BloodHorse Monday 6/30/2025

Ah yes, another edition of Blood Horse Monday.

It's a June 30th. We're almost in July.

My goodness, edition of the program.

Sean Collins, Louie bro, hanging out with you.

I'm up here at Horseshoe Indianapolis ahead of the Grade

3 Indiana Oaks and Derby this coming weekend.

Doing some work with the draw up here as well.

Sean, welcome in. I know you'll be up here.

This is always a fun day of raising.

Oh yeah, I always look forward to Indiana Derby Day every year.

It's one of my favorite race days to go to.

I think we talked about that a little bit when we were up at

Horseshoe Indianapolis back in May.

Just always a fun atmosphere. You always have a big crowd

coming out and it's nice to see kind of the smaller tracks have

their day, their day in the spotlight, which is what Indiana

Derby Day is. Think this will be guess my 5th

Indiana Derby now already so I'm looking forward to that.

I've been going each year since 2021 so can't wait for that and

it was nice to see that you and Frank made it without me last

week. Louis got.

Through OK, a couple of really interesting pieces in there by

the way, John Cat joined us from the Breeders Cup.

We talked, you know, Belmont and what the plans were and what the

the hopes were and, and John went into this whole thing about

on track sight lines and all of the things that they're going to

have for fans. And all I could think, Sean,

was, Oh my gosh, we're actually thinking about on track fans.

My goodness, what a what a what a concept in horses.

It's so nice. To hear it's actually wanting

people to show up into the racetrack, that's pretty cool.

It's about time. I know I'm sitting here in front

of they're getting set up for the the 2nd floor clubhouse here

for Saturday and you can just, I can already feel that energy

they're going to have in here. Just a packed room, lots of

noise, all those things. So yes, nice to see tracks going

for a little more odd track experience.

But look, man, you were not on last week, Frank and I got to

react Monday to the news that Wayne Lucas was going to be out

of training. And now, of course, we get the

news yesterday that, unfortunately, Mr. Lucas has

passed away. And you and I sat down with him

and I posted that photo the Sunday before Preakness, early

morning. You said, hey, man, why don't

you come on out, We'll try to make it work.

And I am now, Sean, incredibly thankful to you because it was

your suggestion to your idea that we go do that.

And then we got to see him, you know, Bob Baffert, stop by after

that. And we got to, you know, hang

out with the two of them, those sorts of things.

And we saw the post from Bob and all these things.

What was your reaction when you got the news yesterday?

You know, it, it was weird 'cause we, it's like we knew it

was coming after the announcement that he was

retiring, you know, And so it was kind of like it just a whole

week of really kind of just taking the time to think back on

his career, think back on what legacy he will end up having.

The really cool thing for me yesterday at Churchill, you

know, after the news dropped, they played my RSD Bottleman the

Bugle or played my old Kentucky home to kind of honor him.

But then it was neat seeing his assistants, Dallas Stewart and

Mike Maker end up winning two of the key stakes races on the day

as well. After that news and hearing them

kind of, you know, tribute their wins to him.

You know, it was a sad day. I unfortunately, I think we may

have mentioned this when we were talking with him a couple couple

weeks ago, but unfortunately was not around for his real peak of

dominance in the 90s. I was born a month after his

last Kentucky Derby win, so I always said maybe I was the

curse as to why he stopped. I also blame you.

Yes, that's right. Yes, but.

But, you know, I've as somebody who grew up, you know, kind of

learning the history of the sport and that was one of the

main reasons why I fell in love with the sport.

Obviously, Lucas was a huge part of that kind of recent history

and an opportunity for me to kind of see one of these

legendary names still in person, still training.

And you know, it was a blessing for me to be able to see him win

the Preakness last year. To be there foresees the great

winning. When I was a tour guide at the

Kentucky Derby museum, seeing him out there every morning,

seeing the general public that doesn't follow racing be like,

Oh my gosh, it's Wayne Lucas. And have him come riding over on

the pony and saying hello. You know, it's experiences like

that that, you know, I'll always remember with him and just how,

you know, me a new a young kid just getting into the industry

from a, you know, a professional standpoint.

Last year when I started here with Blood Horse and him taking

the time to answer my phone calls when I come into his

office, always taking the time to answer my questions.

You know, that's something that, you know, for somebody who's

loved the history of the game to it was really cool for me to

have those kind of experiences. That interview that we did with

him last month, I'll never forget.

That's probably turns out to be one of his last and you know, I

went back and I talked to him and I interviewed him for a

story. I think it was like the Tuesday

after the Belmont, something like that.

And I, there may have been another interview with him after

that. I haven't really seen any other.

I never saw any quotes or stories really about him after I

did that one up until he had stepped away from training.

So it, you know, for me, it's kind of an honor if I was the

last person to kind of do an official interview with him.

That is a big honor. But it just being one of the

last even as a a huge honor for me.

So I'll always cherish that. He had such a legendary career.

It's been great from my perspective, talking to people

during the last week that knew him, hearing, you know, just how

much of an impact he's had on different people.

So it's it's sad news that he passed away.

But you know, it's one of those things where, you know, we've

really now have had a week to really celebrate everything that

he brought to the game, which I think is pretty special.

I remember they a very famous quote from Bear Bryant and he

said retire, I'd croak in a week.

And it is it is a remarkable thing now to think about Wayne

Lucas and I and I think all of us that ever got to even

interact even the way that we did Sean, you know, not in the

the inner circle in the family, whatever else, but just being

around him. I guarantee when he got the

treatment options and they were like, hey, here's what we could

do. And he and I'm sure he thought,

can I, can I go to the bar? Can I go right opponent like can

we go do horse horse racing stuff?

And they said no, he's like, OK, I don't need treatment like we

would like seriously. I think he just thought, you

know, no, this is my life. This is what I've built.

This is all I want to do. I, I, I don't, I don't want to

do that. And, and there's nothing else

that I think he ever wanted to do.

I pointed out with Frank last week to open the show, the the

two men that you mentioned. And if you throw in Todd

Pletcher, the four of those guys, over a billion in purses.

Yeah, I want I want to I want to point out you would have to win

the Stephen Foster 1000 times to get to a billion dollars.

OK. I mean, it's that kind of level.

This is the kind of impact we're talking about on the sport.

And you know, and Sean and other sports that I get to talk about,

you know, on radio and whatever else we talk about coaching

trees and what who get, you know, who's influenced by which

coaches. There's nothing like that in

horse racing. It it it starts and ends with

with Wayne Lucas. And even when you go through it,

you Baffert's not in his training tree.

No. But he kind of is right.

Motivation is there. The golden, you know, from

Quarter Horse to Thoroughbred is there.

So the, the, it's just a small part and obviously Baffert, not

a small part of our our game, but a small part of the Lucas

legacy is. Even though Baffert never

directly worked for him as an assistant or something like

that, he got a ton of motivation from him.

He learned a lot about, you know, frankly, when we think of

Baffert, we think of the sunglasses and the hair and all

the things with him, right? That was Lucas in the 90s,

right? That was Lucas in the 80s.

He was he was Mr. Fashion. He was showing up with it.

You know, he tells that story. He showed up in in Arizona with

the big the big silver bus and all the things.

I mean, like, that's the that's the good stuff, man.

But it it the influence on the next generation of trainer

impossible to overstate with Wayne Lucas.

And and like you said, I I'm sure had we met him 35 years

ago, we would have a very different opinion of him because

by the time you and I really got to interact with him, you know,

he talked about Nick Juarez, he talked about Jaime Torres.

Those are, you know, I'm the coach, you know, I'm supposed to

bring along the next guys and the next, you know, the next,

you know, generation of jockeys, trainers, what have you.

