BloodHorse Monday | Shisospicy, FGNOLA

All right, we'll gather round children.

It's episode 55 zero of this ridiculous thing called Blood

Horse Monday. He Sean, I'm Louis.

Thanks for hanging out with us on yet another.

Monday, Yes, congratulations. Why do we call this Blood Horse

Monday? Because we're very, very

creative. Thanks for hanging out with us

for the 50th time or for the first time.

Whatever you're doing, we really do appreciate it.

Again, Heshawn Collins, I'm Blue River, thanks for hanging out.

Start your week with us. You're welcome to join us

anywhere around the planet and certainly anytime that you are

available. Sean, a cool show today, a busy

show once in a while. These are the things that happen

where we plan something and then another person and then another

person and then we have an editorial meeting and then

there's an idea here. We're 3 deep today.

We will open today with Rich Mendez.

He's from the more Play stables. She's so spicy out of there.

And you will hear a spectacular story about here, what happened

with her in 2025 and what their plans are for 2026.

To talk to Kevin Kellroy from Fairgrounds in the middle

segment, especially about their Oaks Trail seems to be one of

those spots. Wait till you hear the list of

winners out of that place the last decade or it's

unbelievable. And then we'll close the show

with David Thayer. The Florida Assembly gets

together starting tomorrow for their legislative year.

And there are two decoupling bills in Florida right now.

And so Damon is going to jump on and talk about those with us and

their efforts, of course, to stymie those, to quell those

before they get to the governor's desk.

But wrong. Good.

Good afternoon. Good afternoon.

How are you? Happy 50.

Happy 50. Happy 5050.

All right, so good. Nice to be back in Kentucky.

You are sitting next to me. That's very smelly in this room.

I the you talked up something last week on the show that you

were gonna bring to the show and unveil in the open and here we.

Are I don't think I mentioned it on the show.

Oh, you shocked? I texted you at that.

OK so I'm bad at there's one dividing those things.

I I literally do 9 shows a week if anybody's wondered. 9 shows a

week, so one. Viewer that is on here.

This Is that a viewer? Yeah, one viewer that knows

what's going on. Here we have a viewer I've.

Not shown this to Louie yet because I wanted his.

I didn't know we had viewers. I'm excited.

So anybody that is listening on on Spotify or anywhere else I

recommend if you want to see what I'm about to unbox here,

hop on over to the Blood Horse YouTube or the Blood Horse

Spotify channel. You can watch the video.

Otherwise I will describe it to you after I get Louie's

reaction. Anybody that follows this

podcast? Or not being a human body in

that box. Anybody who?

Follows this podcast or has been following it in the last few

months. I hope should hopefully enjoy

this because it's something cool.

I want to give a shout out to Joe Moore.

He's a good friend of mine, a thoroughbred owner hopefully

starting to build Wisconsin as a.

Future. That's where I know that name.

Yes, a future spot in horse racing.

So we wish Joe the best of luck there, but he has been listening

to us since the very beginning and he had the opportunity to

send us something. So here's the box for those of

you watching. Legitimate legit box.

I mean box box. Yes, and I'm going to terrified

of this. Hello.

I was not ready. I was not ready.

After all that talk about getting our horse plushies from

Japan, here is the Forever Young plushie.

Amazing. From Japan, thanks to Joe Moore.

Holy cow, man. Here is Forever Young as a

plushie look in the Blood Horse Studio.

Blood Horse Monday Studios right here we had we finally.

Oh my God. They're all that talk.

All right, he's pretty awesome, I'm not gonna lie.

It doesn't stop there. We also.

Have. What's Up has also made it to

the Blood Horse Monday Studios, as has as has Equinox.

So Equinox has awesome. So much smaller.

What did Equinox do? Yeah.

We got the equinox. Junior first, apparently, Yeah.

He didn't run in the. He didn't come over to.

The US that's awesome. I love that.

I love that dose though. That's awesome.

That's great. He got the.

He got the size penalty for never coming to the US.

That's. What happened?

And it's like a it's like a weight knocked down in the

handicap race, right? Yeah.

Yes. So three of them, yeah.

So. OK, so I gotta know now.

Now that we're privately building the the Wisconsin

breeding program, by the way, comment on YouTube which one you

like the most. But also where should we set up

the track in Wisconsin? Important question.

I assume that'll just be a Tapeeda thing because it's so

cool. Yeah, if we if we do it in

Wisconsin, if we could set it up near my sister's house so that

way I have a free place to stay that'd.

Be great. Makes sense.

Yeah, I wear. Joe's place, because now he's

going to be required. What about just South of

Milwaukee so the Chicago folks can go there?

Boom, there you go. Boom.

How about that? Those are incredible, Joe.

It's a great job by you. I'm going to steal one just so

Joe knows, and that's how that's going to go.

Those are very. Cool.

Actually, you might have to put them on the.

I do have shelves, I mean I got a shelf.

It is what it is that picture my wife can go anywhere that you.

Want to get rid of that forever? Young plushies?

Sorry. It's got the important thing.

I mean, yeah. I love our family and our

marriage, but this is a plushie from.

Japan. Exactly.

Why would I leave our picture up?

That's ridiculous. So yeah, so after, if you've

been following along, if you're joining us for the first time, I

promise. You.

This makes sense, I promise. Yes, right.

But. This has been a recurring thing

over the last few weeks, and so we're finally here.

They are, however young and equinox.

Man, oh man. All right, let's draft them.

Top three go. I have to get forever young

number one OK, and equinox 2 OK, OK, All right.

And probably equinox should be number.

One, I think he's probably. Number one, but you know, yeah,

I mean, it's forever young. We all know.

We all know that he's going to be our pick over here in the

States, so. I'm a fan of the Forever Young.

Yeah, like that guy. Yeah, he did all right.

I think he ran the best race I saw this year.

I agree, still voting for horses but I.

Agree. Somewhere Frank Eggs is very

sad, but there you go. So a plushy edition of the

program again. We'll welcome our three guests.

In today, he was so concerned about what was going.

To be I was terrified of that box.

I was terrified of it. Well and you doesn't make sense

now you did the thing it was so smart.

You did the thing where you acted like it was heavy and it

was not heavy. No, it's a great job by you.

It really is. Well Joe shout out hope things

are going well in Wisconsin. Thanks for hanging out with

blood horse Monday. We meet it by the way, anybody

that does hang out with the show, we appreciate it for sure.

And we we don't do the show for us for sure.

I appreciate. The way I did, I did have to do

a Wellness check on him yesterday.

Thankfully he sent these ahead of.

Time. Because yes.

Oh no. So Joe and.

I oh Joe, the Packer game. Yeah, we text very frequently.

I did not hear from him. During.

For the entirety of yesterday. So finally like around 6:00

yesterday, I had to send him a Wellness check.

Make sure. He was open 25 points in the.

Fourth quarter. Don't remind him.

Do you want him to stop watching?

Be sending us plushies. 16 didn't even score that many

points and they haven't played the games tonight yet and I'm

imagine one of the teams that he's scoring 25 points tonight,

that's not good. And they just, they signed his

coach again, like Lafleur gets to keep going.

Yeah, well, I don't understand at all what they're doing

anyway. So hopefully for.

He'll feel better when Aaron Rodgers plays horribly tonight.

But. Or for all of our people that

listen to us on Tuesday morning after he wins the game tonight,

they'll be like that. Didn't.

Happen. Sean doesn't know anything about

football. The anything happened over the

weekend that caught your eye? I thought Drexel Hill's comeback

in the in the wayward last was actually noteworthy.

Yes. I don't know what level she's

going to ever get to, but I thought that was

straightforward. Did what she was supposed to do.

I thought that did stand out as as one of those.

I think she's been very underrated this whole time.

I really liked her when in the Butcher.

I think it was the butcher. It was the butcher and I

actually, I had her pretty, pretty high ranked on my on my

Oaks, on my oaks board and she ended up running second in that

race. So I thought I've, I've been

very high on her from the beginning and she seems to come

back. She ran a a good second First

off the layoff to a very good horse.

And then she comes back with that strong wind sitting closer

to the pace and she has been. So I, I think that was a

positive sign moving forward. I also I want to give a give a

little shout out to so happy I was.

Just going to talk about that, OK.

Explorer as well. Explorer.

No doubt about it, that's not going to be.

We know who she is, though. Yeah, that one, we didn't learn

anything, right. The Drexel Hill.

I thought, though, it was just nice to see her come off that

layoff. Great spot by Whit Beckman and

just seemed to fit. I texted with him a little bit

about it and he just, you could tell he was like, OK, yeah, this

is who she is. This is what she can do.

You know, the the speed numbers are never going to blow you

away, that kind of thing. She's just going to beat the

horse that you saw on Saturday, but I think she could pick off a

bunch of those kinds of those those races and especially, you

know, if it's willing to do the if she's running in, I don't

know, black type in Indiana Derby day or, you know, at, you

know, the under like a 30 kind of card or something who.

In the distaff division scares you right now.

OK. So that's the other question is

how high up can she go in that division?

I don't know. And and so like so many runners

that are starting their four year old campaigns, it's hard to

know what they're going to look like as older horses.

She certainly falls into that category.

But she was an interesting 1. So happy though.

What do you, I mean, yeah, the question is the breed, right?

Can you go? Yeah.

I mean, being so unhappy, can you go the distance?

But I mean, Mike Smith sounded pretty confident after the race

that he could, I think. They're going to go.

They're going to go for it. He.

Looked like that seven he wasn't tired at the end.

