Claiming Crown 2025 | Handicapping Roundtable

So they tell us. Welcome to the Climate Ground

edition of the Horse Racing Happy Hour.

Leer Beau hanging out with you, as I do every single Thursday

except for next Thursday. There's no show next Thursday.

I need a week off. So leave me alone.

We're off next Thursday. The cherry drank man himself,

Josh Rodriguez from the On the Wrong Lead podcast to find him

there. They have a set of podcasts over

there, many of you, many doesn't follow that every week, and

dozens more of you should. Josh, say hi to the people.

What's up? How's it?

Hope you guys are having a good Thursday here.

So excited to talk about some Churchill Downs.

One of my favorite tracks, so. Yeah, for sure.

And a spectacular day of full gates and all of those things.

We bring in the stud from Smarter.

His name is Danny Brewer. I had to buy him dinner a couple

days ago. Danny, how are you?

How you doing? Hey, hey, I'm.

I'm great, man. You know, I'm wonderful.

And I like that stud from Smyrna.

Hey, rock on. We're going to have to roll with

that because I want to tell you something else, but Barry Pierce

is here and I don't say bad words in front of Barry.

Barry, how are you? What's up man?

Hanging in there, you know, just braving this cold weather that

we're having. Brutal. 65° is for the birds

bro. Very, of course with that, with

that Roberto Clemente hat. Shout out to Puerto Rico never

to say die bourbon folks hanging out with us for yet another

episode. Check out the great graphics on

this guy, but also the double gold medal from the San

Francisco whiskey competition. Great, great stuff follows the

story of never say die. Go visit them.

Never say die bourbon.com Of course B21 if you are going to

go do that, but thank them for hanging out with us. the

Breeders Cup and all month long share on the program as well.

Danny is just absolutely yelling at somebody.

Is it a dog or your wife? Which one?

Well, that's my dog. I I'm not yell at my wife.

It was a good Lord, that would be what much?

Much worse. Yeah, yeah.

But I got some. Parents on the podcast.

That's right, yeah. Yeah, yeah.

See, I've got the, the, these wonderful spaniels, spaniels and

they, yeah, yeah. So yeah.

They get busy, they, excuse me, they get jealous when the

attention's on someone that's not them.

I'm sure. Yeah.

Hanging out with Josh, Danny and Barry here.

We're going to go round table style tonight.

Won't keep you for too long here as part of the program, but the

claiming crown is on Saturday at Churchill Downs.

And Barry, you know, this is you and I are lucky.

We get to do Socal Saturdays every week on this program.

You and I need to talk after the program, by the way, with Delmar

raining out on Saturday. But just, you know, these are

the horses we, we've, we've been on, you know, for, for months

now, the, the five and eight and $10,000 type claimers out there

at Del Mar filling the gates. Santa Anita, the same thing.

Now we get to celebrate them all in one day.

Barry Just a cool day. The Claimant crowd.

Yeah, I I've been following this series for quite a while now.

They they had it down here at Gulfstream to kick off the, the

championship meet a few years and and it's always a great

event. You see the outfits you don't

normally see on big days and and they do their thing and it's

good to see you see some horses that that get a chance for some

nice cash in the spotlight for a day.

There you go. All right, so I forgot to

mention where you find Danny, other than being a stud and

smarter. You find him at Forbes.

He's a contributor over there. Go find his work there.

And of course, Barry, you can find with me every Friday right

here at the Horse Racing Happy Hour.

We'll get going here with our handicapping to kick off the

day. They got a Grade 3.

It's almost like the actual Breeders' Cup Barry where they

throw a Grade 3IN for no reason right before the card gets

rolling. But we moved to Grade 2, Race 3

on the card here. We'll go a bit around the horn,

if you will, but we will start with Barry and the Grade 3

Shaluki. It's a mile on the dirt.

It is A1 turn mile at Churchill Downs, probably the straightest

shoot, frankly, of any mile shoot in the country.

This is for Phillies and Mares 3 and up and at $300,000 on the

line here, Barry Fun fun field. We do get an 8 to 5 morning

line. Favorite in ragtime.

I think she's a deserved favorite.

Yeah, absolutely. This horse should sit a very,

very, very good trip considering how this race kind of shaped up

and what the pace scenario looks like.

I know this horse is a three-year old going and gets

older, but seems to be a lot faster than most of these horses

and we'll get the trip based on Shred the NAR kind of getting in

this race and having a lot of speed, which should go a long

way. I just think that Ragtimes

experience, especially in Greatest Stakes company, is

going to make all the difference and that's why I think that

horse will beat Shred the Nard with Impel kind of running up

for 3rd. Got it.

All right. So that was the old 721 kind of

trio for you there. Is that about right?

That is exactly right. All right, who you trying to

beat with the seven there, Josh, I'm sure you're trying to beat a

get out, get away from the chalk there.

Yeah, I mean, I'm just going to stay on Brandon.

I'm going to take the speed of the speed in this phrase.

I think. I think the two shred dinar is

coming in here, you know, off a bit of a layoff for 197 day

layoff here. But this is actually a pretty

decent move for Brian Lynch. You know, he's 15% when, you

know, over 180 days with a $3.68 ROI.

So he gets these horses fresh. You get Luis Saez on the front

end on a speed horse. And you know, I'm gonna go

ahead. I'll take I'll take the 5:00 to

2:00 second choice in the spot. And yeah, we'll try and get

around the seven here with the two you.

Got a long shot here Danny. At all.

I I mean, I'm a one magic Philly guy, you know, it's not a long

shot, but I'm a Brendan Walsh guy.

Tyler Gap, Leon one or last start at Keeneland.

So I'm a one Magic Philly. Not a long shot, but that's

that's who I'm rolling with is 1 Magic Philly?

Yeah, we saw her out West. She was in that great lady M

where Sweetest Tech, a blue bicopian in that race.

Of course, Shismosa was also in that race.

So she's been a great company coming into this one.

I am interested in a longer shot here in the five horse in

Zadorski. Joe Ramos riding more and more

for trainer wit Beckman down here in Louisville at Churchill

Downs. If you go 3 black back with this

one, a good run at 7 furlongs at Saratoga, but before that at the

seven and a half distance winning at Churchill Downs and

at Keeneland at that essentially 7 furlongs that they've never

quite walked off at Keeneland. Hey Keeneland, How about how

about we walk that off by the time we get to the spring beat?

No, it's if that 7 furlongs or not instead of having to put an

asterisk next to, but frankly, A1 for three at the distance

does have two wins at Churchill Downs as well.

I don't think this is an accident that that trainer went

back when is throwing this one in here?

And I think it's kind of a balance front if it does get out

of touch, you know, a little bit out of sorts early is one that I

think could pick up the pieces later.

So Barry went 7, two and one. I went 715 and six in here.

I agree with Danny that one Magic Philly's got a serious job

as well. This is the horse racing happy

hour. We're doing our claiming crown

round table. Thanks for hanging out with us.

