Kaitlin Free Returns! | Stephen Foster Day

All right, welcome in Horse Racing Happy Hour, Stephen

Foster, 2024. I asked You're home for dad

jokes and B roll music. This is Horse Racing happy hour

hanging out at Churchill Downs. I'm Louis Rabeau alongside

Caitlyn Free. How about that?

The Queen of the Derby trifecta. I have to ask Caitlyn and good

afternoon. You have hung out on 680 with me

before, but never on the happy hour.

So thank you for making time on what are, I'm sure a busy

Thursday ahead of night races here, evening races.

I guess you give out a cold try in the Derby.

Does that change? I want a caveat that she has

been on the happy hour. You are incorrect.

When was she in the heck? I don't remember that at all.

How about that Caitlin, welcome back then.

And how about that? What was the I thought it was

all 680 stuff. How about that does that?

Is that does that become like a Twitter thing where like you

just have to ignore the notifications?

Not really. I'm obviously happy that it

happened. I there are quite a few

notifications that I ignore, but for different reasons for

different stuff. That one I would say was very,

very cool. It was exciting and some of the

people that picked it up, that showed interest in it, it was

just really, it was really nice. But happy to see, you know, can

we peek, get the job done? Happy to see Brian Hernandez

obviously get the double between the Derby and the Oaks as well

as Kenny. So it it was just it was very,

very cool. And I can't remember a time

other than maybe when American Pharaoh won the Derby and then

went on to win the Triple Crown. And what was the first Triple

Crown in a really long time? I can't remember a Derby that

felt this good like story wise. Yeah, we've we've joked on the

show and it's it's probably not even a joke, but this felt like

the first normal Derby since we lost Mr. Derby and John Asher,

right. I'm actually sitting right

outside of his office. Yeah.

And so it's been really nice, frankly, to just have a normal

one felt like a very normal day. I'm with you, Caitlin.

I'm I'm of the opinion still, I think that's probably the best

horse race I've ever been in attendance for in my life.

I would. I would think that it it's very,

very close. For me, probably one of the best

things that I've seen in person was when Flatline won the

Breeders Cup Classic. That was hard to.

Talk that was fun. This was a good one too.

Yeah, that was a good one for sure, she said.

Caitlyn E free on Twitter if you are not one of the 19,000 people

that follows her there. I wish that were an

exaggeration, but Caitlyn's literally got that many

followers. Now we have turned into the

second part of the horse racing season, Caitlyn first one, of

course, leading up into the Triple Crown and during the

Triple Crown. And now we're getting into those

qualifiers in leading into Del Mar at the Breeders Cup in

November. Stephen Foster, certainly part

of that. But before we get into that part

of the season, I wanted to get your thoughts on, you know, just

your your reaction to the Triple Crown this year.

I thought a very fun 1, frankly, for a year where we got three

different winners, obviously, very three very different races,

how they set up, how the finishes, you know, took place.

We get that tight one in the Belmont, obviously that 3 way

photo finish in the Derby. And then, you know, just kind of

a little bit of a surprise with the season of grey going, you

know, gate to wire in the Preakness.

What was your take away? You think?

What will we remember from this Triple Crown in 2024?

It was like you said, it was a Triple Crown that was full of

good stories. Felt very, very exciting.

I we talked about the Derby and the exciting things that

happened with that. Obviously, Dewayne Lucas and

Cesa Gray, Jaime Torres, very, very cool story with that.

And then Door not coming back when everybody kind of had

written him off in the Beaumont, I thought was very, very

interesting. I was not expecting that at all.

I kind of wonder the way Sierra Leone will be remembered.

I mean, I'm sure we'll kind of figure out a little bit more

depending on what he does the second-half of the season, if he

races next year. But I wonder the way he will be

remembered throughout this Triple Crown season, you know,

obviously based on what he's going to do for the rest of his

career, but what the impact with that will be.

Yeah, he's an interesting one. He kind of reminds me in a way

of, say, an epicenter, something like that, where it's always

like, is he about to get over that hump?

Is he going to get to that race where he gets to do that?

I'll tell you, Caitlin, for me, it's something that you touched

on. It's the people.

I think that actually what's interesting is the people

made-up this Triple Crown. We got to see a guy like Kenny

Mcpeak sweep Friday, Saturday, that first weekend in May here

at Churchill Downs. We get to see the 88 year old

Lucas who gets up every freaking day and jumps on a pony.

