BloodHorse Monday 3/24/2025 | Brad Cox

All right, welcome in a March 24th, 2025 edition of the Blood

Horse Monday Podcast. He, Sean, I'm Louis.

Thanks for making us the start of your horse racing week.

We have 200 point preps in the books on the Derby side,

certainly one on the oak side as one at A50 pointer in the

Bourbonet Oaks as well you and I at Turfway Park this weekend.

I'm glad we didn't blow away while we were there.

The wind tunnel that they have created that at Turfway Park is

a problem and I and I don't know who to talk to about it.

I'm not at all sure they can do much about it.

But yes, quite the wind tunnel on Saturday up at what ended up

being a great day of racing there at Surfway Park.

Weather did turn out very nice. It was.

Look, I joke all the time. You get a little bit of college

football with horse racing. You just got to deal with the

elements and it is, you know, you follow your team and you go

where you got to go. Throw out an extra jacket kids,

you'll be OK. All the Sante loes and that kind

of stuff. But we want to go to Louisiana

first for our replays. And Sean, I look, we we asked,

you know, I had Jason Beam on a different show a couple weeks

ago. So when you really start to dial

in on these, I asked Travis Stone the same question.

Travis said the 100 pointers. And that was a little surprising

for a guy that works at Churchill called the Virginia

Derby, etcetera. But that's what he said Beam was

like, if I get to the 50s, I start to really pay attention.

So I think it was the Risen Star.

You know, he kind of gave that. When does Sean start and why is

it the Iroquois? Well, it's the Iroquois because

I just want to get to the Derby as quickly as possible, so

that's what I start paying attention to.

But the big thing with the 100 point races is this is what

really starts separating the men from the boys.

I feel like this is when you can really kind of get the idea of

what these horses will look like in the Derby itself because you

do start seeing the distances get longer.

My own 3 sixteenths in the Louisiana Derby, we had the my

own Nathan, the Jeff Ruby and the other preps along the way.

So I think this is really when you get to kind of see that

audition for what the Derby is going to unfold into of.

Course, we have two more 100 point races this coming weekend,

one in South Florida, the Florida Derby.

Of course the Arkansas Derby will also be run the Saturday.

We'll preview those to close the show, but let's head to

Louisiana. John Dooley on the call of the

Louisiana Derby stretch run here.

Four horses involved in this one for outside Vasimo as they

straighten away. Instant replay is moving from

out of the backfield, but it's built and built has taken the

lead here for Jose Ortiz. It's built in front.

John Hancock has given way right.

There is chunk of gold between horses and on the outside tis

tastic as they come past the 16th with Joao Rosario.

It's tis tastic now pulling clear from chunk of gold.

Instant replay tis tastic on top of the Louisiana Derby.

Tis tastic one by just #2 from chunk of so Testoster gets it

done, enjoys the added amount of distance and certainly the

longer stretch there at Fairgrounds.

One of the things you know, it's very difficult.

You got the final fractions theory of these different things

that come around, you know, the Jenny Reese's in the world

trying to tease out who it is that's going to be able to get

the added distance here. One of the things we don't have

to ask is about the Louisiana Derby winner because they go the

mile in three sixteenths. It's only half a furlonged

different from the Kentucky Derby itself.

Six weeks out, though. Anybody in here get you going?

I know you were on chunk of gold.

Before this race, yeah. And I like the way that he ran

in this spot too. You know, he kind of sat in

behind, got into behind the pace.

It was a little quick at the beginning of the race.

He still was able to make a run. Just glad to see those

connections make it to the Kentucky Derby.

Ethan W, the trainer, that's going to be a huge thing for

them. Just tastic.

I was just happy to see that kind of bounce back performance.

He's one of those horses that's been always like kind of just

missing at on some of those Derby prep races.

He finally breaks through after having run fifth in the Rebel

state in the Rebel Stakes up at Oaklawn.

I think getting away from Oaklawn was the right move here.

Gave him the longer stretch to make that run.

We've seen those races at Oaklawn.

A lot of the, you know, Cole Battle went wire to wire in the

Smarty Jones Speed King in the Southwest.

Madiket Rd. almost went wire to wire in the Rebel and Cole

Battle was able to run him down. You've been seeing that speed

holding. I think shifting him over to

Fairgrounds with that longer stretch was definitely the

right. Choice it's an interesting point

by you because you know, we had just assume good horse is going

to run well almost anywhere. But you're right, there are

setups, there are different things.

You know, we saw earlier in the card, you know, maybe not the

best setup for a Sierra Leone type, for example.

We just assumed the long stretch would really work for him.

So to get this kind of, you know, this kind of battle in the

stretch was really interesting. We'll talk to trainer Brad Cox

in a couple of minutes about his trainees running third and 4th

in this one as well. So please stay around with us

for that. But you don't just just tastic

on top here. An interesting one because I I,

I didn't, you know, I haven't watched the gallop out yet.

I'd like to see where he was on all of that.

He looked a little tired at the end, but frankly, it's the

furthest he's ever gone. He's only ever going to go a

16th of a mile longer in his entire career, right?

And so I'm not going to hold that against him just yet.

But I thought overall, you know, a solid top two.

I I don't know that I saw the Derby winner in that race.

Though, Yeah, I could agree with that.

But at the same time, you know, these are three-year olds that

are developing. I remember talking to Steve

about Tis tastic last year as a 2 year old and he was talking

about how he was just a little immature.

That was part of the reason why they ended up in the streets and

stakes going back to the dirt instead of going out for like

the Breeders Cup Juvenile Turf off the winds at Kentucky Downs.

Because he didn't think he was necessarily going to be able to

handle the shipping and the flying out there.

He didn't think he was mature enough for that yet.

So the fact that he comes out, he gets this big win and that to

me just shows that he's starting to come along.

Maybe this he did look a little tired to me, just like to you

coming down the stretch there. But you know, he's going to

build off of that and maybe we'll see a better performance

next. Time it's interesting too,

because you you talked with Steve Asmussen about this horse

in the fault he was really high on his talent yes, he was purely

a mental and maturity kind of thing for that so yes, I I'm

with you on that part Interesting of course, because

we do get those top 2 having at least 50 points probably good

enough to be in the starting gate this this coming first

Saturday in May but yeah, a couple of interesting ones.

Don't forget the second placers right.

You might get a you might get a Mystic Dan you might get a mage.

