6th Anniversary | Mike Gandolfo & Dan Issel

Odds crew welcome in another edition of the of course racing

happy hour hanging out with Dan this my name is Julie Ramon.

Thanks for hanging out with us on a Thursday edition of the

program Kentucky dolls closes yesterday means we move the

Churchill Downs and Dan that also means we are in Derby prep

season. You consider September Derby

prep season. Good afternoon.

I do not. Good afternoon, Louis.

It's always good to be. If you look at these two two

year old races, I I find it hard to believe any of these horses

will be in the Kentucky Derby or the Kentucky Oaks.

One of those things we had a couple obviously qualify from

that. I, I was telling someone the

other day, Barry Dan, that I, I really, I associate this race

now with Larry Demerit training Larry Demerit because he had W

Saratoga come out of this race and win it a couple years ago.

And then he actually made the Kentucky Derby and, and you

know, that big, that big smile of his.

I know your friend owned W Saratoga.

Yeah, Harry Verrucci is lives right here in Denver.

And we we had some battles back in the day, the Arapahoe days,

but Harry went on to bigger and better things, having a Derby

starter. Not a bad spot to be for sure.

But Dan is still with us from Denver.

Appreciate him jumping on the program.

The Kentucky Downs thing, you and I have never really talked

about it as far as its place, you know, here in the industry.

Now that I'm doing more sort of industry shows with, with Blood

Horse and different things, Dan, I'm realizing how many outfits

really depend on the purse money from Kentucky downs, you know,

with Kentucky breads and that kind of thing.

Are you used to it as part of the of the rotation now?

Has it become part of the normal Kentucky thing for you?

Because I think this year was the year where I it, it was

almost natural for me to look. At yeah and, and, and what was

fun was to see so many of our our local guys do well there.

Brad won the training title, won a couple of those big steak

races. Rusty Arnold had a had a very

good meet. I, I, I really look forward to

it. I know it's a, you know, it's a,

it, it certainly is unusual. I mean you you run Wayne Lister

are my good friend had a 2 year old that he bred and sold when

his first start down there and not this time colt.

So now, so now he, he, he, in fact, he's selling the Colts

half brother this afternoon. And, and it, it, it really is

unusual because now he can walk in there and say, hey, his half

brother has earned $100,000. So forward to it.

It's it's a lot of fun. Oh man, that's fantastic.

Dan Isel with us watching the Keeneland sale of watching the

prices. Dan, obviously the the tax, you

know, the changes in tax law certainly affecting that.

Have you been surprised at the numbers or once you knew about

the tax, you know, benefits if you will, whatever, you know the

leniency I guess with the taxation there.

Are you less surprised by that then?

I, I I'm, I'm still. Proud of buddy.

It's unbelievable. I'm, I'm surprised at how big it

is. Louis I, I knew it would, the

sale would do well because all the sales leading up to this

have have done well. This Saratoga sale was terrific.

The European sales have been very good, but I had no idea it

would be on the first day of the sale, Louis, they averaged

$100,000 a horse more than last year, which, yeah, which is,

yeah, I mean, that's, that's incredible.

And it's continued through a, a, a couple of the following

sessions. So yeah, I wished I had a

yearling to sell this year. We we're, we're going to sell a

couple weanlings in November and hopefully, hopefully it carries

over to there. It is the 6th anniversary of

this program, Dan of the Horse Racing Happy Hour this week.

And I've done very few things in my life for longer than five

years. Like I didn't go to college for

more than five years. I wasn't in Graduate School for

more than five years. Obviously my marriage has lasted

longer than that. But what ridiculous thing would

you like to say about the Horse Racing Happy Hour?

Well, I remember we used to drink and and now we've gotten

too old to drink so. You know what?

That's how old the show is that you you had to quit drinking.

That's where the. Game came from yeah, you used to

have a big glass of bourbon there and then.

Now you got Metamucil. Yeah, I know.

That's right. It is essentially A Metamucil

show that we should change it to the horse racing Metamucil show.

That's what we should call it. You're totally right.

Oh man. Yeah.

Yeah. We're largely a cigar show now.

Hopefully Gandolfo will show up at some point on the the

broadcast here. But you and I are here to talk

Churchill Downs. The September meet wasn't always

a September meet at Churchill Downs.

And so that change in the schedule.

Do you like them running a couple weeks to Churchill before

they go to Caitlin? Sure.

Yeah, I think, I mean with the purses that that you have now

all over, all over Kentucky. But yeah, the fact that, you

know, you get it a couple of weeks here before you go to to

Keeneland and then you come back with a strong November meet

before they go to Turfway Park. I I think the, the, I mean,

Louis, you, you can stay if you get, if you get a trainer who

doesn't want to go South and play golf all winter, you can

stay. You can stay in Kentucky year

round and and run for for big money.