I have no idea how I will be stunned if I make it to ADA, for

example. And then, you know, you get a

Danny Gargan, who's a local guy here, but you know, has really

made his life in New York gets to win that, you know, that

Belmont at Saratoga town that he loves so much.

I, you know, I just, it was, it was a fun one that way where we

got to, we got to watch some of the people in this sport that

make it go win those three races.

Exactly. It was, you know, there's some

connections that maybe aren't quite as savory to some people,

but this was a feel good story. I feel like for so many people,

for so many different reasons, just the entire Triple Crown and

you don't really see that all that often.

Yeah, we got to watch horses run in all three legs, or at least

at all three weekends, which is unusual if they're not chasing

the Triple Crown, which was fun as well.

In a weird way. Caitlin, aren't we blessed that

a horse of the quality of Mystic Dan was a $10,000 breeding job?

Right. That a horse of the quality of

Thorpedo Anna was a $5000 breeding job?

I think we're going to see these horses run an awful lot.

I think we will and that's definitely Kenny's style to run

horses a decent amount. And these are two very durable

type of horses and horses that have just so much talent.

So we are, we are absolutely just blessed to be able to see

horses of this caliber. There we go, Caitlyn, free with

us here on the horse racing happy hour.

We'll go with you. I'm live at Churchill Downs.

Sorry, a little tech issue on my end.

You are an Ohio girl. There was the Ohio Derby last

weekend. Do you have any grand takeaways

from that race? Batten down, of course.

Getting the job done on the lead there at Thistle Down.

Batten Down is a horse that I've been a fan of for so, so, so so

how long he he just was a kind like you mentioned, just needing

to get over that hump and win a race.

And now he's won, you know, is made and now he's won a great at

stake in the Ohio Derby. I think he's going to be a horse

that a lot of people are going to be excited about the rest of

the year. He's a classic distance type of

a horse. I think he could be one that

could potentially be a force in the Breeders Cup classic.

He's he's a very excited horse, bred just extremely nice.

So this is a horse that I'm I'm really looking forward to seeing

for the rest of the year. Caitlin, I, I, I gotta ask

because, and we'll do the personal stuff, then we'll get

into the horse racing stuff. You know, I, I think some of us

have watched your career move to where it is now and, and you

know, you in the paddock 4 races here at Churchill Downs.

What a, what a terrific job that is.

What a, what a spotlight on your career and you're doing, yeah,

you're doing a terrific job, obviously.

But I mean, did you, I'm sure that was a goal in the in the,

in the Caitlyn free, you know, career arc of whatever you want

to do. Do you pitch yourself when you

pull up to this place every day? Is it one of those or are you

thinking, you know what? You know, I'm, I've got other

things I want to do as well. Where, where's Caitlyn Free in

her career? Is it going as you planned?

It's going better than I ever planned it.

I'm working for I, if I was ever going to get this type of an

opportunity, I worked for TVG and FanDuel for a while and I

was working on kind of the back end stuff, not even in, you

know, their broadcast your media department and just really no

interest from them to want to try to train me to be on air or

anything like that. So I end up moving back to this

area and Joe Christophak and Scott Shapiro took a little bit

of interest in me. We've all been friends for quite

some time. And it just, you know, ended up

working out the way I feel like it's supposed to have worked.

So I, I still do pinch myself every day that I pull up to

Churchill Downs. I can't believe, you know, I not

only work at a place like this, but just doing what I do, being

around these people every day, being around these horses most

importantly every single day and being in such a historical

facility. It's, it's really mind blowing

when you think about it. And as far as my career goes,

this is very, very exciting, But I, I want to keep chasing even

more. So I don't know what the next

step is going to be for me and what the future is going to

hold, but I'm really happy right now.

But I mean, as far as doing more, maybe even for, you know,

bigger publications in the future, I I'm game for it.

Yeah, I would you say that that would you say that the highlight

of your career was the Derby draft?

On the the horse racing caption was Steve Kornacki.

That was that was a big check mark because I mean, Steve is

somebody that I've looked up to for so long and like, he's

obviously amazing. So.

Yeah. He's the guy.

Yeah. Yeah.

You know what I didn't like, though?