I know Butane kind of looked a little green down the stretch he

was logging in but once he got straightened out so happy so

then pulled back away from him and increased that margin

between the two of them. So I I didn't really like I

thought so happy is when was professional.

I've said it on the show before, when you see like when we saw

journalism or when we saw a practical move, when you see a

horse beating the Bafferts in these races on.

I know this isn't technically the Derby trail yet because

there wasn't any points, but you know that is a lead into the.

Derby, I want to talk about that actually.

That's usually the sign that we have a pretty legit horse on our

hands is when you have somebody else coming in and winning these

races against the Bafferts. This is the Derby trail.

Yeah, I don't care. This is the Derby trail.

Do you know who it's the Derby trail for?

You take You know who it's the Derby trail for?

It's the Derby Trail for Granted Challenge and what they what

they found out by the way, about Greenwich Village is all of the

turf breeding on that horse. The horse should be on turf.

Acknowledge me please is a very nice horse, but I think we saw

the best as a 2 year old. So happy is the question mark

here. Can Baffert stretch out butane

is the other question. That's the real question.

But the the thing about so happy is, what did you see that made

you think he needed to stop immediately when the race was

over? I saw none of that.

Exactly. It looked like he could have

kept going that can keep going to the mile quarter.

Like even if he could stretch out to a mile on the 16th for

the San Felipe, what does that mean for the mile of an eighth

of the San Anita Derby, the mile and 1/4 of the Kentucky Derby?

But I mean, if I'm, if I'm those connections, I'm going.

To give him. A shot and if it doesn't work

out, I mean being my run happy, I mean you, you, you got some

nice options especially there in California as far as the

sprinting goes moving forward. So this is OK, so this is Mark

Blatt who had one win in his last 30 ish stakes or something

greatest stakes coming into this.

OK, so this was not a, you know, not a small thing to win a grade

to here number one. So congratulations to those

connections, right? And then go turns around and

does it again, right, I mean. Birthday week, that's a Well, he

made a good wish on birthday day.

Did OK this weekend, shout out the but this is an interesting

one to me because the works are all what you would expect for a

horse that he is going to stretch out.

So in California, I feel like especially San Anita, we see

more of the six furlong timed workouts with younger horses

than we see in other parts of the country.

I wonder how much is the Baffert effect because he likes to do

that, that 56556 kind of pattern with with his more serious

contenders uses training to get their endurance up right as

opposed to running his horses. And we talked about people

training. This is more endurance training

that 6 foot long workout at the end of December before all the

rain came and they had to move everything to the subpoena for

those works. I think it's an indication that

they're even within the connection thinking about, OK,

let's get let's get a little stab at the Derby trail.

And I think they should. He's got blame, Mayor on on the

bottom side. I mean, that's distance right

there, so why not? Well, who's run?

Happy sire, Everyone always forgets Super Saver.

Kentucky Derby winner but. It's there.

I get that. Some of those babies are like

that on this horse. Here's the other one.

Here's the other one. We're going to talk this, the

connections that she's so spicy. You know who the damn side is,

right? That's distance.

But Tolley's a Miller. It turns out his daughter's A5

for a long horse. OK, like good luck with that.

Why can't so happy be a 2 Turner?

I think it can be for sure. All right, well, let's get into

it with the she's so spicy connections from more play

racing. His name is Rich Mendez.

He's going to join us here on the program.

Make sure you stick around for that one.

Very, very fun. Kevin Kilroy from Fairgrounds

after that. And of course, we'll close with

Damon Thayer. That a coupling issue there in

Florida. Blood horse Monday, Sean

Collins, Louie or Bell. Here's our discussion about

She's So Spicy with Rich Mendez for more Play racing.

Continuing our conversations moving into 2026 here, Odd blood

Horse Monday. He's Sean.

I'm Louis hanging out with you yet another edition, the 50th

rendition of this program. Appreciate everybody hanging out

with us. I want to talk to the

connections of She's So spicy, a popular one on this program.

Of course, the more play racing folks at Rich Mendez joins us

from that spot. Rich, thanks for kicking

everybody out of your office so you can do this.

How are you, man? Are you doing all right?

I'm good, man. I'm.

Good. Well, nothing to really talk

about here, Sean. Well, she's.

Just nothing. To get into are.

You guys in Kentucky? Yes, we are in Kentucky right

now. And it's cold up there.

I saw all the snow at Keeneland. Kind of wish I was there just

for a little piece of it and then head, head out.

But. Get out, right?

Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, it said. Somewhere warm inside of the

sales. Ring.

That's right. That's exactly right.

Well, let's dive into she's so spicy.

We'll get we'll get into the Breeders Cup here in a moment.

But you guys made the big announcement last week that

she's going to be kicking off her four year old season heading

to the Middle East to run in the 1351 Turf Sprint in Saudi Arabia

and then hopefully maybe a trip to Dubai after that as well.

Just what's your excitement level and what went into the

decision to take her overseas? Sure.

You know, we, we, we thought about it, right?

We but when we look at it, when you look at what, what's out

there for her, unless we stretch her out about a mile above that,

I just think this was the right way, right.

Look, at the end of the day, there's, there's more money over

there. I don't I'm not sure about the

competition. There's definitely a lot of

competition on on that side of the world.

And we wanted to just, you know, OK, let's put her out there.

Let's send her there as long as she takes the trip, You know,

well, there is a bend over there in Saudi, you know, where she

can does her best. And I think she's got a

legitimate chance to go out there and, and, and win.

If we didn't think so, we wouldn't send her, you know, so

I think it puts her, you know, it's like, OK, she's done what

she's done here in the States. Let's put her out there and see

what she can do over there. You know, when we and I really

truly believe this, knowing her from the beginning is when we

had the at the British Cup when they were drawing, you know, we

want it somewhere in the middle, right?

Call it what it was, but we're a little disappointed that we got

the tent slot. And you know, I literally

believe that she just breathes different air, right?

She's just good. She's she's got the speed to

come out of the gate position herself.

So I think we all settled in and said, OK, you know what, this

might be the best spot for her. A ride can look in and see who's

there, you know, and she did what she did over there.

So but we're super excited about sending her over to Saudi and

hopefully to to Dubai. Well, we, we had Jose D'Angelo

on the show the day after the OR two days after the Breeders Cup

after she had won and he had mentioned, you just said right

there, it seems like she breathes different air.

I mean, the plan to run her in the Breeders Cup as a three-year

old filly that began it sounds like all the way back in the

springtime. You guys are that confident?

And. So what is it about her that

just makes her so, so special to wear you?

You guys had that plan in mind that far in advance for a

three-year old Philly, but then also thinking that, you know,

she's the number one turf sprinter potentially in the

world. So I sat down with him at the at

at an airport. I I forget where we were.

I don't know if it was in Kentucky.

And I just said, listen, what's what's our plan with it?

Like really, you know, we we're seeing what she can, you know,

potentially do, but what would be the plan?

And Jose, look, Jose believed in her way before he wanted her.

He's never asked me for a horse. He's never said, hey, Rich, go

buy this horse. You know, we need this horse.

But when he saw, she saw and I bought her as a as a yearling,

he really wanted her. And as she progressed, you know,

she's one of those horses that does everything really well.

Well, at least at the beginning, she had a little bit of trouble,

but she, she had a lot of anxiety.

You know, she was, she was a little bit nervous, but she got

over that. And even now she's never breezed

in company, right. And if you watch her breezes,

she's never asked. As a matter of fact, on the last

one, the rider had to kind of pull her up a little bit and she

still went 47 and, and one I think.

And she, she took the, the curve, you know, on the outside.

So who knows what she could have done.

And she's been very consistent, very, very consistent every

single time. So from the beginning, we just

thought that she has, we had something special.

We didn't know, of course, how special, but she's proven every

single time that she's, you know, she's up there with the

best. Talking with Rich Mendez, he's

from More Play Racing and of course the connections of She's

So Spicy will start her 2026 in Saudi Arabia.

Let's go to that Breeders' Cup, one of those great races for

sure. She breaks like she does.

Was there ever a doubt in your mind, Rich, once you saw the

break? Man, you just never know, right,

like you go into the greatest cup, it's it's all a man.

I had to say it's a dream, right?

And, and we've got it tagged all over our motto and, and all of

our stuff that we've ever done, even in the music, right.

It's always dream. Our farm in Ocala, it's called

always dream equine. So we dreamt, you know, and we

knew that if if she breaks, if she breaks well to the front at

5 furlongs, it was going to be hard to capture.

And you know, no one caught it, at least in Spanish.

I told, you know, when I spoke to Rod in a paddock, he says I'm

going to turn her on and turn her off and, and that, and

that's what he did. So, you know, yeah.

Look, of course there was nerves.

There was everything. But we knew she broke well and

she broke comfortably. She could sit off, you know,

maybe, you know, second, she'd have a really, really good

chance. But, you know, in my, in the

video, I'm asking Jose, are the fraction's too fast or the

fraction's too fast? And he's like, no, the faster

the better, you know. So yeah, we, we, we just knew,

you know, once she got to the front, it was going to be hard

to, to catch her. All right, so I have to ask

because we were there are set for blood.

Horse was overlooking the paddock there at at Del Mar and

our mutual colleague Barry Spears was with us.

And he's not the kind of guy to rush to the window based on a

paddock pick, But he saw she's so spicy right before the race

and said she ain't losing this one money.

So he ran to the window. You know what's?

Yeah, even in the paddock, did you have that sense?

Yeah, so I was literally Cameron.

He's, he's our manager partner, right?

My son-in-law and I said when she was there at Del Mar, she

fit the spotlight. She was shiny.

