KY Downs Saturday w/ Anthony Pascale

You are listening to Rebo and Co here on ESPN 681057.

Now here's Louis Rebo. James Madison in town to play

Louisville today. We've got coverage started on

93.9 at 3:00. Mark Ennis on the 1020 pregame

show with our friends at 10:20 Brewery, broadcasting live from

Allen and Cardinals Stadium. Of course.

Network coverage starts at 5:30, 10-30 ish.

You'll get the post game show also presented by our friends at

10:20 Brewery with our guy Mark Ennis as well.

Tons and tons of coverage for you today as part of that

matchup. Dukes and Cardinals going at L&N

Cardinal Stadium tonight. We welcome in our buddy Anthony

Pascal, Third, third appearance on the show already.

How about that? We call that a hat trick in some

spots. Anthony, how are you this

morning? Louis, it's good to be with you

this morning. I just sorry that it's not in

person. I mean, I've been running into

you. You are everywhere.

I thought I traveled a lot. I think you go, you pop up.

I I'm a busy man for sure. I go where they pay me,

essentially. Anthony, I'm not different than

you that way, I'm sure. So they that's not different

that way. Wherever the checks come from is

where obviously. Yeah, that's right.

Yeah, and we're used to the suitcases and, and the car rides

and the plane rides, Yeah. I always tell my wife, you know,

the good news is if I'm going somewhere, I'm going to get

money. Like that's the good news.

Like if I have a meeting somewhere or whatever else it is

about my my gainful employment. So at least we have those things

going at FanDuel Anthony for his Twitter account there.

He's down at Kentucky Downs this weekend.

How have you taken in the meet? I have you done Kentucky Downs

before? I cannot.

I can never remember your timeline.

My sight says this is your second year there.

Yes. This is my second year, yeah, I

started at FanDuel last, so I Kentucky Downs was last year my

first few days. And then this is my first full

meet though, so I've been here since the opening day as well.

And my impressions are exactly what my options were last year.

This place is tough to make a good score, but you, you know,

but it's hard to be consistent. It's hard to pick consistent

winners at this track. And I think the thing that you

have to remember is you can't get discouraged because you

could lose 5-6 races in a row, but that next race, I mean, that

happened to me yesterday. My opinion was not good for the

first few races. And then one of my stronger

opinions hit and I was able to connect and it wound up of being

a winning day. But Kentucky, that's why I like

Kentucky downs. You only really have to be right

once or twice a day. I placed a place show bet on

Race 4 yesterday that played. It paid for my whole day because

a hurdles horse came in and I liked them.

There you go. I mean, it's like, that's

exactly right. And you're going to get you're

going to get long shots. I mean, the greatest thing about

Kentucky Downs is the field size.

You have 1012 horses. And in some of these races, you

could automatically cross out, you know, three or four horses

been finding, but you can also find horses that make sense that

are 2030 to 1. And yeah, they may not win, but

if you can get them in the exact of the try or the Super, you can

make a nice little slower. That's what that's that's how I

play this track. I, I, I've been shying away from

the the pick five and because I just feel like to be able to

connect 5-6 in a row at this place is very difficult.

I'm with the pick threes, the double S and I try to stay in

race with tries and supers too. Yeah, there are so many times

there that it's, it's over $1000 to one on a double or something.

You know, if you want to, you know, if you have, you know,

strong opinions that way. Play 3 horse in the first race,

3 horse in the second race. Try to figure it out.

Yeah, I'm with you, man. I had lots of different ways to

play. Just keep filling the gates and

we'll we'll keep showing up. Anthony Pascal down at Kentucky

Downs, He'll be part of the coverage there on Saturday for

FanDuel Racing as well. Look, a lot of you know, graded

stakes and, and this sort of, you know, big heart on Saturday.

Do you, do you find yourself on, on these days with these

$2,000,000 races? Do you just kind of have to put

it out of your mind that you're covering Breeders' Cup type

purses and just, you know, drill in like these are, I don't want

to call them high level allowances, but you know, these

are grade twos or grade threes like like at any other track

where they'd be running for like 250 something like that.

