Preakness 151 Previews | John PIassek

Want to welcome in our friend John Piazzic at their off on the

socials. Johnny P is what we call him

around here and we always get a hold of him ahead of the great

racing here in Maryland. John, good morning, man.

How are you? Good morning, Louie.

I am doing fantastic. I wish I was down there to you

guys. It is the first time in five

years I have not been at the track on Black Eyed Susan Day,

so it definitely feels a bit weird for not to be there.

But it's still, it's still a fantastic day and the Black Eyed

Susan's a fantastic race, so I'm excited, yeah.

Yeah, No, the cards came together very, very nicely for

this weekend. Of course, John, one of the

talking points around this weekend is the fact that Golden

Tempo, about 3-4 days after the Derby announced that he will not

be making, or the team at least announced that he will not be

making the trip here to Maryland.

Now, three of the last five winners of the Derby not making

the trip to LOR, excuse me, to Maryland in general.

I don't want to lead you in any direction.

What's your response? I mean, I think we are all past

the point of it being a debate as if if the Triple Crown ought

to be changed. And I feel like a lot of the

folks who are still apprehensive about it are kind of conflating

what this debate has become about.

Because, you know, of course, the poor American Pharaoh, it

has been 37 years since the horse won the Triple Crown.

And a lot of the debate was about is the format too tough to

win? And then American Pharaoh and

Justify approved. It's not too hard to win.

But now it's become a bigger problem, a much bigger problem.

And that training stuff has kind of become apathetic towards the

idea of winning a Triple Crown. I mean, yes, like it sucked that

rich strike didn't go to the thickness.

But yeah, he was a long shot. He wasn't the one that brace

anyway. So you kind of understand it.

I mean, sovereignty, he was much the best of his crop last year.

He almost certainly would have won the Preakness, and by

extension the Triple Crown. The way this Preakness set off.

It would have just fallen right in the golden tempo's lap with

all the speed and his closing kick.

And yet his trainers just didn't seem interested in the idea of

winning the Triple Crown, which is is ostensibly the crown jewel

of American racing and the thing everyone wants to win more than

anything. And if we didn't get to a point

in any sport, well, its participants stop caring about

its biggest event. That's a big issue.

It is a big issue, but his name is Johnny P John Piazzic at

their off on the socials joining us here on a Rabo and Co ESPN

681057 trackside here at Laurel Park ahead of Preakness 151.

You know, it's interesting, John, just the the the changing

dynamic of that as far as people not caring deeply about the

Triple Crown. But one of the things I love a

storyline this year is that Riley Mudd, whose dad, Bill, has

spent a lot of time unfortunately saying bad things

about the Preakness and how he doesn't care about, like, openly

saying he doesn't care about it, those sorts of things.

Mott makes the decision, young Riley to go ahead and send

incredible here. I sat next to him on the plane

yesterday of all things, from Louisville.

His youngest son was not digging the flight, I'll put it that

way, Just not digging it. You know, once in a while you

don't want to be on the plane for too long.

Yeah, I get it. I understand.

But I, I, I'm kind of hoping he wins this weekend just so a Mott

wins the Preakness. It would make me very happy,

John. I mean, the fact that he's

willing to go off of that race does encourage me me a little

bit. I ended up taking him third in

my official analysis. And you know, historically,

horses coming out of the Derby, even besides the winner, do very

well in the Preakness. In fact, counting sees the Gray

who won the past eight mile, the last two previous winners last

race on the 1st Saturday in May. So you know, it's, it's not

impossible. And if you, I mean, I mean I

don't know anything, but I would imagine that if you train them

the right way from the photo of the you, it shouldn't be that

big an issue to come back in two weeks.

Yeah, no, I think, I think Riley was supremely confident when I

was with him yesterday. I think he knows what he's got.

And and look, John, there's a reason you make it to the

starting gate in the Kentucky Derby in the 1st place.

That means you were one of the best 3 year olds in the spring,

right? And that means you're peaking at

this point perhaps, or at least you're you're near the top of

the crop at this point. It would make sense that those

Derby runners would head to Maryland and run so well, I'm

with you there. Any of the others that are

coming out of the Derby stand out to you tomorrow as we talk

Preakness with John Piazza, Obviously, you know you get the

story of great white. He flips to the before the gate

can't run Ocelli the maiden runs in the top three Robusta boy.

You know, I don't know even what to do with the start of that

race, but was good in the San Felipe earlier this year.

Any of those stand out to. You my top pick in the race is

Ocelli because I think this race kind of goes one of two ways.

I think Taj Mahal gone to his directing side is the best horse

on pure ability. I think if Taj Mahal gets the

trip, he wins. If you know, Tosh Mahal gets

caught up in a speed duel or he's 3rd on the inside or it's a

really hot pace. If that happens, Ocelli wins

because I loved his kick in the Derby.

He had the lead briefly in the stretch, ended up coming in 3rd.

