to come over and

contend their turf sprinters aren't as good as their turf

routers. So bring them over.

I think Cogburn's going to handle them.

I think Carl Spackler is a very good horse.

I'm not sure he's capable of beating the EUR.

If you're supposed to take a horse out of that race, you're

supposed to take the runner up more than looks.

I think now he's the horse. Twice in a row he's been beaten

by Carl Spackler and I think twice in a row he was

compromised by trip and circumstance.

Cherie Devoe has managed him very well.

He's going to be coming into the Breeders Cup, a relatively fresh

horse. Agreed with everything that

Dan's got on top of the fact that, you know, with the way the

race set up for Cogburn at Kentucky Downs, that was that

was truly something. I'm not, I'm not a speed horse

girl. I'm not I'm usually not

impressed by them, but I was greatly impressed by Cogburn and

what he kind of doled out there. You know, the first week of

Kentucky, the speed was holding and that's you know, it's it's

it was due to the track and it was due to the way of the track

configure race of where they had the rail and that was a weekend

where they set the rail back. I do believe.

And I just think Cogburn all the way.

I think with just what we saw with Carl Spackler, they were

coming on close. I think you know, yes, the

European sprinters aren't as strong as the routers, but I

would still be I would still be looking, you know, keeping both

eyes open behind me with them coming down.

I don't count them out as a you know, they're not going to be

able. They're not really going to hold

a candle. But I do think if Cogburn gets

away with it, I mean, gosh, it, it really depends.

Anyway, you're going to know by the time they hit just after

that half mile pole on coming on to the three ace if Cogburn

still anywhere close in front if he's got a hold of the track

like he's a he's a goner from there, I I think.

Karl Spackler will take a three race winning streak into the

Breeders Cup, the Kelso, the four-star Dave and of course the

Coolmore Turf mile there at Keeneland.

Cogburn's taking a 78 race win streak into the Breeders Cup as

well. So that's a an advantage for for

Cogburn. It's just a lot faster and a lot

more races. Kelly, did you did you feel the

math there? 78 races?

No, nothing. OK, that's the race.

See, I don't need to be in my house to get that look for

women. See, that's how it goes the all

right, let's move on to the two year old.

So we had three two year old races to qualify for that

juvenile last weekend. Zach, if we could go to

Keeneland first, we'll watch East Avenue here win the

Clayborne Breeders Futurity 1/4 mile ago.

They're coming to the top of the short stretch and East Avenue

leads it by 5 lengths as they turn for home.

Ferocious second a length and Dapper Moon is third off the

final turn. It is East Avenue working into

the final furlong of the Claiborne Breeders Futurity

maintains A5 length lead back to Ferocious in second.

Dapper Moon is 3rd East Ave. will prove much the best in the

Claiborne Breeders Futurity. Tyler Gaffilio checks over.

We had, we had Brad Cox on my my morning show here at 11:50 in

Louisville last Friday. I asked him about that short

stretch of Keeneland and if he thought it would translate to

the shorter layout stretch at at Del Mar and he said yes.

It is something that he thinks you can kind of correlate

between the shorter stretch of Keeneland and then going to Del

Mar. Callie, when you look at these

two year old races, do you take that kind of stuff into

consideration or do you just look at East Avenue and say wow,

that horse had a lot? Nope, absolutely.

You have to look at what you with, especially with the has

little exposure with these two year olds get they're just at

this point, they're babies that are just trying to repeat.

You're just trying to repeat patterns with them, right?

So track, setup, track dynamic track structure.

That's something that's really, I think going to correlate.

So Brad's obviously he's going to be more spot on than me, but

that's, that's a very nice assessment, I would say.

And I also think running style has something to do with it.

That's one of the reasons I think Chad Brown decided to run

Chancellor Mcpatrick in New York with his one run style going

into a late stretch and chasing some quality speed or a short

stretch and chasing some quality speed horses.

He might have been up against it in the Breeders Futurity and he

might have been up against it anyway because I think this is

an exceptional 2 year old that we saw in the Breeders Futurity.

He's obviously well connected. He's got the pedigree as DAMS

1/2 sister to Cody's Wish. He's got early speed.

He's very professional and handy.

This is a main contender, if not the top contender for the

Breeders Cup Juvenile right now. No disrespect, Chancellor

Mcpatrick. Let's watch Chancellor Mcpatrick

if you do have it, Zach, He wins the champagne in a style that's

going to be difficult as Dan mentioned, out of Del Mar, but

here he is winning at Aqueduct. They're approaching 1/4 mile

left to go. The posted half mile time,

45.593 quarters in one minute, 11 and one.

And the leader is tip top Thomas, but has to deal with

Chancellor Mcpatrick who's rolling down the center of the

racetrack. Tip top Thomas to the inside.

Chancellor Mcpatrick with every shot to run this rival down.

And now Chancellor Mcpatrick is in front.

A 16th left to go was last. Now First and Chancellor

Mcpatrick wins the champagne impressively and punches his

ticket to the what? Go ahead.

Yeah. The first thing that I noticed

about that horse and especially that especially with, you know,

these younger horses, there wasn't when chance when he went

to go pass, he maybe looked at the horse for half a second

before going on and doing his job.

There was absolutely no lollygagging around.

When it comes in these younger horses, it's easy for them to

kind of get lost in the pack. This guy, I love how workmen

like that was in that effort. So there's going to be and you

know, coming from off of the pace, who knows what kind of

potential trouble he's he or you know, traffic he's going to have

to finagle through. That's a horse that you that's a

come from behind horse that you can trust to go through traffic

without being fazed by it. Juvenile winner in last year's

race, came out of the champagne. His name was Fierceness, of

course. Did win this race or didn't win

this race, I should say. Dan, excuse me, but different

conditions last year as well. Very wet track last year at

Aqueduct. Chancellor Mcpatrick, Is this a

horse that can go two turns? Is this one that could pick off

a hot pace in front of him? I think he certainly can.

I think that's what they're hoping for.

You never really know until they try.

But he's bred to get a mile and a 16th.

What I'm concerned about is what Callie said, his running style.

He's going to be going to Southern California with the

tracks are notoriously harder and faster and more conducive to

speed, and he's going to have to pass some very, very talented

runners. Is he a good horse?

Yeah. He's sort of a unique one.

At 100 horse. You rarely see 2 year olds win

race after race after race like this from way out of it.

They're usually very speed, crazy and precocious.

I think Chancellor Mcpatrick obviously has talent.

I think he's going to be over bet because his running style is

so exciting and people like to see the horse that comes from

the clouds. He still has a lot to prove to

me going two turns against a quality horse.

But I do think the horse you ran down Tip Top Thomas is a good

one and that shows chance for Mcpatrick's quality.

Yeah, I agree. I think that was a a very good

field, frankly, in New York for that one.

We head out West for the last of those three races.

It was Citizen Bowl who got it done in the grade one American

Pharaoh for trainer Bob Baffert leads the way by a length over

Getaway Car who's trying his best to close the gap.

Four more Emerald Bay and Mackenzie St. top of the

stretch. Martin Garcia still handwriting

Citizen Bull. They've spurted 3 clear of

Getaway Car followed by Mackenzie St. who picks it up a

bit late coming to the 16th pole and it's Citizen Bull with A3

length lead. Getaway Car did his best but was

second best. Citizen Bull punches his ticket.

It I thought another very impressive run, frankly.

And that's that running style, Dan that we talked about more

the out front stay out front style.

