Ellis Park Derby 2025 | Joe Kristufek

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Listening to. Rebo and Co.

Here on ESPN 681057 now. Here's Louis Rebo.

Welcome back in, We are your home for the Reds in Kentucky.

Anna here at ESPN 680 and 105.7 to play the Pirates again

tonight. When tonight did I get swept?

How about that 7:00 right here. Of course, you can hear me on

the Kentucky Racing Spotlight tonight at 6:00.

Trainer Brad Cox is my guest at this week.

We welcome in another horse racing guest, His name is Joey K

Joey Christopheck from down there at Ellis Park.

He'll be on the desk for a big day on Sunday, including the

Debutante, the juvenile, the Cowboy Jones, the Derby.

Lots of good stuff going on on Sunday.

And of course, it's college day down there as well.

Presented by our friends at the Kentucky HBPA.

Joe, good morning. How are you buddy?

Hey, what's up, Louis? Yeah, lots going on, as you

mentioned on Sunday. We had a big weekend last

weekend with the Kentucky Downs preview races on Saturday and

Sunday. And yeah, we got a six pack of

steaks on Sunday, you know, following up Arlington Million

Day at Colonial here under the Churchill Downs umbrella.

Yeah, no, that's exactly right. Big day on the grass in our,

excuse me, in outside of Richmond.

And then of course on the dirt this week.

Lots of grass last week, lots of dirt this week.

Anything we need to know bias wise, these sorts of things may

be coming out of that mile shoot since we got three of those

races this weekend. Yeah, that's an interesting

question because I think, you know, we start a new racing week

this week. There was a little bit of rain

from what I've gathered yesterday, maybe that'll change

the track a little bit, but the main track was pretty forward.

The turf course has been pretty fair and those are the ideas

that I'm using going into this weekend.

Got it. Is there a 2 year old on the

card that you are most looking forward to see running either in

that debutante or in the juvenile?

Another good question. I would say the well, the the

juvenile Phillies race I think might be prime for a slight

upset with prowess being the horse that I like a little bit

in there. I don't know that we're

necessarily going to see any superstars coming out of that

race. I like in the juvenile a horse

by the name of Comport and again, I'm not telling you

anything. You know that's overly creative.

The horses even money on the morning line.

But with second in the bastard Manor at Churchill, Churchill

last out and the horse has been running well on the dirt.

But I really like the horses action for the turf moving

forward. So I think this horse could win,

you know, on the main track on Sunday, but really looking

forward to seeing Comport on the turf based on the way his stride

kind of looks out from my perspective.

Interesting Comport the 6th horse in the sixth race which is

the juvenile kicks off the late pick 5.

How many E horses in there do you think have a legit shot?

I like a longer shot in there. I think Shake and Rattle is

really interesting for Keith De Zormo in there.

Yeah, I think it's going to be Comport, and if somebody's going

to upset him, it'll be Papa Ken for for Steve.

You know, Comport's just got such a great draw.

You know, the outside draw I think is great for him with the

tactical speed shake and rattle. You know it was a game winner

last time. He's approved with every start.

Keith the the Solomos barn seems to be pointed in the right

direction after that big upset win this past weekend in the

Turf Sprint Preview race with River Bear.

So, you know, if you're going to go for a price in that one, you

might be on the right horse. Spice runners in here as well.

He was nine to two in the Bashford manner.

Is he due for a rebound in this one?

He broke great from the starting gate and they went really fast

in the Bashford Manor and he just couldn't keep up with the

pace late. I think he had a pretty easy

time of it, you know, in the debut when versus taking on

stakes company in the second try, he's going to show speed.

You know, if for some reason he's out there and he's

comfortable on the lead and the racetrack is playing tort speed,

you know he might be able to bounce back and score victory.

But I think Tom Port's going to be breathing down his neck the

entire. Way Joe Christofec with us, part

of the we are talking Sunday at Ellis Park, late pick, 515% take

out. Very playable down there in

Henderson. The Cowboy Jones is the next

race we see in this one a group of I don't want to call this the

white might might have been, but a bunch of guys that have been

sniffing at grade threes and those sorts of races in

Caliostro Tumbarumba. This is Zooskar frosted

departures in here. 3 technique. Of course, the winner of the

AKAC in a sloppy edition in September.

Where did you land in the Cowboy Jones?

I mean, Banishing's an incredible racehorse.

You're talking about a horse that can be competitive.