Not a Thursday evening. The first of the claiming crown

races is Race 4. This is a starter allowance and

the first couple of these, they've changed the conditions

so that if you've ever started for a certain claim price, you

can be in these races. This one happens to be for $8000

lifetime. 6 furlongs on the dirt.

This for three-year olds and up. Josh is going to go first here.

We got 100K on the line here, buddy.

I think a couple of worthy morning line favorites in here.

Concrete glory winning this race last year.

When did you end up planning? Yeah, so concrete glory 7:00 to

5:00 in the morning line in this spot and obviously like you

said, won this race last year, looked good winning it.

And you know you look at the speed figures I think for the

source, very consistent right on time form running in like the

one 10115 range and then actually popped a really nice

figure last time out. Granted that was 7 furlongs in

the slop. And, you know, I, I think that

figure got dressed up a little bit just just for being being on

the off track there. So I kind of went to the other

favorite in the spot the five wound up.

I thought this is a horse that has had two very, very tough

starts this year or the last two starts, right, in the Grade 3

Green Flash, the Grade 2 San Anita Sprint championship, just

a little bit in, I think in over his head in those two spots.

But if you kind of cross the line through those two races, I

mean, this is the horse that hasn't done anything wrong in

2025, right? It's rattled off five straight

wins. Granted, you know, some of those

were in those kind of restricted Norcal or Norcal preferred

races, but speed figure wise, this is a horse that definitely

fits very well with this group, has done it on the front end and

has also let other horses kind of get the lead and kind of

track just off the pace. So I think that's going to be

important in this box. I do think the two Illini and

the seven concrete glory both, you know, they have a ton of

speed. So, you know, I definitely think

concrete glory is going to want to get to the front end and from

the outside post that things are going to be just a little bit a

little bit Hanford, I think. And so I landed on the five

wound up as my top choice in here.

I thought if you want to look, look a little deeper, I thought

horses like the four Raymond as kind of an off the off the pack

type horse here to to kind of maybe, you know, get get a piece

here. But it's always tough with these

Prairie Meadow horses because they have the different

medication rules there. You know, you don't know how

these horses are going to ship, So you're only getting 6 to 1,

but you know, maybe the nine horses, another place you could

go tap in formation was another one looked interesting.

But and and he kind of seems like an an every other type

where he he kind of runs a nice race and kind of, you know, runs

a little bit of a stinker. So he's actually going to be on

the the right side of the form pattern here.

So he could be one that maybe takes a step forward and and

gets a piece here. But the five wound UPS going to

be my top choice in here. Wound up is trained by Libretto

Borosio ironically just had his first Breeders' Cup starter with

Lovesick Blues. We'll try to run it back here in

the claiming crown on Saturday. Cool stat.

These kinds of things that I always love tap in formation.

This will be his 14th start of the year.

Already love that guy from these Saturdays.

Danny, we saw that West Coast forum.

Speaking of wand up the five here, we saw transfer really

well over Derby week. Many of those horses came in

coping amongst them from the Southern California ranks.

We saw those jockeys show up and do just fine in here as well.

You expect to see a little bit of that on Saturday as well.

I think it absolutely can happen.

You know, I like LeBron, Barocchio, any of the older

horses, he seems to thrive on taking horses a little bit older

in age and this is a 5 year old wound up and really can get the

best out of them. So he seemed that's where he

thrives is those horses that seem to be other people may

throw in the scrap. He he takes them and really gets

the most out of them. So no, I think that absolutely

the West Coast horse, because there's a Peter Miller horse

later on that I'm sure we'll talk about that.

I think it is really good. So no, I think the West Coast

horses could do very well on Saturday.

Yeah, Barry, you got a long shot in here.

You like? I thought this was an

interesting race outside of those top 2.

Yeah, I, I mean, this race, it looks like on paper there's a

ton of speed and, and I, I can definitely see a lot of

scenarios where a horse like the one Swaggish could get a really

good trip, especially with Louis Sizaboard.

I I, I think this horse merits a real long look because of the

fact that this horse is cutting back in distance and should get

a favorable set up as far as the pace scenario goes.

But honestly, Raymond is the other one that really, really

looks good here for it. Not Skelly.

This horse would have won five, six straight at Oaklawn And and

I say in the in the teeth of that meat basically from January

through April is probably where the the competition there is the

best. Even those condition claimers

are more like open company and this horse was doing very, very

well at that point and it's been continuing in great form up up

until now. Had a bit of a freshening nice

workout November 7th. I think rain is going to run

big. Yeah, interesting race for sure,

especially so many of them getting back to a distance that

they haven't been at before or switching back on surfaces.

But hey, I will say this. I'll be talking to Joe Sharp

tomorrow, 1020, by the way, on ESPN 680 here in town, ESPN

Louisville. You can find it at

espnlouisville.com. He doesn't put horses in spots

at Churchill Downs by accident. The man won the spring training

title. These are these are spots that

he understands very, very well. Race 8 is another Race 5, excuse

me, is another one of these lifetime races.

It is for $25,000 lifetime, a mile and a 16th on the turf

going two turns on the grass there at Church Hill Downs.

And this one is or Phillies and mares that are three and up 150

on the line here. Danny, you'll go first here.

I can't get enough of a mile and a 16th mile in an eighth turf

races at Churchill Downs. I'm just glad that the grass

works again. And so that's nice.

Danny, who'd you get in here? You know, this this scenario

right here is typical of my goats on a tree.

Well, when when I look around here and I see I see that this

looks like goats on a tree. If you can see what's happening

here with all four of us on the screen, goats on a tree, baby.

That's what I'm talking about right there.

So that that's who that's my top pick mic maker.

You know he is. When we talk about thriving,

talk about Liberato Brookie. Junior in claiming crown

history, Yeah. Yeah, MM maker, I mean, he is

excellent at taking horses that seem to be throwing a scrap heap

and making something out of them.

So, you know, Goats on a Tree, we won these three for five this

year. So you know, that's who I'm

landing on 1st. That's my top pick is Goats on a

Tree one last out at Belmont. You know, another horse if we're

going to take and I think this is a day when you take a swing,

you know, there are plenty of good horses in here.

So Wendy walk, the Luis Saez. I'm I'm with Barry.

I think Luis Saez any race. If you don't know who to take

any race, you take the Luis Saez horse because Louis is excellent

at getting the most out of his mouth.

So Wendy walk is another horse that I like that.

I think, you know, I had a little bit of a price 12 to one.

I think maybe could get there. Yeah, So the 11 and the 10 there

for for Danny on top, man, I'll go next here.

I like I like Cairo St. if we're going to stay outside the 12

horse here at 12 to one four's Boyce and to ride for Lacey

Gaudet. Very, very solid middle

Mid-Atlantic connections. Excuse me, they hit together at

23% on the winning side. Tried Keeneland at the high

level allowance level last time and frankly was in the race

until that second turn. But before that, going back

three straight wins at Colonial, all of them moving up in class

each time from a 16 claimer, then to a starter allowance of

25, and then getting into an optional claimer in that kind of

company as well. Frankly, gets a little bit of a

weight allowance here as well. I love the price here.