We see this a lot of Baffert 2 turners for sure seem to really

like the extra distance here. Dan is I, I got to assume just,

I don't want to say home field advantage here, but he's going

to have a real shot on that first, I guess the yeah, the

first Friday in November. Certainly does, and he's might

be the third choice as well because I think a lot of money's

coming in on the horses. We saw at Keeneland and at

Aqueduct. That was sort of an oddly run

race. He would have thought Getaway

Car, the speed would have shown the speed in that race.

They didn't. They let this horse get to the

front and the source was able to take them every step of the way.

I'm not sure if the quality of competition that he beat is as

good as the horses that Chancellor Mcpatrick or East

Avenue beat. He's got a lot of things to

prove to me. I think he's coming into his own

at the right time, but I think he has to improve a couple of

lengths to Faith to beat both of those.

We need to see some grit out of this one.

Too easy? He's been having it a bit too

easy. A little too easy, All right.

From Kelly Francois, Johnny P Johnny Piasek Atheroff on

Twitter has joined the show. John, did you?

Did you make much of A citizen bowl dominating the old grade

one American pharaoh? Long long run, a grade one

American pharaoh? Just a long history of winners

there. Yes, definitely.

I would say because pretty much every other good force in the

field was his tailor made. I'm taking that race with with a

little bit of a grain of salt. Don't think he prove too much of

all the voices or at least for all the two year olds.

Race this past weekend. Tip Top Thomas made the best

impression on me. Thought he had a big race on a

pretty hot pace in the champagne.

Thought Chancellor Mcpatrick kind of did what he was supposed

to do given that pace and obviously a very nice horse.

But as Dan said, he'll be over bat in the Breeders Cup Juvenile

and I had to make a juvenile pick Right now it would probably

be Tip Top Thomas. I like that.

There you go. Let's make everyone take a horse

here. I'll just go ahead and be Chalky

and take East Avenue because I saw him in person.

Callie, who do you think you'd lean on here?

You know, I do like that horse and I think the way I think the

transfer that we talked about that.

So yeah, I'm gonna jump on that bandwagon as well.

How? About your day.

I think of those three, I would take East Avenue, but I'm not

willing to give up on Ferocious just yet if he runs back.

I know he was no match for East Avenue at Keeneland, but I just

think this horse is still learning.

He seems to run spots in his races.

He doesn't run on the turns, but he does seem to pick it up a

little bit in the stretch. The light bulbs got to go on,

but the talent is there. He cost a lot of money earlier

this year. His debut was very, very good at

Saratoga. Dan, we lean on you for two year

old races and for maiden races between those preps and the

Breeders Cup. Are you looking for anything in

particular? Shipping patterns, workouts,

anything like that? I think you have to see how

these horses handle the track and it's great that we should

have access to all of these workouts, whether it be on XPTV

or wherever on Twitter. I think you want to see how

these horses handle the track. To me, it's not how fast they

work, but but how they do it. Are they changing leads on cue?

Who they're working with? Are they keeping up?

That? That to me is is the key.

But other than that, I just simply trust the horsemen in

these situations. They know what they're doing,

that they have their routines. They're going to ship out and

get these horses as ready as possible.

We know what we got on the cold dope with these horses right

now. All right.

Well, we will get into the handicapping in just a second.

We'll take you through the last seven races there at Maryland

Million Day at Laurel Park this Saturday.

But first, we want to thank our sponsor of this one.

It is manscape. Use our promo code HORSE RACING.

Get 20% off your order. Free shipping to your house.

If you are a person that no longer needs to visit the Barber

like me, perhaps you just need a little manscaping in your life.

Get that hair cleaned up, make it a fun event in your house.

I let my kids do this one and you know what it actually it's

short so I don't really care. manscape.com promo code horse

race to get in there. 20% off and free shipping to your house.

We head out to the Laurel Park. We'll start with a 6 furlong

Sprint on the dirt there in the Maryland Million.

Lassie, this is a 2 year old race for Phillies, $100,000 in

the Kitty here. This one, according to the

morning line maker should be pretty wide open.

The also eligible 13 great Andre is actually the the favorite in

here. And John, before we go any

further, could you explain how horses qualify for the Maryland

Million? So a Maryland million is not an

event a Maryland breds, it's Maryland sired horses, That is,

horses who are by Stalin who is standing in Maryland in the year

that they were conceived. A horse who's Maryland bred but

not Maryland sired can only draw in if the field drops below 8

Maryland sired entries. It's not very likely here since

we have 12 horses in the main body and Great Andre would need

4 scratches to draw in. You see it sometime early on the

card. In fact, last year we had

Intrepid Daydream, it was Maryland Brett, but not

Maryland. So draw it in the distaff and

she won. So in this kind of race I

wouldn't look too closely at the also eligible.

However, in a race like say the nursery or on the OR in the

ladies earlier on the card, they're worth a closer look.

There you go Dan, with the 13 not getting into the field, who

do you expect to be the post time favorite in this one?

That is a very tough call because there is no stand out in

this race. Callie, who do you think?

That's so you're asking for a morning line.

Who's going to be the morning line?

Well, you guys. You guys can hear because so I'm

going off of my notes on my phone, you guys when I go in and

off, you guys can still hear me, right?

Yeah, of course. You sound great.

Yeah. Great.

So you're, you're asking me who the odds on favorite is going to

be or you're asking my top selection because those are two

different answers. But I will say that, OK.

I wouldn't be surprised if I wouldn't be surprised if Malibu

hooch ends up getting a lot of money down.

My personal top selection is going to be Divine Works for

Trombetta. Let me know if you want me to go

into details about that. But I will say, yeah, I think

Shakara Fire also it's there's a it depends.

It's either going to be the one or the 10 bringing in plenty of

money, I think, in this race. OK, the 10 is Malibu hooch

daughter of a bourbon Courage. And by the way, this is a

handicapping show, so you can go to as much detail as you want.

Kelly, whatever you think is pertinent here for sure.

Tell us why you think Malibu Hooch is Is Malibu Hooch your

top player and why? No, so Malibu hooch is my second

in command, but this one is 1/2 to Malibu moonshine, who of

course won the Maryland juvenile Philly and other stakes going a

bit longer. She got a lot out of her last

race and plus near didn't so she didn't near bullet work just

five days ahead before that previous run.

So she was running to keep up from the gate onwards.

I to me asked just a tick early. This Philly only has so much

turn of foot, but she was resistant to anybody to let

anybody pass her. So that's I think the a lot of

money is going to go that direction just based off of

Malden Moonshine. But I do end up going with the

12 in Divine Works for Mike Trombetta, who just won three

races today on the turf, two of them being with Michael Sanchez,

who rides this one, the dam one second time outgoing to the

lead, not looking back into the dam of the horse is 1/2 to

Catherine Sophia. This one just got so close and

gets the outside post. I think it's going to be a big

help. And in that Saratoga effort lost

out to another Cliche who was tried in the frizzette next out

and just didn't get the trip. So I feel like this one might be

coming in a little bit hot. 2nd starters for Michael Trombetta,

of course, hit at a solid 10% Dan outside post.

Is that prohibitive in six furlongs, Laurel.

Shouldn't be with this horse because I think he's going to

show speed as he did in his debut.

He didn't get off to a good start, but he recovered very

quickly and got close to the pace.

Now there's pace in this race. This guy with the Boss is a

very, very fast horse and he's likely to show a little.