Louie, you don't see this every day.

You know this like this horse can be competitive from six

furlongs, upwards of a mile and an eighth against top notch

competition. He had no business winning the

Jeff Hall Memorial last time when it looked like Booth was

gone. But not only did he win, he

galloped out far in front. I think the one mile trip, you

know, suits him to a tee. Tactical speed outside draw some

other good horses in your tumble.

Rumble, who actually won the Ellis Park Derby back in 2023.

I think he ran better than it looks in the Hansen last out.

Kyostro may have needed that race.

You mentioned this is Oscar, he's solid, he'll be forward.

It's a good addition to the race, but I can't get away from

vanishing. If he brings his A minus game,

he's going to be tough to beat. Banishing Sammy Camacho, junior

in the ride. They're not one name that we see

at Ellis Park very often, but hey, with the purses, the way

they've been going, certainly probably going to see more and

more of those kinds of names. Joe Christafek with us will be

on the the broadcast there for Ellis Park on Sunday.

The Derby's race 8 here. Joe an interesting one.

Admiral Dennis will break from the outside coming out of a win

in the Delaware Derby. I thought his best run this year

was actually in the Bluegrass amongst company with Burnham

Square, River Thames and East Avenue.

Is he a single in this late sequence or is a horse like, I

don't know, maybe a big boat who we just saw really good at Ellis

Park? Is they right for an upset?

Yeah, I lived Admiral Dennis's winter at Fairgrounds and he was

obviously extremely underwhelming in the Gun Runner

when he finished a distant fourth as the four to five

favorite. But she talked about it.

He slowly started to put it together, ran great in the

Bluegrass to give him some time off, won the Delaware Derby, the

inaugural running of that race, pretty convincingly last time.

I think he's a legitimate favorite.

You know, there's some other horses that are interesting.

Big Trust can put it all together.

Retribution makes a lot of sense for Sheree, but you mentioned

big boats and he was tremendous in that race.

On July the 3rd off the bench. That was a very deep and

talented field. He was dismissed at 17 to one.

We've seen flashes from this horse.

He's had three workouts and Hawthorne since being raced for

Jimmy DeVito. They paid 460,000 for the son of

Nyquist at an Obs sale in April of last year.

I think he's coming into his own.

If he runs the way he ran in his most recent start, he's going

to, we'll be right there. I think there'll be some value.

He's 12:50 in the morning line. I think 6 to 1 would be more

than fair on big boat if this race holds together.

So as far as upset chances go, I'm with you on that one.

James DeVito and Orlando Mohica team up on that one.

They are three for their last seven together.

By the way, Big Boat did beat McKenzie St. last out.

McKenzie St. will be the favorite in race one, an

optional claimer at Del Mar on Saturday.

Moving on to Race 9, the groupie doll, we're going to mile here.

This is the Philly and mayor version of the Cowboy Jones

Alpine Princess said here, gets the rail draw.

Is that concerning in the mile shoot there at Ellis?

It is a little bit of a concern. I mean, you got to get out of

the gate. If you don't get out of the

gate, that gap comes up on you pretty quick and you can get

steady, you can get shuffled back.

So we'll see what Alpine Princess does.

Her best style, at least her usual style isn't on the lead.

But she kind of inherited the lead that most recent race at

the Horseshoe Indianapolis, and it had an intense inside speed

bias as well. So she might be a little bit of

a vulnerable favorite like Peagall won this race last year

and had no business winning this race.

Broke awkwardly, was tugging early, was in an uncomfortable

spot. Was 7 wide off the far turn.

Not going to hold that last race at Churchill, the Chicago

against her, she got swiped at the start, lost a bunch of

lengths. Vava, Clarey, Beret, Zeitlow say

be heavy favorites in this race. And I think that last star,

Louis, kind of darkens her form enough so that we get a decent

enough price to take another shot with Peagall.

Pig all very nice to hear. Tax looked really great in the

La Troy Anne the race where of course Torpedo Anna got shuffled

back on Oaks day was up the track a little bit in the Fleur

de Lee. Is the mile more for distance

you think? Well, she was the favorite of

this race last year and she was a no excuse 5th.

But you, you're right those last couple of races, I mean she ran

great in the Latroian, great in the floor to leave 2nd and 3rd

respectively in those races. Those performances would put her

right there in this one. But it's tough to get last

year's groupie doll out of my mind where she was.