And I don't know if he was always like that.

I got to imagine he had his go to riders in the 90s and you

know, you're winning, you're winning derbys with the best

riders and and it was interesting when you and I got

to, I don't want to say parachute into his career, but

be around him, you know, and just a different, a different

altogether. So I've really enjoyed

especially, like you said, all the stories people have told.

You know, once in a while you'll you'll get a you'll get a flyer

or a text and you know someone has passed away and they'll say

we're going to have a celebration of life.

Many times. Those are very sad occasions.

I think with Wayne Lucas, we're actually going to get a

legitimate celebration of life. And frankly, this whole week has

been a celebration of life and career and influence and all of

the things it has been. It has been in all of the the

melancholy. It's been a very fun week,

frankly, that way to hear the stories, to hear how much he's

meant to people. And so, but I, I hate to, you

know, Johnny, two sides here, but frankly it, it's been sad

for sure, because I'd love to cover them again.

And you know, I had five bucks on his seven horses just in

case. And, you know, it would have

been great to see that. But you know, just at the end of

the day, the influence on the game, the number of people, like

you said, who are, I don't want to call them casuals, but you

know, maybe not around, you know, watching every single

weekend, that kind of stuff. Dwayne Lucas, Oh my gosh, you

know, and and but his also stopping to go over and talk to

people who are on tours. You know, Cody photo who's due

photography, who does all the stuff at Churchill Downs is

going to have a Wayne Lucas special.

Have you heard about this? I've not, no.

OK, so if you if your horse wins and you're a trainer and you

grab a little kid and bring him into the winner's circle, those

pictures are free for everybody. Wow, I got a great.

Idea but why does that exist? Because of the coach, right?

And that's what we're getting at here.

And that's why this is such a celebration of life is that kind

of thing where you you get somebody like the coach who

literally means it and he's bringing along the younger

generation over and over and over again, getting them excited

about those things. So it's it's, it's, it's an

irreplaceable loss. When we talk about one of one,

certainly we're talking about a guy like him.

Yes, exactly. Yeah, yeah.

The industry will never be the same without him.

But man, we were lucky to have him for as long as we did the

impacts that he had on the sport.

Yeah, it's like I said, impossible to measure.

This is Blood Horse Monday. We're presented today by

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Race inclusive, all the races here at Horseshoe Indianapolis

where I'm sitting today ahead of the Grade 3 Indiana Oaks and

Grade 3 Indiana Derby. Those will be coming up on

Sunday. 8 sticks on the card here on Saturday, Sean.

Getting excited about that one. But you and I were at Churchill

over the weekend. We now have the answer to the

question, what was the most consequential race of the year?

And the answer is the Grade 1 Churchill Downs on Derby day at

Churchill Downs, as Nisos and Buchemdano and now Mind Frame

have exited and won grade at stakes afterward.

I don't want to call it a boring race, but the best horse won the

race. Sean.

Sometimes we're hoping for more theatrics and more fireworks in

those kinds of races. But frankly, when the best horse

is the best and your best closer is flying at the end, it's a

great race. It just is.

Yeah, well, even before the race.

I mean, unfortunately I wasn't on the show last week, so I

didn't get to talk about my excitement going into this.

But you look at the field that we had assembled for this race,

you know, it was, you have the obviously the British Cup

Classic winner, the Kentucky Derby winner, the Dubai World

Cup winner. And then on top of that, you

have mind frame, you have first mission, you have you see.

He's won like. Six, Yeah.

So, you know, you had this really good field.

And I remember I was down at the entrance to the tunnel as they

were walking in, Mystic Dan was leading the group into the

paddock. And just like Mystic Dan turns,

then Sierra Leone, then Mind Frame, then first mission, then

hit show. And it was just for me, as you

know, a racing fan, it was just really, really cool.

And I kind of, I started feeling like a little bit of those

butterflies that you feel in those big races, just seeing

them one after another going in it really, it really set up.

There was this, you know, just this amazing feeling in the

paddock leading up to it that we were about to see something

special. And honestly, I think we did

mind frame ran fantastic. He's really shown that he has

developed a lot from remember last year in the Belmont and the

Haskell where he was kind of all over the racetrack as they were

coming down the stretch. He's really shown that he has

grown a lot and is now one of the dominant forces.

You had a really good bounce back race from Sierra Leone

where he he made that early move, looked like maybe he was

going to flatten out but then came back again.

I know you had Brooke Smith on the show last week.

I talked to him after the race and he feels confident that once

we get back to a mile and a quarter he's going to be good to

go, and that was exact how I feel.

I don't know how you feel any other way I'm.

With Yeah, but you had got exactly what you needed from him

to prepare him for the rest of the year.

First mission, he usually isn't on the lead.

He kind of got forced into that spot.

He ran well, he battled Mystic Dan.

He looked like he was going to make that run up the rail.

And maybe he just caught horses that were, you know, running a

little bit better on that day. But all four of them, there was

a certain point in the stretch where I think all four of them I

thought had a shot to win it. So it was, it was a thrilling

race start to finish and it really, you know, sets up for a

tremendous second-half of the year when we're looking at this

classic division moving forward to the Breeders Cup.

It's fun too 'cause we're getting different horses,

different styles in that, in that, you know, the we used to

call it the handicapped division, right?

The older horses in that one. And it's fun because we're

getting the different styles, we're getting those different

kinds of runners. You know, you get that Sierra

Leone where they're begging for 10 for a long as he got a mind

frame who runs a little bit more like in our three-year old

division, a little more like journalism, right?

That kind of style where he's stalking close, good lake kick,

those kinds of things. It, it is, it is a fun group and

it is a very quality group. And so it is nice in a year

Sean, where I was essentially, I try not to be greedy with my

horse racing and I assume the best division was going to be

this, this older dirt male handicapped division.

Then we got this great Triple Crown with a bunch of very fine

horses in it. Now we're going to get these

summer derbies with a bunch of good 3 year olds in it as well.

Just the male side of things. It hasn't been this good in a

long time, Sean. And I'm, I'm thrilled that it

is, frankly. I know it's, it's both sides of

the division too, the three-year olds and the older horses.

You know, it's an, it's an incredible group this year.

I'm so happy we got so many of our top three-year olds from

last year back 'cause you know, we didn't, we didn't see

fierceness in this race. He's going to be a player in

this division going forward. We didn't see why Debarrio in

this division, you know, he's going to be a or in this race,

he's going to be a threat in this division going forward.

So there's more horses out there and then you throw sovereignty

and journalism in on top of them at the end of the year.

And now the Breeders Cup Classic is shaping up to be such a good

race so far. Seems like everybody's staying

healthy. Everybody's staying on the paths

that they've been expecting to be on since the start of the

year. So let's hope that that stays

the case and we end up getting this.

If the field, the way it looks right now, if the field shows up

for the Breeders Cup Classic, everybody that we're expecting

to everybody that was here in the Stephen Foster, all the ones

that we're expecting kind of join them down the line and the

Whitney and races like that. I think it's safe to say we're

going to have probably the greatest Breeders' Cup Classic

field in history if everybody can stay healthy.

It's a big statement. Bud, I know I'm willing to make

that statement though. Yeah, yeah.

But if everybody's healthy, I'm, I'm largely with you, man.

It's going to be hard to beat that group of horses.

Torpedo Anna wins on Saturday. Speaking of horses, that might

end up in the classic, apparently.

Did you hear that comment? Anything to just scream at

everybody. Yes, it is.

But I all right, let's go back before that.

Let's go back before that. How well did she actually run

Sean? You know, it's interesting

because I was, I thought she ran very well.

I remember I was standing with my friend Alex and they hit the

finish line and the first thing I after they hit the finish

line, I turned him and I said that wasn't as impressive as I

thought it should have been. But she got the job done.

