All right, welcome in a special edition of Socal Saturdays here
on the Horse Racing Happy Hour Network.
My name's Louis Riveau. We are paddock side here at Del
Mar Racecourse, of course, ahead of Breeders' Cup Saturday,
Breeders' Cup 2025. Thanks so much for starting your
Saturday with us here. As I said, paddock side, we'll
have 3 guests today. Barry Spears will join us.
Of course, you know him from Socal Saturdays.
He'll kick off the show here. Talk to our friend Carlos
Morales, he's in from Florida, We'll get his thoughts.
He's with Ahentes, Trey Cerocicco, of course, great
connections there as well within the horse racing community there
in Florida. But a source on man, Spanish
language side of things for sure.
We'll bring it. Danny Brewer talked with a bunch
of connections at the Barns the last couple of days as well.
We'll get his thoughts on a bunch of races there as well.
Want to thank our great partners this week.
Of course, our friends over at Amwager been hanging out with us
all year out of this program. amwager.com.
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And hey, we've got Danny Breuer here a contributor to Forbes and
they at Forbes magazine is called them the world's best
bourbon. So thank them for hanging out
with us this weekend as we roll through the card here.
Bringing my partner here Barry Spears from the horse racing
happy hour, of course, SoCal Saturdays Breeders' Cup 2025.
What was your Friday man Jeff on here?
What? Oh man.
It was amazing. The weather was great, the
racing was great. Can't wait to do it again today.
Yeah, it should be a lot of fun. Let's go through quickly what we
saw yesterday. And by the way, shout out
someone who's been hanging out with us on the horse racing
happy hour since essentially the beginning.
Caitlin OSU right here in LA Thank you for the the the kind.
Welcome back to Southern California.
I'll sell a Berry on our way out here.
Just. Everybody's so nice.
Oh man. It's unbelievable.
It's literally from the the rent a car desk to to Jesus, who
checked this in at the hotel. Super nice guy that gets to the
track security here. Yeah, everybody's great.
So it's spectacular here in Southern California.
Really enjoy being here for sure.
But the the day yesterday, I thought a couple of things stood
out and you were the first person to point this out to me.
I thought, for example, the turf course, as long as you you ride
your race and your horse runs his race or her race, you got a
shot, right? The turf course is playing fair.
Now. Is it a tight turf course in
here at Del Mar? Sure.
But that has nothing to do with the conditions.
That's just the layout of the track.
But the dirt course you pointed out something and I agree with.
You. Yeah, it seemed yesterday that
you had to be up close in order to win.
You know, it couldn't be more than maybe 3 lengths back at the
top of the stretch in order to get to run somebody back down.
There was a horse, I think it was AP.
Yeah, Mr. AP Mr. AP. In the juvie, that kind of
closed, but he wasn't really that far off of Ted Nafi or or
Brant in that race. So it was kind of telling.
And then you got Super Corridor going wire to wire.
The theme was there all day. Ted Nafi was very much at the
front. For the place stalked I I mean I
would say personally stalkers are probably the best trip.
So it's interesting, it affects a a fair number of runners once
we get to those later route dirt races, especially we talk about
distaff, we talk about classic with those kinds of running
styles. It affects the defending champ
at Sierra Leone. He's going to have to get going
for this to matter in his case, right?
And so I'll be interested to see if Lobby and Pratt doesn't try
to get that. He reminds me a little pug a
shot finished yesterday. Once he gets rolling, get out of
the way, right? Sierra Leone's going to make his
run and gosh almighty, never missed the trifecta in his
career. But boy, he's going to have to
be closer to the pace if he wants to.
Yeah, I think he's up against unless they try to something
different and earlier, right. That's that's really the key.
Hopefully the rabbit helps him out and and we'll see him come
flying late, but we'll have to see that on the track.
Any great performances yesterday that stood out to you?
I thought Ted Nafi was excellent.
You know, you pointed out to me that he kind of ran away from
Brant and the others right at the end and, and he did, I think
he got a little distracted mid stretch and slowed down once he
hit the lead. And then Johnny kind of got his
attention again and he kind of ran on and that, that was really
good to see. Yeah, I the he it also we talked
about the re break with routing horses where they're able to
kick back in to that higher gear, especially that finishing
gear. When we're talking about, you
know, especially when he goes from a mile in a 16th to some of
these Derby preps, he's going to have to go a mile in an eighth
and that sort of thing. The good news for him is he's
not going to go in the Revson, right?
So he's not going to have to do the mile in an eighth right
away. But as we get into that spring
sort of schedule, is he going to stay in New York?
Is he going to be a Florida horse?
Right? Typically with Pletcher, we
would see him on the Florida Derby trail.
I imagine we'll see him at Gulfstream.
And so some of those races he'll get a little bit of a distance
break, right? So it'll be interesting seeing
him. I'll move forward as well.
Super corridor. Could she keep that going?
Is that a style you think's repeatable for her?
Sure, absolutely. I mean, she's, you know, it's
hard with with two year olds because they they get fast and
then some of them kind of move ahead to the top of the pack
before everybody else blossoms. So you kind of get fooled a
little bit sometimes when you see a horse run that good.
But I think her style is very kind and will translate going
forward. Yeah, it's an interesting,
interesting set of races. I thought a very repeatable
performance was Gestad and I, I think once in a while a horse
like Rebels Romance, who we'll see later in the turf and you
and I will talk about that race later on in this show.
Is, is, can you repeat that performance number one for a 2
year old, right? So Super Corridor, we think, and
I agree with you, by the way, I think she can repeat those
performances. That's how she's going to want
to run throughout her career. Is Gestat the next type of
rebels romance where he prefers the flat here in the US, that
style at least. So go run in Germany, run in
some of those places in France maybe, maybe Gestat needs to be
doing some of that. Honestly he kind of looked like
Rebels romance. Went a little bit right.
He finished very, very strong and, and in the middle of the
track and, and I I think when they pick their lane and get
this horse free, he's going to run like a freight.
Train Oisheen Murphy Ride of the day yesterday.
Valentina. Yeah.
Absolutely. Right up the rail.
Beautiful stuff, right? He knew what he had under him
and, and he all he had to do was save ground and he did it.
Everything opened up and it was. Perfect timing was impeccable
for sure. The other part of that was that
was the race where I went, OK, this is a fair turf course
because he was mid pack, maybe even 3/4 of the way back in that
group was able to move to the rail to make the move as well.
So not a dead rail there. And by the way, on the dirt
should be set, not a dead rail and all on the dirt either.
Probably better, right, frankly. But you do need to be close on
the dirt there. Well, he's Mary Spears.
He's the urban handicap or the sniper, whatever you want to
call him. I call him Barry.
We'll bring you back in to close the show, my friend, just like
we did on radio. I hope you've had an absolute
blast this week, man. Let's keep it going today.