Fifth is even money favorite. I wouldn't be surprised at all

if she won, but not the kind of value I think I'd be looking

for. Impel is in this race as well,

the other Brad Cox. We need to play the other Brad

Cox. I like Compel better than I like

Alpine Princess based on their likely prices.

I mean, she was disappointing at Keeneland.

She was disappointing at Churchill.

She went 6 1/2, then she went 9 furlongs.

And I know she didn't get a great speed figure and that one

term mile race last out, but I think she found a new dimension

when she stumbled at the start. She won more impressively than

the margin of victory looks on paper.

You know, she was promising last year.

She's grade two, placed the 8 bells.

Maybe she's coming back to that kind of form and maybe she's got

another step forward in her. I'm moving forward 5 to 1 on

Impala I think is pretty inviting honestly.

With Beckman, I texted with him yesterday.

Regaled will run in the groupie doll, as will his other runner,

the 12 Holly Grove in The Closer, which is the Autumn and

Oaks 7. Furlogs on the dirt. 3 year old

fillies. Obviously in the Oaks race here

we see the return of Vodka with A twist who is over 2 at the

distance with two second place finishes.

But Phil d'amato keeping this one instincts company.

I'm drawing a line through the last performance in the P patch.

Can she improve off of her Leslie ladies run there and win

this race? What people need to realize

about Ellis Park, and I have really formulated this opinion

even more strongly this season with that lucrative Kentucky

Downs meet coming up in September.

There are a lot of horses that enter turf races where you say

to yourself, what is this horse doing in this race?

And Vodka with A Twist is a perfect example.

She ran better than it looks in the P patch.

She ran great and the Leslie's Lady where she got beat by

Killwin came back to win the grade one test at Saratoga.

So she, you know, if she breaks at all, if she gets a forward

position, Vodka with A Twist I think is going to be tough.

Yeah, she breaks from the inside.

We see some other ones that are interesting in here.

We do get, for example, you know at the Nine we get impulse buy

for Rudy Bruce. This one's also entered at

Colonial and actually impulse buy.

She runs a Colonial, right? Isn't that what I just said or

what I just read? I have not seen that, so that's

news to me. I know she's entered there as

well. Cross entered, so let me double.

Yeah. I mean, she looked like a

marginal contender in our race. Obviously if she's not running,

you don't really need to consider her at all, do we?

No. And so this is impulse buy will

run Saturday according to Marcus Hirsch at the DRF.

So Mandela's in here ran in the slop last time at Ellis Park.

How's the slop been translating to back to to regular dirt form

there at Ellis? Yeah, I don't know.

I mean, I think she's pretty good on all surfaces, whether

the track is faster, whether the track is off.

I will say this about her, if there's a lot of speed signed on

here, I mean, vodka with A Twist has speed.

Volleyball Princess has speed run.

Camila, Ron, Princess Proud. They like to be forward.

Trustee Troutman likes to be forward.

And then the horse on the outside, Holly Grove, too.

So if they're mixing it up early, that's only going to

benefit a horse like Mandela, who is a fourth in the 8 Bells

ran well there as a prep coming into this.

Another one she was intended to run on turf today.

She ran into the slop when she won.

So, you know, she's the horse that might have the tactical

advantage here. Princess Proud if I really like

her, am I crazy? I wouldn't say you're crazy if

you get 6 to 1. I mean, she's 22 in a row.

I just question how much upside she has moving forward.

This is a whole nother level of competition.

After breaking the maiden and then winning the other then and

there's other speed signed on. I wouldn't be surprised if she

won. She might still have some upside

moving forward, but I'm not so sure about that.

We'll have to wait and see. It's National Pickleball Day.

Are you a pickleball guy? It's also National Cat Day, and

I'm a cat. I'm a cat guy.

I've yet to play pickleball, although I've been wanting to

for months. I have to get on the Court One

of these days because I'm pretty good at ping pong and I'm OK at

tennis. OK.

And in my advanced stage, I think pickleball might be right

up my alley. Yeah, I I'm a racquetball guy

and I imagine I would really like pickleball too.

Yeah, so I think that's the thing.

It's National Whataburger Day. It was founded by Whataburger.

What a great idea. Best topping out of burger, says

Joe Christopher. What's what's the question

again? My mind didn't catch up to that.

Single You can only choose one item to put on a burger.

What are you putting on your burger?

01 item. Does that include condiments?

It includes everything that isn't the beef Patty.