Horse has been working at Laurel.

We'll come in. We'll see if that form

translates from Colonial. But boy, I think we saw a bunch

of great turf racing in Virginia this year, Barry.

So I landed 11/12 and seven. The seven horse in here is

Ashima will be fascinating with the weather on Saturday.

It will be a little bit warmer than it's been, frankly.

So maybe not so terrible for these shippers from South

Florida, but this is one that's been running in really good

company as well. I think the three to one number

is probably pretty accurate. So that's part of the reason I

didn't have this one on top. But I'll go 11127 and 3 here.

Barry, who'd you land on top here?

I'm with Danny. I I think Wendy Walk has a huge

shot here. This horse has been running with

really, really good company. We ended up seeing this horse

out at Horseshoe Indianapolis over the summer.

Ran in a, in a weird race early on that card where Alpine

Princess kind of wired him and this horse really didn't have a

shot. I know that was on the dirt, but

the horse was kind of against the track.

As you know, I've been touting that all year, but this horse's

race at Kentucky Downs is really interesting.

They didn't really run bad from the outside post just didn't

really have a shot and was four or five wide the whole way.

And I tend to think that a lot of those Kentucky Downs races

are a little bit of an outlier. Kentucky Downs is is, you know,

the unique configuration and and a lot of those races horses just

throw in clunkers and that race wasn't really a clunker.

This horse was just wide. I think getting back to the turf

is is a really good angle. We should get a lot of that 12

to one. I'm thinking more like 8 to 10.

But it's all systems go. I like Wendy.

Walk here. It would be Wendy Walk's first

win on the turf in her career to this point.

Josh, where did you land in Larry's 5 here.

Yeah, I I'm not much different than everybody else.

My top pick is going to be the 11 goats on a tree.

You know, I think, you know, Mike Maker, you know, hey,

claims a horse and decides, hey, let's keep running this horse

long on the turf and oh, let's, you know, pops a win at Aqueduct

and now he's coming to the claiming crown.

So you know, we've seen this before.

I mean, he he like we said, he takes these horses, he claims

them, he puts them long on the turf and they seem to respond.

So I really like the 11 goats on a tree.

I also like the 10 windy walk. You know, if you look at time

form, that Kentucky Downs race is second fastest race that this

horse has run. So obviously liked running on

the turf. And one thing that I've seen at

least a little bit this year with time form is more often

than I've seen in past years, the numbers at least from these

Kentucky Downs races seem to be carrying to other tracks before.

Before it used to be you ran, you run well at Kentucky Downs

and it doesn't matter, right? Like that number doesn't matter.

It you know, it's Kentucky Downs.

We're going to, you know, just cross the line through it.

But that one O 9 obviously fits in with this group here.

And I've seen it enough this year with these horses running

Kentucky Downs And, you know, Craig gives them a certain

number and they run to that number at another track.

So I don't know if he's just got it dialed in now.

I don't know if it's what whatever they've been doing to

Kentucky Downs, his track that now the numbers are easier to

make. But yeah, I I think Wendy walk

is definitely in here with a with a huge shot.

And the only horse that we didn't talk about is actually on

the AE list, the 13 seat at the table.

If this horse draws in, this horse is on all my tickets,

right? This is a horse that has run

really well at a number of different tracks, you know, and

you don't finish fifth in a stakes race out in Tampa, FL

bred stakes race. So, you know, and that, like I

said, has got a bunch of numbers in there that fit.

And I think he's going to get a little bit of a break here in

this spot. Gets Junior Alvarado to ride.

So you know, I really like this and and I like, I like these

horses that have run on real turf.

You know, you, you sometimes you see these these Gulfstream

horses come up and you're like, what the heck, Like, you know,

they haven't run on on real grass in, in who knows how long,

right? You see races at Colonial at

Aqueduct, at Tampa, right, Real turf courses here.

So I think that this one definitely those those runs will

translate. I think you're different to

Churchill. Figure Nerds, The figures at

Woodbine and Gulfstream are a little bit overinflated.

You can downgrade those just slightly or just enough because

you'll see in the racing form, especially with the buyers,

they're they're a little bit higher than they should be and

and you can adjust from there, especially those Woodbine

figures. All right, we'll move on to Race

6. It is the first a route, a dirt

race of the day. Race 6 is a lifetime race as

well, $8000 claiming price at any point lifetime or lower

qualifies for this race. A mile and a 16th on the dirt 3

and up here, 100,000 on the line.

I get to go first here. This is essentially the

undercard race for the essentially, excuse me, the 10th

race here later in the card, which is essentially the classic

of the day and I landed in a couple of different spots in

race 6. I landed on the 6th itself.

This is Curlin's Malibu. Luis SAE as the aforementioned

is aboard here. Was last seen at Aqueduct in a

mile and 316th race. Frankly did some decent running

at the very end of that one as well.

But before that, did get a win at the distance at Colonial,

Frankly in an $8000 starter allowance under Paco Lopez and

every other type. Has been in the Joe Sharp barn

for just a little bit of time. And at Churchill Downs, I trust

very few people more than I trust Joe Sharp.

And so I think that this is 1. I think he's going to have a big

day on Saturday. This is 1 where I think because

of the numbers and different things, you might get better

than 5 to 1 on this horse. Now, if the locals are pounding

Churchill Downs horses, then maybe not with this one, but

most recent work looks very good.

I think is going to be at home, frankly, at Churchill Downs,

despite only one start in the career that's not even on the

page. If you look at the past

performances, I think this is one that's got a really serious

shot in Curlins Malibu. Obviously we all know the we all

know the breeding there. Freedom Rd. will break from the

seven. This is I read Ortiz and Richard

Silliman. Why not?

This horse comes in from parks but was running in Florida

before that. Does have experience at

Churchill Downs. Ran really well at a mile on the

16th, which is this distance, but I get Irad in this case

instead, so I'll go ahead and ride with him.

Irad has won aboard the horse twice at a mile at Gulfstream

Park. Will have to go the two turns

here not an angle I love for this horse, but if you go back

to Delaware Park, this horse has won over two turns there on the

dirt 11 for 23 lifetime 8 more times hitting the trifecta.

That's right 19 times in the trifecta in 23 lifetime races

for Freedom Rd. I love that kind of consistency

and I'll go inside to the three horse here.

Money run 5 to 1 here. I think I'll go to Danny after

this one, but an interesting one for Peter Miller who did win go

in the two turns at Los Alamitos before that go in the two turns

at Del Mar as well. And this is one that was in for

eight just a couple of races ago, but obviously has moved up.

Ran really well in that optional claimer at 40,000 at LaSalle as

well. Didn't love the slap slap blast

out. If I get the horse that I saw

two back at LaSalle serious shot in here.