She's likely to show a little speed for Brittany Russell, I

think Malibu, who she's a very dangerous contender.

She showed speed to win her debut with Timonium.

I liked her last race, her first race against winners.

She broke from a very tough outside post position.

She was placed on a hard chase in between horses on the turn

and she stayed on every game lead to finish third.

I think was a good learning experience to show that she does

not need the lead to win. I'm expecting a good performance

out of her. She'll be my top pick. 9:00 to

2:00 with the inclusion of the Also eligible John is Onyx 10,

the four horse here for trader Gary Capuano, who hits at 39%

recently with two year olds. Do you expect that horse to be

part of the equation? I picked her second.

I think she has a big shot. We had some big races at

Capuano's Delaware Pro base over the summer.

Pro combining by 12 lengths in very sharp fashion.

Them in a second to Caprice, who came back to win the Small

wonder Stakes in her Nesto and was second in in in or third

round in the white. Clay Creek the other day at

Delaware, Honest 10 was also in the Small wonder came in fourth.

Kind of kind of progressed that day behind among others.

Beautiful Blown who won the white Clay Creek.

Think she's prime for a bounce back effort here.

Had a good solid workout at at Delaware last Saturday.

That being said, Divine Works is my top pick.

He's a great sign that Trump better brought her to Saratoga

in the 1st place. Because you haven't worked in at

law for a long time. Could easily put her in a

manning race at law or at Colonel Down.

Instead center up there went off as a favorite actually at 2 to

one got hung wide the whole way while another cliche who asked

Kelly noted came back and finished fourth in the because

that saved all the ground and one going away.

I think divine works is very dangerous A long shot.

I kind of like in here is number 3 high in love Milan Milo Sevic

and Forest Boyce. We had a nice race on debut,

showed speed, held second behind Days who came back to win a

boost level allowance off proclaiming race very

impressively last Saturday. Looks like a very promising 2

year old Philly for Brittany Russell versus that scale high

in love. Ran a 69 that day.

Not quite in the range that needs to be to win this one,

however. Second time stars often improved

quite a bit. Had a solid workout since then.

Went 4 furlongs and 50 and 1/5 this this past Friday.

Should be up on the pace and looks like the best value in

this field. Several picks of maidens in this

race, of which there are five out of the 12 entrance.

They're in the Lassie. We move on to race 7.

Cali immediately regretted agreeing to be on this show when

I texted her to say, hey, is there a mandatory payout in the

Pick 6? And that's the kind of stuff

that you get from me who's not willing to look those things up,

but rather just text someone like Kelly Francois she.

Immediately I because I emailed somebody else about it to double

check. So it's fine.

It's totally fine. I take full responsibility for

someone else's responsibility. That's exactly right.

Exactly. I'm I'm fine with that.

I got my answer in 10 minutes. That's are we, let's not worry

about details like that. We got the answer, Louis.

The pick 6 does start race 7. It is the Maryland Million Turf

Milan and 8th on the turf course there.

That's grass for people in Louisville.

If you don't know what that is, a horses run on it sometimes.

It's usually on the interior of the course.

And so that's something you may or may not remember around here.

We haven't had it for a while. And so it's a green thing.

It sits in the anyways, it's a, it's a, it's a like a what,

$125,000 in this one. How about that?

It does start the pick six. I'll go to Dan first here.

This is always a fun race. I love this one.

It always sets up really, really well.

We're getting a nice field of eight in here as well.

Sports editor on the outside, Sky's not falling in the six.

And of course, the, the, the show's favorite horse ever crabs

a beer. How about that?

The three horses in this race have really done well recently

against open stakes competition. One of them is Crabs and Beer,

who ran so big in the dinner party on Preakness weekend.

Of course, that race was run over an extremely boggy turf

course, and he's yet to replicate that form, so I'm kind

of thinking that maybe I'd fade him.

Of the three horses that have been running against stakes

competition, Open Ones, A Sports Senator and Starstruck Notion

are the ones I'll be focusing in on in my multiple race wagers.

I want to start with Starstruck Notion.

I don't think that was an easy trip this horse had last time

out. He didn't break very well.

He was forced 4 wide through the turn and into the stretch and he

tried hard all the way and he just missed third.

I think there's a chance he could get a fair setup in here

and Sports Editor, they really tested him last time out.

They stretched him all the way out to a mile and a half and he

took him down to inside the 8th pole before just giving way.

I think a mile and an eighth is going to hit him right between

the eyes. He has won over the scores going

a mile and an eighth in the past and he doesn't need the lead to

win. Ned Allard's been doing very,

very well recently. Those are the two I'm

concentrating on a sports editor starstruck notion coming in from

Monmouth. Sports editor coming out of

Monmouth as is starstruck notion.

The three here, highest speed figure ever in a mile and a 16th

gets a little bit of added distance on top of that.

Kelly, do you think that's a positive for a starstruck

notion? Yeah, I think it is a positive

for starstruck notion and I think he's going to, you know,

with the way this race kind of sets up, he's he's I think the

he set up, he set himself up in the best way possible to come

out guns blazing, which is what he's going to be needing here.

But he got, as you mentioned, got squeezed out of the break a

little bit last time out. So I think that says a lot about

that. But the win 4 back, that's the

kind of perfect trip he got and he potentially gets that today

with, you know, with the clear speed that's in mind.

So I love how this we've got options with this guy and I feel

like with what he doled out, that's he's got to be respected

in here. That being said, I do go a

different direction. I do end up going with skies not

falling. I'm not gonna lie.

It's more I've been chasing after this horse all year long.

So I'm just I'm hanging. I'm just jumping on my bandwagon

win and I think he's a bit he's potentially a bit zippier than

the inside speed. He did inherit the lead in the

bird Allen and kind of just went with it.

So he liked it. He stayed on that left lead for

a while. I think that was exact.

I it was the confidence that this guy needed.

So depending, you know, it depends what kind of value you

get on him when the when you get, you know, those 90 seconds

before the gate. But as far as sports editor,

it's concerned as well, you know, they actually considered

they considered him for the Colonial Cup and they considered

him for the same distance over at Monmouth or he did.

Sorry, he did. Of course he ran in there.

Silly me. But you know, he's got some

tools in the shed. In the back shed though, you

know, you go back to last year of June.

I just want to discuss this year's June race, though.

He was against tough horses, consistent horses like the

Addison porn, hard spun reason. He just had a bit of a tick of

an early ask in that race. He was tough, he was game.

And you know, before he kind of just left ran out of gas on the

whole timing of the turn of foot.

So definitely crabs and beer. I think he ran better than

what's in the black and white in that effort.

Last time out he came running at the end.

The field was a little bit spread out.

I just think he needs to be placed a little bit more

forwardly. Now having Sheldon Russell on

that. It depends what kind of Sheldon

Russell ride we get, because sometimes Sheldon loves to just

take him back and that's not what this guy needs.

So really it's it really depends what you know, if Carrie kind of

lays down the law in in the paddock there with Sheldon.

But yeah, super interesting race.

You you have to have respect for a lot of them.

It's still may those at least those chapters were in that.

Field Antonio Gallardo's only scheduled mount is Sky's Not

Falling the five on Maryland Million Day.

He'll be in for Presque Isle to ride on that.

Johnny P Go ahead. I think this guy's not falling

on top. He would be the I believe the

first was to win both a Maryland million turf Sprint and a

Maryland million turf if he wins on Saturday.

And he won the turf Sprint back in 2022.

