Belmont Stakes with Matthew DeSantis

All right, everybody, welcome to another edition of the Horse

Racing Happy Hour. Louie's back.

Oh, you betcha. I got to give the show back a

little bit. I might not get to talk as much.

DeSantis is odd. We're not neither.

Of us talking. All right, That's that's that's

all good. Yeah.

We actually is this. I'm trying to remember, is this

the first person from Naira that's come on the show?

Yeah. Otherwise they don't return

emails. So how about that?

Matthew, welcome in. I I'm privileged and honored to

be the first NAIRA person on the show.

So to be fair, I know Darwin would do the show if it were in

Spanish. Like no question.

Like not not even a thing. He'd be on here 1000 times.

He's great. It's not even a question.

So why wouldn't you do it in? Spanish, I need to do the

Spanish episode. I'm being lazy and I'll just say

C Magusta. Like, pick Magusta, pick, Yeah.

Something like that. Yeah, that's it.

Welcome in. How's first day at Saratoga,

man? It was great and lucky for us

the rain held off until just after the last race.

And so we really had a wonderful day racing A little bit of rain

this morning, just a little light drizzle, but nothing to

affect the turf course at all. The nice part is it's been bone

dry up here all spring. So quite frankly, the turf court

needed a little bit of rain. And yeah, it was great to see.

It was, it was a really chill day.

You know, I know they they announced the attendance of

22,000, but it was probably maybe a little bit lower than

that. But it was just a really cool

day That was a lot of fun to be able to explore the different

areas. You could just tell people were

hyped for this weekend and the locals were so excited to be a

part of it. Yeah, man, it sounds like.

What's the weather supposed to be like this weekend?

I actually haven't checked yet. I guess I probably should have.

Checked it's going to spit all weekend but hopefully nothing

too heavy that's. Exactly right, yeah.

So Friday really cleared up. So it's going to be really nice

actually most of the day Friday now, maybe a little bit of

chance of rain later in the day. And then Saturday now just looks

kind of overcast, honestly, no, no chance of rain.

So it really should come up. Maybe not fast and firm, but

like fast and good or something like that.

I mean, I it's, I don't think it's going to have too much of

an impact from a handicapping standpoint and I think the

horses will be able to put forth their best efforts.

Overcast. Kind of like the New York

Rangers season. No man, I don't have to start.

The I'm not OK, I'm not OK, I'm not OK trying.

To have a civilization. Man, this is the year that they

were good. Man, we should have freaking won

the cup. Was that 100 seasons without a

championship in? New York No, not listen.

I was there. Watch him.

Messier get the thing done, seeing them chase the white

Bronco, all that stuff. Yeah, God, it was the same time.

That's right. And the Knicks were in the

freaking Finals too. Yeah, yeah, against the against

the Rockets. By the way, Lord is he the most

underrated 2 sport athlete of all time when he's a Heisman.

He gets no credit for making the Finals with the Knicks.

He was ridiculous and he was a good basketball.

He was a really. Good basketball player?

Yeah. Yeah, people just, yeah, people

got so obsessed with Dion and Beau, and I mean, Beau was

amazing and that whole Bo Nose campaign was like, I was a kid

growing up and that was amazing. But Charlie Ward, yeah, I don't

know, because I think people knew he was too short to be a

Pro Football player. You know, it's like 511, barely

6 foot. I think it's a quarterback.

And so yeah, he did kind of over counter just discounted.

We we kind of forget about the brilliance of him.

Yeah, absolutely. So all right, man, let's let's

get into, you know, we're going to start with a little just

where we've seen the Triple Crown so far.

We're obviously at the last races.

For me, I like this because I like to divide the year up into

two seasons. We got we're finishing up Triple

Crown season and this weekend at Saratoga, I guess is really

launching us right into into Breeders' Cup season with some

unbelievable races. And and so this is the to me

where it kind of flips over unofficially, right, But the

what what are your general tastes of the Triple Crown?

Louie and I were talking before the show.

To me it's it's one of the most interesting years where we where

we haven't had a horse win both first two legs.

I I think that's, there's the point I was talking to somebody

about earlier today, but I said it's a very even group.

And I think that leads to a fantastic betting race on

Saturday because I think you can make a legitimate case for seven

or eight different horses. And it's it's a group where

nobody's really asserted themselves.

And I think people maybe had hoped a horse like Fierceness

might step up and be that dominant horse and obviously ran

17th in the Kentucky Derby and now is taking a little bit of

time off and is being pointed towards the Haskell.

So I think what you saw was, you know, a very close finish

obviously in the Kentucky Derby between Mystic Dan, Forever

Young Sierra Leone. Then you had Seas of the Great

kind of come a little bit out of nowhere and win that Preakness

with again, Catching Freedom, another horse kind of right

behind with Mystic Dan. So I mean, there are 567 horses

that are kind of in the top of this crop and in that mix.

And I again, I think it makes for a really exciting betting

race quite frankly, on Saturday. Louie Louie had sees the Gray

the whole way, so it didn't. I love that horse.

Not out of nowhere for you. More of an eyeball thing than

anything, Matthew. It's not a figures thing for

sure, but I just it was an eyeball thing watching him in

Ted Churchill in the pad day my life.

That horse could be a problem in Baltimore for sure.

And so glad my my exacta box was very happy that he he he made

the run that he did. I think the other thing is we

have a chance, Matthew at a really interesting debate, which

is now sees the Gray picks off the Belmont and he goes Pat Day

Mile, Preakness Belmont and doesn't even have the chance to

run in the Derby. But then we get or if we get a

Mystic Dan, go one to one in these faces.

I mean, where does Mystic Dan then rank among those horses

that won two but not the third and that kind of stuff.

I think some of those discussions too next week could

get really, really interesting. Absolutely.

I mean, he would become, if Mystic Dan went one to one, he

would be the first horse since Thunder Gulch, I believe in 1995

to be able to run in all three, lose the middle, but win the

Derby and the and the Belmont. So I mean, that puts him in

pretty elite company. And and then, yeah, to do what

sees the great could potentially do with going to the Pat de Mile

and and there and running five races in 11 weeks and seemingly

getting better as he goes along. You know, all credit to the

coach. I mean, just maybe this will

encourage some trainers to run their horses more than three

times a year, so. Well, 95 two and Thunder Ghost

did it. They were that's that was

incentivized if right Visa had their whole thing going on where

they were. Yeah.

So you know, and and of course ever since we haven't had any

incentives to do that. Once you lose that middle leg,

everybody's going to protect their horse, I guess to whether

they need it or not. But.

You know we were talking before the show too, Matthew.

We're we're a bit of a beneficiary of horses that

aren't going to the breeding shed right away running well in

these races now sees the Gray is a different one.

If he ends up being a great horse, his dad's arrogate, he's

going to have breeding rights that matter these things.

But with a Thorpedo Anna and with they Mystic Dan winning

their races respectively on Oaks and Derby, Day really does set

up some horses. I think we're going to see a lot

this year. And you made a great point there

with the coach. Kenny Mcpeak is cut like that

too. He doesn't he doesn't train his

horses to race. He he races them into shape

essentially. And so it's fun to watch those

two guys have success, the first two legs.

Totally. And I mean, I got to give all

credit to Mcpeak for coming back into Belmont.

