BloodHorse Monday 6/2/25 | Belmont Preview

For the music, that must mean Blood Horse Monday.

It's a June edition of the program.

How about that? The Belmont Stakes almost here

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racing right now. Sean Collins alongside me.

My name is Louis Rebeau. We're here every week on the

program. Exciting 1 here we get to talk

to 2 Derby winning connections today.

Sean, good day to you. By the way, this is my flu game.

By the way, I apologize for the points I'm in the studio, but I

told Sean don't come anywhere near me today.

You got to work this week, but this is my flu game.

I'll I'll definitely persevere. I'm the Michael Jordan podcast.

Do you understand Sean? That's kind of.

Well, I appreciate you giving me the heads up so I didn't have to

get sick right before I go down to the Belmont because the last

thing I want to do is see our guest, our first guest here at

the Belmont, get him sick ahead of the race, that's for sure.

So we don't want to keep passing that along.

Let's break of it. His name is Jock is Junior

Alvarado. He was aboard, of course, for

Sovereignty's ride in Derby 151, a winning one by the time he got

to the finish line there. Junior, thanks so much for

making part of your Monday for us.

Louisa, thanks so much for having me, your program and you

know, just happy to be here. You bet, buddy.

All right, so there's a lot of places to start here, but we'll

go ahead and do the thing that I'm sure you've been asked 50

times at this point. When was it during the race that

you knew that you that you were going to be able to overtake the

rest of the field and win that Kentucky Derby?

You know, I think when my heart start racing, feeling like I

think I'm going to win the race was probably like right before

we turn from home, you know, like by between what a pole 516

polls, You know, because I I felt that I have journalism kind

of like pluck already then. And you know, from the back, I

was probably the horse, the only horse coming from that far back.

So I knew the point sad man was in the outside kind of behind me

and he and you know, I left him behind when I start picking it

up. So I knew he was just going to

be probably me in journalism. And like I said, I I I I knew

like I I was at by the quarter pole.

I haven't asked my horse to go all out and I was going to

inching in little by little. So I knew when I had completely

asked him to, to go completely, you know, all out, I knew I was

going to be able to run him down and, and and yeah, we're just

trying to keep my cool at that point, You know, they didn't

want to get too excited. I know this is a question that

you have probably heard a lot and will hear a lot for probably

the next 30-40 years. Has it settled in yet that

you've won the Kentucky Derby? Do you still wake up in the

morning thinking, oh, did I actually win the race?

No, I yesterday, actually, I woke up yesterday and then I

don't know, I was talking with my wife and something like that.

And then I just look at him like, Can you believe we won't

talk to? Therapy like.

It just it just it feels good that it feels good and and it's

a big achievement. You know, I know a lot of great

writer who have retired and and haven't haven't been able to to

accomplish that. You know, so for me, the just a

big win that, you know, like I say, you know, anywhere I can go

in my profession and you know, even outside the profession,

whatever, you know, I always can say, you know, I want the

Kentucky Derby. You know, people don't have to

really know much about horse racing, but they'll know what is

the Kentucky Derby. So that's the, you know, it's,

it's, it's pretty special. What is that moment like when

you cross the finish line? What was that feeling like?

You know, it's it's interesting, you know, I think that's that's

what is so special. You know, it's a lot of emotion,

like a lot of you know, thoughts, a lot of things that

I've been going through my career.

For me, that's what it was. You know, a lot of different

emotions coming kind of all in once, all rushing in, in once

and and you know, so many ups and downs, you know, at the

beginning, you know, at the middle, you know, like a lot of

injuries, then a lot of other big wins, but nothing like the

Derby. You know, like I, I was very

glad and very lucky to last year won the the Saudi Cup.

Like, you know, one of those, you know, the most probably like

money race wise. And now it was very, you know,

for me, unbelievable. But the feeling within the

Derby, it's, it's, it's a different level.

It's a, it's a whole different sensation, emotions and, and all

that. And and like I said, it's just

very hard to describe all all those emotion at once.

Jacque, Junior Alvarado with us, you mentioned those ups and

downs and you mentioned injuries in March.

Man, I'm not sure. I thought you would be ready to

ride in the Kentucky Derby. How it it had to be at that

point, Junior, Cause all of us had seen sovereignty.

We knew what a contender he was, what a special horse he still

is. You get hurt in March, what goes

through your mind? I got it now.

Yeah, I know. I mean, you know, I remember

getting off the ambulance because not because, you know, I

try to be tough and I try to like not let anything is like,

you know, I'm not going to the hospital even though I was in

like hell, excruciating pain that day.

And I was like, well, maybe just the moment, maybe just right now

that I'm like that I'm feeling the pain.

Maybe it goes away in a little bit.

You know, even though normally when your body cool down, that's

when actually the pain is going to start coming.

But you know, I was just strained because I knew I was

like one week away from the Florida therapy And, you know,

after that I knew it was going to be the, the, the therapy.

Then, you know, got to the hospital, you know, got

diagnostic with the broken scapula.

Told the at the doctor, they say, you know, you'll probably,

you know, will heal between, you know, 5 to 6 a a week.

I was like, because I cannot be real.

Yeah. I asked him, listen, there's

anything I can do, There's anything you can help me with

it. Can you put anything there to

numb that area? Like he said, like I can do not,

not none of that, you know, but that's just me, you know, just

trying somehow to get something to happen for me to be able to,

to to ride in the in the Florida area and of course to to the

Derby and, and yeah, I mean, I was like completely crushed, you

know, and I, I remember, you know, I had, I had started

calling couple doctors that I knew here from New York.

They have seen me before for other injuries and, and, you

know, trying to get their opinion and asking them, you

know, how long, you know, and they say, well, you know, I got

the Doctor Who normally sees me here in New York, you know, And

the next day he says to me, you know, like, actually I'm right

here and close to golf train, like if you're going to come

stop by and see me real quick and I can kind of check out a

little bit. I have the same injury when I

was growing up. So I, I knew a little bit about

it. And he says to me, like, listen,

if you do everything, how are you supposed to do, you know,

probably it's going to take you 3 to 5 weeks for you to come

back. You know, everybody's different.

Some other health faster than other.

I saw a little bit of a lie right there at the end of the

tunnel, you know, and I say, well, I'm going to into that and

I will have a point this I have to come back before the Derby.

I have to come back before the Derby because I cannot miss

this. This is the horse that I've been

waiting for so many years, been riding for 20 years.

I knew I knew this was a horse because, like I said, I was

riding and I was writing him, I think to his 6070% ability.

I don't think we haven't been able to really reach to the top

of him because it wasn't necessarily to push him to do

more than because what he was doing was just enough.

So I knew the, the you know, it was more there in the tank, like

I said, and, and you know, I would just, you know, I did

everything I needed to do, you know, went through a little bit

of a pain between the, the healing process.

But that was the doctor says, like doctors, he told me, like,

listen, most of the people will tell you don't move your arm are

going to tell you the opposite. Keep it moving.

It's going to hurt, but keep it moving.

You have to keep that moving, moving, moving.

The moment you stop moving in and you wait for a week, week

and a half without moving it, then you, it's going to take you

even longer to to recover. You know, it's just depending

how much pain you can handle if you are moving and, and, you

know, don't, don't let her lose the, the, the mobility.