And and that double is something not even even a great Ben's cat

could accomplish. So it wouldn't be neat if this

guy's not falling could pull that off.

And it's certainly in career best form.

As Kelly noted, that was a very sharp win in the boot our last

time out. One point I like who we haven't

talked about is a force who is well known to listeners of the

show because I have have given him out twice on the air.

Both times he could not get settled down.

Both times he did not win. He is on the also available list

however, because he only needs 2 scratches to get in and he's

worth talking about. And that's number 10 Mission

North for Jack Fisher and for sports.

He broke his made in two stars back on this track on June 2nd.

He finally got settled down early and he really showed his

best sell. He won by 5 1/2 lengths.

Ran a career best prisoner figure of 88 that day.

Wish to give You an idea is better than anything Starstruck

Notion has run this year. He's been no better than 86 this

season. Try first level pose and

Aqueduct. That's the time out.

Had a bit of a wide trip, lost by his only one and a quarter

lengths. Since then he's been washed off

the grass twice. He was entered in two grass

races, both of them taken off the grass and he couldn't go.

He's he's on the AE list here. Should get a nice trip just off

the pace on the outside and as long as he's calm off the back

stretch, he should have plenty of punch late and it would be

curious to see if both story struck Notion and Mission North

in this race. Who for his boys picks?

Because she has a lot for Jack Fisher.

There you go, the next race is the Maryland Million Sprint.

It starts the late pick 5. If you are new to bet in

Maryland, we always remind you that 12% take out on those pick

fives. Most playable bet on the East

Coast, frankly, as far as I'm concerned, is the Pick 5 on the

Maryland circuit. This is 6 furlongs for three and

up on the dirt there. 100K in the Kitty here.

Always in a hurry. Sevens 11A Celtic contender.

Lots of names that we get used to.

By the way, I'm very glad that we did not set up a Maryland

drinking game for this show because I think people would

already be passed out. There's just so many.

Names that we. Mentioned so often on this show

that I'm very glad that we didn't set that up yeah OK Kelly

gets it I don't and so on the. Show if that was the case

because I got I home girl, home girl's got to be on the show

tomorrow so. Yes, yes you do Circle P on the

also eligible list. That's what I think.

You have to finish your drink if you hear Circle P Dan Illman,

Where did you land in the million spread?

I didn't land with the horse, so I think it's going to be the

favorite and that's 7's 11. You could argue he's certainly

the horse to beat. There's just a too many moving

parts for 711 for me. This is a horse that's changed

barns a few times and ran in the Vosburgh where he was

overmatched last time out. And sure, he has ability.

I mean he ran second to post time earlier this year here in

the 98 fire speed, figure 2 starts back and if he runs that

race, he's likely going to win. I just wonder what we're going

to get from 7:00 to 11:00. Again, there's just been a lot

going on, layoffs, trainer changes, etcetera.

I'm going to focus on an up and coming 3 year old and Celtic

contender who I think is just very tactical and consistent and

coming off a good prep win last time out.

I think he's going to get a good trip for Hammy Smith and I'm not

sure we've seen his best just yet.

But I do want to focus on always in a Hurry, who I think will

drift a little bit off that 4:00 to 1:00 morning line.

I realized his last race doesn't look very good, but it wasn't a

truly run race. It's a four horse field.

He's a late runner that needs some pace.

He's tracking last in a compact field in a race one and eight to

wire fashion by. If this was a drinking game, get

ready because it's Prince of Jericho always, you know, turned

on. It was his First off a layoff.

This is a race with pace. It'll be a truly run race and

he's going to be running at the end.

So I'll try to fade sevens 11 and make some money in this

pick. He could obviously win if he

does so he'll do it without me and I'll lean on Celtic

contender and always in a hurry. Well, there you go, John.

Who'd you land on? Celtic Canada, also my top pick

as Dan said, he's been in fantastic for him all year.

I really liked his last race, very short 3 length victory.

He actually crossed the wire first four times out of eight

starts on his track. He was taken down in the start

and ask her back in late June. Even though he crossed the wire

first, overplayed harder around a career best 97 that day and in

fact really his his only bad races have come around two turns

and on grass. Take out those stars and and he

he really hasn't set a foot long in his career.

If he runs his race, and there's no reason to believe he won't,

he's very alive. Do you want to know something

about sevens 11? Who I who I'll pick second.

His only bad races this year have come with blinkers.

He had them on 1st off a long line in the defence's dash.

Didn't do much with them there. Had a matrimonium into didn't do

much of that race. Took them off and ran a very

nice race to win over States Place.

Hurricane Jay and feeling boozy who might end up going favor in

the classic. So it was a nice feel and he

beat them easy. Bosberg might have been in over

his head of that spot on a wet track.

All tossed that race out. One voice want to give a shout

out to is #7 Band Camp read by Annette and Daniel Hubeax and

that's been training in Maryland for a million years.

Still looking for her first Maryland Million win.

This guy's won seven times and 10 starts this year, including a

six for 12 lifetime market role. We're in a game race in an off

the grass event going a mile last time out, just lost by a

neck to search engine, lost 16 lengths clear of third place.

His 2 tone efforts have been very good.

He's getting a class test too, though he has been facing

starters optional claiming foes most of the year.

This is a very nice super runners, better than anything

he's faced. If if he wins his race he has a

shot and I'll be cheering for him.

But it's a bit different going against started optional

claiming types versus these boys.

Yeah, plus that three turn 6 1/2 furlong race at Timonium.

Very different than the Sprint at Laurel.

So there you go, Cali. Who'd you lay it on in the

Sprint? So for Celtic Contender, the

only note that I have written down for this horse is I think

that this can do this one can do whatever it wants in this field.

So that's where I sit with Celtic Contender.

I do agree that band camp is right underneath there for

Annette Eubanks. I won't say the horse's name,

but he did beat out a horse who will be running and is a really

nice contender in the classic later.

But this is and I agree, he's taking a step up, but at the

same time, has anybody checked to see how Ann Eubanks is doing

in this meet thus far? She's 100% in the money.

So it's the next lot for this horse and the way the barn is

going to me, why not just throw a little?

This is a little faith money and this is a a logical step up

where he goes in stakes company. He's skipping, you know, Sure

he's skipping some stuff, but why not?

So that's it's kind of a, you know, a buzz horse that I go

about. I also just wanted to give a

little credit to Johnny Z from Albany from that 6 1/2 effort

tells me everything I need to know how about how this horse is

doing because I had him totally labeled as just a strict 5

furlong horse. And that's yes, I don't I'm not

have I'm not suggesting Johnny Z from Albany is going to win this

race right, but I do suggest him to have him underneath in your

plays. I do think he he's going to try

that 6 1/2 really did him good. And I agree with you, Dan,

always in a hurry. You have to respect I I actually

leave sevens 11 completely out of this today.

Oh. It's a smile from Dan.

Evan, how about that? Oh.

Man, I like that. If I can get that done, that

accomplished, we're set here. Well, and after sevens eleven

wins the first leg of the pick 5, you could play the pick four

in the next race. That is the Maryland William

Turf Sprint 5 1/2 on the turf course there.

Again, that's the green part in the middle for those of you here

in Louisville, 100K in the Kitty here, 3 and up.

Kelly, we'll go to you here first.

This is another one of those Sprint races that I think is a

lot of fun here When I get to heaven, I think is going to get

a bunch of money in this spot. I don't know if you landed

there. Witty, obviously in here.

Another horse I bet you don't just have to follow down in

Maryland to have seen run in many, many different spots.

