BloodHorse Monday 9/29/25 | Kenny McPeek

All right, back at it, last episode of September 2025.

My God, what's happening to this year?

His name's Sean Collins. I'm Lou Revol.

This is Blood Horse Monday. Tons to react to from the

weekend. Of course, tons of Breeders' Cup

wins and in as we are at that time of year, Churchill closes,

Keeneland opens here in the state of Kentucky and a bunch of

very interesting races out West. We'll talk with Kenny Mcpeak.

None of his horses were out West, but we'll talk with him

about missing Dan's win, of course, over the weekend at

Churchill Downs. Yet another graded stakes win

for the Derby winner, which is also.

Remember when people were calling him a Derby?

Dud a couple months ago. I noticed you looked at me.

I never did that. Oh no, I'm not saying you did.

That I'm just saying. Remember when people did that?

It was sort of starting to get to that, but we'll hear from him

in just a minute. He sat down with Sean this

morning ahead of this program during my radio show, so I was

unable to sit down on that. One, you're always skipping out.

I agree that I'm always skipping out on work to work.

It's Oh yes, it's it's it's own thing.

You act like you have multiple jobs.

Or something. Yeah.

Or children or whatever. We'll fall break around here.

That's what time of year it is. Yeah.

Fall break, I guess. I guess.

Are they winding up fall break with Oktoberfest?

Do they get a full week? I never got that when I was in

school. OK.

So you're at the cut off, Is that what it is?

I guess OK, gosh. Or is.

That just a Kentucky thing, 'cause I still don't think

Pennsylvania. You know what?

Fair question. Fair question.

People around the country right now watching the show, Like

what? What a week off and off fall.

We got what we got, Columbus Day, and that was it.

And then they stopped giving us Columbus Day.

Yeah, right. We, we can't do that anymore.

The horse racing's busy on Columbus Day too.

So like you got to like exactly with this job.

I mean, I know well take your child was always.

The problem was they never gave me enough days off to care about

to care about the races on the weekdays.

Be better schools. There you go.

I, I did definitely didn't have a fall break, but we started, I

think your generation was the one that got like we went half a

day the day before Thanksgiving when I was a kid.

See, we, we would stop the day, the day before Thanksgiving was

our first day off and we I think we had off the did we have off

the Monday after Thanksgiving. I was going to say that started

happening after I was at school. Yeah, yeah.

So my kids get a week now, they get a week in February and

spring. Break and when?

When are they done? Like like end of May like

normal. See, we would not have any of

those. And then we'd be done.

Yeah, with my birthday's June 9th, we'd always be done like a

day or two before. You call my kids soft?

Say it. Yeah.

You're saddled soft. There it is.

You're coddling our children here in the United States.

His name, Shaw golfs up lure. But what an important horse

racing conversation to start this one here out West.

Let's go ahead and do this. Always a popular segment on

radio is overreaction Monday. So for example, this morning the

three local football teams were in action.

I talked about all of them between, you know.

Winning the state champion or the national?

Champion, obviously. They're four and O game over

What? We mailed them the.

Trophy already. Why are we playing more games?

According to Sean Collins, Kentucky stinks, as always.

Indiana's very good, which is very bizarre, but we got to

overreact all those. Indiana as a football team.

There you are, and the most loss is AD one history.

It's a whole thing. So they are back-to-back five

and O for the first time ever in their history.

All right, so the out West, a bunch of Breeders' Cup wins and

ends. And I think it's interesting to

look at those races because we're out West again for the

Breeders Cup. And that really mattered on

Friday last year with the juveniles, right, and less on

Saturday. But it mattered for the Dirt

Mile with full Serrano. It mattered with other races as

well. So I thought some of these,

let's go ahead and queue in on them because for example, like

Johannes who won and second in the Turf Mile last year, right?

And yes, I call it the Turf Mile and.

Good, good, good to make that separation because you'll see in

the Kenny Mcpeak interview later he he's talking about the Dirt

Mile when he mentions that. I always call it the Turf Mile

and I I even call the turf the Turf Classic and I'm sure people

hate it, but for my own brain, I have to do that.

I'm not like it's for me. I, I bless all y'all that

actually hang out with the show, but for me, that's for me.

Those things are for me. Let's go ahead and have an

overreaction edition of the Santa Anita preps for the for

the Breeders Cup. Are you ready?

OK, all right, awesome. So let's start with the very

first in Nevada Beach. When's the grade one out there?

OK, in the Goodwood. And I'm going to go ahead and

make my overreaction statement. OK, here's the question.

Can Nevada Beach, the Los Al Derby winner, be this year's

Arrogate? So here is the comparison.

Arrogate wins the traverse and then shows up wins the Breeders

Cup classic in the same year. We didn't know about Arrogate

essentially until the traverse right?

He breaks from the near, the outside or the outside, can't

remember. Now he was.

I think he's on the rail in the traverse.

He was in the one there. OK, got it.

OK. So yeah, he was on the outside

in the Breeders. Cup.

There it is. OK, so I'm mixing up post

positions there. Someone was asking me the other

day how I remember things like that and I said I don't know,

but it's a sickness. You.

Just watch the replay enough times.

Over it over and. I don't watch that one enough.

I was a huge Cromie, so I don't want, I don't like this.

Is my question for you Nevada Beach?

Could he be this year's Arrogate?

The answer is yes and why? Yes, OK.

Why? Oh no, it I mean you look at

this 3 year old crop this year we've talked about how good the

top of this crop is and with sovereignty journalism by ASA

and this crop, the first 3 year old to beat older horses at the

graded at the grade one level is Nevada Beach.

Not to beat older horses, to beat a Breeders' Cup winner.

Yeah, I know that that. This is a great this is a great

one win over a Breeders' Cup winner.

I I wonder if we're not under reacting to Nevada Beach.

I'd be very. Serious good doing.

It 'cause. He's a slightly raced horse.

He was a late developer. If you haven't already, check

out on bloodhorse.com. I had a story yesterday where I

talked with the breeder of the horse, Paul Tackett and he, he

mentioned, you know, when they were selling him, he was a kind

of a little bit behind the curve they wanted when they at the

time of the yearling sale they were hoping he had a little bit

more hip. You saw that translate into

where he didn't start until April of his three-year old

season. He just took a little while to

grow into himself. I mean, he's made four starts,

he's won three of them, was second and the other one in

stakes company and he looked really good winning that race on

Saturday. So I would, if he were to jump

up and run huge here in the Breeders Cup Classic, I wouldn't

be. Surprised.

I'm not calling him the winner necessarily, but Irrigate came

out of the clouds, frankly, in that traverse and then, you

know, certainly there was a little buzz.

When you're trained by Bob Baffert, you're a three-year

old, that's going to happen. I get it.

That part is for sure true. This one off the radar.

I wrote the other day in another piece just I thought he was the

most likely long shot to be part of the equation.

Boom. Here we are a couple months

later. But the layoff from the low sale

Derby to that race is very similar to the layoff to the

Breeders Cup Classic. I'm just saying I I don't know

that he again, I don't know that he wins the Breeders Cup

classic. There is, look, sovereignty is

still sovereignty. Sierra Leone is still Sierra

Leone. Fierceness just showed everybody

what's up at Del Mar in the second classic, right?

So there are horses in this group that I'm not setting aside

for Nevada Beach. But dude, that I was so

impressed by him over the weekend and less because I was

surprised by it, but more just how he did it.

Like you mentioned, he's just impressive, but he carries an

interesting legacy of Omaha Beach who did not get to run in

the Derby. Right, Okay, so we got this

legacy where we're trying to figure out irrigate late

developer. Could he be a late developer as

well? I think he absolutely can be.

You're seeing that distance between the Low Sal Derby and

the Goodwood very similar to that.

A little bit longer, a couple more weeks, but very similar to

the Breeders Cup Classic. I think they work backwards from

BC Classic and this might work out man.

Yeah. It might work out and even if it

doesn't work out, say he runs like a strong second, third,

4th, 5th in the in the Breeders Cup Classic.

You think about as we're looking toward next year, he's on that

upward swing for races like the Pegasus for you know, Baffert's

not afraid to ship out to Saudi or to Dubai.