I think it's, I think it's terrific.

We'll start with Race 6. It is the Oaks Prep on Saturday,

Dan, it's the Pocahontas. They've moved these races back

to a mile the last couple of years, that one turn mile.

I think that's a real good idea for the 2 year olds at this

point. Yeah, because, you know, most,

most of these two year olds so far, you know, have run 57 and

and so it's a logical step to go up in these races, go up to a

mile distance. It is a grade three, $300,000 on

the line here, Dan. We call that a grade one in

California 75,000 from that KTDF for sure.

A a couple of interesting runners in here.

I was surprised to see dazzling Dame as the two to one favorite

Dan only because the horse is coming from another spot on the

East Coast there. Were you surprised to see her

there? I I and that's not holding

anything against Brittany Russell.

I was just surprised to see the morning.

Line yeah, I I I don't know how you make a morning line here,

Louis. I mean, it's this and I'm, I

don't want to be critical, but I am.

This might be the weakest grade three $300,000 race I've ever

seen. You've got a maiden after two

stars. Use the seven to two choice,

second choice and and I I don't know.

I, I certainly I mean dazzling Dame won the sorority last time

out in a very pedestrian 140 and four.

You might be able to run a mile in 140 and and four, but I don't

know how you make it. And because of that, I, I don't

think you ought to take a short price in this, in this race.

I agree with you, I'm going to try the two Mcpeek runners in

here actually taken by the win. The three and the five in here.

Our 2 girls who are both going to be making second time starts.

Where did you land in? Yeah, I landed on our 2 girls,

although did you see Terry Bradshaw is 1 is part owner in

Taken by the Wind, the other McPhee course.

But I I took our 2 girls by Caravaggio, which kind of

screams grass at you, but they have grass races at Ellis Park

and Kenny chose to start this one on the dirt.

So I guess he feels comfortable there.

Brian Hernandez stays on and like I said, none of these I

don't think are world beaters. Broke his maiden in her maiden

in 12. But like I said, I'm, I'm I want

to take a price. I don't know that you'll get 6

to one on on this filly, but you you'll get she won't be the top

choice or one of the top couple of choices.

So that's where I landed. Yeah, I think she'll be all a

nine to two by the time we get to Saturday for sure.

And you know, Dan, there are a couple of dirt tracks in the,

you know, surfaces, I should say, around the country.

We talk about turf horses being able to run.

Well, Churchill's one of those places, right?

And so even if the breeding's a little bit on that turf side

with our 2 girls with that Caravaggio, as you mentioned, on

the on the sire side, still curling on the damn side, right?

So there is, you know, I don't think the mile obviously going

to be much of an issue, but certainly I'm hoping the dirt

won't be much of an issue either.

But let's go ahead and oh wow. Oh my gosh, I wasn't.

I wasn't, boy, I was not ready for that level.

Dan did a cow to poke you with that shirt because I know you

didn't buy it. Are you aware of Grecian

formula? That's no, not your hair, your

beard. Oh, it's a little dry.

Great man. Oh, I don't.

I don't care about that. I want to look distinguished.

You could. You could.

You could put Santa Claus this Christmas.

Darken that beard up, Gandolfo. This is what?

Happens when you've got two kids in college.

It just turns grey, yeah. By the way, you still owe me

lunch. I want to know who gave you that

shirt, Pope or Cal? Cal.

Cal gave you that shirt? Yeah.

All right. Where's your Kansas one?

I've, I've lost contact with Cal, All I had was a he

obviously changed, changed numbers when he went, when he

went to Fayetteville. So I haven't talked to Cal for a

while. We're this is a don't worry.

This has always been a a bill self podcast.

Don't worry, there you go. All right, well, Gaddafi, with

the 6th anniversary of this ridiculous show, I only had a.

Five year contract, that's what happened.

Yeah, no, I get it. We're making a lot more money

now. But no, the look at the six

years, man. I mean, when we sat down and

talked about doing this, I mean, come on, there's no chance you

thought about. It sure.

No, no, no, not at all. And you know, and you've done a

great job just kind of keeping it going.

And I don't I don't TuneIn much, but I I do know that, you know,

you're out there getting it done.

And I see the post on on X and, you know, I I kind of had to go

almost go cold Turkey. Like I've I've listened to less

sports radio in the last year than I probably used to listen

to in a whole week, you know, and it's it's been it's been

interesting. But yeah, just I know you got

this thing rocking and rolling so and you've, you've done some

other Rd. trips, right? Yeah, we went to so just in the

last, you know, sort of year and a half, if you will, I I got to

go to Derby 150, Preakness 150 and Wood Memorial 100.