I didn't like. I got to say this because I've

come to like Steve over time, but what I like about Steve is

he's the khaki of the rolls up sleeve, the rolled up sleeves

guy, and then I see him in ask it in a in a in a top hat, and I

don't like that. I Steve, you're better than

that. Don't do that to us.

I, you know, be a be a man of the people.

I you're you're you're still a Boston kid.

You don't have to do that stuff. I don't know.

I don't know, Caitlin, I've have you been to ask it?

Do you enjoy it? I, I bet on it.

I love it. I want to go go bad.

So we'll see. I want to go so bad.

How did I forget about the Derby draft?

That's such a bad job. I mean, Zach, we need a sound

effect that says and then Louis got jealous 'cause that's what

it really is. I'm not jealous of Steve in his

single life and not having to have a wife and four kids like

me. No, I'm not jealous at all.

Oh, man. Oh, but yeah, no ask.

It happens. Go ahead.

I said he's living his best life.

He is living his best life, man, oh man.

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Caitlyn, how do you find the new paddock as far as doing the job?

Because you were doing some paddock reporting in the old

paddock here. You know, it's amazing now that

we have the new paddock here as part of our normal, our normal

day-to-day function of Churchill Downs as fans, as media,

whatever it, it's amazing to me, looking back that we had the

paddock that we did before. It just didn't quite fit with

this facility. Didn't fit, did it?

Yeah. That's right.

Yeah, yeah. So how has it been?

Do you enjoy it? I love the crowd.

There's a little bit, I think they they took some elements

from some other places that I think are really positive.

Has it been good for your side of the thing?

I love it. I absolutely love it.

I think it's something that you know, that is great to share

with the public. We haven't had too many horses

be overwhelmed or act up in it. So that has been great.

That is the first and foremost thing.

I love it. I think it's fantastic.

I will say that there is not a lot of air moving down there

and. It is very, very.

Hot in that paddock. Yeah, I've heard this.

I am sure that is something they'll work on before

September. But yeah, I've heard similar

reports from other people who do more paddock time than I do.

I, I'm more of a cornhole on the upper level kind of guy than

with the horse, this kind of thing.

Yeah. Well, luckily it'll only be 93°

on Saturday. How about that?

How many? I I got to ask too, 'cause, you

know, you're doing the TV thing, you're doing the simulcast.

How much planning goes into, you know, a, a proper not going to

sweat my head off outfit for a Saturday.

Looks like the Stephen Foster's going to.

Be Oh my gosh. Well, you have to dress up a

little bit more extra for that, of course, because it's a big

day. But I would say that the most

annoying part of all of it is the hair because you want your

hair to look good, but at the same time you're literally

sweltering because it's on your neck, this and that.

And I don't typically wear my hair up that often and I know my

boss doesn't love when I wear my hair up that often.

So the hair is the thing for me. I hate it.

Oh, there you go. Well, we will.

Now let's go ahead and get into that card.

Great. Pick 6 coming up on Saturday.

Remind people out here is the mandatory payout.

Is that actually going to happen on Sunday here?

Yeah, I believe it will happen on Sunday since it's the final

day of the meet. Final day of the meet, but we do

have a fun one for you. Starts with that Grade 2 wise

Dan leads in to the Florida Lee for you and and I know that it

is the Foster Foster's the big race on this card, Caitlin.

But you know, historically when we look at a race like the Fleur

Dely and we're talking about Pauline's Pearl, she dares the

devil, Latrusca, midnight Bizu and Elate.

I literally didn't skip any of the last five winners.

And before that was a horse they blew prize.

You talk about. I always talk about stakes races

in in the terms of who has won them, Who are the great horses

that have come out of them? Is it the Stephen Foster that's

the better race overall historically or isn't that Fleur

Dely more recently? The Fleur de lis more recently,

I would say for sure this has been a hugely productive race.

I believe it's still a grade two.

I can't believe they haven't elevated it to grade one.

Yeah. Yeah, I I find that interesting.

And I also find it interesting that they wanted to try to

downgrade the Stephen Foster to begin with.

It is now back up as it should be as a grade one, but I think

the Fleur de Lis is worthy of being a a grade one in itself

because it's such a, you know, historic race.

So many good Phillies and mares have run it.

I mean, just in recent memory. And this is another really good

field. Taxed is good.

Silo course is awesome. Kajira is another one.

So if you're going to have a field of six, this is a very,

very good one. And a lot of horses going to be

knocking heads again that have faced each other plenty of

times. I love this Distaff division.