Yeah, I mean, I don't really pay attention that much to the to

the purse total in terms of my handy tapping because here I

just don't think it means a whole lot.

I mean, yeah, great for the connections of the.

But you know, just because they're huge purses, it doesn't

mean that we're seeing all grade one type horses in here.

And and that's fine. I mean, I've seen some people

kind of be a little negative that that these kinds of horses

are running for all this money and from a handicapper

standpoint, from a gambler standpoint, who the heck cares?

I. Agree I.

Think big. We're getting big fields and

we're getting quality horses. OK, so maybe these aren't grade

one type horses that are running for two and a half, $1,000,000.

But what would you made one race with five horses, and two of

them are entered just to make the race go.

Yeah, No, that's exactly right. He's Anthony Pascal down there.

Kentucky Downs. Let's get into some of those

races tomorrow. Is there a race in particular

that you are looking forward to there?

We we could spend an hour and a half talking about these races.

So is there one in particular that you're looking forward?

To let's talk about race #7 which is the mint millions.

Yep, Goliad is going to take a lot of money.

Horse just seems to love Kentucky Downs.

This was the horse last year that came to Kentucky Downs, won

a race, and then Richard Mandela entered him five days, five or

seven days later in another race and during the meet and won

again. So Goliad starts from the rail,

he's going to take money. He comes into the race, sort of

looks like he'd laughed and that's not in good form.

But when he got here, he turned into a different animal.

We added five to one on the morning line I thought was a

horse that certainly made sense just off the he loves it here.

But in that race, I'm also going to give you a long shot because

I think the 11 Epic ride, who's 15 to one on the morning line is

really going to run well for trainer John Ennis.

And I talked to John Ennis a few days ago here at Kentucky Down.

He's really excited to get this horse back on the track here.

I think this horse with the with good tactical speed.

If Goliad for some reason doesn't fire a big shot from the

inside, epic rides going to find himself in a really good spot

and he's proven at this distance before, he's run well at it

before. He's going to be a good price

and this is a really nice horse with that good tactical speed.

I think he's a player in here. John Ennis, of course, local guy

here in Kentucky. The horse did run second in the

turf 1,000,000 preview at Ellis Park leading into this one.

That is the 11 epic ride. I think.

Brilliant birdies. Really interesting in here for

Brian Hernandez Junior, the seven horse.

I don't think we'll get anywhere near 8 to 1, but this horse did

win the gun runner, which is the non Derby Derby that will run

tomorrow as well. Last year and interested to see

him back at this course here. A little bit better than he was

last year. Of course, last three races all

in stakes company, first, second and first, including the wise

Dan at the end of June at Churchill Downs.

Interested to see him a little bit of time off here.

I think it makes a lot of sense frankly, for him to land in the

spot. Talking with Anthony Pascal from

from FanDuel, FanDuel Anthony on the socials.

Any other races later on? I think this Music City, which

is race nine grade 2 here, 2,000,000 bucks on the line, 6

1/2 on the Philly side of things.

Essentially, you know the the three-year old Philly race on

the card to beat. He's really interesting, but we

get that kill win. She's so spicy match up in here

too. This is just a race, frankly,

Anthony, as far as just races go that I'm really looking forward

to just the match up here. Yeah, I mean, these are some

really, really talented sprinters.

She's so spicy is going to take a lot of money.

She's 3 to one on the morning line.

But I got to tell you, Louis does.

She's so spicy. Want to go 6 1/2 furlongs?

I think not. And remember, this is a turf

course that plays, you know, at 6 1/2.

It plays more like at least 7. So I just don't see she's so

spicy getting this distant other speed in the race, I mean, or

when she. Hey, Zach, do me a favor, go

ahead and call Anthony back. We'll try to get this phone

cleaned up. I'll text him too and just go.

Hey, we're going to call you back.

Anthony, your phone's a little little foggy on us.