I mean, he could have easily said, hey, you know, the, the

first two legs took a little bit out and we're just going to, you

know, take it easy, maybe hit a Midwestern Derby and then get

ready for the Travers, you know, up in Saratoga later in the

year. And, you know, for him to come

right back. And, and I think, you know, we

also have to kind of address maybe the elephant in the room,

which is I think the mile and a quarter distance this year at

the Belmont made it a little bit more appealing to a horse like

Seize the Grey or Mystic Dan to run back.

Because it's not such the daunting mile and a half

distance that I think we could really take a lot of starch out

of a horse. So, you know, I think we're

beneficiary of that. And and I agree with you, I

think this is a crop and to, you know, the point I was, you know,

making earlier with it being pretty evenly divided, there's

no horse in this race where you're like, wow, that's going

to be a future stallion. You know, that's a big future

stud. And it's like maybe shocking

development. Some of these horses come back

at four years old and and five years old, maybe even run

because we need depth in that older handicapped division.

Yeah, the only thing we're missing is Japan horses,

honestly. I mean, I'd let us, I will say

I've been. That's about it.

Yeah, you're right about that, Jeff.

I mean, you know, interesting thing too, Matthew, obviously

the move to Saratoga for the the races this year during the the

redevelopment of Belmont Park, You and I both very much on the

record that we're excited about that redevelopment.

Think it's really great for the state of horse racing in New

York. Talk to the people who watch

this show that maybe haven't been to the race tracks on Long

Island. Why did they move this to

Saratoga rather than to Aqueduct?

Yeah. So it's a good question and

there's a couple. Of questions and I ask that

because I think, you know, since it's a mile and an eighth track,

they could have actually set up a mile and a half course at

Aqueduct and not really been put out in any way.

Yeah, sure. I mean, you can do it and they

did it back in the 1960s. You kind of start on the turn a

little bit and you can you can do it.

And I mean just like we could do it up here too in Saratoga to

some extent. I mean, again, it was just where

your starting gate is, is going to be a little bit variable.

The big reason we're having it up here is because Aqueduct is,

you know, part of it is half the Aqueduct facility is a Resorts

World casino. And quite frankly, there's just

not the facilities there and the infrastructure there to support

a day like the Belmont Stakes, let alone the fact that

obviously there are no, you know, permanent barns and stalls

on the backside at Aqueduct. Everybody would have to be at

Belmont and ship over in the morning to Aqueduct.

So just a lot of logistics and it just made a lot of sense that

we have a historic track sitting three mile, you know, three

hours away up the road up I 87 move it up here and give the

people something truly that nobody's ever seen before.

And in a community like Saratoga that is so invested in horse

racing and so knowledgeable about it.

Could you ever imagine the Derby at Keeneland?

Sure. Yeah, I don't know.

I could. They roll the Breeders cup

there, whatever, it's uncomfortable what they do.

I don't love it for the Breeders.

I don't love it for the Breeders cup.

But please keep, you know, giving us.

Potentials. I do love it at the Breeders

Cup. Do you Keeneland?

Yes. Shoulder to shoulder like that.

It wasn't terrible like it wasn't.

It wasn't too too bad. Except for you all flying away

in the that. Well that was bad.

I'm looking for the flight line. My God.

Sorry, Matthew, you're going man.

No, I was. So I was at the Breeders Cup at

Keeneland and that was my first time at Keeneland actually a

couple years ago for Flight Line because I was living in Northern

Virginia at the time. And I said to myself, if I don't

go to see this horse, no. That's it was absolutely.

Right for the rest of my life. And I drove 13 hours through the

middle of the night to get there and I had the best time and it

was just amazing. And and Keeneland's just such a

beautiful track too. And and yeah, it was totally

crowded and packed. But, you know, by and large, I

would say I had a really good fan experience here that

weekend, I will say. So I do know, though, that I

have a couple of buddies who went there for the bluegrass,

the essential quality one when it was like 32° and like snowing

the day before. And they were like, we planned

one frickin the worst racing trip a year and it's the Camelin

for the Bluegrass and then it can snows like.

Never know, man. You never know what you're.

Going to get horse racing. It's like college football.

Just show up and figure out the weather.

That's right. In Kentucky, that's how it is.

That's right, buddy. That is 100% all right man.

Well, you know, I, you know, Matthew, what do you think?

Just I mean, just off the top of your head, Mystic Dan wins or

you know, we get a win out of out of sees the grey.

I mean, which one is more impressive to you?

Is it winning the Derby, then winning the Belmont running

second, or is it winning the pad de mile having those three wins

in in the in the short span? I'd have to say it would be more

impressive the the more impressive feat if you just

looked at it on its own. Might be Mystic Dan just to be

able to run those 3 gauntlets and then complete the Triple

Crown. But taking into consideration

where sees the Grey came from to rattle off these, those three

potential races like that came out of nowhere.

Mystic Dan you could see a little bit before the Kentucky

Derby, like that was a pretty good horse.

The season of the Great was trending in the wrong direction

and all of a sudden became a superstar.

And so, you know, the stories are amazing, but I'd probably

lean a little bit towards Mystic Dan.

If people haven't seen it, two weeks ago, Mike and I had the

pleasure sitting down with Jaime Torres, who who piloted sees the

grey to that Preakness win. And he we did kind of a film

study with him, walked through the race with him.

If you haven't seen that, go back, watch that.

It's on our YouTube page. You can find it here on Twitter

if you want, wherever you are. It was a lot of fun.

He was, I, I thought really open about the adjustments he had to

make during the race, what was going on and sees the Grey's

mind and that kind of stuff. Really, really fun to go through

those things and I'm hoping we'll get to do more of those

now that we, I don't know, I think we got a pretty good set

up at Churchill. When we want it.

So yeah, no, that's. Right, so hopefully we'll keep

being able to get that. Matthew DeSantis is with us.

He's at failed the menace on Twitter.

If you are the one person that doesn't follow him there, he's

with naira bets. He has great hair, even though

he wears a hat all the time. We can get into that.

Another show that's a different conversation another time.

But Mike Gandolfo here, still undefeated in the hair category.

Thank you. Yeah, Yeah, I'll take that.

All right, so you know, one of the things that we love and

we're not going to handicap this race today because it's on

Friday is I, I love the acorn. I think the acorn is just a

humble race When we look at the the horses who have won this

thing, pretty mischievous Matarea Search results Kameen

Monomoy girl Abel Tasman. I did, I just I'm sorry my my

old man eyes. Sorry.

Oh, OK, OK, got it. OK.

I also blame. Your eyes, but I mean, this is

like a huge a who's who. Like we had the the conversation

all the time. You know what, what is the top

three-year old Philly race? Is it the Kentucky Oaks?

Is it the test? Is it the acorn?

It's the Alabama, whatever the yeah, right.

So CCA. Oaks, whatever it might be.

Yeah, yeah. So, but this is definitely in

the conversation. Do you like them running this

race on Friday? I do actually.

I think it gives a little bit of that Churchill Downs feel of the

Oaks being on its own day given the Phillies their own day.

A lot of other races for the Phillies and mares on Friday as

well on that Belmont Stakes Racing Festival card.