So that, that's what I did. And, and, and, and like I said,

I was glad that in three weeks and couple days I was able to to

be back in the saddle in Kenya. I know you mentioned in the

press conference after you won the Derby that when you did get

injured, you'd gotten a phone call from Bill Mott pretty much

right away, kind of telling you that if you're back healthy, you

still have the mount on sovereignty.

How relaxing was that feeling knowing that no matter what

happened in the Florida Derby that you were not going to lose

them out for the Kentucky Derby? You know, it's definitely like I

think that's what he he pushed me to get there the way that I

did, because I think mentally I have that release.

You know, they didn't have the pressures like is the horse

going to win? Is going to keep he's going to

Franco maybe riding back or no, you know, I have none of that.

So I I only knew that we just about means like as long as I

get back on time, I'll get back on the horse.

And believe me, like it's it's very hard to see that in in our

sport. You know, normally somebody else

get to ride a horse, the horse get to win, he gets to keep it,

you know what I mean? And for Billy Maud to, to have

the the confidence and, and give me the the big support, you

know, it really meant a lot to me.

And, and like I say, you know, even though I was rushing, I was

rushing it, but I was making sure that I was doing everything

right because I knew I needed to be 100% and been able to to

compete at the highest level going into the Derby, you know,

and I, you know, like I said, I need even to win before, before

the the Derby quick because I I needed to show them that,

listen, I'm, I'm bad. I'm just no rushing everything.

I'm like, I mean, I did rush, but I feel 100% to be riding

back again. And, and, you know, I want to

make sure they didn't feel hesitated, like questioning if I

was 100%, if I was just lying just to get to the Derby, you

know, so I had AI had a lot to prove, you know, so and, and

like I say, you know, I just, I, I did all that and, and you

know, I think, you know, got up there, you know, was giving me a

little help and, and, and you know, he, he, he helped me out

big time. Junior Alvarado with us, we've

seen some quotes recently from Bill Mott, who you just

mentioned about going to the Preakness.

And that decision was made pretty quickly not to go.

And I Junior, I want to, I want to set aside the decision.

That's a good dolphin decision. That's a Bill Mott, you know,

decision, whatever for you personally before and after the

race, after you see what journalism did in that race, but

before it. Was any part of you disappointed

you didn't head to Baltimore with sovereignty?

Well, I, I want to say no, disappoint, you know, like for

me, my big goal was win the Derby, you know, once I win the

Derby and it was great. You know, a few days later, like

a couple days, you know, they haven't still decided if the

horse was going to run or not. You know, I kind of had a

feeling that he probably wouldn't was going to skip just

knowing how Billy Moore likes to work his horses.

Then I'm just like, in my mind, I'm just having like, and I can

have a Triple Crown. Like, Can you imagine like me

like winning a Triple Crown race and like having that achievement

in my career? That would be like, oh, my

goodness. I I, yeah, I couldn't even think

that that that could be even possible.

And yeah, you know, when they decide, you know, I, I, I

wouldn't call it disappointing. You know, I was like, you know,

like, you know, kind of like, OK, I I'm probably going to miss

this chance this year, You know, hopefully there will be other

years where I can hopefully I can be able to to to get a

Triple Crown, But but no IA 100%, you know, was back at the

respect that decision. And like I said, the way that

Mister MO work, you know, is he says, like, I'd rather have a

horse running in a long time than just rather than six weeks

keeping a horse just for six week.

And, and, you know, he's, he's a great horseman.

Hall of Fame, you know, and, and and and yeah, he just had to

stay behind the decision, too. Journalism obviously was the

favorite going into the Derby. You beat him that day.

He comes back with that dramatic win in the Preakness.

With all the attention that he gets in the Preakness, do you

feel like that takes any kind of pressure or any, any bit of the

target off of your back here in the Belmont?

The fact that you've been kind of on the sidelines for five

weeks and he was just there three weeks ago, do you think

that'll help you at all? You know, I think it does that.

That's the same way I saw it going into the Derby.

You know, like going into the Derby, everybody's journalism,

journalism, journalism. Meanwhile, I'm thinking like

like, you know, I got few interviews before the race and I

was like, listen, my horse hasn't even rung his to his

potential yet. He just we have never pushing

him. Now we're actually training him

a little bit more going into the Derby and he's like showing that

he's handled that, that, that extra, you know, extra mile that

we're asking from him. And, and, and like I said, I

just, it's completely fine with me.

You know, I don't, I, I, I don't mind.

You know, like I said, we'll, we'll, we'll do it again like we

did it in the Derby. Sovereignty, I put him on top in

my Derby selections and I'll big part of it, Junior is how he's

built. He's just built for that classic

distance. When you're aboard him, do you

just feel him just wanting more and more distance?

And frankly, if this were at the the old Belmont Park, would you

feel even more confident going into Saturday?

Yeah, I mean, I think if we were going into the mile and a half

of Belmont, I mean, I would have been in disbelief if this horse

would it be overnight to five. I mean, he should be like almost

as easy peasy as as you can get, you know.

You know, you have to run the races, of course.

But if he, you know, the race was mile in a house, like, oh

boy, everybody's in trouble right now.

He'll he'll he'll go that mile and a half easy by them, you

know, and and but, you know, I think still my line of water is

start told that, you know, he run pretty good the first time

he run there. Even though it was 6 foot long

race, you know, it was still a very good first time, first time

effort for him And and you know, he's been training there.

So I still I'm, I'm very as confident as I was going into

the Derby. It looks like Rodriguez might be

potentially the controlling speed in this race.

Does that give you any concern or does the pace not really

matter for him to make his closing kick?

You know, I always say, you know, speed is, is, is is

dangerous no matter what, doesn't matter.

You know, you, you let even a horse with, you know, maybe not

as much class, you know, you let them walk the dog, they'll,

they'll keep going. That's how it is and but that's

the thing with my horse, you know, I never, I haven't been

worried at all about pace wise or anything like that, because I

know he he'll just come. He'll just when I ask him, he'll

be there for me and then he just keep coming at him.

You know, I don't think the pace really matter.

You know, he will just go after the horse.

You know, I'm guessing, you know, there goes low.

I'll be somewhere closer in the pace and like I say, I'll pull

the plug a little early if I have to, knowing that we're

going slow and and and and he'll he'll be there for me.

And and like I said, like those kind of distance.

You just, he just doesn't get tired.

You know, he keep grinding his way and he's keep, you know,

wearing his, his enemy down. That's what he does.

Junior Alvarado with us, we'll get you out of here in a couple

questions, Junior. But with him especially, do you

as a jockey love that this Belmont features the other two

top three finishers in that Kentucky Derby?

It features a horse in Rodriguez who ran the fastest Wood

Memorial in 10 years. It's just a really quality field

there in the Belmont. Or would you prefer a little

softer field? What's what's your thought

process here? Or do you like the challenge of

a journalism coming back? Yeah, I like I said, I've been

so trusted in my horse and, and, and and you know, of course, you

know, if it could be easier, I'd rather that, you know, not going

to lie, you know, yeah, the easier the better.

But you know, I just think, you know, he already, he already

beat those horses And and I think I don't, I don't expect

him to to to to jump big number. You know, I just if he, he comes

back the same horse that I had in the in the, and the Kentucky

Terry, you know, he's going to be the horse to beat clearly.

