Charles Town Classic 2024 | Paul Espinosa

All right, welcome in a rare Wednesday edition of the Horse

Racing Happier in My Backyard in Louisville, KY My name's Louie

Rabaugh. I'm joined today by Paul

Espinosa. He calls the races at

Charlestown. How about that?

Our first ever Charlestown show. Paul, we will be a 5 year old

podcast in about two weeks and we've never talked Charlestown.

This is your chance to scold before we say nice things about

where you work. Hey man, no, no scolding.

No. No judgments just like to

welcome in anybody that's that has been away from the the

Church of Charlestown and and certainly again happy to welcome

you in with open arms, especially this Friday night.

That should be a a fantastic night.

The 16th runnings of the Charlestown Classic and Oaks.

How about that? Yeah, I mean, and huge purses at

your place in Charlestown. Are you a bit like some of the

tracks here in Kentucky where you're supported by other gaming

and those sorts of things? Is that how you're able to give

out, I don't know, half $1,000,000 in a Derby race over

two turns over 7 furlongs? Yeah, it's definitely we are

very thankful for the for the casino side of our property.

We're Hollywood Casino at Charlestown races and again

track that we opened up and all the way back in 1933 and then it

was about to basically shut down in the mid 90s and then then it

was Penn National came in and we're like, hey, you know we'd

like to like to help you out. And so kind of a symbiotic

relationship there. And again, we've, we've seen

some the purses over the years grow and, and grow and, and so,

yeah, the if you told me back again, I was born in 89.

So if you told me, you know, back in the 90s at any time

that, you know, there would be, you know, $1,000,000 race, a

$750,000 race, and then two more $500,000 races, I'd have said

you were crazy. So we've come a long way and,

and definitely happy to have been along for the ride.

I. Met you.

You were wearing a very ugly shirt when I met you.

But are you I, I know you're a West Virginia guy.

Is this, I mean, have you had other jobs or is tell us kind of

your origin story here is is Charlestown kind of been

yourself. You got it on again.

Man, oh man, are you one of these people?

You just you, you like you're just always in a West Virginia

shirt. It's just.

One of, you know, it's sort of like the, I guess the little bit

of like a I'm a very, very, very, very dumb Steve Jobs that

basically like, you know, just like take the take the thinking

out of the wardrobe, just throw on the West Virginia shirt and,

and be good with it. So, so yeah, I was, I'm born and

raised about 15 minutes from here.

So Charlestown is my home. Went to WVU actually, you know,

did TV for about three years in Hagerstown, MD, A small NBC

affiliate there at the time. Decided to kind of try something

else. Ended up moving down to

Lexington, KY for two years and I served as my Aunt Sarah's, a

buyer's agent from In the Real in Real Estate.

Quickly found out that sales were not for me and so then

entered a contest called America's Next Race Caller that

was out at Delmar. It went so well that it was the

only year they ever did it, but worked out so that I was one of

the three finalists. Flew out to Delmar from

Lexington. Ended up winning and got to call

the last race, which was my first ever live race call with

Trevor Dimman right over my shoulder.

So luckily then the folks that back here at Charlestown were

watching the job came open shortly after that just so

happened. And so I've been here ever

since. This is my 9th year here at the

track and again, very, very happy to be calling at home.

We race year round so again, I don't have to hop around to

different different tracks and everything like that.

It's very nice and I'm definitely happy here and the

country roads have brought me home well.

There you go. You know, who's a little like

that is actually, and I know it's it's a sports thing and not

a horse racing thing, but Mike Hull, who's been on the Big 10

Network since it started, won that ESPN announcing, you know,

show. Contest, Was that what it was?

I think that's what it was called, yeah.

And he's had his job doing. Being in Chicago for two

decades, like so good for him, good for you.

That's fantastic. And from meeting you and I, and

I joke, of course about shirts and whatever, who cares?

But I'm a, you know, I'm a suburban dad.

I wear the same polo every three days.

It's, you know, just different colors.

The, you know, the calling racist thing is so unique.

It's so different. I talked with Tony Kalo, for

example, last week on the Kentucky Racing Spotlight, is

that Turfway and Ellis Park, and he talked about those guys who

brought him up in the industry, and Rhoda was one of those guys.

I have to ask, though, Trevor's one of the Goats.

What was it like called your first race in front of Trevor?

Oh, I mean, just an absolute joke.

I mean, just just praying that he wasn't going to, like, drop

dead from, like, ear hemorrhaging, you know, with how

bad it was. It was going to be.

Yeah. I mean, it was it was kind of

kind of crazy. So the way the contest worked

was that you had to submit a Call of American Pharaoh's

Delmar Futurity win. So this was the year of American

Pharaoh basically. And and so we were on that kick.

And so, you know, but during that, you know, I was able to

kind of, you know, jot down how I wanted to do it, what I wanted

it to sound like, you know, the words I'd want to use at

different points. And and so it was very, very

scripted, which obviously race calling typically is not.

And so that was other than, you know, I tell the story, you

know, I, you know, ride, ride my bike around as a kid.

And really the racing bug kind of bit me in 2001 nationally

with Monarcos and that Kentucky Derby.

And, you know, so I ride around the neighborhood on my bicycle.

Here comes Monarcos who sweeps to the lead.

And, you know, like that, that first, you know, that was kind

of my first like national, like, wow, like I this, I've got the

racing bug. And so, you know, I, I had ideas

of how to call it, but I have never actually sat down and

tried to call a race live. So basically, like on the plane

ride out there, I was just trying to memorize the silks.

It was a 12 horse field on the turf.

It was a maiden race. There ended up being a a grade

one winner that came out of that race.

So I feel great that they have to go back whenever they're

like, oh, look how far our Philly has come.

We got to listen to this and and again, hit the mute button.

But you know, started off really Rocky was able to kind of bring

it, bring it back at the at the end a little bit and just

started like spitting out names. And so, but yes, having Trevor

behind me in one sense, it was a relief knowing that if I dropped

dead that he would just be able to pick up the mic and die.

Yeah. And if he attends for home and,

and yeah, he's, he's like you said, he's up there on the Mount

Rushmore of, of race callers for sure.

Certainly in North America. He's Paul Espinosa at Better.

Call Paul on Twitter. You want to go find him there.

He calls races at Charlestown. Let's get into those races,

Paul. We're going to talk races 8910

and 11. These are the open company

races, the non West Virginia races.

But right before then, there are several stakes that are just for

West Virginia. I, I don't know if it's breads

or fold or whatever you want to call it, but you know, the, the

Gaul Memorial, the, the Hawkins, the Sadie Hawkins is right

before then, when people are looking at particular, in

particular races at Charlestown, looking at those state bread

races, what's something they should look for?

Is it connections? Is it breeding?