You never know, out of these hundred point preps, let's head

up to the one that you and I were at, which was of course

just up the street in Florence, KY at Turfway Park, the Jeff

Ruby Stakes. The other 100 pointer on this

Tony Calo on the call. We've got a final gambit and

he's not joking. California Burrito has come away

with the lane at the top of the lane and the Jeff Ruby and

Chicoso is chasing after him and Maximum promises hitting his

stride. That's California Burrito

Chicoso. Here comes Final Gambit to the

far outside, rolling home like a good thing.

Check out final gambit and Luan Machado.

They win the Jeff Ruby Stakes going away again, we'll talk

with final game. It's trader Brad Cox in just a

couple of minutes. But look, on a day, frankly,

that started with frontrunners dominating the day.

It slowly became a day where either locals like Luam Machado

who know that course in and out for sure.

But we also saw Frankie Dattori pick off a stakes race with a

from an off the pace kind of run.

Jock seemed to figure out that track as the day went on.

Very windy as you mentioned, but nothing wrong with how final

Gambit ran this race. We always talk in these cases

and we'll ask trailer Brad Cox about this.

Is is that style one that we can get a winner in the Derby out?

Because look how far back this horse is in this field.

But if he's willing to move to the outside like that and be

alone on the outside, that could work at the Derby too, right?

And so it will be interesting to watch him move forward.

I thought Flying Mohawk and he both ran really good races.

A little bit of rub as we got into the stretch there, for

sure. Flying Mohawk kept his stride no

problem. But just I mean #1 distance

ain't going to be a problem for this.

Horse No final. Game it was totally fine going

to 10th. Yeah, I asked him on Machado

about that in the winner's circle right after the race.

And yeah, this distance is not going to be a problem for this

horse for sure. You know, perfect ride by

Machado. I have to say, too.

He was able to save ground where he could going into the turn.

He swung way out wide as they were exiting the turn there to

find somewhere to run and really just give this horse a nice open

lane to unleash that stride and come get everybody.

I always like seeing with these deep closers, sometimes I get a

little cautious of the ones that like just get up and they just

win by a neck. But I like seeing a horse like

Final Gambit, who gets there between the 8th pole and the

16th pole and then strides away and he pulls away.

So that was a big performance coming off the maiden victory.

We'll ask Brad about that, about why he made that choice to go

into this race. Obviously it was the right

choice, but it was just impressive.

He was one that you and I did a show earlier in the day where I

kind of mentioned I felt like this horse was going under the

radar. I felt like people weren't

talking about him much. Yeah, he floated up in the odds

and and I mean, he he ran huge. So this is one of those ones

where, you know, you mentioned did we see the Derby winner

yesterday or two days ago? Did we see the Derby winner?

This is one where I'm like, I'm not sure because I need to see

more from this horse because I, you know, he's still new to the

Derby trail. I need to kind of see how he

trains leading up to it. But what if he ends up running

well in the Derby? If he ends up winning the Derby

off that performance in the Ruby, I won't be surprised.

We've been touting for weeks how successful the Ruby has been in

recent years. So I would not be at all

surprised if he's a big player. Yeah, especially in recent

years, we would think think of that Louisiana Derby, the added

distance the, you know, the the Providence of running in a in a

historic race like the Louisiana Derby.

But it's really it's been the Ruby of those two races that's

been far more predictive of high level success sees the great

last year. Of course 2 fills couple years

back we get the winner and rich strike.

Of course it it, it has been a weirdly predictive race for good

success. Out of those top finishers, who

do you like the most? And, and I mean, obviously,

let's move Gambit out of the way.

He's he's, we know what he is. You think Mohawk could take a

step forward? Flying Mohawk.

I think he could take a big step forward.

I do see that. I think he's still developing.

You got to remember he's only run before this once this entire

year. You broke the rate.

You broke the news over the weekend that he will, in fact,

try the Derby. Yeah.

That right now the plan definitely is.

I'm sure you know, there's that's small possibility that

you know, he could maybe end up in the American turf.

But talking to Jason Wurf and the other connections after the

race, I'd say it's slim to none that they are not going to be in

the Derby. They definitely sound like the

turf next on Blood. Horse.com.

Exactly. But yeah, it definitely sounds

like they're going to be there. He ran huge.

I think there's definitely still room for improvement for him.

Whether that's going to be on the dirt, we'll wait, wait and

see. You know, pedigree definitely

points towards the turf. So whether he's going to be big

in those races down the line in New York like the Belmont Derby,

the Saratoga Derby and those kind of races, we'll see.

But you know, we all thought this with Animal Kingdom about a

decade or so ago, that he'd never run on the dirt before and

he was fine with it. So we'll see sometimes, maybe

this first chance on the dirt, maybe that'll end up being the

right call. Correct, right, and we all

assume that we know everything about a three-year old before we

actually let them get into that. That was our racing review.

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See who blossoms next at the OBS Spring Sale April 15 through 18.

And a man I'm sure has been to the OBS sale many times and we

will welcome him in now is trainer Brad Cox joins us here

on Blood Horse Monday. They're driving back from

Louisiana. Are you in the car, Brad?

And how you know you're ruining this for me because I have a

joke with Brad Sean you don't know about.

Whenever I interview young Brad Cox, I ask him, where are you

and how far are you from a horse?

I have a feeling you're very far from a horse.

I'm very far from a horse right now.

I'd rather be, you know, born right now than doing what I'm

having to do driving back. But things are going well.

How far into the drive are you? Nearly home, so that's.

How about that on the horse? Yeah, that.

Was glad you could have an early start.

Well, hey, you had a heck of a Saturday and we wanted to have

you on because of that. So First off, congratulations.

Hopefully everyone came out. Well, let's go ahead.

We'll start with the fun stuff, man.

You get, I just, you know, you get a final gambit, you get this

kind of run. I'm not going to lie, Brad, I

saw you turn your phone up a little bit so you can watch that

stretch run again. I'm sure you're not tired of

that. Just kind of walk us through the

decision making process to end up in that race, but also what

you think his path is going for. Look, I mean, you know, I

thought his last run when he broke his maiden was impressive

given the fact he raised very greenly.

You know, he he was a, he's a horse that, you know, I, I

don't, I think the best is yet to come.

I really do believe that he's he's a nice horse that obviously

distance isn't going to be an issue out of his last run.

I pulled up his figure like the next day and I was like, wow,

they didn't really give me much credit for that race in regards

to the numbers. And I thought, well, and that's

kind of discouraging, but you know, the horse was doing well.

We were either going to end up in the in the Ruby or the rush

away. I actually got a call late

morning saying he wasn't going to be able to, he was going to

be an AE in the Rep Ruby and then got it.

And then I was going to move him to the the the rush away.