Of course, none of the two horses are finished ahead of him

are back here and I think this race could just fall into his

lap. By the way, all of our picks are

up for today horse racing happyhour.com completely free.

Go check them out, including John's takes on all of the

stakes today as well. So we've got that up for you at

the website horserace.com. We're talking with John Piazza

from up there at Yonkers, of course at their off on socials

as well. Looking at today's card though,

today, you know, we got the Black Eyed Susan, Maryland's

version of the of the Kentucky Oaks, and I thought, man, you

know you. Can talk about quality of field,

you can talk about different things, but you know, you and I

are are horse players. Barry's a horse player.

Just give us full fields. You know, nice, nice field of 10

here for this one. I think some interesting horses

that are and this is one of the things I love about the.

Black Eyed Susan Every. Year John is is trying to figure

out which one is going to take that next step forward and I

think you've got a set of them that are in this group,

including local horse and Ivy girl wins the the prep here in

the Weber City. Miss Holly's holiday comes in

for Kenny. Peaks she's out of.

The Oak Lawn ranks there in the Valley of Vapors.

Broken Papa comes in Louisiana bread out of those Louisiana

steaks. Down at fairgrounds, jumping the

gun. Runs third in the Weaver said he

missed but his second off the layoff and was very good in the

demoiselle before. We're kind of just looking for

that horse who's going to take the next step.

Who do you think it might be? I mean, I I think the most

talented boys in the field is number 10.

My miss most coming off back-to-back rate.

Two wins I thought ran a good race in Gulfstream Park Oaks

showed more early speed than she ever had.

Lasted a pretty long way. The second behind Farm Queen,

who came back to finish 5th in in the Kentucky Oaks.

Despite my Miss MO's outside draw, there's not a ton of speed

down to her inside. And of course Tosh Mahal going

back to him. He won the Tessio Stakes by

clearing from the outside post and going gate to wire.

I think my Miss MO could do the same thing.

If you want a long shot though, because my Miss MO's currently 2

to one, I am more and more intrigued by Ivy Girl the more I

look at her because that track on Webber City Miss Day was not

playing towards speed. She made-up a ton of ground

clothes really well, One, going two turns at parks in a prior

start in the mainline stakes. So we know that she can get the

distance. We know she has late speed.

If she gets even a moderate pace to close into, I think she could

be dangerous. Right now she's 12:50.

I think that's a very square price on it. 12:50 Barry, your

top pick, in fact, is Ivy girl, yeah.

I'm very happy to hear Johnny P say that that that he does like

this horse at a price. I think she's coming in the race

the right way. 1 twice with the blinkers on, and I think she's

going to she's on the improve obviously, and might get a

pretty decent setup. I I I don't think she's going to

be as far back as she was the last two times, but it really is

comforting. I I respect Johnny P immensely

and I and I'm glad to hear that he's likes Ivy Girl a little.

Bit There you go, Ivy Girl will break today it that is race 13

today. By the way, here the Black Eyed

Susan around 6:15 PM Ivy Girl breaks from the 2.

John's top pick is the 10 horse on the outside for Saffy Joseph.

Junior Tyler got Felion in to ride today, has been aboard her

for her last two months. I wanted to ask you, John, about

some of the other races on the card today.

Let's go to the one right before it in the Pimlico Special.

This race, John, this race, I love this race, but the field

every year just is, is just so affected.

I think, John, by the by the Derby weekend card and then by

the Belmont weekend card. Do we just kind of have to

accept that this is just going to be a Grade 3 moving forward

and you're kind of going to get a San Siro and a Navajo Warrior

and that's just who's going to show up for this race?

I mean, it is, It isn't unfortunate because there was a

stretch in late 80s and 90s where this was one of the more

key races in the country. I mean, the great Maryland Red

Cigar made his only start in his home state in the Pelico Special

in 1995. It's just tricky though,

because, you know, as you alluded to, the Ali Sheba goes

for a lot of money. You got Stephen Foster also for

a lot of money in about a month's time.

Special only goes to 250 and when you couple that with the

fact that, as he talked about earlier, trainers don't want to

race their voices as often, it's tough.

So I do think though, given the circumstances, this race

attracts very good fields every year and and this year is no

exception. I I think out of the seven

horses in it, 6 have a good chance of winning.

Yeah, no, it's a, it's a fascinating 1.

Who'd you land on in that one? So my top choice is number 2

Navajo Warrior, another Safi Joseph trainee.

He's won 8 out of 16 lifetime. He's really hit his best drive

since joining SE Barone last August.

We ran a huge race at Gulfstream part of the last time out where

he beat last year's Preakness runner up Goskar in last to 1st

style. Should get a nice trip just off

the pace. One horse I'm intrigued by it is

a horse I have have been following for a very long time

and that's number one. Mcclain's Rook, who looked like

an absolute superstar here last fall, won two allowance races in

dominating fashion. Has looked quite as dominant

since then, but he was takes place back in January.