What, what? What would Paul Espinosa be

looking for? I definitely start with

connections here. You know, historically Jeff

Runko, obviously a name that you want to keep an eye on, Arnaldo

Boca Chica is his regular pilot that's going to be a board

pretty much the best in his, you know, the best of of his stable.

Also would say that right now, just in the gall in particular,

you'll notice a horse named no change and you'll notice his

sire is a sire named Fibersond. That name obviously doesn't

resonate with racing fans nationally, but he has been sort

of our our top stallion and sort of a godsend for for the West

Virginia breds in general. He is an unraced half brother to

Spikestown. I rap you know, a number of

other very, very talented horses out of the the dam, I believe

Silken Cat and he has produced a ton of runners over the year

over the years. Charlestown classic winner run

into love you Charlestown Oaks winner late night powwow.

We had a runner up in the Charlestown classic named

Wadeeb. So these horses can flat out

run. He's by unbridled song and so

again, just an interesting pedigree.

So so definitely keep an eye out if you see anybody by fiber

sond. Those horses can typically run a

good bit. But but yeah, I would say

definitely connections are a big part of it, the handicapping

puzzle here. Jeff Ronco wins at a high clip,

Anthony Ferrier wins at a high clip, Ronnie Brown wins at a

high clip. And we have another about a

number of other trainers that also hold their own here.

And I think we've got a pretty good community and those races

will certainly be entertaining in the lead up to the big races.

They'll also offer you the only chance to have an All Stakes

pick four. So pick four starts in race six

with the Gall Memorial get that pick 4 running into the two

Listed Stakes we're about to talk about.

The first of which is the pink ribbon race, 87 furlongs, two

turns there at Charlestown. Tell the people, do you have a

six furlong track? How long is the track of

Charlestown? It is 6 furlongs, 3/4 of a mile.

So from the top of the stretch is where we'll start the seven

furlong races and you have about a little over three sixteenths

of a mile run into that first turn for for the seven furlong

contest. I would say that, you know,

again, typically, you know, just in general and dirt racing, I

feel like in North America, speed, speed is good, you know,

speed, speed's, you know, a good thing to have.

I don't see anything where it's like a, you know, we do have

forces that can close here at Charleston.

It's not impossible. Obviously it's not something

that you necessarily want to seek out because again, you're

going to have to do that around two turns.

And so certainly a little bit easier when you're on the lead

and hugging, hugging the rail. But don't be too turned off or

discount the chances of forces that that you know, are deep

closes because again, some of these races you could have very

hot paces. And so again, I do feel like in

general, our track superintendent's named Doug

Bowling and he typically has the track pretty, pretty fair.

And don't deal with a lot of a lot of biases really, you know,

strong biases on a on a regular basis.

Well in the half million dollar Misty Bennett pink ribbon Spirit

wind comes off. I have good news.

She is very much a front runner when she runs her best races.

The last time I saw her was actually here at Churchill Downs

on Derby weekend in the Derby City staff where she did finish

six but was in the lead, set the pace of that race before Vava

simply overtook her in the stretch.

She gets back to Lasix and that's an interesting angle for

some of these races here, Paul, is if horses have been running

in other jurisdictions, maybe they haven't been able to run on

Lasix. I think Spirit win here.

And by the way, I haven't mentioned very playable.

I mentioned those pick threes and I'm sure people are like,

oh, here we go, great. No, no, no 15% take out of pick

threes and pick fours at Charlestown.

Very playable. Frankly, sequences you could

have a lot of fun with in this case, outside of Spirit Wind or

maybe talk about Spirit wind. Is there someone interesting in

this race to you? A.

Quick, quick aside on that, you know, I definitely have to

credit my, my old boss, Eric Simney, He left and he's now

assisted GM up at our Columbus property.

No, no racetrack up there, but he was very, very big on again,

this sort of the Charlestown classic Charleston Oaks were

sort of his brainchild. And he worked with my now boss,

Charlie McIntosh hand in hand to make it possible.

And he worked to ensure that we have one of the lowest blended

takeout rates in the country. Because again, we definitely

want to look out for our horse players.

And and like I said, welcome, welcome them in whether you, you

know, you haven't been with us or you have certainly happy to

have you. But yes, back to Spirit wind.

She's an interesting filly. And I know you bring up the

Lasix point and I think that's a very big one for her because

obviously you look at her last few races and the one that

really pops out is that race down at Lowestar where she was

able to run on Lasix and she earned a career best 98 buyer

speed figure. Got to listen to Saffy Joseph's

interview after she won the honorable miss.

And you know, he kind of pointed out that 7 furlongs it stretches

her and against the top competition, you know, if she

was to stay up in the the ballerina and go up against, you

know, former Charlestown Oaks winners in Baba and society

would have been a little stiff for her.

So again, come here to Charlestown, you get to run on

Lasix. The classic and Oaks are non

Lasix races. And that has something to do

with again, just the graded status and then also wanting to,

you know, have those earnings count for the horses that might

go on to the Breeders Cup. But but again, the every other

race you're allowed to run, run on Lasix here.

And so Spirit Wind, you said you, you know that what you're

going to get as long as she breaks from the rail.

Mike Smith is going, by the way, how cool is it looking at the at

our card, We've got, you know, Mike Smith, Frankie Dettori, I

read Jose, Julian Leperu, Luis Saez.

We've got a who's who of riders that get to fly in part of the

reason that we run these races. Excuse me on Friday is to allow

jockeys to fly in from either Saratoga or Del Mar and then be

able to get back out to their respective tracks for big

Saturdays of racing. And so that's again, if

anybody's wondering why Friday night, well, that's why.

So we can have Mike Smith, Mike freaking Smith come in and ride

horses like Spirit Wind. And again, you know where you'll

find her. She'll be easy for me to spot.

And again, that's as an announcer.

It's good to kind of have an idea of where horses are going

to be. And she's one that I won't have

to worry much about. We'll be looking for those

orange stripes on the sleeves there for the folks in Miller

Racing. Feels like a girl's in this

race. I saw her in the Fleur de Ligo,

the two turns. I wanted to ask about that angle

at your place, Paul, because you mentioned going 6, going 7

furlongs, etcetera. Do you find that actually maybe

a 7 furlong race acts more like a mile race at Charlestown

because of the turns or is it? Or do horses generally, Hey, if

they're good at 7, they're good at 7:00 and they show up at

Charlestown no problem over the two turns.

I think it's a nice mix. I know we've had success the

past couple of years with horses.

Take a society who actually free like a girl ran behind in the

Charlestown Oaks here. So this is her second time

running at the track. Society went on from our race to

run in the cotillion. Obviously two turns.