And, and, and, and, and like I said, he just, I mean, I just

think I'm sitting in a good row. My horse being rested for, you

know, like, you know, 4-4 weeks and, and you know, you think

you, it's a matter of time. You know, you just really can't

wait for Saturday and hopefully, you know, he could chew and the,

the, he's the the top three-year old.

I think we all, as racing fans, we're really looking at this,

hoping to maybe have the beginning of a budding rivalry

between sovereignty and journalism.

Obviously you got the better of him in the first meeting, but is

there any sense of that rivalry for you as a jockey?

Is there any bit of, even if I can't win, if I could at least

beat him? Anything like that that you feel

a little extra? I need to make sure that I beat

journalism. You know, yeah, it's, it's, it's

kind of building up on me, you know, because, you know, I seen

the comments and I see a lot of people writing down like, oh,

you see what journalism did and the Preakness and he's going to

come back and he's going to beat sovereignty and blah, blah and

all that. And it's definitely, you know,

I'm not going to say getting to me, but I was like, man, I have

to make sure I'm 100% of my game because I need to, I need to

finish in front of this horse no matter what, just to to let

people know that my horse is better than than than

journalism. And, you know, at the same time,

it's all good, you know, I think it's very good for the sport

that they have a rivalry like like this and, and, you know, so

people can look forward and, and, and I just think, you know,

it's just very exciting. You know, I mean, for me as a

joke, I always like that I'm very competitive.

So I'm definitely looking forward.

You're heading up to Saratoga soon.

What is it? What is it like riding in a

Belmont at Saratoga rather than at the classic Belmont in

Queens? It's a little different, you

know, I think just that the, the atmosphere in Stratoga is, is

always great, man, for me, it's one of the best.

I mean, the, the, the, the special place for me, I start

to, you know, I love to ride the racetrack, the atmosphere and

the racetrack and outside the racetrack is just unique.

And, and, and, you know, it's, it's, I think last year, you

know, I rode, I rode in the Belmont and, and like I said, I

don't think it was nothing like, you know, we just use, use a

whole different experience, you know, and, and yeah, just I, I

get to, to enjoy that since like I said, to me, it's my favorite

place to ride. I've got a more random question

for you here, Junior. So you win the Derby.

I'm looking at the pictures of you winning the race, and I see

Hildebrandt's Ice Cream as your sponsor there.

Hadn't heard of them. Look them up.

A nice little local homemade ice cream parlor in Long Island, New

York. And then umberto's wearing the

same thing when he wins the Preakness to tell us a little

bit about Hildebrandt's Ice Cream.

Is the ice cream good enough? Is it triple crowd worthy?

That's right. Is it crowd worthy?

You know, absolutely I will be wearing it again for, for the

Baldmon. And I don't know, they're still

talking about like either if, if Umberto is gonna wear, I don't

know, you know, like I said, I haven't, I haven't got that yet

yet, but I'll be wearing them, you know, and I think, you know,

we should get, he should get the Triple Crown for sure.

You know, like I said, I just, you know, the, the, the owners,

you know, they're being great to me.

You know, they're being very, very generous and, and I'm being

very amazing through the whole process.

So I got a, you know, it's, it's, it's a good brand to be

supporting, to be honest. And the old ice cream song.

You have a favorite flavor. Junior.

What do you? Yeah.

What's the Junior Alvarado go to ice cream flavor?

Chocolate, chocolate and but they have they have one that

they name it after me. It's like chocolate junior

chocolate mint. And and you know that that'll be

the brand that they're gonna be actually putting instructor

there and you know, you actually can can get there.

All right, I have to try that out.

I was gonna say I expect a full report next week.

Sean, he's Junior Alvarado. He'll be a board sovereignty on

Saturday in the Belmont Junior. Safe trips all week, buddy.

And please don't be a stranger. Come back and visit.

Us no, absolutely. Thanks so much again for having

me and and yeah, I mean, I do enjoy the time with you guys.

Awesome. Thank you, junior.

Thank you. All right.

Thanks for to Junior Alvarado for joining us there.

A little ice cream talk to close that one up.

Sean, are you a chocolate ice cream guy?

I mean, that's really the important question.

I am, and I think he said that Mint's involved with that too.

So that's that's right up my alley.

If they have that stand at Saratoga like you mentioned, I'm

definitely going to have to try that out.

I'm gonna have to have that like you mentioned, I'm gonna have to

have that full report on the show on Monday.

Lots of lots of interesting things to react to with him when

he knew he could, you know, ask sovereignty to really go when,

you know, when he saw journalism, he knew he could get

past Sandman and he wasn't gonna be able to catch him.

Those sorts of things. He talked so confidently in

retrospect, but you get the sense that he was very confident

in the moment as well. And so that's a.

It, it was, it was cool to hear that part of it.

And then when I asked him if any part of him was disappointed

about going to the Preakness, I thought his answer was really

interesting because he went to the word disappointment right

away. And he's like, no, it's not

that. It's not.

And then he said disappointment again.

And then he gets done. And Sean, all I could think was

this is the mentality. You have to have to be a jockey.

This is it, right? You you have to be able to let

those go and just worry about the next.

And it's it's an interesting mentality.

It's so different than a lot of other sports that the athletes,

the human athletes in our sport have to just have that mentality

work. OK, they're not going then I'm

going to do other things, right. And that's a but he mentions,

you know, I want to be a Triple Crown jockey.

I want to be whatever. You know, the conflict in there

I'm sure is real. But at the same time, the

ability to so when and he set it all up, I won the Kentucky

Derby. That's what I wanted to do.

And, and so, you know, and he mentioned you don't have to tell

people what the Kentucky Derby is.

It's exactly right. But I thought that part was

really interesting, especially about not going to the

Preakness. Yeah, I thought that was really

interesting too. But, you know, that just shows,

you know, his his goal was winning the Derby.

That was the thing that was on his bucket list.

He can check that off. And, you know, the Triple Crown

can still be a dream for him to chase in the future.

And, you know, it's obviously, I'm sure he was disappointed

that he didn't get the chance to run, but he now knows that he's

got a fresh horse, a strong horse going into one of the

three biggest races of the a year in the Belmont Stakes.

So winning two out of three ain't bad, that's for sure.

And the thing that, you know, I really struck me was just him

continuously mentioning how we've never seen him 100%, yet

he's never let him 100% go. Maybe he finally did there in

the Derby. But if he didn't and the source

can still add on to what he did in the Derby and then what kind

of performance are we going to see from him this weekend?

We'll have to wait and see. But I just think that, you know,

hearing his story about when he got injured and just the process

he went through to end up in the Kentucky Derby to make sure he

could ride sovereignty, knowing that this was his chance and he

didn't want to pass it up. I just thought that was, you

know, really, really neat. Part of it was just hearing his

mentality and just how much, how much having that hope of being

in the Derby really kind of helped him through what was a

pretty bad injury. Yeah, I appreciate him opening

up about that as well. But the we look forward to

Saturday. He's obviously confident about

his chances on Saturday and by the way, he should be because

he's got a fine horse. All the things that you just

mentioned as far as being fresh, etcetera.

What's the best outcome on Saturday?

Best outcome on Saturday is we see sovereignty and journalism

lock up at the quarter pole, head and head all the way to the

finish line. Maybe by Aza gives them a little

bit of a run to Rodriguez hangs in there for a little while.