He could be a big factor in one of those races.

And then as the year goes on is working towards the classic of

his four year old season. You know, if his shortened

campaign, I don't think we really have to worry about even

if he were to win the classic, I don't think we have to worry

about him retiring at the end of the decision.

So he's definitely one of those ones who has a lot of upside.

And like you said, Arrogate put it all together at the end of

his three-year old year. We know that's possible from

this barn, from the Bafford barn.

And so if he were to do the exact same thing, I wouldn't be

surprised. He he did really impressed me a

lot of times recently in some of these races, these big races in

California in recent years, we've been kind of questioning

the the, the competition that's been in those races.

We have not had to do that with the Pacific classic with

fierceness and journalism in there.

We have not had to do that in this race either because he had

a Breeders' Cup with him in there and he looked him in the

eye and he ran past him. So I thought this was a great

win. The first mission was behind him

too. That's pretty nice horse as

well. So I I'm the the future is

bright for this horse, definitely.

You know how tough this game is that we had Brad Cox on last

week and they're ready to go first missions in the day after

we hear about the Paco Lopez suspension and then all of a

sudden we don't know who's riding him until about 3 hours

before the race. And it's Umair Rispoli who has a

very specific style with horses that did not fit first mission.

No it didn't. He he thought he could he could

just ride him like he's written journalism all year.

You just can't do that. Let's not who first mission.

Is. It'll be interesting to see what

they decide to do with him next is.

Possibly. Yeah, it's so interesting

because him hit show just wasn't their weekend.

Now they're they're both Kentucky based, so the Clark is

obviously at least available. And you have the Fayette at the

end of if they. Want to go to England?

I mean, there's a ton of options for them.

Cigar Mile maybe for one of them could be an option as well.

It's great too, right? So I mean, it's it's not as

though there aren't options for those horses moving forward.

Let's continue the overreaction Monday, Sean Collins, we were on

blood horse. Monday, Johannes wins the City

of hope again. He's now 8 for eight at San

Anita. OK, so we'll put that caveat in.

OK, that's a but let's go ahead and overreact together.

He won this race last year, then ran second in the Turf Mile.

Yes, I said Turf Mile. What can he beat the Earls in

the Turf Mile? I think so.

You beat him last year. The only horse ahead of him was

another American. That's of course more than

looks. So I think so.

I was. Is that the underrated thing we

don't talk about from last year's Breeders' Cup?

Is that 2 turf horses from US based ones finished 1-2 in the

Turf Mile. Yeah, I think so.

Yeah. We didn't talk about that.

We. Didn't talk about it at all.

Yeah, but. He's a he's been a really good

horse his whole career. The Breeders Cup being in

Southern California is definitely and I was happy to

see. I mean he ran so bad Saratoga.

It didn't make sense, frankly. How it was.

Well, it also, it was kind of an interesting choice as far as

where to bring him back to ship him all the way across the

country. I know they were going for they

wanted the grade one, they wanted the prestigious Saratoga,

but it was nice to see that that didn't do anything to him, like

negatively impact him at all and that he came back home second

off the layoff and bounced right back and looked powerful down

the stretch run. So I definitely think he's one

of the leading contenders. I don't know what's being

pointed this way from Europe for that race for the for the mile,

not the turf mile, but the mile. So we'll have to wait to see

there. But but yeah, so I think we, I

think we definitely, I think we definitely.

He definitely has a shot to. Potentially one up what?

He did last year. There's no more than looks this

year. I said many times last week,

previewing this race that I voted for him with my Eclipse

award. Voted last year, Yeah.

Because I thought he was the best, you know, consistent

runner in North America, won a bunch of big races, showed

himself super well in the Breeders Cup.

And so, yeah, I I was very disappointed he didn't win.

Yeah, like stunned and. Very disappointed.

I know. Well, you know, the horse came

over and ran one race here and. Where's Frank?

All right, Havali Eri wins the Zenyatta, and I'm not calling

her Zenyatta at all. That's not what I'm doing.

We're not going to overreact. Yeah, she she moved.

Up in the pack too early after being last. 5 for five lifetime.

Awful layoff here. Looks like no worse for the the

time off at all. Let's overreact.

She's a she's a top 2 contender for the distaff.

Oh. That's an interesting one.

Because obviously in that group there are a lot of interesting

contenders, not just as 4 year olds, but as 3 year olds as

well. That's Cavalieri obviously in

that 4 year old group with Thorpedo.

Anna can't leave her out of any conversation in the distaff for

sure. Frankly, I would leave her in

the top 2 until someone dethrones her on that kind of

stage. Or do you think she's been

dethroned this year One time at Churchill and that's enough to

not have it on top? Torpedo Anna's not been

dethroned. She's still number one.

OK, all right. I had a clear number one.

OK, so. Would you go to like a nitrogen

next out of the three-year old crop?

Would you go to a good cheer or a car or?

A Dorth Vader OK the way she ran the way she ran in the in the

Ogden Phipps, the way that she ran against torpedo Anna,

personal Ensign what one part that concerns me with her she

had that random kind of non performance in the Molly pitcher

at Monmouth. So you know I'll kind of I'll

throw that one out seeing how she bounced back in the personal

instance. So I put her kind of at the

number 2. We'll we'll find out where

nitrogen stacks up this weekend, but at least she's pointing to

the spinster stakes here against Torpedo Anna.

But. God.

Bless those connections. Please give us more races.

But Cavalieri is going to be. I know.

Don't say it again. Just.

Keep. I know I'm going to keep that

she is. I.

I give her more credit for as far as where she's going to rank

on my rankings going into the distaff this year with it being

at Delmar, then if it was next year she had to ship E to run.

At King, I don't hate that at. All because I do think that the

older, even though like, you know, Raging Sea and randomized

have been kind of, you know, iffy throughout throughout the

year, you know, they run a good one, then they don't run a good

one. I still think the talent level

of that division is much higher on the eastern half of the

country than out there on the western half.

But the in her defense, she's done nothing wrong in her races.

You can only beat the horses that are in the other starting.

And she's going to get she's going to get the home field

advantage in this race being at Delmar.

So I I don't hate your take of having her in the top two, I'm

assuming with Thorpedo, Anna and at this point, but I don't know

if I would put her there. Yeah, I would definitely.

I would not have her in the top 2 by the way.

I'm just doing the question for a thought.

Clear overreaction. Overreaction.

That's exactly right. I do think she's a top 3 or 4

contender though. I really do.

I actually that good. I agree with that.

She's just such a smooth. She's got that Baffert, that

classic Baffert look where it just seems effortless.

They're willing to get the lead. They're willing to do you know,

the stalking work. I I just like her.

I like her a lot. I think 5 for five is not ever a

fluke. No, never fluke.

Especially when you're running at this level.

Of course. Blood horse Monday, Sean Collins

Lurbo hanging out with you. So glad that you started your

horse racing week with us. You started yours with a guy

named Kenny Mcpeak. I did caught up with him.

Was he in his office at Churchill and just a?

One of you or he's in. England What's he doing?

He's up at, he's somewhere in Lexington, obviously, I assume

at his farm up in Lexington. But yeah, he joined us.

He had a big weekend this weekend with Mystic Dan taking

down the Lucas Classic Stakes. We talked to him a little bit

about that. He's obviously got Torpedo Anna

coming up here this weekend. He added some great things to

say about both horses as well as gave us a little insight on his

mind. We all know Brian Hernandez got

injured last week. We it seems like he's bounced

out of that all right. He's hoping to be back in time

for the Breeders. Seriously, from our show, I know

for Sean too. Brian, if you're anywhere near

this, buddy, get heal up, bud. We met.

We're going to miss you when you're not around.

And first and foremost, I saw saw a quote from him like, oh,

yeah, yeah, a month and a half. I'm like, Brian, that's OK, bro.

So chill up. Do what's best to you, hang out

with your kids. You'll be alright.

Yeah, but jockeys are different, though.

You they are to say it they are. They are.