Are you down to Franklin by chance?

Is that what's going? On I, I, Yeah, I'm actually in

the barn area right now. Is it not clear?

OK. Now you're better.

There we go. OK, that worked out better.

OK. Sorry.

Yeah. So she's so spicy.

She's. He is going to get a ton of

money. You're totally right about that.

And you're right, the 6 1/2 does play frankly.

More like 7 1/2 frankly. Yeah, I just, I, I don't see her

getting the distance. I really don't Kill win, you

know, is obviously a very, very nice horse.

She comes in off that grade one win at Saratoga on the dirt.

Now she's going back to the turf.

I wonder if those two tough races at Saratoga maybe have

taken a little steam out of her. I don't know.

We'll see. I think the European shipper to

BD you mentioned is going to be very tough.

Ralph Beckett, the trainer, has won a Breeders' Cup here in the

US You get Frankie Dettori, who as of, I'm not sure if Jose

surpassed him yesterday. He may have.

But you know, Frankie's been riding this course.

Yeah, as good as anyone. And with that European forum, I

think he's a great 3 winner over there.

He's going to be tough in here, yeah.

Classic. I think classic you'll be

interesting too. Flapping practice amount.

He was damn near perfect yesterday.

It smelled yesterday. So classic you in that one as

well. three-year old daughter of classic empire name that we

don't hear too terribly often in a turf Sprint.

But certainly she showed herself well in both the wild the the

wild applause and the Lake George.

Do you like horses? You know, kind of cutting back

in distance here. We most recently saw her at a

mile, mile and a 16th in the sixth and a half.

Going to work for her, you think?

Absolutely. I mean, at this track

specifically, the cutbacks are always, they're lethal.

So classic Q on the cutback. I think it's definitely a horse

that you can keep, that you can keep your eye on.

The great one on the card tomorrow is the Franklin

Simpson, the three-year old cult version of the Music City that

we just talked about. 6 1/2 sprinton 2,000,000 bucks on the

line here. Anthony.

I called this the Franklin. Good freaking luck, Simpson,

because I I really don't know who to land on in this spot.

Feels like a pretty wide open race here.

I did land on Dream On and here's why.

Dream on a break from the floor. Javier Castellano keeps the

mount. Was in the Secretariat last time

going a mile at Colonial and that is A1 turn mile.

I like the horses coming out of that.

But before that, did some closing and yielding go at Penn

or excuse me at yeah, at Penn, at Penn National in the Penn

mile. And I just, I'd love a horse

that's willing to fight through those kinds of conditions and

frankly is going to have to overcome adversity.

That's what Kentucky Downs is. It's got just adversity all the

time, Right. You turn to left, you turn to

right, going uphill, downhill, etcetera.

So dream on. I landed on there, the four

horse in at race 10 to Grade 1, Franklin Simpson here.

What would you land on in the race time?

I went with a horse who's proven over this turf course that's

Chasing Liberty for Manny Franco and Rob Actress.

This horse won or won a race here at Kentucky Downs last

year. Now granted was second across

the wire but was elevated to 1st be a DQ but he was interfered

with and this is a horse who I spoke to Rob actress recently

and he said the horse is doing very, very well.

We know the horse likes Kentucky Downs.

So I'm looking for a big effort from chasing Liberty on Saturday

and a long shot in there that I wouldn't totally dismiss.

Golden afternoon. The one is 20 to one on the

morning line for Nick Baca. Reza, this is another horse

who's run well here at Kentucky Downs before and how about that

Jose Ortiz lands here. I think you always have to pay

attention to where these top jockeys land and if they end up

on a horse that's a big price like this, I think you have to

give them a little bit more attention.

Golden Afternoon has speed figures that fit in this race

and Louis, you mentioned it, this is a wide open race so you

may want to take a shot with a bigger price.

Golden Afternoon of course tried the Transylvania and the

American turf at Keeneland and Churchill this year coming out

of the fairgrounds prior to that, as Anthony mentioned, did

break his maiden down there at Kentucky Downs last year.