You know, on this show, Caitlyn, we really encourage people to

fall in love with the Phillies and marriage because they do run

longer, right? We can see these horses like an

idiomatic is back this year. If she's a colt, we'd never see

her again, right? Like no chance.

And and so it's it's fun to fall in love with these horses.

You mentioned there's only six horses in this field, but you

know, we had an idiomatic run a couple of weeks ago.

She gets picked off at Saratoga, where every favorite seems to

get picked off. But you know, talking about this

Distaff division with the inclusion of a horse like

Thorpita, O Anna boy, it's as strong as it's been in a while,

is it not? It is I I I absolutely think it

is. And I'm I'm a big fan of this

division all the time, but I'm a fan of this group.

Idiomatic is awesome and there's so many other names Thorpedo

Anna you mentioned to throw in there.

I'm sure pretty mischievous will rebound here pretty soon as

well. So it it's as strong as it's

been in quite some time and we just keep getting good Oaks

winners every year to boost that even more.

Yeah, and who do you like actually, if we go to race 8

here, the Grade 2 Fleur de Lee, you mentioned mile and an

eighth. We're doing the big the big

distance here. Half 1,000,000 bucks in this

one. Silla comes in six to five

favorite on the morning line here.

I think that's probably about right where the numbers will

land just based on what she did in the Shawnee, what she did

before that in an optional claimer here at Churchill Downs.

Shotgun hottie back to try this again.

Ran really well in the DuPont at Pimlico over Preakness weekend.

Where did you land in this one? Stella obviously is the horse to

beat in this race and I think she's going to stretch out to

the mile on an eighth just fine. I like the addition of blinkers

to her, even though, you know, you don't really see a horse at

blinkers coming off a win. But Javier Castellano has said

when he spoke to the Belmont bar that maybe she's just not quite

as focused as she needs to be. And she was razor sharp.

And that last, that win against Kijira and Wet Paint, I think

the distance could favor Kajira. Obviously she's 2 for two going

a mile and an eighth. So if she is the rebound, I

think maybe you're going to see potentially a little bit of a

better effort from her. I just really think she hated

the slop two starts back and maybe needed one after that.

So she could be the one to maybe look at.

And I think Shotgun Hottie is going to be very overlooked in

this race for Sharie Devoe because numbers and figures wise

she fits in with this group and just won very impressively at

this distance last out. Yeah, I just talked to Sheree

Devoe yesterday, actually getting ready for the Kentucky

Racing Spotlight that'll air on Saturday.

And you can she's got, it's interesting.

She worked for Chad Brown and she's got a lot of Chad Brown

interview habits, if you will. And you can kind of tell she

thinks shotgun hottie is is keyed up for a very, very big

run here. So that could be a very fun

addition of this race. Is this I don't you know this is

they're the only BC Breeze Cup challenge race is actually the

Stephen Foster. But Oh no, that's just for just

for the classic. What is the to do to do no

division all OK is the only BC race going to be the Stephen

Foster this weekend? Is that right?

I believe so. OK, all right, well, that's

stupid too. They should make the Fleur de

Leon winning in for the for the distaff as well.

Let's keep going. By the way, that was the start

of the pick five late. We see the American Derby here,

Caitlin. This obviously follows the

American turf that we see over Derby weekend as well.

Do you like the inclusion of this race as part of this day

here on the Stephen Foster? Another race for three-year olds

on the turf. I don't know.

We just we've had a lot of three-year old turf races, We've

had a lot of three-year old turf races everywhere lately here

throughout the country. My only wish is it maybe we

would cut back on that so we could see all of the horses in

one race and really not give the option for these horses to be

ducking each other in this division.

Agate Rd. is back here. What do you make of a horse like

Agate Rd. who won twice in his second and third races, hasn't

won since, but has been an incredibly difficult company?

How do you handicap a horse like this?

He's hard to trust. He's really, really tough to

trust. He gets bumped out of the gate,

he gets in traffic a lot, so he's the type of favorite that I

really like to play against. The blinkers going on I do think

is a very good decision. I think it could really help

this horse. I rat Ortiz coming into town to

ride him as well, I think is obviously a big plus.

My one thing with this horse is I really wish he would have ran

in the Jeff Ruby Stakes because I think he would have fit really

well in the all weather. Interesting.