Where did you lay it in this one?

I did go with when I get to Heaven just because everything

that I've seen Nolan Ramsey dole out, not only just from a

running standpoint, but in the paddock as well, I just I loved,

I'm very impressed with what Nolan's doing, with what he's

turning out. I was just also visually just

loving what I saw last here at Laurel.

And that colonial determined Kingdom has really kind of been

a little bit of a buzz horse of the summer just ran a good, you

know, tough fifth in the Belmont Turf Sprint.

But he's geared. He's been geared for this race.

I do you know, my heart isn't with witty, but my head is with

when I get to heaven, which understandably money's going to

go on witty. I he was considered for the

Troy. He went to Kentucky Downs.

He talking to the connections afterward.

He did not like that track one bit.

The track can be a bit polarizing there, as you know,

Lou, as you guys all know, but he had good reports training on

it. He was the paddock pick for both

Katyn and myself. He just loves Laurel and he

loves the second wire finish. That's what he's made to do.

So I wouldn't be I may do a last minute change up and then just

for honorable mentions. I put in great idea and zarate.

There you go. Wow.

A lot. A lot.

Yes. Not, by the way, not his fault

that he doesn't love Kentucky Downs.

It's not you. Like you said, polarizing's a

very polite term. I appreciate that.

From 1. Kelly Francois, who I hope to

run into in Kentucky Downs next year.

John Piasi, Great. You laying on here?

So I think he's playing a late pick 5.

There's three ways to go. Because single Witty, you could

single when I get to heaven and not use Witty or toss both of

them out, try to spread and try to beat them.

I think Witty is beatable. Then again, I said this last

year and he beat me. So you know when we want to

shame on you. But you know, I know he didn't

like the track at like a downs. The last race still kind of

leaves me cold. He really hasn't had hey, hey,

hey, good enough late punch needed to win so far this year

and and we saw that last year going into tough Sprint as well

outside a company like this. He has a bit of a hard time

getting there and because he is a closer and a grass friend, he

is a bit at the mercy of traffic.

He could have a tough trip. He could beat me.

I did pick when I get to heaven on top who has been in improving

form all year long. We had a big race on this track

in the Benz cat two stars back fart hurting it's tidewater very

nice local grass sprinter. Then we're in a a career top

figure at colonial downs went just missing behind determined

Kingdom, who, as Kelly noted, we had a big with aqueduct last

Saturday. Do you want to go up a little

bit more in depth about Bosserati, who actually picked

second in my analysis? There's a full sister to biscuit

with the boss who will see early on the code in the Lassie and

she's also the reigning champion Maryland red 3 year old Philly

made her first start of a 10 month layoff on fitness day in

the very one into too much. They're it's a very tough field

and included future is now who's going to run a Keeneland on

Sunday and and in fact is probably the best Maryland side

of boys running this weekend. It's not even at the Maryland

million anyway, while Zarate has run well in her last four stars,

pretty pretty much the exact same race every time, showing

speed and it's barely hanging in there forward slice.

So I know she'll be be on the front end early.

I don't know if she'll be able to hold on this time, especially

against the likes of Witty or When I Get to Heaven, but she'll

be a pretty good price. I think you're playing an exact

or trifecta. She's a good voice to key

underneath. I love Bosserati here, Dan.

I do just the number if I get if I get Russell, Russell double

digits in Maryland, which I doubt very much by post time.

But if that's happening and this is a horse that hits the board

constantly, I mean, frankly, that's that's a win place kind

of bad for me, Dan. We have to respect early speed.

I mean she is simply the speed of this race and breaking from

the outside. She's going to take this field

as fast as she can for as long as she can and she might be able

to take them all the way. Personally, I think we've

mentioned the two main names and they're the two favorites on the

morning line. Witty and when I get to heaven

and probably I'll just single Witty.

I just trust him. I think he's a faster horse than

when I get to heaven. I'm not interested in that

Kentucky Downs race whatsoever. I thought he was fine at

Colonial. He probably had to split horses

6 wide turning for home and came with his run.

If there's some pace from the run at there's a long stretch at

Laurel. I think that Toledo will get

over the outside and I think if the real Witty shows up, he's

supposed to beat this field. Same connections won this race

last year and so with this horse, frankly, and so look for

Witty to try to go back-to-back in this one as well Late pick

three in case your first two legs don't work out here.

So start at race 10. And by the way, resetting for

those of you who have joined us on the stream, that is Dan

Illman on the bottom. I guess if you're watching, this

will be on the bottom right, Kelly Francois above him on the

top right and our guy, Johnny P, John Piasek on the bottom left.

My name is Louie Robot. This is the horse racing happy

hour. Thanks for hanging out with us.

We're here every Thursday. You can be part of the show as

well. You can comment on the side.

We will get you in on the show as well.

All right, so 7 furlongs here for the Distaff, 100,000 in the

Kitty here. Phillies and Bears 3 and up.

And you know, I love this race. This might be my favorite on the

card, Dan, because I've I I'm having an incredibly difficult

time coming up with a with a top selection here.

Took the words right out of my mouth.

I think this is the best betting race on the card, with the

Classic potentially a close second.

But in this race you can make a case for six or seven horses.

You've got Miss Harriet and Sheila's War Cloud, who ran 1-2

last year in the other Maryland Million Lassie.

You've got the Stranger Bourbon Bond Bay.

What an interesting story here, 5 or 6 lifetime.

We haven't seen her in 400 days. I talked to her owner and

breeder earlier today said she said the latest mishap for this

one was a fractured jaw that she's coming back from.

But she loves racing. She's seven years old.

She's still here and supposedly she's doing well for Ned Allard

Spencerian has just come back a completely new horse this year.

Three wins by blowout margins. And I'm going to take none of

those horses. I'm going to take the horse

parks. I'm going to take Fox Junior.

I, I love turn backs at this distance.

Louise, you know, and Foxy Junior's won what her last four

starts on dirt. I think she's going to get pace

going 7/8 now. She got a very good trip and

ride from Joe Martorez last time out at parks where she was able

to save ground. She was able to find every hole.

She got to the two paths on the far turn, the rail opened up

again. She altered course back to the

inside. She's got a lot of agility.

I think she's a little bit underrated however, and I'm

looking for a hot pace that she could benefit from.

So I'm hoping one more time for Foxy Junior.

She is coming back a little bit quick for Mike.

Kelly, do you like that pic? I have faith in dance.

I also agree and I just don't go with I I don't go with that just

due to the fact I'm a big, big girl who doesn't like who has

big, big opinions about doing quick turn backs unless they're

specifically bred for it, which listen, Bree Houghton told Like

I I'm I get it, I'm all about it.

I'm just not about it for the day on Saturday.

So it's for me. It's a here's the thing,

visually, as Dan noted, extremely professional and and

just impressive. Just a quick turn around for me.

I go with the number 14 on the outside and Benny for Brittany

and Sheldon Russell, their half to Crab cakes, two time winner

of the Maryland Million Distaff. There you go Benny on the

outside, the 14 horse, 8:00 to 1:00.

Any guess, John, what the post time odds will be on Benny?

I'll go 9:00 to 2:00. I'll say somewhere, what's the

difference about 5-6 to one. I think the post 14 factor and

the lightly race factor are going to cancel out the Brittany

factor. I do wonder, by the way, Cindy,

do look a bit out there. Let us know how many half

siblings have won the half or four siblings have won the same

Maryland, Maryland race because as you said her older sister on

this razor and was quite a good horse on local circuit.