You know, I believe it's mile an eighth up at up at parks and she

handled it just fine. So I, I tend to, to think it

does play a little bit, a little bit more favorably, but at the

same time, again, you have a horse like spirit wind and you

know, she can kind of carry her speed a little bit more because

of the short stretch. So I think again, it can kind of

work both ways. Depends on how you, how you want

to look at it in general, especially with a Philly like

free, like a girl. I know she's run, obviously

she's run here. She ran second.

I got an 88 buyer speed figure in the Charleston Oaks back in

the day. I believe that was back in 2022.

But she's also run a DD number of times.

So, you know, we know that she can handle the lights.

We know she can handle the tight turns, she's a very solid filly

that again, we're happy to have back and I know she's already

here on the grounds and I look for her to to give a good

representation of herself. On paper, I really like the 8.

Just Catherine on the outside. She's one of those horses you

mentioned. Hey, don't toss those closers

necessarily. She's going to be one that's

going to need breakneck speed in front of her.

I think she's going to get that. Is the 8A prohibitive post or

with her closing style is she going to be OK from there?

I think she'll be OK from there. Again, like I mentioned, the

seven for long races here, you know, it's basically a furlong

from the top out of the stretch to the wire and then you have

another little over 16th of a mile to get your position from

there. So again, about 3 sixteenths of

a mile. You know, that's you think about

like the Kentucky Derby, for instance, the only time we're

gonna make that comparison on this show.

But but you know, that's they get about a mile and a quarter a

little bit more to get their position.

You do have a pretty long run because you get that extra bit

after the wire here to kind of get your spot.

So I think that she'll be able to to work out a pretty good

trip. I'm I'm like you when I was in

addition to calling the races do make the morning lines so you

guys can crucify me for those as you go along.

But she was a Philly that I liked.

I mean, that race up in the better roses was a serious race.

It looks like this is what she wants to do.

And so again, I think she's very live and she certainly should

have some pretty good pace to run into here in this race.

So you know, that spirit wind will be setting it.

And I think that she'll have a little bit of company on the

front end to, you know, to keep her honest.

And and I think just Catherine very much could be have a chance

to pick up the pieces in the stretch.

All right, terrible morning line maker Paul Espinosa joins us

here on the horse racing happy hour.

It's good to have him here from Charlestown.

Race 9 is the Hilton Memorial, a half million bucks.

This is your Derby, essentially 7 furlonger, 2 turn race for

three-year olds. Book of Dano has decided to run

at Saratoga. You and I were were texting

about this and I, you know, you, you had said a couple of things

that I thought were really interesting.

And the 1st and most important I think is the check's the same

and he's a gelding so that it's not the breeding that matters.

But I do wonder, do you think there are horses that just opt

for the one turn rather than two?

I think that's definitely the case and in fact, I believe that

one of the comments that they made to the racing office

yesterday when they were deciding was that if you're if

you had a mile track, we we'd already have signed up for it.

So I do think that that does that does factor in.

It's not for everybody. You know, it definitely over the

years we've had some some top horses run here.

Obviously one of the one of the best was game on dude.

And, you know, he ran, I believe in the classic, I think it was

three times and only one once. I, I know it was at least twice.

It could have been three times. And you know, some horses just

just don't, you know, don't care for the surface, don't care for

the tight turns. You obviously have to be able to

run the turns, you know, pretty well here cuz, you know, and

then those seven for long races, you get two of them.

So, you know, it's, it's one of those things.

It's definitely a bummer. I can't knock him, You know,

again, he's, he was a morning line favorite for, for the Allen

Jerkins at Saratoga. I get it.

But they they certainly again, this would have been the the

spot where he would have been, you know, a little bit tougher.

But again, I think we still have a pretty with his defection.

I think that this race from a betting standpoint opens up

quite a bit. So I and I think that the opens

it up for a number of horses in the spot.

Who would you make the favorite then?

Does it fall to the five, to Paulo, sort of just by default?

Or is there another horse in here because of his defection

that you would put in that spot? I do think I do think that that

he ends up being the the favorite just off of that Las

Barrera Evert. I mean that that one O 1 buyer

is really favorably against the rest of this field.

And and again, the fact that John Sadler also sees fit to

ship him without really having a classic horse without really

having an Oaks horse. I mean that it seems like they

are intent on this spot. And so, you know, I think that

he's going to be well meant. I do think that Ben Tornado, who

who ran behind behind him behind Book and Dano, excuse me, in the

Saudi Derby, he ran, ran a really good race.

And and again, if you kind of, you know, take that back to

either, you know, the top of the stretch there he was right there

with him. And so I think that that this 7

furlong trip off the bench, I think will be very good.

And we might we'll probably get to him in a little bit.

But you were talking a little bit about the West Virginia, the

local horses. I think that this also invites

Juba with A twist really right there in to have a say in this

race. He is a serious, serious West

Virginia bred. He's by a horse called Juba

Shocker with that name, who was kind of not not exactly a

household name on the track, but he became a household name on

social media with a on on X now with Juba colt.

And he's a very active stallion on Twitter, if you will, Twitter

X and and so he's had a nice cult following from the

Centennial farms folks and and and he's turned into a pretty

useful sire here in West Virginia.

He's got some good runners and the Juba with A twist by far his

best to this point. And he can he can definitely put

a scare in the favorites. That's for for sure.

Yeah, I put nine is the best local in my in my notes.

It's right there actually. Is there a chance?

All right, so I'm I'm actually let's let's back up real quick.

Do you know where Juba is? Because you have all these jubas

now. Do you know where Juba is and

what it is? I actually don't.

OK, so one of the newest countries in the world and they

suddenly have a very good basketball team is South Sudan.

The capital of South Sudan is Juba.

So it used to be when Sudan was one larger country, there were

two types of Sudanese, the Khartoum, Northern Sudanese,

which are more like a traditional Arabic.

And then when you got S into South Sudan, it's more of a

sub-saharan African sort of experience.

That's where Juba is. And that's, I don't know how

that got named, frankly. We got a Sierra Leone running

right now. That's the country, West Africa.

We got all kinds of things. I never know where horse names

have to come from. And so there you go, a little

Juba trivia for you. A half million people live in

Juba. How How do you feel about?

That I mean, this is this took an incredibly unexpected turn.

I did not expect to expand my my horizons in in South Sudan.

But I do know that, you know, that the US men's national team,

I guess they they played wasn't was it South Sudan or was it

just Sudan? I can't remember in the

Olympics, South Sudan. Yeah, that's right.

Yeah, so big. Big scare.

That's right. Yeah.

Exactly, yes. But yeah.

So I appreciate that and a little.

Juba. Exactly, Yeah.

A little twist. A little twist to the podcast,

if you will. How about that?