She was on her toes in the paddock.

It was like she she was meant to be there at that moment.

And, you know, some of the announcers and I get kind of

hyped up a little bit. You know, they said they didn't

know if she was fast enough to compete.

And as I'm walking off, my son reminded me and he said, you

know, they said that she's not fast enough.

And even in the after the interview, the post interview,

you know, it kind of yeah, I'm not going to lie, rub me in a

little bit the wrong way that, you know, people doubting her

and and I get it. But yeah, it, it was all

exciting. It worked out perfectly.

We got to be right up front with some of the camera crews caught

everything from, you know, even more special as Jose and his

dad, you know, me and my son and my grandson.

So it worked out perfectly. I had that same kind of moment

at Keeneland like a, I think it was a week and a half ahead of

time when I was there for her last breeze.

And I was, I think I remember asking Jose question about her

and I and I think I asked that right the question too.

And they both kind of gave me the same answer.

I was like, you know, what, is she going to be able to be part

of the pace in this one? They just both looked at me and

went, they're not faster than her, you know?

Yeah, you know, and Jose was confident, man.

Every single time I'd ask him, I was like, Jose, listen, don't

hype me up. Is it?

Is this real? You know, and he's like Rich.

And we were at the auction. He told Brian that over at

Gainesway. And Brian, he's like, she's

going to win, you know, that confident.

And Jose, when he tells me something like that, you know,

it's because he really feels it. You know, look, he's the

trainer. He's supposed to know.

He's supposed to, you know, at least have an idea.

But yeah, she, like I said, she fit the whole, you know, from

the, the California vibe, the the, the big spotlight for her.

And she just, she was on her toes.

She just looked like she was ready to go.

And sure enough, she was. And that same weekend I came

when you were there at the bar and I think I spoke to you

briefly and I maybe just asked you like a quick question about

the fact that she was scheduled to be in the Fasic Tipton sale

after the after the Breeders Cup was over.

I could tell at that point even. Before the Breeders cup it.

Didn't seem like you really wanted the part ways with her.

I know there are other partners involved so you know that's a

big decision. But ultimately she RNA at that

sale. You guys ended up buying out the

rest of the partners at guitar racing.

How important was it to you to keep her more play, race and

stable? You know, it's, it's crazy

because we didn't know, right? We, we put a number before I had

said some crazy number to Brian and he's like, you know, she

needs to win the Breeders Cup, She needs to win it and she

needs to win it decisively to be able to bring that kind of

number. And you know, he was pretty much

spot on. But we realized that she was she

was our brand, right? What we represent in the sport.

You know, she's fast. She's she's got to look to her.

She's and and at the end of the day, she's part of our brand.

She's she's what's making more play.

You know, here we are today, you know, doing this podcast.

So I didn't we didn't want to get rid of her.

I don't even want to tell you what crazy reserve we put to

make sure that she she didn't sell, you know, but you should

probably tell us. Right.

You. Know it was it.

Was $8 million, it was $8 million reserve.

And you know, my son, we got a clip of it and he's like, she's

going to sell. I was like, no, it's OK.

But you know what, that was real money, the $5.2 million, that

was real money. And, you know, Qatar Racing was

a good partner, you know, took her over to, to London.

But, you know, they had their, their, their thinking and their

business model. And I was OK with it.

And you know, we parted French. Well, you speak of her as kind

of being your brand. I want to give more play racing

credit your guys, a social media team online is probably one of

the best in racing from that perspective.

You guys do a great job of promoting the racing, not just,

you know, promoting your own horses, but you know, trying to

teach people what horse racing is trying to reach that broader

audience. You come from kind of that that

music background. How much did has that kind of

played into your business thinking with the horses,

whether it be in buying the horses, whether it be in

marketing more play racing, How much is that really kind of bled

into your racing involvement? Yeah.

Look, I think it it's a lot of it, right, Because we did one of

the things that we did really well in the music business that

put us in the spotlight was marketing, you know, but I feel

that we've reached the plateau on the horse racing of of that.

And there's a lot of people that say they want, you know, that

they want change. But you know, what's funny is

that no one's actually reached out to us.

And I feel that we're doing as good a job, if not, you know,

and I hate to say better, but just a good job at marketing to

people that that are not in the horse race business, right.

Everyone knows this is how whenever you go, bet they know

how to do it right. But it's to me, if you want to

bring more eyeballs, if you want to bring more fans to it, It's

like you market to the people out there that really aren't

involved in the sport and see, you know, that the great things

that that that, that it brings to me and my family, right?

So I'm hoping that one of these days, my phone to ring like,

Hey, let's sit down. Let's see what we can do from a

marketing standpoint for the sport itself.

So we'll see. But it definitely is part of

what we do. My son, he's really, really good

at visions and putting them together.

And then my nephews are the guys that behind the scenes that do a

good job. But, and we try to, when we do

it, it's, it's, we also put the, the, the times that we don't

win, right, Because you, you don't win a lot more than you do

win, you know, so we're trying to adjust some of the stuff

we'll be at the big races this year.

But I appreciate everyone saying, saying that.

And we just want to bring new fans to it and, and let people

see how much joy it brings to us and how much fun it is overall.

Rich Mendez More play racing, of course, describing the the

family nature of the operation out there.

I wanted to ask with the, with the trip to the middle, you

know, to the Arabian Peninsula between Saudi and Dubai, is

there essentially going to be a two-part of the seat, you know,

two-part season for her this year, one where she is overseas

and then maybe, you know, try to shoot back to Kentucky Downs and

then the Breeders Cup again? Yeah, look, that's that's the

plan, right? If, if, if we decide to send her

to Dubai because it is a straightaway great.

But if not, she'll come back maybe running Saratoga.

She loved it, the Saratoga area when when she would when she was

working over there. We run her there and then go to

Kentucky Downs. Look, there's even a possibility

that I hear. And again, it's a it's a lofty

goal is to run her two times at Kentucky Downs and the male on

the on, on the male side, you know, and on the female side,

look, it's, it's we'll see. We'll see.

Because you know, we want to make sure maybe give her a rest

in between, you know, when we come back and take her into

Kentucky Downs and then not racing her again, of course,

into the Breeders Cup. But we'll see what she, she's

going to tell us when she's ready because she's a filly that

she doesn't need to breeze every week, you know, and if you

notice, if you go back and look at her breezes, you know, we

give her 10 to 10 days, two weeks off and she's ready to go

when we, when we put her out there.

Speaking of ambitious plans potentially for racing, you made

the declaration on the when you announce it on FanDuel, you

would love to see an opportunity for a She's so spicy versus

Kyung Rising match race if it were to come up there.

I know Louie's very excited for that.

I would be very excited for that.

Have they have they given you a call to Kyung?

Rising team Is there. You know, I would say it, it'll

be hard, it'll be difficult unless she, unless she goes to

to, to Dubai and we go to Dubai as well, you know, but the, the

consensus is that he'll run us off the, the track and it's

like, wait a minute, have you seen her run?

You know you. Know yes, I know he's an older

horse, I know he's got 16 in a row, but he hasn't had she's so

spicy in the in any of his races and look again, I if it happens,

great. I think it's good for the sport,

you know, but again, it's it's a it's how do we do it?

Because they're not going to come over here.

We're not going to fly Shiso all the way to Japan.

And plus it it'll probably be impossible to do a match race,

which would be great. But I think it's just good for

the sport to even think about it, to talk about it, you know,

and who knows, maybe it's maybe it's a pay-per-view situation.

That's I don't know if they've ever done that.

So just different ideas. But yeah, I would love to see

her go against them. If it happens, book me.

Book me a ticket or right? In the front row I got you.

Probably overpaying for that one.

I'll try to get credentialed, I guess.

But no. But Rich, I look, the last thing

I think about her to mention coming out of 2025 is that we

have these things called the Eclipse Award, Sean, and I get

to vote on those. I'll say this publicly.

I voted for her in three categories this year and she's

so spicy. I thought that much of her year,

I think how you campaigned her was worthy of an Eclipse vote in

multiple categories. And so congratulations on that

for sure. Just being a finalist, frankly,

in three categories with one horse is remarkable in itself.

If she if she does win an Eclipse ward, what does it mean

for more play? Listen, it just solidifies that

hard work and and and good relationships are are the way to

to make this happen, right? Because so many people, so many

people have told me, rich, I've been trying to get to the

Breeders Cup for so many years. And maybe we've gone to the

Breeders Cup, but we haven't won one.

And an Eclipse Award. I, you know, for us it's great.

But just for her to be acknowledged, it's, it's, it's

all worth it. And I just think it just shows,

like I said, that, you know, we came into a sport we didn't know

anything about. Kind of the same thing with the

music business, but that's a longer story for a different

place. We didn't know much about it.

We, you know, we went into the auction, we met people and this

she was one of the first ones that we bought.

And you know, we had good success with No more time when

we first got into to horse racing.

And you know, it's, it's just one of those things that you get

lucky, right, But you have to be in it to get lucky.

You have to be able to, you know, go through some of these

ups and downs of the racing side of the world.

But we you know, she she ended up on our lap and she's just a

phenomenal Philly. I mean, you guys know it's hard

to get this and hard, hard enough to I mean, maybe get one

eclipse award, but the possibility of getting three.

I don't even know. I don't know.

I don't know, man, it's it's it's great.

I think it's also great for the sport to have a new racing team

like ours, you know, be successful a little early, you

know, and at this level, I think, I think it just shows

that it can be done. You don't need millions and

millions and millions of dollars to be successful.

I mean, at least that's what I feel.