They're different, but we're glad to see that he's doing

well. We got a little insight into

Kenny Mcpeek's mind as far as how you go to find a replacement

in that scenario. He gave us a little bit on that.

So let's go ahead. And of course.

Francisco gets it done. Here is Kenny McKee from earlier

this morning with our guy Sean Call.

Happy to be joined by trainer Kenny Mcpeet.

Here on the. Podcast A big weekend for you

Kenny, with Mystic Dan winning Classic Stakes at Churchill

Downs. Big weekend coming up with

Torpedo Anna among your many horses that you have running at

Keeneland. But let's just start with the

performance we saw from Mystic Dan over the weekend.

This was really the first time we saw him have to chase someone

down in the stretch and end up getting the victory.

So what did you take away from that performance?

Well, he's the ultimate professional.

I mean, he in the paddock, this colt never turns the hair.

He's just, he's really one of the easier horses you'll ever

handle and feel real fortunate to have.

You know, between him and Torpedo and in the last two

years the rides been amazing and you know, he just continues on

keep keeps us going, doesn't he? Yeah, one of the things I really

love that you always say about him is he's kind of like an old

soul in the way that he acts. Just what qualifies being an old

soul to you? Well, he just never turns the

hair. I mean, he's very quiet.

You could walk him around the barn with a with a shoestring.

I mean, he's that easy. Yesterday we were we were at

feed time and and Eric Saul, who walks him every day.

He said, swear to you, I could drop the Shank right here, go to

the bathroom, come back and he would still be standing there

waiting for him to come get him. I mean, the horse is ultra,

ultra intelligent. I think he's going to make, make

a great stallion one day. I, I, you know, there are those

that OK by golden sense, but he likens me.

I, I, I know it's crazy to say, but you know, Northern dancer

won the Derby and then he went on to become a sireline of

sirelines. And you know, not the Mystic Dan

can do that because you don't know what kind of opportunity

he's going to get. But but he's just got such great

presence and and he's got turn of foot and he he did it going

short. He did it going long and he

continues to do it. And you know, the Breeders cut

miles of a race that I'm really excited for him because it can

show his turn of foot in that race.

And I think if he wins that race, I think people may flock

to him as a stallion. Let's see.

Yeah. Well, you mentioned that

stallion career. A lot of times when we see kind

of, you know, these horses that win a race like the Kentucky

Derby and then when they kind of have the hiccup in their

schedule, like they did like Mystic Dan did in the Malibu or

in the Pegasus, a lot of times we see those horses just kind of

get retired at that point, Like let's not keep going, Let's just

get them off to the breeding shed at that point.

You guys stuck with him. You gave him a chance to

recover. He's bounced back in a big way,

winning the blame winning Lucas Classic, running well in the

Stephen Foster and the Arlington Million.

Just what was it that went in the into the decision to keep

him going and how how do you guys feel seeing that he's now

had a chance to blossom into his four year old season?

Well, the, the Malibu and, and, and the Pegasus for races.

We, we, we, we really got too ambitious and the ship to, to

the Malibu was horrendous. In hindsight, it thought it was

all my fault. I mean, shouldn't we tried to

get him out there in good order. The trip wasn't as smooth as we

thought. We we missed the last breeze

going into the race and, and he and he ran a stinker And, and

then, you know, the Pegasus, we thought, OK, we'll regroup and

take him back east again. I mean, we should have step

ladder him and, and and that start all over and work our way

back from the, you know, working.

We'll work your way up instead of starting up here and then

working our way down. And, and unfortunately, he's a

good enough horse to overcome some decisions that I made.

And, and you know, it is what it is.

It makes it all the more rewarding seeing him now having

the success that he's been having this year.

Well, none of this is black and white.

You make, you know, you make decisions with horses and

usually you're wrong. And when you're right, every now

and then it makes up for the wrong.

So, but you know, it's humbling business, but he's just a really

special horse. And when we started all over

with him, we kind of regrouped and the race at Oaklawn where he

had a rode in was a really solid race.

And then since then he's he got his confidence back and we we

got him on nice rhythm and even the even the grass try was worth

it. I mean, you, you don't really

know, do you try horse and, and, and certain races and, and it

just shows his versatility. I thought it was a respectable

4th in the Arlington Million and then come back and knock this

one out. So another good one.

I I know you were close with Hall of Famer D Wayne Lucas.

What did it mean to you to win the first Lucas Classic after

his passing? Amid the world to me, I mean,

you know, Wayne and I, you know, publicly we bannered a lot.

We were, we were all, we were just kidding.

But privately, it was complete professional and and a true

friendship. We for almost 10 years in a row,

he and I and our wives went to dinner every summer at the

wishing well in Saratoga, just the four of us.

And we did that for for a decade.

And it was one of those I always look forward to it.

And then he started kind of getting a little older and, and

he didn't have the energy to go. And you know, certainly you know

that that was fine, but but you could tell that Wayne just

didn't have didn't have the. Especially the last couple of

years, he he was more interested in getting home and getting

rested than he was going out at night.

And but those you know, I cherish those memories and to to

win, to win the Lucas Classic was a big deal.

Yeah. Well, you got another big

weekend coming up here with Torpedo Anna.

Your Horse of the year from last year is going to be running in

the spinster this weekend. Just what have you seen from her

coming out of the Personal Ensign?

How's she coming into the race? I've seen the same torpedo and

we always see which is Workman workmanlike or you know, she

she's solid as a day's long and you know, unfortunately we don't

have Brian on her. You know, another one.

I was proud of Brian. Nobody sat on her back in the

afternoon but Brian and and so we're going to have to adjust

that a little bit. But, you know, I think Flavian

obviously is a good choice to ride her and we're we're excited

to, you know, to show her off at Keeneland.

She hasn't run at Keeneland and since she was young horse and

this will be, you know, hopefully, you know, we attract

a lot of people to the races at Keeneland.

Hope Keeneland appreciates that you know some conscious decision

to bring her to Keeneland to show her off.

Well, you mentioned Brian Hernandez, He's recovering from

an injury about a little over a week ago.

He's the usual rider for Mystic Dan and for Thorpedo Anna.

Now, Kenny, we have a lot of viewers on this show that follow

racing full time, but also some viewers who are maybe new to the

sport. Just go through your mindset as

a trainer when it comes to picking which rider is going to

replace him in this scenario. Yet Arietta on Mystic Dan, who

he had ridden it before, as he said, no one else has ridden

Thorpedo Anna in the afternoon. So just what's the trainer's

thought process into selecting the new rider?

Well, the hardest part is the sitting down and going through

all of them, the needed rider changes because we're so

dependent upon Brian and his agent, Frank Bernice of, of

scouting out where we're going. And I mean, they're, they're

both a big part of the team now with Brian down, Frank's

continued to, to help us and help on making entries.

And he, he's very valuable for us and that, and like even this

morning, I mean, he, he helps me make the Keeneland entries and

makes decisions. And we had to, we had to go

across, you know, cross the, the spectrum on riders on who's

going to replace whom. And then you got owners that are

involved And and that's, that's never easy either.

But for the most part, the ownership trust then, you know,

then I'm going to make a decent choice.

And we gave, you know, we gave Colby Hernandez, Bryan's

brother, a few mounts. He had a winner and a second

over the week. And I think another one would

run pretty good. And then Irad is, is, is highly

interested in riding a lot for us.

So that's good anytime you get that.

And then Pratt's going to ride a few as well.

So we, you know, we've got, you know, fortunate position to be

able to, to, to get those guys. And then Frank handles the entry

still. And then in New York, we've been

using Chris Elliott a little bit, which he's doing a good

job. And Jose Rivera, Luis Rivera

junior's won a nice race for us the other day too.

So and we've got a lot of good people out there.

And, and, but more than anything, I'm looking forward to

Brian getting back. I mean, I really trust him out

there. He, you know, think people don't

realize about Brian is that Brian rarely checks the horse in

a race has I think I think what he's great at is the flow of a

horse underneath him and how they flow underneath him.

And you know, you don't have to be the strongest rider in the

world, but you have to feel a horse to get them to utilize all

their energy, all the wire. And that that that's really the

main reason I use Brian Hernandez.