Really. That's a pretty cool three set

of races in two years. That's pretty good.

So I've been all over the place. Of course we'll be out of Delmar

again this year, which is great. I'm trying to get Dan to show

up, but you know, I got Barry Spears, so we'll.

I did you. I did believe it or not, because

you're always so thoughtful. I actually did get you a gift,

but it's it's not in yet. So I don't know if I should.

And it's it's a good it's a good gift.

So I don't know if I should spoil it and just tell you what

it is right now because we're on the air.

We'll let Dan decide. Dan, should he?

Should I have to wait for the gift or should I know what it is

and then have a second moment of of excitement when I receive the

gift? No, obviously it was an

afterthought because he ordered it that it late and it didn't

get, didn't get here. Not not true at all.

It took a while to find this thing and it just it just.

Did you buy me one of the horses from Pimlico?

Did you get me one of those? I did, I got you AI want one of.

Those. A Dan Illman T-shirt?

No. Ed of the side T-shirt from.

Maryland So do you want it? Do you want to know what it is?

Dan, should I know or should I wait?

What's the wait? What's the player?

Wait, I don't know, but I think the fans want to know.

I think the fans do too. It is our 6th anniversary here

on the Happy Hour feud. Just do it again.

There are about way too many of you on the stream, but what do

you think, Dan? OK, So what happened?

What do you think it is, Dan? I actually want Dan to guess

what do you think this is? Is it cigar related?

Horse related? What do you think this is?

It's horse related. OK, you think it is?

No, I think it's stars. OK.

I'm going to go horse related and Mike found something sort of

like vintage Preakness. Go ahead.

It is vintage and it is horse related, but it's vintage Derby.

We were at the 150th Derby together.

Yes. I was able to get my hands on a

1949 Mint Julep Derby glass, which is the 75th Derby.

So now you'll have the 75th and the 150.

The cool thing about the 75th Derby glass is do you know what

is featured on that glass 1949? No, it's a picture of Matt Wynn

saying I've seen them all. And that picture of Matt Wynn

that says I've seen them all. Ironically, he died before the

Teen 50 Derby. That was his last Derby.

And interesting. Who won?

Now I know Citation won the 48 Derby.

Who won the 49 Derby? Yes, Citation will be on that

cup. He'll be the the last name on

that cup. The last name on that cup, Yeah.

Yeah, right. I'm not sure.

Let's see. Let's see what Google tells us.

Nimbus. No Ponder.

The Derby was won by Ponder and the Epson Derby was won by

Nimbus. So the Derby winner was Ponder's

jockey was Steve Brooks. Calumet Farms again.

Small guy getting it done. Yeah, I trained with Ben Jones.

Ponder was a. Philly Ben Jones.

Never heard of him. Yeah, never heard of him.

Yeah, there you. Go Ponder was a Philly.

Yeah, I think so. Were you old enough to bet on

that horse when I was there? No, I was a year old.

No, I wasn't even a year old. I was six months old.

There you go. Ponder is a dark brown stallion

by Pensive. Who am I thinking of?

Who was the first Philly to win the Derby?

Regret. Regret was the first, yeah.

That's who I'm thinking of, yeah.

So I thought you would appreciate that and it's

actually worth a little bit of money, so.

That's a cool, I'm sure. Be a cool.

Gift Listen, Louie knows like Louie is like the natural gift

giver and he's always so thoughtful about it and whatever

else. And it's not like it's not

really my thing, but I know it means a lot to him.

And so when I had the opportunity to snag it, I was

like, Louie would really, really appreciate this piece of

history. I.

Do Yeah, I do. I appreciate it very much.

Mike, have I shared? It's not for public consumption

yet, but did you see what I got from Pimlico?

No, I'll say. What did you get from Pimlico?

I'm. Not telling you that it's not

there. There's still tearing that place

down. What's what is Rumble?

Yeah, go ahead. I want to guess that they dug

out the the 3D trophy that we gave Kornacki out of trash and

they gave it to you just in like a pile of rubble.

Oh, that thing's in a dumpster and that's in a landfill in

Maryland somewhere. That poor guy.

Hell, man. Or or Kornacki.

What did, what did, what did Pamela go give you?

I'll I'll show you the picture. I'm waiting for it to be totally

rubble before I admit what I took from biblical.

OK, yeah, This is. It's a.

It's a. Crime at this point, you know.

How was it sad? Like how?

What was it like? No, the opposite, frankly.

There was a, a, a feeling of acceptance that hey, the next

step needs to happen, which I like, OK, actually.