Yeah, yeah, interesting in here too, actually, Mike Smith gets

the Derby runner in Catalytic. And I think, Paul, I've told

this story probably on this podcast 35 times, but Derby day,

it's right before the race or before the day starts, before

the card. And it's right before we go on

air here on ESPN Louisville and on our local CBS affiliate,

WLKY. And they and they, they go, hey,

we know you already did your, your segment.

Can you jump back on for one and talk about these three horses?

And Catalytic was one of them. And they said, tell us something

good about Catalytic. And I said, let me tell you, his

trainer has the best man bun and chest hair combination in horse

racing. That's what he has.

And Saffy, it's indisputable is correct.

I had Saffy on. I've asked him many times about

the man bun. He's very open about it, but

usually if you're in the sun that much, your hair looks like

mine, but he doesn't have that issue.

It's good. It's good for Saffy, as I'll

tell you, he looks like South Florida.

I'll tell you what, but Catalytic is in here and people

are wondering where Catalytic ended up.

I thought he actually looked good the carry back last time.

I'd love to see Catalytic jump up.

Get a piece of the action here at Charlestown on Friday night.

The Charlestown Oaks follows race 10.

Obviously if you hear Oaks, you think 3 year old fillies and

that's exactly what's going on here. 7 furlongs, the two turns

there, 3/4 of $1,000,000 in this grade 2.

Look, you know, obviously with purses come comes, you know,

increased interest in these races.

We'll watch that happen here in about a week.

And 1/2 with Kentucky Downs in our circuit where horses just

show up to try because there's an an allowance race for

$275,000 or something. Are you finding that your, your

options for being a grade at stakes, these kinds of things?

Is there a hope, for example, that the Memorial will

eventually turn into, you know, your Derby will turn into like a

Grade 3, something like that? For sure.

Yeah. And, and just one quick note,

you know, just as an FYI, so they, you know, we do, I know a

lot of people do, can kind of get us mixed up with, with

Mountaineer. So you got Mountaineer, you've

got Charlestown. And so you know, Mountaineer,

they do have the West Virginia Derby.

They just ran that a couple weeks ago.

And then this, like you said, this is sort of our our Derby,

if you will, almost like the Charlestown Derby.

Robert Hilton, a mainstay here on the on the local scene for

decades and a big, big reason why Charlestown is where it is

right now. But yeah, so this year in

particular, we actually made a change where we had a race

called the Russell Rd. last year, that Coastal Mission, who

we'll get to in just a bit. He actually won that against

open company on this card last year.

We kind of felt like that race didn't have a lot of upward

mobility. And but we were seeing that both

the the Misty Bennett pink ribbon and the Robert Hilton,

they were both getting some some attention.

And so there is certainly some hope that they will be able to

join the Classic and Oaks as our, as you know, great at

stakes here at Charlestown. Again, Charlestown Classic,

first ever a graded race in Charleston history.

The Oaks joined it shortly after.

And so the Oaks newly upgraded to a grade two this year.

And again, a lot of that we have to thank Baba last year,

Society, Pauline's Pearl. We've had some really nice

Phillies run in this spot. And it has typically been we've

had a couple of horses that have been grade one winners that have

gone on that have, you know, come here as grade one winners.

But more often than not, we see horses that are sort of on the

upswing and, and that's sort of what happened with, with Baba,

with society, with Pauline's Pearl, the horses that use this

sort of as a, a jumping off point.

And, and so I think that we'll see a little bit have a chance

to see that again here this year, because it's a, it's a

very deep field. One of the, I feel like the top

of this field is as deep as we've had.

And, and so again, it's a, it's a very fascinating race as a

morning line odds maker. This is the one that again, I, I

feel like every year is one of my toughest because you always

have that same level of Phillies that it's like, well, well, who

are they? Who are they going to lean to

this year? Is it going to be the, you know,

the fastest last out buyer? Is it going to be the

connections? You know, it's very tough for

somebody that again, typically at Charlestown, all the horses

run here throughout the course of the year.

It's a pretty easy track to make a morning line for.

But you know, this night it, it obviously ratchets up the

pressure. Ended up going with my main

squeeze as the favorite. But long answer to a short

question. That's sort of where we're at.

We do hope that that races like the Hilton and the Pink Ribbon

can join the Oaks as graded races.

I do think the grade twos going nowhere with this field.

I've got five horses that I think are interesting in this

spot. My main squeeze for sure.

I I think if you wanted to get aggressive, that might be a

horse that you lean on winning that 8 bells earlier this year

at Ritual Downs was in the slop. So maybe you want to lean

another way. But she's 1/2 her races been in

the money 8 out of 10 times as well.

Ran in the test ran in the acorn has been amongst high, high

level horses and and fields. I I think she's absolutely

worthy of the morning line favoritism, if you will, but you

get impelled here who ran a very good set, Excuse me, third in a

blanket finish in that grade 3 Indiana Oaks.

You got black type winners in here.

You've got a grade 3 winner in the Miss Preakness with Mystic

Lake. I mean, it's a loaded field on

top of, you know, Mystic Lake. Where would you land with your

your next, let's say two or three in that group?

So very tough. I do want to also add real quick

that it's not as official as Buchem Dano's connections, but I

do believe that Impel is going to opt for a race up at parks

and that'll sort of serve as their local prep for the

cotillion. So I do think that we're going

to factor Impel out of the handicapping, which is a bummer

because again, she's she's grade one place.

And, and so, yeah, it's again, we'll definitely have loved to

have seen her, seen her here because she seems like a Philly

that definitely would have a grade one in her future.

I keep coming back to Hall and Ice.

I know that again, it's it's kind of crazy that, you know, an

Arkansas bred has, you know, has jumped up the way that she has.

But that last race was was so darn impressive.

You know, I thought it was worth noting that Saffy in his

interview with me, you know, before I sent the press release

out, he basically said that they they kind of tried something new

for the first time with her since he's had her in taking her

back in the Azalea and it looked like she really, really liked

that. And so I think that she's going

to have some face out in front of her and I've she he sees Irad

Ortiz get the call. I think that again, if I was to

go with a top pick in here, she feels like she's the now horse.

And so I would definitely that would be the direction I'm

leading. But I'm like you, there isn't

much in here that would surprise me in this field.

Yeah, I mean like a Navy bell. You've got a 15 to one here, the

five horse for Greg Foley. I'll tell you what man, around

here you can't leave Greg Foley out of your tickets.

That's that's kind of one of those deals.

He places his horses at stakes really, really well.

So it'll be interesting to see how she runs this Saturday.

Obviously Frankie Vittori picks up the mount there as well.

Has been on this horse twice at Churchill Downs, all five of her

races even before the trainer change out West as well.

So I just a fun field. Paul, I think you're going to

have a great time calling this one.