Yeah. And do you do you make much of

of Todd Pletcher's current win percentage in this meet at

Churchill Downs when you're handicapping a race like this?

Or does this one stand on its own?

Hey this is Agate Rd., I know what I'm getting.

I I think he just kind of stands on his own.

He's not like some of the other maiden winners, the allowance

horses that Todd really has here.

So he's a horse. That's just kind of his resume

speaks for itself, and either you really like him or you

really don't. I really like a depiction in

here. I think the six to one price on

him is both fair and I think third in the form cycle here

should set up really well for Shritivo Joel Rosario.

But First World War coming in out of the pen mile win gets a

little bit added distance here, which I think for Frankie

Dettorio will be really helpful. Where did you land in this one?

Haven't really completely felt my way out for a lot of these

races 100%. But First World War is he's the

horse to beat in this race. I, I think Agate Rd. like I

said, he'd be one that I would be willing to try to beat

because I don't really trust him all that much.

So First World War, I mean, he was just life or death to get up

last time and in the best way. So he's he's a horse that I

really respect in this race. The next race is the Kelly's

Landing, 6 1/2 furlongs, quarter million bucks and the Kitty for

this one for three and up. We're going on the dirt course

here. close the game. Sugar's back for this one after

the Aristides encores in this race.

Bango going for the record here. People seem to have decided to

cool on Bango for some reason. Very quickly.

Have you cooled on Bango? I absolutely have not.

I, I was in the Greg Foley barn talking a lot about this horse

with him. And it's interesting.

I've, I've known Bango the whole time I've worked at Churchill

Downs. He's been around for so, so long

and he's such, such a cool horse.

And I talked to Greg about him, about, you know, that last out

race that he had and that was coming in off the layoff And

this horse actually had an Abscess brewing that they didn't

know about that kind of festered out not long after the Saint

Matthews. They were not aware that it was

still completely up inside. So I think that had a lot to do

with maybe this horse not running his best.

He loves the surface. He's beaten these horses before.

So I think you really kind of have to give him a little bit of

a second look coming off of that effort last time out, knowing

that there was a valid excuse. What to do with Hoist the Gold

who comes in one for seven lifetime at Churchill Downs O

for four this year? I'm just kind of tired of this

horse if I'm being honest with you.

Nothing against Dallas or anything like that, I just don't

like a lot of the spots that have been picked for the course.

The Saudi Cup was very, very weird.

The Pacific Classic or the the Pegasus World Cup, very strange.

This is a one turn, mile, 7 furlong type of a horse.

He's back here going 6 1/2, which I guess isn't that bad,

but I don't know. He's just he's, I don't know.

He's not for he's not for Caitlin for you, who joins us

here on the Horse Racing Happy Hour. close the game, Sugar.

Really good last time. Do you think that's repeatable?

I think he's in a little bit too deeper waters going up against

the likes of, you know, down on A twist and Skelly he beat last

time out. Skelly I I don't know what was

up with that. Angkor was in that last out

race. He's certainly good enough on

his best day, but I think he's wading into a little bit of

deeper company here. That is my spread race in this

pick 6, by the way. I cannot figure out who's going

to win amongst that group at all.

It feels like the kind of race Caitlyn, after Tejado's twist,

runs another second place this year.

Three of them already. Just all of a sudden that horse

jumps up and wins a race. I don't know, it just it feels

like. Anybody can happen.

I thought if things got interesting up front early with

Skelly, that Tejana Twist was going to win that race and then

he didn't break. So I don't know.

He's another one. Well, like anarchist is in this

race 26 second place finishes last year out of eight runs.

I mean, it's just good luck figuring that field out.

Just a a great one, frankly, if you wanted to make some money in

race 10 out of Churchill on Saturday, the 11th race is the

Foster. We're going a mile and an eighth

on the dirt course. We see a lot.

It's 1,000,000 bucks here, I should say Grade 1A win and in

for that Breeders' Cup classic, the summer jewel of of of the

Churchill Downs meet here. I was stunned and not because I

talked to her or I watched the Pimlico special, but I well

actually because I watched the Pimlico special that they would

look at Pyrenees and think this is a 12 to one type of.

Hosting, I know. OK.

So you're a little surprised by that as well.

Yes, I I'm actually very, very shocked about.

What do you think? We get it race time because I

think it's like 9:00 to 2:00. I was going to say we'd be lucky

to get 5 to one or something on this.