And look, and frankly, with the ownership change and leadership

change there too, people are pretty optimistic frankly, and

they should be, in my opinion, good.

So it wasn't like Arlington. It was the opposite, frankly.

Yep, Did not feel like the closing at all, thank goodness.

So good deal. Yeah, enjoyed it all.

Right buddy? Well, things in your life going

well. You are an empty nester.

Officially, yes. I am a bird launcher is what my

wife says we're calling ourselves not an empty nester.

I still have three massive dogs. So no, it's, it's been fun.

Like I just, I'm, I'm always thankful that I actually know my

wife and like my wife and we, and, and that's, it's, it's

shown how important it is. Like it's almost like we've kind

of like just, we kind of started up again right after where we

left kids, where we before we had kids.

And so it's been, that's been great.

I'm, I've got a speaking engagement tomorrow, then I'm

flying to Virginia and then all this other kind of stuff.

And when I'm flying to Virginia that I'm actually picking these

things up because I didn't want to, I didn't want to ship them

and risk them getting broken those glasses.

So. There's travel involved, Dad.

There's travel involved, yes. Full disclosure, I'm going to

Virginia for something else. It just happened to work out.

And then I'm heading on to High Point University to, to visit

Rocco on family weekend. And there we go.

So the there's Tubby Smith stuff all over High Point University

Smith. Memorial everything, I'm sure.

Yeah, so the floor is named after him and everything it's

but it's it's really it's, it's been, it's been pretty amazing.

And yeah, I've got some other kind of things that are working.

Two things in particular that might be announced pretty big

that if you're not in the real estate world, you probably won't

know about. But yeah, so just working on

some really cool things right now.

Awesome. Well, it sounds like everything

you needed the time for is working out the way that you had

talked about it. So that's.

Awesome. I would agree.

Yes, that's. Great.

So all right. Well, I mean, I do understand

so. I believe that, yeah.

He hasn't called me as much as what I thought he would.

I expect I just. It's a tough thing about not

hanging out with Dan anymore as he starts to write you out of

his life. No, that's.

Really. Is that what it is?

Yeah. And it's been difficult.

Nod from Dan? Yeah, I didn't need the nod from

Dan. No, that's it.

That's it. It's all good.

Yeah. Final record for UK football

this year. Well, they, they won Toledo,

which to me meant that they weren't not going to finish with

two wins. So I, I think they probably get

an SEC game, although I'm not 100% sure who it's going to be

because, you know, I'm, I'm hoping it's, my gut tells me

it's going to be Auburn. OK, But I, I think that's

probably all they're getting. I, it's, it was at the game last

weekend and it was tough because like you can see that they're

really just like, if they just had some offense, they could be

competitive with a whole lot of teams just like.

Just. A little bit of offense and it's

that that they and I'm sure this has been talked about in your

station a lot like they they have taken that with the offense

being like just non existent and then the whatever changes

they've made there to just suck the joy out of the stadium.

Like they go on these lols and you're like, am I at a funeral

or I'm at a football game? I'm really not 100% sure.

It's, I mean, that Toledo game was as miserable of a win that

I've sat there that I've ever gone to in that stadium.

And I've been in a lot of games in that stadium.

And yeah, it, it was rough. And so the tailgates seem low

energy. The it's just, you know.

Apathy is the problem and the. Apathy is real is real right

there. And especially if your basil

seems going to be good, like now, we're just kind of holding

on till till that. So I don't know if I told you

this. Go ahead.

What what surprised me though is they said it really didn't

impact season ticket sales, but people still buying the tickets,

they just aren't very engaged. Yeah, they're not engaged.

I mean it, the crowd on the crowd last weekend against Ole

Miss was good, but you know what, it should be packed for

Ole Miss. It shouldn't just be good.

It should be packed. And of course they had a little

bit of weather. The, the weather for the game

was beautiful. The weather for the tailgate was

just constant drizzle. So Dan, I want to tell you one

cool thing I did do last year, though.

I was coming home from Kansas City and I, I, I had a layover

in Atlanta and I was in line to board my flight.

And it's the closest thing that I've ever had to like.

The romantic thing when someone comes running down to get before

you, boy, fight and drink it on that flight.

Don't do it. Don't do it.

I love you. And I got off, I got off the

flight and it was the same day that that that Duke was playing

Kentucky in Atlanta. And I was like, I can't miss the

opportunity to go to that game. So I went to the Duke Kentucky

game, saw him beat Duke, got my picture with the goose and and

I'm so glad that I just I told Delta that I missed my flight.

They rescheduled me for free. I had hotel points and it was

like the best decision I ever made.

It was so. It was so freaking awesome.