I'm going to quickly go through the Oaks field here and you kind

of give me a yay or nay on whether you think the horse has

a legit shot. So I, I, I always ask and and

obviously with you, it's true because you set the morning

lines on top of that. Do you handicap it so that it

it's reflected in your race call?

If it's a big upset, like it's an obvious, you know, so let's

say I don't know, a single little song comes through for

you and Wilkes. That horse could be like 30 to

one in this race for sure, right.

And so if that horse comes through, are you gonna, is that

something Paul Espinosa likes to point out or, or is it more just

being as accurate as possible? Yeah, I definitely think that if

I don't know that I have I would list a ton of strengths of mine

when it comes to race calling. But I do think that one of my

strengths and maybe it kind of Harkins back to my time in in

you know, TV is I do feel like I have a decent idea of the story,

what the story of the race is. And and you know, you kind of I

think that by handicapping these races ahead of time, it does

give me a pretty good idea of, you know, like you said, her her

winning, for instance, would be a pretty big upset, you know,

and that would be something that not a lot of people would see

would have seen coming. And so I think that you'd

probably hear my voice go up an octave, you know, sort of like a

Tom Durk and whenever you, you know, you can tell, you know,

whenever something crazy was happening by by his voice.

And so I'd like to try to try to do that as well.

But yes, kind of knowing, you know, where the horses are kind

of supposed to be, you know, keeping an eye on on the, you

know, a lot of the favorites to, you know, to kind of, you know,

if let's just say in this race, if Mystic Lake was to stumble at

the start, that obviously is a big story because you figure

that, you know, she's going to be hard to get in front of

early. And so you kind of not knowing

just you know, you know what, what is newsworthy, if you will,

I guess I sort of serve as that, you know, that arbiter.

And and so yes, I but I do try to factor that in the calls for

sure. Same question I asked about just

Catherine in the 8 is in the 10 hole.

Here is my main squeeze who you made the favorite.

I'm guessing because you did that, that you think she's just

fine in that spot. I do the last year Chad Brown

had a his Philly ran, I believe it was second.

She was the runner up for Vava from the tin hole.

I believe her name was undervalued assets.

The last time that we had a horse break from the tin hole

before that, the horse ran 3rd and ended up being put up to

2nd. And so it's it's not a death

sentence. Like I said, I think that she

will be fine. And I think especially because

you know, she she likes to be forward anyway, but also has

shown that she can pass horses. I think that Luis Saez, he'll

have plenty of time to look to his left and kind of be able to

work in, we got a good spot with her.

I think that again, he, he typically has, I know a

reputation of being an aggressive rider.

And so I, I don't think that she'll have any trouble getting,

getting a good position and and having a good shot in here.

All right, million bucks on the line.

Charleston Classic, the grade 2 here, mile in an eighth.

We're going three turns in a grade two race 11, the jewel of

the day, two races after this. So this starts a late pick

three. Obviously you can play the

double here in races 11:00 and 12:00 and I think sometimes race

is set up like this. Paul, where they the names you

just know them like a Lord Miles, you know, right there.

Did you know just couldn't run in the the Kentucky Derby last

year. Warrior Johnny's been around and

and running in great spots forever.

Even a parolee who we've seen on the West Coast ran in the Gold

Cup, ran a really good second in the Gold Cup, frankly, last May

just hasn't put it back together as a 5 year old quite yet.

We've got a Japanese shipper from Mountaineer who who ran

really well. The governor's race last time in

the Grade 3 Ben Ben Dukes in here.

You mentioned coastal mission, obviously Skippy Longstop

getting gonna catch a ton of money in this one.

Frosted departure over and over and over.

You had to be really happy when you saw the nominations for this

race. I did, Yep.

It's, it's been a race that's been very well supported over

the years. And so, you know, happy to have

the defending champion back in in Skippy.

He's certainly shown that he was no one trick pony here.

He went on obviously this year to win the Oakland Handicap, won

the challenger. He's held his own Breeders' Cup,

Dirt Mile, didn't embarrass himself and either the Foster or

the Whitney. And so he's been a nice flag

bearer for our program and happy to have him back.

But I do think that there are a couple of interesting that, you

know, he's not exactly coming into this race the way that he

did last year. I think that, you know, he's

certainly a deserving favorite. His best race wins this race for

sure. Just a question of whether or

not that best race is going to be produced given the

circumstances of the the 20 day turn around after, you know, 5th

place finish there in the Whitney where he did have to run

pretty hard chasing Arthur's ride.

Is he are we going to see the same skipping we saw last year?

There is the the $1 million question for sure.

There you go. Well, let's walk through this

field one at a time. Lord Miles, who I mentioned, by

the way, a beautiful horse that people have never been close to

this horse. He's a very, very dark

complexion, but just a really, really beautiful horse.

Son of Curlin here, ran second last time handicap over the mile

course there at Gulfstream Park, has one at the distance before.

Do you give Lord Miles much of a chance?

I read Ortiz picks up them out here.

I'm getting O'Connor vibes from him, and O'Connor ran second in

our race last year to his stablemate Skippy.

So Safi ran 1/2 the man bun on full display there in the winner

circle. And so, and I say that because I

felt like O'Connor looked a little overmatched.

He was, I believe, over 30 to one.

But yeah, he came, came from last and and was able to to get

second behind Skippy, like I said.

And so, you know, Lord Miles, he could be sneaky like that.

You know, I've made him 20 to one.

I'm scared anytime that you're making Saffy.

Joseph ran Ortiz 20 to one in any race.

You know that, You know. Great job, idiot.

Morning Linemaker. But you know, numbers wise he is

a cut below, but it is certainly worth noting that he has shown

that he actually likes the track, which is kind of crazy.

Lord Miles, he actually ran second in the Hilton last year

to Damon's Mound, who ran his eyeballs out in this race, you

don't see fractions. If you go back and watch that

race from last year, you don't see fractions like 22 and 2:45

and 4:00 in our two turn races here and having horses stick

around to tell the tale. And that's what Damon's Mound

did. So he had plenty of paste to run

into, but at least showed that he could handle the track and

handle the turns. So I do think that he is sneaky.

I would definitely be surprised if he won, but he would be a

horse that for exotic players, I definitely would not want to

draw a line through him, that's for sure.

Warrior Johnny is in the two hole here.

Phil Bauer trains. I think Phil Bauer is one of the

sneaky trainers that you have to pay attention to whenever he

spots a horse in a great at stakes.

He's won 20% of his last 25 of those.

Joel Rosario gets them out here. Last rode the horse in his last

win, a mile and an eighth win up there at Saratoga.

Lower odds than Lord Miles, so obviously by a lot, frankly.

So you got to like his chances too.