But if we see the Derby and the Preakness winner throw it down

the entire length of the stretch, it doesn't matter to me

which one of them comes out on top of the head Bob.

If we could get that Affirmed alley to our Belmont type of

race between the two of them down the lane, I think that

would be the best thing for racing.

We met ask Junior whether he thought that rivalry was

becoming a real thing. It seemed like he he does and I

think that would be the thing that really seals the deals if

we could get a race like that. And I think that would really

help racing out as we go into the rest of the year, as we look

towards the summer and we look towards the Breeders Cup between

those two. O for 20.

So the last 20 Triple Crown races have had 20 different

winners. OK.

What gives you confidence that one of those 2 is going to win

this race? Well, I think one of the main

differences between these two and everything else since we had

justified when the Triple Crown is the fact that these were the

clear kind of two top horses going into the Derby.

A lot of these other times, like we saw, you know, obviously Mage

and Mystic Dan were as big a long shot as which Strike was,

but, you know, they were at decent prices.

They were in the double digits. And you know, same thing with

the Preakness winners, you know, maybe not necessarily the horse

that you thought was the main threat to the Derby winner when

you can't came to the Preakness. And so I think that this is

going to be a little different in the sense that the top two

horses going into the Kentucky Derby won the Kentucky Derby and

the Preakness, and now they have the chance to kind of square off

here. Journalism is, or excuse me,

sovereignty is fully rested. Journalism seems like a horse

that thrives on the workload. And so I think the two of them

meeting in this spot, one of those two can definitely be

successful here. Who's the third horse that

you're looking forward to seeing most on Saturday?

It's between Baeza and Rodriguez for me.

I, I kind of want to say Rodriguez just because I think

the race sets up well for him being up on the pace.

But, you know, the question is how much of an issue will the

foot play? You know, the foot kept him out

of the Derby. It kept him out of the

Preakness. I know they were feeling like it

was finally coming back around. It was healing up right before

the Preakness, but they still decided to scratch.

But is that going to cause an issue?

And, you know, Baeza is just such a good horse.

And I think a smaller field will really see what he's made of

here. And I know journalism got him in

the Santa Anita Derby despite getting a rough trip himself.

But you know, with journalism coming in off 3 weeks rest, if

Baeza say Baeza does end up being maybe a step below

journalism, this can be maybe the evening factor of that.

And if he gets a clear run, we'll find out how he matches up

with sovereignty. So I do think that those are

really the big two. I think everybody's expecting

those to be the big two threats to them, but I think I'd give a

slight edge to being excited to see what Rodriguez can pull off,

you know, coming off that foot injury and seeing what he gets

on the lead. I agree with you.

And I think that if he runs in the pregnancy, he wins it.

I think he's got the lead and I think that Gosper can't catch

him. I think that all of the trouble

journalism's in, I think he just gets outside, he runs away with

it, and I think he's done like Mike Smith gets that kind of

trip. And and so for that reason, I'm

much, much more interested in seeing a Bob Baffert trainee of

this quality in a Triple Crown race.

We just don't see, you know, outside of the Derby.

Sure, for sure. But getting 1 like this, that

runs the style that his dad did and authentic right is going to

try to get that lead and keep the lead there.

Maybe re rally if he has to. No one better rating on the

front than than a Mike Smith. He'll be just fine getting to

the front, keeping that speed right.

He did the exact same thing in the wood memorial.

Again, the best wood since Frosted ran in 2015.

He ran into a horse named American Pharaoh.

If he doesn't, he's probably talked about very different.

So I'm with you, man. I think that Rodriguez sets up

as the most interesting. You know, didn't run in the in

the Preakness kind of horse here.

And so I'm I'm I'm fascinated to see him.

Is there someone else on the Saturday card that you want to

see? Well, I'm, I'm also looking, I'm

interested in crudo here in the Belmont, just the way, you know,

him coming off that big win in the Sur Bar.

And I, you know, the I'm interested to see how he bounces

out of the three weeks. But, you know, I was impressed

by his win in the Sur Bar and on Preakness Day.

Yeah. And I'm interested to see how he

steps up in this kind of level. I'd like to maybe see him have a

little bit more rest before jumping into this level.

But I mean, hey, opportunities only air once I run a horse in a

Triple Crown race, so might as well take the shot.

But I am interested to see how he reacts to this kind.

Speaking of Derby alums, I'm very fascinated to see

connections that we know very well, which is Umberto Rivoli

and Michael McCarthy in the look, This is the Grade 1

Manhattan they're bringing endlessly across the country for

this one. And he was a massively talented

3 year old. This is a big ass for that

horse. I don't think this is an

accident. I just want to say that out loud

before they get there because this is a, this is a tough

field. It's a loaded field and I'm

interested to see what endlessly looks like as a four year old

because I think this is a horse that can be very, very good

going forward. Well, I think it's interesting

with him too, is that, you know, he's come back off his layoff.

He's had what, one or two starts off his layoff.

He hasn't won yet, but they're still choosing to ship him all

the way out here. That's that's a lot of

confidence. I know Michael is really,

really, really confident in him as far as being a one of the top

turf horses in the country before the Kentucky Derby last

year and to see if we saw him get back on track this weekend,

I think that would be a phenomenal thing.

Another horse that I'm really interested in that I liked when

I saw him win up at Keeneland is a big Truss in the heavens.

I'm interested to see he ran against goal oriented in The

Who, you know, we all remember from the Preakness jostling with

journalism, but I'm interested to see how he steps up in this

grade one company. He's one that I'm definitely

going to be looking out for. Part of it being, you know,

we're Louisville guys, UFL guys. We like Lamar Jackson, so we got

to root for big trust. But.

Don't you throw that UFL stuff on me.

Don't do that. Come on.

I'm a UFL fan, I love Jackson so I'm interested interested to see

how he does stepping up in the grade one company.

That race alone just spectacular.

A bunch of Derby alums including Neo Equos.

Of course, the Bob Affer trained Citizen Bowl as well.

We'll see how that all goes over there.

Mike Smith will ride Citizen Bowl here as well.

The Belmont Stakes is almost here and you can get in on all

the racing action with FanDuel. They have all the ways you can

bet on the big race. So what are you waiting for?

Download the app and bet the Belmont with FanDuel Racing

right now. We bring in our colleague

Frankenst from Blood Horse. Of course.

He's got a beautiful set of books behind him.

He's in Lexington, KY. We appreciate him joining us.

Frank, how are you, buddy? Great doing great.

Great show listening in. Appreciate it.

You did. One of the pieces that I think

is is always worth is always worth discussing is this

three-week layoff versus A5 week layoff when we run in these

kinds of races. And you know, there's there's a

lot of consternation about, you know, running three races in

this amount of time, blah, blah, blah.

But you've gone ahead and compared say what journalism is

going to be up against with what sovereignty is going to be up

againstofcourse@bloodhorse.com. If you'd like to go read this

article, Frank, what'd you find? Yeah, you know, myself and Byron

King combine on the road column for Blood Horse and and Blood

Horse daily and getting close to the end of the road as they say,

cuz that that that'll run through the Belmont Stakes.

Oh, I thought Byron was getting fired.

OK, good, good. I'm glad to hear that.

That's. OK.

Yeah, Byron. He's out of here, Byron.