Look, I bought a gun. Oh my gosh, what's his name?

The intimate ship, Urban Legend for $1.3 million and did not pan

out, unfortunately. She's so spicy $200,000 and she

pans out So what an amazing amazing ride look real quick

story I remember when when when she won her first race Donato

Lani hits me on text message and he says this is special filly

she's going to take you places hold on to her and he was

exactly right she's taking us to a bunch of different places we

would have never thought we were we would be able to get into

well we'll. Get you out of here on this last

one right here. So you mentioned kind of your

team is new to the racing industry.

What is it about the sport that's captivated you?

You know, I've loved horses from from when I was a young kid,

seeing the races, seeing them as just these amazing athletes.

My son played college football. My daughter's always played

sports. In high school, we played sports

and just watching them was just always amazing.

My, my uncle used to be a jockey.

He's now at Gulfstream. He's the weight master over

there, Victor Sanchez. And I always just wanted to be

involved and I just couldn't afford it, you know, at the

time. And it's just when you're around

the make for me, it gives me a sense of peace, right.

And in the, in the world of business, music, entertainment

or whatever, most businesses gives me a sense of peace.

And you know, competition is it when you want to compete at this

level, there's there's certain little things that you have to

do. And for me, my grandson, to see

him around the horses, my granddaughter, see him around

the, see her around the horses, it just makes it all worth it.

You know, if you go back to the video of, of the Breeders Cup,

you know, my whole family's there, right?

Like that. My whole immediate family is

there, all of that. It just encompasses what horse

racing can do for us, for anyone.

Rich Mendez for more play racing, of course.

The connections of she's so spicy.

Looking forward to a spectacular year with her.

And you heard it here, she's running twice in Kentucky, down

to maybe 3. Let's let's do.

One race every day. Boom, there it is.

Boom. Just get it done.

She's ready to go, she'll be shipping out on the 2nd to to

Saudi and we look forward to to an amazing trip.

Well, a bunch of safe trips in 2026.

All the best, Rich. Thanks for.

Joining so much guys, great job, always take care, appreciate.

It thanks Rich there you go Rich Mendez more play racing

something he said it's interesting I think we kind of

underrate the star power of last year the horses that ran yeah

yeah because I we have when you have a horse that's going to win

horse of the year like sovereignty it sometimes puts up

it's almost like we've got a nice little we've got a banner

here it's almost like standing on the other side of this like

years sovereignty and you forget that journalism did all the work

of the triple crowd. You forget that she's so spicy,

has this incredible run of stakes races in North America

that we have. I don't know, I don't know,

Rebels Romance comes over. Like he starts to think a bunch

of stars last year. Yeah, and also had in, in

addition to sovereignty, we also had a superstar in torpedo and.

That's a good one in a year. So, you know, kind of those two,

it really seemed like we're the dominant forces as far as what

pulled the attention. But yeah, she's so spicy.

Had a fantastic year. I was lucky where I you had seen

her a couple times in Kentucky ahead of time.

So I was able to kind of follow along.

Another trip to Royal Ascot didn't work out, but I was able

to kind of follow along, made sure that I was up to watch her

recent Royal Ascot. And then when she came back,

Kentucky Downs was excited for that.

And she was one of those horses that I feel like maybe maybe for

some people that don't pay as much attention to the turf

Sprint division that maybe finally kind of caught her

toward the end of the year. But watching her develop

throughout the entire year. And you've heard from Rich, you

heard from Jose when we had him on a few weeks ago about just

the early expectations on her that they knew she was gonna be

a good one. Now seeing it pan out, it's

pretty incredible. And she's got she's got a a good

a good plan going for this year that can really kind of elevate

her to that next level. She's able to knock off these

trips overseas and she comes back if she can continue

dominating, if it does work out where she can run both those

races at Kentucky Downs, beat the boys and then beat the girls

a week later. Have, you know, both of those

going into the Breeders Cup. I mean, you're looking at a

Horse of the Year candidate. No doubt about it.

The other part of it is she was now, she's now the rule that

that dismissed the exception of Kentucky Downs and AG Bullet ran

so well at the Breeders Cup. So whatever happened at Kentucky

Downs as far as coming out of those races, we saw in the

adjustment we saw in the Breeders Cup.

Horses are just coming out of Kentucky Downs better.

So a guy like Bridge can look there and say our horse can run

twice and still be a competitor at the World Championships.

That's a real thing we can do. And frankly, it makes sense too.

If the Breeders Cup at Keeneland travels different, man, you

don't have to get out to California, you have to go to

New York. You have to do those things.

Yet everything's right there and that little, our little thing

here in Kentucky, it sets up interestingly for her.

And frankly, the only thing I ever worry about with horses

going to the Arabian Peninsula is when, when they come back,

that first race, that secret sometimes just takes time to get

their legs back underneath them. How she bounced back from Ask

It. I'm not worried about her.

Yep, that's the other part, right?

We've already seen this, frankly, that she goes to ask

it. It's not the race they want.

It's not the outcome they want. At least excuse me.

And she comes back, she's just fine.

Well, we also saw Jose how he handled Ben Tornado as well

coming out of his long, long. And was willing and was willing

to go to ownership and say this is what the horse needs.

And when you've got a guy like D Angelo, you have to trust him,

right? Exactly.

And yeah, so and you know, as far as the the two races at

Kentucky Downs, I know some people might hear that and think

what? But that's been a successful

thing over the last couple years.

I think I have one article on it.

This year. There were several.

There was like 5 or six horses this year that had run in like a

stake or a very high level allowance in the first couple

days and they were coming back on the second weekend and almost

all of them hit the board and several of them won.

That's just a place that when I've talked to some of the

connections over there, like it just seems like once the horses

get into Kentucky Downs, just the atmosphere of it, you know,

kind of out in the open air barns.

Joe Sharp talks about that all the time.

The atmosphere just really seems to relax horses and you can kind

of get that second race out of them potentially as well.

They hold their form for that week and they're in, they're in

an environment where they're happy for that week.

Well, Rich points out something too, which is they they're on a

10 day schedule with her. That's already her lifestyle,

right? I mean, she's on that kind of

rotation anyway. So that makes sense that they

can go twice at Kentucky Downs. I also just, I think we're just

at a different point in just the history of that place.

Yeah, it's I think people used to work from we're either going

to the British Cup or we're going to Kentucky Downs.

Now guys like more players saying.

We're doing well, exactly. And I and I think that's going

to be a trend going. Yeah, and we and we talked about

Kentucky Downs a couple times during the fall as far as that

record with no horses had come back to win Breeders' Cup race

until she's so spicy. Horses running at Kentucky Downs

now are not the same horses that we're running at Kentucky Downs

5. Years, that's also.

That's going to be something those turf races are going to

start getting picked off left and right by these Kentucky

downs. Sources.

I think that's probably correct. Another place that gives us many

winners later on is the Fairgrounds.

We're going to do in a little bit of a series on the Oaks

Trail through the Fairgrounds, which I think is very, very fun.

We'll welcome in Kevin Kilroy from Fairgrounds.

We'll do that next. All right, it's Mardi Gras

season down there in New Orleans, which means it's also

Derby prep season and of course, Kentucky Oaks prep season as

well at the Fairgrounds. He's Kevin Kilroy, of course, at

Trust Your Luck on the socials if you want to go find him there

on the track feed every single day there at fairgrounds, one of

his favorite spots in the entire world.

So always happy to get a hold of Kevin around this time of year.

Man, how are you? Doing good.

You know, I'm still in Kentucky. They're in this cold, but

heading, heading to heading New Orleans tomorrow.

So excited to get down there and get the boots on the ground.

There you go, getting back to the.

Train some of the warmth back up with you.

It was nice here for a bit, wasn't it?

It really was thought wrong about that.

It's exactly right. We wanted to have you.

Yeah. Because, you know, this time of

year with guys like Sean, all we do is talk Derby trail once in a

while has to kind of mix it up. And, you know, one of the things

that's developed over time and certainly the the the general

track through New Orleans used by so many top trainers, so many

top connections up both to the Derby and to the Oaks.

But boy, Kevin, I was doing a little research for this segment

with you. Just the most recent winners.

I'm not skipping anyone. I'm just giving the most recent

winners list of the Rachel Alexander Stakes.

Are we ready? Good cheer.

Who? We know what she did last year.

Tarifa. Pretty mischievous.

Turner Loose. Clary Air Finite.

Serengeti Empress Mono Boy Girl. That's a.

Pretty good. List.

It's a pretty good list, Kevin. Yeah, we're lucky.

We're fortunate. You know, I mean, just the

makeup of our backside, you know, in terms of Steve Asmussen

there every year, Brad Cox, every year, Brendan Walsh, his

rise has been been fantastic. Cherie Devoe, now, there's no

doubt that she's one of the top barns in the country.

She's been a big part of fairgrounds for the past few

years since she got her license out, and it's a thrill to have

her there. And then everybody else who

shows up, you know, Tom Amos, you mentioned Serengeti, Empress

Al Stall, Junior, Dallas Stewart, Joe Sharp, We got, we

got them all right. They're there.

The tracks fantastic. The horses are there.

We're always just hoping that they run with us.

And we've been able to see, especially in the Oaks, some

very, very good ones recently. Yeah, it's been a remarkable set

of horses that have gone through there and frankly, on to later

success. And, you know, it's interesting,

Kevin, one of the things about the the Arkansas, the Arkansas

Trail, the Louisiana trail here as I mix up my Southern states

is, you know, the fact that it is a little bit earlier in the

calendar. Do you find that that, you know,

a guy like Brad Cox or Steve Asmussen or something?