And he's and not beyond, you know, the that he's a, you know,

class act and, you know, complete consummate, you know,

gentleman work his work ethics beyond others.

Yeah, well, we're wishing a speedy recovery to Brian,

hopefully. I know he's wanting to make it

back in time for the Breeders Cup, so hopefully he'll make it

there. But back to torpedo Anna this

weekend. That personal Ensign win it was

it was a narrow margin of victory that she had over Dora

Theater, but I. Feel like a lot of people.

Have been kind of looking at her this year, kind of a lot of

people are expecting at some point we're going to see her not

be the horse that we expect. And from my opinion, even though

it was a narrow margin of victory in her last race, she

kind of showed that she is still that horse and if not a better

horse, the fact that she was able to dig in and win that

race. What were your impressions of

her race last time out? Well, she lost a week of

training from from the shipping. We shipped her to New York and

it was wicked hot and she got a little overheated on the truck

and and I lost a week of training over it.

And so we really didn't have her cranked up for for the personal

instance. So much is ready.

And look, she does what she does.

She goes out there and gets it. But the notion, like I think the

expectation is she's supposed to win easy every time.

I mean, these races are tough races, but but you know what,

she gets it done. Seven grade ones.

And for those that are waiting for her to run bad, I mean, they

mugged her in the in the LA Troine.

I mean, she, she, she literally was attacked in the LA Troine.

That was ridiculous. I don't understand how they gave

Flavy and Pratt days for something in New York and they

didn't give Rosario days for what he did in the LA Troine.

I'm still mad about it. They mugged her.

I mean, you know, and that was the only way they were going to

beat her and they did. But since then, they haven't,

and they're not going to this weekend either.

OK, you have you have a new shooter.

In the field this time and in nitrogen, the three-year old

Philly, you know, she's obviously proven herself against

the older horses that she's been facing this year, but what do

you expect from her battle now with the three-year old Phillies

kind of jumping in this race and then the Breeders Cup to staff?

Yeah, she's a lovely Philly. I mean, I think they've done a

great job with her. I mean, but she's going to have

to run 5 or 10 lengths faster than she's run.

So we'll see. I mean, you know, but she's a

good Philly. I mean she's first of all on

surfaces and I mean, but I think they ran about Alabama in two O

3 and that's not going to get it done against torpedo Anna.

So you know, we'll see. I mean, but you know, unless my

Philly regresses for some reason and we don't see it.

But you know, look, that's what horse racing's about.

And maybe, you know, let's see if they can beat us.

And I'll get you out of here on this last question.

I know Torpedo Anna is kind of the highlight of your weekend,

but you're going to have some 2 year olds running in the

Alcibiades and the Breeders. Futurity.

Just tell us a little bit about who you've got coming up in the

2. Year old ranks.

Well, we were supposed to have three in the Alcibodies right

now we've got the the grumpy rabbit and we've also got go to

girl 2 Phillies coming off mile wins at Ellis that we think a

lot of. And we could have also had maybe

another one taken by the wind won the Pocahontas for fun.

And the state vets don't like the way that that she moves.

We don't agree, but they're not allowing her to run, which is

very frustrating. The bureaucracy of these state

vets is is beyond comprehension. You know, we've had her looked

at bub ramblings. I mean, anyway, I'm going to

vent a little frustration. She, you know, she would be the

favorite if she were allowed to run.

We're sending her back to the clinic again and seeing if they

can find anything there. And if they don't, I mean, I

think ought to be compensated myself.

But anyway, you know, beyond that, we've got blackout time in

the future in the futurity, a horse that we think maybe one of

the best young horses we've ever handled.

And we've got soloist who's an in the mischief Philly out of

Daddy's Little darling running in the in the Jasmine and could

have run better in her last race, but she got a little

aggressive early in the in the Kentucky Downs mile, Phillies

mile down there. This is a Philly that could

rebound and win the Jasmine. And then we've got a horse named

JJ Gray and and the bourbon, which is the race that have won

several times. I've never, I'm not, I've been

all I know I've won five outs of bodies, 3 futurities, and I've

won several jasmines and bourbons.

But we'd like to add to those tallies.

And you're a Lexington guy. There's always just something

special about racing a keen 1, isn't there?

Oh yeah, for sure, you know, yeah.

Just, you know, anytime, anytime I I go to the home, I go to home

crowd. And it's a bunch of people that

I went to high school, even, you know, younger than that, that

I've known or all my life are right there at Keeneland during

that need. And so I get to say hello to a

lot, a lot of, you know, long time friends and, and we'll be

there all weekend. We got horses running, you know,

multiple horses running every day.

Awesome. Well, thank you so much for

taking the time with us here, Kenny, and best of luck to

torpedo Anna and all your horses that you've got this weekend

all. Right.

Thank you so much. All right, I wow.

OK, so here. OK, let's come back.

Sean Collinsville, you've wrote Blood Horse Monday.

All right, so a couple weeks ago, Sean, you did a really good

interview and and I opened the show lamenting that you don't

need me around anymore. I have a new lament.

I think Kenny Mcpeak should sit in this chair every Monday.

Is that is that possible? Can I replace you?

Terrible news for me, legitimately.

Awful news for your boy. Goodness.

OK, there are 700 things to unpack, but I want to say one

thing first. I'm here for every second of the

you got to be 5 to 10 lengths faster than you've ever been.

Talk from candy make I'm here for every single second of it.

I want it every day. I want it right here in my

veins. I want all of it.

You ever had a you remember over the summer, I had you not come

over to the studio to do the show because I had the flu and I

had it for like more than a week and it was brutal.

Summer flu, by the way, the bottom, it's the worst.

OK, I decided to go and get one of those vitamin IV bags just to

feel better after the flu. OK, Worked great.

I'll do it again in the future. That's what I.

That interview is. What I need next time I get sick

is in an IV bag. Any Mcpeak's energy just

straight into my body. Your face story.

That was so incredible, Sean. You're trying not to just smile

the biggest you've ever smiled in your life because the dude's

just like, you know what? You know what?

Yeah. Cool.

Bring your horse down. I got torpedo.

I know what's up. What?

It's awesome, I know. We need more of that.

We need more of the, I always like going back and like

reading, you know, about horses back in like the late 1800's,

the early 1900s, smack talk used to be insane and you know, the

owners used to have all their bets, like their side bets with

each other. My horse is going to beat your

horse. So we need more of that kind of,

you know. I would like to think and and

you know, Kenny in a a very personal moment there about the

coach, about Wayne Lucas and winning that race for the first

time after his passing. And I can tell with you too,

man, Kenny's on a tight schedule.

I'd love to go back into this and spend, you know, another 5

minutes on, on their their relationship.

You think they didn't have a dinner on a race before?

Come on, don't. I mean, of course it's all in

good fun. I would hope so, yeah.

It's all in good fun, but yeah, it was, yeah.

I mean, that got me even more excited for this race on Sunday

than I already was for when Torpedo Anna Nitrogen match up

here in the spinster. Because by the way, he's been

that trainer, he's brought Torpedo Anna to these races.

Yes, right. He's gone against the older

horses with a three-year old. They could your 3 year old do

it? He's had to answer all those

questions and he's like, yeah, I got the Grizzly.

I'm good. Yeah, right, because they're

against the boys. That's exactly right.

So I know in his, in his response, you gotta be a lot

faster. But he's also thinking, yeah,

good for them. I've done this too.

You know, this is one of the best parts of the sport for

sure. So there you go.

The Mystic dance stuff, though, you're a Derby geek and I'm not

picking on you. I'm really not trying to pick

on. You right now I take that as a

compliment. Yeah, but.

But just the, you know, the narratives around Derby winners

and going to the breeding shed and all the stuff to get a

Mystic Dan. And and I thought that part of

the interview was really interesting because, you know,

you you hear Mcpeek in in different spots, obviously

because of the success he's had the last years at the very

highest levels said, you know, allowance and and stakes, you

know, you heard of eight stakes, you know, all these two year old

races and just at Keeneland and, and, you know, wins in those

races, etcetera. But because of the high profile

nature, we've heard from a lot. I've never heard him talk about

Mystic Dan as a sire like that. Yeah, I thought that

conversation was actually fascinating and it is something

I'm used to hearing from. You know, we had Brad Cox on

last week. He talked, he said, well,

openly. We're sending first mission out

because it's a great one. Yeah, he always talks about the

breeding implications. About the breeding implications

all the time, we don't hear that from Kenny terribly often.