OK, there you go, Boobie. I right?

So I mean, coming in off of four wins, this horse is moving

forward in the right direction. You know, one for one going a

mile and an eighth. He won really nicely in the

South at Keeneland. Going this distance was against

allowance company, but it was pretty good allowance company

and he beat Kings Barnes last time out, who's back in this

race first mission. He he kind of stands out numbers

and figures wise and he likes this track here at Churchill.

But if you're wanting to try to play against, I think Pyrenees

and Disarm are the two that you really got to look.

At I agree. Yeah, yeah, Disarm definitely

comes in on that second in the form suckle here.

Second off the layoff, which Steve Asmussen does really,

really well under, I think A and not a, it was a, it was a slow

developing race last time out at Churchill.

And it wasn't his fault that, you know, that Keith did a good

job on the front end, right? It slowed the pace down and

walked and walked everybody to the finish line.

That's not always their fault. I I think he's due for a much,

much better race here in the in the Stephen Foster.

I think people have already forgotten he ran a really good

Travis last year behind arc. Angelo ran a pretty good Jim

Dandy and Matt win before that, obviously winning the Matt win

in the slop at Ellis. This poor horse has never got in

the same conditions 2 races in a row, and so hopefully that'll be

something that he can look in get to this week.

All right, we're going to play a game that we always play on this

show and it is foster yes or foster no.

And you tell me if a horse can win or not.

And then you give me one reason why Paradise is a foster yes or

a foster no. He's a yes because the

consistency is just so, so good with this horse and I think he's

continuing to move forward. Lasik's off has not bothered him

recently. He's kind of the total package I

think. Sheree Devoe listed graded

stakes at 17%, but she wins in stakes in general at 22%

recently. First mission, the two horse

here. Foster.

Yes, Foster, now. He's a yes because I think when

you look numbers and figures wise, he is the best horse here

in this race. But is there somebody that's

going to be peaking even better at this time?

But I like the way Brad Cox's laid out the plane with this

horse. He would be a yes for me.

Happy American is the three in here.

Corey Lanering, Neil Pessen. We've seen this horse pick off a

great at stakes last year down at Fairgrounds.

How do you see him this year in the Stephen Foster field?

He would be a no for me in the win spot, but I thought this

horse ran really well last time out being closer to the pace.

I've always thought he needed to be closer to the pace, so if

Corey keeps him like that this time, he does like this track.

He's eight or three for eight. He can grab a piece of it, but

as far as a win, I don't think so.

Ran third last year in the Foster at Ellis Park before

taking a little bit of time off running back here in the Lucas

Classic in the fall. Disarm is the four.

My sense is you're about to say yes on Disarm.

Joel Rosario. Steve Asmos.

Absolutely. He is a yes.

I see him peeking coming into this race off of that last sound

effort. Like you said, it was a

deceiving type of an effort because they were going so slow

and Keith controlled it the way he did on the front end.

But this horse is definitely a yes for me.

Dreamlike is in here for Todd Pletcher.

Interesting horse ran in the blame on the 1st of June.

Todd deciding to run him back here after what was actually

also First off the layoff was very good at Keeneland in April,

almost won that race under Irad Ortiz as you mentioned Irad in

town this weekend. Is Dreamlike a horse that can

pick this off a son of Gun Runner?

I don't think necessarily, I think he's more of a horse that

would be kind of a factor in underneath type.

But he is adding blinkers back on and some of his best races

came with blinkers before. But I mean making a lot of

equipment changes, they're off, they're on.

I don't necessarily like all of that.

So he would probably be a no for me.

Yeah, the one for 9 lifetime really stands out for me with

him as well. Sometimes horses are very

contented to run 2nd and he appears to be one of those

classic causeways in this field. He's a fascinating horse to me.

Over a million and a half in earnings lifetime.

A son of Giants Causeway running as a 5 year old in this field.

Kenny Mcpeak. I always say Caitlin is a bit

like Doug O'Neill east of the Rockies, so why not us?

Kind of a mentality with his horses, which I really

appreciate, but it also makes him very difficult to handicap.

Julia Leparoux gets them out here.

Julian of course aboard him when he did win his grade one at

Belmont back a couple years ago. What do you think of Classic

Causeway in this spot? I don't like this spot

necessarily for him. I think this horse is a one turn

horse. I think he's about a one turn

mile or a 7 furlong type of a horse.