It's more just, hey, Louisiana's a good route, so I'm going to

use that. Or do you think they like a

little bit of the spacing as well?

I mean, space is always a part of their decisions.

I'm not sure exactly what what the terms of, of their thought

is in between that distance between the Fairgrounds Oaks,

the last prep and the Kentucky Oaks.

It's usually about six weeks just sort of right in there.

And you know, I mean, I think that's that's kind of the norm

is, is thinking about giving your horse a good spacing to

have them recover, have them get right back in their mind,

especially when shipping to a new track.

But I'm not exactly positive in terms of what their thoughts are

with that. Yeah.

Well, I mean, we see on the on the Derby side, for example, we

see a lot of the horses that end up running in a race, like the

gun runner continue in every single step.

We see so often where like you know, say Gulfstream for

example, the whole Weeble winner will set out the Fountain of

Youth come back or for the Derby, something like that.

But it really does seem like these fairgrounds horses on the

Oaks and the Derby side, they're kind of hitting every single

spot as they're going forward. You think about, Steve asked me

since done that the last couple of years with Epicenter with

Chuck Phantom. I imagine Chip Honcho, he's back

in this weekend. So that might be the plan for

him as well. As you said, it's just really,

you know, that kind of atmosphere down there that's

really starting to get people or keeping people involved in the

racing. Seems like there's constantly

good field size down there as well.

Yeah, the fields are great. I mean, Steve talks about it a

ton. You know, his sort of his

talking point over the past few years since I've been there is

that, you know, your last race is is not as good as the one you

need to run next time, right? You've got to develop from race

to race. The way that the series

lengthens in terms of the Derby and the Oaks preparing for that

first week in Amaze is definitely, I believe and you

know, hearing Steve talk about it, just a big benefit for the

trainers to be able to know what they have, know what they're

working with and and if they've got a real shot come that first

weekend of May as they're graduating from race to race and

lengthening each time. Kevin Kilroy with us from the

fairgrounds there in New Orleans.

I wanted to ask you about some of these recent winners.

I don't know if you've got some personal stories with any of

them, but I mean, even the, the horses that I haven't mentioned

Kevin who came through there. I, I didn't mention say a

Hoosier Philly or you know, even someone like a hidden

connection, something like that. Just the, the overall number.

I remember, for example, just that 2 year old Hoosier Philly,

my gosh, we all couldn't get enough of watching her when she

came down to New Orleans. Do you remember much about her

trip down there? Oh yeah, that that intelligent

Gray, right. She was too smart for her own

good and maybe tricked, tricked her connections tricked the

betters for sure. I remember after she lost the I

believe it was the silver bowl day when she did debut.

Maybe it was the Rachel, maybe it was the Rachel, but that I

just was like, I'm never betting one of these over hyped horses

again. I just get sucked into it.

But it was cool. It was it was so much fun to

have her on the grounds and be able to tell her story and and

she was magnificent in the morning.

She really was she was just such a high cruising speed Philly

that you can't blame everybody for getting so excited about

her. So I mean, it's many of these

Phillies that we celebrate because they were able to

graduate, they're able to go on and do do more.

There's so many that are just a part of the story, part of the

the fun and the thrill of of being a part of these races that

that lead up to it. So who's your Philly?

She stands out in a big way. Absolutely.

She did get a another stake win, another couple of them

eventually, right? She kept on coming back for

more. Well.

You know, we, we all see you on the TV screens down there when

it comes to the betting side of things, but you're also doing

quite a bit of work, you know, on the writing side of things,

talking to the connections, getting these stories, putting

them out there for the rest of us to read.

Just what's your enjoyment level on on that side?

Getting to spend your time in the barns, getting to talk to

these connections and learning more about these horses.

Sean, you know, I mean, I think we're, we're like minded in

terms of we're, we're beasts of the backside.

You know, it's just for, for me to be able to, to be there, to

be talking with everybody, be up against the rail and, and get,

get the hype as much as, as better.

I sometimes wish I, I didn't hear some of the hype, you know,

'cause it does drive some of the prices down, etcetera.

To be able to be a part of telling those stories is, is an

honor. You know, for me, this sport is,

you know, is one that I'm looking to preserve and

celebrate and honor all the people who put their energy and

time into it, whether it's the owners, but more specifically

the horsemen. And so being a part of all that

and, and getting, getting the sense for, for what we've got

down there. I mean, not to look too far

ahead, but Bella Ballerina, you know, and talking to Brendan

Walsh, I'll never forget being at the Santa Fe.

So not the backside, but the the bar that everybody hits up

after. It'd be at the Santa Fe.

And Brendan Walsh. Yeah, man, never forget that

way. He said special when he when he

told me about pretty mischievous that he really did think that

she was special. And that seriousness, that

earnestness that, you know, Brenda just has.

He's just he's just a charmer like that.

But recently he's up on on the horse and I'm in the hunt there.

And with the other trainers, I'm just kind of talking to him.

I'm like, well, what do you think?

Bella Ballerina, half the pretty mischievous so successful

obviously getting to the Kentucky Oaks championship

through our trail. I said, Brenda, do you think

she's as good as as pretty mischievous?

And he said, I don't see any reason why not that classic sort

of Irish grammar, right? I don't see any reason like no.

So she could be just as special as her sister.

She's going to you know, the targeting the Rachel Alexandra.

She's been back on the work tab. That's that's the goal for her.

So the dolphin at least something, you know you were

mentioning off air. Yeah.

Good cheer. Pretty mischievous.

We'll see about Bella Ballerina. She could be the.

She could be the goods. Yeah, it's interesting watching

who sends which horses where, right, which level of contender.

They want other horses in the different, you know, the

different circuits, the different parts of these trails.

Kevin, this year was the first time since Serengeti Empress

that I made a decision on the Oaks of the Derby simply on the

physical stature of a horse. When I saw Sovereignty, I

decided I was betting on him in the Kentucky Derby.

Sarah Getty Empress was that horse before 20/19.

I saw her before the Oaks. I asked someone who's which cult

that was running in the Derby and it was Serengeti Empress.

I just met on her that day. I think Joe K had her with me.

Actually, I think I think I think I think you can remember

that one outside of a Serengeti Empress of those last couple of

winners. Does anyone just remind like,

you know, you talk about being at the barn, those things.

Anyone stand out? You just remember seeing her and

going, my goodness, that's, that's, that's a, that's a

racehorse. Well, I've got an opposite with

with good cheer seeing her in her stall in Brad Cox's barn.

And so unimpressive. She's nice.

You know, obviously she's a she's a she's strong.

She was fit. They did great work with her,

but her body wasn't there in the same way that some of these

other 3 year olds are like simply joking was on the trail

last year. She was a monster, you know, for

Whit Beckman in good cheer. She really just didn't have it.

I remember just seeing like, oh, she just looks, you know, like a

little thing, right. But she had that mind.

She had that mental maturity that that Cox would would, would

talk about all the time. Just that she was just so much

smarter. She was so handy.

She was so responsive to Louis Saez.

Louis would talk about it too, being up board.

Good. Cheers.

So there's all that maturity that you're looking for, right,

In terms of physically, mentally.

Some of them have have it one way, some have it both ways.

Yeah, simply joking. She was a monster for sure.

South Lawn. She was a good looker when in

that Fairgrounds Oaks ahead of her running the Kentucky Oaks

Tarifa. She was just a a nut, you know,

watching her train in the mornings, she would just, she

would not necessarily calm down or relax for her rider.

She was always very, very eager, especially in the works early

on. So she was it was lacking a

little bit of that mental maturity, but she had it

physically. That's that's sort of the fun

thing that you want to get a sense for, right?

Do they have that full package? Because when they do, they're

special. They're there's, they're Uber

special. So that's that comes back full

circle to Sean where we're talking about talking to the

connections, talking to these horsemen, getting a real sense

of of what they think they have is so much a part of it.

I know you're going to be doing a lot of talking with the

horsemen this weekend. Obviously we have the comp

Stakes on the road to the Kentucky Derby.

We have the similar Bullet Day on the road to the Kentucky

Oaks. The Lacomp kind of the the big

story there, I think is Chip Honcho coming back from the Gun

Runner. We'll see what he's made of.

He's stuck wide in the outside gate in the silver bullet day.

We have taken by the wind coming back from her wind in the

Pocahontas. Just what are your impressions

of these fields going into the weekend?

And I know you maybe haven't had a chance to sit down, do the

handicapping. Yep.

Is there anybody that's catching your eye going into this

weekend? Yeah, I mean, Sharita Bow's got

got a pair in each, right? She's got Mesquite who is, you

know, just a minor sort of I don't really thought possibly

that, you know, could be 6, just not maybe 100% on the gun runner

day. So he scratched ahead of that

one, but he turned out to be fine.

They were just being precautious.

But he'll be joined by golden Tempo and and seeing him in the

paddock, you know, you get you get so many different looks of

horses. You're looking at their physical

right. You're trying to get a sense

sometimes the eyes, sometimes what sort of glowing behind the

eyes is really one of the neatest things that you can find

is these thoroughbreds. And that's what I saw with him

in the paddock ahead of his debut.

Get it done going 6, which you know, the connections thought

that maybe he could win at six. He was talented, but really they

knew he'd be better going longer.

So I'm excited about that. Atropa and as well as White

smoke, White smoke is one that I was hearing about before she was

about to debut. She did get scratched on that

stars of tomorrow 2 card at Churchill Downs, but she did

debut with us and she looked fantastic.

She ran a huge figure. She came from behind.