So I'll land in this 1673 and 12.

Danny, is this the Miller you wanted to talk about by chance?

Absolutely money run. I think it's maybe Peter's only

only horse on the claiming Crown card.

But I talked to him earlier this week.

He he really, really likes this horse.

They're gonna send him. He's the he wants the lead and

he's gonna go and as long as we have the good day that I think

we're gonna have weather wise, I think he'll make the lead early

and it's gonna be catch me if you can.

You're right. He he didn't start well last out

at Keeneland. Horrible break just and then it

was over when he when he jumped out of gate.

But before that two wins a row, like you said, Los Al so very

impressive money run. Yeah, he's much top pick here.

I think he's going to make the lead.

I'm a Peter Miller guy. I think he does a great job,

especially at shipping horses. He's had really good success

coming to Kentucky the last couple of years.

No doubt about it, this horse does have two runs and two wins

at Churchill Downs as well. Josh, did you land on someone

here? I'd landed on the two horses you

guys have already talked about. I like the six curlings Malibu.

I like the three money run. You know, the thing the thing

about money run, you look at the five runs this year, you cross

the line through the Sprint races, you cross the line

through the slop and you got two really, really good efforts

going two turns. And you know, this is a horse

that seems to love the Churchill down surface with the the two

wins. So I I really like money run.

I always like speed at Churchill Downs.

He's inside drawn, He should be your leader.

But you know, if the pace does get pretty hot, I think that it

will set up for a horse like the Six Curlings Malibu.

I think, you know, if Luis Saez ever needs a new jock jockey

agent, I think I should just be in 'cause I just keep on landing

on Luis Saez horses. So I think I just know the

horses that he wants to ride. But yeah, I I think that if

things get, you know, really fast on the front end, this is a

horse that's going to sit a nice tracking trip in, you know, 5th

or 6th. And I think be able to kind of

trip out here has got plenty of races.

I think that that win this race, you know, if you go back to the

the the race 2 back, especially at Colonial.

So three and six is all I got here.

Wow. OK Kira McLaughlin representing

Luis Saez at Oaklawn this winter.

I'm sure Kira nod in a hurry to give up that.

Yeah, Barry, we got this race, buddy.

Yeah, I'm, I'm going a different direction.

I I think time for trouble might lay over this field.

I I mean, this is a big drop down into into this kind of

company. I know this horse seems to lag

back, but man, this, this is the the easiest competition this

horse has faced in a while. You'll see croupy in the lines

next Lambeth Navy SEAL last time.

Yeah, there's a there's a lot of good horses this horse was

facing and really not embarrassing himself.

And I think this is the right spot.

Two turns definitely I I I would like to see longer, but I I

think this horse can do it against this competition. 4 to 1

seems like a fair price. I also want to give a shout to

the 12 blast radius. I I think this is a a hot horse.

They claimed this horse back in July and this horse seems to

have improved. If Jose Ortiz can get this horse

in position and and settle instead of trying to go for a

league, but that that might be the move.

It depends because I'm not really too sure how fast this

pace is going to be upfront. But having a rider like Jose

Ortiz on a horse like this is probably your best asset because

he's going to try to get good position and that might made all

the difference. I I think this horse can hang in

there at a price trying. To remember the last time Luis

Ramirez had a horse at Churchill Downs that I can remember.

I want to make can I make one point about time for trouble?

Barry brought him up. This will be his.

This will be his. He will try to become the third.

A three time winner at the claiming crown.

He could be the first horse to win three claiming crown races

in his career, so time for trouble.

He's obviously he's been in this event before so that will be an

interesting thing if he could win and I think he absolutely

can. The first three time winner in

claiming Crown history. That'd be awesome.

Yeah, great. Great too.

But that's, you know, that's why we have, we have the schmuck

from Smurdon. That's why we do it.

I mean, it's fun. Fun.

Fun fun. Better notes over there, a

person that's not even there. Louis Reubo, Josh Rodriguez,

Perry Spears and Danny Brewer hanging out with you on a

Thursday edition of the Horse Racing Happy Hour.

It is our claiming crown preview.

We move into the late pick five. It starts with Race 7.

Now we get into the races that are specific to 2024 and 2025.

This one is for horses that have started for at least $12,500 at

the most. One mile on the dirt here,

Phillies and Mares 3 and up. Barry, you are going to go first

here, $100,000 on the line here in race 7.

I like a bunch of double digit horses here.

Who'd you land on? I like a horse quite a bit in

this race. The 11 next girl.

Totally agree and I'm going to tell you why.

Basically I locked in on this horses.

One turn races on the dirt. That leaves three.

The December 7th 2024 race where this horse won going away by two

at Laurel at 7 furlongs. The Colonial race August 21st,

2025 wins going away in a similar race last time, which is

the real key is the Maryland Million Distaff and this horse

broke almost dead last, got swung out wide, shuffled back

while being wide, made sort of a middle move and kind of

flattened out. And I think that was the perfect

prep for a race like this. There's not too, too much speed

in here, some of it a little cheap, but there's enough for

where this horse is going to get a great trip.

Getting top notch rider and Jose Ortiz again, you know, very

positional type rider, which I think this horse needs and I

think they're going to take it 5 to 1's.

Fair price. Probably won't get that.

I'd say probably about 7:00 to 2:00.

Yeah, that sounds about right to me.

Totally agree there on the I should update which race we're

on, on the on the the 11 of the 11 horse there next to girl.

Josh, did you land on somebody here?

Yeah, I landed on two horses in this spot.

My top pick was actually the nine Sadie the goat.

I thought, right, this is the horse that yeah, I know we're I

guess we're going with the goat theme this time.

And you know, this is a horse that has rattled off a number of

wins at Thistle down here. The was it looks like six in a

row. And you kind of look and it

looks like the horse is just getting better and better and

better. You know, all those going going

a mile here. So you know, I like this horse

here. Speed figure wise is the horse

that seems to match up pretty well with what's going on here.

I am a little concerned that the horse is really only one wire to

wire and I do think that it's gonna be a bit more contested

than maybe she's used to seeing. But you know, I, I think 4 to

1's a fair price. And I do think, you know, people

might look at the connections and they're going to, you know,

they're going to see Jose Ortiz, they're going to see other big

names and they're going to kind of look at at at slightly

smaller connections coming in from Ohio and maybe maybe this

horse doesn't take as much money.

So, so I think the nine city to go at like 4 to one or better, I

think is, is a really nice bet. The number 10 Beau Soleil is the

other the other horse I like and you know, this is the horse

that's one going this mile trip at Churchill Downs.

It looks like 5 back, you know, with a nice one O 2 speed figure

there. And that was back with Michael

Revis. And now we're in Steve

Asmussen's barn. They had this horse over at

Remington Park and the last race at Remington Park, you know, set

some pretty decent fractions up front and was able to hold off

and and win in that race. So I do think that maybe this

horse has just got a little bit more proven with a little bit of

pace pressure. So, you know, I, I think the ten

at 8 to 1 might be a little bit more of a a value play, but I, I

think that I'll, I'll have the 9 still save you the goat as my

top pick in the spot. There you go.