And I feel like that was kind of my reaction to her races in

Oakland too, was just, you know, she got the job done.

She knows how to win and she always outside of the Watch

Royenne, where now I'm a firm believer that that issue going

into the first turn was the problem, seeing her bounce back.

But you know, outside of that one race, it's like sometimes

she doesn't always kind of blow the doors off the competition,

but she does what she needs to win.

Now, to be fair, Brian really, I don't think was asking her for

much down the stretch. That was kind of my first

impression of it. But at the same time, if she

ended up out of this race going in against the boys and the

Whitney, which they're not planning to do, but if they did,

I'd still feel confident that she was going to have a chance

to win. Even though I wasn't too

impressed with this win because I think she just shows up and

she runs and she tries to win every single time.

She reminds me a lot in that way of idiomatic where it would

just, you would want to ring someone's neck because she would

never pull away. It was always 1/2 length win if

she won, you know, those sorts of things.

She has kind of that feel to her where it's not, it's like you

said, it's almost, I don't want to use the word Workman like,

but it's it's like she's doing the job rather than, you know,

ready to just absolutely blow people out of the water.

I don't know how good that field was, Sean.

And frankly, I don't care. At some point, winning grade 2

still matters pretty easily matters.

And so I I don't know what to make of her going forward, But I

do think she is half a pace slower than she was as a

three-year old maybe. And it allows it allows the

distaff division, if it is going to get better, to kind of catch

up to her. Doesn't Lacar develop?

Does Goodchear get back on the work tab, etcetera?

Like can we get some of those Phillies up and ready for that

kind of, you know, encounter? I I don't again, I don't want

to, I don't want to diminish this win because she she just

wins these races. And that like I voted for

idiomatic for, you know, for older dirt female a couple years

ago because of what she did and it was a very similar kind of

outcome. So I don't I don't, I don't know

what I'm looking for here or if I'm expecting too much from her.

Is that possibly what it is? I I simply don't know.

Well, I think it's part of just the reputation that she has is

you you expect when when horses have that kind of reputation,

you expect 10 length wins against a field like that.

And I think she's just kind of like you said, she's kind of

just more workmanlike. And that was one of the things I

talked to Brian Hernandez in the winner's circle after the race

and he said he's feeling he is feeling that she is more mature

this year. She's not, you know, she's well,

she's staying a little bit more focused when she's in the gate.

She's not getting as distracted when she's getting in the gate.

There was a couple times last year where it seemed like maybe

she was got off a half step slow was able to overcome that.

He said that seems to be gone. And he he believes that she

really is kind of at that point where she's knows exactly what

the job is. And maybe it is just the fact I

passed Royal Spa, that's it, job's done, here's the finish

line, going to run to that, make sure nobody else gets me before

now and then and that's it. And you know, sometimes some of

these great horses, that's all they need to do, just get in

front of the other horses. And from there, they'll just

coast along to the wire, which is what she's been doing.

A really busy weekend at Churchill as they close head

over to Ellis Park for the summer and of course all of the

two year old racing there. But of course we had the fourth

race yesterday and Sean, do you know the the importance of the

fourth race yesterday there at Churchill Downs?

I know I watched it. Now I got to remind myself, what

race was that? The maiden race?

The 2 year olds. It is.

Do you know the significance of that race?

I do not. OK, so dazzle Dioro wins the

race. OK Jose Ortiz, in a stunning in

a stunning development at Churchill in the spring, beat

Jose Ortiz won a race and. He right, he only did that 63

times. By the way, I know I've

mentioned it on this show, Sean, I would be hard pressed to think

of someone who made a better professional decision in the

middle of their career than Jose Ortiz going to Kentucky.

You know, New Orleans. I mean, it has been gangbusters

for him. So good for him, good for his

family, all the things. That race, the winner of that

race, the 1st 6 furlong maiden special for two year olds, has

produced a graded stakes winner something like 6 or seven years

in a row. Dazzle Dioro, who, by the way,

ran the six furlongs in a sub 109108 and 3.

He looked really good. He didn't.

Look for that horse in the Iroquois or something like that

coming up here or maybe on Ellis Park Juvenile Day, something

like that. Getting into the fall.

All right, Sean's already smiling.

I don't like this. Sean, cut it out.

I know you're thinking Derby. You cut it out.

I know I can't. Help.

It just happens. It just happens.

I've tried to talk about 6 furlog races Derby you watch

about. Romeo wins the Bashford Manor,

Xavier Perez tells me afterwards.

We think he's going to be better going longer and my mind

immediately goes, oh. OK, we'll.

Mark that down. I'll put that in my notes for

for the future here. Man, oh man all right, so we're

going to talk to a bunch of people today raising Rachel join

us toward the back end of the episode.

We'll talk to Gatewood Bell from Keeneland as well to get his

updates on renovations, Breeders' Cup, all kinds of good

things sales, of course, going on at Keeneland.

There mind frame is a Maryland bred and they just wrapped up at

Laurel Park and Dan Ilman is with us from the Maryland Jockey

Club. He's even got a very, very

awesome shirt on. So we let him into the show

here, even though I don't want. These are the nature of things.

So we let Danielman in here, my guy.

And you look like a man whose meet just ended.

How are you? My meet just ended, I'm tired,

I'm grouchy, I'm hurting, and the last thing I needed after a

4 hour drive from Baltimore was to see you.

Louie. Louie, you have a little dirt on

the top of your lip. Yeah, I appreciate you very

much, Dan. It's nice to see you too.

Congratulations on a great meet, man.

How's the job? How's the meet?

I mean, you had to have a. Blast, huh?

Love the job, love the meet. We had so much fun.

We really had a wonderful Saturday afternoon with the

Defrancis Dash day. I know we got a little bit

scratch wise due to the situation with the quarantine up

in New York, but it's always nice to see post time in the

Maryland when the reigning Maryland bred Horse of the year

comes on through for the big crowd.

It was really nice to see how we saw some good performances.

Johnny Velasquez made the trip down to Laurel, picked up a

stakes victory as well for Linda Rice in the in the Saint

Benedict's prep race, I believe. I the, the, the dash day handle

was up 26% from last year. You saw a huge, a huge amount

of, of, of increase on Tessio Day.

These kinds of things as well. What's going on there, Dan?

What do you think's contributing to?

That, well, I think we're trying to concentrate on these huge

days. I think it's really nice to have

one day that people can really look forward to because right

now we're not racing as everyone knows for the next few months,

we'll be at Colonial Downs, we'll come back and then we'll

probably take a little bit of a hiatus in the towards the end of

December and into January. So with the limited racing that

we have right now, and we're hoping that changes and we trip

this out and really have a huge, huge schedule in 2026, we want

to focus on these big days, whether it's early in the year,

General George Day and then Preakness Preview Day.

We really want to push having our handicapping contest there

with the win in Urines for the Preakness being the Federico

Tessio and the Weber City Miss. Of course we have Preakness Day,

now we have the Francis Dash Day and when we come back all roads

lead to Maryland Million, which is the day we celebrate our

state breads. Is there extra plan for Timonium

or should we expect a pretty typical Timonium meet by the

time we come back from from Colonial?

For me, Timonium is fun. Cotton candy, corn dogs and no

gambling. Listen, I want people to bet on

the races. You can't bet those races

bowling. I've never picked a winner at

Timonium. And I'm going to give you people

some handicapping advice for Laurel.

When you come back in the fall, when you see those Timonium

lines, treat them like you treat the Kentucky Downs turf lines.

Throw a line through them in your past performances like they

never existed, like it was something that happened in a

beautiful dream, because it has no relevance on what's going on

down the road. He has a beautiful dream.