But yeah, for for, for this one that ran Thursday, for Friday,

we looked at the just the five week layoff compared to the

three-week layoff. You know, they basically just

outlining the the scenarios for sovereignty and journalism to

start with. There's a few others that

qualify as well, but you know, it's in recent years.

So we went back, you know, to 2000.

And in recent years, the bottom line is the five weeks, it has

been the majority path to the winner's Circle 14 and the

winners have gone that route. You know, it's kind of the where

racing's at right now is you get the big effort and then and then

you want some rest to replicate that big effort.

You know, I've seen some of the guys that Reg is in.

If you know very much dug into that and you know advance the

theory of bouncing, you know, if you run a really big effort and

turn around in less than 5 or 6 weeks, it kind of varies on

their theories that you're not going to run as well.

You know, that said that there are winners that have won the

there are recent winners on the Belmont that came in all three

weeks rest the Triple Crown winners, of course, justify an

American Pharaoh and justifies the most recent to do it.

But but there has been 6 and that's this stretch of basically

this century. So.

Is there since 2000. Yeah, since 2000 can argue if

that's the start of the century or the end of the century.

For this case it was the start. Yeah, that's a pretty good

number actually. It's about 1/4 of those winners

came out of the. Yeah.

And you know what they have in common, Louis, is that five of

the six of them entered off wins and then the other one was a a

close second. So if you run well three weeks

out and most of them have came in off the Preakness, the other

two came in off the Sir Barton and both of them were long shot

winners of the Belmont Sarava and Datara.

And they took that route. And, and you know, I mean, I, I

think if you don't run your very best effort 3 weeks ago, I think

you can, I think you're fine if it's not super taxing.

So if I was journalism's corner, I think you could very much take

the position that he didn't really get to do his run until

very late in the race. He finally got out.

And I mean, yes, for what he was doing throughout would be tough

for a lot of horses, but I, I think he was well within himself

to do what he did. And then he just kind of had the

big finish. You know, a lot other people

might look at it and say, oh, that big finish was a very

taxing. It's however you want to look at

it. But, you know, I I think they at

least have reason to believe that he he perhaps can build on

that or, or sustain off of that. Do you, do you look at all when

it comes to, you know, the three weeks versus the five weeks just

in recent years, how it's less common for horses to come back

if they did run the Derby in the Preakness, if they don't win

both of them for them to come back in the Belmont?

Or maybe it's just we're not always getting the best horse

coming back in off 3 weeks like we might be getting with

journalism. Yeah, I didn't take a look at

the failure rate around how many horses have even tried to do it.

It's it's certainly fewer than it has been, just as we know

it's uncommon for a horse to run in all three legs anymore.

Journalism will be the only only one this year.

So yeah, that's, that's definitely part of it.

If you're not trying to do it, you're not going to do it.

So, yeah, as a percentage, the six that have done it off in

three weeks, there's probably a pretty significant percentage.

The other thing that doesn't get talked about, and I didn't even

put this in my column, but I've written about it before, is so

many of the trainers now that were starting the Derby.

So you have your West Coast trainers, they're kind of in

their own own, you know, bag of, of this category.

But east of the Mississippi, most of your big trainers that

run in the Derby are based in Kentucky and or New York.

They either have Kentucky stables and New York or they're

one and one or the other. And if they're one or the other,

they probably race in. If they're in Kentucky, they

still probably send their top horses to New York.

So I think that factors in the five weeks because you're very

much in your comfort zone. You just raced in the Derby,

you've got a barn in New York. Why go to a barn You're not

familiar with, the circuit, the state you're not familiar with,

when you can just go and race out of your own barn in New

York? I, I think that's a big factor

beyond the, I just want to have 5 weeks.

Sure, it's a big part of it, but I also think it's a part of it

of if there's not a compelling reason to come back in a

Preakness, maybe you didn't get to make your run at all and you

just really want another crack at it.

I think it's, it's really easy for a lot of horsemen to say,

well, I've got my Kentucky barn, I'll ship up to my New York barn

right on schedule. We've done this a million times

and that that's our comfort zone.

Frank Angst with us bloodhorse.com.

You can click on the Daily on the top of the homepage there at

bloodhorse.com. It's all the way on the left

side of the of the homepage. You can read it there or have it

sent to your e-mail for absolutely free. bloodhorse.com

for all of that. The mat win is on Saturday and

Frank, I think for sure, Oh, it's on Sunday.

Excuse me, you're right. It's this weekend, obviously

another five weeks out kind of race.

Do you think that's given your article?

Do you think that's why Churchill placed it 5 weeks out?

Oh, yeah. I mean, if you look at this get

the schedules of tracks put together, they're very much

aware of the spacing. And you know, on the prep races,

it's kind of a lot of them have had what have been these

traditional routes where of three races, you know, 2 races

before the big prep, before the Derby.

And if if you look at it, so many of the horses now are doing

two of the three, it's just kind of falling that way.

And that's that's where we're at and racing today and it's the

typical schedule for these top horses especially.

We're all looking forward to the journalism and sovereignty

rematch here in the in the Belmont Stakes.

Is it a rivalry yet? What does it, what needs to

happen for it to become a rivalry here?

Does journalism need to win? Do they just need to be close?

Or so in so in all respect, the Byron King who said it's not a

rivalry yet. I'll, I'll, I'll take the other

position and it's a rivalry because this is our biggest

event, the triple, the three Triple Crown races and we have

the two horses They were the two horses, two top horses coming in

they've each one one of the one of the classics and now they're

facing each other again. I mean, that's enough where

we're at today. That's enough for a rivalry

yeah. They haven't met 7 times as 2

year olds. These unfortunately, are gone,

but you know, it's this Triple Crown for this Triple Crown.

They're rivals. How about that?

Does it build into the potential rivalry that it's almost kind of

a battle of racing concepts? You do have journalism going in

the three races in five weeks. You have sovereignty sitting out

the Preakness and coming back in the Belmont.

I mean, we've been having this debate for years, the three

versus the five weeks. So do you think that really adds

a layer into these two horses being rivals?

I think it does. I mean, I think it does for for

people like us, probably just interested to see, but you have

so many people that also TuneIn just this three races, which is

we, we welcome that. We'll take it.

And for them, I think they're, it's just more the horses.

And thankfully these are two horses they've heard of because

the once you win the Derby, you're in the most famous horse

in America. I once made the statement that

the real horse of the year every year is the Derby winner.

Yes, we give a horse of the year based on accomplishment.

And that's, believe me, I take, we take a lot of time thinking

about who we're going to vote in those categories and they're

important awards. But if you went to most owners

or trainers and said would you rather have the horse of the

year or the Derby winner, that might be interesting.

Maybe you go to Ken Mcpeak and say you'd say I just have both.

That's probably the way everybody wants.

To must be nice. That's.

Right. Yeah.

But yeah, since since you have these two well known horses, get

a little East Coast, West Coast, that's always nice.

So, you know, some intriguing storylines for sure and and the

time off will be interesting, but that's interesting to see

how that plays out. I've started to wonder if

Kenny's not allowed to have Torpedo Anna and Mystic Dan both

at a high high level. So maybe she needs a couple of

months off and Mystic Dan can pick off some races and then she

can come back later in the summer.

Like I wonder if that's going on with his barn.