I was so proud of you, dude. Actually, I mean with genuinely,

you were like, I called Christy and I was like, I'm going to a

basketball game. She was like, OK, see you

tomorrow. That was.

Great, she actually said. If you can figure out how to do

it where it doesn't cost us any money, you got it.

I nailed it. That's exactly what I.

Did I heard her voice in my brain saying that?

Yeah, if you can do it where it does not cost us any money, you

have my permission. Yeah, that picture with Goose

was one of my favorite things to get last year.

Yeah, yeah. It was all right.

I love you. Love you too man.

Always see you, Mike. You all take Care now I can't

talk horse race anymore, so you all have fun.

Big Mike and big ass. There you go.

Thanks buddy. We'll.

See you guys. All right, Nick Adolfo, I miss

that guy a lot. All right, there you go.

Our 6th anniversary here on the podcast.

Appreciate everybody who has made it a what it is.

We move on to race 7. Dan, as we get back to the

handicapping, go ahead and actually just do kind of a quick

recap. What, who did you have on top?

You're kind of your top two or three there in the Pocahontas.

In the Pocahontas, I'm I'm I'm exactly with you.

I like, I like peaks to two horses.

My top pick is our 2 girls. It's interesting.

I I only bring this up because Kaport is going to be the

favorite in the in the in the Iroquois.

He lost to Romeo in the Bashford Manor earlier this year.

Romeo was an East Coast shipper. We had two of those in this race

on the outside in dazzling Dame who will be the is the morning

line favorite. I should say I don't know if

she'll be the favorite by the time we get to post, but embrace

the moment. Coming in from Delaware as well,

so who knows. Dan, we've already seen an East

Coast shipper win a 2 year old race at Churchill.

Maybe we'll get more of that on Saturday.

Race 7 is the grade 2 Locust Grove.

We're going a mile on the 16th. 2 turns on the dirt there at

Churchill Downs. A grade two, $400,000 on the

line. Phillies and Mares and this one,

Dan 3 and up. This one I took a long time

looking at, and then I landed on the favorite.

I hate to do that, but I think she's very clearly the class.

Here, Yeah, out of the pick five that we're playing or that I'm

playing this is my single. You know, she she lost her

torpedo Anna by three lengths time before she's been first or

second in five out of seven races at Churchill.

Last time they they shipped her out to run in a grade one at

Delmar. And Seismic Beauty might be the

second best older mayor in the country right now.

So yeah, Royal Royal Spa's my single.

She finished behind Copian in that race.

Copian's already won great at stakes as well this year.

And so that was a very, very good version of the Hirsch out

West. A lot of this Dan just has to do

with who the competition is. Are we really leaning on a 2 to

1 Alpine Princess whose best win this year is at Horseshoe in a

Listed stakes or, excuse me, in a black type or, you know, like

our Pretty Woman on the outside who ran second in that race?

Like holding that one up as as as the race.

That's going to be the difference maker here.

I just the only other horse I thought was really interesting

is the inside horse for GAIL and this is one in the Whitbeckman

bar now looked really good in the group beat.

I'll go in that mile Dan and how they set up at Ellis.

That's essentially a turn and 1/2 and I think at a mile and a

16th she wins that race. So if she can run that back, I

think the one in here regaled if you're looking for a longer shot

to play, has a real shot and Joe Ramos, who gets them out here,

had his first Kentucky Derby mouth this year.

It is the likely percentage by win percentage.

Leading rider up at Horseshoe Indianapolis has turned into a

very fine rider after a bad motorcycle accident.

Should be interesting to see if he can get this one rolling in

there. Who would you have second in

your handicapping in this one? You know what?

I I couldn't come up with a second, I guess.

I guess it would be Alpine Princess, but you know, you're

the one horse beater last time out.

But I, I, I don't know, I, I think they're all running for

second except for Royal Spa. Yeah, Royal Spa has run

different ways, different races, right?

So tried to get the lead with Thorpedo Anna and that Fleur

Delia just she wasn't just, she just wasn't fast enough to do

it. But she beat Taxed in that race

by 4 lengths, Dan. I mean, like there were really

three races there and it was Thorpedo Anna and then her and

then everybody else, right? It's so frankly, I'm with you.

If if Tyler gets the the proper trip for bro spot A6 horse field

here. I think the daughter of

violence, who probably wants to cap out at a mile on the 16th

will do that in a winning fashion.

Race 8 is the Iroquois. This is the first Kentucky Derby

prep of the year. Great.

Three $300,000 on the line here, a mile on the dirt.

Many horses with many chances. I think in here.

I like a couple of double digit shots in here, Dan, but Kaport

will be the six to five favorite Eddie Keneally trainee.

What do you think? Yeah, I, I, I really like him.