So I like it. And the nice part is on, you

know, Naira Naira Bets is offering that Oaks to Belmont or

I should say Acorn to Belmont, 2 day wager and double just like

you have in the Oaks to Derby. So I think it's a lot of fun to

have it a little bit different and honestly, with how loaded

that Saturday card is, I like that it's letting the Phillies

have their moment in the sun and not getting buried in nine other

graded stakes races on Saturday. So do you think they should move

the Phipps to Friday? The THPS to Friday would be

interesting. I will say it it it does stick

out a little bit when you handicap, doesn't it?

Like you're like, why is this on Saturday again?

Like why? Why is it race 7?

It might be the best race of the day, yeah.

So I do think that would be pretty cool if they did that in

the future. But but I like it and, and this

year's races stacked. I mean, they they really brought

back the best horses from the Oaks and then the horse Gunsong

who won the Black Eyed Susan. So it's a nice field.

Absolutely. And then you want, you want to

get into this handicap here. No, I, I just, I love the which

would be the better three races, Mystic Dan or sees the grey

conversation. I think it's so fascinating.

The the other part, Matthew, I guess any asterisk for you for

the Belmont Stakes being run a quarter mile less to me, no,

it's not the horse's fault or the trainer's fault that we

needed to renovate Belmont Park. We have friends that are, and I

will be very clear, everyone I know that thinks there should be

an asterisk is over the age of 55.

What says Matthews has? I'm 43, so you know which which

side I'm going to be. Leaning on and.

So I, yeah, I don't see it as an asterisk.

And I think part of it is because it, it's, you know, if

we did have a horse run the table, you know, and that is

still such a rare thing to have horses run three races in five

weeks. And you 2 know this as well.

We do not breed for even a mile and a quarter races anyway.

We breed for 8:00 to 9:00 furlongs.

That's what we're breeding for. One turn Millers.

How many into mischiefs do we have?

You know, we got a whole bunch of golden pals who are going to

be coming out soon and Jack Christopher's and you know,

these great Sprint sires and you know that we just don't really

have a lot of horses that are built for even a mile and a

quarter. Which is why if you look last

year in the Breeders Cup Classic, I would argue half the

horses in that field had no business being in that race to

get a mile and 1/4. So I think just being able to

get a mile and a quarter twice as a three-year old would be an

incredibly impressive feat. And I think we mentioned it

earlier to me the the lack of distance is cancelled out by the

fact that we've got a much better field that we would not

have had in this is a mile and a half, you know, just like we

talked about earlier. 100% this would be a 5 formobile.

Race. Yeah, exactly, 100%, yeah.

So you're saying Gronkowski running against against Justify

wasn't a great 1-2 punch there? Is that what you're getting at?

That's a weird thing for you to say.

It's, you know, thank God for like Sham back in the day, like,

you know, just, you know, it just, it makes you appreciate

Alidar, like Alidar's world. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah, love it.

How dare you go after Gronkowski like that?

You have a civilization. Do you want to?

Do you want to make an acorn pick?

Yeah, how about? That listen, the the pick that

I've I picked her in debut at Saratoga.

I've picked her in every single race she's running since.

And that's just FYI. I've loved this Philly from the

first time I saw her. I think she, you know, it's

important to remember she had her training interrupted this

spring with a brief illness. She was supposed to debut in the

Devona Dale and she spiked a little bit of a fever.

They had to kind of change plans and take her up to Ashland at

the Keeneland. For the Ashland, she finished

second that day. She was still kind of second

back from the layoff in the Kentucky Oaks.

And honestly, she was really the only horse to even attempt to

make a run at Thorpedo Anna that day.

And I think there might be a little bit more speed to press

Thorpedo Anna on Friday and I think she can sit off the pace

and and make a run. So I I like her quite a bit in

this race. Any biases come out today?

I thought horses along the rail were fine.

I thought horses in the middle of the track were fine,

especially on the dirt. I didn't notice.

I thought it played pretty fair today.

I thought it did too. Horses were coming from off the

pace. You, you saw your right, you saw

some horses making huge moves down the middle of the track.

You saw others coming up the rail.

So I didn't perceive any bias. Now we'll have to pay attention

early tomorrow because of course they'll be.

There was some rain after and some heavy rain storms that came

through after the races were done.

And sometimes you can see bias as a track maybe dries out the

next day, but nothing today. All right, man.

Well, let's get into it a little bit.

We are. We are sponsored by Manscapes.

How? About that?

Well, manscaping, how about that?

Do you manscape at all? Matthew DeSantis.

Yeah, no, he's got the beard. So obviously, I mean, I got good

news for you, Matthew. You're going to get a a beard

trimming set from the show. And so that's fantastic for you.

Dan Issel, a manscape man. Yes, How about that?

Yeah, there you go with the Hall of Famer.

So there you go. No great products.

Great hair everywhere. Keeps you nice and tight when

you're a bald guy like me or if you have a nice beard like Mike

did. You do that yourself.

Oh, you bet. Yeah.

Yeah. You think I'll pay for haircuts?

What do we? Do we're going to add 4?

More, alright, but hey, wife's coming home this weekend.

You know, I got to be a little trimmed up.

I'll be good to go by the time she gets here.

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All right, so we're going to get into a little handicapping here

and we're going to start with the just the six.

Like when they do this, it's it's not just it's 6.

Just. Grade One races right here.

You say this every year. I mean.

If it's outside of Derby day, Breeders' Cup, this.

Is your day favorite day? It's my.

Favorite day and I, you know, you know, it's right there,

'cause you got Belmont, Derby, Met mile, Pat Day Mile, right?

Like you get the, the Manhattan or the old Forester.

There's just the the correlation is just unbelievable.

I also think of the jayper as one of the great sprints.

All North America. Always a great race.

So yeah, it's just a ton great race.

And the Ogden Phipps is always loaded.

So and so we're going to start off with that Ogden Phipps and

it is always loaded. And again, if you listen to this

show, you know that Louie and I tell you to fall in love with

the Phillies because they're going to race a couple seasons.

And this is a great example of. It's a perfect example of that.

It's it is. Really is the part.

Idiomatic is the example. She is it.

So I mean, we obviously have a heavy favorite here with

idiomatic Matthew. Do you think she's vulnerable at

all? Maybe if they go a little too

fast up front, you know, tizzy in the sky and and obviously

randomized really decide to go. But The thing is, she's shown

enough versatility to be able to sit just off that pace and not

get sucked up into it. She just looks so good.

She was really impressed when that debut and the La Troy Anne.

And I think she has, you know, she really kind of started to

assert herself in this in this division late last year and with

a bunch of races up here at Saratoga.

So we know she likes the track just fine.

And I think she's kind of the the probably one of those

stronger locks of the heavy favorites this entire weekend.

Louis, is she a single for you? She is a single for me.

This is one of those where six horses.

If she loses, then congratulations to whoever we

need to imagine this thing. By the way, I do think there's a

potential rising star in this group on the outside in raging.

See the six horse here. I think she's going to get

really good as a four year old already won the double dog there

at Keeneland. What a great three to close the

year last year at Aqueduct as well.

I think she's right there as far as I don't know.

I have her second in my handicapping.

I think she's one of those. If you wanted to get a grasp on

an exacta, it might be 5-6 in this one.