He's Dan Ellman. He joins us from the Maryland

Jockey Club. You have to say I want to give

some love to Timonium. I went there a couple years ago

for the first time, I think 2023.

I popped down for one of those race days.

It was so much fun being down there with the fair right next

with the backdrop there. So even if you're not betting

the races, make sure you go and check it out if you're in the

area. Sean, you're absolutely right.

I had such a great time last year at Timonium.

You can't go wrong. There's always something going

on. The racing is fun.

If you love horse racing, you go right up to the paddock, it's so

close. You get to see the horses, you

get to talk to the horsemen. We're standing basically right

on the apron watching the races. It is a lot of fun.

That could better be where. There's something special though

about both with Timonium and Charlestown are the 2 bull rings

that I've been to, you know, the smaller tracks seeing like a 7

furlong Sprint around two turns. I always think, is it just when

they run by you the first time? I just think it's so much fun.

So such a great experience. But yeah, go ahead, Dan.

Well, no, Sean, Speaking of Charlestown, that's where it

looks like post time is heading next.

What do you guys think about that Charles Town Classic, $1

million, three turn mile and an eighth for post time?

He'd be thinking maybe Brittany would have him back up at

Saratoga. You know, post time.

He's a cantankerous, crabby, grumpy, nasty, mean horse.

He's going to handle running under the lights with his

running style coming from way off of the pace.

That's going to be tough. But this girl, Brittany Russell,

she seems to know what she's doing.

Just a little bit, yeah. That's going to be exciting

race. You know, Skippy Longstocking is

probably going to be back there and try what is it, 3 peat this

year is going to be what he's trying to do in that race.

Well, he's 12 years old now, so it might be his seventh attempt.

Yeah. Right.

That's true, man. One of the things I wanted to

ask you here, you know, this is kind of a new era for Maryland

starting off this year at the new Maryland Jockey Club for

some of our newer listeners or maybe new to the sport, just

kind of give us a run through on all the exciting things that are

now different in Maryland kind of moving forward.

We want people to play and win with confidence in Laurel Park.

We want to be known as the players track.

One of the first things I instituted when I came in as

Director of Communications was to create a free handicapping

guide onlinelaurelpark.com/pics. It is free.

You go on and it's something for everyone.

For a novice handicapper, there are top three picks.

Then there's my full card analysis for the ultra novice

handicapper. Then we have trainer stats that

we pull out for the day. Then we have trip notes from

Will Humphrey, great former jockey who's working for In the

Money Podcast and in the Money Media.

He provides trip notes detailed for the day.

We've got horses to watch down the road that you can put on

your stable mail, whether it be Daily Racing, former Equibase,

and we have lots more bias information.

We want you to play and win with confidence.

We want to give you handicapping information and treat this

seriously, and I also just like to cover it like we're a

racetrack. We're here, I'm giving, I'm

giving out press releases every single day.

It doesn't matter if our feature race is a stakes race or if it's

a first level allowance. I think everything needs to be

covered. I think the trainers, their

story should get out. Every horse is a story.

I've learned Louis, every single one.

Whether it's the $5000 claimer or the Grade 1 stakes winner, I

want to tell that story to the folks and hopefully get some

more eyeballs on the props. We have a quality product.

It's very, very under rated. And 12% take out on the pick

fives which we always love as well that Charm City pick 5

contest. Any chance we see a repeat or

run back on Maryland Million Day?

I, I won't be surprised. I think everything's on the

table. The handicappers have been very,

very sharp. You know, we gave out again.

This is this is a free handicapping contest for people

who aren't aware where you have to pick the late pick 5:00 every

single day and the person with the most cumulative points or

money at the end of the meet gets the win the big prize.

But if you happen to pick the pick 5 cold, you get $1000

bonus. People have been picking the

pick 5 cold left and right and robbing me.

So I'm not sure we're going to have that out in the fall.

I might have to make this a little bit more difficult, but

make it the Chesapeake Pick Six Jackpot Ranger.

I'll pick six. There we go.

Yeah, a little, little, a little AD there I have suggested.

The Crab 5 is the pick. 5 here any.

Any any word? Stay out of marketing cramp 5

Feel like it's a good idea? Feels like a good idea I'm.

Not sure, yeah. This might work out how.

How demolished is Pimlico at this point?

Well, Pimlico is in the hands of the construction company right

now. They're doing pest control, so

you're would be not allowed onto the grounds.

But at the end of the day, it's going to slowly start.

We're going to have a little bit of a ceremony.

The governor's all in. He's very, very excited about

having a new Pimlico and really building out something worthy of

the second jewel of racing, Stripple crown.

We'll be having that ceremony probably in a couple of weeks to

three weeks time and then the building process will begin.

It will be a transition. It will be startling to people

in Maryland to have a Preakness at Laurel Park.

It's going to be strange for all of us to try to prepare for

that. But then there's the lag at the

end of the tunnel, which is first day of Pimlico. 2027 is

just going to be amazing. Yeah, I'm really excited about

it for sure. And what did you, what did, what

did you want from Pimlico? What did you need for your

office? Was there something you needed

in the Dan Elman Man cave, if you will?

Well, it's. Kind.

Of odd, you know, with Pimlico, you know, most of our our

memorabilia went to the state or went to the Baltimore Historical

Society. So for the most part, I kept my

hands off. There were so many treasures up

at Laurel Park. I consider them all mine anyway

because I see them every day. That's the best part.

I don't have to take them home. Like I tweeted out yesterday, I

found an old scale sheet book at Laurel Park from 1942 and it had

World of Ways program facing on the the Champion Philly Vagrancy

in the Washington Park Handicap. And you've got the handwritten

notes. George Wolf was aboard one of

the horses in the race, and it really was.

We have so many treasures that I hope to share with everyone on

social media down the road from the Laurel Park Press Fox.

And during this break. One of my challenges, as well as

updating the media guide, is to try to catalog everything.

I'm really looking forward to it because we have newspaper

clippings from the 1920s. Awesome.

Yeah, it's one of my favorite things about you is, is the slow

transition from BRF handicapper to librarian.

I've been very impressed with No.

It's been a really good move for you.

Yeah, great career move, don't you think?

Welcome back to Blood Horse Monday with Dan Ellman, Laurel

Park librarian. It's been.

I haven't heard your best thoughts.

The Crab 5 or whatever it is. How about your Preakness

thoughts yet? I mean, we, we had a little bit

of a race at Pimlico by the way, the the most bet on Preakness of

all time, right? Yeah.

That was one of my. Favorite Preaknesses ever

Journalism was really impressive in that race.

But Dan, what does the what does a Preakness at Laurel Park look

like? How is?

How are things starting to shape up and coming together?

Well, again, this is going to be a first production for the final

year in 2026. So we'll be sitting down with

all of them and discussing how this is going to work.

It's going to have to be a scale back.

Preakness. We just don't have the seating

and the accommodations there. If you've ever been to Laurel

Park, it's not exactly ideal to get into.

There's really one Rd. in and one Rd. out if we're not talking

about the, you know, the backstretch entrance.

So it's going to be a challenge. Certainly.

We're going to have to work on a lot of different things.

The ball is starting to get rolling.

The good news is the news will be on the racetrack on the day.

We get good weather, we get good horses, we get a Kentucky Derby

winner maybe. Hopefully.

Maybe. Yeah, maybe.

It's probably the right word there, but.

Apparently it's going to be that winner of the fourth race at

Churchill on Sunday, according to Louie.

Horse's half brother was a nice horse.