Let's make some money. Let's have some fun.
Hey, Carlos, Carlos, we're trying to have a broadcast.
Get your butt over here. We're trying to do stuff.
Let's go. Carlos Morales going to join us
here from Ahetes three O 5. Look at him hanging out with us
here on the program. Appreciate him jumping on.
All right, Carlos. Happy to do it I'm.
I'm great. How was your Friday?
My I had the exact in the last race, 80 to one.
I'm doing OK today. Might have had it for more than
a dollar. I'm just saying.
So it doesn't mean that. Means not a bad day for your
boy. Dinner, zombie.
Unfortunately, yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
He already he next guest, Danny Brewer already booked the
reservation based on you. It's not listen, this is but you
know what? You know what that is?
That's being smart. Number one, he's, he's playing
chess, not checkers #2 that's why I love this man.
You know, I love the horses for sure, but it's the people around
this sport that make it go and, and you know, you know what I
mean? But no, but like, my first
thought was who am I buying dinner for?
And that's the best way. No, but if your brain goes there
rather than how do I hide this from my wife or something?
You don't need that guy. You're.
Actually making it very public so.
Yeah, no, that's right. Yeah, that's a pretty bad job.
I'd be. But no, we're out here pad
excited. Delmar, this is Carlos Morales.
Find him at Ajetes Tresero Cinco Agents three O 5 on Twitter.
Go find him there, especially if you're part of that Espanol
Ablante community here in the United States.
Great, great resource for all things.
What did you see yesterday as far as the track?
Barry and I were just talking. I thought the turf course played
very fair as far as the conditions, the layout of the
track. We can't change day-to-day, of
course. Not much that we can do about.
It not too much about that, but we did say with the dirt course
it does seem like you need to be near the front not allowed to
deep closers yesterday. It was it was very, very fast
yesterday and I stayed late last night and I saw the the work
that that was done in the truck and if yesterday was fast to die
today it's going to be faster. OK.
So that's that's very important to know taking into account that
we have a very we have several spring races and the even the
third mile. So the way how it was worked out
last night, this, this, this track is going to be very fast.
Very fast. And we see this a lot now in
these, you know, as as American racing has moved to these big
days, right, where, you know, Belmont Day is a, you know,
seven grade ones in a row. Derby Day.
We know what that is. Oaks Day, we know what that is.
Even on Preakness Day, those sorts of days, Traverse Day,
whatever it might be, we see the tracks really, really fast.
Oh, yeah. So it's not too surprising to
see. That probably doesn't change our
big day handicapping too much. It is, it is not.
I I think that the the factor that is going to change in any
capacity, the handicapping process is going to be the
scratches. I agree with that.
That's like, you need to be like, like, just like in, in, in
the hints like what's going on? What, who has the scratch?
We have three different 3-4 latest scratches that change the
entire configuration of arrays, like the Filamer Sprint.
Is completely different now, so it's.
Take a out a Tamara out. Now what's going to happen?
Or Mystic Dan that he was looking to play.
A role in the Dirt Mile. He's out too.
Yep. So.
No, and and and sometimes this effects, you know, how you want
to play an exacta well, trifecta, especially because
Mystic Dan maybe not the most likely winner in the dirt mile,
but he always puts in a good effort, right.
You know he's going to be there to hit the board.
And so it's that kind of stuff. You're right, you're going to
have to adjust your handicapping throughout the day.
So Carlos, which races today? Give us a race today that you're
really looking forward to, a matchup that you're really
looking forward up to. Oh, that's a really good
question. Honestly, I'm very much looking
forward for three different races.
The first one is going to be the Sprint and sharing and and
looking forward to seeing Ben Tornado.
I think that that horse has been amazing throughout throughout
the the entire week. He already have the the prep
race stakes race win in Churchill Downs back in
September. He's doing phenomenal.
The trainer of Saint Angelo. It's very he's.
Also the nicest person in horse racing.
He. He is.
He really is he. He and his team.
I mean, you know, the thing about Jose is I have to remind
myself that I'm handicapping the horse, not how nice he is.
We're just handicapping on niceness.
I would always pick Jose's horses.
The interesting thing about his move there to the Louisville
Thoroughbred Society, a listed stakes.
People might look, why is Ben Tornado in this company?
The answer is very simple. I think for me #1 money,
$300,000 race, but #2 it's a little bit of a Brad Cox type of
move. Give the horse some confidence,
get him back in the winner's circle off of a layoff like
that. I like the move a lot.
Frank. Yeah.
Let's say, let's always keep in mind the last time that this
horse ran prior to that Thoroughbred Society race, the
Thoroughbred Society race, it was actually the Brisco the
Spring. Yes, yes, he was in a long way
off leading to, but how do you prefer the horse to run in the
new edition of the Brisco the Spring?
Take it to a nice one, easy one that he can actually regain that
confidence, show that he has still the power and the
performance that you're expecting from him, and then use
that as a perfect setup for his next race, which is going to be
the one that we're going to, we will be seeing today.
That's one of the races that I'm expecting.
The other one, definitely the third mile.
OK, the third mile. So race 11.
Have a Yeah, have a very interesting combination.
You have a horse that have the highest concept from Bob
Buffer's barn, which is Nicos. Yes, I spoke yesterday with,
with actually the exercise rider for the three horses of Bob
Buffer. OK Umberto Gomez.
Yeah, he he's exercise rider for Citizen Bull, call oriented and
Nicos. Nice.
He told, he tells. By the way, This is why I have
Carlos on. Yeah, because he talked to all
these guys. Keep going.
Yes. He he tell me Citizen Bull has
become more horse. He has regained.
He has regained. That he's grown up.
He has grown up, but. He's maturing.
Right, but that's not the attitude OK has has like now he
does what he's asked and that's big difference big difference.
But he likes highly nieces, OK and nieces is like this horse
that has a lot of power, a lot of talent.
I know this is a horse with with issues that this is the reason
why he has such a short campaign.
But if he need to pick between the three of them, it would be
nice, interesting. And the other definitely the
the, the South American not not just for soprano that it's
coming back to, to, to defend, yeah, defend his last year's
championship, if you may say so, but also touch of destiny.
OK, Uruguay bread. Yeah, about that, yeah.
This is an unbeaten horse that running Uruguay and let's just
put this in the mix. He beat the three-year old
horses as a 2 year old. So and this is now a three-year
old horse that has a lot of talent.
Michael McCarthy has shared a lot of happiness and and and
reassured feels excited about this horse.
He obviously he doesn't understand quite sure how this
horse may may run, but he's going to have the same jokey
that he used to have in back in your way.
The guy Luis Cassidy is that the horse is going to be the one
riding the horse that he has been also got up in here two
since 2 months ago. Yep.