I actually went of course, obviously with idiomatic up top,

sure. But when I looked at this race,

what was the last race idiomatic lost?

She lost in the She lost the Raffian.

That's right. We have another horse who lost

and the rough year in here recently, but it's been pretty

solid outside of that and that. So I had randomized as my second

horse, but then I had the six just like you said.

I just think she's she's one of those this is a feels like a

Chad Brown special where she's just going to get better as the

year goes along and she'll be able to slip especially she's

already wanted Saratoga in her career.

I think she's one of those horses she'll really relish

getting to run up there all. Summer.

So I'm 5163 and you are. I got pretty mischievous in

that. Last Yeah, so I'm 5-6 here. 5-6

OK all right, we'll move on to the the next race, which is race

8 is, is the Woody Stevenson 7 furlong race.

This is a one turn kind of Sprint.

We kind of have this thing in the show that we talked about.

Is it a grade one? You know it is a grade one, but

is it really a Grade 1 field? This is not a Grade 1 field to

me. I don't know how you guys feel

about it. It's it's going to be a good

race. I actually kind of think there's

a long shot here that could that could upset things a little bit.

I did have up top I I went with Vallejos, the six to one shot,

the 8 horse and then the the long shot I had though, is I

kind of like the bark side a little bit and I put Barkside in

there as my as my second pick. So, Louie, who'd you have?

Barksdale. Barksdale.

Sorry. You know why you said Barkside

is because you thought of Dark Side of the Forest.

And you're right, yeah. You are horse racking here.

Excuse me, Star Wars nerd. New Star Wars show.

Team, you and I have the same horse on top, which terrifies

me. So everyone go ahead and lean

against the 8 here. There are a bunch of horses in

here that we're trying to oh man, the no, but I think this is

so to answer your first question, Grade 2 plus because

of the restrictions on the three-year olds.

But I think, I think we could look back at this and go, OK,

there were three really good horses.

In the field. Something like that, right?

They're just not there yet, right?

Like a horse like Nash. I think once in a while horses

win by so much in a particular race that we just assume they're

going to be great forever, right.

And and sometimes they need time to develop.

Nash might be one of those horses.

I do have layhouse on top here, though, really lightly raced.

I thought he looked good in that Pat de mile.

The horses that have come out of that Pat de mile have only, you

know, won the pre piss. And then Nash of course, has

been really good as well coming out before that as well.

Won the the Hot Springs man. After that, though, I think you

can go a lot, a little, a lot of different actions with this

field. How good is Prince of Monaco?

How good are the Baffert trainees that are shipping in

for this? Will imagination like this

better than he did the Preakness?

They had trouble settling him down on that first turn.

If he doesn't have to settle down, maybe he just runs away

with this thing. Right?

So I've got the maturity is a real question, but I went 8-9

Baffert. Baffert.

How about you, Matthew? That's interesting.

Yeah, I so I took a bit of a swing in this race because

there's a ton of speed and the seven furlongs is just a a

light, slightly unusual distance.

It's not one a lot of horses run.

It's horses that are that like 6 furlongs can't quite get and

sometimes even horses cutting back from a mile might not

always like as well. And so I ended up on the far

outside with BU at 15 to one as a kind of a big bomb.

This is a horse that will be sitting off the pace, has good

tactical speed, but I just have a feeling there's going to be a

lot of speed and that that last half furlong could just get some

of those horses. I really like the number 8

Vallejos quite a bit and it really impressed me as well as

my second choice in this race. But I went with BU up top.

Part of it was a he broke his maiden at 7 furlongs recently.

And the second part is I remember when he debuted up here

at Saratoga, he was a buzz horse.

Everybody on the backside was talking about this horse and how

highly regarded he was by Pletcher.

He faced some really tough maiden competition, just

couldn't quite get it done, was still somehow grade one placed

and I just think cutting him back to seven furlongs, you

normally don't do that with Curlin's, but I just think for

some reason he he's going to like this 7 furlong set up in

the pace scenario. He was beaten by just steel

Kentucky W runner just steel by nose in that in that race.

So absolutely. And then they went straight to a

grade one right after that. So.

Fletcher places his horses as well as anyone in the country.

That is something I say way too often on this show and it is not

a mistake that they tried him on the Derby trail and when it

didn't work, they brought him back to this kind of race.

Makes a lot of sense. I agree with.

Matthew and his last 7 furlong race is the one that he won at

Gulfstream Park. That's 77 furlong kind of

specialties. One of the reasons why I'm

taking a little bit of a shot with Barksdale because of the

three wins from that 7 furlongs. So, but maybe not talented

enough, but you know, again, I think this race you could get a

longer shot that comes. In with three-year olds, if they

develop at the right time, exactly right on the right day,

20 to one isn't so. Ridiculous.

We just talked about the jayper a little bit earlier.

This is the 5 1/2 furlong turf Sprint at Saratoga this race.

Nine grade one here. Matthew, where did you go on

this one? Yeah, so I went to the far

outside again, and maybe I just like picking somebody on the

12th post, I don't know. But I went with the Charlie

Appleby horse Mischief Magic, who actually won at Keeneland in

that Breeders' Cup Juvenile turf Sprint a couple years ago and

has won, you know, stakes races overseas, whether that was in

the UAE or over in Great Britain.

And now this will be his third race in a row in North America.

He comes from the clouds, admittedly, but here's the

thing. In turf sprints last year at

Saratoga, throughout the entire meet, 43% of winners were coming

from more than three lengths back at the 3/8 mile mark.

So you kind of wanted to come from the clouds a little bit in

these turf sprints. You didn't necessarily want

speed of the speed. Listen, Charlie Appleby and

William Buick, that might not be very imaginative, but at 8 to

one, I thought that horse provided some really nice value.

I took the other Appleby actually with Flavin and Prader

board starve mysteries though. That's a nice source.

Yeah, exactly. I mean, you're right there,

though. I mean, I'm, I'm going to be

shocked, I think if Appleby doesn't win this race in a lot

of ways. I, I'm, I, for some reason I'm

not as high on Cogburn, but that was my second pick and then I

followed up. Well, really, 8686 or 68?

Where's my big two right there. Yeah, I think a couple of other

horses in here is big invasion capable of another big run here.

You're going to get a massive price.

I don't think 8 to one is anywhere close to what you're

going to get on that horse. I think it'll be 12 to one that

kind of number, big number on him if grooves all business

draws into this race. I don't know if he wins, but

man, that horse is fast. And we saw him in the turf

Sprint at at at Pimlico and God Bless America.

You talk about coming from out, you know, out of the clouds.

He was one of those horses. He just took off Matthew in the

stretch there at Pimlico. If he runs that race again, he

might not win, like I said, but boy, that's a horse for an

exacto trifecta to consider there.

One horse that we haven't talked about that there's probably a

ton of values, the 11 with Filo D Ariana.

Just ran a huge race too. Yeah, right there in the turf

Sprint. Oh, if you want a huge number

here, no name Mets is capable of a big race.

I don't know if the horse is going to show up, but this the J

per usually outside of say, if Caravel's here or something,

this is always a really, really fun wide open one.

Feels like it again this year. All right, the MIT Mile is this,

Is this your favorite race? I don't like this field.