And then I got another call back saying he'd be in the body of

the race. So we decided to go in the body.

He obviously drew a decent post and he ran big.

He's put two big, big runs back-to-back from well off the

pace. And once again, distance is in

an issue, a little bit of an unknown with the dirt, but, you

know, we breezed him on it last fall and and LED us to start him

on the turf, if that gives you any indication as to what he

showed me on the dirt. But, you know, horses do change.

They do improve. And, you know, it might be this

horse back last fall just didn't have a tremendous amount of

early speed. But, you know, he's always

closed well in his races and, you know, excited about what he

was able to do on Saturday. Now in his second race, he kind

of sat a little bit closer to the pace.

His other three starts he's been kind of in that further back

towards the back of the pack. Is that just his running style

that he prefers to be back there or is it just the way that those

races have unfolded? Is that what you kind of see him

doing? I think so, though, the one day,

the one time he was somewhat forward at at Turfway, he was

really ranking the post parade too.

He was just kind of jumping all over the pony wasn't acting

quite right. Like I said, he he's a he was,

he's a green horse. I mean, he he's, he's mentally,

he's not there yet. And, and I think that's a good

thing for his development moving forward.

I do. I really do believe he's he's

got a big future and once again, distance isn't an issue and he's

he's just figuring it out. I mean, he's a young colt, just

happens to four runs and I think you'll improve as the year goes

on. You mentioned you were going to

be OK having to run him in the rush away.

Obviously the 100 points qualifies him for the Derby.

If he happens to go in the rush away, do you think he's more of

like an American turf type of horse?

Go ahead. Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, no doubt. I mean, he wouldn't, he wouldn't

would be no Derby talk at all. The the rush away was just if he

didn't get into the Ruby and and we knew that that was was

something that that could could happen.

So yeah, Now, look, it was one of those things where it was a

decision that went back and forth.

You know, I was on the phone with the racing office

throughout the morning trying to figure out where we were going

to end up. And, you know, obviously we

ended up in the right spot. I mean, we could eat very

easily. You know, I told him if we draw

13 or 14, I don't think I want to be in the the body or I don't

want to be an AE because I don't want to break from the 12 hole,

which I'm not sure would have mattered a whole lot with him,

with, you know, him not having a tremendous amount of early

speed. So, you know, it's, it's, it's,

it's kind of crazy how things work out.

This is another incident where things just kind of fell into

place and it worked out well for us.

And here we are. I don't want to assume so I will

ask explicitly, but I assume you are training him up to the

Derby, yes? I look, I think that's the plan

right now. We're going to talk it over with

the Prince Khaled's family, the Jedmont team, and you know that

they'll, they'll make the final call.

But but I, I would, I would certainly have to think as long

as he trains well over the next, you know, 5 1/2 weeks, that

would probably be the play. Well, how has he come out of the

race in those first couple days and when do you expect him to

make the move down to Churchill Downs?

He he came out of in great. He came out of in great order.

We're probably going to ship him over in the next few days and,

you know, once again, start preparing him on the dirt and,

you know, see how things go. You know, a a few minutes after

the Jeff Ruby, the Louisiana Derby happens.

And of course, life is funny, Brad, you happen to be in

Louisiana. Not at the Ruby, of course.

Take us through. You know, John Hancock comes

around the the turn. He's near the lead.

Obviously Bill overtakes him there, but you've got another

one, an instant replay. Who's coming down the stretch.

How did you take in that race and how did you think your two

runners ran there? John Hancock ran well, you know

he he didn't give in. Like you said, Bill kind of

overtook him while he overtook Bill late in the race to to end

up 4th. You know, it takes some pressure

from another horse early in the race, but overall I think it was

a solid run. I think he's going to be able to

build off of it. Not sure where we're going to

land with him. He's actually on his way to

Churchill today. You know, we're getting getting

home, get him to Churchill and see how he's doing moving

forward. You know, obviously we've got

several 100 point races to run yet, so you know he's in now.

I don't know how things will play out.

Probably be on the outside looking in over the next couple

weeks, but you know, we'll just kind of see how things go.

It's a replay. I thought put in a good run, you

know, he was right, right behind the the winner made a good

stretch run and ended up third. You know, I thought I was, I was

proud of the effort. I thought, I thought he was a

horse was kind of flying under the radar a little bit.

He showed up and he ran his race.

You mentioned the points of the way that that sits right now, so

take us into the mind of a trainer.

You have two horses. You have John Hancock, who's got

35 points. You have Instant Replay who has

25. Usually 40s considered that safe

zone to qualify for the race. So how do you analyze what to do

next with them? You were successful with Tawny

Port a couple years ago, running him back in the Lexington Stakes

to get those 20 points for the winner.

Do you look at an option like that?

Do you sit out and hope that the points just kind of work out as

people drop out? Are you not even thinking about

the Derby with these two anymore?

Are you looking at other race options in general?

Just kind of take us into the mind of a trainer coming out of

the race. Indiana Derby.

I think, you know, those two, they came out of Louisiana

Derby. I think I'll nominate them to

the Lexington. Not sure they'll end up there.

I think, you know, at the beat. I'm not trying to hide anything,

but I just want to see how they come out of it first and

foremost. And you know, kind of let him

train for a week or so. And if, you know, they gave us a

feeling that they were ready to run back and I guess it would be

3 weeks, you know, we, we would, we would entertain that and, and

consider it. And you know, if the Lexington

made sense for those two horses, you know, it is a short stretch

race. It's a mile and a 16th at

Keenan. So, you know, I'm not certain

that would be in the best interest of instant replay.

But we've won the race I think 4 times and I think we won it

various ways between Tawny Port and Owen Dale and I think Encino

First Mission. But you know, it is a race where

I do think as a rule you want to be somewhat forwardly placed or

close. So you know, we'll we'll see if

it makes sense for one of the two there.

He. Is sorry, sorry.

You're totally fine, Tray. Brad Cox with us.

This is Blood Horse Monday. Sean Collins.

We were both hanging out. But with you, not all bad of

course, at the fairgrounds on Saturday.

Good cheer does what good cheer does.

How did she come out? And I don't think I need to ask,

but I assume we'll see her on the 1st Friday in May.

Yeah, very, very good. She's she's she's, she's all

class. I say it all the time.

She is. She's very easy to be around,

very easy to train. Just classy.

Philly does her job and enjoys it and always puts in a big

effort and, you know, six starts, 6 runaway wins, you

know, the further the better. You know, we just got to, you

know, keep her happy, healthy over the next 5 and 5 1/2 weeks

and hopefully a good trip in the Oaks and she's going to be very

tough. Look, you've been around some of

the very best Phillies in our sport between shooters, the

Devil, Monomoy girl, all these kinds of trainees.