And I'm not picking on Kenny at all.

It's just he wants to talk racing.

He wants to talk, hey, I'm going to beat you by a panel like he

wants to, he wants to do that kind of stuff, which I love by

the way, Brick, give me all of it.

But at the same time, it was interesting to hear him talk

about Mystic Dan differently because I think they used to,

they used to feel like they had to defend Mystic Dan, and now

he's just winning races. He's winning great at stakes.

There's no arguing what he's done his last couple.

Times out exactly, and that was part of, you know, the set up I

had on the one question was think of all the think of all

the horses that you know, had really good couple months.

They won a couple big races, they won a grade one.

They disappeared with an injury or just had time off after

something. They come back, they run one or

two races, not the same horse and they immediately just boom

retired. Like we don't we don't want to

ruin the brand. You know, we don't want to keep

putting them out there and having them lose.

They took. They had that opportunity with

Mystic Dan. They could have said after the

Pegasus, They could have said after the Malibu.

You know what, let's just he won the Derby.

Let's try to make sure people remember that he won the Derby

and let's just stop on him and send him off to the breeding.

Shed and walk away, right? Yeah, whatever.

And they, they stuck with him, knew that they had, you know, a

top horse on their hands. They stuck by him, they put him

back into training, they gave him the time and then did the

stepladder process and it worked.

And now all of a sudden, Mystic Dan's narrative, you, you look

at what he was going entering May and now here we are exiting

September and he's got a completely different narrative.

He's added two graded stakes wins to his resume.

As Kenny said, he did not run a bad race on the turf in the

Arlington. Even though he missed the board,

he was there. He ran a good race and. 4th, by

the way, in $1,000,000 race is just fine.

Exactly when it's your first time on the surface too.

And so they gave him the opportunity to grow into himself

to prove himself as more than you know, we've heard all the

talk about the Derby duds recently because you know, you

had you had made you had Rich Strike who did not come back and

win afterwards. You had a couple like Nyquist

and Always Dreaming who did the same same thing in the last

decade. A lot of the Derby winners since

American Pharaoh won the Triple Crown.

Obviously not counting Justify or authentic, but a lot of the.

Derby. Yeah, but you know, they they,

you know, a lot of those Derby winners did not come back and

have the best success after. And so he he's not now all of a

sudden that looks like a really stupid point to make with how

good Mystic Dan and Sovereignty have done this summer.

So, you know, it's just it's that's just the flow of how the

sport goes. Sometimes you get, you know,

you're really good horses. Sometimes, you know, they don't

develop. But Mystic Dan was given the

opportunity to prove himself. Now he has not a conversation

about him has completely. Changed.

Very excited about our next guest, but I'm going to ask you,

you own Mystic Dan for this question.

OK? Do you stick around and run Am I

Keeneland then in the Clark or do you try the Breeders Cup

Classic? Well, I think right now they're

right now they're looking at the Breeders Cup, Dirt Mile.

Excuse me, try the Breeders cup at all.

I'm sorry, but if I owned the horse, what would you do?

I did have this thought on Saturday of how much he likes

Churchill. I would almost lean the route of

let's try to sweep the fire and the Clark rather than shipping

all the way out to California for it.

You know, it's it's whether you think that those two races are

worth the Dirt Mile. Obviously, if you thought you

had a shot to win the Breeders Cup Classic, go for.

It, bro, if you win the Derby, two other greatest stakes and

then the Clark, Yeah, I mean, you're breeding set up forever.

Exactly. I don't know.

I, boy, I. I don't know I would.

I get it though, I get, I get the Breeders Cup thing though.

I'm not. That's why I ask.

You know that that's one of those things where you know that

doing that path, if he goes out there, wins the Breeders Cup,

Dirt Mile, then obviously. You want to.

Talk about him racing at 5. Not so much, not so fast.

So so you know, obviously you'd rather win the Breeders Cup Dirt

Mile, but there has to be some pole to just stay here.

Another part that might weigh into that is Kenny's also got

rattle and roll in this division.

He's also got gold, gold in this division.

So you know that that'll probably play a little bit of of

a decision maker on that. Appreciate Kenny Mcpeak jumping

on the show. Someone I've been begging for

for 30 episodes and we finally got him on the show.

His name is Bobby Hall. Joins us in a Yankees cap.

How about those Mets screw it up yesterday, Bob?

That was funny. Aw, such a shame.

Such a shame. The little brother nature of the

Mets fan and broadcasters, it's just spectacular.

Did you see Bob on the the Marlins were on the field like

celebrate and beating the Mets. Oh, I thought it was great.

Well, there have been over the years, there have been bad blood

between the teams there. They've had several instances.

So I I think they did enjoy it. And especially look, the Mets

were what the most expensive team in baseball and they get

eliminated by a team like the Marlins and all they had to do

is win because the Reds lost, lost and handed it to him and

they got shut out. So Steve Cohen, who is a horse

owner with partnering with Saul Kuhlman, can't be too happy with

the 340 million he paid out for this year's team.

Goodness gracious. Well, he's not worth 340 million

yet, but his name is Bobby Hall joins us here.

You can find him at bloodhorse.com.

Of course, all of his great writing out there at different

spots. Bob, we saw you this summer at

the Haskell. And you know, one of the things

we love to talk on this show as we get into the Breeders Cup

season that we're in and all the wins and ends that are

happening, of course, hey, journalism's already in.

That's actually something to say.

Thinking back on that day, Bob, and thinking back on the year,

just kind of pick your brain this way.

Who is the best, you know that that group of three-year olds

that you've seen this year, obviously you've been there for

the sovereignty wins couple of journalisms as well.

Who was the best horse you saw in the East Coast this year in

that three-year old group? Oh, definitely sovereignty.

I mean, there's no, there's no question.

I mean, he's he's just been outstanding.

I mean he's you know, he's been campaigned very, very well.

You know, you win the Derby, you win the Belmont, you win the

Travers. I I mean that's that's the most

impressive body of work anybody is put together in any division

for the year. I mean, right now, horse of the

year is his to win by with through the classic, but he was

he was by far the best. And to the credit, the

three-year old class is really, I, I think, very, very deep,

very strong. And you know, the, the three

journalism #2 and baeza #3, they really kind of separated

themselves from the rest of the three-year olds.

Even a little later in the year when sometimes somebody kind of

comes out of the woodwork and becomes a, a real contender for

that three-year old title. That really hasn't happened as

those three have separated themselves.

Well, we had a big weekend at Aqueduct this past weekend.

I know you were up there for for those races and the feature

race. One of the future races was the

Woodward Stakes where we saw a locked kind of run, run against

the pace set up and end up being able to run down Phileas Fogg.

I know this wasn't necessarily the top of the older division we

have in New York with Sierra Leone, fierceness, mind frame,

not being in the race, but what were what were your takeaways

from the Woodward? Well, I, I think it was exactly

what they wanted for Locke. I mean, it, it kind of got him

out of that little funk, which wasn't horrible.

I mean, you're running like third in the Suburban, 4th in

the Ali Sheba. The 4th in the Ali Sheba was

probably a lot more disappointing.

But it, it, it showed him back in good form.

Now, there, there are a couple of caveats you take away from

it. One, it was at Aqueduct where he

does seem to run very well. But the other thing like I

mentioned about those 3 roles. I think when you look at the

Breeders Cup classic and I can go back to the first one, I'm

that old that you, it probably might be the best and deepest

pop field coming together where you have fierceness, Sierra

Leone mind frame, sovereignty, journalism by Aza and maybe

forever young if he, you know, gets back into the, the form

that they need. When you have those 7, that's a

tough feel to crack. So I, I, I don't know, and, and

especially with the eclipse people who own the half share,

you know, the share of loft and journalism.