More goats for you, Danny. I, you know, I'm going to go

with I'm, I'm well with Joshua Beau Soleil.

That's my top pick. If I can get 8 to one on Steve

Asmussen at Churchill Downs, I'm going to take it all day.

Plus my youngest boy Beau, one of the fastest kids you've ever

seen in your life. There you go, I'm.

Telling you I, I, I would laugh except that when Danny does

that, it works. I don't like it and it works.

I don't. I don't ask Mr. Jan how it went.

I'm telling you I don't. I'm just not gonna even argue

with him at this point in my career.

It's just not worth it. I have all double digit horses

in the top of my selections, 11/13/12 and 10.

I'll talk about the 13 and Mercy Warren.

Do you guys know who Mercy Warren was?

No. All right, I guess nobody went

to college. She was an American poet.

She good college and what that's.

Two shots. It was unnecessary shots.

She died in the early 19th century, and I imagine that's

who they named the horse after. This is not one that's owned by

Joe Sharp. Brian Hernandez Junior gets the

mount. Let's just look at what this

horse has been doing in starter allowance company.

Second by a nose, second by a neck at 7 furlongs at one mile,

both of those over one turn. We go back to Saratoga over the

turn and a quarter wins under Irad there at the 12 five level

and that's what this horse has been doing recently.

I get Joe Sharp at Churchill Downs, he and Brian hit at 21%

there, 20% overall. This one just makes a ton of

sense to me. Gets to keep the Lasix here as

well. So I'll have that 13 involved in

my tickets as well. I think Next Girl, as we talked

about, is really interesting, like a Rolling Stone here.

The 12 Axel Concepcion, Antonio Arriaga trains here has been

running at Aqueduct. And I'm always reticent to

include Aqueduct horses in other places, but I think in this

company it makes a lot of sense. It's a horse that'll be racing

for the 16th time this year in this race.

God bless him and God bless her. I should say, excuse me, but

it's hit the board already 10 times a day in 15 runs this

year. And that's been at a lot of

different places, whether it's an Aqueduct or Monmouth or

Saratoga or back at Aqueduct and a different kind of meet and

those sorts of things. Lots of different jockeys.

Axel knows the place, and I wonder if we won't get a good

ride from him, give this one a real chance to be there.

But I love the consistency, hitting the board in a solid 2/3

of the races this year. So I'm gonna throw the 12 there

in at my handicapping as well before we move on at 2:00 Race

8. Josh will go first on this one.

This is for horses that have started for a claiming price of

$25,000 or less in 24 and 25, five and a half on the on the

turf here. Of course we throw Josh the the

old turf Sprint. It's for three and up 150K on

the line here. Josh Sprint away, buddy.

Who we going on? I'll tell you what, before we

get into this, this card is absolutely nuts with just the

amount of horses this is, you know, going from this.

And then we're going to be rolling in a Turfway Park in a

couple weeks where you're going to get 14 horses every single

race. It's it's beautiful, right?

You know, people have been complaining about exact the

payouts on on Twitter and guess what, when you get 1214 horse

fields, those exact the payouts are going to get juiced.

So you know, I think I I kind of went with with two horses in

here. I think of the short prices, the

four frosty view is probably the horse I want the most of.

You know, this is a horse that, you know, started off the year

with a with a couple of nice turf Sprint wins, you know, 1

going 5 and then one. Well, I guess it's more of a

route going 7 1/2 and then, you know, stayed at stayed at

Canterbury seemed to kind of improve speed figure wise there.

And, you know, I think winning that race at Keeneland is

probably got maybe the the best win a recent recent note you

could see among this field. So, you know, I I'm a little

concerned because I don't know if he gets the lead in here and

he seems to do his best running when when he gets the lead.

So you know, he is going to have to track a little bit.

He did it last time, right, set just off the pace.

And I think he's going to need a similar trip here in order to to

win. But but I like of the short

price, I like Frosty viewed the best, but man, there's a horse I

got a soft spot for in this race and that's the number 11 bad

beat Brian. I mean, man, this horse for for

a number of years just always showed up to these turf Sprint

races and always ran right. I'm not necessarily saying like

this horse was running in the money, but when this horse was

in Brittany Vandenberg's barn, I mean, this horse would show up

in big races and you could just be like, you know what, I got to

use this horse in 3rd place in my my trifecta.

This horse at some insane price is going to get third.

I don't know why, but it will. This horse is just a hard

knocking, hard Trier and is a horse that's got a lot of back

class. You know, has been in a lot of

stakes races and has run well in those.

So now in Steve Asmussen's barn and you know, he's had him.

He's had him for three starts. And you know, I think 4th up

here we could see if we can see a little bit, you know, running

back to some of the figures that this horse ran at six and seven.

I think this horse has definitely got a shot,

especially if things get really fast on the front end.

And then really the only other horse I had written down if if

this horse draws in is the 13 horse high front, the other

Steve Asmussen horse. This is a horse that's got some

races that just I mean, kind of are, are standouts at least on

on time form. And this is a horse that doesn't

need the lead. And in a race where this horse

is going to be drawn all the way on the outside, if he draws in,

I I think being able to work out a trip and track is, is going

to, you know, is probably going to be the way to win from, you

know, 12 post or wider. So I'm going to use the four as

my top pick, but I'm going to have a little bit of the 11 and

the 13 in here. Gary, where'd you go, buddy?

Yeah, I'm going to throw one down.

Field. Yeah, you are.

In in this race, I I think this one's a little bit wide open.

I I know Frost, if you does kind of speed figure wise might be a

little bit better, but there's another speed in here to contend

with speed figures. There's a lot of speed and I

think some other horses are going to try to get involved.

That being said, I'm going to try the seven Chrysler for not

Nash and no balls. This horse would have won four

in a row earlier this year and I think they they kind of went off

form when by the time they got to Kentucky Downs preview day at

Ellis. But you'll notice in that last

race, the horse kind of, they showed more speed than they had

been showing previously, which tells me that they might be

rounding into form. And the fact that this horse is

drawn a little bit outside is very good, too.

You'll notice a lot of the clunkers that this horse threw

in this source was inside. Now they get a post that's

probably more favorable. Chris, Amy obviously knows this

horse very, very well. I think this horse might get a

great trip at a big price like this.

This is like the across the board play.

I I really didn't have too much of an opinion otherwise, just

the fact that I just don't like playing chalked.

Anyway, I'm gonna give a go with chisler.

Chisler. Yeah, no.

Chisler won earlier this year and in a high level allowance at

Keeneland, right. I mean, so it's not now.

Not not out of this, not impossible at.

That whole. Point.

I bet worse, trust me. I was a Breeders' Cup with you,

don't worry. The what was I going to ask

Danny about? I had some kind of joke for

Danny. Now I don't have a joke for

Danny. You're too busy joking on Barry.