At this point in her development, is she on that kind

of level? Are we talking about that kind

of Philly? Yeah, I mean, I said the other

day someone asked me, they said have you had a Philly start out

six for six? And I I don't think so.

I don't think Monomoy lost. I believe it was her fourth

start by head felt like she was the best Philly, but she didn't

get it done. But yeah, I mean, look, she's

she's been very, very good. I mean, obviously we need to win

some grade ones with her before we start, you know, comparing

her to to some of those champions and and, you know,

even immersive last year started 4 for four and, you know, she's

still undefeated. We're going to have her back in

the barn very soon. So, you know, she definitely

ranks up there. But you know, to say she's one

of the best we've had, you know, obviously we need to add some

grade ones to her resume and looking forward to giving her a

chance because we definitely think she's that caliber.

Well, coming up this weekend, you're going to have a couple of

good horses running, including Tappan St. in the Florida Derby.

How has he been since finishing second in the Holy Bowl Stakes?

How's he been training and what do you think about his chances

coming into the race this weekend?

Well, I love him. I think he's a very good colt.

I'm excited about, you know, him stepping up, you know, I think,

you know, we, we've given Tom since the Holy Bull.

I shouldn't say we've given time.

We just haven't run him. He's been training right along

that Payson park but you know we're excited about giving him a

chance. He's a good cult.

I really believe that works have been very steady gallop out

great. You know looking forward to to

the challenge. It is very good group of Colts

and you know I'm fine with the post and went back and watch

Forte this morning went back and watch fierceness from last year.

They both broke from the outside.

I'm not, you know, and if he wants to be, wants to win a

race, he's got to overcome the post.

And they they did, they overcame outside post.

And we're hopeful that, you know, he can get a good trip and

he'll be right there. You've had a larger presence in

Florida this year being at Payson Park.

You've been running well at Gulfstream, at Tampa.

Just what went into the decision this year to kind of keep more

horses on the racing scene down there.

Just, you know, needing a place to, you know, a lot of good, a

lot of good horses in the barn and just needing a place to

winner, you know, a good a good race track that that you know,

not no setbacks with the weather.

That's probably the biggest thing.

And, you know, thought about it last summer, made the move and

it was, well, trainer. Brad Cox with us here on Blood

Horse Monday. Sean Collinsley, you're Beau

hanging out with you. We will wrap up.

You're fine. We'll wrap up right here with

this one here. Brad, you've made the decision

to send flood zone after a win in the Gotham over to the UAE

Derby went into what went into that process.

Is this just another, you know, the spoils of riches in your

Bard of just needing another 100 point prep spot?

Or was this more than a technical with your ownership

group there? No, look, it's the owners.

They they wanted to give it a shot and I'm all for it.

The horse made it over there yesterday to to buy to to buy in

great shape. I mean, looks fantastic to get a

good work Friday morning and I'm excited about this horse.

He's he's really, you know, he's obviously unproven around two

turns, but he gave us every indicate all the right signs.

His last work and his last race that he stretch out.

He's got a great mind and he's he's doing well.

I think pedigree wise he can handle the two turns and

hopefully he'll come out of it good order and we'll fly him

right back to Churchill. All right, Brad.

Well, welcome back to Kentucky. Thanks.

So much for joining us on Blood Horse Monday.

We will talk with you soon. Thanks, Brad.

All right. Thank you.

Bye. There you go.

Brad Cox joining us here on Blood Horse Monday, literally

getting out of the car. How about that?

Just that poor guy driving back from Louisiana.

The reminders of this, of this sport that folks have to go

ahead and and travel like they do around the different parts of

the country. But lots of good info there for

sure. Sounds like everybody's on the

Derby trail, which is great. But it's interesting too, to

hear a guy of that level, right, that caliber with that kind of,

you know, selection of three-year olds, etcetera,

horses, you barn, whatever you want to call it, a horse like

John Hancock and those like, we don't quite know what we're

going to do next. Yeah, it's just the the puzzle

that is trying to put together all those pieces.

Yeah. And, you know, just kind of

sitting back and let's see what happens the next couple of

weeks. Let's see where we stand on the

points board when this is all said and done.

You know, you have a couple of races where to guarantee that

there's going to be a couple more horses that get added to

the leaderboard. Then you also look at a race

like the Santa Anita Derby where journalism and Citizen Bowl are

already kind of clinched. And so if they take the top two

spots, he's probably not going to get bumped down any at all

from that race. So, you know, you kind of wait

and see where it goes, but just kind of keep an eye on the

horse. If it looks like you might need

the Lexington, you have them nominated there and just to give

them that shot. If it looks like you might not

need the Lexington, then they're already kind of halfway trained

for the Kentucky Derby at that. Yeah, he just won with Encino,

right. I mean, so it's not, it's a race

that he's won with. He knows how to have horses

ready for that. That Lexington he mentioned that

shorter stretch, which is interesting that he pointed that

out because I I've always thought that was that was

idiomatic's favorite spot was that mile and a 60 inch get the

lead got a float for him around those corners.

Really, really loved it. You know, it's interesting the

the the point talk this time of year lines up with when we talk

about the the bubble in college basketball, for example, and

that Derby bubble is a real thing, right?

I mean, it is legitimate. You know, gosh, it was like 38

points was the cut a couple years ago and someone had 36 and

they were running into Lexington and they needed to finish 4th

and they finished fifth and all these kinds of things.

It does make for a very, very exciting time of year.

Sean Collins, Luger Beau hanging out with you.

Let's break it. Frank eggs.

And as we move along with Blood Horse Monday here, appreciate

Frank jumping in with us here. And man, oh man, you've got a

bunch going on here. But the April magazine is out.

Yeah, it feels like the March issue just came out.

But big, big things come fast this time of year, I suppose.

And just like just like the racing season, I feel like the

magazine on the racing side is heating up this time of year.

So really good time of year to to be a subscriber and take that

deep dive. I mean as I said previously,

these are kind of our long form stories.

They end up in the magazine which is print version and

online virtual version as well. Yeah, so Frank, of course,

working on the magazine and all those other things.

Remember to bloodhorse.com, you can check out all of the great

coverage over there as well. You've got Cold Battle on the

cover, which is how I know Frank is actually in charge.

Anyone else? Jesus, who's on the cover?

I'm not sure, but if it's Cold Battle, I know it's Frank.

I know you have that picture. There it is.