So every foot in a. Bullet the other day, in fact,
in at Del Mar the other day. Yeah, I noticed that it's it's
an interesting thing. This is why the Breeders Cup is
awesome is once in a while you have a horse like this.
So this is your off the board long shot of the day then. 100%,
OK, 100%. And Michael McCarthy, if the
times are correct, by the way, and I want to point this out,
that horse just ran a mile in $1.34 and won what, 34?
And one can win the the Breeders Cup third mile easily.
That could absolutely win. And if the horse is on the
improve or happens to like Del Mar more than he does Maronas,
there's a chance that frankly, he just steps up and and fires
real hard here. And I'm with you.
That kind of price when you're playing a late sequence can
really spice things up, especially at a daily Breeders'
Cup. Saturday, Yeah.
And the other one, I know that everybody will say like, oh,
he's going to talk about the classic.
No, actually, no, I'm going to because sober in this house.
Sorry about that. So the other one, it will be the
turf. OK, The match between Rebels,
Romans and Mini Hawk. For me, that's priceless.
British Cup magic. Brilliant cup magic for me.
I'm going to be rooting for railroad romance and OK, I must
have confessed I had known this horse and seen this horse
winning since back in 2021 when he won and this is interesting
the UAE Derby in dirt. So this is a such a versatile
horse that he had from synthetic.
He has run in dirt. He has win in both and obviously
he's the command for the turf so Rebels open for me.
It should be the winner post position 1.
William Buick, so super happy with this post position.
Charles Appleby, we spoke with him yesterday.
He's very confident on how he has feel the horse here at the
turf track. He knows the turf track here so
it would be lovely. Mini Hawk, she looks amazing but
definitely he's going to be rooting for for rebels romance.
Rebels romance showed a new dimension being closer to the
pace last year in the Breeders Cup turf.
The fact that the horse is that talented that he can change his
running style all together for different races.
You're right going on the rail again.
We just saw him in the turf classic at Aqueduct do exactly
that. Smaller field for sure, but was
willing to be much, much closer to the pace.
And that's a new dynamic for him for as he gets older, that
allows him, frankly, to not have to make that late charge at the
end. And Bill Buick, boy, the
tactician he is, once he's on the track, it should be able to
give him a great, great route there.
Classic. Who's your winner?
Who's my winner? I think it will be between
firstness and journalism. OK, a lot of buzz around
journalism this week. Tell me why you like journalism.
What I have seen in the horse this week, he has caught my
attention. I saw him training through the
entire Triple Crown and even the Haskell where I I did cover all
those different races the entire week.
And this is a horse that have grown himself.
He have improved his his the way how he moved.
He caught this, his confidence, I think coming out of the second
in the Pacific Classic behind Firstness and I think he has the
talent and honestly, sovereignty is out right.
He's the second best of the three-year.
Old, and that's not a bad. Take that's that's there in the
results. So if we want to see an
interesting match, I think that should be journalism and
purpose. There you go.
All right, well, he's Carlos Morales again.
I'll hit this 305. Go check them out over there.
I appreciate you my friend. I'm sure I'll see you throughout
the day. Thanks again for jumping.
On it very much. Good luck everyone.
There we go. All right.
I appreciate Carlos Morales stopping by the horse racing
happy algorithm 1 percented by Amwager and amwager.com.
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learned earlier that the best bourbon in the world according
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How about that and what we like about never say die bourbon.
They're all in on horse racing and for that horse player in
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Go never say die indeed yesterday.
Any reactions to any of the races yesterday?
Real quick, do you do you agree with sort of our summary of the
track conditions as well where hey turf playing play real fair?
Got to be near the front with the dirt though.
Oh, absolutely. I think that's absolutely the
case. Ted Nafi as advertised.
You know, I got a story on forbes.com put out this morning
early Derby favorite very deserving.
I mean, he he was as advertised, which you know on these days you
never know is facing the two year.
Old race. Ask E Avenue.
Ask Dennis this moment. Yes, yes, ask him.
Absolutely right. You can come as a prohibitive
favorite and get your hat handed to you.
But he was, as advertised yesterday, so very impressed
with with Ted Noffic. Yeah, I thought that was great.
I thought it was nice to see at the end of the day Gestad run
like he did. Barry even said to open the show
here. It looked a little like Rebel's
romance. And I wonder once in a while now
with these trainers knowing that there are opportunities,
Belmont, you know, Invitational, those kinds of races where they
can bring them over and their horse likes those kinds of
conditions, that flat race, the couple of turns, it just works
for them. I wonder if we don't see Gestad
as a three-year old stateside a lot.
More. I think we will.
I think we should because there's good money over.
Here, of course, there is. Yes, yeah, that's exactly right.
And frankly, going up to Saratoga, not the end of the
world if you're a European. So there's a couple races I know
you want to talk about today, Danny, but I I wanted to and,
and the reason I wanted to have you on, you know, Carlos, able
to go talk with exercise riders in their native language and do
those things, get their real feelings about stuff.
You and I Anglophiles, of course.
And and so you've talked to a couple people, mutual friend of
ours, Brooke Smith, part of the ownership team with Sierra
Leone. What was your conversation like
with Brooke and what did he bring up?
Outstanding. You know, Brooke Smith is a
wonderful guy. He's part of what makes horse
racing fabulous for guys like him.
So he's he's heavily invested in it because you know, one of the
quotes I said, man, tell me what horse racing has done for your
life. And he said horse racing is
life, you know, And so he's he's really involved in he he's he's
totally immersed. But Sierra Leone, he said, is
coming in better than he's ever been.
And so, I mean, I can't disagree with him.
When you think about what may take place here, you know, the
race could set up very nice for him.
But I think because of how the track is playing, look for him
to be closer. That was the key to me.
Last year was Flavian Pratt's ride.
He kept here early on involved because his downfall in everyone
of his other races was he just waited too late to get running.
Now when he when he did get run earlier, he won.
When he didn't, he would finish second or third.
So Pratt had him in the race a lot earlier last year.
I think we'll see the same this year.
The thing we'll see early on, too, is if you and I know the
circumstances of the Jockey Club last out, the weird start I ran
sitting on his back for a second, you know, all those
kinds of things in that race. The interesting thing because of
all of that mess is if you even just look at the running lines,
when he won the Whitney, he was 4 lengths out with two furlongs
to go. In the Jockey Club World Cup,
where he ran second, he was 7 1/2 lengths out.
He's going to have to repeat that Whitney from this year.
If he's going to win here, he's going to have to be within 3-4
lengths of the leader, especially at the top of this
short stretch here at Delmar. Well, I think you're absolutely
right. Now I.
Think and you're right as well that he did that last year, so
he's capable for. Sure, Pratt knows this track
very well. He has been a championship out
here. So I think that Pratt is the man
for the job. I think he will be closer
because you are absolutely right.