Maybe he might be better suited for the dirt mile.

It is 2 turns at, at Delmar and I, I just think, you know, if

you're, if you're other than those seven I mentioned, if

you're looking to get into the classic, I think you're looking

at it. You you know, you're hoping to

finish 8th Bobby Hall with us from Blood Horse.

Of course bloodhorse.com for everything Bob's working on.

You were at you were at you're at the big A and Rebels romance

shows up. What's that like?

Does he look like a horse that can repeat in the the Breeders

Cup? Oh geez.

I I think he looks like he's your he's one of your singles.

I mean, it's tough to yeah, I think it's tough to find anybody

who's going to beat him off. What we saw on Saturday.

I mean, he really kind of he, he just took charge and, you know,

Frankie made a good move to the lead and just, he just dominated

that field. And it was a, it was a pretty

good field of New York horses. I mean, you had his stablemate

El Cordobas. You had, you know, you had the

far bridge. You know, you, you had a pretty

good field. Redistricting ran pretty well

for Chad Brown to get second. But there was no doubt who was

the winner. And like I say, at this moment

I'm not, I'm not sure who you would want want to bet on

against him in the turf. You mentioned that you've been,

you've seen all the Breeders Cups that we've had so far.

Put it in historical context, you know he's going for a third

win in the Breeders Cup Turf and he's now 7 years old.

Just put that in historical context what this achievement

could be if you can pull it off at Delmar.

Yeah. I mean, we've had horses who

have won the Breeders Cup Turf twice, but to do it a third

time, you're getting into that kind of range where like Gold to

Coba was when when she dominated the mile.

I mean, it's of course, look, the key part.

He's a gelding that that's why he's able to do it.

Certainly a horse as good as him would have been retired by now.

So historically, there's just not that many great geldings

that the sport has had going unless you're going to go back

to people like Forgo and you know, and Kelso and horses like

that. But he's just such a remarkable

horse to stay in the form he is and just you know, it is

completely it is remarkable and it's great to see because you

know, you like you know, you do like to see the horses stay

around and race. I under I completely understand

the financial considerations and respect what people do, but

certainly he would be one of the brightest stars the Breeders Cup

has ever seen. I tell people fall in love with

Phillies, they race longer and you can add to that list fall in

love with the Galdings because they race longer.

It is what it is. That's exactly right.

Bobby, all with us here. I'm blood horse Monday, Luther

Bowshaw Collins hanging out with you.

Thanks for starting your horse racing week with us.

The Bosberg, the Vosberg easy for me to say was there.

It's at 7 furlongs. We're going to run 6 on a much

less deep track at Del Mar. Patriot Spirit gets the win

there. Is he a contender in that

Breeder Cutter Sprint? Yeah, certainly.

I mean, the the Sprint took on a whole new look with the the

connections of Bookham Dano saying they're not going to run

because of the Paco Lopez situation.

So I think he certainly looked good.

I mean, I wasn't sure exactly what to make of him because he

was just putting together some brilliant, brilliant times at

the Colonial Downs. I mean, you know, he ran a one O

8 and one O 8 and one or one O 8 flat 6 furlongs and winning A7

furlong race at Colonial. And then he put in a work that

was like, you know, like 110, just something you don't see

unless it's Bob Baffert on the West Coast.

And he certainly came in and then he looked the part of those

times. So I don't think, I don't think

the six furlong will really hurt him.

I I think he'll be a top contender.

And it's a nice story. I mean, the trainer, Michael

Campbell, he's 75. This is a second trip to the

Breeders Cup small stable, ten horses.

But yeah, I, I think we, you know, the Vosburgh I I think is

really been misrepresented by the graded stakes committee.

It, it's a grade 3 stakes. And yet it, it had a horse of

the year win it. It had a two time Breeders' Cup

Sprint horse win it. I, I think it's been a very

good, it's been a very good barometer for success in the

Breeders Cup and, and I think he's another horse who could be

a factor in that field. Well, Speaking of factors, in

that field, the day before on Friday, we had the Beldame

Stakes, Gun Song beating Randomized.

They're just where do you view both of those horses?

When we're looking at the Distaff Division right now,

obviously we have some big players like Torpedo Anna, we

have Nitrogen, who's going to run against her this weekend.

Just where do you see Gun Song and Randomized at this point?

Right now I'd say they're a cut below.

I mean, randomized seems to have gone off her top form.

I mean, this was a race. I think a year ago she would

have won pretty easily. I don't I don't you know, look,

I would not doubt anything Chad Brown does, but I think gun song

is basic is a cut below the top ones like torpedo Anna, like you

said, and Darth Vader horses like that.

I think I think I think there there may be horses that it if

they do go on to the Breeders Cup.

I would think you're looking at them at maybe the bottom of the

soup effect or somewhere. Bob, you also saw our disaster

when the gallant bloom and while not a win and in for the

Breeders Cup. I thought a performance that

they should probably consider sending her out the Del bar.

What do you think of her? Yeah, it was a good performance.

I mean that that that seems to be like a wide open category.

So if people want to take the chance, you know, it it it

depends. It is, it is costly to go out

there. It is, you know, it, it is a

it's going to be a tough race. But, you know, I think the seven

furlongs might suit her and she could be a contender that it's

just, you know, certainly I would think in those type of

races you kind of give a little bit more respect to the West

Coast horses who have been running at Del Mar and Nova

Track. Well, you're not going to get

any rest here, Bob. We're throwing you right back

out there for another big weekend at Aqueduct this

upcoming weekend. We have the the big. 2 year old

races here on Saturday, the champagne and the Frizzette.

What are your thoughts on those? Or is there any other race

that's kind of really standing out to you as one that's going

to be 1 to watch? No, I would say those two are

really the, the grade ones on the card and the races that you

want to look for in my mind. I think you, you when you start

with a champagne, I, I think the amazing part of it is that it,

it, it's a champagne without a horse by Todd Pletcher or Chad

Brown. I mean, they have just dominated

the race over the last 14 or so years.

So some other guys are going to get a chance to pick up on that

grade one, which is a very big, big race for, for breeding.

I, I mean, we talk about, you know, breeding is not as easy as

some people might seem. I mean, like, you know, you win

a race like the Belmont Stakes at a mile and a half and the

Breeders are, but you know, you win the champagne at a mile at a

mile as a 2 year old and you're going to get a pretty good stud

fee stud contract. So this is could be a big race

in determining horses and we're going to see a lot.

I mean, certainly there's you know, the, the, the buzz horse

is definitely it, it's not our time and I think it's our time.

It is his time. It's our time.

He really looked phenomenal. I mean, my gosh, you win by 17

lengths in a debut race in fantastic time.

So we're going to find out if he's the real deal on Saturday

Competitive. It it it's there's some

interesting horses again that are going to be in there who

could maybe we'll see if they challenge them speed figure

wise, they're going to have to step up.

I kind of I, you know, I thought Napoleon Solo looked like an

interesting possibility. He's a horse from our owner Al

Gold, who likes to who likes to name some of his horses after TV

characters. Like, I'll throw this one out

and see if you guys know it. You might know Napoleon Solo,

but like, he has Hop Sing now. Do you guys know who Hop Sing

is? OK, I know the Hop Sing joke

from Seinfeld that I'm not familiar with, but OK, so that's

what the TV show was Hop Sing on that one.

I don't know, but Elaine was dating a communist whose parents

hung out at Hop Sing's because they were blacklisted.

Like the culture of New York City.

No, this is a moment you you watch your mouth.

Shaw Collins. It's.

And so that's the only Hop Sing reference that I know.

OK, well, Hop Sing was the was the cook on Bonanza.

Oh, OK, All right. There you go.

OK, now you got to go back. You got to go back because that

was that was a long time ago in the 60s.

And Bonanza was always a very big TV series to me because I

lived out in Queens Village. Right across the street, across

the street. It wasn't the street.

It was across Island Pkwy from the parking lots at Belmont and

my relatives lived in Canarsie and they had a ride the Belt

Parkway to go home. So when they would come over for

dinner, my uncle, my uncle Jack would be Giacomo actually.