What a beautiful thing. And, and, and I know we joke on

this show, Frank, you know Sean and Frank about, hey, get the

paper edition, get that thing, man.

We were at Turfo on Saturday. I went to the I went to the

window every time. Yeah, right.

You get a teller at the window, you get that, you know that

track experience, Frank. So cool to be able to actually

hold the magazine and actually get it.

Yeah. And then the landing on the

cover is still an honor for so, so many people in the industry.

And we appreciate that Cole battle.

This is him winning the rebel States and and Eric Mitchell has

a terrific why it works column on on the breeding of Cole

battle, which that that's a regular feature in the magazine.

You get to read about the breeding, what went in to to

these top horses. You know, it was always a a

thought, you know, somebody, some breeder had and and then

you see it take form like this. It's a spectacular feeling for

those breeders. And you have right at the top

there a piece about about jockey Flavia.

And Pratt obviously wins the Eclipse Award last year, knocks

Iran out of that spot that he had held.

I think it was 308 years in a row.

Is that right? Something like that, Maybe three

O 9 three. 10, something like that.

But obviously Flavia and Pratt moves to the top of the sport

last year. As far as as jockey, certainly

with the graded stakes numbers and all those things, when you

start talking names like Pat May and Jerry Bailey and those kinds

of names, you know you're in those very, very exclusive kinds

of spots. I'm sure this was a cool piece

to work on. Well, first of all, it's a Jay

Huffney piece. So, you know, Jay could write

about a new sewer system in Lexington and I very likely read

it. He's as good as they get.

So when you put Jay on a story about a jockey, which if you

follow Jay over the years, he loves to do stories on riders.

And Flavian, of course, is at the top of his game right now.

So it's just really puts the reader behind the scenes and and

really lets you see what drives him day in and day out.

And Q&A in there with the new Jockey Club Chairman as well,

Everett Dopson. Who got to do that one and

what's that one all about? Yeah, let's say Lenny Schulman

put that together. Lenny did a terrific feature on

Everett a few years ago. So we came back with the Q&A

after it was announced that Everett would take over as

chairman of the Jockey Club, which will begin in August.

And Everett's Oklahoma guy, he's a co-owner of the Oklahoma City

Thunder, who the other day I heard someone picking them to

win the NBA Finals this year on top.

I don't usually pick up on the NBA till the playoffs start.

That's kind of my level. But they're having a great year,

it sounds like. And he's having a great year.

He's an owner, breeders had a lot of success mastery and he's

he's also served on a lot of the industry boards and panels, the

larger Breeders' Cup board, the TOBA board, the American Graded

Stakes Committee, which is so important to rating our top

races. So it's really looks like it'll

be an exciting week. You know, we hate to lose Stuart

Janney, but he's retiring and really feels like Everett's

looking forward to this new challenge.

I feel like people in Stuart Janney's generation just don't

retire. I know it's stuck, so it's nice

to see someone actually stop working.

He's. Gonna he's gonna actually go and

enjoy life. Go relax.

Yeah, just go. It's OK, by the way.

Just go, go, go hang out. Yeah, for sure.

Frank. Eggs are those for Blood Horse

and bloodhorse.com and of course the magazine as well.

MarketWatch out. Obviously, we're talking OBS

presenting this episode as well. What's going on when we get to

the spray? What are we doing in MarketWatch

this month? So, so Eric Mitchell's taking a

deep dive look at the workouts and and Nicole Stafford helped

out on that as well. Actually, she might have been

the writer. I need to double check that.

But yeah, it's just looking at what those workout teams,

workout times mean ahead of a sale.

And they just like look at how those horses have turned out.

So it's a really good information for sure.

All right. And of course, we have to ask

about the What's going on here section of the magazine as well.

Rick, I ask you the important question.

What's going on here? Yeah, I mean just the longest

running column at Blood Horse and I just am honored to Penn it

these days. Most of them these days once in

a while we have a guest rider do some of them.

But you know this month it's just really a chance to stand

back a little bit and look at the progress that has occurred

on equine injuries. I mean, it's, it was a record

year for equine safety in 2024. Since they really started

tracking these numbers 15 years ago, This is the best number.

And it's less than half of what the rate was 15, just 15 years

ago. I mean, it's always been a rare

occurrence, but now it's twice as rare as what it was just 15

years ago. And I mean, I, I can't think of

a sport in the world that has cut its injury rate in half in

15 years. So it's a huge accomplishment

that didn't occur randomly, just a lot of people put a lot of

time, a lot of money, a lot of investment in this to make it

happen. And to see it happening and

happening. It's really great for the sport.

And I know there's more progress on the horizon.

You know, there's, there's new way new even more detailed looks

at everything that goes on a race to just define any trend,

any small trends that are out there that can be improved.

So it's really exciting to see that the industry's made this

progress. Well, and it's so exciting to

see and I, you know, I get to hear these interviews and once

in a while I get to I get to host them with the folks, you

know, maybe at the University of Kentucky, wherever it might be

that are working on these things all the time.

And the level of sophistication of this technology is stunning.

The number of movements per second they can they can detect.

And if a horse is slightly off in its gate compared to last

time it worked out. I mean, it is really frank a

substantial move with, you know, we talk about analytics and

other sports, the ability to analyze these workouts in a

physical way with horses. It's going to change completely

what we do. Yeah, just, I mean, we've seen

rule changes. I think getting anabolic

steroids out of racing was a huge thing.

That was, if you look at it, that was one of the biggest

improvements from year to year after that occurred.

That's been huge. The pre race veterinary exams

are just at an all time level and a lot of it starts with

those vets have unprecedented information in their hands to

begin with. So they really know where to

focus their efforts as they go through that and it's making a

difference. You know, once once early on in

all of this, it was determined there's no silver bullet.

Unfortunately, there's not like a single cause of in general,

what's catastrophic breakdowns. There's not a single cause of

that. So when it was determined that

there are this multi factorial, you really had to attack this

from a lot of different angles and the industry's done that.

So it's really a big accomplishment for sure.

And, and it's a rare subset of all this is cardiac incidences

where unfortunately horses perish.

But now they're digging more into that.

And I think they have, I think there's a real chance they make

progress on that as well. That's been a little bit

elusive. So they're turning their focus

there because it's an opportunity to make further

improvements. I know that if they can do the

work on the joints and the legs of horses that they've done,

they can certainly apply that to the chest of horses.

We see it now in soccer. Those guys wear those heart

monitors almost looks like a like a, like a support system

for their for their chest. But it has the the heart

monitors. And I'd love to think that we

could do that for horses as well when they're working out,

whatever it might be. Because, yeah, if you can detect

from workout to work out that there's an arrhythmia or

something different going on with an equine athlete,

certainly we can move it in the right direction with that.