And I'm totally kidding. Terrific with Kenny and he he's

not he's a guy that doesn't necessarily need all these five

weeks and seven weeks. He he, he, he might not work his

horses as hard as some other trainers, but he races them and

he races them in the shape and that that's kind of a little bit

more of an old style for sure. And he's a guy that he doesn't

need to win every single race by three lengths.

You know, he he's going to put his horses on the track and you

know, you can kind of see him round in the form as you guys

referenced about Mystic Dan. You saw that you can't you

needed a race and then then ran big and then had time off.

I'm just like when you look through those past performances,

you can kind of see where things made sense.

So hopefully torpedo Anna bounces right back.

That's kind of. Rare set back, which, you know,

the early bumping in the race probably explains that kind of

Kenny thinks maybe she got the wind knocked out of her.

So I'm sure she'll bounce back. And it was great to see Mystic

Dan Bounce really run his best race, yeah, probably since the

Derby. No question.

Yeah, no, I think it was a little bit better than the

effort in Arkansas, but that was a fine effort against 70 Crown

too, down there in Hot Springs. A little light on the total

entries for the Met Mile, but it looks like a very competitive

race. Is there a race that isn't the

Belmont that you're especially looking forward to this weekend?

You know, I, I mean, you got to go with the Met Mile.

I think it's such a historic race and not the largest field,

but they got, they got a lot of the big horses that you want to

see in there. And we've talked about before

the the older horse division this year, the handicapped

division, it's just tremendous. So to keep getting the that's

been really nice with these as racing has shifted to these big

race days. We saw these older horses around

on the Derby and Oaks undercard and now we're seeing them around

on the Belmont undercard, which is, I mean, the Belmont day has

really become, it's right up there with the Breeders Cup in

terms of determining champions. You don't have quite as much of

an international presence that you do at Breeders' Cup.

But in terms of the US horses, if you if you're in good form

and you're a top horse, this is this is where you're going to be

racing. So it's going to be a terrific

weekend. When we look back on bail bonds

at Saratoga, what will we say? I think we'll say it, it was a,

it was a really nice option to have, you know, and it, it

brings in the history, it brings in the enthusiastic fans.

You have enthusiastic fans at Belmont too.

But it was just that it was a chance to promote Saratoga as

well, which we all get in terms if you're in the into the sport

already. But if you're just watching

those three races, you might not know about Saratoga.

So I think that that was that's been good for the sport too, to

promote that. I love Belmont Park, though, and

I can't wait for it to go back there.

We want to be in New York. We want the sport to be in South

Florida. We want the sport to be in

Southern California. Those of course, are ongoing

stories, but we very much seen some positives in Southern

California and the new things are trying saw some positives

with the governor step in in Florida, keep South Florida

going it it's important for racing to be in America's

biggest cities. I totally agree he's Frank angst

again, bloodhorse.com to find him and all of the good work

they're doing over there. Get the daily at the top of the

home screen there on the left side.

E-mail to you. No cost to you.

Get your get your day. Start with Blood Horse good

apps. Too be sure to download the app.

People might hear APDF. What?

It's 2025. Yeah, if all you want is the app

and all the stories come in there.

That's a good point. I'm heading to Saratoga

tomorrow. We're going to have a terrific

crew up there, a lot of good stories already scheduled and

obviously we'll be pre previewing all the graded

stakes, recapping all the graded stakes.

We'll be blowing it out as usual.

Video, stories, photos, everything you can want.

Well, Frank, we appreciate you very much, buddy.

Safe travels. We'll see you next week.

And do you have a pic for the Belmont?

Golly. You lean in.

Like I have to go with sovereignty, OK?

There. OK.

I think that's fair enough. There you go.

Sovereignty. All five weeks.

He did all the research, people. All right, Frank, we appreciate

you, buddy. We'll talk to you.

Thanks, guys. There you go, Frank.

He did the research, Sean. I'm not going to argue.

With that, you can't argue with the research.

That's what the research comes up.

But thanks to Frank, he brings up an interesting point too,

about what it takes to win off of three weeks.

And it's one of my thoughts about the Triple Crown is that

it takes really special horses and really special trainers to

do it right. And so that's just a nice

reminder to even when we talk about winning in the Preakness,

winning in the Belmont or winning off of three weeks, like

those two that were on the undercard on the Preakness that

he mentioned in the Belmont, it takes a very special horse to do

those things. But that's frankly what we're

hoping for, at least competition wise.

Sean, as you pointed out with journalism, right, that he's

just going to be able to do this for five weeks, maybe take a

little bit of time off. We'll see him back saying, I

don't know, back at track that, you know, before the traverse or

something. But, you know, back at Saratoga,

if he likes the track. By the way, is there any chance

we get up to Saratoga? Oh, graveyarda chain and

favorite. Excuse me.

And this just doesn't go how we just don't.

We just don't know how crazy this is about to be.

Is there any chance? Wow, probably, yeah.

American Pharaoh lost there bro. Well, I, I know that's the

that's the interesting part of this to be it being the

graveyard of champions. I know you corrected yourself

there as the graveyard of favorites.

I always prefer graveyard champions.

That was how I how I learned it growing up.

And I mean, hey, maybe, maybe we find out that whoever doesn't

win the Belmont's going to end up being the three-year old

champion because champions can't win at Saratoga.

So that's bad news in the in the Met Mile.

I know it worked out for him in the Travers last year, but he's

the 2 year old champion so we'll see if it gets in this year.

But one one horse I heard this about last year was Sierra

Leone. Just didn't like Saratoga.

And Kenny Mcpeak just said after Mystic Dan won the blame this

past weekend that he just doesn't think that he really

liked the track last year during the Belmont, and they're

probably not going to send him up there for races like the

Jockey Club Gold Cup. It's it.

Can be a. A track that you know is not

into every horse's liking for whatever reason.

There's certain horses that love it.

There's certain horses that don't.

The good news for Sovereignty is he's already run over the

surface. He didn't win over it.

He did debut over it last year. And he's been there for five

weeks, bro. I mean like they brought him up,

right? Away yeah yeah, so they.

And he's been there for a time it's.

I talked to Michael McCarthy yesterday morning and it sounds

like journalism's really taking to it and it seems like he's

liking it and but you never know until we actually get to the

race itself. That's exactly right.

We're going to talk with Lance Gazaway next, and he is one of

the owners on Mystic Dan and it is rare that we get to have

these moments in our sport, Sean, just because often times

we see the Derby winner just not race it for or you know, just

doesn't have success after his four year old year, but gets

back. You just mentioned him to when

they're in the blame and I mentioned, man, I just, I Lance,

you know this, you know, you talked to Michael McCarthy

yesterday. Sometimes there are people that

just don't return your texts in horse racing.

And I'm sure every industry is a bit like this.

Lance always gets back to me and he's just a spectacular guy.

And I think people will really enjoy this interview.

He's a very grounded horse owner, understands the game

really well. And so here is our conversation

with Mystic Danim Lance Gaswin. The weather isn't the only thing

that heats up in June now. He produced two time Breeders'

Cup winners, Stormy, Liberal and Golden sets as well as grade one

winners in a Dare Manor, Yalpone and Warlike Goddess.

The OBS June 2 year olds and horses of Racing Age Sail is the

place to find ready made talent ahead of the summer's top races.