I don't like the field, but the. Race as a whole.

I love the Met mile. I mean, I do I adore.

The Met Mile, I mean, yeah, I mean, for a couple years it was

about as good as it got for you. But yeah, I don't, I'm not a big

fan of this field either. One mile again, that's why it's

called the MIT Mile Million Dollar Race.

Who do you like in this race? Where'd you go?

National Treasure? 8:00 to 5:00 to me is like, I

just can't do it so. I have Blazing Sevens on top.

I'm really uncomfortable with that fact, but I I have him on

top because he last raced in North America.

I'm going to try to use the you just raced in the Arabian

Peninsula and you need to race back in North America angle

here. So I'm going to lean on Blazing

Sevens on top of all things. I thought he looked really good

at the mile and Aqueduct blast out.

He's going to get a shallower surface here at Saratoga.

He has won over the surface before.

And so I mean, is this the horse that we want to see over the one

turn? If you look at his other races,

when it was, it was when he had to go two turns, then it seemed

like he just couldn't get to the wire.

We're getting down back to the 1 1/2 Turner, I guess there at

Saratoga, but a little bit less distance.

And so I'll put him on top. Just I think the the money makes

sense here. And then.

And then I went to, you know, I went to Waitabario.

I love that horse. I really do.

I loved him before he won all of his races.

And so I'm not going to jump off the horse now, but I do wonder

about that Arabian Peninsula thing, that bounce coming back

from overseas. It seems to be legitimate.

Him and National Treasure both coming back.

Can Castle chaos run? There's that white abario and

there he is. What's up, buddy?

Could castle chaos run a big race here?

I think he's the one that could really upset the apple cart as

far as say, an exact or maybe second spot to trifecta,

something like that. So Matthew, I landed 462 and one

here. OK, so I, I, I kind of saw it

pretty similar to you. I like Blazing Sevens quite a

bit, but I, I ultimately couldn't pull the trigger up

top. So I commend you for that.

I went with white Abario and I I typically am cautious.

I mean, we didn't even talk about a horse like Book of Dano

who's coming back in the Woody Stevens, the previous race, who

took forever young almost to the limit in that previous race.

He. Was one of those guys we might

look back at the Woody Stevens. If he wins it and then wins a

bunch of races this summer, that might be one of those horses,

100. Percent and and so I also

generally do so like I said, like to avoid that Arabian

Peninsula kind of first back, but it does vary by horse a

little bit. Some come back and there's no

I'll effect and he's been training very well for Rick

Dutcher junior and I like the fact he's had a lot of works

too. I think he's had like eight or

nine registered works leading up to this.

So I didn't feel like they were rushing him back.

I feel like they let him kind of get back and acclimated and so I

just have him up there. I like that he draws to the

outside as well. That's one of the things that

that Wilton shoot that's not you don't really want to be too far

inside because that first rail kind of comes up on you pretty

quick. And so I went with him up top

blazing 7 second choice and then national treasure third National

treasure to mile. I don't necessarily love.

I always thought he was a little bit better going longer.

He was more of a grinder to me and I just I was a little

surprised he ended up in this field.

Not mad about it. I've always liked the horse, but

it'll be fun to see him run. I mean, I, I, I want Brittany

Russell, I want post times. I mean, I, you know, we did all

these shows for the Maryland people, but I mean, she's really

just coming into her own and just and, and I think she's

making some noise up in New York and I think post time's a pretty

nice horse if. This horse beats Messier at last

out. We're talking way more

seriously. About it?

Oh absolutely, because he won 123454 of the last five he's

lost to Messier and raised Kane. I will say the the biggest

concern I had with post time and this is not to be negative or

critical is Sheldon Russell rides him like he's on flight

line and I'm like, my guy, you got to show a little bit more

urgency like this. You're not at Laurel Park

anymore. You got to get gold because the

scores comes from the back and you're like, what are we doing?

Like, come on, you got to make this move.

And like there is no way some of those finishes should have been

as close as they were. And even like the decision to go

to the outside of Super Chow two races back when everybody knows

Super Chow lugs out and then he's getting interfered with and

it's just like why are you putting the horse in that spot

so super talented? But I was just it's still a

little too short of a price and I'd rather take a swing with a

horse like Blazing Sevens if I want to try to beat the field.

Like it. All right, So we're going to

move on to the 11th race, which is the Manhattan, another

million dollar race here, mile and three sixteenths on the

turf. I single one horse in the my

card and it's this race I went with program trading at 5:00 and

that is my single year. So where did you land?

Let's go to Matthew. Go to Matthew.

Yeah, I landed on a horse right next to program training number

six Alarifa for Joseph O'Brien. We always talk about the other

Chad. This is kind of like the other

O'Brien in terms of Aiden's son. And this is a horse, if you look

two races back, nearly beat a horse named Ace Impact.

Now, for people who may not know much about European racing, that

was at one point considered maybe the greatest horse in the

world, actually. And if you go back and look at

Ace Impact's undefeated career, the closest horse was Al Rifa to

beating him. So that one I just feel is super

live in this spot. Came back and nearly won a Group

One over in France over soft ground going a mile and 516th

and finished fourth by half length and that was the first

race off of very long layoff. I just think this horse is

pretty live and gives really good value at six to one.

I do like the other Appleby horse, the number 9 measured

time as well as program trading as my kind of second and third

choices. I'm going to not using L Rifa

and the only reason is this O'Brien has got to do it in

North America for me before I'm going to jump on the train here.

That's fair enough. I mean, it's been a minute.

It is what it is. I do like the other, I think

Measure. I got measure time on top here.

Applebee's not shipping for this by accident.

This isn't a mistake, right? And this is a race that he

really loves. 45% his last eleven first timers in North

America. This is another in that long

line you mentioned program trading.

I think it's an obvious must use here.

Nation's pride is in here. And I think this horse is going

to get forgotten about just a little bit in this because the

other Applebee's going to get the first Applebee's going to

get so much money. And this is one that I think we

we need to kind of look back and and say, OK, this horse did win

at Saratoga in that Invitational before at the Derby at the

three-year old level back here is a 5 year old gets that man

award done at Aqueduct, doesn't get it done at a mile and 3/8.

We're shorten up quite a bit here, frankly, under a mile and

1/4 in the Manhattan here, I think that distance will fit

better Six for eight lifetime at the distance.

So watch out for nation's pride. I think has a real shot here as

well. All right, we're going to head

to the Belmont Stakes, the main event of the day, and if it's

right with you guys, we'll go through each horse little.

Belmont Bell No. Yeah.

Bell. Yeah, or Bell?

No. There you go.

And I'm going to we want to do it differently than we.

Did this, by the way, Matthew, I want to be clear, we played

Preak yes and Preak no with Dan Issel.

So you're in good company here. Don't worry about it.

All right, I love. It I want I want to start from

the back, I want to go, we'll start with the 10, mainly

because. You have a nice caboose.

Thank you my friend might have been the best 3 year old

performance that I saw Derby day and he was pretty awesome.

Now, I don't know if I would like him at 7:00 to 2:00 in this

race, but to me he is if he ran another big race here.

David Arikona reading the room is what that that's what that

morning is that is him reading the.