We always close with Frank. Frank eggs for bloodhorse.com.

Of course, with your NTRA poll and who you've got on the top

this week. Reluctant.

It felt like Torpedo Anna at the top last week, but where are you

at this? Yeah, that the overall poll I

kept Torpedo Anna in there, newcomer in there, Touch upon A

Star. Absolutely.

I mean, it was the horses run really good numbers and

obviously he had his things his way that day, but he went out

and did it. You know, he he went out and

beat, you know, Sierra Leone is one of the top horses and the,

you know, breeders got classic winner.

So it was his day. I'm sure there'll be other days,

but had definitely had to reward that performance.

It was something to see by the Louisiana brand.

How? Do you how did you go forward

with Sierra Leone? Because I that'll be interesting

where they have to place. It How do you analyze Sierra

Leone's performance? Was it just him coming in off

the layoff? Was it the fact that the race

just didn't really set up for him?

Where do you see where that ranks?

I mean, I have not interviewed the the connections on any

level, so this is just me speculating from far.

I mean, it just probably seemed like he needed a race and it

was, you know, once it was a short field like that, it you

know, it made it makes it a little bit difficult because you

don't know that you're going to get that pace.

Touch upon A star is very fast early.

I mean you just look at his performances over to you.

However you want to watch it by you know, by viewing his runs or

just looking at numbers. He consistently gets out there

front and and if nobody goes with him, he's a dangerous.

If somebody does go with him, he's dangerous, but if nobody

goes with him lookout, he's going to be tough to catch.

You know, their goals are going to be toward the end of the year

Breeders' Cup classic, obviously, So it's not like they

had to come out there and absolutely had to win that race.

You know, they they have more time than a three-year old.

So I'm I'm sure every you know, they'll look at the horse and if

everything's right with the horse, I I think he'll still I'm

still have his day. I mean it's still finished on

the board. It I mean, he was a huge

favorite, but frankly the horse doesn't win a whole lot.

I like that was a little bit thought he was a little over bat

Frank, frankly, just because of the situation, you know, and a

mile and a quarter race where he's guaranteed to get pace,

it's a different story. But you know, I, I think he

comes back fine. Yeah, it's interesting because

we heard from the connections. Oh, he just didn't love

Saratoga. Yeah.

Guess where he's going to have to race this summer.

I mean, it's just, it's really interesting.

But he doesn't, you know, the other thing that he doesn't have

is the trip to a Saudi or to a UAE type of race.

He didn't do those those trips. So just this, OK, he hits the

board. It's not a great, you know,

vintage Sierra Leone kind of performance.

I think he's set up to be at least work out wise and and and

calendar wise just fine the rest of the year, yeah.

I would think so. Yeah, I think that'll.

That's where I'm at as well. Yeah.

I think he'll be OK moving forward.

And frankly, he'll run into, like Frank said, bigger fields

with more pace up the front that he can run into, etcetera,

etcetera. So I think he'll be fine going

there. Saudi crowned back this week.

Didn't get to talk about him with Brad.

We wanted to let him get out of the car and get back to his

house. But that might be one that ends

up in the NCRA pole for Frank Eggs next week.

When we will talk to him next Monday, I want two more 100

pointers in the bag. Do you think your cold battle

gets it done? I know you're high on him.

I I kept him atop the three-year old pole.

I'm still, I'm there with him. He feels like a horse of destiny

to me. We'll see I I have journalism

sovereignty 2 and three very impressive as well and they're

knocking on the door for sure Citizen bowl 4 and I I put this

task again at 5 off of that, off of that win.

You know, he he certainly did it.

The numbers aren't quite there like with some of these other

ones, but he he definitely likes the distance, which that's

always a big question with these horses.

So good. Good to see for for him.

Did you take much from the Ruby? I mean, it's always hard to

making that. How are these horses going to

trans, you know, transition from the all weather surface to the

dirt. But yeah, I put that horse.

So where did I put him? I put him 10th.

So, you know, I had him crack the crack.

The top 10 for. Sure.

Yeah, the distance ain't the question with him, right?

I mean, that's at least a real positive.

I mean, he he probably he probably ran close to an another

half furlong as wide as he was. So I mean that that's something

it's always hard for me to judge from this synthetics to dirt,

though. I'll tell you one thing that'll

be key is how he works at Churchill that I'll be paying

close attention to that. I did.

I was lucky enough to land on Animal Kingdom his year and and

that was a big part of it is. I really liked how that horse

ran on every surface and then the workout that he had, I think

it was 8 days before the Derby. It was enough for me.

I was like this, this horse is going to bring the same game.

So if you get a chance to get to the track and watch that workout

or I know Churchill's really good at getting those workouts

out there where we we can watch him now.

I would definitely tune into that and see how he looks.

There you go. All right, he's Frank.

Ganks. Find him over at bloodhorse.com

and of course with the magazine as well.

Impress your friends. Get get Blood Horse delivered to

your house. How about that?

Impress your friends. Is that the line we want to use?

Impress your. Friends, I think so.

I would be impressed if I showed up and you had it.

I agree with Sean Collins. All right, Frank, we'll talk to

you next week. Thanks buddy.

Thanks guys. All right, there you go.

Frank Ganks. He has the the beautiful library

and all the things over there at Blood Horse and bloodhorse.com,

of course, for all of the great things here with our friends

that Blood horse. All right.

We always do the previews here and we are deep in the fun part

of the Derby season where we get horses.

If you win, congratulations. We'll see you here at Louisville

in just a couple of weeks. Are you going to the Arkansas

Derby this weekend? I always ask you this question

because I imagine you've been to Oak Lawn, but you, you still,

you're one of these guys. You don't mind being on the road

for 8 hours? No, I don't.

Especially if you're driving to a Kentucky Derby prep.

Drive back is not as fun unless the race is.

Already open. You can hear that Brad's voice

today. It's just like, no, I'm.

I'm dealt with this crap. Yeah.

But yeah, it looks like I'm not still actually not still 100%

decided, but I probably will. Be there.

OK, Sorry I. Would assume on.

The Arkansas Derby and the Florida Derby, of course, the

Arkansas Derby, some recent winners.

We were talking right before the show, of course, between Mystic

Dan and of course, the Triple Crown winner himself, an

American Pharaoh. But the Florida Derby itself,

man, I think what, 28? Historical.

Absurdly high number, of course, made the most recent winner to

come out of that prep as well. But let's talk Arkansas Derby,

and who's going to be in that one?