Yeah, he's another enigma. Just that race in the Whitney

was not very good and but every other race leading up to that,

it seemed like he was kind of trending in the right direction.

I happened to see his Race 2 back at Saratoga and it was very

impressive. I know Phil Bauer, he pretty

much said that they were, they were between our race and the

Whitney. And then when he pretty much

didn't run at all and the Whitney, they were like, well,

we might as well give it a shot. So I'm with you, man.

He, he doesn't seem like he runs horses that, you know, just to

run him. He seems like he is, he runs

with intent. And so I, I like the fact that

Joe Rosario's back aboard. He talked about that the horses

first step out of the gate isn't that isn't the best, but then

the steps after that, he's sort of able to get himself into the

race. So we'll see what Joel is able

to, what kind of trip he's able to work out, should be able to

save ground around at least the first two turns I'd imagine, and

then we'll see what he's got from there.

But his best puts him right there in the mix for sure.

You have parolee at 15 to one. Just a reminder, you have Saffy

Joseph Junior and I are at Ortiz at 20 to one, but you have

parolee at 15 to one. See, Paul, we're going to have

fun on this show. We're not going to be nice to

each other and how that's how it works.

Louis is gets about to hear from Mike McCarthy.

Another very, very good combination coming in here.

When's the last time you made a morning line for a horse coming

to Charlestown from Pleasanton? And again, you know, for a horse

that ran second in the in the Gold Cup out at Santa Anita last

year, you know, to make him 15 to one also says, says a lot.

You know, his his race is is formed since that race hasn't

been great. And so, you know, it's just a

matter of of you know, it's one of those things where it's sort

of like the John Sadler horse earlier on in the Hilton.

The fact that Michael McCarthy doesn't have anything else on

the card. You know, Luis Saez gets the

call it. It makes you think that that

maybe they believe he's sitting on a good effort because the you

know, the ship across the country to run in our race.

You know, I do believe you're, you know, pretty much as long as

you, you know, haven't run for A tag.

I think we actually have some some conditions in the in the

race and the the fine print of this race.

But basically as long as you haven't run for A tag of 25,000

or less in the last two years, you're pretty much guaranteed

$15,000. So that certainly covers your

shipping sort of a free roll if you will.

But still to send this horse out here, maybe he's trending back

in the right direction is this will be his third start this

year. You know, you'd have to go, he'd

have to get back to that race in the Gold Cup to have a chance.

Whether or not that happens, I'm, I'm not as bullish on his

chances, but certainly he he's a horse that has has been a cool

horse and has he's danced a lot of dances.

There you go, son of Battle of Midway there five year old

gelding. We'll see if he can reprise some

of that form from Del Mar last year that you mentioned.

Comerabino Omoide is the Japanese bred who is in this

one, has been running at Lone Star at Louisiana Downs and of

course, most recently up at Mountaineer under Rafa Bay.

Herano Ramon Vasquez into town, You mentioned a bunch of jockeys

and of course, Ramon Vasquez now makes that list as he wintered

at Oak Lawn and is seeming to get more and more amounts east

of the Rockies. Robert D Robertino Deodoro

trains here. Here's a couple at earlier

races, too. By the way, horses that picked

up checks at a Assiniboia Downs of all things.

So in the same card you had to make morning lines for

Pleasanton and Assiniboia Downs alums, which is pretty special.

What do you do? What do you give the Japanese

bread Son of California Crow? By the way, what how much of a

chance do you give him? Yeah, for for the for the

ownership of or part of the ownership released of California

Chrome. You know, it seems like a mile

and an eighth would be stretching it a bit for him.

I agree. You know that race down at Lone

Star, obviously one OA, one O 3 buyer.

You know that that plays clearly he's, you know, hasn't really

been tested for class all that much, but last time out didn't

embarrass himself in the West Virginia Governor's Cup up in

Mountaineer, you know, hip show, obviously a.

Derby shows a nice horse. That's right.

Yeah, that's. Right, exactly a heroic move.

Another horse I believe for Robertino Deodoro.

So you know, he wouldn't be a horse that would shock me.

But I do think that the mile on 8th is going to be going to be a

little little stiff for him against this type of

competition, but certainly wouldn't be a horse that would

floor me. I wouldn't, I wouldn't go to the

top octave of my. I call if Comorabino Amoyede

wins the classic, you know, So we'll see.

Bupatsebar used to train Bendu, who is now stateside in Bill

Mottsbarn. Jose Lozcano making the trip as

well. Another jockey that we didn't

mention. Quite the quite the Deus, if you

will, of cut the jockey room this weekend.

Rain at the Suburban, last out second place.

They're too creepy. Before that, though, two wins in

races on Long Island at Aqueduct.

This is a horse that at least has seen the winner's circle

multiple times stateside. Two wins and three starts this

year. Paul, 7:00 to 2:00 here.

Obviously you think has a big chance.

I do you know he's he goes out for two time classic,

Charlestown Classic winning trainer Bill Mott.

I'm sure that'll be right. He'll add that to his Hall of

Fame plaque up at the Saratoga here in no time.

But he of course won twice with with our collector.

So he does know what kind of horse it takes to to win the

classic. You know, I, I had a had a bet

on him in the Suburban and I know it was a mile and a quarter

race that he I think he ran closer to a mile and 1/2 that

day. But but I do think that the, you

know, again, you look back to that race before the Suburban,

you know, mile and an eighth and Aqueduct his best race from a

speed figure standpoint here in the United States.

So I think you'll like getting back to that trip.

He should be able to work on a pretty nice trip from the five

hole. That's again, right, right smack

dab pretty much in the middle of this field.

I think Jose Lozano will be able to work out a trip.

He he's a horse that, you know, seems like you kind of know what

you're going to get from him. And you know, we'll talk about

Skippy obviously a little bit more here in just a bit.

But if he stuffs his toe, you know, I, I think that Bin Du I

think he'll be there. Just seems like these gun

runners, they could run on shards of glass and they'd be be

just fine. And so I think Bin Du, like you

said, very serious, serious threat here in this race.

Well, and if he's like his dad, he's going to do his best

running it. Page 5.

And that's where we are right. So here we are with that son of

gun runner mine shaft on the on the mom's side.

He is still intact. And so maybe this is the race

that makes him a stallion at the end of the year.

Coastal Mission is in the 6th hole here.

Son of great Notion. Of course, 5 year old gelding

will probably be seeing a lot of him going forward this year.

He is run at Aqueduct, Laurel, Piblico, Monmouth and back at

Aqueducts. All of those in in stakes races.

He's won one of them run second twice in graded company,

Arnoldo, Boca Chica, Jeff Runko. We talk about the royalty of

those two at Charlestown. I mean, this is, I mean this is

29% people. This is a sample size of 350

freaking races. The connections make sense.