Send an e-mail, Callie, Send an e-mail right now.

We'll have it before the end of the show, OK?

So as everyone has said, there's a lot of ways to go.

Baby Bombay is fascinated to me because she has been around the

block for a long time. She was in very good form at at

around Maryland a million times, especially in 2022 and 2023.

And yet Eric didn't send her to Maryland, Maryland either One of

those years she thought about it, didn't send her and now

she's confident enough to send her here.

First off, AU plus layoff. To me, that's a pretty good

sign. I think she'll be over bet

because she has those very nice lines.

And as Dan said, Ned Aller has been doing good work in the

Mid-Atlantic all year long. But if you gave me like 1011 to

one on her, I got to think about it.

So I think she has to be respected and you know, got you

for Erin. I mean, it's a build down home

owner building operation. I kind of put the Maryland mail

in. It's kind of all about my top

choice is number 8. Miss Harriet.

I am sure that in the late winter, early spring, David

Baxter and Brennan McFarlane circle this date on their

calendar because after the wide country which she wants very

easily. I said to myself, this Philly is

going to be in a lot of spots, which is going to be in in over

her head over the spring and and over the summer.

As long as she she performed by the time fall rolls around,

she'll be very live in the Maryland.

Maryland is that's exactly how it played out.

You know, didn't do much in the picada didn't do much in the

Miss Preakness or what we said he missed.

However, in her last two tries around one turn on this track,

she's been very impressive both times.

Set the pace in the missed disco worn by two and three quarter

lengths. Got a stiff class test last time

out in a tough third level allow soft proclaiming group shook him

off. Won by almost 4 lengths on a wet

track. First off a 2 month who has

spent a little bit of a longer life than she used to running

off of, but still ran very well. There is a lot of speeding here,

but I think if anybody is going to run them off their feet, it's

going to be her actually like she was work like quite a bit.

Third off a long while. She was second last year to Miss

Harriet in the Maryland and ran a big race second off the bench

and we're going to Malibu. Moonshine is also kind of

interesting to me. Home bread for Doctor Parker,

Todd beauty trains. She has very in and out form but

did win a stakes on this track in the case back in January.

Of course the three times stakes went on this track and fast on

this track. Then won an open claiming race

at Saratoga last time out from well off the pace when it going

away. Think if she gets a trip she

could mow these down. A reminder Bourbon Bombay.

The Five is not to be confused with Gordon Bombay.

He was the coach in the Mighty Ducks movies.

That's very. Different.

So people were confused by that. Don't be confused by that.

Oh good, I got the look from Dan.

I always want to get that once a show.

It's fantastic. That is a dad joke.

Oh, that wasn't even the finger I expected to see from Dan after

that joke. How about?

That all right? You got that.

You got that after the show, but no one's around.

We'll move on to the billion. It is Race 11 here.

The late double starts here. We'll start at the start line

and we will finish at the same one mile and Nate there on the

dirt course at at Laurel. They are running for $150,000 in

this one. Callie will go to you first.

Look like the distaff. We got another wide open field

here. Yeah, I alluded to a horse

earlier. I believe it wasn't the Sprint

that, you know, at Eubanks band camp.

He ended up beating out my top selection earlier this summer in

Mosler time for Cal Lynch, Jamie Rodriguez.

I just think, you know, two and three back were kind of

experiments. I think he's just set up.

He's set up well to run really nicely here today.

I really, this isn't his test going this distance at 9

furlongs I think was what I've seen in the gallop out, what

I've seen within here. I just don't think it's going to

be a problem. We saw just a little bit of a

not necessarily a new leaf, but this was this was aggressive.

This was aggressive of what we saw the ride from Jamie

Rodriguez in that effort last time out, but that's kind of

what he needs. I I just think the horse is in

such good form. So I go with Mosler time and

then I back it up with Annette Eubanks here in Brilliant Ice

with Jay Ron Barbosa on the outside.

He'll obviously be tested. I picked two horses that are

going to be tested at this distance, but what's this one is

breaking the mold? I couldn't find anything on the

bottom side for brilliant ice on, you know, as far as distance

breeding, But I I like the fact that, you know, last time out he

lost out to Irish exit who had a rough trip next time out up in

New York, but he beat out, you know, he beat out horses like

Armando R accelerator. Those are horses I highly I

highly respect at especially that nine for a long distance.

So I think that that's the direction I go in.

Who else do I have? I go with Vance scholars

underneath old reliable. I'm in between.

I'm still undecided between Market Maven and feeling who's

the underneath for Hammy Smith. All right, well, go ahead.

Whatever is next. I guess that would be Johnny P

Go buddy. So I think most of the time on

top is son, of course, mostly the standard country like farm,

Kyle Lynch and Jamie Rodriguez. He's had a bit of strange

circumstances over the course of his career.

He had one start where he stumbled at the start and lost

his jockey. He's tried grass.

He had a bad break one day on a wet track, didn't do much there

but but it got to pick through his lines in in which is

actually allowed to run his best race.

Really any of his races win this, especially his last start

against first low allowance company back in the seventh came

from off the pace and won by almost 7 for the huge figure.

In fact some huge figures in each of his 2 stones two turn

starts, one of which came at Pimlico and one of which came

Hugh. I think Market Maven is also

pretty live. He actually crossed the wire

first in this race last year and was disqualified into beer.

Cole who was also in this race was put as the winner.

This one has has run some nice races at parks for new trainer

Jacinto so at least got a pair of third place finishes putting

a nice boat in the Storm Cat where he closed pretty well up

the inside. There's a decent amount of speed

in here thing as long as he he he doesn't get buried in traffic

he can make some light noise. I picked Man Scholars in his

race 2 two years ago. He owes me a lot of money from

that day because he didn't win, he came in second.

He I think is a good underneath horse.

I don't think he is quite the late punch needed to win, but if

I was playing a trifecta or a a super factor I might keep him

underneath. Dan, do you like Steve's joke

about Bewitched better than The Mighty Ducks?

Oh, boy. I have to say, probably

Bewitched is a little bit better than the Mighty Ducks.

Come on. The Mighty Ducks.

So what? What?

What's the matter with you? What are you?

Doing I grew up in Michigan and hockey, it was like

Christianity, then hockey. I can't.

I can't help it. Yeah, yeah.

All right, anyway, get it? Getting back to.

Kelly Franzle horse racing things, yes.

Right, getting back to getting back to business here, since I'm

probably going to single witty in the pick five.

I could spread in races like the Distaff and the Classic and I

have to because it's this competitive a race and Callie

and John mentioned three of the logical contenders that I will

use Mosler time I think is just really blossomed since being

allowed to stretch out around a router ground.

I think a mile and an eighth will be perfectly fine for him.

Really a nice. I do have the same concerns

Kelly has about the extra distance, but the source is very

sharp, is very competitive on the speed figure scale, and is

fast enough to find good position going into the first

term market. Mavin is repeating the same sort

of pattern they used last year when he finished first in this

race and was disqualified for second.

I think it was the storm cat at parks, the Alphabet Super Parks

and then of the Maryland Million Classic.

So if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

And then if you believe there's a lot of speed in this race like

I do, what about Mugatu, who's a little bit, you know, but a lot

of folks have been laughing and who got to it because he's been

thrown in over his head and he's won for 17 lifetime.