In fact, Cold Battle will be the favorite, almost certainly.

And by the way, a deserved favorite.

But. Did you see?

I think he's third choice on the morning line?

That surprised me. You got Cornucopian as the

favorite on the morning line, and then they had Sandman above

him. So I was just going to ask, is

there a chance we get to the point this weekend where

actually he's not the favorite because, you know, we've got a

shipper from Bob Baffert who has a huge speed figure, odd debut,

this kind of stuff. You just answered my question.

Can we get break eggs favorite horse at like 4:00 to 1:00 on

Saturday? There's a possibility.

I know a lot of people really seem to be latching on to

Cornucopia, and the thing that I think makes Cornucopia and a

little bit more unique from the typical typical Baffert horse

running here at Oaklawn is the fact that he's already ran at

Oaklawn. His maiden breaking win was

here, so you already know that he likes to track, which usually

the Baffords do anyway, but they love Arkansas.

But yeah, that gives you just a little bit extra bit of

confidence. The part that concerns me is

that race was 6 furlongs. Now he's stretching out to a

mile and an eighth second time out.

You know, it's not impossible, but when you see a proven horse

like Cole Battle, when you see a horse like Sandman, who I feel

like has been crying out for distance, who's been making

those late runs, when you see just some of these more proven

horses and especially with Cornucopian breaking from the

far outside, I'll be going against him.

I don't know how you feel about that, but I just, I, I was

surprised to see Cole Battle third choice on the morning

line. Remarkable.

I I do think with Cornucopian this feels like a leave out at

your own peril for sure because it's Baffert.

The other part is the giveaway of Baffert horses for me is are

there timed 5 and 6 for a long works at Santa Anita for a Derby

contender. To me this is the Bob Baffert in

the forum giveaway and the answer for him is yes.

Yep. So he's working as far as his

only race. That's an incredible thing to

say. But when you see Baffert do that

5-6 kind of he thinks he has something.

I think you leave him out of your tickets in at your own

peril or that you're trying to get value.

And I'm not mad at you if you're trying to do that.

Who is ahead of him then as a publisher and and Cornucopia

then? Well.

Publisher I think is really interesting as I thought.

For sure. You know, he hasn't really

gotten the cleanest of trips in both of his attempts at the

Derby trail. He was seventh in the Southwest.

He got moved up to 6th. The horse that impacted him that

day that got disqualified was American Promise.

You see how he came back and ran a couple weeks ago in the

Virginia Derby. And then, you know, also towards

the beginning of the race of the Rebel, he kind of got shuffled

back a little bit. He we talked earlier about how

that track was kind of the track's been playing kind of

close to the pace and a lot of these Derby preps at Oakland, he

had to come from way out of it because of that.

So I do think if you're looking for Price, I think he may might

get forgot about a little bit. I know a lot of people were on

him in the last race. He runs 4th.

So maybe they're getting off in this race.

Maybe this is the one. You just saw Asmussen do it with

Testastic this week, so why not do it with Publisher as well?

But yet the two ahead of Cold Battle are Cornucopian and

Sandman on the morning line. What do you think about Sandman

coming in this time? I'm not mad about the Sandman

part of this. And this I think is as much just

that he did put in a good effort in the Rebel and he was right

there. I think people forget with with

how Speed King won the race, we forget that Sandman really did

close into it. Yeah.

And he was right there at the end of the Southwest.

That's exactly right. After that disastrous start.

Correct. And so I think he's right there

if Jose Ortiz can get him a slightly better.

It's interesting they're moving to Jose Ortiz away from

Christian Torres. I think that part's actually

very interesting. And so that to me maybe trying

to a little bit different tactics, because if you remember

in that rebel, he was off the screen behind the the the the

pack and he still finishes third, almost wins the race,

frankly. And so I look, Cold Battle's

great and I'm not worried about Cold Battle.

I know what effort I'm going to get from him.

He's going to show up, he's going to run, correct, do his

best. Yeah, that's right.

I know what I'm getting from him.

It's a Sandman that I don't know.

Is he bored coming out of the gate?

Is he? Does Jose Ortiz get him more

interested in the race? Is that the change?

Is that why we're trying something different here?

Jose's been a whole aboard the horse.

In fact, he ran in the Iroquois back in September.

But I I think they're trying to make a change because they are

not happy with what happened last time.

They just too much work to. Do I could see that?

And also, you know, you think about the the musical chairs of

jockeys in the Kentucky Derby where everybody's trying to find

their Derby horse right now coming out of those last two

races. It's probably an opportunity for

Jose Ortiz where if he doesn't really feel like he's settled on

a Derby horse, let's try and get on one before we get to that

point where we just kind of pick up who's left and who still

needs a rider. And let's talk our way onto this

horse for the final prep race. So I do think that's a very

interesting move as well. Jose's coming off a fantastic

meet down there at fairgrounds and you know he can ride

anywhere. Underrated story of 2024 was him

moving his tack and just the absolute gangbuster year he had.

Yeah, he just a spectacular, phenomenal.

He's been doing very well since moving out of New York.

And, you know, the fact that he kind of picks out this horse,

you know, obviously I don't know the conversations that happened,

but if they went out and they seeked this horse, I think

that's a positive sign that he thinks this is really a good

one. I'm interested in a horse that's

trying a full two turns for the second time here at Oaklawn, and

that's Monet's magic. This is a horse that early on

debut Ben Colebrook thought could go two turns and debuted

him that way. Or he went 7 furlongs in Ellis

and then after that immediately moved to two turns.

This horse, it took him a while to figure it out.

Luan Machado in town to ride one last time he was aboard.

That was at Churchill over that mile on the 16th course we see

all the time since horses won at Churchill.

Finished a decent 5th in the Southwest.

If he can take a step forward, Son of good magic.

I think he's an interesting one to watch.

They gave him a little bit of time off here so that the Derby

would be second in the form cycle.

If he does qualify. I don't know that he wins, but I

think he can absolutely hit the board, get enough points to get

the derp here. Well, you look at his maiden

victory at Churchill Downs. I'm back in November, 2 of the

horses behind and Burnham Square and American Promise.

Yep. So he's got the right running

lines, he just needs to put it all together on the big stage.

I think Monkey's magic is really, really interesting in

that one. We'll head to South Florida.

By the way, I'll have Brian Nadeau, Andre Bowen Co on ESPN

680 and 105.7 on Friday morning if you want to hear from him.