Thank you, Barry, for being on the show.

But now you get the jokes instead of me.

Yeah. Yeah.

We got here, Danny. What's Britain for you?

You know, I love these turf sprints.

So exciting. Anything can happen, especially

on a day like today. But I'm going with the one horse

speed figures aptly named, right, A rat Ortiz riding candy

ride in the bloodlines. I love candy ride.

Kelly J Breen, he the trainer, he trained one of my one of the

horses. I love Pants on fire.

Y'all remember pants on fire from way back?

So pants. But anyway, that's got nothing

to do with speed figures. I think speed figures very

consistent, 6 out of nine in the top 2 and 9, you know, this year

likes to be on the lead. I think if he breaks, well, my

Capulla, she's so spicy and get on out there and leave them all

in the dust. I went 1411 and six in here and

the six is shape note and this is actually what I was going to

ask you about, Danny. This is feels like a mic maker

special. Dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt,

dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt.

That's literally the past performances available on the

screen. This horse previously though, 3

for six on the turf. I'm throwing that one in because

that just feels like a mic maker I should have had in my ticket

kind of horse. Well then when you when you put,

when you put Jose Ortiz in the iron suit, bam, like a double,

like the daily double right there.

Just telling you, that just feels like 1 to me.

Not even throwing down the I'm not even throwing down field

like Barry Spears does. You understand?

Not even doing that. We'll move on to Race 9 here.

Yeah, you'd be there, Mr. Ethical.

Diamond, I can't steal all of Barry's stuff.

We'll move into the late pick three.

If you haven't played the late pick three at Churchill in a

while, frankly, Saturday might be the day.

It is a $3 minimum 15% take out. It has been paying better than

the late Pick 4 by a lot at Churchill Downs, so that is

something to look into. Danny's going to go first here

in Race 9. This is a started for $16,000 or

less IN20002425 races. 7 furlongs on the dirt for three

and up $125,000 on the line here.

And these are always tricky races trying to figure out who's

going to be good at 7 furlongs. Danny, who'd you land on here?

So I'm going with two horses that ran against each other.

They're keen Cat, I like him. Brian Hernandez riding won his

last out and but cutting back in distance here and then Gilmore.

Gilmore is got Luis Saez. Our boy Luis Saez is riding.

Gilmore has been one of those horses that you know, it's like

he runs. You just like think Oh yeah,

man, and then he runs. You're like, well, I don't know.

So he's been very inconsistent, but at times flash brilliant.

So my top 2 here is keen cat and Gilmore and you know, if we're

going to take a little bit of a swing, you know, the the five

horse twirling trolley. I like, I think that horse at a

price 30 to 1, but Mike could be something that somebody could

hit the board, a horse play across the board for sure.

Interesting. Yeah, especially getting back to

this kind of distance. Horse hasn't done it in a while,

but we have seen at a mile over different surfaces, etcetera.

Barry, where'd you land in this one?

I landed on the 8th take charge smiling.

I just think this horse is in great form.

They claim this horse 2 back at Aqueduct came back and erased

similar to this one. I think this horse is just going

to get a great trip. Charlton Baker doesn't really

ship out too too much. I think they got a live 1 here

and and gets Tyler G to the hoop my friend.

Barry played basketball, Danny. That's the reference there.

Nation Nation's the 13 horse here, one last out of Keeneland

amongst non 3 lifers, which I this horse this year has hit the

board. Excuse me, been in the try six

times in eight runs, breaking its maiden this year.

As a 5 year old, you'll love these kinds of races and

frankly, if you get rid of the turf races, this horse has been

in the try five of six runs runs at that 7 furlongs at Keeneland

last out wins under Irad Ortiz was stalking the entire time and

I think that's the kind of form that can translate to other

places. Now that horse broke from the

five last time is going to have to do a little bit more work

from the outside there in the 13, but I think it absolutely

get it done on the the slight improve here.

They left the horse in Kentucky after the race at Keeneland on

the 17th of October. Just a little bit under a month

between races but has been working at the training center,

Thurber Training Center here and should be ready to go by the

time we get to Saturday. Where'd you land on top here,

Josh? Yeah, I kind of went with, I

went with the other Ortiz, I went with the seven, my noble

knight. I thought, you know, this is a

horse that is kind of had a weird, you know, we were a

couple of last races where I, it's like, I don't know if they,

they know what to do with this horse.

They, they're going a mile, the one turn mile, mile and 16th

mile and the 8th. I think his best race has been

that one turn or that weird, you know, mile out of the chute at

Saratoga. So you know, I I do think that 7

furlongs is actually going to fit this horse pretty well.

I like the fact that Jose Ortiz has ridden this horse multiple

times and and sees fit to ride here.

So I really like the seven my noble knight in this spot and at

a bit of a price. I actually really like the two

horse Mia comet. You know, this is a horse that

has kind of had an up and down, up and down year.

You know, started off at Oak Lawn and you know, didn't look

like was really going to do much came to Churchill Downs, couple

of thirds. But I really think the last

three races that have started to look a little bit better.

You know, you had back-to-back seconds at Churchill Downs and

Ellis Park and then, you know, the wheels kind of fell off a

little bit that last race. But you know that race 2 back at

Ellis actually really fits with this group.

I like the fact that this horse is inside drawn.

This horse is going to have a lot of speed in front of him and

I I do think that there's a chance that, you know, if if

he's able to just kind of sit on the rail, he might be able to

save a little bit of ground and and kind of close in on what

could be a hot pace here. So at a bit of a price, I like

the to me a comment. My top pick in this race is the

seven, my noble Knight. Me a comment by the way, is is a

very interesting runner. I I was watching that race on

July 14th at Ells Park. I still don't know how she

didn't win that race. Mario Gutierrez, though

underrated stat is winning 20% of his race is 3 for 15 to start

the meet. 3 second place finishes as well.

So 6 times out of 1540% of the top 2.

That's never an accident at Churchill Downs.

Josh Rodriguez, Barry Spears, Danny Brewer and me, Louis Rabo

hanging out with you. A Thursday evening edition of

the Horse Racing Happy hour. We're previewing the claiming

crown at Saturday out there at Churchill Downs.

If you would like more, you're welcome to join me tomorrow for

an hour of horse racing banter and then getting back into

college football at the end of the show on ESPN Louisville.

You can join me at 10:00 Eastern Time.

Starting at 10:20, we'll talk with Joe Sharp, Anthony Pascal

from FanDuel, and of course, Damon Thayer will keep us up to

date on all of the goings on, certainly with the Coupling in

Florida and some other issues as well.

So we'll get all of them in to the show tomorrow.

You're welcome to join us at espnlouisville.com.

Race 10 is a another race in which you had to qualify based

on your claiming price in the last two years, $35,000 or less

in 24 and 25, a mile and an eighth on the dirt here.

It's essentially the classic. So I get to go first.