Although he did run well, you know, going that mile and a

half. But that was because nobody was

in that race. And the horse has some class and

he's pretty good over the turf too.

I think he's just a one turn horse at the end of the day.

Kings Barnes is here. I've I've always liked this

horse. He's an absolute gamer.

His last four races are second by a neck.

He a win by 1/2 length, a win by three and a quarter lengths and

then he runs in that Pimlico special, finishes second by less

than a length. He's obviously a gamer. 6 to one

price is really, really nice here for Luis Saez and Todd

Pletcher. What do you think of the son of

Uncle MO in Kings Barnes? Kings Barnes is an interesting

type of a horse. I really like the way he has

rebounded as a four year old. Love the win at Gulfstream, love

the win at Keeneland. The Ben Ally.

I just kind of got out and do it a little bit in the public

special by Pyrenees, who I think is a really nice up and coming

horse in this division. But if he catches the right type

of a pace and the right type of a trip, he can absolutely win

this race. Louisa is aboard there, as we

mentioned, having a fine meet here at Churchill. 27 wins

already a decent week here. Louie will go over 30 for the

meet, which is absolutely exceptional by the way.

Louis 272724 and hitting the board in 175 races this meet, so

do not be surprised if Kings Barnes ends up in the trifecta

for this one. Steel Sunshine is the 8 we get.

Look, Paco Lopez in for the day ran in the alley.

Sheba ran 4th in the slop, didn't seem to love it, but

before that ran really well in the Go Sapper behind I'll

Morocco and Tumba Rumba, a Steel Sunshine 20 to one.

Maybe not a winner here Caitlin, but could this horse hit the

board? I think you can definitely hit

the board underneath, a little bit of a price, but as you

mentioned, probably not a win candidate for me, but definitely

could be possible to see him run well.

Last one is Skippy Longstocking. This is one of those horses,

Caitlin, that I feel like I bet on him in the wrong spots one

last time out in the Oaklawn Handicap.

Before that in the challenger as well.

So back-to-back, great at stakes for this horse in March and in

April. Little bit of a freshening,

little bit of a time off. Has one run well off of layoffs

before. Almost picked off the Cornhusker

for example, after a couple months off last summer at

Prairie Meadows. Has been working at Palm Meadows

in Florida so the heat won't bother him.

At least Jose Ortiz gets them out here.

What do you think is skipping logstocking?

He's the worst that I think definitely has a little bit of a

chance in this race. He's plenty good enough on

paper, I just don't know how the pace scenario is going to set up

wise for him necessarily. But he's a horse that, when you

look at it, he absolutely has a shot in.

Here the final race on the card is the tepid is race 12 quarter

million bucks. It's one mile race on the turf

for three-year old Phillies. Another three-year old turf

race. Caitlin, how about that?

At least we get 11 in this one. MO Fox given his back to run in

this one out of the Edgewood. Seen a lot of Edgewood and Pen

Oaks types of alums in this one. Obviously you get the Soaring

Softly winner as well. Did you land on anyone in here?

Is Pipsi kind of a big favorite? This is another race that I'm

going to have to take a little bit of a closer look at that I

haven't completely decided on necessarily.

I am glad that we did get the type of field we did and we did

get a full field. Pipsi, I agree with.

That certainly is a horse that is worthy of respect.

MO Fox Gibbon, this is another one going to be first time out

for the Ron Moquette barn, which I thought was a little bit

interesting of Voodoo Magic is one for the three to Vo barn.

Going to be the first time out of that barn that I think is

interesting. Pipsi, you mentioned worthy of

the favoritism. Poolside with Slim is just a

horse that I've loved for a long time.

She's one that I think I would have significant interest in

this race and she's up there at 5:00 to 1:00.

So tentatively she would be probably my main interest.

Do you give any thought to, you know, you mentioned a a horse in

oh gosh, I just walked away from it in poolside with Slim.

You see her, she runs in at Penn under Frankie Dettori.

Frankie Dettori gets the mount instead on just better.

Am I reading into anything if I think, oh, Frankie's trying to,

you know, ride with just better and Tyler's getting that mount.

Or is this just, hey, these are the relationships, you know,

Rusty Arnold and Tyler, that kind of thing.

Could just very much be the relationships and you don't see,

you know, Frankie ride with Steve all of that often, but he

has been on board the 4th multiple times.