Before the juvenile auction season comes to an end, come see

what the 2 year old source to the world has to offer at OBS

June 17th and 18th. Always appreciate the folks at

OBS hanging out with the show. Been with us certainly as long

as anyone on this podcast. Happy to welcome in one of the

owners of Mr. Dan, his name is Lance Gazaway, joins us from

down there in Arkansas. I think he's in Arkansas.

I asked him yesterday saw him if he was in Arkansas.

He said Arkansas Lance, I can't confirm or deny.

Yes, I'm in Arkansas. There we go.

Of course. Listen, I know you were up here

for the blame the other day. Let's go straight into it.

What were your hopes before the race?

Was was winning the real goal for you guys on Saturday?

Was, hey, let's keep the good momentum going from what we saw

at Oakland going into the store. Absolutely.

You know, we, we, we brought him in at Oakland and just, you

know, like a black type race or, or just a little stakes race and

overnight stakes and to try to get his momentum back.

And that's what Kenny's idea was from the start after, after the

Pegasus, he said, let's give him a couple months and let's let

him just recuperate a little bit, get him back just a little

more time off. He's I just don't think he's

quite ready. And we couldn't really figure

out what happened in the Pegasus.

And so we said, let's, let's just start over.

Let's start him down at the bottom.

That's working back up and build his confidence.

And then when we ran the big race against Saudi crown, he

showed his heart again and he said, hey, you know, I think

this is a spot we we should win this spot.

And I mean, you know, Kenny was very, very confident going into

that race Saturday that he, I mean, I, I really never seen him

that confident. But he, you know, even in the

paddock, I mean, he told Brian, he said, hey, you got plenty of

horse. He said just, you know, sit in

the pocket and make you move when you get ready and exactly

what he did. There's been a lot of discussion

online about Derby winners and their post to Derby careers.

You think Mage and Rich Strike recently did not come back and

win another race? You go back a couple more years

and you have Country House, Always Dreaming Nyquist.

Does that weigh on you at all as an owner?

When you kind of see some of those comparisons being put up

to Mystic Dan when really, I mean, he's still just in the

middle of his season and just starting to get going.

You know, it, it bothers you a little bit, but I've been in

sports, you know, my whole life and and you know, no matter what

somebody does, there's always going to be negative And a lot

of things that people don't look back, You know, they look back

on Mystic Dan and, you know, in in nine weeks, he ran three

grade ones and was first, second and third and, and people don't

think about that. And I mean, come on.

And then he goes 12 weeks and he he's off the board in the

Belmont. But that's a pretty good streak

of races right there. And they don't give them credit

for that. So, you know, yeah, they say,

hey, he's a one hit wonder and you know, you listen to that

stuff, but, you know, dig down the side, you know better.

I saw much more the opposite yesterday, so many people

celebrating Mystic Dan after Saturday's performance.

Did you see many of those and do those affect you in any way?

You know, same way, you know, I yeah, I mean, I, I've seen more

people celebrating than that, you know, an Arkansas, of

course, you know, everybody. 'S Mystic.

Damn fan, you know, so you have a lot of good vibes here.

Let me say it like that, but you know, for, for the most part,

everything we've seen is good. And, and you say some, my, my

fiance, she, she watches more of that social media stuff and I, I

don't look as much as she does, but I read some.

She was like, hey, did you read what this guy said?

I'm like, hey, I don't want to, but I don't care.

Well, you know, he's the winner of the 150th Kentucky Derby,

which is a pretty special moment.

He's the first horse to win the Kentucky Derby and then come

back and win another race at Churchill Downs since Silver

Charm in 1998. And the move that Brian made was

almost the exact same that he did in the Derby.

Was that just kind of bringing it all together for you guys,

kind of reliving that moment for you?

Yeah, absolutely. You know, the thing that really

got me excited again was, is, is the turn of foot.

You know, that's what that horse is known for, his turn of foot

there. I mean, he can just kick to

another gear just like that. And you know, we hadn't seen

that in the Pegasus or the Malibu.

And so to see that back and they've been at Oakland, we've

seen it. So you know, to see that coming

back to him and him being his old self, it gets you really

excited to what's in the future with him.

Thanks, Gazaway. With us, he's part of the

ownership of Mystic Dan. And you know, you mentioned

those three races and after the Belmont, he takes off until

December 26th when he ships West.

And we all know it's very different shipping a horse these

days. There's no, what is it Horse

Force One? Is that what we call Air Force

One? Yeah, right.

So that's that's no longer around.

What went into the decision to head out to the Malibu?

Was it the seven furlongs? Was it the Grade 1?

Is it both? What?

What went into that decision? Both the both of them, the seven

furlongs, we thought that would be a perfect spot to, you know,

start back at a shorter distance and with his speed and turn a

foot. We thought it was perfect for

him. But you know, the logistics got

messed up with with the Christmas around and all, we

couldn't get a FedEx. That's how they had to fly them

now. We couldn't get a plane so we

had to ship him out there by a truck and you know, it was a 2

day trip and I, you know, that that's our excuse for that race.

I just felt like it took too much out of me.

I mean, how concerning is that from your perspective when you

do have to trailer the Kentucky Derby winner all the way across

the country? That had to be a stressful

couple days for you guys, didn't it?

Yeah, but you know, with Kenny's crew, I know the guy who was

driving the truck, so he kept in contact with us.

He actually told me. He said, hey, I'm gonna send you

locator so you can follow me and you know exactly where I'm at

all the time. And I'm like, OK, so you know,

that might gives you a little bit of ease there.

He wins the lake Wachito is am I saying that right?

How, how do you pronounce that that lake?

Yeah, the Lake Ouachita. Can you say that again?

That's the most Arkansas thing I've ever heard.

I love it. Say that I love it.

That's fantastic. Have you been to Lake Washita?

I got asked now. Oh, of course, there it is.

OK. Yeah, of course.

These Arkansas things that I simply don't know.

He goes head to head with Saudi Crown and that race is run at a

shorter distance than a mile in an eighth.

Do you think moving forward you're going to keep trying to

move a mile in an eighth or do you think, you know, a mile

might be long term sort of what he wants to do?

Or is this a kind of a peak training and we just you might

do both? So, you know, I I'm kind of, I

don't know, maybe you guys are thinking the same thing that

maybe OK, hey, this is a Miller and I had a talk with Kenny that

because I'm with, you know, his dad golden sense, of course, was

a Miller. And so Kenny and I had a long

talk before we ran in the the blame here.

And I said, Kenny, you know, do you think this horse is better

at it would be better at a mile if we just put our attention

there and quit trying to go further?

And he said no. And I said, why do you say that?

And he said, I said this horse has got speed out of the gate

and he's got to turn a foot. I said, you know, he can cruise

at a good speed. He said that's just it.

He said he can cruise at a good speed and then he has that turn

of foot for that 4 furlongs to make that run.

And he said I think he's better at a mile and eight.

Now. I think mile and 8th is our

sweet spot. You know, I myself, McKinney

might disagree with me, but I think mile and 1/4 presses his

horse. I mean, we had to have every

inch of it in the Derby, you know, and then have the inside

trip all the way too. So, you know, we saved a lot of

ground. But I think a mile and eight

this horse is, I think he's pretty comfortable there.

Well, Lance, you're part of the ownership group, but you also

were part of the breeding group that got Mystic Dan here.

Just what has it been like having a horse like Mystic Dan

from pretty much the start of his life to now seeing where he

is now? Just what has that journey been

like for you guys? Oh, it's, it's, it's just so

exciting to watch them, you know, when they're born.