But Jack would come over and say he would start yelling at my

Aunt Rose at around 6:30. Come on Rose, we got to go home.

Bananas is on. So Uncle Jack and Aunt Rose

either left right around then or they had to stay till 10:00 when

Bonanza was over because my uncle would not those are the,

there was no VCRS back in the 60s.

So he would not, he would not miss a minute of Bonanza.

So you know, I got to see a lot about Hopsin.

By the way, I I want to say this and I know this is a very

important Hopsin conversation. I think the champagne is the

best 2 year old race. I wouldn't argue because the

past winner list is unbelievable.

Just since 2000. Listen to some of these.

OK, First Samurai, Scat, Daddy Birdstone, Uncle Moe, Union Rag,

Shanghai Bobby, Daredevil, Practical Joke, forensic Fire

Complexity, Tis the Law, Jackie's Warrior, Jack,

Christopher, Blazing Sevens, Timberlake and Chancellor

Mcpatrick. I'm sorry, that is the grade

oneiest of grade ones. Yeah, that is it.

I actually, Bob, would you, if someone made the argument that

that based on the winners list, at least the Champagne's the

best 2 year old race, would you at least hear the argument?

Historically, it certainly is. I mean, the Breeders Cup, the

Breeders Cup juvenile is certainly getting, you know,

certainly has, has come on a bit.

But in terms of those winners. And you could also add Good

Magic, who was second in the Champagne to Forensic Fires.

So, yeah, I, I think of the others it really in terms of

prestige, in terms and as I say to the to the Breeders, I know

this is a race that they really covet because it shows a horse

who could go that one turn mile against the top competition.

That's what they're kind of looking for in the stallion.

So it, it definitely is, yeah. In my mind, I think the Breeders

Cup Juvenile could give it a run lately.

But historically, especially if you go back to the 70s and look

at the horses and who won this race, it's just phenomenal.

I think it's fair to say we know Bob's placed a couple bets on

Hop Sing throughout the horse. Just a little.

Just a little. But Bob, you've been out there

in New York, obviously a lot of a lot of stuff going on with the

new renovation to Belmont Park. Just I know you've been

following that over the last couple of months or the last

year or so. So what can you tell us just

about that construction project? Well, the construction is going

really well. I mean, it's, you know, I think

they're on, they're, they're on, they're on target for what they

want kind of as a sign. If you, if you're familiar with,

with going to Belmont Park, as I say, the aforementioned Cross

Island Pkwy, when you drive on it, you can now see from the

highway the structure, which you always would have, you always

used to see with the, with the, the big yawning at Belmont Park

from the highway along with the arena, you so you could start

seeing that structures. That's the sign.

It's coming along. They're looking to have the

Tepita synthetic track open for training in the fall to get

ready for when the, you know, they open and then we'll have

synthetic racing and to give people another option for

working out that the main the main track still not being

ready. The plan is next fall.

It should be open right after Saratoga.

They're probably David, Dave O'Rourke, the president CEO, has

said it will not be a full opening.

There will be some restrictions on who could be there.

Those are things that are yet to be determined because the

building will not be completely finished, but it will be

available for racing and for a limited capacity of people.

And then he said probably around the Wood Memorial, maybe Wood

Memorial Day might be the real grand opening when they fully

open it up to the public and then get ready for the 27

Breeders' Cup later in the year. Is it safe to say that we're

expecting that this fall meet and then the winter and spring

meet at Aqueduct, that that'll be the end, that'll be it for

Aqueduct? Yes, oh, Aqueduct.

As soon as the doors to the new Belmont Park open, the state

takes control over Aqueduct. I mean, it has it, it does have

because of agreement signed 20 years ago.

I mean, it is state property. But because of the, you know,

now we're racing there, the state can't do anything about

it. But as soon as the doors open to

the new Belmont Park, the state can do whatever it wants to do,

sell it to the casino, use it for JFK parking.

But that will happen. So probably the end of Aqueduct

will probably be right before the 4th of July because I mean

it hasn't been decided yet. I would think they're going to

go to July 4th again to Saratoga and then would end.

That would mean the final Aqueduct dates would be after

the Belmont will be content. Belmont Stakes will be contested

at Saratoga. Come back to Aqueduct for a few

closing weeks and I'm sure they'll have some closing

ceremonies and things like that. Fun Aqueduct.

Fun fact, Equestras, the restaurant upstairs when it

opened was the largest restaurant in New York City by

square footage. How about that?

So there you go. I've done radio in Equestras.

There you go. No, it's a big it's it's a big

it's, it's like a banquet hall. I mean, basically it it's it's

basically like a banquet hall. It was very good for its time

when it opened in 84. It did give, you know, the

horsemen and P and visitors a nice place to go.

You just these days they just don't get the traffic in it as

much and things like that. But that's one of the other fun

facts where like about the tracks at Belmont, which the

other one, I'll point out. The old Belmont Park, if you

stood it, if you were able to stand it on its side, it was as

tall it was as it would be as tall as the Empire State

Building. Yeah, that was that was the fact

about the old. That's how big the old Belmont

Park was. This one's going to be

considerably smaller. Maybe it'll fit 15,000.

And then there will be, you know, they'll, they will be

seating in the, in the infield alongside it, things like that.

They'll be temporary seating that will be available for like

the Belmont Stakes and the Breeders Cup.

He is Bob E Holt. Find him at bloodhorse.com.

There's a racing tab at the top of the page.

Well, Bob, I know you'll be heading out to Del Mar for the

Breeders Cup. I know you and I are probably

both hoping for the same thing here, and that is a Yankees,

Padres, World Series. So that way we can we can make

it to maybe a game while we're out there at Del Mar, right?

You know, it's not going to be that that would be fab.

But we're going. I don't care.

I don't care if it's Breeders' Cup Classic day.

I mean, you know, I there's a Breeders' Cup Classic every

year. I mean, there's not.

I mean, you know, these Yankees World Series appearances are

getting kind of rare and I'm getting a little old.

So, you know, I'll be filing from somewhere in the outfield,

maybe on the Breeders Cup day, depending on what happens.

They'll hide in that fake warehouse they have in left

field. Yeah, You know, I'll be

somewhere. I'll be somewhere.

Hey, I covered the Kentucky Derby from a closet when my

alone trip there, so I I could cover.

I could cover a Breeders' Cup Classic from a ballpark.

There you go. Yeah, that that closet is still

there, Sean and I have had to use it before.

So there you go, Bobby. onehorse.com.

Thanks, Bob. There you go.

Got the full wave from Bob. There you go.

Well, New York talk. How about that?

There we go. There you go.

Little Yankees talk for you. Yes, I did that for you.

I really appreciate it. We, we're lucky.

Well. Jokes are funny though, because

they spent. All the money.

And we're taking Juan Soto. It just makes it even better.

I texted my I texted my dad yesterday.

I said, I wonder what Juan Soto has planned for his October

because he's got a free schedule now.

But we're we're lucky here at Blood Horse.

We have a nice little, a nice little group of Yankee fans

between. Myself, Bob and Joe.

Perez, we were at the Breeders. Cup.

I like Bob. Joe Perez.

I don't see us too many. That's you and you and you and

Bob. That's fine.

Joe's a little too much. Appreciate Bob jumping on the

show here. Odd Blood Horse Monday.

I would say we have a bunch of races to look forward to, but

Kenny kind of did that for us. Yeah.

And Bob just did that for us. Yeah.

Is there one in particular, though, that you're looking

forward to? Is is it Torpedo Anna Keeneland?

Yes, I'm very much looking. Forward because we're.

Going to be there you. Know.

Come on, you. You know me.

You know which races. You know which races I want to

watch this weekend. What's that, Sean?

The two year old races, Why is that Sean?

Because they're on the road. To the Kentucky.

Derby, so we're we're going to have some some good 2 year old

races. I'm excited for the Breeders

Futurity Kenny giving. That's always, by the way,

alongside the champagne. I think of those as like the two

year old races of record in the fall.

I want to be really clear. Yeah, because like we just had

the Iroquois and I'm not picking on the Iroquois at all.