Room, yeah, 100%. I would like it way better, like

5 to one, four to one. By the way, I have this is where

I didn't know we were going to get to this so early in the

show. But the picking of bones has to

happen right now with one Matthew DeSantis, who went after

me on Twitter about this. The well, he's laughing 'cause

I'm kidding, of course, but I did say I thought Mind Frame

should be in the mat win this coming weekend at Churchill

Downs 'cause he really liked Churchill Downs last time he was

here and and I could be a better.

Spot. I'm not in the questioning of of

Pletcher business like I don't. Blame you, I.

Yeah, I thought he'd be really good.

Just leave him here and let him try and do the thing, Get him up

to Saratoga for later summer derbies.

I I don't know, that was just me.

I totally agree he's he's my first toss.

You're tossing. I do not like the horse at all

in this race. You guys know what you've seen

the the. Bell no or Bell no.

That's a bell, no Bell no. And you've seen it all.

Derby trail how many impressive maiden winners?

Allowance winners. Did we see change of command?

Conquest, Warrior, Dymatic, Carbone, Nash, all these horses

that were supposed to be the next big thing?

The second they switch off Lasix, the second they have to

go a little bit longer, the second they face another horse

that looks him in the eye. Whoops.

Turns out maybe we're not quite as good as we thought we were.

And right back to the Woody Stevens, the Pat Day Mile for

you. And so it was.

I just get that same feeling from mind frame.

The best horse he beat is Cornishman.

That horse is the same one that antiquarian who's 12 to one beat

to break his maiden. So I just this horse is going to

take a lot of money. I think David's absolutely

right. He is probably going to be

second choice because of the connections and New Yorkers are

going to bet Todd Pletcher and Mike Rapoli all day.

And so he's going to be a super short price.

He's got to work out a trip from that far outside.

There's going to be pace with Dornich and Sees the Gray and I

just do not like him in the spot.

Switching off. Lasik's going from a mile and a

16th to a mile and 1/4. I do have him in my top four,

but I have him 4th, so by that means I guess I have, Yeah,

yeah. Isabelle Doll for me as well.

There you go. This is, I mean, I do think

though that I, I, I will keep my criticisms of Todd Pletcher to

very, very minimum, OK? Yeah, but I, you know, he's on

that put Barnes a little cold right now.

But I agree with you in general, Louis.

I just it. Felt like how good he looked at

Churchill last out. That just seemed like a natural

spot for him to stay. Fletcher's actually.

I mean, you talk about cold, not at Churchill, man.

I mean that, you know, that's a, that's a spot where he can, you

know, he can still pick these kinds of races.

The the $2.3 million purchase. Sierra Leone is the 9th horse

here. 9:00 to 5:00. Morning Line going to be the

favorite. Of course.

Chad Brown knows his way around New York pretty well as well.

Little jockey chain. Yeah, little jockey.

Yeah, we're going a little. Going to go to Flavian here.

Can you imagine, by the way, can we just get this out of the way?

You're Tyler got Fell Leone. And you go from Sierra Leone to

protective. Like this is a thing that

happened to a human being. I mean, like, in front of us,

man. Like, like, like, like, oh, can

I get a mount, please? Sir?

May I have a mount in the Belmont?

Yeah. Here's what reminds it, reminds

me a little bit of when was it Kristoff who took Kendrick

Carmouche off integration and actually put Tyler on

integration and then integration on a terrible trip?

And it's like, oh, the curse of Kendrick Carmouche, like you.

Shouldn't take Kendrick off 3. For three and never did anything

wrong. Like why are you changing

jockeys so? All right, let's be really clear

about why he's a bell yap. There is a man named Brooke who

is one of the owners of this horse.

Great guy. He's out of his mind, and I need

him shirtless in the pond in the middle of Saratoga chasing down

that canoe. That's why he's a bell.

Yeah. He's also the very he's he's the

likely winner here. That's OK.

So, yeah, for me, honestly, too mad as the bell.

Yeah. Yeah.

All right. All right, we'll go.

We're going to go to. You like the jockey change?

I guess that's an important thing.

I do. I love the, I love Flavian in

general and and I think the bit change is going to help a little

bit as well. It's not just the jockey.

So yeah, I think it's a good one.

By the way, mile and a half. I think this horse is even

money. No, I I think this horse wins by

like essential quality, like sort of like just easy.

Yeah. I think if it's if we're at

Belmont, this horse, I don't even think about this race.

Yeah. Honor, Marie, you know a lot of

local connections here as well with Beckman the trainer.

Frenchie on board here is Belle Nah from me.

Belle. Nah.

OK, Matthew, where are you on honor Marie?

Like can I do a bell met like I don't?

Know I don't know Dave the horse either man.

Yeah, he, I could see him finishing like 4th or 5th.

Like I I don't hate him in this spot by any stretch, and he has

legitimate excuses from the Kentucky Derby, but I just think

he's a cut blow. Yeah, that's the thing about the

Derby is once in a while a horse like this literally gets like,

thrown into the wall at the start of the race and they still

crack the top ten and you're like, holy crap, that horse

passed 12 horses to get there, but got nowhere near the front,

right. I mean, still lost by 13 1/2

lengths. Like, how good is Honor Marie

actually? I simply don't know.

It's a Belmont. I mean, to me, he only has 2

speed figures in the 90s. He doesn't have a single speed

figure that's as good as either one of the two races that we've

seen from our frame. And I just, I can't, I can't do

it. Is that?

The thing that stands out most about this three-year old crop

is just there's not a lot of 100 buyers.

I mean, it's just a bunch of 90s and that kind of stuff.

Matthew opened the show with it. Just how even the fields seem to

feel and that kind of thing. And so, yeah, that's a really

sort of fascinating thing. OK, we're going to go to seven

protective rids by Tyler as we made a submission.

Tyler another Todd Fletcher as a bell knock.

That's a hard bell, no? Yeah, yeah, It wasn't.

It just wasn't It's. Not it's not happening.

It's not OK Luis Saez is a board door knock here.

Of course we had. Hey, Danny.

Yeah. Dirty.

He's awesome. Yeah, it's fantastic.

Dornoch makes his return here. 15 to one great great price here

on Dornoch. By the way, society man in the

mat, win is a win. Yeah, like, like, I think he's

got a legit shot and I'm glad he stayed because I think him and

West Saratova are going to be in a really fun one here.

Dornoch, I do not know what to do with Matthew.

Is this a Bel? Yeah, every now.

Belknock for you. It I there are some people who I

respect who really like his chances in this race, but he's a

bell No for me. I just don't think he's fast

enough actually out of the gate. And I yeah, I just I can't get

there. And that field he beat in the

fountain of youth, Wolf. I mean, that was worth That's

right. And so he's really not beating

anybody as a three-year old. So it's hard for me to get too

excited. I'm right there the the thing

with him. Except Sierra Leone.

You beat Sierra Leone. As a 2 year old, yeah.

In that race the the thing about Dornoch is if you're going to

play the speed horse, who's going to get out front and try

to stay out front. I'd rather ride with sees the

Gray than with Dornoch. In this case 100.

Percent. Yeah, love it.

Antiquarian's the Five right here.

Another Pletcher entry right here.

I mean you kind. Of you're up there, Matthew.