He's going to be in the Super effect.
I think if you if you're a super effective player, which I am,
you have to have him in your super because he's.
Going to be in the top board. Right.
No, he doesn't miss the board at all.
But I think he will be closer to the pace.
If he wants to win, he has to be closer to the pace.
Yeah, I think that's exactly right.
He's Danny Brewer, by the way. Find him on Forbes at Sports
Brew if you want to find him there as well.
You also talked with Brendan Walsh in a horse that that I've
been high on essentially since I started an allowance at
Churchill Downs and she goes from grade 3 to grade one.
That's Kliko. She's going to run in the
Distaff today. She's just so professional,
Danny and just so mature for how how few races she's been in, how
how light her campaign has been. Now I'm not, that's not
criticism by the way. They can't paint her perfectly
right. She's winning all of her races.
They're not doing anything wrong with her at all.
That's not what I'm getting at, but rather just her maturity.
Even with the lack of experience that she's had.
She acts like she's 5 or 6 years old.
But what did Brendan Walsh talk? I think that Kleco is a perfect
example of the training brilliance of Brendan Walsh.
He knows how to bring. He is a he is an outstanding
horseman. She's come in right?
She's on the muscle. She's she says she's matured
even more so even though I think what 5 races, four wins and five
starts, right? So I mean, she has been there,
but even though it's like campaign, you know, I think
she's right. He likes how she is.
She's on the muscle and she's, you know, like I said, I, I
think she could be the one in that race.
Brendan is not a guy for hyperbole and he's not a guy
that has lied to me very much or all frankly.
And so if he says she's ready to go and she's a little bit more
mature, I think that's true. I caught it right after the
Indiana Oaks because we were up there covering it and I and I
just wanted to go find him and say because I saw her in the
winner's circle. Danny, you could have set off a
firecracker in the winter circle.
She would have been like, OK, right, we're good.
We're going back to the bar now because I know that's where I'm
going next. Like, she was just ready.
And I found him after where they were doing a little celebration
thing at Indiana. Of course, I said you, you got a
you got a serious one there, Brendan.
He goes, oh, yeah, yeah, she's, she's the real deal.
Yeah. She she is and his other horse
in the race, Jinjian is is is not chopped liver.
Yeah, Jinjian won the Spencer, of course, from Gate Dwyer.
So Jinjian could play a factor in this race.
I don't know whether she'll win it or not, but she could
absolutely play a factor because I think she's going to want to
go straight to the lead. We saw Baffert yesterday have
the favorite in the juvenile Phillies.
He hasn't won that race since 07.
She comes up second. I don't think she ran poorly.
Did Explorer, you know, Super Corridora just got the jump on a
fast track and kept the lead. Good for her.
By the way, great, great tactic yesterday.
Seismic Beauty comes in here off the Clement Hurst, the Grade 1
here, right here at Del Mar going a mile in the 60s.
She's won the Grade 2 Santa Margarita before at the distance
at a mile and an eighth. Is she a deserving 8 to 5
favorite? I think because she's Bob
Baffert trained, yes, now he has.
Never won this race. You know, the thing about is,
it's amazing when you think about that with the success he's
had. Goodness.
I'm going somewhere else. You know, I, I like think, oh,
nitrogen is a horse that has not gotten a lot of pizzazz.
She was, of course, I talked to Mark Cassie a week ago or so and
Mark said, you know, if you look at her dirt numbers, because she
was turf, turf brilliant early in her three-year old season and
then she changed to the dirt. He said if you look at her dirt
numbers, they're better than her turf numbers.
And that's pretty incredible because she is a monster on the
turf. Interesting, interesting group
there for sure. You also got to catch up with
Libretto Verosio and this is a special edition of Socal
Saturdays. We talk about him a lot on this
show. I wrote for the Sporting Tribune
that I thought that that I loved him putting lovesick Blues in
the I loved him doing that in the in the Bing Crosby, excuse
me, right here at Del Mar, mostly at Turf Force.
He's been down the hill. He's done a lot of different
things. But you were with Libretto this
week. What is his confidence level?
10 to one on the line. I think you're going to get
every bit of that number with Lovesick Blues.
What was his confidence level? So I think really, really high
if it can work out and lovesick Blues shocks the world and wins,
this will be one of the greatest training moves of all time for
LeBron O Brochow, because he has a turf sprinter.
He brings to the Bing claws because he said he was screaming
because what he told me after the Bing was hey, he was
screaming to be on the dirt screaming and he runs his runs
his eyeballs out super fast-paced in the Bing.
I think it can be the same thing today, super fast-paced.
He needs to be a little bit closer.
You're right. But after the Bing, he gave him
time off and then he put him in a cowbread stakes race down the
hill at Santa Anita. Why would he do something like
that? Why would he?
Well, he didn't need to run the Santa Anita Sprint championship
because he was already in the the Breeders Cup.
Why do you do that? It was basically an organized
workout. Coming down the hill is not hard
on horses. The first two or three furlongs
you don't really have to run because coming down the hill he
finished very, very strong. It was basically a paid workout.
He picked up a 20 grand check for finishing second in that
race. So basically got paid to work
out. I think he's coming in, right,
So Lovesick Blues, there's a long shot play for that.
I'll be playing for sure today. Lovett, where else are you
looking today? What else you excited about?
You know, I'm excited about everything because we got nine
grade ones worth $23 million. But but the Dirt Mile.
I I think the Dirt Mile. You guys in the Dirt Mile, I
love it. Yeah, so, so I think Nicos is
for real. I think he is every for real.
But full Serrano, full Serrano is a freak on this track.
He has proven that he's a freak on this track.
He won the race last year. And you know, when you look at
his first race he ever ran at Delmar, he ran like 21 and four
in the opening quarter for a mile race and he won.
He was leading and he won. And courses don't do that at
Delmar. So he's a freak at Delmar.
So that may be the one guy that I think like a knock knock nice
house off is full. I agree with you.
You know it's. Fully capable.
I thought his good would last out at a mile and a quarter was
really good. He just doesn't want to go that
far right, you know what I mean? And so I I'm not holding a long,
long race like that against him. I think the two turn mile for
him is absolute perfection and like you said, he's a monster
right here in Delmar. Oh, totally.
You know, the classic is so balanced.
I mean it, it's one of those races where, you know, you
almost close your eyes, you almost close your eyes and pick
one, you know, but when you think about the mile long turf,
that's the the turf Sprint is always one of the most exciting
for me. You know AG Bullet, Kentucky
Downs graduate Bear River, Kentucky Downs right now.
Here's the thing. He wanted Ellis, too, though he
can win on flat. Ground, yes, yes, he he can and
that's what makes him very, very dangerous because he has got the
front end speed. Can it hold?