That's how this works. 3 and up to $100,000 on the line.

Race 10. I went first in race 6.

I landed on the 6th. I'm going first in race 10 and

I'm going to land on the 10 running Crichton trains.

Luis Saez rides and this is burning hot.

This is a sun love Bernardini A4 year old here and has really

come into his own this year. 4 for six in the win column has

not been outside of the top three and that was here at

Churchill Downs where he has four for eight lifetime does

have a win at the distance and a second place finish at the

distance. Only concern here is distance

literally that's it. This horse.

This is the maximum going mile and an eighth.

If this were a mile and a 16th, this might be a single for me,

but the fact that the horse is going to whatever happens in

this race, it's going to be an idiomatic with Florence Giroux.

There's going to be a horse right next to it.

It's just going to happen. I just I'm warning people ahead

of time. I think you're going to get 4 to

1. But I think he's been very, very

good this year. His is is stationed there just

down Papa Level Rd. at the Churchill Downs Training Center.

And so a home game for Burning Hot as well.

I'll land on the 10 here. I'll go to the 12.

Lots of double digits for me. Not a whole warrior gets Irad

Ortiz for Saffy Joseph Junior and this is one that just won at

Churchill Downs and I think will be the horse that is chasing my

top pick in Burn and Hot. I think the two of them will

come to the line here. 10 and 12.

This one has won five races in a row.

The other race was a second place finish on the turf at

Santa Anita and one on the turf at Santa Anita before switching

to the dirt. Left the Tim Yak team barn to

move east and has been very, very good since then.

This Sun of Candy rides so I will go 10/12/13 and one in this

one. Barry, I'll go to you next.

Who'd you land on in the classic?

I ended up on #2 Cadet Corps. This horse has been really good

all year. I mean, those first two races of

the year were were less than ideal and really only the first

one was and and it was on the turf and this horse really isn't

a turf horse obviously. But after that this horse has

been right there every single time in better company drops

down for this. I think this horse is going to

be tough off the layoff. Cadet Corps comes in if you take

out the turf races where the horse's total overall 15 for 41,

lifetime 8 for 14. Never been out of the trifecta

in 14 races on fast dirt. Cadet Corps breaking from the

two as as Barry mentioned, Danny Hujiland on here.

So I I think that burning hot is the is the horse to beat here.

I I agree with you there, but I, I want to take a little bit of a

swing here because this is the classic, very deep race.

I like the one gilded Kraken, Jose Ortiz, Joe Sharp.

You've already talked a lot about Joe Sharp and him at

Churchill Downs. How about the 11 horse?

This is what Barry does on Saturday nights.

Dance some MO. That's what he, you know, won

his last race. And horseman.

I do, yeah. And so, and then the other horse

that I like is probably where I live most of the time.

Alternate reality. Another joke sharp horse that's

ridden by Brian Hernandez, you know, a hard knocker.

You know, he he's been there. He just can't quite get over the

hump. But still in the money 7 out of

nine times this year. Alternate Reality.

Yeah, no, I I think there's a lot of different ways to go

here. Josh, did you land on someone we

haven't mentioned yet? No, unfortunately, I I'm seeing

it the same way Barry is. I think the two cadet corps is

going to be the horse to beat in this spot.

You know, this is the horse that's been just very, very

consistent and I think basically drew about as well as his horse

could have because all of the speed is way, way on the

outside, right. The 13 point Dern is going to

need to go, you know, obviously the 10 burning hot.

And so those horses are going to have to, you know, spend a

little bit of energy to go ahead and cross over in front of this

two. And I think the Two's just going

to sit a real nice trip behind that behind the speed.

And, you know, Junior Alvarado's just got to work out, work out

that trip, I think from the rail and see if he can, you know, get

get an opening and just go. So I really do think that the

two cadet corps is in here probably with my top pick.

I I actually really like the 12 Navajo warrior.

I'm not a huge fan of the price. I do think you know the horse is

coming in four straight wins. The horse looks he looks OK on

speed fears he he matches up well in here.

This is a horse that this horse was like double the price.

We're talking like 6 to 1 seven to one.

I'd be I'd be like, hey, this is my top pick, but this is

obviously this is a horse that obviously can win gets irad

aboard right. I mean, and that alone is

probably enough to bet this horse, so I like the two Cadet

corps my top pick. I'll have Navajo Warriors on a

few tickets as well. Navajo warrior here, looks

almost too good to be true. I mean, that's really my

reservation on the horse. I mean, he's run good,

especially the last three, but I don't know, just something about

this race. Doesn't seem like a race for

that horse for some reason. There you go.

I was just glad to see the last effort at Churchill Downs where

he was closing, frankly, because he's been able to close recently

at Churchill Downs. So that's a real positive.

Frankly. The closer on the card is race

11. We'll go back to Barry for this

one. This is for horses who have

started for claiming price of $25,000 or less in 2024 and 25

mile and a 16th on the turf. We're going two turns again on

the grass, 3 and up here, 175 K on the line.

The big turf race of the day, Barry.

And I thought frankly a pretty fun one as well.

If you can try to beat risk manager, will you?

Oh yeah, I, I think this horse is pace compromised there.

There's really not much speed in here and this horse likes to

launch from way back and I I just don't think that's ideal in

a race like this. So I'm, I'm definitely against

that horse. I I honestly thought Echo Lane

is probably the horse to beat more than Risk Manager just for

positional speed, but I I decided to go away from that

horse too. I ended up on the four in

Nantasket Beach. This horse.

Great pick. That last race was just wide the

whole way, didn't really get a good shot at it and still kind

of ran in spots, especially early, But prior to that ran a

really bang up race at Churchill.

Probably more like a perfect trip sort of win, but very

consistent all year. I I think this horse is, is

really prime to to run a really good race.

Lauren Robson's done a phenomenal job since claiming

this horse back in January and and really got this horse in the

right kind of frame of mind and and running well.

I I think that should continue and and they'll get the job

done. I think we should get about that

eight to one too. I think you're right.

Four wins this year, all of them on turf.

Danny, who'd you land on in The Closer?

So, you know, I, my big swing horse is King Kerlin, you know,

son of Kerlin, you know, don't have a lot of reasons other than

I love the kerlin horses and I think sometimes you, you got to

take a swing. Another one that that I, I kind

of like is goes the clown. Imagine that me goes the clown.

But but just because I I think that, you know, this is another

horse that, you know, five out of seven in the money this year.

I like those horses that consistently finish in the top

three because I think if you can, if you keep knocking on the

door, sooner or later you're going to get in.

And like I said, three wins in two seconds and seven starts

this year. So goes the clown.

That's another horse that I like.

Yeah, it gets back into, I mean, when when the horse was in Jose

d'angelo's barn, it was winning, right?

Moves to a different barn. They TriMet a mile and 1/2 at

Keeneland immediately moves to the maker barn.

Feels like a maker special there.

Josh, who'd you land on in the In the Closer here?