We talked about the connections in those state bred races.

Do they matter to Charlestown Classic?

I think they don't hurt, you know, Jeff Runko, for what it's

worth, he actually won the first two renewals of the Charlestown

classic with a horse called researcher who was again, just

an absolute beast. He's tried it a couple more

times with some runners over the years and Wadi.

But I know I mentioned him as a son of a fiber sign, but the

coastal mission is a horse that I believe that Jeff he he he's

pretty confident in. I I think he's happy with where

he's got him. He's like you said, he's well

travelled this year for a horse that's that lives here at

Charlestown on a night to night basis.

He hasn't run here this year. And so he's certainly giving him

giving him plenty of chances to show what he's got this year and

and really has not disgraced himself at all.

The mile on 8th is the question. You know, he's he's won at this

distance, but it was against West Virginia breads on a very

sloppy night and he was kind of geared down that last last

furlong really in that race didn't really need to do much.

He will definitely not be able to coast in this race.

He's going to have to run. But I know that Jeff is very

confident with and very happy with how he's coming up to this

race. He's really put a lot of stamina

building, you know, gallops, long gallops into him.

And so, you know, it is the ultimate question.

But if he can, if he's there at the end of a mile, an eighth, I

think that again, he's he's a horse that that's good, not

going to disgrace himself at all.

And he's going to be heard from for sure at the top of the

stretch, I think. If someone's playing this race

independent, you know individually, is he a definite

candidate? Gotta include in an exacto

trifecta kind of play. I believe so, yes.

I, I would not, I would not want to want to leave him out.

I know that again, in in years past, you know, Jeff has been

he's been optimistic about a horse like Mahdib in talking to

him and and hearing how he's talked about coastal mission in

the racing office. I think he believes he is

leading over a horse that absolutely can win the

Charlestown classic. And you know, the the variable

of these terms can can definitely factor in for a lot

of horses. He's a horse that's, you know,

again, 10 for 11 lifetime one second and that one second was

going 4 1/2 for a long see he's one going 4 1/2 before and he's

one going a mile an ace. So he's a he's a really cool

horse. West Virginia bred easy to root

for good connections, good people.

And so, yes, taking my hat to my, you know, hometown hat off,

I think even objectively I can say that he's he's a serious

player. The exotics like that by the

way, the percentages at Charlestown literally only Oak

Lawn has lower take out rates on trifectas than Charlestown does.

So very, very playable sequences here and frankly within

individual races as well. Skipping log stocking as you

mentioned comes in. He will be in the seven hole

here. Jose Ortiz keeps the mount did

win the Oak Lawn Handicap earlier this year at the

distance came back. I was at that Foster as as were

you on a warm day in June. He's not going to have to catch

that weather again. I thought he was fine in the

Foster not great. It wasn't his best effort for

sure. He goes out in the Whitney.

No one was beating Arthur's ride that day.

You've mentioned it. If he runs this race here, he

wins the race. He's even money on your morning

line. Would you still personally, I

know you're setting it up for what the general public's going

to do, but in your own handicapping, would you have him

as the favorite? Yes, yeah, for sure.

I do think that. And again, just just because of

the company, you know, it's like nobody in this field has gotten

the the class test that he's gotten time after time again

here. And so I think that again, he

definitely deserves deserves to be the favorites now.

So yeah, that's I'm kind of taking your question a couple

different ways because I think that, you know, you would maybe

see a horse, even money. And I think there's a chance,

obviously he even goes maybe a little bit lower than that.

I don't know that he's a horse that I would feel great

singling. And maybe part of that is, you

know, looking at that Pegasus World Cup or something.

Obviously, you know, went amidst that day, you know, he then came

back and showed that he was he was OK bounced out of that.

The challenger, you know, the fact that he's coming off the

Whitney, you know, like I said, he didn't embarrass himself.

You know, Arthur's ride buried him and and everybody else in

that in that field. But he just, you know, he's he's

a horse that, you know, has a little bit of Ricky Bobby to

him, You know, where like if he's not first, he's last.

But you know, I don't want to, you know, I say a little bit

because like he said in the foster, he ran kind of a weird

race where he was up close right with first mission looked like

he was about to spit at the top of the stretch.

And then he came back again in that final, final 16th of a

mile. So again, he's just seems a

little quirky. I say he's not a horse I would

feel confident singling. But you know, he is by far the

most likely winner in this race. And and I don't think that

that's that Sappy would be back in here if he didn't think that

he was he was doing well, you know.

So just have to trust him, you know.

But at the same time, as much as I might trust him, you know, I

don't know that I trust the horse as much as I would trust

Sappy. Skippy Longstocking, of course,

the winner of the Charleston Classic last year.

Velocitors in the 8 here. David Cohen, who happens to be a

very nice guy and gave my kid a riding lesson the day after the

Kentucky Derby two years ago, will be in town to ride

Velocitor after frankly being bored for the last six runs,

including in the New Orleans Classic where he ran 4th, 1-2 in

a row at Fodder and at Prairie Meadows and then ran in that

Cord Husker. The grade three out there at

Prairie Meadows, almost frankly picked that one off.

And probably we're talking about him in a very different way if

he had had won that race with Red Red Route One.

Excuse me, I didn't give him much of a chance here.

I think I think he's probably just a notch below a fun David

Cohen fact that I I got from my old boss Eric.

There are three jockeys in this race that have written

Charlestown Classic favorites. Hi Rat Ortiz Rd.

Diversify, Luis Saez Rd. Art Collector and David Cohen

wrote a horse named Understatement who was favored

over the aforementioned researcher in the second

Charlestown Classic. I you could have given me a

million guesses and I never could have guessed that

combination went favored in a Charlestown Classic.

But but yeah, it's a very cool horse, a horse that you would

love to have in the barn. He's not a horse that again,

that I would be shocked at. And I have him at 12 to one.

It just feels like from a speed figure standpoint, there are

others that are that are just faster.

He would have to to really jump up and, and there's nothing to

say that he can't. He's actually coming out of, you

know, some races that previous Charlestown classic champion and

sleepy eyes Todd. You know, he ran in the in the

the boss. I don't know if they call it the

boss cap the you know, the bossman up there at Fondren

Park, very tight turns there. So we know that he can he should

be able to handle that. We know he can run under the

lights because he did that at the Prairie Meadows.

So again, very cool horse. You know, he'd be probably, you

know, a horse I wouldn't want to leave off of exotics.

But on the win end, I think that again, he's probably up against

it just a bit in this field. 3 for five lifetime.