But when you're facing horses like, oh, I don't know, when the

Preakness or Batten Down last time out at Churchill Downs and

all of a sudden you're showing up on Maryland Million Day, I

think you have a chance or at least a puncher's chance at a

price if the pace is high. Is there any chance either of

these also eligibles could draw into this field based on the

conditions? I'm going to say no, John.

I'm curious as his opinion. I mean, they'll need.

A lot. Of scratch scratches.

OK, so it's possible, it's possible, but it's not what we

thinking about. I think for more than about 5

seconds. Got it.

All right. Well, there you go.

We won't think about it for five seconds.

And let's go ahead and we'll do our annual private conversation

with the Maryland Jockey Club. The final race of this Pick 5 is

a really good one and I appreciate you folks listening

to this show when we used to refuse the nickel claimers that

ended up at the end of these things.

You don't have to do that on Maryland Million Day.

You get a handicap instead, folks, and that's what we'll

talk about for the last race here It is the 12th race.

It's a $40,000 purse for a starter handicap going 7

furlongs on the dirt there. I think frankly, a spectacular

finish to this big 5, Dan, because it is just no.

He's shaking his head. OK all.

Right, I agree with you. I agree with you.

I'm. Hold.

Over by this race, I think it's a fantastic betting race and

shame on anyone that leaves or doesn't pay attention after the

Maryland Million Classic because this is what's known as a get

out race and you can get out and make money if you're down.

Going into this starter handicap, I'm going to be

focusing on two horses. 1 is a veteran that everyone in

Maryland is a big fan of and his name is Club Man.

I know a lot of folks think he might be a little bit long in

the tooth, but you know something?

I don't think so. I think his form is completely

dirtied up. They ran him at Delaware, I

believe three starts back off the layoff.

He caught a wet track, a speed favoring track, a race that

produced 3 Next Out winners, and he was far from embarrassed.

And in his last two starts he ran at Timonium.

And while he's done well at Timonium in the past, I'm just

not sure as he's gotten older that that tight Bullring is

really good for him. Anything but perhaps building a

bit of fitness. I like him turning back to seven

and a race with speed. Maybe it's a little bit sharp

from this distance but at a price.

I think he'll be running late and I also want to use the

number 2 Divine Child. I know he's eligible for a non

winners of two life race but look at the horses he was in

against last time out, one of them being Celtic contender.

And Celtic contender is my pick in the Maryland millions Sprint

and would be barred from the wagering in this race.

And Divine Child was not embarrassed rallying into a

moderate pace. So I would use Divine Child, I

would use Club Man, Even Rad Paisley.

I think off the claim is going to show some speed, but it's a

really good race. Look for some value.

John, where'd you land here? I will say that if Clubman wins

and gives his sire Not For Love yet yet another Merlin Million

win, Great Notion is going to fuel a disturbance wherever he

is because he knows that it that a win by Clement is going to

make it even tougher. A Great notion to eventually

passing off the love one day at the all time leading Marilyn

Millian stallion. As Dan said, it is a very tough

race. I think he just kind of throw

dogs and hope for the best. In a race like this, though, it

is good if you find boat shoes in a long shot to pick them, and

that's what I did with #11 Big Daddy's Boy and I believe 12:50

on the morning line. I black out all the morning

lines on a handicap, so I can't quite read it on my paper, but I

know he's double digits on the morning line. 15 to one.

Yeah, 15. And I do feel bad for Gina Rod

because I know she loves his horse a lot and he was playing

away from her last time out. 12, five by Gina Curry.

So I'm not sure how she'll feel if he if he wins this race, but

he is in improving form. He ran back-to-back, very nice

figures. Well, well, well off the pace to

win at 5 1/2 furlongs last time out.

Just gobbled up ground in the last eighth and one by a neck.

Just missed his career. Top figure on business scale

that day with an 82. He should like a distance going

from 7 to 5 1/2, from 5 and a half to seven.

Rally and should be a very good price.

There you go, and Cali, we'll finish up with you.

Last race year, Race 12, the starter handicapped to close out

the Pick 5. Troy saying with Irish warlock

there in with the number 3 coming off of that punchy effort

over at colonial. So I love the fact that Troy,

you know, Troy's getting the hang of things as far as you

know, where to place these horses and you know whether to

give them some time. So he's he's starting to get the

idea and I think this one is just coming in with a nice

little pop at the right time. So I think you know you go go

from the seven furlongs, you stay at this distance.

I always this 7 furlong distance can be at very particular for

me. So This is why I kind of go with

the horses that are proven at this distance And you go back to

that allowance, state bread allowance effort, salty season

of the summer for the state breads here in Maryland.

But that was a nice effort in June.

And then underneath I go with the number 8IN must be love

because Jamie Ness is 14 for 31 specifically in second for this

meet thus far and this horse. God asked just a touch early

last time outgoing A2 turn mile over at Delaware is going to

appreciate getting back here. Was entered for a state bread

allowance on the 21st of September and was a scratch.

There you go. Well, that is our synopsis of

the late pick five and pick 6 and pick 7 sequence there at

Maryland. Don't bet on the pick seven.

It doesn't exist. Dan, what do you think is the

normal? What are what are you expecting

like how much you're going to have to spend on the pick 5 to

have decent coverage? I know you're talking about a

single with witty that that obviously reduces things, but

are we in like the 14150 kind of range?

Let me try to do the quick math. Right now there's four and 12/3,

3:00. There's. 3/6 between 75 and 150

OK. All right, that's playable.

Yeah, because I think there's a chance there's a serious pay

here. Cali, your your favorite

Maryland million. How many, how many of these

Maryland millions have you been to now?

Is this your third? This is this.

Will be my third, yeah. Yeah, OK.

All right, OK, Look at me doing math.

Dan and John, random Maryland fact, please.

I I love how much like a sire factor, a broodmare fact or

something like that just just hit us with something really

random about Maryland millionaire.

Well, I will say that is the irony in the best Maryland solid

force of the weekend not running in the Maryland Maryland that

being future is now who is by great notion if she goes to the

Breeders Cup and wins should be the first Maryland solid Force

20 Breeders' Cup race since Countess Diana back in 1997,

which won Juvenile Phillies. And a further fun fact, the only

force pull off a Maryland million Breeders' Cup double in

the same year was safely capped. In 1990 she won the Maryland

Million Sprint. A few weeks later became the

first Maryland ever to win the Breeders Cup race when she won

the Sprint over Deja. Oh, she didn't win the Sprint.

Dejour lost the Sprint. Still still counts.

Still counts. Mike, John, have this moment.

Come on. This is the horse racing happy

hour. What are we doing?

The daily fee? Oh.

Man, all right, Well, he is John.

What's the next time you're on the mic there at Yonkers, buddy?

Sometime I, I think in about two weeks time, I'll have to look at

the schedule that our intrepid leader Edison Hatter made.

But it'll be sometime in next week or two.

So if you're looking some way to fill the long fall nights if the

if, God forbid, for the Yankees and the Mets get knocked out and

there's no baseball to watch in New York in October, flip over

the Yonkers and you might hear me on the mic.

John, what did you say your style is more like Jackie Lear,

the bullet, Bob Meyer? I would say Jack Lee.

I loved his announcing nicknames that he used to do.

And one day, because Jack Lee, who was the announcer at

Roosevelt and threw old for a while, he had a line every time

a horse was like hopelessly beaten, he would always say, and

at the end, it's so and so. But not today.

And I hope one day I will have to courage bring up that line

because I know if I ever do say it, that horse will come back

and win and bite me in the butt. So we'll see what happens.