Is he? Is he the buzz horse of the

Belmont? He's one of them and, and I've

really liked it. He's a belly, yes.

For me, I, I like him quite a bit.

And, and I have him kind of second in my selections.

I, I, I'm not saying that he's going to follow the same

trajectory as Archangelo, but he's certainly following that

kind of same Peter Pan to Belmont move.

And he's a horse that had every excuse to improve last time.

And he, and he did because he had a terrible, terrible trip in

that Louisiana Derby where he broke through the starting gate

and then stumbled and then it was just a mess.

And I know Todd Pletcher has been very high on this horse and

has been pointing this horse towards the Belmont for about 8

months. So this is one that they really

like. And I think you're getting good

value 12 to one. And yeah, I I just think he's a

horse that has taken to Saratoga very well over the last three

weeks. Interesting thing about this

year's Peter Pan because it wasn't at Belmont, because it

was run over that mile and an eighth at Aqueduct.

It is A2 turn race, right. So he doesn't have that kind of

experience now, which is really I think a real positive.

Obviously ran in Louisiana Derby as well.

The the thing here that is a little pulls at the heartstrings

is May rest in peace. Brereton Jones is on the on the

sheet here, right on the form. I love Matthew.

It's kind of a theme of the show.

I love when the $5000 horse shows up in these kinds of

races. You know, the son of

Preservationist here. So to answer your question,

who's rooting hardest for this horse?

The people that own Preservationist.

That's who's rooting for this this way here.

I he's a bell knob for me, but I would I be surprised if he picks

off a, an Ohio Derby or an Indiana Derby, something like

that later on. Yeah, no, not at all.

He seems like that kind of horse.

Yeah, he would be a bell, I guess.

A bell, yeah, for me. But he'd probably be my fifth

horse. OK, You know, we have all top

three finishers from that Peter Pan in this race We've talked

about. We've talked two of them.

The next one is the four horse, which is the wine Stewart, Manny

Franco aboard Mike Maker. This is a horse who I liked as a

2 year old quite a bit. I'm I'm when Luis Saez has been

running this horse and now chooses another man with door

knock. And I didn't like door knock.

I'm assuming that this is going to be a belt knock.

It's a bell no for me. I I thought he was set up to win

that Peter Pan. He looked loaded at the top of

the stretch and just kind of flattened out a little bit.

It was antiquarian that made the move and the winning move.

He's a really nice horse. Of course, all of us up here

rooting for a New York bred to get the job done in the Belmont

would be the third one ever, but he's a bell no for me.

Third ever? Man, that's a wild stat, isn't

it? Two ever winners of the Belmont

or New York breds? That's wild.

I. Don't think he's a two turn

horse. Interesting.

OK, I the thing about him that always stands out is he's ran

three, six times. Excuse me, he's never been more

than a length behind the winner. I he just is always right there.

We talk about pack animals a lot.

He seems to unfortunately want to run in the pack rather than

pull away. So I'm going to go Belna with

him here. But a son of Vino Rosso.

I think the best we finally we're going to get to it in a

second, but I think the best wood winner since Vino Rosso was

in this race and this is the son of Vino Rosso.

Could we see things down the line?

I'm not sure, but I'm kind of with you, Mike.

I think, I think that one turn, you know, Cigar mile kind of

race might be more his, his speed.

Yeah, yeah, I'm with you. OK, so we're moving on to the

three horse, which is Mystic. Dan, Kenny Mcpeak, Brian

Hernandez of you are listening to this show and you don't know

that Kenny Mcpeak and Brian Hernand's for the connections.

I'm mostly Dan, I don't know. Thank you for listening for the

first time and welcome to More Traces.

I'm I'm shocked that this horse is running in this race.

I really, I mean, especially after Kennedy Peak's comments

after winning the Derby about, you know, how he felt like he

made a mistake running this horse on short rest early in his

career. And here we're going to see, but

I agree with Louie, like this is a horse we're going to see run

and we're going to see run as the three-year old.

We're going to see run as the four year old.

And I'm I'm hoping like no other that this is a horse that people

can just latch onto and maybe bring a lot of eyeballs to horse

racing. He's a he's a bell.

Yeah. For me, I'll be rooting for him,

definitely. I think it's a lot to ask for

him to get these three races in these in the short five weeks

so. I'm a bell nod just because I

think Sierra Leone's going to try to run the same race as he's

going to and isn't better, isn't better, is going to be a better

form. That that's my my sense here.

So he's actually a bell nod for me.

I can't believe I'm saying that. Really like the source.

I would love to be wrong. This honestly wouldn't bother me

for a minute. If Mystic Dan comes through and

wins and goes 121 and then we have to have that conversation,

I would love to have that conversation.

Is he in every other 'cause you know?

Yeah. No, no, that's right.

He does seem to be in every. Other He's got those hunters.

He really does. And I, I do wonder if he could

do that again, but I'm going to go Belle Na and I, I don't have

a great reason, Matthew. I'm I'm kind of in your boat,

Louis. I'm a Belle know as well, but I

could see him. You could convince me he

finished. I don't think he's going to win,

but you could tell me he finishes second.

And I totally believe you. And I could also believe you if

you tell me he finishes 6th or something like that.

And I go, yeah, it just was a little too much.

And you know, he just hired down the stretch a little bit.

But you know, obviously everybody roots for a horse like

this and the connections. But yeah, he's just kind of

outside the bell. Yes, for me.

So he's a bell now? Something Matthew and I have

talked about on Rabo and Co is this, this modern horse racing

thing where we we assume horses can't run back in two weeks and

that kind of stuff. I I have been very happy to see

how deliberate they've been about making decisions with him.

And I've seen so little criticism of how deliberate

they've been, right. So like the day after the

Preakness coach is like, Oh yeah, he's a great, yeah, he's

going to Belmont. Like he's like, yeah, we're

going, that's not a big deal. But Kenny hasn't had that

approach at all. He's kind of.

Those folks he's been not not coy about it either, right.

Just like hey, we're going to wait.

He's you know, he's eating this amount.

We're doing this we're checking him out for this.

Like I've appreciated that a lot.

I've had Lance Gasaway on the show as well part of the

ownership group there really good guy.

Obviously, these are people that keep care deeply about the

animal, but they are just, they're being deliberate.

And I appreciate that there hasn't been a lot of hey, can

you make up your mind already kind of talk for people, which

would be totally unnecessary. They're doing right by the

horse. I think he'll be fine on

Saturday. I agree.

All right, the two horse is resilience.

This is the wood Memorial winner that you were talking about

there, Louis Belmont Junior Alvarado and man, this this

horse, this is a horse Derby week that we just kind of like

happened to see a lot right. The barn wouldn't far from the

right. Show well, he was one of those

Matthew that you you know these horses in the morning he liked

to get out on the track. He turned himself to face the

Spires from where we were standing and he would watch the

other horses run first he would survey and he actually had a

stop walk. He had a quick cigarette and

decided if he was going to run. No, that's right.

It was. It was.

Fun to watch him because you could tell he was taking it in

before he was comfortable and obviously Belmont's out on the

pony and everything else with that.

But I he is a bell. Yes, for me, no questions asked.

I have him second in my handicapping.