You know, you got you got more Torres in the turf Sprint who's
a Delmar specialist. Like I said, they they're,
they're all. That's a cool field and it
really is. That's a cool field, yeah.
No, it's so like I said, they're they're you can just go on and
on and on and and and and the regular Sprint like like Carlson
talk about bentonauto. You know that that's a very
which we talk about lovesick Blues being it that like I said,
they're all loaded. It's just nine loaded races,
which is wonderful. We got in the classic.
Classic. I'm going to go forever young,
you know I'm. I don't hate that.
Picture I I think Japan is going to do it.
I think Forever Young is a monster when you look at the
paddock, he's. Unbelievable.
When you look at what he did in the Saudi Cup, you know.
If he repeats that he went here, I agree exactly.
I mean, and so I, I think that, you know, forever young, but you
know, Sierra Leone, it's actually they're, they're, it's
loaded. You were here for the Pacific.
Classic fierceness. Serious shot though.
Yeah. Oh, absolutely.
He runs that race again. He wins, right?
Perhaps. OK, OK, interesting.
Can't start like that. Perhaps.
Is the real bad for him, do you think?
Does he break again? I don't think the real's bad for
him. I, I think, I think that that
he'll be just fine. You know, like I said, I think I
think he'll be just fine. Very unworried about Johnny D.
You know, journalism, the the thing about it is, I think that
if journalism were the journalism we'd seen earlier in
the year, I think he could have ran fierce this down.
Interesting. OK.
But but he wasn't. He didn't.
Now is journalism better now than he was in the Pacific
Classic? I think yes.
I. Think that's probably.
Right. Yeah, I think.
And I like the writer change. I won't lie about that.
I do like Umberto personally, he's a great interview.
He, he's done a lot of stuff with us.
But I think for that horse, Jose's a better match just in my
mind. We'll see today for sure.
Jose Ortiz may be the Eclipse jockey award-winning jockey.
He has had a fantastic year. Churchill Downs, he won the
riding title. Jose Ortiz has had a fantastic
year. So I'm with you.
I don't disagree with you. Career moves the last couple
years better than Jose moving to Kentucky and New Orleans for his
mounts. Spectacular concepts,
spectacular move by that group. I I'm sure for his family too.
He's got a bunch of young kids, probably got a little land in
Kentucky. Just a an unbelievable move.
And frankly, I think he's improved as a rider because of
it. It's incredible.
It it is incredible. Now here's a question I got for
you, Louis. Sure, who, who's who's the
bomber that maybe could upset upset the in the classic?
Oh, and the Classic? Yeah.
Who's the bottom? It's the bottom beach, no doubt
for me. You think so?
Improving horse wins the Goodwood.
The distance did not bother him at all.
Is going to run in Southern California again.
I think it's Nevada Beach and I think you're going to get a
price like 1516 to 1. OK, so yeah, so here, here's the
thing, 15 to one on a Bob Baffert trained horse in a grade
one race. How about that?
That tells you that speaks to the depth of this race man.
I mean, but but I think that's with you.
Nevada Beach is a great play. Because antiquarian is just
going to stay. He's just going to stay.
And if it falls apart, he's going to be there, right?
And, and, and so antiquarian, I've seen it.
I know what that horse is. I think Nevada Beach could
absolutely win the classic. Like if I, if I'm putting
together a pick three or something, he's in it and, and I
think he's got a chance. And like I said, I think he's
going to be 1516 and one even without, even without
sovereignty in there. Right, right.
Be be a nice payday. Who?
Who else you got? Who's your other Barber?
You. Weren't talking about ethical.
Diamond is in the turf. Will break from the 14.
Was a hurdle horse until very recently.
Trainer pulls him out of the hurdles, puts him on flat
ground. Bill Buick rides twice, wins two
Class 2 races at major tracks in Britain.
Gets over here, gets into the field.
I don't know that he wins, but that horse is going to be like
50-60 to 1 and I think he hits the board.
I was right yesterday about the last race and Kazushi Kimura on,
and I'm now forgetting the the cow horse that Michael McCarthy
trained. Yeah, the that ran second in
that, in that term. I think it could be like that.
I think he's coming in because you think about what hurdles
are. Think about just humans.
If you told someone, hey, go Sprint, they can be really fast.
OK, now go hurdle. They have to learn how to do
that and they build up their muscles for that.
And then you take the hurdles out again and you can say go
Sprint, they're probably going to be faster.
It's all conditioning. That's.
Right. So I think the conditioning for
ethical diamond is going to make sense.
I, I've, I've talked about that horse too much, I'm going to
ruin the price, but I, I just, I, I think that's one coming in
that if you want a Breeders' Cup story, it's ethical diamond.
There you go. Very.
Good, very good. Well Dandy has 2 great sayings
that I love back a horse and get paid and have a hunch bet a
bunch. That's what I did in the exact.
I followed your advice. I did that in the exact
yesterday. Now I got to buy this guy.
Absolutely. That's right, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, There you go. So, Danny, I appreciate you very
much. Thanks for jumping on
forbes.com. Right.
Exactly. Go to the sports page, find all
of his coverage. What do you?
Have out today. Today I've got a story that I'm
I'm doing that I did on Ted and offy that's out there now.
So and then I'll do some stuff later on as far as after we see
what what goes on here, we'll see what the big storyline is
because there could be 9 different fantastic stories.
Probably not wrong. Nine grade one races, $23
million. Come on, let's.
Have some fun. Let's make some money.
All right, all right, friend, thank you so much we'll get
Barry Spears in here when he gets done talking to all the
ladies over there and ladies settle down.
It's all right. We know what's going on over
here. Dad shirts and sexiness.
I get it. Barry Spears and shoes yes
right. But yes, again, this is the
horse racing happy hour. So Cal Saturday special edition
here at panic side at Del Mar ahead of Breeders' Cup Saturday
2025. We're presented by AM wager AM
wager.com. Make sure if you get in with
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Barry, get back in here, buddy. We've talked to Carlos.
We've talked to Danny and I know with you, you're looking forward
to this turf race because you think you've got a chance to
make some money and you're looking at everybody else going,
oh, it's Rebels romance and oh, it's Minnie Hawk and you're
going, wait a minute, I thought this was the Breeders Cup.
I thought we were bringing awesome turf horses over here
and your thought is we are bringing awesome horses over
here? Which one caught your eye as you
look through the forum, watch those replays.
Who was it that you think has a shot to upset the apple cart and
really frankly blow up that late?
Pick five, with what percentage of the money on them?
So where are they at the beginning of the pick?
5/8 through 12. OK, yeah.
What percentage of the money in the pick five will be on Rebels
Romance and Mini Hawk? 80%, yeah, that's a good 75%.
Something like that. Like some people will try to be
like you and beat them, right? For sure.