He is the morning line maker, works on the simulcast down

there at Gulfstream Park Mile and an eighth, of course, in the

Florida Derby. One of the great, great

predictors of good success in the Kentucky Derby, return of

the return of sovereignty. And I know that Franco makes it

holding on lots cold battle to be at the top.

I think there's a very good chance that actually next week

he's going to tell us yes, over to you at the top.

Yeah, there's a pretty good chance he saw last time they

didn't really think he was going to win the way, you know, they

were kind of getting in off the layoff the way the track layout

was with the mile on the 16th and he won anyway in the

fountain of view sticks. So the fact that he's coming

back here now, he's going to get the full length of the stretch

that mile and 8th at Gulfstream, It's not going to be that first

wire this time. And so he's going to get be able

to kind of stretch out a little bit more when he's making that

late run. If he was that impressive off

the layoff when he wasn't supposed to win, now he's a

little bit more cranked up. How impressive is he going to

be? It's a great question.

It is a an interesting field as well because you get a Maticot

Rd. We don't always see Baffert's

shipping to South Florida. You know, I joked with with with

Brad earlier in the show about, hey, did you have to ship to the

the Middle East to avoid one of your own horses?

He laughed about it, but I kind of meant it.

But of course, it's a connections driven thing, not a

connections driven here thing. This is just him having a lot of

very, very good horses. What do you think of a Maticot

Rd. in the spot? I like him.

You know, you usually see, I feel like speed usually plays

pretty well with Gulfstream and we, I feel like a lot of times,

especially here in the Florida Derby, we look for OK, now it is

the longer stretch like I just mentioned with sovereignty.

And so we're expecting the closers to really kind of kick

it in, but then it's the horses that are up front that just kind

of hang on for the entirety of that stretch run.

So I think he's going to have a little bit of work cut out from

him. You see a horse like Neo Echos

down on the rail or Neo Equos, not exactly sure.

How to say that one but you? See him down on the rail, he's

going to definitely show some speed, I think from the inside

and it could set up for someone like sovereignty.

But I do think he's got a pretty live shot here.

And Tyler Gaffe, Leone gets the board, you know, he knows

Gulfstream. Very.

That's the thing that I think is really fascinating.

We don't see that Bafford Gafalion thing very often, just

on opposite sides of the Mississippi River essentially,

right? It's just, I do think that's a

big positive is that he knows that course so well.

I remember years ago being at Gulfstream on like a Thursday

and watching every horse on the morning line.

That was a Tyler go from 8:00 to 8:00 to 1:00 to 7:00 to 5:00

just over and over. And so it is interesting to see

him in that spot. You bring up Neo Equos, who's

going to be on the inside and get get the lead.

I imagine that means that Madiket Road and Tappan Street

are probably going to be right there behind him.

Yeah. And then Sovereignty is going to

have to do his running later. So good news for Sovereignty.

He's going to have something to run at, like a lot to run at.

Frankly, bad news. I think Tappan St's ready.

Yeah, it sounded like a second. Brand, he's pretty excited.

Yeah, he sounded. Pretty excited.

Second last out in that holy bowl behind Burnham Square, who

we thought in that race, by the way, ran the best race of the

weekend. Yeah.

OK, so to finish second there first time ever trying two

turns. This horse just fired a bull at

a Payson. I'm just saying I I think he's

ready. I think he's going to be right

there. Blue size is on fire right now.

This sets up in my case that I think he's going to be fine.

I think we're going to have a a three-way finish here in the

Florida Derby between Sovereignty, Tappan St. and

Maticot Rd. I think it's going to be

awesome. I think it's going to be awesome

too. But yeah, I definitely think

Tappan St. has a phenomenal chance in this race.

It could set up perfect for him. You look at a horse like

Sovereignty, too. He's already in in the gate.

So if it's coming down the stretch, you might, there might

be some question, how hard are we really going to push here?

We already know he's in the Derby, doesn't need the points.

So let's just, you know, let's make the run, make sure that

he's all set to go. Could that could potentially

lead to, you know, if a horse like Tappan Street where if he

got gets the jump on sovereignty early and can tackle Madiket Rd.

as they're coming off the turn, I think that gives him a great

shot to win. It's interesting as well because

I think sovereignty's all in on this one and here's why.

I think when you put grade one that is next to a race and the

odor is Godolphin, I think they're cranked.

I think that's just how it works.

And then you hope you win the Derby.

I don't think anyone assumes they're going to win the Derby,

even if they have a horse of the quality of sovereignty.

But if you could pick off a Grade 1, you do it.

That's exactly right. Because remember last year with

Sierra Leone, he ran in Louisiana, Louisiana, Louisiana.

They wanted a grade one. They wanted to be in the

Bluegrass, right? So they got up here and they ran

in the bluegrass for that purpose.

He wins the race, etcetera. I think sovereignty is going to

be totally turned off for this one.

Well then that's going to make the.

Race even more so. There you go.

And a reminder too. We were presented today by our

friends at the OBS sale. They continue to be that 2 year

old. Source 9 graduates from the OBS

April sale have one grade one since races since 2024 just

alone the most race and of course Cavalieri winning that

prestigious beholder mile out West of the April sale will be

held April 15 through 18. The under tack is set for April

6th through 11. Go check them out.

A bunch of great resources and of course you can always check

out the sales part of bloodhorse.com.

Olivia Newton, all the folks, Newman, excuse me all and all

the good folks over there banging away for us here at

Blood Horse and bloodhorse.com. By next week we are going to

know somewhere in the vicinity of probably half the field for

the Kentucky Derby. Yes, that's a pretty cool thing

to be able to see and say. What's that getting close?

We are getting very, very close. Obviously we'll we'll talk

Arkansas at Florida Derbies next weekend.

We'll get Sean's take if he does make the trip, which he will

down, down to Arkansas as well. I'll be at the Wood Memorial the

weekend after. You'll be at the Bluegrass.

And so we'll be able to give our perspectives from those as well.

And then Charlotte and I will be out there for the Lexington as

well, setting up the next couple of weeks before.

And then it's two weeks to the Derby draw.

And then, then I don't see my family for a while.

Yeah, yeah. Starts for me, right?

Right about now, right? Brad mentioned that he's going

to be getting his horses in here probably this week, so that's

the start of me showing up at Churchill every morning at 5:30

for the next. Month.

Yeah, you enjoy that. All right, I'll do radio.

What's nice? Time to you.

Well, there you go, Eshawn Collins.

I blew your bow. This has been another edition of

Blood Horse Monday. Thanks for starting your week

with us. We'll be back next Monday on the

on the the the End of March show here on Blood Horse Monday.

Thanks so much. Have a great rest of the week.

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