He won on the Virginia Derby day undercard last time out, has had

a bit of time off. He's worked very well since.

I think he has the highest feeling in this field.

I just don't know if the best version of him is going to show

up. Yeah, it's interesting.

Last year's winner of this race, awesome Aaron is back.

But of course, that was up at Pimlico.

Very different layout here at Laurel Park itself, but the mile

and 316th actually sets up pretty well.

You get a nice first long run to the first turn here, John.

And you know, an awesome Aaron, You know John Velasquez back

aboard. Does he have a shot here?

I mean, I mean, I can't dismiss him.

He wasn't in very short form last year.

He he kind of tailed off towards the end of the season, but he

did take a pretty big step forward.

Second off the bench. I thought he didn't do much in

the Oak Lawn Mile after getting caught up in the pace, but he

did sit off the pace in the Ben Ali ran a respectable force,

improved quite a bit on at least the business speed scale.

He ran in 91. I mean, if you're a believer in

a third off layoff angle, you're getting the right price.

And as you said, John Velasquez, who has not ridden this horse

since last year's Family Co special, gets back aboard and

obviously they've already teamed up with great success.

Yeah, they've thought, thought about that, obviously.

Let's go one more back. The the the very one.

It's a turf Sprint here. John will close out with this

when we're talking with Johnny Piazik here on a Rabonco on ESPN

680-1057 trackside here at Laurel Park ahead of Preakness

151. Black Eyed Susan Day today,

talking through that card just a little bit.

Race 11 That starts the pick three leading into the into the

Black Eyed Susan today. 5 1/2 turf 5 1/2 furlong turf Sprint

here. John, where did you land in the

very one? I mean #5 Saturday float

minutes, a lot of spec, but I think taking Good Morning on

price of 6 to 5 is kind of Looney Tunes, way too low for

me. I ended up with #8 Sonna, who I

think has a lot of ability but has not yet been tested for

class on grass, who's undefeated on the surface when both of her

grass starts by open lengths at Gulfstream Park with huge speed

figures both times, but was not facing near the caliber of

forces that she'll see here. I mean Ken Sweezy, very well

respected name on grass in the area.

We Saez gets up for the first time, has good workouts since

her last start, has the ability to go to the front or sit just

off of it. I think she's the best, best

upset, the favorite. Yeah, Sana trained by Ken

Sweezy, who I just saw actually very confident about that horse

today. If you, if you like trainer

confidence that is. That's a big that gets got

plenty of if you are interested. So there you go, 437-9680 our

UPS jobs tax line if you'd like to get in that way.

Anyone else on the card today you're real fascinated by?

So probably my best bet on the day is in race #9 it's the

Hilltop Stakes. I have a lot of respect for #2

Ultimate Love. I mean, I saw her race here last

year and she was just tremendous.

But she has not raced since last October.

And #3 Coach Missoula is the only other one in this field

who's beaten winners. She be older winner was in fact

last time out on the Tessio undercard that just off the pace

1 going away. She she's getting better with

every start has a lot of early speed.

I think she could pull like 8/2 hour upset.

How good is Ultimate Love? We saw her in the Salima last

year here at Laurel Park. Obviously tried her in the

Breeder Cup Juvenile Philly Turf Boy.

We've seen Michael Trombetta have some nice horses have that

issue you're. A favorite in the Breeders Cup

Juvenile Philly Turf. In fact, it's kind of amazing.

I'm, I mean, I think I asked at her peak, she could be one of

the best grass 3 year old Phillies in the country.

I mean, she was a dazzling here last year, won twice around 2

turns for October of her two year old season, which even on

grass you don't see too often. I just don't know how she'll be

off that layoff. You know I come better only in

in air close 14% hitting off a 90 plus day break.

Coach Missoula has a lot more recent races.

I just have to trust the recency factor and if ultimate love

beats me, I tip my cap. There you go, he's Johnny

Piazzic, Johnny P we call him. And of course at their off on

the socials up there at Yonkers race, what you call races this

weekend. I am not.

It's going to be our new more or less full time caller.

Joe Romanelli did a fantastic job calling our big races last

week. He'll be on the microphone for

tonight and tomorrow's action. First post tomorrow's at 3:30.

So it wants something to do. Eating out on the Preakness.

We got 9 races and then it's flies right into the big one at

Laurel, so check it out. Perfect.

It's National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day.

If it's not a chocolate chip cookie, what's your favorite

cookie? That's a tough one because

chocolate chip cookies, to me dominates.

Yeah, it's. Not perfect.

A clear cut favorite, I would have to go, yeah, an M&M cookie

those are. Going to that's a good answer.

I like that he's Johnny P at they're off on the socials and

of course up there at Yonkers Raceway joins us anytime we

talk. Marilyn John, really appreciate

you man. Have a great weekend.

Thanks, Louis.