I adore this horse. I was really, and Matthew and I

talked before the Derby, I was actually hoping this might be

the Wood Memorial winner that that broke that streak and won

the Derby. I think he's that quality.

I think Junior Alvarado is an underrated big race rider.

I think he's going to give him an absolutely good trip here.

I think the ten horses is a lot better than 20 and I think

resilience would get a good trip.

I think he's got a serious shot here.

So he's an absolute bell, Yes, for me.

Yeah, he's a bell, yes, for me as well.

I have him underneath. But I do think he could run a

huge race. He's one of those horses that

you go back and look at that Derby parked out in the 18 post,

circled really wide the whole way and just flattened out a

little bit in the stretch, as you would expect, and gave up a

ton of ground in the process to get to the front.

But, you know, he ran, I thought, a really big effort

that day. And, you know, we were all

excited up here in New York because at the top of the

stretch, it looked like resilience was going to make a

move and the curse of Fusa Ichi Pegasus was going to finally be

broken. But yeah, he he's a really nice

horse. I'm glad Bill Mott brought him

back in this spot. And I agree with you about

Junior. All you got to do is watch that

race in Senior Bouscador over. He's a real big game rider.

Yeah. Yeah, and the Pegasus too.

Yeah, no. He's he's.

Oh yeah, that's true. Yeah.

With. Oh gosh, who's that horse?

Why am I forgetting his name now he's got a two name 2.

OK, seize the Gray is the one horse, the coach, obviously the

trainer here, man Jaime aboard. And I mean, I it's hard not to

root for Jaime. I I got.

A little. I got it.

Yeah. Right.

Yeah. Thank you.

Oh yeah, right. Seize the Gray continues to just

improve. Ran a huge race in the Preakness

to to get the win in the Preakness.

I'm not jumping off sees the Gray at this point.

That horse got me 59 to one and an exact bell, yes.

So what are we doing here? No, I just I think the style.

I think honestly, if no one closes, like if he just rocks

him to sleep again, Jaime did a great job in the last race.

What if he does it again? I don't think that's out of the

question. He's a bell, yes, for me.

Bell know for me in much the same way maybe Mystic Dan is in

that like I wouldn't be shocked if he ran.

Well, he's just kind of just on the outside of where I'm

looking. But you're right.

I mean if if Dornik is kind of maybe a step slow again and mind

frame decides just to rate and maybe isn't quite as good as I

think he is, then you know then yeah, Jaime could get out be

comfortable. He's going to have the inside

rail. He's going to save all the

ground all the way around. So wouldn't shock me.

But I do just wonder if like the five races in 11 weeks and going

a mile and a quarter might just be kind of a little too much.

But a cool story. And then the my racehorse

element as well. Very cool.

You know 2500 Plus owners are going to be very excited about

this on Saturday all. Right.

We actually have a a viewer comment coming in.

So our man Steve actually going back a couple races, we were

talking about post time and we mentioned the horse Messier.

So he's asking we mentioned Messier not to change the

subject, but isn't messy, somewhat disappointing slash

overrated. So I this is a horse again.

I get maybe it was going back to that 94 Rangers team that when

he was on the Derby trail, I was hoping and wanting him to be.

I think I got you phenomenal you you might have.

I don't have it. So I don't know what happened to

it if you did. Oh.

I got it. Steve, Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Steve's on your asking about Messier.

No. Is he a disappointment?

I mean, I don't know. He's a great 3 winner.

Fully disappointment because of the connections.

He's A5 horse, yeah. I.

Agree. I, I, yeah, the connections kind

of inflated what people expected, but I love that he

kind of has come back now with with Babe Dutrow and has kind of

become a new type of horse because there was a point where

it was kind of going off the rails with Messier.

And I'm glad they kind of recorrected and they figured out

what he did well and they're focused on that and he's turned

into a very serviceable and a very and a nice horse.

And and that's all you can ask for from an older horse.

Something worth mentioning here before we let Matthew go, best

takeout rates of the bets at Naira?

Not even close to me. When play show bets are 16%, you

get 15% on the picks, fives and the pick sixes.

Those are really the plays that I like.

They do have the Grand Slam bet, which I think is a really fun

wager, but it's one that I think if you're not familiar with it,

maybe Belmont Day isn't the time to try it for the first time,

that sort of thing. But it is a falling into the

deep end on Belmont Day, yeah. That's exactly right.

Who is your? We'll just do it real quick.

If you were playing the Acorn and Belmont double, how many

horses would you play? I would play one horse in the

Belmont, and that would be Sierra Leone, and I would

probably play three horses in the Acorn.

I would go with Thorpedo. Anna, just FYI.

And where's My Ring, who I think might just very well be able to

bounce back from a bad Oaks. Love it.

I do like just what Just FYI a lot in the Acorn.

So I could think you could probably go with those two with

Just FYI and Thorpedo Anna and maybe add another horse or two

in the there. You go, what kind of promotions

are you guys doing up there at Naira Bets?

Well, if you Sign up today, if you're not a member already, we

have a $200.00 match bonus and then we also have a free $25 bet

for the Belmont Stakes. So we just give you 25 bucks to

bet a win bet for the Belmont and we have a lot of great

promotions in terms of betting, you know $100 get 20 back,

etcetera. So we have that.

And then well beyond just the Belmont Stakes day, we got a ton

of great stuff every day of the week, but we also have a lot of

fun 2 day wagers. As I was mentioning multi day

wagers, you know, going from the Friday into Saturday, we had

some that started today with the Belmont Gold Cup into Friday.

So a lot of great stuff on naira bets.

You can get all my content as well.

Long shots of the day, greatest stakes analysis, track stats for

a bunch of different courses across the country, and more.

All right, and he really is. Matthew DeSantis is a great

follow on Twitter if you're especially if you want to stay

the day with everything going up in Naira and New York racing.

So make sure you follow Matthew on Twitter.

Failed two men, failed two menace.

Easy for me to say. Oh, there it is.

All right, he's. Like he's like Johnny P, you

know, they they got those like, you know, and him and and Ford

to tell those guys that don't have their names.

They use these like these cool things that you would find in

the forum. You got to be a geek to know

what they are. That's I.

Like it all right? There you go.

All right, Matthew, We appreciate you, buddy.

Yeah, absolutely. All right.

Appreciate so much. Guys, thank you.

Get some sleep on Sunday, all right?

Great, great to have. You there you go.

Great to get about it, Patty descends.

All right man, anything else you want to get on to?

Really. We'll have the gold book and

it's a freebie this weekend, man.

Go for it, yeah. And we're look at this guy's

going to be, this guy's going to be putting out the.

Grade, putting out my picks and putting them in there and we'll

see. We'll see where we go from.

But you know, I did pretty good. I tried it out.

Bets at the track and all I think is why?

Why are we not writing these down?

Let's do it. All right?

I'm putting myself out there, guys.

Let's go. And really, it's all because of

you, Danielman. Just want you to know that.

He'll be on with me 10 for you tomorrow.

You made me a better person. All right, We're going to pay a

tab. We're going to pay the tab.

We're going to get out of here. Thanks for listening.

This has been the horse racing happy hour.

Do we have music or something? I mean, Zach's here, I think.

Is he here? Are you sure?

About that, I'm not really sure. All right, we're going to just.

Oh. Beautiful.