Yes, you are. But that's not a predictor of

great long term success usually, right?

So what I just the list I just read off in the champagne does

not. Exist for the Iroquois.

No, it's OK right? It just doesn't.

No the Breeders fraturity it does now.

It's interesting. Well, it's like the Champagne.

The Champagne's the one turn mile option for them.

And then the Breeders Futurity is the if you want to try the

two turns option because you look at Ted Nafi in his race

after winning the Hopeful at 7 furlongs, it's like they're he's

New York based. It would make sense for them to

stay in New York, but they're going to give it the shot at the

two turns ahead of the Breeders Cup.

So they're out there for the Breeders.

Futurity. Plus same thing with Keeneland.

You know the. Short stretch second.

Place like Delmar actually, right?

So frankly, if you're going to find out if your horse can do

the two turn thing, that short stretch of Keeneland, then

flipping to the short stretch Delmar doesn't seem to make

sense. And that's why that's why

Ewing's in this race too. Ewing was after the Saratoga

Special. They had originally said, we're

going to the Iroquois. And then I heard from from our

our good friend Griffin Johnson about a week or so later,

they're like, actually we're going to go to Keeneland and

we're going to try to two turns with him and see what we got

ahead of the Breeders Cup. So we hanging out with Griffin

on Saturday to the. Show I I would, I would.

That's how this works. Yes, I would think that we are,

but on top should I? Get another haircut.

Yes, you should definitely get a haircut.

Clean this up. You look like you need it so

bulb, but you know we're looking at also.

I mean, Kenny spoke very highly at blackout time.

There saying that one of. The best young horses that.

They that they worked. We didn't even mention that Bob

jumped on and I, you know, I didn't want to make Bob wait

longer than we did. That part of the interview too.

One of the best that we had in the barn.

So things happen when you have a Derby winner.

Better horses show up for sure, right?

It's not as though Kenny hasn't had great horses over the years

for sure, but. Just the the volume of good

horses that he has now that are like good to great or great to

awesome is is considerably more. This is 1.

Of them, well, Kenny's made Kenny's made us living, you

know, getting, you know, horses for cheap and turning them into

stars. And then when you win a race

like the Kentucky Derby and you have a horse like Torpedo and

alongside of that all of a sudden you have the people who

have a little extra cash to spend at the sales giving you a

little bit more leeway. Well, you can actually start

looking. At those people that you helped

buy cheap horses have a little more money now, too.

That too. You win a Derby, you get a

couple. And they got and they got a

little more. Confidence, like, oh look what

Kenny just good with that horse. What if I gave him a good horse?

I will say this, I will say this.

The training job he's done with Mystic Dance should remove all

doubts about his ability to turn a horse over a long period of

time. All doubts.

Every single one of them, because that horse, everyone

rode off forever in December after the Malibu people were

done with that horse. Yes, it's been an incredible run

through 2025. He deserves an unbelievable

amount of credit. He does for everything with Mr.

Damon But yes, I'd say the Breeders security is probably,

you know, after the spinsters, definitely up there.

But I'd say the Breeders security for me, he's right up

there with it. I'll obviously be keeping my eye

on the champagne out in New York, New America.

I always love the jessamine. I'm such a geek for the

jessamine. Just because.

That's going to be 100 horses in it.

It's always like 8 of them. I'm like, yeah, that could that.

No, she could win like just eight of them.

Every year I feel like that. It's always a great race.

I feel like it's always a blanket finish.

I I just, I'm always going. To think well last year was a a

three-way photo finish. I think if I'm ever.

Yeah, I just, I, I'm a Churchill Downs man because that's my home

track and that's where I fell in love with horse racing.

But turf racing at Keeneland? Nothing like it.

It's great. It's fantastic.

I love it. It's because it's only two

months a year. They're just like, yeah, that

that's kind of beat up. We're going to go, yeah, we're

going to run. Got that Pimlico filter and just

we're going to go, let's go back and be here next week.

We're going. To go.

All right, Sean. Well, you know who will be here

next. Week, you know, that's true.

And probably Frank Eggs. Probably.

We keep dragging him back. Yes, we do.

I was right about Bobby Hall, by the way.

You've been you've been wanting to have him on for since we

started the. Show I love hating family man I

just no, I just like I understand them and I Bob Bob's

just he's one of the goats man yes.

And we're very lucky Blood Horse and Frank's not here, so I'll do

the little pitch here. We're very lucky at Blood Horse

to have Bobby Hall on our team. He does a lot of great work for

us out in New York. You can make sure that you check

out everything that he does for us online on bloodhorse.com.

He had a great article yesterday where he talked to Aaron Wellman

of Eclipse about journalism potentially coming back as a

four year old and the, you know, the different, the ways that

they're weighing that decision right now, some of those things.

So make sure that you check that out online also.

He's always our number one go to guy when we want to talk things.

Mike Poley, so you know, he's always, he's always in good.

He's. Incredibly connected in new.

York, that's right. He's very well connected in New

York, so make sure you always get Bob A Reed on top of all

that. He's just a phenomenal writer

too. On top of that, you're always

interested when you're reading his story.

So make sure you check Bobby Hall out on bloodhorse.com.

Make sure you see on the bottom of the screen there.

I'm going to cut into your into your thing a little bit here.

You see on the bottom of the screen.

If you're watching us on YouTube or Spotify, you have the QR code

on the bottom to subscribe to Blood Horse Magazine.

Make sure that you get that for the coffee table is Louie likes

to say, and it's beautiful. It is beautiful.

It's got sovereignty on the cover right now.

Actually, it's beautiful. Sorry, it's got sovereignty.

It's actually. Beautiful.

It's got sovereignty on the cover right now.

So if you're crazy like me and you like having anything that

has a Kentucky Derby winner on it, that you got to make sure

that you get this for your collection as well.

Not to mention all the great stories and everything that's

inside of there. Also, just make sure if you are

watching us or listening to us on YouTube, Spotify or any of

the other platforms, give us a like, leave us a comment.

What do you think about Mystic Dan's performance about this

Thercedo? And a mansion.

Would be great. What 5 star reviews would be

great? What do you think about Bobby

Halt? Did you?

Are you rooting for the Yankees here in the playoffs?

And if you're not, let's just stop.

Listening. Call the Mets bums.

Do it on. YouTube Let's start the Mets

suck comments in our comments section here.

Let's get that going. Man.

Did I do? Did I do?

OK? You did great.

All right, Why'd you take off that?

Let's put that QR. Code back up there.

Bloodhorse.com you can check it out the daily as well e-mail to

you every single morning Sean loves working on it so you can

get it straight to start your day totally free to your inbox.

But hey, with the by the way, with Blood Horse Magazine, I'm

going to start talking about this because I think if people

start knowing that they can just have this sent to their house.

The stallion registry can be sent to your house as part of

your annual membership with Blood Horse Magazine, your, your

annual subscription. Excuse me if you if you think

you are a horse racing fan and wouldn't enjoy a stallion

registry around your mind. It's awesome.

It's so fun. It is so fun to get lost in

those. Things when I before I worked

with Blood Horse and I worked at the Kentucky Derby Museum, we

had a stallion registry in the back closet and we just flipped

through it. Just pick out random horses and

look at it. You could get lost in a lot of

that information for hours just looking through all the

different horses. There's so much to read in

there, so I definitely recommend it.

Tons of race recaps next week will get you continually ready

for our trip out to blood. Or excuse me, out to blood.

We're blood ours out to the Breeders Cup.

And of course, by the way, we're going to have a ton of coverage

out there Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Breeders' Cup week.

You'll see Sean's face, You'll see my face as part of our

coverage out there. We'll bring some other friends

along with us so it's a little less scary.

But again, QR code at the bottom of the.

Screen for Blood Horse magazine. As long as he's not at the

Yankees. Padres.

Worst problem is, again, I don't need to be shoved out of this

job, Bobby holds. See, this isn't, this isn't.

We'll see you next week. Well, I'm a we don't know about

Louis. We'll find that part out.

The Blood Horse is dedicated to the improvement of Thoroughbred

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Don't forget to like, subscribe and save Blood Horse Monday on

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