I saw him one of four claimer at Hasten This I think a couple of

years ago. He's a real nice horse and

Romeo, who's trained by Jerry Rob in Maryland, and we're all

very, very proud to see him break the stakes record in the

bastard manner. He has as much chance of winning

the Derby as Ike, maybe the Saratoga Special.

Listen, you got to look, look, you get the checks when you can

get the checks, Dan, you know that it's as we as we move

Florida and Maryland and the the move to to Laurel, at least for

a little while with the Preakness in those different

things. But then back to Baltimore.

What is the, what is the sense amongst the horsemen?

Is there excitement about the new, You know, because there's a

lot going on, not just moving away from Laurel and back to the

city of Baltimore. For a majority of the race days,

we're talking about taking summers off so that people can

go to Colonial and there's not an overlap.

All of the changes generally positive around Maryland or

people. I think there's various

opinions. I think you're gonna have a lot

of folks that are upset that we're not running.

Personally, I'm kind of a little bit upset that we're not

running. I know we grew up against

Saratoga and I know we'd be up against Delmar, but at the end

of the day, we have a great product.

We have a great turf course, we have full fields and we have

forces that fit these conditions.

But I understand what we're doing.

We only can run 120 days in 2025.

And we have a nice partnership with Colonial Downs and the

folks at Churchill Downs, where they're going to be running some

Maryland Bread Steaks races down at Colonial.

And then later on in the fall, we'll have some Virginia Bread

Steaks races up at Laurel Park and hopefully everybody can get

to eat at Kimlico. I think any changes worrying

and, and, and causes a great amount of anxiety.

We'll have to see how the Shamrock Farm Training Center

turns out. We'll have to see how the new

Pimlico turns out. They're going to be bump bumps

in the road, of course. But I think at the end of the

day, if Pimlico turns out as well as it is, looking on the

paper and the blueprints, I think it's going to be fine.

And I think eventually we'll get the dates back.

I think that's really what the horsemen are worried about.

Obviously we want to have more dates and more opportunities to

make money. Yeah, I that part I really

understand. In Kentucky, we have various

weird partnerships, like in a Kentucky Downs preview day at

Ellis. I noticed that.

I love that kind of stuff. I'm a real sucker for it.

Any chance we get like an Arlington Million preview at at

Laurel Park? Are these the kinds of things

we're talking about as as far as partnership?

No, but what I'm saying is this, there's been some internal talks

to bring back a race that has such historical significance

that it's going to bring some eyeballs back to Laurel Park and

it's the DC International. We'd like to bring that race

back and we'd like to make it what it was, international

invites for horses from all over the world.

I've got press clippings in the in the box from the 70s.

You had horses coming in from Russia, from Japan before that

was in vogue, from all over the place to run in the DC

International. And we think we can raise the

first money and that could be maybe part of a giant day down

the road once we know our schedule and see how it's

coming. It's funny, somewhere at Laurel

Park, the original DC International Trophy is housed.

It's a really big thing and I think that's going to be

something that maybe you want to look forward to down the road.

Wait, you don't know where the trophy is?

You just. Know.

I know exactly what the trophy is.

I'm not telling you, OK? Got it, got it, got it, got it.

Not for public consumption, AKA can't tell.

Go ahead and preprint my press credential for that race.

I will be there 100%. You are there.

Our press box is rowdy and raucous though.

However, Louie's been up there a couple of times and he's been up

there during the stayed quiet. Pimlico, The national press is

there. We actually have to behave

ourselves. But up in the Laurel Park press

box, anything goes. I like that a lot better.

There you go. That's good.

Well, Dan Ellman, director of Communications, Maryland Jockey

Club. Well, you're back in New York.

I see. I know that bookshelf anywhere.

How's how's that going? Because you.

Know well the move, you know, is, is is, you know, the move is

the big thing right now. I've got to get everything moved

from up here, down there. And it's several trips and it's

back and forth and it's getting there.

We're, we're, we're, we're, we're feeling good about it all.

Right, well, good enough. He's Dan Ullman, he's with the

Maryland Jockey Club. Congratulations and I mean it on

a great meet. Congratulations, I'm pale, I'm

old, I'm tired, and I look like a Nosferatu the vampire.

Other than that, it's great. I agree with Dan.

We'll talk to you soon. I will.

Be over with my friends. Thanks for having me.

Thank you. Thanks, Dan Elman, Maryland

Jockey Club. We appreciate him jumping on

with us here on Blood Horse Monday.

Who is doing that? Is that you, Sean?

Are you doing that? There it is.

All right. There we go.

You leave Dan alone. You understand me, but there you

go. I am trying to.

Make sure you didn't have to hit the button.

I was trying to hit the button for you.

I am sure you are like me. I don't know if you are to the

extent that I am, but I adore my trip to Maryland in the spring

every single year. It is lovely.

They call it Charm City for a reason.

I love all the things. I will miss you.

And I watched that last Preakness at Old Hilltop in the

same spot on the that balcony outside of the the press box.

And I will miss that view that was undefeated, the roof there,

undefeated, all the things, but could not be more excited for

what's going to be happening at Pimlico.

And as Dan mentioned, I think an underrated part of this is you

have a horse racing community that wants Pimlico better and

you have a governor and a mayor who want an urban renewal

project like they want oxygen. And I'm not exaggerating.

So I think those two things put together sets up a really good

future for Pimlico. Yeah, it really sounds like it's

going to be, you know, kind of that a new start and next

generation kind of thing for racing in the state I've been.

I've been liking every step of the plan so far.

I like the, I think the, the last time I saw like design

plans, I think the building, I was a fan of those.

And yeah, I'm really looking forward to it.

It's going to be weird seeing the race at Laurel next year,

but I'm, I'm actually looking forward to that.

I have not been to Laurel, but well, by the time we get to the

Preakness next year, it'll be my first time back there in like 9

years. I haven't been there since I

came out here for college and I used to go there quite a few

times with my dad when I was in high school.

So I'm excited to get back to Laurel Park to see that again

and very excited for what Pimlico's going to hold in the

future. I saw how excited you guys about

the International. There.

I like that. Oh, I know.

Yeah. That's the race that we need

even more of that kind of stuff, those kind of international

races throughout the year. I know the Breeders Cup brings a

lot of a lot of international horses over and you see like

maybe one or two horses coming over for like some of these

grass races at Saratoga. But we we need to start

spreading that love a little bit.

We need to start having international horses shipping in

for, you know, some of these other some of these into some of

these other states for some of these other big races.

That was a huge race back in the day.

As Dan said, that was a very historic race and to see that

revived and then to see it kind of flourish into this new new

big event for us in the modern era would be huge.

So I'm very excited for that. I will.

You can already plant put that in my schedule.

Whatever weekend it is, as long as it's not Triple Crown race

weekend, I will be. I will be there for that race

for sure. Highest distinction, the last

winner of that race in 2023 set piece the year before.

So there you go. I yeah, I'm fascinated moving

forward with the stuff in Baltimore.

I I, I do think we, I think we forget, I mean, you and I

probably less just because we go to Maryland every year.

You can't like leave a city in that state without stepping on a

horse farm. Like you just can't, right.

And the other part is with Maryland that it's a really old

circuit, mid 1700s. I mean, we're talking predating,

you know, the nascents of states like Kentucky, like Kentucky

didn't exist when the Maryland Jockey Club came to be, right?

And so this is, you know, one of those circuits that we need.

To be doing well and it looks like they're they're taking the

steps toward that the historic. Value, the historic value of the

state. You know, you go back to the

early 1900's, the two main places where you kept your

horses pretty much were were New York and Maryland.

Those were really the two major circuits.

The number of tracks that were down there in Maryland, the

number of horse farms that are set up down there, it's such an

important historic area for this sport to be a part of and to

kind of see hopefully this renaissance of the state, the

racing within the state over the next couple years.