That is correct, my friend. I'll give you the I'll give you

a bun. I'll give you a bun.

I will say definitely Pickles, OK.

And if I got to choose a condiment, it would be it would

be ketchup for sure. OK, all right, there you go.

He's a cat. And how many hot dogs do I have

to put away on Sunday to consider it a successful on the

trip to Ellis Park on Cheap Dog Day?

That is more of a Kevin Kirsten question than a Joe Christopher

it really. Is you're totally right.

It really is all right. Because I think he he not only

keeps his hot dog total per day, he keeps it per meat.

Oh boy, you got a lot of catching up to do.

Yeah, I'm not going to get there.

I'll see you on Sunday, Joe. Safe travels back to Henderson.

You guys are running today? Yeah, we're running.

We're this is a make up day from one of the weekend days.

We had to cancel couple weeks ago.

So Friday through Monday this week and yeah, closing day.

What is it, August 24th or 25th that last Sunday in August.

So the summer's flying by. It really is.

You tell Bailey, your new racing secretary down there, keep those

Monday dates. We love them as horse players.

Yeah. And set those Bailey's birthday.

So I wish him a happy birthday and I'll I'll tell him you like

the Monday racing. That's awesome all.

Right, good stuff. See you Sunday Joe, and safe

time. Cheers, Louis.

There. You.

Goodbye. There you go.

Joe Kostefek down there at Ellis Park.

We'll see him, of course, back on the desk.

Oh, they returned to racing here and across the street at

Churchill Downs in September there as well. 437-9680 Our UPS

jobs tax life. OK, what are you picking?

In what? The burger.

You asked the burger question. You got to answer it.

Diced onions. Of anything.

That's my that's my go to. OK.

I'm AI love Zach. I love a smashed burger.

Just onions, simple bun, mustard.

Call it a. Burger raw onions, yes.

But on a smash burger dough, the onions are in there.

I'm smashing men together. But on a burger, burger, Tavern

burger, whatever, I'm going to raw onions, yes.

All right, that's what's. Yours.

What's yours? But like if we're going simple

burger, I'm going I'm going burger raw onions, mustard,

that's. Plenty.

Just one thing on that's plenty. For me, but just one thing on

your burger, man, I thought it was a tough question.

That is a tough question. Yeah, Yeah, it's extra.

Yeah, because. I like a lot of things on my

burger. Actually, I, I got a buddy,

that's the answer for him. He'd be like slice of cheddar

done. Like, yeah, I gotta have cheese.

Just an easy cheeseburger. Like just do it.

Yeah, that kind of. That's why.

They call it a cheeseburger. You gotta have cheese.

No, but easy, like simple. That's the one topping.

Move on conversation over. Oh, no, no, no, no.

I would. Onions, man.

I'm so I would. Go cheese probably and then I

have like 3 or 4 different things on my burger.

I'm pretty sophistic. I I I load up a burger, I am not

ashamed of that. Where I get my vegetables from?

Boom, salad. Put an egg on there.

I'll do bacon. All of it.

You got some compote or jam or something?

Let's try it like I'm in. I don't have a thing where I'm

anti anything on a burger the way that I'm anti pineapple on

pizza. Right, right.

If it goes on a burger, that that's fun.

Oh man, well thanks to Joe for joining us.

I'll be down there on site. Lucy will be there on Sunday.

B2 did at Horse Happy Hour for Lucy covering a horse racing.

Event How many hot dogs does she have to eat in order?

She and I were talking about this.

I don't. She's a hot.

Dog person she is, so we'll do a hot dog review at Ellis Park, so

be watching for that. Oh, you're doing the Portnoy

thing. One bite, everyone knows.

Correct. Yes, it's a good idea.

I'm sorry. Of course it is.

There's a reason that guy has much more money than I do.

That's right, yes. Are you just going plain hot

dog? Are we going ketchup?

We going mustard at a. At a track, I'm a mustard.

Yeah, that sounds right. Yeah.

Cuz usually you know, it's like packets, whatever.

Yeah, probably. Typically I go ketchup, mustard,

relish. Texture.

Regular burger. I'm a blue cheese crumble guy.

Yeah, see. I'm not a blue cheese guy.

I like blue cheese a lot. The crumble though is a is a

play. It's a gangster play by the way.

The if it melts properly but you still get that crumble feel.

Yeah, I'm not anti crumble banger banger.

More Crumble talk next.