Yeah, I you might want to hit me with the mind of Spears because

I also landed once again on the on the floor in Andaska Beach.

You know, honestly, one of the things I love about this horse

is, you know, Churchill Downs turf has kind of become its own

thing. I feel like, you know, and I

don't know if part of it was because of just the weirdness

that they had with, you know, not being able to grow grass in

the in the state of Kentucky, which is just, I don't know.

I don't know how you do that. But, you know, I, I think this

is a horse that's. Going to.

Be there tomorrow. Come on, make me laugh.

Talk to these people. But like, come.

On. But you know, the fact that this

horse has got to run over the over this course and has got to

win and it happens to be the horse's fastest speed figure

over the last, you know, a couple of, you know, the last

year and it's the fastest speed figure, I think in the entire

field. Just makes me think this is a

horse that likes his surface. And I think it's going to run

really, really well in this spot.

You know, I, I, I think some of the short prices, you know,

could get there. I mean, I'm not I'm not running

to the window to bet, you know, 2 to one on the three risk

manager. I mean, obviously this is the

horse that's in here with in in great form, but I don't know, I

to me the four looks looks just as good, if not better, and and

you're going to get four times the price on that horse.

So I I like the four Nantasket Beach and and that's, that's all

I got in this race. Yeah, I agree.

The four is a a big time contender.

Echo Lane, very interesting breaking from the nine, another

Crichton and Luis Saez combination.

This is one that Luis ridden before, has ridden a victory

before at Churchill Downs 2 for three lifetime, has finished

second as well over the course. I think the seven in here is

really interesting in Mr. Abario, just hoping that this

horse doesn't pass every medical protocol and then get scratched

5 minutes before the race. That's what we're hoping for in

this one. You know exactly who you are and

shame on all of you, but Mr. Arbario comes in for Saffy and I

think a very interesting one. This is one that Micah Husbands

has been riding both at Colonial and at Gulfstream.

Didn't fire last time out, but that was at an extremely high

level. If we get back to some of that

allowance, even type of company that this one was running in,

now we're going a little bit further, but this is one that's

tried the distance before and never won.

Man, I'm really interested, especially this year with the

three wins in eight runs, hit the board 6 times.

I get Jose here as well. This one, I think, sets up to be

interesting, certainly in exactas and trifecta.

So I'm going to throw Mr. Barrio into all of those tickets.

Full disclosure, I I almost picked the one.

Nobody talked about it, but I think that horse is going to get

an excellent trip. The Invader from Horseshoe Indy

has a real good shot here because there's not much speed

and I think this horse might be able to wing it and last for a

long time in this race. Diverse demeanor is the name of

that horse, Barry? Where do they make diverse

demeanor? Germany.

That is correct. Dang, good job.

Good job out of you. It's a very fine white wine.

They do a good job with their white wines in Germany.

I sip that. In pretzels.

Yeah, I don't drink it, I sip it.

There you go. Favorite, favorite bet on the

day? Does anyone have a horse that

they think they're going to be building tickets around?

That kind of thing. Anybody got one of those, Barry?

You said you had one earlier. Who was it?

Yeah, the 11 was it next? Wait, I got to go back to my

race here in the 7th. OK, next girl.

OK, next girl. There you go.

I agree on that one. So next girl.

Next girl, that's the that's the all in horse.

If we if we get that one home, we're going to hit a lot of

bets. A lot.

A lot. Danny is the Peter Miller horse

your stand up. Yeah, money run.

Yeah, it's Miller time, baby. The in the the sixth race.

We like the three money run. I think he's the one.

There's always a joke. It's unbelievable, The schmuck

from Smart. I'll tell you what.

Yeah. I really like the the four

Nantaska beach in the in the last race, I will give one

bonus. I really, really like the five

in the second race on that card. She's not a joke.

She's 12:00 to 1:00 in the morning line.

But if you cross, I mean, this is a horse that has only in the

last 12 starts, has only gone two turns once.

Best speed figure? Best speed figure in the entire

field. I think getting back to two

turns is going to be perfect for this horse. 12:00 to 1:00 in the

morning line, so I'll take a shot there as well.

I'll lean on Curlin's Malibu. The six had race 6.

I'll go back to that one. I think the numbers actually

didn't get creep up on that one. I think we'll get better than 5

to 1 just cuz the horses only won once this year, but that was

in considerably more difficult company.

So I will lean on the six in Race 6 for my main play of the

day. Again, want to thank our friends

at Never Say Die. If you are coming up on needing

a Thanksgiving gift or a Christmas gift or a Hanukkah

gift or a Kwanzaa gift or whatever else you might be

working on with the horse player in your life, go check them out

at Never Say Die bourbon.com. Find out where they're

distributed in your area as well.

Well, Josh, we appreciate you jumping on.

Tell people where they can find you.

Yep, you can find me on Twitter at Cherry Drink, and you can

find me and my boys doing our streams at Wrong under Score

Lead or Wrong or on the Wrong Lead on YouTube.

There you go, Barry. I'll find you with me on

Fridays. Is that good enough or do you

need other things to talk about? Yeah, we do a little notorious

OTB, a little DRF, and here you have it in some bourbon on

Kwanzaa. That's that's my goal, this.

Year. Darn right.

Which day of Kwanzaa is your favorite?

I won't ask you that. Danny.

Danny, what's the? I thought that was a question

for Danny, honestly. Yeah, a really great job.

Danny Forbes, WGNS. There's places to find you in

there. Yeah, you can find on wgs.com,

forbes.com and also horse racing scoop.com.

You know the never say die. It's a fantastic bourbon.

That's how you need to to do your handicapping.

If you're to go, if you're losing, never say die, baby, You

remember. If you got a hunch, you bet a

bunch you back a horse and get paid.

That ethical diamond? That's what we do, folks.

That's how it is there. We go Amen, brother, Amen.

I bet that steak tasted good. All right, boys, let's.

Sure did. And the celebration?

The lava cake. The lava cake too, baby.

And. The celebration in the press

box. That part very everyone will

appreciate that press box go ahead Barry.

I'm sorry I. Was going to say I jumped on

your back, so no, literally I did.

There's two, I mean, just my guys from Frank Eggs, Byron Cake

from Blood Horse. The LA Times box is next to us,

so poor John Cherva's in there with Mike Tierney.

I don't know who's to our right because by then the blinkers,

the blinkers of Barry Spears's arms were on my face and there

was no chance I was going to see anything else that was going on.

But Ethical Diamond just ran home, frankly, look like

sovereignty in the nerdy, like easy money.

Like, what are we doing here? The old track record there at

Del Mar as well, where he's Barry, he's Daddy, he's Josh.

My name is Louis. I'm off next week to check us

out tomorrow morning on ESPN Radio here in Louisville, ESPN,

louisville.com from 10:20 Eastern to 11:20 Eastern.

We'll talk voices live from Churchill Downs ahead of the

claiming crowd. Thanks guys for being on.

We'll talk to you next time.