That's where you're gonna get values.
You have to play against horses like that once in a while.
For sure. Try to beat an Isos, maybe in
the lead sink. It's that kind of thing.
But who do you like in here 'cause I'm, I'm fascinated by
this horse too. I went to #3 Amaloc, this horse
is really, really, really, really good.
Was undefeated going into this year.
Maintain that record all the way up until they went into the
Saint Ledger and lost to a horse who is actually the favorite in
the Melbourne Cup. El Rifa lost by 4 lengths.
Looked like a perfect setup for this race.
This horse has the right running style, should be kind of close
up, should be able to finish and and the horse that this horse
lost to is no slouch at all Probably.
That race is probably one of the better races that people aren't
talking about. What do you like about Amaloc as
far as style and different, you know, do you think this is a
horse that can stay you're the pace of this one that's going to
be coming out from out of the clouds?
What do you think it's going to? Do as they say it, Burger King,
you can have it your way with Amaloc, he does whatever you
need him to do. He can be up close, he can be
far back. He can finish as strong as
anybody. I think here we just got used to
horses like Mini Hawk coming in with a huge reputation and
seeing rebels romance, you know, however many times we have that
going another direction might not be the bad thing.
And, and one thing about the Breeders Cup that you can count
on is they will remind you that it's the Breeders Cup with all
the long shots. Just like yesterday.
Valentin was perfect example. Yeah, no, that's exactly right.
Valentin is probably the best example to make your case
frankly happened yesterday. Now the scratch is precise there
does it's a little different than what we'll see today, but
frankly, Ocean Murphy makes the move there.
You're getting you're getting a a kind of a new rider for us
there with with Ryan coming over in that spot, but I think
certainly a capable one here at Del Mar.
What other races are you looking for?
I know the Philly and Merit Turf, for example, you have a
very strong opinion to close the card.
But let's talk about the Destat, for example.
You're also very into Klikow in this spot and for a lot of the
same reasons. We've been talking about
professionalism, just the development in general.
Brendan Walsh being at the driving the bus there.
What else do you like about it? She's like the classic example
of a improving horse at the right time.
I mean, we saw her in Indiana and we were just so impressed by
her professionalism, how she finished that race off, didn't
leave any doubt. And then move forward out of
that into the Cotillion. That was an excellent race for
her because I think it gave her that extra boost of confidence,
especially her connections that she can run at this level.
I I thought they were kind of unsure when when they ran in the
Indiana Derby, the Cotillion stamp.
And now she's ready to move forward again.
I think she's just peaking at the right time.
Baffert's never won this race. That's weird.
It's it's an incredible statistic, frankly, considering
the number of really great fillies he's had and and frankly
done a great job with right. I mean, you know, figure the
Abel Tasman's of the world, etcetera.
I use that name all the time. Hi, Rich.
I hope you're having a great day, buddy.
But the he comes in with seismic beauty and she's got to be the
favorite. Frankly, she's probably a
deserving favorite in this spot, right comes out of that Grade 1
Clement Hirsch. Do you give her a a serious shot
here? Would you include her in a multi
race or you just is it just hey, the value's not there And and
frankly, back first never won this thing and we watched him by
the way, he hasn't won the Philly juvenile Phillies since O
7. Didn't get it done yesterday
with Explorer. Yeah, I mean it it's it's a real
tough decision for gamblers because of the fact that she has
the best numbers of anybody and she's very legitimate.
But this is the Breeders Cup. You're going against the best of
the best connections. Try different things, things
happen. It's not all, you know, like a
automatic gift that this horse is going to be on the lead wing
it by herself. And I think that plays into
this. But in a multi race situation
you kind of have to use that one because of the fact that she
stands out on numbers. Yeah, numbers do for sure.
And frankly, if you go back and watch that Clement Hirsch, you
see, you see a force that you know can win the Breeders Cup,
for sure around that time will be the turf, but after that will
be the classic. And I always ask people for
their classic picks. You've been strong on this all
week, and frankly, you were before the scratch of
sovereignty Even so, I'm sure you feel even more confident in
your selection here of fierceness breaking from the
rail. So tell me the combination of
things that got you there. Is it the talent?
Is it Pletcher? Is it Johnny, is it that Pacific
Classic? Is it how we ran here last year?
For me, it's how he runs the Del Mar.
He seems to love it here, seems to be a good setup for him
because he wants to be near the lead.
What do you like about? Fierceness.
Well, I like fierceness from the beginning and I and I almost got
offended when people were saying that he was in every other type
horse because I saw what was going on.
He was short early on in the in the Florida races.
He came back and win a huge, I mean huge Florida Derby and that
was his true self. And he's been in some positions
where he wasn't able to do that. They freshened him up.
He came back stronger than ever. His specific classic was
excellent out here and I think he's just got the right running
style for this thing. You know, I've been saying all
week that it might be a race within a race where contrary
thinking kind of goes out on his own and fierceness kind of does
what he would normally do. Just with another horse in front
of them, yeah, it's kind of slow the pace enough, you know, and
stretch people out and then have enough to finish.
And Pletcher's got to have known the rabbit was coming, correct?
Right. We've seen it already a couple
times in Saratoga, so I'm sure they've trained him up to this
moment. Let's go through the classic
field here together. Barry Baez is going to break
from the two, obviously, the the John Sheriff's and Hector
Berrios combination. I was so happy to see Hector
still on this horse with the juvenile Phillies yesterday
aboard Super Corridora, so obviously already got a win in
the Breeders Cup. Here is Baeza the Overlook 3
year old in this field? Because we've talked about
journalism ad nauseam this year. For good reason by the way.
He's had an excellent campaign. In any year that sovereignty is
not around, we think of journalism as an absolute super
horse. With Nevada Beach getting a lot
of the back for talk, are we overlooking Baeza?
Why are we doing that? Because he had to go away from
the top three-year olds to win, and that didn't spell very well
for his class, as you know, as far as this race is concerned.
But I think that he's definitely has the talent to win a race
like this, but I don't think he's going to get the ideal set
up and the other clothes are faster than him, so I think he's
got the potential to beat in the picture, just not on top.
It's interesting as well because we saw Baeza in the Pennsylvania
Derby. He spent his entire career
running in restricted races, but against age appropriate races,
let's call it that. Nevada Beach tries company.
He'll break from the three here, Bob Baffert and Mike Smith.
Mike Smith keeps them out here. He had been aboard.
Juan Hernandez had been aboard previously, but Mike Smith keeps
the the mount here. Gozi wins the Grade 1 Goodwood
against older horses. Bull Serrano's in that field,
man. And I don't think Folserrano
wants to go mile in today. So I mean, that part of it does
stand out. But I think Folserrano might win
a Breeders' Cup race today again for sure.