She proved to be very nifty navigating that that field and I

think she faced 9 and she was able to get get from last to

1st. So white smoke might be the play

for me. That being said, Pashmina in the

race, the Rob actress trainee, she looked she looked much much

the part of it just a big strong Philly like you're talking about

Louis, who sort of has that weight and has that physical

that you're looking for in her maiden score.

Now she went to the front and I talked to Ben Curtis.

You know, I talked to these jocks after that can be really

insightful and he said I didn't want to be on the lead.

You know, that that was that was that was my bad.

I probably should not have put her on the lead, but just sort

of how the race unfolded without much pace signed on in there.

So Pashmina, I think with a settled trip, with relaxed trip,

she could really show everything that she's capable.

I'm excited about her dancing in Old Town as well.

Don't sleep on that Keith de Swarmo Philly.

She was always training huge at Churchill Downs.

I haven't seen her since she's been at fairgrounds, but I'm

excited to see her against the stakes company as a maiden.

I think she does fit. And then along those lines,

Crown the Buckeye 4:00 to 1:00 in the morning line for the

Lecompte Mike Maker Training, Ohio Bread, most expensive

purchase, I believe, in the history of thoroughbreds for

that state, Jarrett said. He was really tiring at the end.

So I think the distance is a question for him.

It's a big time question. Maybe he needed that race to be

able to sort of move forward from it to get more, but I

definitely wouldn't be backing him to get it done here in the

Lecompte. Knowing that distance is a

question for grounded Buckeye. Well, he is Kevin Kilroy.

You can hear him again Friday morning on my radio program on

ESPN Louisville if you're so interested, 10:20 Eastern Time

ahead of the Le Compte and the Silver Bullet Day.

Kevin, we really appreciate you jumping on.

I'm sure we will knock on your door once again before the Derby

or or right after it, I'm sure. So we appreciate you doing that

buddy. Have a great and safe trip down

to New Orleans. Hopefully the weather's nice for

you and well, we'll talk to you soon.

All right. Thanks, guys.

Thanks for celebrating our road to the Kentucky Oaks.

It's special down there. Hopefully we find another good

one. Yeah, I'm hearing you, man.

I no doubt that you will. Frankly, there's not the

historicity here. So hopefully exactly that.

Thanks, Ken. Thanks guys there.

You go Bloodhorse Monday rolling along Sean Collins, Luger Bow.

It is a thing too and he kind of mentioned it in passing there.

I always watch where people are sending their horses that are

serious about that first weekend in May.

The Dolphin is all in on New Orleans.

They are. They are just all in on it and

it is not, it is immestakable at this point.

Now, I'm sure part of it is Brad Cox wants to be there and he's

comfortable there. He likes it.

He likes to set up whatever, Brenda Walsh likes being there,

etcetera. Still, that's a giveaway to me,

man. I think that's a, a sign that

they're not only a good path to the Oaks, I think it's a, it's a

desirable 1. And the interesting part with

the spacing that he talked about, doesn't it seem like so

often a good cheer, for example, is just she gets to the Oaks and

then maybe one more race is just tired from the qualifying

process. I wonder if some of them do see

in other examples that we have of some of these pretty

mischievous or a Clary air for example, where that spacing

allows you to kind of recalibrate and start a new form

cycle after you're at New Orleans.

Interesting one. Yeah.

Definitely. And I mean that Oaks trail has

just been so dominant the last couple of years.

Every year we got you got to look at that's coming out of

Louisiana every single year when you're looking at the Oaks.

And as you said, that's the kind of the major spot where the good

dolphin horses end up, mainly because that's a kind of Brendan

Walsh and Brad Cox's main base. But even with like we're seeing

Brad start to go a little bit more into Florida this year.

And so it we're really looking at, you know, he's still keep

going to keep kind of his top Phillies in that fairgrounds

road to road to the Oaks. It just seems like that's kind

of that's kind of the main spot where a lot of people want to be

right now. And when you have guys like

Brad, when you have guys like Brendan who are making sure each

year that the top Philly in the barn is on that trail, that's a

lot about the trail. All right, And our final guest

today on the 50th edition, how about that 50 episodes of this

thing called Blood Horse Monday. He Sean, I'm Louis is Damon

Theory joins us from the Thoroughbred Racing initiative

and of course we're talking to coupling there in Florida.

New legislative year starts tomorrow in Florida.

And Damon sounds like unfortunately some stepped up

efforts on the decoupling side of things.

What are some of those efforts you can tell us about?

And and good afternoon. Thanks for being.

On thanks guys. I appreciate the opportunity to

to be on the show and I'll bring your your viewers up to date on

what's happening in Florida. Quick recap, 20 years ago, the

Florida Legislature authorized with the agreement of the

horsemen and a local referendum in Broward County Gulfstream

Park's ability to have 2000 slot machines in the property on the

property there at Gulfstream Park.

By the way, there are only 500 slot machines there, so that's

significantly lower than was authorized 20 years ago.

That was called coupling, the coupling of gaming and racing.

For the second year in a row, Gulfstream Park and its

management and ownership, Stronic Group, First racing,

whatever they're called. Now they are pursuing a strategy

to decouple horse racing and gaming.

And about a year ago, our group was formed.

The Thoroughbred Racing Initiative was formed as a

coalition of owners and breeders, obs sales, company,

industry participants, veterinary clinics, horse farms,

van companies to fight decoupling.

We were successful. Last year.

The bill did pass the House of Representatives, but we were

able to stop it in its tracks. In the Florida Senate.

We got a major assist from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

We had a feeling that Gulfstream Park would not go quietly in its

effort to decouple its racing license from gaming.

And that's exactly what we're seeing as a session begins

tomorrow in Tallahassee. There there is the original

decoupling bill filed in the House of Representatives and

with a new sponsor. It was filed pre filed last week

in the Florida State Senate. We believe we are in a stronger

position today than we were even a year ago.

A year ago we were we were scrambling to put together a

coalition. Now that coalition has had a

major legislative victory and is still joined it it it the the

Thoroughbred racing initiative is made-up of the Florida

Horsemen, the Florida HPPA, the Tampa HPPA, Ocala Breeder sales

Company and then a coalition as I said of of interested horse

industry participants in Florida and beyond throughout the United

States. We've got supporters from from

all over the country who recognize Florida's strong

industry leading position in North American racing and

breeding's ecosystem. We estimate that 80% of the

yearlings that were sold in the Keeneland September sale are now

in Ocala, FL, getting their early training, their pre

training and going through their paces before they're sent out to

their racetrack trainers around North America.

We, we have a major sales component at OBS in addition to

the major breeding industry in Florida as well as two race

tracks at Tampa Bay Downs in Gulfstream Park.

And we're we're trying to preserve live horse racing at

both of those venues as we head into this session.

Yeah, this is I appreciate and Damon Thayer with us.

Damon was in our state Senate here 22 years, 12 years as the

as the majority floor leader here in Kentucky and, and was

involved a lot. If you've heard those things

around, you know, the Kentucky, you know, Thoroughbred

Development Fund and the historical racing, you know,

sort of options here in Kentucky, Damon was at the

forefront of many of those things.

And So what I appreciate Damon in that, that that piece there,

especially toward the end you mentioning.

And this. Isn't just raising a Gulfstream

Park, you know, to have a state bread program, you need a place

to run, right? And, and to have, you know, all

of those jobs that go around in Ocala.

Well, if you buy a yearling, it's got to run somewhere too,

right? I mean, we need to have, you

know, the beginning and the end of this product.

And I think people are just learning because of these kinds

of, you know, issues with legislation or whatever it might

be, how big of a cog a place like Florida is in our ecosystem

of horse racing, right? I mean, it's just it's an

incredibly important cog in what we do in the sport.

It's 33,000 jobs in the Sunshine State with a $3.2 billion annual

economic activity. That's right up there with

tourism and citrus and the ports of of course, Florida is a big

peninsula surrounded by water with lots of ports.

I mean, it's right up there, one of the most important industries

in Florida when it comes to its economic impact.

But that's just on the state of Florida.

You look, you look around the country and you know most of the

most of the top horses in training got their early lessons

in and around Ocala. I'm a partner in the CJ

Thoroughbreds operation run by Corey Johnson.

We've got a really nice Canadian bread colt you may have heard of

named Tom's Magic and we raced 2 time Grade 2 winner Hang the

Moon. We've got 10 yearlings right now

and well, 2 year olds. 10 recently turned 2 year olds.

And and they're all in Florida, they're all in and around Ocala

at four or five different places where they're getting their

their early lessons. We've we've got the the full

sister to Darth Vader that we own 50% of with John robes.

Her name is revenge of the sis. She's at Ocala stud.

Pretty, pretty cool name Mr. I do.

I do appreciate you killed. Sean, you literally killed my Co

host. Thanks a lot, David.

I wasn't prepared to drop the. Name on you there.

That's a good stuff it. Is pretty clever.

You got to, you got to give credit, you got to give credit

to John Ropes for his clever naming with the, with the Star

Wars theming. And but yeah, we're, so we're,

we're, you know, we're paying bills right now to a bunch of

different farms to board and, and give the early training to

these, to these two year olds. And there are thousands of other

entities just like ours doing, doing the same thing.

And so you've, you've got the, the racing side at that Tampa

and Gulfstream Park. You've got the, the training

centers like Palmettos, Palm Beach towns, Payson Park, all

the, all the training tracks in Ocala.

Then you've got the like, like Cassie training center.

I mean, Mark is on our board and he's one of these dual Hall of

Fame member and he's a, you know, one of the top trainers in

North America. His operation is based right

there in Ocala at the Cassie Training Center.