Hopefully, you know, next 5 to 10 years, we're back on that

stage with them. That would be huge for

everybody. He mentioned post time going to

the Charlestown Classic and trying three turns.

I I can't think of a worse idea than that.

You said that. Can we can we save this video

clip and play it back when he wins?

Yeah, when he crushes to give you my 6 legs or whatever, it

just seems like not a great idea.

But he mentioned, you know, he mentions Britney there and

obviously we had mine frame the Maryland bred come out years,

you know, a couple years ago, Nick's go, that sort of thing.

So it's not as though we're 100 years removed from this Maryland

thing at all, right? I mean, these are super high

level horses running in really, really high level stuff.

So good to hear that their beat went so well and that they were

able to get so many of the pieces in place.

Guys like Dan too, that are just lifers, you know, he covered

that circuit for the DRF and all that.

He just, it's good to see those folks picking, picking up those

circuits because like he mentioned, there's just so many

horsemen, different people that want that place to succeed.

So it'll be be interesting moving forward for sure.

So thanks to Dan Ullman from the Maryland Jockey Club for joining

us here on Blood Horse Monday. All right, last week we invited

John Kett, the COO of Breeders' Cup, to join us here on Blood

Horse Monday to talk about future sites.

One of them is Keeneland Racecourse, right there in

Lexington, KY, not too terribly far from the Blood Horse

offices, of course. And so we're really glad to

bring in Gatewood Bell from Keeneland.

He's going to update us on all things Breeders' Cup, all things

renovations, and of course, the sale coming up in September as

well. So here's Gatewood Bell from

Keeneland, all right. And last week we heard from

Breeders' Cup themselves. Let's go to Keeneland now for

Gatewood Bell joins us from Lexington.

Really appreciate him jumping on Blood Horse Monday.

Sean Collins, Louie Robot hanging out with you.

I'm live up here at Horseshoe Indianapolis.

Little different feel down there at Keeneland for sure.

But Gatewood, good afternoon. Thanks so much for joining us

here on Blood HORSE. Yeah, thanks for having me.

Yeah, no problem at all. Renovations underway.

The the Breeders Cup announcement, obviously the sale

season's gonna kick up. Really.

It's gonna, it's gonna sneak up on us.

Gatewood. It just is.

It's outcomes every single year it seems.

A lot going on Keelan right now. How is the renovation?

Going, yeah, no, it's going great.

I just walked through it an hour ago.

Looks great, paddock coming together nicely, winner's circle

and the building's gorgeous. So I'd say they'll have it ready

for October meet and we'll work out a few kinks and have it in

prime condition for for 2026 Breeders' Cup.

When you look at the Breeders Cup in the expansion like this,

just how much more will this kind of add towards the guest

experience for such a big event like that?

Yeah. I mean, I think it'll be huge

with all the temporary structures that they have to put

in when they when they come here compared to places like Santa

Anita or Churchill that are obviously much bigger.

I mean, we're adding just over 1000 dedicated dining seats in

those four new rooms. So that's a lot more premium

seating, which the Breeders Cup likes and those big events like.

And it'll probably allow him to not have quite as many temporary

structures. And the one that was over the

paddock the last few years was was really well received and

people really enjoyed being in there.

So I think it's going to be pretty cool.

It's going to be new for everybody, but it's going to be,

it's going to be very cool and fresh and nice.

OK, with Bell, with us from Keeneland, the Breeders Cup

announcement, you you get the news that they're going to be

heading there. They're going to be heading back

to New York City the year after. What's the reaction to

Keeneland? Honestly, are you going?

Oh man, I got a lot of work to do here.

Is there more excitement that trepidation?

I mean, it's I'd like this. Yeah.

No, it's awesome. Like selfishly I love it because

I'm a big horse racing fan. Yeah, a lot of a lot of people.

It is a lot more work from our grounds crew to our, you know,

stable, running the stable, getting everybody fit in here,

obviously with a big sale right afterwards and a few days

before. And also this year will be a

first time for that. So there's there's a lot more

moving parts, but it's kind of why we're all here.

We just love everything that's horse racing, good for horse

racing, and it's really exciting getting to have all the fans

come in, they get to go to her farms and see bourbon tours and

stuff like that. So it's a bit of a homecoming.

Yeah. We probably didn't think it was

going to be this quickly after the last one we had, but it's

it's awesome. It's exciting going back to

Keeneland with a new facility and then up to Belmont with a

brand new facility. It's pretty exciting times for

him so. I want to put in perspective for

maybe somebody who's listening to this that is new to the

sport, but just exactly what Keeneland is going to go through

next fall. You have the September yearling

sale, one of the biggest sales in the world in September,

obviously, and then you'll have the fall meet right after that,

then the Breeders Cup, and then when the Breeders Cup ends, you

guys have your November sale right after that as well.

Just what does it take for the great team there at Keeneland to

kind of just do all that back-to-back to back-to-back and

have the facility ready and just kind of keep on motoring

through? Yeah, I mean, like you said,

starting, I mean the sales being put together right now.

So the guys have been out inspecting horses all summer,

putting it to there's a lot behind the scenes.

But you're right. One September starts, it is 3

months of just non-stop. You got the biggest horse sale

in the entire world. The September sale, it's when

all of our local farms and breeders, you know, bring their

stuff to market and it's the one time they get to to cash in

basically on their crop. And everybody's excited about

buying the next crop of great horses.

And then you roll right into the October race meet, which is slam

packed, awesome racing. And then right after that you go

right into the November sale. So it's very busy.

And then when you put the Breeders Cup in the middle of

it, it just it makes it more of a buzz though.

I mean, it's always great for the November sale.

It's great for the September sale.

It's great for our race meet. It it, it UPS the quality a lot.

And and then next year they're going to do the Breeders Cup

championship sale the Wednesday before.

I'm not sure if it's going to be in the paddock or in sales

pavilion, but it's going to be like a big party right before

the Breeders Cup and like they did out at Delmar this year.

So that's going to be really exciting to host it at our, you

know, host it here. Gatewood Bell from Keeneland

with us here on Blood Horse Monday.

When you think of Keeneland, you think of those shorter meets in

the in the spring and fall for sure.

And when we get to fall, we think of the double headers

with, with football, of course, at the University of Kentucky.

Looking forward to the fall meet.

Any changes upcoming? You know, we always get used to

these Keeneland meets where they're very front loaded, it

seems of course, ahead of, you know, Derby weekend, ahead of

that trip to Del Mar this year for a Breeders' Cup.

Any kind of changes this to expect this fall?

Yeah, No, I mean the mains when we tweaked a couple years ago,

we we moved and kind of backloaded some of the because

of exactly what you said. All those Breeders' Cup preps

are for the most part on opening weekend.

And we've tried to finish with a Big Bang and have, we've got 2

steaks on the closing Friday and three on closing Saturday.

We added a couple new ones and then you've got those those

races that might not have like a perfect niche for a Breeders'

Cup category like the three-year olds on the grass like the Bryan

station and then the older horses that are, it's kind of

prepping in for the Clark and races like that.

So the front ends definitely geared towards Breeders' Cup

preps. And then the back half of it is

more geared towards, you know, Thanksgiving weekend at at

Churchill's races or even up to like Cigar Mile day and stuff

like that. Well, you know, everybody always

talks about how Keeneland is kind of this, you know, this

great venue for a race like the Breeders Cup just because of how

important Lexington is to, you know, the thoroughbred industry

as a whole. They've had it three Times Now

in recent years, three very memorable events with American

Pharaoh winning the Classic the first time the COVID year, and

then Flightline winning the Classic.

Seems like we always tend to roll out some of the best

performances when it's at Keeneland in recent years.