Race elevens the Turf Cup are going a mile and 1/2 are

actually starting a little bit behind the the finish line

there. This is another one here Anthony

two and a half million bucks on the line by the way, a grade 2-3

and up going that mile and 1/2 that I think you if you wanted

to make the case for us a fair number of horses in here, I

think they would be totally reasonable if you wanted to go

back to say an Anglophile breaking from the 9 hole here

who's had success here before. If you wanted to lean on a Fort

Washington who's always knocking on the door and he is always

part of the equation. And frankly, when we talk about

two turn turf races, when we talk about distance races, how

often do we just throw in a horse that we know is going to

be part of the equation at the end, right?

And that is certainly a Fort Washington.

I've heard good cases this week for corruption, for Mercanti.

I think Devan Propo on the inside with Frankie Dettori

getting them out for Sappy is interesting.

Where did you land here at the Turf Cup?

This was almost an all race for me if I was playing multi race

wagers. This was the one race where I

really felt like I had trouble Xing out anyone.

I thought this race was wide open and partly because there

are a couple horses in here who I've played and played and

played and I just can't get them home.

Anglophile is one of them is just disappointed me.

I love Utah Beach, the seven last time out at Saratoga I

thought he got a great trip behind a hot pace and just just

couldn't feel the deal. He wouldn't shock me though

either. Mercanti, I just love the story

with this horse. I think you and I have talked

about this horse before and he just consistently fires big

shots. So I think Mercanti is the worst

most likely to get in the number.

He does have to prove himself at Kentucky Downs.

My fear about Fort Washington is was the last time the time with

him obviously won the Arlington million last time.

And you know, I don't play horses to repeat efforts time

and time again. Sometimes when they when when

they run big, sometimes they it takes a little something out of

them and and they need a little break.

This horse is coming back off that big effort.

And if he's going to be the favorite, those are the kinds of

horses that that I often try to beat.

I'm actually taking the 2nd place horse in that race,

Grandson, not on top. So there you go.

That makes makes sense to me. He was also very good in the

United Nations and so hopefully this will be his breakthrough

with Tyler aboard. Well, he'll be on TV.

You will see him there at Kentucky Downs as part of that

huge day tomorrow. His name is Anthony Pascal at

FanDuel Anthony on the socials. Anthony, we have really enjoyed

your your contributions to the show.

Please don't be a stranger. We'll talk to you soon.

Absolutely, and hopefully I'll see you at the track this

weekend. I'm sure you will.

He's Anthony Pascal. There you go.

That's what I did another trip, Zach.

That's that's what Louis needs more more driving around the

state of Kentucky. I do know a lot about the state

now it's a it's a thing. I know where Bucky's is.

How about that? You're we got a problem.

Bucky's guy, huh? I've never been, but I know

where it is. We could talk about that.

You should go. We've got a problem with Lucy.

We'll do that in a minute. But again at Kentucky Downs,

massive fields and look throughout a historic 12 race

card on Saturday. More than $14 million up for

grabs at the Franklin, KY track. 6 stakes races, 2,000,000 bucks

or more each. All told tomorrow, the richest

day in Kentucky Downs history. Total purses are second only to

the Breeders Cup Saturday, so over the seven days of this

meet, 18 stakes races with purses totaling up to $30

million. Fourteen and a half of it comes

from the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund, the KTDF.

Tomorrow, six stakes races with purses reaching $2,000,000 or

more and thanks to purse supplements from the KTDF in

support of Kentucky bred horses. If you want some tickets, check

them out right now. The Mint Kentucky Down The Mint

kentuckydowns.com/tickets The mint kentuckydowns.com for

everything on their website. Get a real sense of the

property. There General admission,

parking, tailgating are free. When you come off the highway

there you will turn left off the highway the heat the tracks on

the right go past the hotel. Go to the far part of the

parking lot. That's where the general

admission is. Easy spot at the top of the home

stretch there. The Mint. kentuckydowns.com.