I mean he runs 122 and 3 for seven furlongs Last time out

down at Ellis gets an 80 buyer was what, 2 to 5 in that race.

So I he's going to be tough to beat, but I do I do like a long

shot and that is the 8 horse boast XOX equine is owned by a

guy by the name of Larry best about 10 years ago, Larry jumped

in with both feet that you see from time to time and they're

going to dominate the thoroughbred industry and he has

had a little bit of success the the damn the sire of this horse

Instagram was a winner stakes winner for him.

Instilled Regard was the stakes winner for him, but he about 678

months ago, Louis, he changed trainers to William Walden and

he has taken off since then. If you look at Will Will's

batting out of 120 starts this year, he's got a 26% and he's

winning a lot of races for for XOX.

And if you look at this horse's trip, he drew the rail first

time out. He was last off and and came

running and and won the race pretty easily at the end.

So I'm definitely I don't think you'll get 12 to one.

Maybe you will, but I'm definitely going to use him in

the exotics. I, I think Kaport's going to get

so much money here and I think a horse with a buyer in the 50s is

not. So I think Dan, you're going to

get every bit of double digits on that horse.

So yeah, I, I think he's really interesting.

I think the horse next to him in nine balls really interesting as

well as ironically going to break from the nine.

Another young trainer in Riley Mott here I think is interesting

and did much of the same things on debut that you talked about

with Boast Rally from off the pace only at 5 1/2 furlongs.

And if you can close into 5 1/2, Dan, I got good news.

You can close into 8 for sure, right.

So what my hope is is that at the end of distance here won't

be much of an issue. Code of honor on the sire side,

which is interesting. Certainly think grass more, but

with these two year olds, simply Simply put, no way to know, but

I thought was very impressive on debut as one.

I'm definitely going to be using.

I'm also interested here, Dan in the four horse in so special

another 10 to 1 Kenny Mcpeak in I don't know if you're like me,

once in a while you see a trader doing something that you're

like, wait a minute. Why is he taking this horse that

just won on the grass and throwing this one on the dirt?

And the buyers are terrible. But the speed is the speed is

fine. I mean, the, the the times are

totally, totally fine. 142 on the grass and that thick Ellis

Park turf course is just fine. Brian Hernandez gets them out

here. He goes turf to dirt at 22%,

man. So this is not an accident for

me. And so, yeah, so special.

I'm going to throw in my in my handicapping here just because I

am. I'm fascinated by that one.

Well, what? What's interesting, you know, we

talked about Kenny in in the in the first race about starting a

grass horse on the dirt. And Caravaggio, he did the exact

opposite here. He starts a dirt horse on the

ground. And so, you know, I, I kind of

like your point there. I mean Bacoma out of a Hennessy

mayor, dirt should be no problem.

Great. Yeah.

And I frankly, I think you're going to get more than 12:50 on

that horse because the buyers are in the 40s.

I mean, like if you looked at that horse, you would think

they're running. I, I, I don't want to mention a

track. I don't want to put anybody

down, but whatever, you know, running a nickel claimer

somewhere terrible in Ohio or whatever.

It just, you know, I just. I, I don't know, man, I, I think

that horse you're going to get really, really good value on.

And like you said, I mean, the breeding's all there.

Shamrock isn't buying crappy horses.

So, you know, this is I, I think, I think there's an option

here as well. What do you make of nothing

personal on the inside coming out of a race at Colonial?

I simply don't know how to handicap those horses.

And now, and I mean, it was impressive, 121 and four.

I don't care if you're running down a hot That's, that's,

that's and and he wins easy. He's by violence.

You know, we Royal Spa, who we just said should win easy is by

violence. So the breeding, the breeding's

OK Wando. You know who Wando is.

Wando on the on the damn side. I do not know who Wando is.

Wando, if I'm not mistaken, we went the only time the Breeders

Cup was at Lone Star Park. I took my father and I took my

nephew and we went to a George Strait concert the night before.

And if I'm not mistaken, Wando won the juvenile that year.

And I think, I think he's. Standing, he wanted it.

He won the Breeders Cup Juvenile at Arlington Park.

Was that where? Yes.

All right, 2003 or 2002, 2002? I, I think he was standing in

Canada or someplace, but you know, 76 buyer.

I mean, he's an Ontario bred for sure.

Yes. Yeah, you got to look at him.

You got to look, yeah. In these two year old races

especially because usually Dan, we talk about off the debut,

what if they take a step forward and of course he can, right.

I mean. Sure, of course.

He can. Sure.

Right. Exactly.