Right? And that's he's a Breeders' Cup
champ. Nevada Beach, give him a chance
today. You kind of have to because you
know, as as Bob Baffert's weekend is going so far not very
good. And when you start to doubt him,
that's when he comes back with with the horse that you didn't
think about. And I think Nevada Beach is
exactly that horse. He's improving as well.
You know, again, I don't think the three-year olds are as good
as the four year olds, but you never know with a horse like
Nevada Beach on their homecourt and getting a good trip because
this horse is going to try to get that trip right behind
fierceness and be able to to out finish them.
You know, you never know in a race like this where things
happen in front of you and Nevada Beach is the beneficiary
of it. Contrary thinking is in here.
You and I ran it Chevron yesterday actually.
I mean right here at the paddock.
And he was in a good mood, man. Absolutely.
Dude was in a good mood I don't think.
He's ever in a bad mood, is he? I wouldn't.
This could have been a stressful time.
True, But he was in a good mood and.
And whatever that means, I don't know.
But he's got contrary thinking in here.
Obviously, this isn't a contender in this spot.
I wanted to ask you just the simple question.
Are you OK with a rabbit in here?
I am, yeah. It's part of the game.
That's that's absolutely it. You know, we've seen it before
in the greatest cups and everything.
I don't know why it's a controversy now of all times,
but here we are and it's all right.
Contrary think he's not going to win, but he's going to help.
By the way, if you want to give us your classic picks or
anything like that, you want to see them on screen, go ahead and
text those in to us in the comments section.
For every young comes over and this is now the buzz horse in
the classic. I think it's not even a
question. Him and journalism are getting a
lot of buzz ahead of this race. I you're the only person talking
about fierceness. I feel like I'm the only one
talking about Sierra Leone. And then Dandy showed up.
Thank God. But for every young in this
spot, obviously the hoggy barn, Sakai comes over to ride again.
They gave him kind of that nip on TV kind of easy spot.
They ran that 152 whatever, just kind of a stretch your legs win
by open lengths. Frankly, I don't know a single
other horse in that race. So I don't think it was much of
anything for that. It reminds me a little bit of
what of what Jose D'Angelo did with Ben Tornado at Churchill
Downs. Get him in some company where
he's going to have to go fast, but you know, he he's going to
get some confidence from that kind of a confidence booster
coming in here. But boy, if we get that Saudi
Cup version of Forever Young, he could win here.
Absolutely. And he fills the spot that
Sovereignty had. But looking at this horse on
Thursday, he looks like an absolute monster and I think
he's going to run his best race. I, I, I really think he's going
to show up. He he looks dead fit for a horse
that really hasn't run much this year and I think he's sitting on
a pretty big race. 2 for three this year. 9 for 12 Lifetime has
a chance to go over 20 million in earnings with a win here at
Del Mar. Obviously sovereignty scratch
today. Would he have been your top pick
or would you have stuck with fierceness?
No, I would have stuck with fierceness.
I I think fierceness is just good enough to be able to out
kick that horse, you know, with a little head start.
Sierra Leone break from the seven.
Defending champ here. We saw his best running this
year. Frankly, he ran well in the
Foster. If that race is at a mile and a
quarter, I think he does catch up with mine frame probably
he'll get the mile and 1/4 here in the Whitney.
He wins there Jockey Club Globe Cup.
I say that a weird race for sure.
I'm I'm not drawing a line through it in his case for sure,
but I do think it caused him to be a little bit further back
than Flavia and Pratt wanted to be.
Can he stay close to this pace this year?
It's a tough call. I mean, the way the track was
playing yesterday, I think he's going to be up against it.
We got to watch early to see what what happens with the
track. But not being forwardly placed
is is really a bad thing. Even with the rabbit setting the
pace. I mean, I don't think the rabbit
really wants to go this far, but that's why I say that fierceness
kind of has a little bit of an advantage here.
But as far as if everything plays out like it did yesterday,
I think Sierra Leone's going to have some problems.
It's going to be difficult to make that move.
I think we said the same thing last year.
So Dan Issel, by the way, on my radio show, did pick Sierra
Leone again. And it thinks of him as the best
in the field. I think of him as the.
But after seeing Forever Young, he and Forever Young to me are
like the physically most Oh my goodness in the race.
Pierce. Pierce just looks, he looks
fast. He's got a fast look to him,
which I really love. Another horse that is really
physically gifted is Mind Frame. We saw him win at 7 furlongs in
the Churchill Downs. Oh Louis, who did he beat in
that race? Oh, only Banishing and Nicos and
book em freaking Dano, who swept all the stakes at Saratoga this
summer, comes back, wins Churchill Downs's classic for
the summer in the Stephen Foster beat Sierra Leone, first Mission
out of the Brad Cox barn, etcetera to do it.
The craziness of the race in the Jockey Club, Jockey Club Gold
Cup. We talked about this at our
seminar on Tuesday. He loses the rider and then he
loses his way and he doesn't keep pace with the horses,
doesn't finish. It bothered Sean Collins, my my
Co host there at Blood Horse Monday.
And then we talked with a jock and I want you to explain that
story, but we asked a jock about it and he said, I agree with
Sean. Yeah, I mean, he he expressed
that it was a who's a jock? They give our boy a shot.
Burning Bush. My hand.
There you go, Suffolk down. Rockham Park.
But he he he was really shocked that the horse didn't kind of
didn't do the job and run his race.
Right. Yeah.
Which is interesting. I never heard of that.
You know, something to keep in mind.
I didn't. Started he started nodding right
away. He was like, yes, that is right.
And I thought, Oh my gosh, he said even a dime claimer's going
to go wrong, right? Nickel claimer's going to go
wrong. And.
It's a good point. I mean, it's I never had thought
about it until it was brought up.
And it's something to think about here because Mind Frame
has probably in the same amount of negatives as positives coming
into this race. He's a freak of nature.
I mean, if you look at his past performances, I mean he runs
every. Time.
So he's run, he by the way, he's run at 7.
He's won at, excuse me, 7-8 and nine this year.
OK, it'd be great to Gulfstream Park Mile, OK, in the Grade 1
Churchill Downs and in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster.
If that horse shows up today, I think he's got a serious shot.
I talked to Bob E Hall from a Blood Horse yesterday and he's
the New York guy there. And he said, look, I think it's
a coin toss of the older horses, mine frame's going to be the
longest odds on the board I touch.
And he said, I understand your concerns about the Jackie Called
Gold Cup, but this is Todd Pletcher.
At the end of the day, I trust him more than the past
performances show. Yeah, I mean.
That's it's certainly an angle. Just even the distance, you
know, Who knows? I I mean he hasn't really run
this distance but. He was good in the Belmont last.