And then you did get to watch them grow the whole time.

And, you know, we've done it with his, his half sister now.

Yes, ma'am. And you know, she broke her

maiden there on the Derby day, May the 3rd.

And then we have a couple more babies coming up that we're real

excited about. And yeah, just just to watch

them grow and, you know, year by year and how fast they grow from

when they're born to that first year is unbelievable.

But yeah, just to get you that more excited about, you know,

what, what could they possibly be?

And then looking forward to them actually running.

Lance Gassaway with us, part of the Mystic damp Mystic Dan camp.

The blame shows up mile and an eighth.

The Steven Foster is in a month. Is that on the calendar or we we

looking at other places? What's What's next for Mystic

Dan, you think? Now, that's the plan right now.

I mean, that's the most logical spot for him.

He he, he likes that track. And, you know, he said the

state's record for the blame there.

And so, you know, clearly he, he, he likes to track.

They're good. And I think that's only a

logical spot for him. Well, he's Lance Gazaway, part

of the ownership of Mystic Dam. We appreciate him jumping on the

program today. Lance, you were.

By the way, Lance came on my local ESPN Louisville show the

day after the Derby on that Monday and I really appreciate

that as well. Or two days, I guess, after the

Derby, but jumped on with me after that and jumped on on the

Monday after after another great win for Mr. Dan and Churchill

bounce under those twin Spires. And so Lance, I appreciate your

availability, my friend, and I hope you have to come on the

show again. Thank.

You Louis, thank you guys for having me on and I'll be glad to

come. Anytime all.

Right. Thank you, Lance.

Thanks, guys. Thank you, man.

Oh, man, the good stuff. It really is.

It's the good stuff, Sean. You understand me, young Sean?

Yes, I do. Yes, that's the good stuff.

Well, thanks again to Lance Gassway.

Boy, oh boy, is there anything finer in horse racing than all

of the accents? Now we between Junior Alvarado

and Lance Gazaway. What a beautiful, beautiful

display of all of the accents of horse racing.

I love it. That's fantastic.

Well, that's the beauty of this sport.

It brings people from all over the world, all over, all

different types of walks of life.

It brings them all together and we're all just in the grandstand

cheering for the horses. That's exactly right.

Well, man, that Arkansas just it's so it's so Arkansas.

I love it so much. So thank you, Lance.

Hey, look, Sean, you're, you're a, you're a Derby head.

It's OK to say you love it. You were there Saturday.

Mystic Dan cuts the corner again.

Did you freak out a little? I did yes.

I usually, you know, I, I take, I take videos of pretty much

every race, every stakes race that I go to and usually I'm

staying nice and silent all the way to the wire.

I couldn't help but cheer him home a little bit as they were

coming up to the end So you can hear me on my.

Video cheering for him. But it was just, it's so nice to

see a Derby winner come back so strong and put together a race

like that. For me personally, I always felt

like I was a curse for Kentucky Derby winners.

They were before Mystic Dan won and not including American

Pharaoh. Any time I saw a Kentucky Derby

winner after they won the Kentucky Derby, they were O for

16, the exception of Mandalun, but he hadn't been officially

declared the Derby winner yet and he had finished. 2nd So wait

wait, does that mean the 17th time you watched a Derby winner

he won? Well, not if you can.

You're done, Shawn. You're done.

It's over for you, son. It's over.

Consecutive. It's.

Nope. Nope.

Consecutive because Chrome was before Pharaoh, so I know the

number 17 is cursed. I have enough ways to argue out

of the 17 over this one, no? You're done this one.

No, but it took the Triple Crown winner to break the curse before

American Pharaoh won all three times that I saw him, so I was

glad to finally see a Derby winner.

Winner race after the Derby was he's.

Just kind of OK that American Pharaoh.

That's exactly right. Well, thanks again to Lance, by

the way. He points out something really

important. He set the freaking stakes

record. Yeah, right.

I mean, that's a 30 year old race.

I mean, this is this is a horse that likes Churchill a lot.

He's four years old. They're figuring it out.

If anyone's going to take a horse from being like, what's

going on here to winning again, it's Kenny Mcpeak.

And I got to say, doing this show something I've learned

about the very best of owners and of, you know, you know, like

the, the good dolphins of the world or whatever else.

There's there's such a there's such an emphasis on we're going

to do our part of this, you know, let's talk about the

breeding and those things. But hey, Kenny, is he a mile or

a mile and a night? Mile and a night.

OK, do it like just just OK, you're Kenny Mcpick.

I'm going to go with it. And there's something about that

that we hear on the show over and over, those kinds of

relationships. We heard Junior earlier in the

show call him Billy Mott, which by the I need that, like I need

a tattoo that says Billy Mott. But anyway, the, the just that,

that connection, that the connection, but also the trust.

It takes an incredible amount of horse racing because there's so

many moving parts. And so it's cool to hear.

I don't want to say over and over, but in different ways from

different people that they have the same approach to it, if that

makes sense. Exactly.

Yeah, the trainers are the ones that know the horse.

They're the ones that you know are with them every day, can see

the differences in how they act day-to-day, how they're coming

into one race versus another. So to have be able to trust the

trainer's judgement and trust his call and not, you know, come

up with an idea in your own mind that's different and hold the

trainer to that idea, that's an important part of it.

And we've seen this year, we've seen where that success has been

in place. You saw journalism where, you

know, they wanted to go on to the Preakness, but they waited

for Michael McCarthy to be on board with that.

And same thing when they're pointing to the Belmont.

You saw that when it came to Sovereignty, skipping the

Preakness and going to the Belmont.

Just having that, you know, the faith in the trainer to make the

right choice by the horse, That's an important piece of it,

and that's something that definitely helped out with

Mystic Dan here. Kenny Mcpeak, he talked about in

the winner's circle how he realized after the Pegasus it

was better to just stop and then kind of restart and step ladder

him back up the ranks. And I look at that as even

though he ran in December and January, I kind of put that off

on its own. And I look at this now as his

new form cycle. I agree and.

Second race off the layoff, he wins and now he's probably

looking at another top performance, if not a better

performance when it comes to the Stephen Foster. 00 percent fluke

back-to-back. We're talking ECHO base figures

north of 100 and both. I mean, this is a serious,

serious contender for good, good racing this summer.

Thanks again to Lance Gazaway, thanks for bringing the Arkansas

to the show. All right, another thanks to

Junior Alvarado, Lance Gasway, and of course, our colleague

Frank X here at Blood Horse. Of course, we always encourage

you to get the magazine. So go ahead and check out Blood

Horse Magazine. There will be AQR code at the

bottom of the screen. If you happen to be watching on

YouTube, which all of you do apparently, I have no idea, all

of you are on YouTube. I love it.

But if you're on Spotify, you can find this as well.

But Blood Horse Magazine once a month to your house, Beautiful

photos will make your coffee table look unbelievable.

So get in with our friends at Blood Horse Magazine, the

photography crew, undefeated Sean, it's just a beautiful,

beautiful piece of work. And certainly all of those

stories that those of us who follow sport year round, love

and love and love. So get in with Blood Horse

Magazine that way. Safe travels, young Sean.

Up there to Saratoga. I'll be stuck here with the flu.

We'll talk to you next week here on BLOOD HORSE Monday.

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