And so, yeah, if he moves from a 76 to, say, an 84 or something,

that's a winning. That's a winning kind of buyer

in this kind of race. So feels pretty wide open, which

is why you and I both landed on, you know, longer digit odds

here. Kaport's going to have a piece

of it for sure with Tyler. Tyler's not going to let him get

away with a portrait. But I, I mean, there are so many

in here, Dan, that if they won, it would not surprise me at all.

There's maybe 2 in here that if they want, I'd be like, wait a

minute, what did I, what did I completely miss here?

But otherwise, pretty wide open race three more to go with Dan

Essel joining us here on the Horse Racing Happy Hour.

Lou or Beau hanging out with you.

A race for whom or for which I should say I have no pics

written down is race died the open mind here. 6 1/2 furlongs

on the dirt. This is the Philly and mare

Sprint of the evening for three and up Dan Post Otano sunsets in

here and I really like her but she is one for 8 at Churchill

Downs lifetime. She's really good when she's not

at Churchill. Who do you make?

What do you make of this race and who do you got on top?

I got nothing I. Didn't like her at all.

I mean the great just fell into her lap with a pace set up.

I went with tax. I went with A2 horse.

I like her record at Churchill is good agency who we've talked

about 3 back a beater 3/4 in a in the Grade 1 la Troy Anne.

I like the rider switch to Tyler and so yeah, I I went to I went

with A2 horse, I think cutting back in distance, I think better

around one turn. And so yeah, I went with A2

horse taxed. Yeah, she did that 1 1/2 turn

thing in the group. You'd all last out at Ellis

Park. And I, I'm with you, Dan.

If that race were a 6 1/2 for a long race, I think she wins on

that day. And we're talking about this

race very differently. And so I'm with you.

I think tax is a must use in here.

I landed on the Five Minx Palace and hear me out because she's 4

for eight lifetime at Churchill Downs doesn't get to this

distance too often but does run at six and seven one the winning

colors or excuse me, ran the winning colors after winning the

rocks Atlanta in April and my hope is essentially getting back

to this level should be able to do it.

Last out was in the slop in the twin bridges.

I'm not exactly sure how representative that race is of

how good she is, but she did come from out of the clouds in

that one. I think that Luis Sai is getting

them out here is a real positive.

Guess who was aboard for her win in the Rocks Atlanta?

It was him. Guess who was aboard for a win

at Churchill Downs last time out in an optional claimer before

the Raven run? It was him.

How about before that? Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

So we've seen Louis have good success with this horse, Dan.

I'll take 8 to 1 all day because I I don't consider her four

times less likely to win than the 2 to one in here in Positano

Sansa. I no, I agree.

I agree that's a good pick. Yeah, it's an interesting race

too, because you know, that mile and a sick, excuse me, the 6 1/2

thing is just long enough, Dan, that you do have to have some

kind of staying speed, right? Because we see, you know, Dale's

horse and Coppola. If it's longer than 5 furlongs,

that horse is done right kind of thing.

But you also can't wait too long to make a move, right?

It's kind of a fun in between the old 6 1/2.

Exactly first. All right, our version of the

late double here, but starts the late pick 3 is race 10 here, the

Louisville Thoroughbred Society. It's a six furlong dirt Sprint 3

and up on the colt side of things here, $300,000 on the

line in this one. Dan, the old $300,000 listed

stakes. Why not a bunch of horses in

here that people will know, including Ben Tornado making his

debut this year, last ran in the Breeders Cup.

Jose D'Angelo just had a really nice meet at Kentucky Downs.

Dan, what do you make of him coming out of the the break

here? I think this is a perfect spot

for him. I love him.

He's got I mean his buyers are better than anybody.

The horses he's he's raced against are better than anybody

and oh, by the way, he gets irad to for this race.

And like you said, the D'Angelo I I the layoff from from the

Breeders cup doesn't bother me at all.

I I think he's perfect. I'm also going to use kind of a

horse for course. The two horse roll on Big Joe 2

for two or Churchill and is coming out of a grade one at at

Delmar. But no, I love the three horse

in here, Louis. I think Skelly's an interesting

one as well for Steve Asmussen, and I think the move to Louis

size will be a real +1 for this horse as well.

Ricardo's had them out for years, frankly since 2023 with

this one. I don't think he's in this

weekend to ride at Churchill. And so I yeah, I think he's an

aqueduct. Louis gets them out here.

I think that's a good move for them.

This is a horse I think people need to remember has already won

twice this year. Last year hit the board in the

top 2, seven of his eight runs. So this isn't a horse that's

falling off at all. Nine of his last runs, Danny's

been in the top 2. And so when a horse does that,

it is 12 for 21 lifetime at the distance.

I'm going to lean into him. A son of practical joke here.

I totally agree with everything you said about Ben Tornado.