So I might use it one day, but I do it.

But Jack Lee definitely had a lot of character in his call.

So he's definitely somebody on the final side who I look up to

go and answer. Where do people find your

handicapping for Saturday? Find me on theracingbiz.com I've

done 2 videos with Frank Bestie who wants to say one of which is

live as of now in which we dive into the classic and me and

Kenzie Pfeiffer and Frank give our opinions.

Frank and I also broke down a pick five there where we talked

about my ticket spoiler I'm leaning on when I get to heaven,

and most of the time pretty strongly in that sequence.

For more info, check out that video and my written analysis is

going to be up on theracingbiz.com, the morning of

which you can find out my opinion on all 12 races.

Hopefully they're good ones, but no matter what, it's going to be

a great day of racing and a great spotlight of Maryland.

And we went to 1990 for that. I love you, John.

All right, Callie, you are at Miss Francois to you to you on

all of the socials. She is a she's a make you

jealous type on IG. Just a warning, but are you be

honest, Which one is more fun? Is Preakness day or is Maryland

million day just because it's it's it's the state folks.

It's it's more of a you know, it's the Laurel thing.

It's a little less of you know, your bosses aren't in from

stronach for this one. You know what I mean?

OK, so this is a bad year to ask me that question I had, I kid

you not. So when I first of all, when it

comes to our first bosses, Dave Joseph just really lets me kind

of do whatever. He stays well out of it, which

is fantastic. I probably had the worst

Preakness that I've ever had ever this year.

So you know what? Just by default.

Marilyn Million this year, baby. Let's go.

Let's go. All right.

What a great default answer that is.

Dan Illman will be on the desk at Laurel on Saturday.

I I can't make fun of that because I'm just jealous.

I want to be hanging out on Jim McKay.

Million Mary on a million day. Do you have a preference to you?

I know you love this day. I mean, to be fair, I know you

love this day, Dan. You know, you really can't ask

me what day is better because to me, a, a a random Friday at

Laurel Park or at Aqueduct or at any race track in the country is

good enough to me. I just, yeah, I just can't get

it. There's no such thing for me as

a bad day at the race track. The correct answer is Marilyn

Million Day, because I'm not there.

How about that? She's Cali Francois, He's John

Piosic. And of course, there it is.

Yeah, that's. See.

You get it? Yeah, that's how that works.

He's Dan Elman. Dan, tell people where to find

you. Your stuff is considerably

better edited than this. A daily racing forum YouTube

channel. 10% off DRF past performances.

Use the QR code in the open of the video.

My analysis of course in the Daily Racing Form print and

online with your formulator past performances.

Lots of bad dad jokes tonight, but I think people can tell from

listening to this show. I love the Maryland circuit and

I love getting to cover it and I love the people that are

involved with it, including John, Dan and Callie.

Thank you 3 for so much for joining us tonight.

Thank you for supporting Maryland racing and it's.

Been hey, we love it. Bye.

Awesome. All right, well, get them, get

them out of here. We'll just start getting them

out. Oh, nice and quick looking Zach.

And then I'm going to add Zach to the stage.

Oh, no, man. Oh God, you imagine, you imagine

you're some person and you tune in for the first time and you're

like, oh, I know, I know. Callie Francois, she's good.

She was at Kentucky Downs. She's dominating on the Maryland

jockey scene. She's doing the whole thing and

then your face pops up. Can you imagine just the

disappointment that would happen with those things?

Did Callie back on the show for? No, she's just shaking her head

now. That's not, hey, Kelly's got

Kelly's got one of the top five moments in the history of this

ridiculous show, talking about the raccoons in her office.

It's not even close. Oh my gosh, yes.

That's. Also, to be continued, the story

is not done there, so that's. Oh no.

We need a Part 2. We need a Part 2.

We need a, We need a. What are the results of what you

guys offered? And you can and we can't do.

We can't. We have one year to do it.

We have one shot to do it. I know you're right.

Yeah. So it's going to take the best

effort out of all this is for me to make the effort to let go

before I actually need to get there.

So best of luck to everybody for that.

But like I said, we'll find out. Awesome.

Thanks again. Kelly.

Yeah, she's Kelly Grass. While There you go.

I have no idea why she talks to me.

I I don't get it. It's all right.

All right. So the.

So there you go. I OK, so here's the deal.

You you have made the trips with us for Preakness and and you

lived in Baltimore for a while again, 15 years.

Yeah. Yeah.

I think people don't know that we actually enjoy doing these

shows. We really like the Maryland

circuit. I love the road.

Oh my gosh, yes. Yep.

So freaking logical and and well put together.

So it's it's one of those. But yeah, it it also I'm glad

they're not on here anymore and there's no chance they're gonna

go back and listen. I really like all the people in

Maryland, too. It's the whole thing.

We didn't have my call. If you happen to still be

listening, Dave Rodman, who's gonna call all the races, will

join me on Rabonco at 10:20 AM tomorrow, Eastern Time on ESPN

Louisville. If you are around the country,

anywhere and you wanna listen to that, ESPN louisville.com.

Easy to stream us, frankly, just ask your smart speaker.

We're on iHeartRadio. We can find you can find us that

way as well. I wanted to to pull this up just

before we leave Zach to do to do I think that it no the 12th is

Saturday. I just clicked on Sunday at

Laurel Park. That will not help me to do to

do as my old computer struggles to find Internet connection and

run a video at the same time. But here are the field sizes for

the late the late runs at Laurel Park in the late pick 511,

thirteen, 1613 and 15. You're going to get value folks.

This is at a 12% take out. Frankly, if you're going to hit

a pick 5 and make some money this year, this actually is an

opportunity outside of big days like Derby and Preakness, Derby

and Belmont or Preakness or you know, Breeders' Cup, there's

going to be some opportunities in here.

And frankly, you know, people were talking about horses to key

in on man in that in the in the Sprint man trying to beat witty

man. If you can do that with a horse

like Bazarotti the 11 and get really aggressive, I think

there's an incredible chance, frankly, to get some massive

value. But Zach, go ahead, hour 10.

Our poor guy, John, by the way, John Sherva dealing with the

hurricane down there in Florida. Shout out to everyone who

listens to this show in the state of Florida and and in

North Carolina, wherever you might be.

If you've been affected the last month, we are really thinking

about you. Hopefully if you are listening

to this, a nice little break from what it is that you're

having to deal with on the ground there.

But we will catch up with you sometime in the future when we

make a trip either the Tampa Bay Downs or down to Gulfstream Will

will hang out then. But for I know you're you're a

big donor of blood. That is one of the best things

you can do during these these disasters.

You know, you can get out there, find a Red Cross, donate blood.

It's they're they're always needed, whether there's a

hurricane or not. There you go.

All right. Producer Zach, my name's Louie

Erbel at radio Louie on Twitter. You can find the show at Horse

Happy Hour October 29th. If you're in Louisville, we'll

have our Breeders' Cup seminar at BA Colonial across from

Iroquois Park. Free to get in 6:00.

Come say hi, we'll have tons of giveaways and Amwager will be

hanging out to help you get your bankroll together.

And don't forget to look for us in San Diego.

We'll be doing a show in San Diego as well, shoring up all of

the details on that. And please ping us if you're

going to be at the Breeders Cup. We'd love to say hi again.

Producer Zach, he's right there. I'm Louis Rubbo.

We'll talk to you next week on the Horse Racing Happy Hour.