So, you know, then you've got the breeding, the stallions, the

brood bears, the foals. I mean, it's, it's pretty

impressive down there. And we we can't afford to lose

that as part of the ecosystem for racing in North America.

And that's what's at stake here. And it's, we're not just talking

about the $6 million a year that the, the gaming operation at

Gulfstream Park generates for Gulfstream Park purses.

I mean, this, this, this is a serious economic enterprise not

only for Florida, but for the rest of us who participate in,

in racing and breeding in, in the United States and Canada.

And so we're, we're, we're doing our best to, to fight it.

We're, we're well prepared. We're well prepared to what

we've we've been talking with legislators during the the

offseason. We've we've engaged in the

political side. We've done fundraising for

legislators. We hosted an important member of

the Senate in Kentucky last summer with a visit to Ashford

Stud Como America to see American Pharaoh and justify and

see that operation. And we've, we've had legislators

down to obs and we continue the education.

And I, I tell people, you know, since I retired from the

Kentucky State Senate last year, I've, I've, you know, been

invited to give speeches and talk to horsemen's groups and

the, the Tucson University of Arizona program in Tucson.

And I I tell people that wherever you live, you need, if

you care about the future of horse racing, you got to

remember horse racing exists because a legislative body

somewhere in your state, at some time in your state authorized

it. Horse racing exists by statute,

authored by legislatures, and then is governed by a regulatory

body, a usually a racing Commission.

And everybody has 1 senator and one representative who

represents them in their state capitol.

Unless you live in Nebraska, which has a unicameral

legislature and only has a Senate, but everybody has in the

other other states, you've got one of each.

And you owe it to yourself and the industry you love to make

sure that you reach out to the people who represent you in your

capitals so they understand the economic impact of racing in, in

every state where horse racing is legal.

And, and so we're, we're trying to energize and we, we do have

an energized coalition to tell that story and to defeat

decoupling and try to figure out what the future is for horse

racing in the Sunshine State. So you mentioned earlier, you

guys now have kind of 1 experience under your belt now

with getting this defeated last year.

And you just mentioned all the things you guys have done in the

in between then and now as well. What do the next couple weeks,

next couple of months look like as far as once Congress kind of

starts meeting and discussing these topics?

What do that? What do those next couple weeks

look like on your end? Yeah, it's gonna, it's gonna

come out as fast and furious, Sean.

The Florida Legislature starts this week and it will be over by

the running of the Tampa Bay Derby, which is March 7th.

The set, the last day of the session is March 6th.

So it's going to be fast and furious now and into February.

I I predict that based on the signs we're seeing that the

decoupling bill will start moving right away in the House

of Representatives. Normally in Florida, a bill has

to have three committee references before it can go to

the floor for a vote. They've already given it 2

references in the House, which is assigned by House leadership

that it plans to fast track the bill just like they did last

year. So our strength, just like last

year, remains in the state Senate.

We have several allies there who we believe will help us defeat

the bill and make sure that it doesn't see the light of day.

There are then, of course, we have a very strong ally in in in

the governor's mansion and Governor Ron DeSantis.

He did a press conference last year and then came to OBS.

He came to the auctioneers podium lectern at Ocala Breeder

Sales and spoke out against the bill and is a strong supporter

of the horse racing and breeding and pre training industry in

Florida. And so we we think we're going

to have to rely on that again. Mike Roppoli was a big, big

supporter of ours last year. He's very close friends with Ron

De Santis. He was a major contributor,

maybe the largest contributor to the Ron De Santis for President

campaign. They're, they're very close.

And that was MM gave a major assist when we needed it.

And Governor DeSantis was a was a big part of our, our effort to

defeat the bill. And we're probably going to have

to do that again. If the bill comes up in

committee, we'll be prepared to testify against it and tell

legislators why they're making a mistake on on supporting this

bill. There there is a symbiotic

relationship in Florida and a number of other states, most

racing states between some form of gaming and para mutual racing

and both do better when they work together.

We we know as a as as a matter of accepted intelligence that on

live racing days at facilities that have some form of expanded

gambling that their numbers go up.

Here in Kentucky you go to Turfway on a live racing day.

The the the action in the HHR Gaming Hall is going to be

stronger. I used to do consulting at

Hoosier Park in Indiana Grand when when people came out to the

races, there's a percentage of them who stayed up to play the

slot machines along with Corey Johnson.

I do consulting work in Iowa for the HPPA there.

I go to the races at Prairie Meadows a lot.

They have a full blown casino and sports book.

You can see on the days when there's live racing that the the

numbers go up there. There is, as I said, a symbiotic

important relationship between racing and gaming.

We want to make sure that we continue to preserve that in

Florida and not get the camel's nose under the tent as a signal

to other states to to perhaps take the same steps.

It just happened in British Columbia at Hastings Park where

the government just pulled the plug, said you're not you're

done. We're not giving you any more

of, of a supplement from, from expanded gambling.

And so they're likely it's not going to be any more racing at

Hastings Park. We, we saw what happened and is

happening in Chicago with the shutdown of Arlington Park and

things not looking very rosy at Hawthorne.

The, the ownership there is not proceeded even though it has a

legal right to build a casino there.

So, you know, it's, it's not just about Florida guys, it's,

it's about the entire racing and breeding industry on this

continent. And I appreciate the opportunity

to talk about it today because I, I want people to understand

how important this is and how hard the Thoroughbred Racing

Initiative and our coalition is, is working.

We've got the, you know, we've got the Breeders and owners and

farm owners and van companies and veterinarian clinics and the

two major horsemen's groups. Everybody in Florida is is

working all in the same direction except for the two

race tracks that are pursuing decoupling well.

There you go, all these Damon Thayer again, Thurberd Racing

initiative.com if you want to check out what they're working

on there. And Damon, I got to say, and

I'll close with this, it feels like this and you talking to

legislators is like so many other things in horse racing.

If we just did a little education, I think we'd be in a

lot better spot. And it sounds like much of your

time with Tri is spent educating people about 33,000 jobs about

that kind of income. Comparing it to things, I think

like comparing it to ports is a really good idea.

This is the kind of work that we're talking about, right?

And so I, I, I appreciate all of that, but it does seem like man

education's sort of the key with all this, is it not?

Yeah, we were on the back foot. You know, Gulfstream Park got a

major head start and and sort of pushed its narrative on a couple

of key legislators and really had some momentum at this time

last year. I mean, the decoupling bill was

going to pass last year until our coalition got in the game

and we were able to push back pretty hard.

And we've got a pretty united coalition down there to do it

again this year. And you know, at this stage of

my life, preaching the gospel of the agricultural, economic and

cultural benefits of horse racing seems to be my, my lot in

life right now. And I embrace it eagerly.

And, and, and, and I'm excited to do it and looking forward to

many trips to Tallahassee over the next two months or so to to

help spread, spread the good news and, and help organize this

coalition to fight and defeat this decoupling bill.

You mentioned obviously, well, we mentioned earlier your

involvement in the Kentucky State Senate.

And you know, you've now gotten more and more involved here on

the racing side of things. But as you are talking to these

legislators, when you think back on your own path, obviously

being in Kentucky is probably a little bit different than being

in Florida. But what was it about horse

racing that originally caught your eye to where you realize,

like, this is important for us to have in Kentucky.

This is important for us to be supporting.

What was it about the sport that first made you realize its

importance? Well, before I got sidetracked

into politics, I was in racetrack management and

marketing. I I worked my way through

Michigan State at the old Detroit race course.

Go green and, and then I worked after college, I worked at

Thistledown for a couple years, then at the Maryland Jockey Club

and then I came to Kentucky and I did a long stint in the 90s at

Turfway and then I worked eight years at the Breeders Cup.

So and I fell in love with horse racing in 1979.

I was an 11 year old kid growing up in Northern Michigan and I

watched spectacular bid greatest horse to ever look through the

bridle by the way. I saw him win, I saw him win the

Florida Derby and I've been hooked on horse racing ever

since. So it's a, it's a passion for

me. It was my full time career

before I got involved in politics.

Luckily I was put in a position in politics at a really critical

time to help save horse racing in Kentucky.

Because you know, five years ago we were flat on our back and you

know, we didn't have $100,000 maiden races at Turfway Park and

and Ellis Park. So it wasn't that long ago that

Kentucky racing was was under duress and and we had to fight

back and, and achieve legislative success that put us

on the path we're on right now. And I just feel fortunate that

I'm I'm able to take the two things that I know a lot about

and that's horse racing and legislation and be able to

combine it to help help the industry that I love.

Thoroughbred Racing initiative.com, That's where you

find Damon's group and all the good work they're doing against

a coupling there in Florida. Damon, thanks for jumping on,

Buddy. Have a good rest of the week.

Good luck with all those legislators down to Tallahassee.

Thanks very much. Appreciate you guys having a

sound talk about our initiative down in Florida.

Have a great week guys all. Right.

Thanks Damon. There you go Damon Thayer with

us on the program. One last thing I wanted to say

about that conversation that he said, and I and I wish people

who are who are the. I wish the alarmist folks would

hear what he just said was Kentucky five years ago, six

years ago, flat on its back. And he's totally right.

He is totally right. Something I talk about a lot on

my 11:50 show is just because it was doesn't mean it will be.

Yeah, right. And right now, for example, in

the wider sports world, did you have Indiana football two years

ago when the national title game?

Because I sure as bleep didn't. OK, Now Damon's point is the

right one here, which is you have to make these changes.