I think he's going to be absolutely a menace to deal

with. I agree about roll out Big Joe

too, but inside coming out of that Bing Crosby is world record

who they shipped all the way across the country came out of

the Aristides here at Churchill running second behind Durante,

who's also in this field but just ran in Kentucky down.

So I'm leaving him out of my handicapping at least at this

point, Dan. But boy, this one feels if Ben

Tornado isn't totally firing on all cylinders, this could be a

pretty wide open race. Yeah, that the only thing you

mentioned, Skelly, the only thing I don't like about him,

Lou, he has run a won a race at Churchill, but he's an Oak Lawn

Park horse, OK. Fair.

His record at Oak Lawn is he's he's unbeatable at Oak Lawn.

He's one for fire at Churchill. But that would scare me a little

bit that that he he seems to have to carry his track.

The closer is a maiden special weight here, Dan.

We could do a a quick pic here. It's a six furlong race for

three and up maidens, 120 on the line.

I like the two Barker in here. Second timer for Chris Davis

moved to Jose Ortiz and the horse is not running at Kentucky

Downs anymore. I think that he'll like the dirt

a bit more at Churchill, so I'll land on that one at six to one.

I think I might get a longer price on that because of the

Chris Davis angle there. Where would you land in this?

One well, you have to look at the also eligible if 13.

If 13 draws in, he'll be 4 to 5 coming out of Saratoga.

He got beat 3/4 of a length going 6 1/2 at Saratoga.

Spikes down for Bill Mott, so pay attention to see if he draws

in. Single on the 13 if he draws in.

Yes, OK, if he doesn't, where did I wind up?

I wound up on the 7th. Nuanced.

Tyler Gafflione $340,000 you know Chad 17% with first time

starter. So if 13 doesn't draw in, I'll

I'll go with the seven. I am 13 and 2, Dan is 13 and

seven in of the closer there at Churchill Downs on Saturday.

All right, well, are you go to a quarter horse race at Arapaho

this weekend? What's going on?

Now I'm I'm I'm waiting. I'm waiting till the end of the

month Sherri and I are going back to Des Moines to get some

more of that Iowa bread money. Yeah, yeah.

Are they tired of you there yet or what's going on?

Because you're taking all the money from those.

People. Well, I I don't know but.

But is Michael Berry? Is he running?

Is he running interference for you?

How does this work? No, Sherri didn't go last time

so but she she went off 1:00 to 9:00.

So when when I show up, I guess they think there's a pretty good

chance. How are you betting 1 to 9?

You betting just to show there You just just taking the easy

money. What are you doing?

I, I don't, I don't bet. I, I, I've never bet on my own

horses because I figure this Lou, if they win, cashing a bet

doesn't make me feel any better. And if they lose, then I feel

twice as bad. But I got, I got a funny story

to tell you. My, my, my brother-in-law, Gene

Sageser went to the Kentucky game and before he went, he bet,

he's not exactly a big plunger. He bet $5 to win on Kanojo.

And when after he got back, they looked at, they watched the race

together. He he won $0.25.

Local phone call of the. 80s but we're we're excited about this

Philly Lou. She won by 12 in a hand ride

mile in the 16th, in 141 and three and she she the the cold.

Or. The Colton horse race then the

very next race went a second slower than race.

We're we're talking about we'll we'll find out what we've got.

We're we're talking about bringing her to Keeneland

because she can run in an allowance race at Keeneland and

none of none of those Iowa bred race count against her.

So yeah, we might show up at Keeneland with Kenojo all.

Right, if you have a horse running at Keeneland, I'll be

there. It'll be the banner headline on

bloodhorse.com. Well, there you go, he's Dan

Issel. We appreciate him jumping in

from Denver. Dan, have a great rest of the

day, buddy. It's so nice when I get to catch

up with you. And thanks for being part of our

6th anniversary. Thank you, Lou.

Congratulations on six years. Yeah.

Thanks, Dad. Appreciate it very much.

All right, Dan Issel, the goat. There you go.

And that wraps up our show here on the happy hour for this week.

Appreciate everybody hanging out.

I wonder it was Dan or it was Mike Andolfo for.

And as a thank you to all of you who are not with us for over a

half of, I appreciate it very much.

It's always amazing to me when I go to the track and people say,

hey, you know, love the happy hour, love this.

And we see the T-shirts, the sweatshirts, the hoodies,

whatever else with that logo on it.

We really appreciate it. I'll be on the I'll be on the

notorious OTV in about an hour. That should be tomorrow on

Ricola show at 10:00 here on ESP Adorable.

And of course on SoCal Saturday, 2:00 Eastern, 11:00 Pacific on

Friday. We are back at most Aveniros

this week.