So he does have that established relationship with this horse

with Steve. And Tyler never has been on

board with Rusty Arnold, but he rides for Rusty so could go a

multitude of different ways. Well, there you go.

She's Caitlin free. She'll be on the, she'll be on

the the broadcast here at Churchill Downs on Saturday and

of course tonight, Thursday night here at Churchill Downs as

well. Getting to Ellis Park this

summer, are you doing more colonial stuff or more Ellis

Park? What's your summer looking like?

I'm going to be completely colonial.

How about that? Tell people about Colonial?

So I think it's one of those things, you know, horse racing

going is undergoing a reorganization right now,

Caitlin, in places that we didn't traditionally think of as

the big spots for horse racing are becoming the centerpieces,

frankly. And the Colonial's one of those

spots for summer racing, especially that beautiful turf

course they've got there. What can you tell people about

Colonial if they're not familiar with it?

Colonial is just. It's awesome.

It's if you're looking for premier turf racing, that is

your place. Big sweeping turrets, actually.

Well, when Belmont will be finished, it will be the second

biggest, you know, track in the country as far as like

circumference and distance. It's currently the biggest.

With Belmont under the renovations, it's huge.

People don't realize just how big it is.

The turf course is huge, but one thing that people also don't

realize is just how good of a dirt course we have there too.

Well, there you go. Well, Caitlin Free looked for

her this weekend here and then of course down there at Colonial

Downs all summer. Caitlin, thanks so much for

jumping back on the show and I'm sure we'll talk to you about

something maybe Arlington Million related.

I would absolutely love that. All right.

Thank you, Caitlin. We'll talk to you then.

Thank you. All right, Caitlin free at

Caitlin E free on Twitter. Make sure you go follow her

again if you're not one of the 19,000 people that does exactly

that. Well, Zach, look at that.

A nice abbreviated 36 minute addition to the horse racing

happy hour. How about that?

You like that? I like that.

Plus I'm going to steal Caitlyn walking through the entire field

of the Stephen Foster and throw it into the I I don't like that

at all. I I don't work with Caitlyn.

I I think that having people like Caitlyn on the show is good

and spending more time with them is always better.

Got it. There you are More is more.

There we are. Well, he's Zach.

He's producer Zach. I'm Louie Rabaud.

A reminder if you are listening to this, over the weekend,

Monday, Mike and I will be live at Horseshoe Indianapolis.

We are doing the draw for the Indiana Derby and Oaks people.

It's not going to go well, so you should watch.

It's going to be great. And so, you know, just TuneIn,

there's going to be shenanigans and hijinks and Rachel and so

all of those things. So just jump in with us on

Monday. A reminder for Indiana Derby,

next Saturday, we will have a live show that we will broadcast

on all of our normal networks. Mike will be in Indianapolis

with me. I'll be on the simulcast, by the

way, next Friday as well up at Horseshoe.

So two days you have to deal with me at Horseshoe

Indianapolis. But on that Saturday, we will be

on the platform outside near the winner's circle.

So come find us, come hang out. If you've never been to the

Indiana Derby and you're anywhere in the Midwest, free to

get in, free to park, they hand you a free cigar.

I'm not making up any of that. So it's a very, very fun.

It is by far the most fun event. Yeah, it's easy.

It's just such an easy thing to to attend and and hang out at.

So go, come check hang out with us.

If you could do that next weekend in Indianapolis.

If you are out here at Churchill Downs on Saturday, I always

tweet out where I'm hanging out three 2321 something like that.

I like to sit mid stretch upstairs here at Churchill.

Come get a free cigar from me. How about that?

Come hang out with your buddy Louis and we'll we'll chat

racing and do all those. That's two free cigars now, two

of them, one for Louis, one from being 1 from 1 from Caesar's.

I want that. That's right.

So they get, by the way, the ones at Caesars, they roll in

front of you. They do They're horseshoe.

Not not a bad deal. How about that?

So we'll be on the on the we'll be on the draw on Monday and

then of course, Friday simulcast will be and then Saturday, Mike

and I'll be up there doing the darn thing for producers.

I'm Louis Rebo, thanks to Caitlin Free for joining us here

on the Happy Hour. Happy Stephen Foster to everyone

who observes. And we will talk to you next

week ahead of the Indiana Derby. How about that?