He's right. The reminder to, and I, we had

Eric Campbell back a couple weeks ago, Guys like this, they

talk about the agrarian base of the sport, but they also talk

about horse racing only exists because a legislator at some

point said it can, right? And so it makes sense that you

would have to go back to the legislature.

Legislature when you need stuff like this, it just makes sense

because you exist because of legislation in the 1st place.

It's just part of the deal. And so I'm glad I don't have to

wade through those waters. I'm much happier hosting

conversations about them. But it is.

It's a reminder that while something like Hastings can

happen, something like Kentucky can happen, too.

Yes, something like Kentucky can happen, too.

And by the way, I'm predicting right now, I think we're going

to see four or five other states very soon that we're not ready

for doing what Kentucky's doing. Yeah.

And I think they're in places that are agrarian based.

I think they're in the middle of the country.

And I think you're going to see these kinds of initiatives

where. Maybe someone in some state

doesn't figure out what the actual economic impact of these

things is and how many layers to something like horse racing

there are when you're talking about Prairie Meadows, for

example, in Iowa. I think that's one of those

states. I'll give one away.

I think Iowa's going to explode because of the gaming, because

of those connections, because of HHR, all those things, and

they're building a breeding program.

They're actually building a breeding program.

This can happen, Iowa. Yeah.

Do you really care? Do you care, by the way, if a if

the Iowa Derby turns into a banger race in the middle of the

summer? Oh, I'd love it.

Thank you. Of course.

This would be great. You even look at something like

Kansas that's going on where? They no doubt about it if I ask

this in this. For years and they finally have

gotten the green light they're going forward with it and that

they're planning I think they're planning to start racing this

fall later on this year and they are looking for looking to have

the opportunity to start growing racing in their state.

So you're seeing a lot of these states kind of paying attention,

especially the ones that are near Kentucky, paying attention

to what's going on here in Kentucky and they're trying to

capitalize on that. But you know, as Damon

mentioned, Florida is such a key piece of everything.

Oh my gosh. Even if you're a Kansas bred an

Iowa bred horse, chances are you might end up in Florida at some

point learning how to be This is a.

Canadian bred, of course. They're coming out too.

Yeah, of course. Yeah.

No, that's absolutely. Correct.

It's such an important piece in it.

It's an area that we definitely can't lose.

You know, I think I mentioned this some one of the

conversations we had a few weeks ago.

If you're looking at the importance of Florida, you know,

obviously most of the horses are Kentucky breds that we think of,

but the second leading state by a clear margin and number of

Derby winners is Florida, no doubt about it.

So I mean that shows that that shows the importance of the

Florida bred program down there. A lot of nice horses coming out

of Florida. You can almost kind of, you

know, when you're looking, you think all the time, like when

you're looking at some of these big races, you'll be like, oh,

he's a the state bred against a bunch of Kentucky.

Bred you? Don't have the thought when it's

a Florida bred against Kentucky breds, it's like, yeah, they're

going to hold their own. So it's an important piece of

everything that goes on in horse racing.

And yeah, it's that's a fight that's worth fighting to save

what's going on down there. And I think maybe Eric mentioned

it a couple weeks ago or when we had them on, but it's also one

of those things where depending on the results of Florida, you

could see where maybe maybe another state.

It's kind of having an idea right now and they're watching

what's happening in Florida. That's absolutely right.

Domino effect is legitimate. That's right.

Yeah, That's all that's right. And I and I think education,

it's like so many darn things in this sport, is it not?

Yeah. Educate a better.

Educate A legislator, educate, you know, someone who lives in

the town with a racetrack. I don't know, like, whatever it

might be, right. Just whatever.

Education, Education, education, the former teacher says.

So there you go. Plus I'm only 44, I need to do

this for a while. I know I'm only 26, I just got

to call. Reminding me that you could be

my kid. Yeah.

No, that's what I do. Thanks a lot I.

Appreciate it. But his point that he made, I

mean, I was in college while the historical racing stuff was

going on, you know, in in the equine business program at U of

L Now, I remember we were having conversations in our classes

about, you know, the challenges of it getting passed.

And then when it did get passed, you know, how important that was

going to end up being. So I mean, what everything Damon

said about the, the state that Kentucky was in, you know, just

a couple of years ago. When I moved to Kentucky 15

years ago, they were running for $10,000 at Turfway.

Like 4 * a night. Yeah, 4 * a night, dude.

And, and the other day, I mean, like I was looking at like a

Wednesday card and every race had twelve horses on it.

Yep, Wednesday. Like, it's what I'm saying is

this can happen because we see it happening.

And I don't want to hear that It's just Kentucky.

By the way, California has the same rules.

They were doing the same thing. Kentucky out of business.

Yeah. New York did this.

Florida did this. Frankly, Florida did it like

Kentucky does. Purses would be 300 K for every

race. I mean, like, just been saying,

I mean, so many people. All right, man.

Well, we should probably let people go.

We're probably $700.00 into this show.

It is the. 5th A little bit of everything.

Do you have your do you have a favorite moment from the 1st 50

episodes of this thing? Because I do not.

I understand. I'll be real.

You know what can I can I I'm going to throw the whole team

under the bus. You ready?

OK. One of my favorite moments.

We did the first episode of this thing.

If people go back and listen, we did it live.

Yeah. OK.

And everybody of Blood Horse hated it.

Every single person. They're like, we're not doing

that anymore. You guys are recording.

We need to do this. Wind.

It was, it was hurricane winds at Churchill Downs that day.

Yeah. It wasn't anything that anyone

did. They gave us a very nice spot.

All the people were very nice. It was, you know, it was

whatever the decision to record this thing instead of going

live. Still my favorite.

Yes. And I will say, I think if

people don't know, these are not, this is not a standalone

thing, Sean. And I don't just show up on

Monday and do this. There's planning, there's

meetings and all this stuff. The team we get to work with is

spectacular. Yes, really, really great.

People and I do want to give a shout out.

We had three great guests on today.

I want to give a special thanks to everybody that we have had on

through these first 50 episodes, especially some of the guys that

got on at the beginning when we were just getting this thing

started. I know the Blood Horse name

carries a lot of weight to it, but when we're just two guys who

are relatively new to the industry, for them to give us

the time that they have, they've all been excited to be on.

We've kept us a lot of great relationships with everybody

after their interviews as well, keeping track of, you know, some

of the stuff their horses are doing.

As you've seen, we've had people like Aaron Wellman, like.

Sweet. Multiple times.

I mean the bulk from coming on this show.

Yes, yeah, I know the horses have been running, so there's

that part of it too, you know, you want to make sure.

Right before big rice get on here.

That's right. But.

We, I think we've also, we've done a good job of kind of

spreading the wealth as far as what we've talked about.

We've had jockeys, trainers, owners, breeders.

We've had people involved with the legislature like we had

Damon today. We've had people involved with

the race tracks with Kevin Kilroy, like we had met

Dinnerman on a couple weeks before the Haskell and you know,

like we've just had, we had a wide range of people and

hopefully you know, you guys as viewers, as listeners, hopefully

you've been enjoying everything along the way and we've been

helping you, helping you navigate the last year of horse

racing a little. Bit so I'm a liar.

I have. I do have a fair amount.

OK. It was when Brooke Smith and I

put arm around each other right after the Breeders Cup Classic.

And for 60 seconds we walked to the owners enclosure and we

talked about the last race of Sierra Leone after the best race

I saw this year. Yeah.

You know what That was it. That was the moment.

And I know it wasn't like on this show, but it was for this

show. Yeah.

And so this show gave me that moment and we played that

interview and we definitely played it and I looked like an

idiot at the beginning. It was great, all the things.

Yeah, I gotta say I did really enjoy my interview the next

morning after that with Jose Dianz having been Tornado be

part of his. Team, and I mean like.

Team be part of that. That's great being at the barn

with the sovereignty and the journalism teams after the

Triple Crown races as well, getting it, being them, giving

their time. Because if you don't know, they

all do their big press conference when they first get

there the morning after the Triple Crown races.

And those can go on for 1530 minutes sometimes.

And for Bill Mott and Michael Banahan and Michael McCarthy and

Aaron Wellman to then on top of that, give us an additional, you

know, 10-15 minutes to talk about the race for the podcast.

We definitely really appreciate that.

I I have learned in this industry that everyone 20 years

older than me is a big liar, that trainers don't want to talk

and that they're not interesting.

Trainers will talk. And they're interesting.

And they're interesting. That's right, yeah.

No, there we go. We must be doing something

right, because here's the forever young plushie.

So we must be doing something. Right.

Thank you, Joe. Oh man, that's wild stuff.

Well, well, there you go. Episode 50.

Put the magazine thing up so that I can talk about the

magazine. And if you do not get Blood

Horse magazine, head to the you can get the QR code at the

bottom of the screen if you happen to be watching on YouTube

or on Spotify, but if not, head to bloodhorse.com.

There's a magazine tab at the top of the home page.

You can also sign up for the daily top of the home page as

well. Daily comes to your e-mail every

morning, totally free. Start your day with Blood Horse

that way. But hey, with the magazine comes

to your house once a month, make your coffee table look beautiful

and of course, get the stallion registry as part of that as

well. If you think you wouldn't enjoy

a stallion register, you're wrong.

It's actually not true. Will Shawn be replaced by a

plushy as my Co host by not next week.

The Blood Horse is dedicated to the improvement of thoroughbred

breeding and racing over 100 years.

Don't forget to like, subscribe and save Blood Horse Monday on

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and insights, visit us at bloodhorse.com.

Thanks for listening and we'll see you next week.