Have you guys been feeling that as well?

Is there anything that you do as a track kind of make sure that

that's happening? No, I mean just like that's when

they announced it, like and I'm sitting here watching this

year's Triple Crown and like this year's 3 year old crop

looks like one of the best we've had in a long time.

And just like crossing your fingers, maybe a few of these

guys will stick around next year and get to Duke it out in the

classic or something like that would be pretty awesome with

this year's crap. But no, we're just we're really

excited. It's going to be awesome racing,

it always is, and looking forward to.

We'll get you out of here on this and Sean mentioned it in

the, in the previous question, Breeders' Cup, you know, it's

impossible to drive to Lexington and not pass every farm and

everything else on the way in Gatewood.

And do you get feedback from breeders enjoying having that

weekend there as part of, you know, sort of that feeling

around the October meet, obviously the sales going on,

those sorts of things. Do you get a sense from them

too? Oh, for sure.

I mean, that's a huge part of what makes our meat so special

is that day in and day out on Wednesdays, Saturdays, Sundays,

all the Breeders are, you know, within a 20 minute drive or a

hour drive. And they're, you just get so

many more of them showing up at the track, wishing everybody

luck, congratulating them, cheering against.

And it's just like there's so many more of your colleagues

that you're that you're working with that are here looking like

for the final product, which is at the racetrack.

And then I think for Breeders' Cup, having it here it is, it is

a little bit special for them because it's in their backyard.

They get to showcase it. You know, you get all your

friends coming in from Europe and Australia and Japan and get

the show off your farm and show off your stallions.

And it's, it's just, it's really good for the industry as a

whole, I think. September sale of course starts

on the 8th of September. Fall meet will start on the 3rd

of October this year. Well, Gatewood, congratulations

on the Breeders Cup announcement for sure.

Sounds like renovations are going as well as they seem from

the outside. At least we were there this

break, so that's great. So hopefully the timelines hold

up. We'll see you in October.

Yeah, come check it out in October for sure.

Thank you all for having me. All right.

Thanks, GAIL. Appreciate you from Keeneland

joined us here on on blood horse Monday really appreciate him

being part of the program here and and Sean you know one of the

best things about doing this show is we'll talk to a guy like

Gatewood, we'll talk to a Dan Ellman we'll talk to racing

Rachel. It's a nice reminder of all the

things I was thinking about this this morning.

I'm standing in the racing office up here just how many

people work at race tracks. It's just a stunning number of

people and then you, yes, all the time.

That's exactly right. And, and the, the thought

process about the renovation there and talking about being

ready for more events like the Breeders Cup.

And then you hear Gatewood talk about that in terms of, you

know, being surrounded by the Breeders and having them, you

know, at home at Keeneland. Essentially.

You wonder if if there isn't going to be more of an emphasis

on Keeneland in the Breeders Cup going forward, right?

Because even he said, I'm a little surprised to get it so

quickly. But I'm wondering if we won't

see Keeneland even with a new Belmont, a new Pimlico,

etcetera. I don't know what twice a

decade, maybe even 3 * a decade to moving forward with the

Brewers. Cup, I think so.

The horsemen really seem to like it.

I mean, winner's Circle of the Wise Dance Stakes 2 days ago

here at Churchill Downs after Brilliant Birdie won the race's

owner and breeder Richard Klein, we're asking him about what's

next. He said we're going to point for

Kentucky Downs and then the races at Keeneland and then skip

the Breeders Cup this year. Why?

Because they want to point to the one at Keeneland next year

instead. And so he said that their goal

was to win next year's Breeders' Cup Mile with Brilliant Birdie

already. So they're already thinking

ahead towards that race. They're wanting to make sure

that he's going to be at his, it's best to win the Breeders

Cup at Keeneland. You're going to see a lot of

people that are breeding, that are owning that are based here

in Kentucky. They are going to put all their

effort into winning, you know, races or these Breeders' Cup

races at Keeneland. Gate would mention maybe hoping

that some of these top three-year olds will stick

around. You can see in the future

whether it be with this crop, whether it be in future crops

that where, if that you know, lure of a Breeders' Cup at

Keeneland where you would be able to win on the big stage in

front of all the people, with the mayors, all the people that

could potentially be giving you the stallion deals.

All of them being right there and present for it, you could

see where it may be that keeps a three-year old around for a four

year old season to take a shot at a Breeders' Cup win at at

Keeneland. So it's definitely something

that a lot of owners and breeders seem to love, and it's

going to just keep making the product that much better going

forward. I don't know who's in charge of

media at at Keeneland as far as the Breeders Cup and those

things, but previously they set up these awesome tents at the

top of the stretch just past the finish line for media and they

gave us one in 2020. Like Gatewood, if you're there

anywhere, if anybody's watching from Keel, I would love another

one. That would be fantastic.

So if we can get that together, I would love a tent at the next

Breeders' Cup because I'm bougie.

When I go to Keelan, I want to be bougie while we do, I want to

look at that. It's good, it's nice there, it's

nice at Keelan. You got to get ready for that.

I got to ask now I think is what I.

Got put it in put in the request.

Probably should have asked John last week from Breeders' Cup.

That's that's a bad job by me. But yeah, there you go.

But no, I'm looking forward to that.

I love the look. I'm we're spoiled, right?

You know, we get to sleep in our own beds for Derby.

You know, whenever things are in Keeneland, we get to sleep in

our beds for Keeneland, you know, that kind of thing.

So anytime we can get that breeders cut back here in the

bluegrass, that's. That was my favorite part of the

2022 Breeder up was the being able to just wake up, drive

right up to Keeneland, see all the horses, drive right back.

You know, after doing that every day for a week, it was a little

bit, but it was so nice having you here in Kentucky and just

being able to know I can be back there pretty much every morning

for like 2-3 weeks leading up to it.

All right. And as I'm sure you can see from

my background, I am up here at Horseshoe Indianapolis.

I mentioned that earlier in the show as well.

Want to welcome in personal friend of mine going on more

than 1/2 decade at this point racing Rachel, Rachel McLaughlin

up here at Horseshoe Indianapolis.

You'll see her on the simulcast as part of the broadcast on

Saturday. Look for me when you're here 11

to noon. We'll be doing the pre race show

down on the 1st floor. So when you come up here, come

on by and say hi to me, say hi to Sean.

Do all the things up here on Saturday.

But here is Rachel McLaughlin from up here at Horseshoe

Indianapolis. All right, back here on Blood

Horse Monday with racing Rachel up here at Horseshoe

Indianapolis. Of course, the Indiana Derby

this Saturday. We'll be back up here for that.

You can follow me by the way, horse or horse Racing Happy

hour, ESPN Louisville, all the things for the races on

Saturday. If you happen to be up here,

come say hi. We get a little stage on the 1st

floor ahead of the races. Would love to answer any

questions you might have, any handicapping sort of queries,

etcetera. Look, many years we come up here

and we talk about how good the Oaks field is, and then this

year we get to talk about how good the the Derby field is.

I said it so much this year too. I was like, man, I'm really

excited for the Oaks Field, and I am.

There's some nice horses in there, but I think it definitely

goes to the Indiana Derby this year.

Really nice field, super excited.

We just ended up finishing the draw.

Publisher ends up with post position 6 and we got instant

replay right to his outside so super excited to see cool battle

Chunk of gold. Yeah, couple Kentucky Derby

alums. Yep.

Ethan's going to wheel him back, so it's going to be exciting.

Yeah, out of the Ohio Derby. We get one out of the mat win,

we get several out of the Kentucky Derby.

Turned out to be a really, really nice field.

Even when we were talking yesterday trying to figure this

thing out, we really didn't know where this was going to land.