He'll go over 600,000 in lifetime earnings in this one

frosted departure name many will remember from Razorback from the

blame from the the Franklin Simpson at Kentucky Downs last

year. Julie Leparoux in the ride for

Kenny Mcpeak won in a big way in a black type last out at Laurel

Park in a mile and an eighth. Thought we'd give this one a

chance. I do he's he is one of the the

biggest X factors in this race because that last race was so

impressive. Now it was it's worth noting it

was a four horse field. You know, he basically was left

left left completely alone on the front end 49 and four 114.

He won't be able to do that here in this race with both Skippy

coastal mission. Maybe a few others have been

doing. Obviously he'll be up close.

Philosopher won't be far away, but you know, if he his his best

race is put him in the mix. At least you know where where

you know that he's got it in him.

I typically kind of I feel like the Frosteds, you know, I don't

know that longer is necessarily always better.

Sort of like it was with him. He was obviously, you know,

graded a mile. You know, Kenny Mcpeak, you

know, do you really want to go against him this year with how

everything's been going for going his way, Everything's been

coming up. Kenny, it seems like I give him

a shot, but at the same time, I do think that that he's going to

have to. This would be his his biggest

accomplishment to date in his his stiffest test that he would

have passed if he does get it done, But he he was one that

wouldn't it wouldn't shock me if he did jump up because I it

seems like he's got it in him. Somewhere, if workouts matter,

his workouts at Churchill have been lights out recently.

So that would be the nine for us.

The departure double crowd is the 10 in here.

Look, this is a horse that I am not familiar with.

Do we expect much from Double Crown here?

Short answer, no. He ran in the classic last year.

He his claim to fame. He won the the Kelso grade two

out up at the Aqueduct and I believe it was Aqueduct then.

I don't think they had done the OR.

I don't think Belmont was still open.

Could be wrong on that. You'll have to Fact Check me,

but you'd have to go a little ways back to find that in his

BPS. So you know, again, great two

winner, you know in his in his day.

But this year this there would be no octave.

There would be no voice to to be able to to account for this type

of upset in the classic. I feel bad because this will be

his 55th lifetime start, his 29th in the last two years,

which is just awesome. I love horses like that, so I

apologize for not knowing much about Double Crowd.

How do you think it does play out in your head?

If we ran this 100 times, who wins it 30 times?

I do, like I said, I think Skippy is the most likely

winner. I think that for me there really

are kind of there are two main tiers.

There's Skippy. I think he is kind of in a tier

by himself and then I do put Ben Dugan coastal mission in that

next tier together. I think that again, the Bin Dug

is the horse that I feel like I have the least questions about.

I think I kind of know what I'm going to get.

I think he's going to run, you know, a high 90s buyer type of

race. You know, last year Skippy won

it with a with a 102. So again, I think that puts him

that would put Bin Dug right there in the mix.

I think Coastal Mission, again, his his career best buyer about,

you know, his 100 down at the Laurel Park that was going 7

furlongs. He got a 95 in a race where he

was not asked to run through the stretch like I mentioned against

West Virginia breads. So I just think that those three

I would be shocked from a multi race standpoint.

I wouldn't go myself more than 3 deep.

And I'm not saying that doesn't that doesn't mean that some of

these other horses like warrior Johnny Frost departure couldn't

jump up, but I I think that those are the tiers for me.

I think that you go that you go skippy and then been do with

coastal mission and then you drop down to that next tier of

of warrior, Johnny Frost departure, maybe Veloster and

Comora. You know, Amoy day in that mix

as well. But again, from a multi race

standpoint I'd I'd see myself going going 3 deep in the in the

classic. The last two races round out the

forced out pick six. Are we expecting a carryover?

What are we looking at in the pick six over there at

Charlestown? We didn't get much luck in that

coming up. And, and for all the, you know,

the wagering, the nice wagering things you've said about us, I

know that, you know, everybody has their, their takes on the,

on the jackpots, pick sixes and whatnot.

But we try to make it as as friendly as possible with the

12% take out. Obviously 25% each day would go

on to the, to the jackpot. So right now we're at about

23,000 with one racing car between now and then, I would

expect that we would get close to 30.

So again, nothing, nothing crazy, but that basically means

that you're going to have a, you know, a 12% take out pick six.

I don't, I, I should know this, I don't know for sure, but I

don't believe that we do anything where like one of those

mandatory payout days where we boost that take out.

I think it still stays right 12% and and then, you know, you'll

have $30,000 in there to to kind of help, help things out and get

things started. But that's the that's the plan

for now. Five, I'm sorry, a pick 5 for

guaranteed 100,000, the late pick five and then the late pick

four as well. Guaranteed 100.

We've kind of soared over that over the past couple years.

That's that's something that's above my pay grade.

And you know, it's one of those things where if my job was on

the line, yeah, I'd probably keep that guarantee a little

lower as well. But I think that it's a pretty,

pretty bettable card. I'm excited about it.

So yeah, definitely looking forward to that sequence.

Yeah, I think I'll just I won't lie to you, I think I'm going to

play an 8 through 10 and a nine through 11, sort of pick three

and just press on the horses that I think are going to be the

ones that I'm going to take a chance on and kind of move on.

Maybe like single of Ben Doug, you know that kind of thing.

Just see what I can get as far as value and and go on from

there. All he's Paul Espadosi has bad

choice and shirts, but otherwise we really like him.

He's the track announcer over there at Charles Town race.

You're a little too proud of. That's a weird thing, but, you

know, just kidding, Paul. I appreciate it.

I am so glad that we randomly met and I have to give a shout

to one guy, and he's the man with the best hair of any turf

rider in Tennessee. And his name is Danny Brewer.

You understand me? Yes, he shaves his head, but

he's also the only turf rider in Tennessee.

So there you go. All right, Paul, say something

nice about Tennessee, even though you don't believe that

Tennessee is a nice place. I like, let's see, what do I

like? I hear Nashville's nice.

There you are. Yeah, I've heard that.

Yes, People tell me, right? Yeah.

Yeah, I actually haven't haven't been there, but definitely not a

place that I would be opposed to.

I think I went to, I'm trying to think, I want to make sure that

I'm not being an idiot here. Bristol, Bristol race.

Yeah, it's, it's down there. And and so yeah, I went to a

NASCAR race back in the day with my dad, so.

So yeah, no, no bones to pick with with Tennessee at all.

So shout out, Tennessee. Tennessee, man, that 75 corridor

through the mountains, there's absolutely breathtakingly

beautiful. So no, no hate for me either.

Paul Espinosa at Better Call Paul on Twitter, go find him

there. Paul.

Appreciate it, man. Thanks for joining us here on

the happy Hour. I appreciate, appreciate you

having me on. I hope that I can speak better

on Friday night that. Would be great.

That would be really great. Yeah.

There you go. Well, get try to get some sleep

Friday night, man. We'll talk to you soon.

Sounds good. Alright man.

Thanks.