He was he was good in the Belmont, but it's hard to tell
what what he's going to do. It was just, it seems so long
ago. It's like, what is he going to
do now? And he's a real, real question
mark. And sometimes those are the ones
you kind of have to go to because of the Price is Right
like Bob was saying. That's exactly right.
Journalism will break from. Bob Barker by the.
Way the price is wrong, Bob. Journalism here.
Michael McCarthy, of course, making the move to Jose Ortiz.
We have not really talked about that on this program.
Do you like the move? I do, I do.
I think the the writing styles make a whole lot of difference.
I mean, we saw in the Haskell where journalism kind of got
behind a little bit and it happened twice.
So I don't think, you know, getting in trouble in in like a
5-6 horse race is ideal. And they want to kind of get
away from that. So I think Jose's going to try
to keep him clear and in a good spot to be ready to to close on
the on the front runners. But he, he just has he's, he's
got a lot of second Itis and that's that, that keeps
happening. And it's, it's a little
concerning at this point. I'll be interested because
everybody loves workouts and I'm not.
I'm not hating on workouts at all.
He's such a workout warrior, right?
You play basketball. You know those guys, they never
missed a three in practice and then they get in a game.
Look all world. And it's not different in horse
racing. Team There it is.
They look good coming in. You off the plane?
Off the bus, right. You off the bus, All Stars.
Yeah. Not as good.
By the way. You know how it's a big day?
You know? I know it's a big day.
Sean Collins has a necktie on. That's how I know it's a big
day. Sean Collins has a necktie on.
He looks miserable. You know, it's that kind of
thing. I need Sean on screen.
Get in here, buddy. I need you in here just for our
guy. Sean has a tie on.
No pattern at all because Sean is not buying a pattern.
Actually, you look nice, dude. Thank you.
I don't know what to say about. This is 1 of This is one of the
rare occasions in the year in which I'm actually in a suit.
It takes the Derby. It takes the Breeders Cup
Classic. That's pretty.
You're not even in a suit, you just got a blazer on.
All right, so the your classic pick.
Classic pick. I gotta go.
I feel like I have to go with fierceness.
OK, I I just think naturally talented, just on natural
talent. I think he is the best.
He's got a lot of quirks and as long as he can overcome those
quirks, I think that he can do it.
This year, I don't think the pace is going to be as fast as
it was last year, so I think he'll be fine when it comes to
that. I don't.
I think Sierra Leone's going to come running at the end like he
always does. He'll get second or third.
Obviously I'm a big journalism fan, so I'm hoping that
journalism runs well. But.
I don't know what I saw in the Pacific Classic.
You know how big a journalism fan I am, how much I was
thinking his praises. I didn't really like his
specific classic. Now, rider change, yes.
But I'm just wondering, especially now, not only did we
see that race, but seeing Gosger and Bracket Buster come back in
the Fayette Stakes and get beat by the older horses, I'm
starting to think, OK, maybe, maybe the three-year olds are
just a little tick below the older horses.
Outside of sovereignty, of course.
Well, is a run. We don't know so.
Yeah, we don't know whether you. Know what?
That's a great point by you. Yeah, that's a great point by
you. Alright.
We'll, we'll, we'll find out today.
I'm I'll be rooting for journalism personally, but I
think I have to go fierce. There you go.
Our episode is up right now. Breeders' Cup, a Saturday
preview as well over at bloodhorse.com.
You can go find that there and of course on their socials,
YouTube and on Spotify. Bring Barry back in to finish
out the field here in the classic Antiquarian will break
from the 10. I think it must include if
you're playing an exacto trifecta on this day at least
cuz he is a stayer right? He does finish well, yeah.
I mean, he he kind of was the beneficiary of some good fortune
in the Jockey Cup, Gold Cup, but but back-to-back to.
For long races, the the Suburban and the Jockey Gold Cup, both at
2 minutes and two, that's that's a normal time.
He's running really well, frankly.
He could fall into a nice trip and and hit the board here.
I I'm not really. Ship him if he thinks he's got
nothing here, right? I mean this is this is he's got
2 Ripolis and a Centennial farm. He's not doing that by.
Accident yeah, correct. I I I think he thinks that this
horse is loaded and probably has a good race in him.
I'm I'm not sure they're really fond of this post position, but
we'll see. They'll have to do something.
You have a horse that you want to share at the end of the card.
And this is a Barry Spears special.
OK, This is a. And if you watch Socal
Saturdays, you have heard Barry give out these kinds of pics.
By the way, Barry Spears, Lou Rebeau, thanks for hanging out
with us. Of course, we are paddock side
here at Del Mar. I apologize for the lighting.
The we did what we could. The Be Your Best is coming in
and someone's going to look down and see a flower bowl from
August where they finished third under Edgard Zions.
They're going to see Tyler aboard in the Beverly Dia
Colonial not able to keep up with whatever Charlene's Dream
is, OK? And they're going to try to
figure out why Barry is here. And then if you go back to the
game lane, you see a very interesting horse.
And frankly, if you go back to that Pegasus World Cup filly and
Merit turf, you see an extraordinarily interesting
horse that ran a style that I think could play here today.
Talk us through this pic here. Why do you like Be your Best
soldier? Well, there doesn't seem to be a
lot of speed in that race. Stellify looks like the lone
speed and Be Your Best looks like the second speed that's
going to stalk. Everybody else kind of wants to
close and I think that might be problematic for them because I
don't think the pace is going to be fast enough for them to just
close in. They can.
I mean, it's definitely possible, but it's a lot harder
to do and Be Your Best has shown the ability to stalk and pounce
and finish races off. She did it in the Pegasus World
Cup turf and I think they get that same set up, same trip.
The only thing is I, I hope Saffy and the connections are
listening right now because I they don't want to go too slow
to keep the closes in the race. They want to go fast enough to
stretch them out to where it's going to be, work for them to
catch up and and that's the ideal trip they'd get that trip.
I think they'd get to the winner's circle.
Today, what if they get the lead here?
Do you trust Irad to write? Absolutely OK, Absolutely.
You did in the game lead. He understands this horse.
I I don't think she's particularly easy to ride.
Just looking at her past performances and it seemed like
he kind of figured it out. They sent her out here, I think
specifically to get a horse ready for this event.
Well friend, that wraps our shows for the week.
Couple radio shows, much Blood Horse stuff of course.
Happy hour here. Want to thank our friends at
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Appreciate everyone hanging out with us throughout the week.
Barry. I am so, so glad we got to do
this together. Thanks for making the trip to
Louisville to do the seminar and certainly coming out here to San
Diego to Sean Collins and of course our guest on this
program, Carlos Morales from Ahentes today, San Ocico and of
course Danny Brewer from Forbes, a contributor over there.
I'm Louie Ribo horse racing happy hour so Cal Saturdays.
We appreciate you very much. Have a great, great Saturday and
happy Breeders' Cup 2025.