Landed in a great spot. Yeah, and I asked Eric, I was

like, do you think public because I'm trying to get

footage for you guys, you know, leading up to it and the I said,

do you think publishers going to be favorite?

And he's, I don't know. He showed me the list and I was

like, I think you're right. I don't know who's going to be

the favorite, but it's definitely a a really nice

field. Yeah.

Now with instant replay in the field as well, frankly, you get

the winner of three of the last five of these Asmos and hasn't

won one I think since 2011. And then the rest of the field

just, yeah, just trying to get in on that.

And then on the Oak side, I mean, this is even for a shorter

field, I feel like this is a nice field as well.

You get a Clico who's frankly probably just now ready for

steaks company, that kind of thing.

You get a horse like Top who's going to be a local, you know, a

local favorite or out here. This turned out to be a nice

field. Too.

Yeah, we talked to Michelle about entering into that and I

was like, man, I really love that angle of the Indian Lauer

will enter horse in the Derby or the Oaks randomly and and we

got. Gorman this year.

Yeah, and sometimes he's sweetened up.

Most of this year. The yeah, the superfecta, but

but man, I when Michelle told me she was going to put top and she

she thinks that she's bred. I can't remember his top side on

to go long and she's never gone. Yeah, a mile and a 16th, so

she'll definitely be a wild car in there in a long shot, but

I've taken the least. I do this every year.

I focus so much on the Derby, I neglect the the Oaks, but this

Cliqua St. clique looks really tough as well.

I mean, look at those speed figures and and it's just, it's

going to be exciting. One, I'm working on the on the

little graphics right now and we're going to get it as fast as

we can. 8 steaks on the card on Saturday, six of them open, 2

indie breads. I mean, we're talking this is

your big day and it's your big day.

Yeah, we're already there, aren't we?

Yes, my room, my phone. I'm not kidding.

My phone started like literally at like 745.

Someone called me 8:00, someone called me.

You shared your location with me, Let me know when to let you

in the door. And I still was late.

So it's just, there's so much going on.

But yeah, it's a huge day. We've got not only amazing

racing, we've got all kinds of free.

By the way, free to get in, free to park, like just show up.

I mean, honestly. We've got the awning now with

shade. If it's hot or if it rains, it's

rain or shine. We have plenty of space for

people to come inside and we've got all the comfy furniture and,

and we're going to have a hat contest.

We're going to handicapping contest.

We're going to have a cigar rolling station, which the boys

always go to. We've got a $2500 handicapping

contest that's completely free. I mean, we've got like

everything, bring the kids. We're giving away the mega bets.

We're $1000 for the hat contest. So yeah, it's a really fun day

and we start at noon and the Derby is the last race, Race 12.

Don't forget we are presented today by FanDuel.

Download the app right now and bet today with FanDuel Racing,

which you can bet right up here. Yes.

You. Can, how about that, right,

Rachel? Thank you.

Thanks. Appreciate you.

Indiana Derby, July 5th, always that Saturday, that first

Saturday after the July 4 holiday.

We'll be doing that again this year.

Looking forward to the coming weekend.

You'll be up here, outside and here in Shelbyville, IN with me

at the Indiana Derby, the Indiana Oaks, the 8 stakes races

that we'll see on the card here. And we got some late entries.

Instant Replay is planning to make the trip up here.

At last I heard he wasn't though.

So yesterday I heard he wasn't and then today and it's it's a

it's a stakes race with the Cox barn.

How about that? I I think he'll be the favorite.

I think it's probably not much of a question, frankly, coming

out of two stakes wins. You've got the I will who, who

do you think will be more the sentimental kind of play up

here? Will it be the The Maiden and

publisher or more of like a cold battle at Alani Bradley?

It'll be cold battle, sentimental wise.

Yeah, it'll be cold battle, I think.

And honestly, this is a race that I always thought would fit

him, especially coming out of the Matt Win Stakes against E

Avenue and Burns. Yeah, I mean, he's been holding

his own against the top competition in this division.

In my opinion, I would think he should be the favorite based off

of past credentials. I don't know if that'll actually

shape out that way, but I think he's probably the best horse

going into this race for sure. Publisher.

We'll see. This is kind of, I think, a big.

A big step for him because as a maiden, we have to find out

whether he's going to win a race or not.

You know, he always runs well against this competition, but

we've seen it before where sometimes horses just don't have

that final punch to get the win. So now coming out of the races

in Arkansas, having the Kentucky Derby behind him, I think this

is going to be a real telling point as to what we have in

publisher for the rest of the year.

I do love Ethan West, Chunk of Gold, he's in form.

We're going to run him. So he comes back out of the Ohio

Derby. He's ready to go.

I love that. So yeah, let's go.

I'm excited to see him. Can he run second in another

stakes race? Find out on Saturday.

Some cool, interesting ones as well.

Tip Top Thomas is making the trip from New York.

Johnny V and Mike Smith in the Indiana Derby this year.

Of course, Mike Smith aboard aboard publisher Johnny the V

will be on tip top. Thomas, who does come out of a

really good allowance win at Belmont, going the one turn mile

there, did break his maiden at Saratoga as well.

So it's really, frankly, this is shaping up to be a really nice

field. I think that maiden win was

against Sovereignty too. I think that was Sovereignty's

debut if I'm remembering correctly.

I might be wrong. I got to go back and look, but

if I'm remembering correctly off the top of my head, I think that

was the maiden race he ended up winning.

It is fun to say to Brad Cox has won three of the last five

Indiana derbies. Todd Pletcher, who's never won

in Indiana Derbys. That's surprising.

That's at least a little surprising.

Cool thing, too, on the on the Indiana Oak side of things.

By the way, Michelle Elliott's got one in here in Top TOP.

That's the horse's full name. Top.

OK, Ogle been sprinting, doing all the things.

Two women before her have already won the Indiana Oaks and

so she would try to add her name to a list already.

And I guarantee you, you know one of them.

And her name is Josie Carroll. How about that?

So Josie Carroll picked it off here, as did Margaret Grimm.

Actually, I think it was the second or third Oaks ever,

something like that at Hoosier Park.

And so Michelle Elliott of TOP can get it home.

That would be the local connections.

Fernando De La Cruz, all the good things up here.

If she can get that horse home in the Grade 3 Indiana Oaks, she

would become the third female trainer to win the Indiana Oaks.

Well, buddy, I will see you Saturday.

Thanks for making the time today.

How was the beach trip? We never got an update on that.

What's? What's going on?

The which? Oh, the beach trips next month.

You're you're ahead of me here. Oh my gosh.

Yeah. Last week.

Oh. Baseball games with Dad.

OK, Did you? How was it watching the Reds

beat up on your Yankees? How was that?

Yeah. How was that?

We won't. We won't talk about that.

We're just celebrating right now.

Let's. Just say by the end of the game,

I was wishing that I had stuck around to do the podcast.

Let's just say. We are so glad you decided to

stick around too. A reminder about Blood Horse

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Well, he, Sean, I'm Louis. I will see you Saturday my

friend. Up here, 8 stakes races, 8.

Ferrell, 12, is going to be busy, my buddy.

Very busy, I'm going to be running all over the place.

Well, we will catch up with you next week on Blood Horse Monday.

We'll be into July and we will have started at Saratoga as

well. So we'll have tons of updates

for you next week. For Sean Collins, my name is

Louis Rebeau, this has been Blood Horse Monday.

The Blood Horse is dedicated to the improvement of Thoroughbred

breeding and racing for over 100 years.

Don't forget to like, subscribe and save Blood Horse Monday on

all your platform. For the latest news, analysis

and insights, visit us at bloodhorse.com.

Thanks for listening. We'll see you next week.