KY Racing Spotlight 5/23/25 | Sean Collins

All right, welcome into a May 23rd edition of the Kentucky

Racing Spotlight with Louis Reubo.

Guess who? Louis Reubo with you this

Friday. Thanks so much for joining us

here on the program. We'll be joined today by my Co

host from Blood Horse Monday. His name is Sean Collins.

I wanted to have Sean on because I was thinking about the Derby.

I was thinking back to the work that he and I were doing

together around the Derby, whether it was Blood Horse

Monday that week or at the draw, what have you.

And I was trying to think of the person that worked the hardest

around Derby that I saw. And it is the name of Sean

Collins in the mornings getting sound, doing interviews, getting

video, whatever it might be. No one did more work around the

media side of things than Sean Collinson, might have been,

might have been Kevin Kirsten, of course, in the office over at

Churchill Downs, but certainly Sean amongst those who did the

hardest work, the longest hours, etcetera around Derby 151.

And so I wanted to have him on to discuss that.

Of course, he and I were together at Pimlico watching

journalism. Go ahead and wrap up the second

part, the second leg, if you will, of the Triple Crown,

hopefully setting up a rematch at Saratoga with him and

Sovereignty as well. We wanted to thank our friends

at DraftKings Horse, DK Horse, for hanging out with us on this

episode. The eyes of the horse racing

world. We're on Baltimore this last

weekend, but who will rise above the rest and be crowned king of

the track? Find out here on DK horse.

Make sure that you are cueded with us as well.

We welcome Sean in now from his apartment and Sean Good good

afternoon, my friend. I don't worry.

This isn't a video thing. This is purely an audio thing.

I just happened to be using stream yard for it.

But what will be on and and good afternoon.

Thanks for joining us here on what's called the Kentucky

Racing Spotlight. We'll ask you what it's like to

work with Louis Rouvo later in the episode.

But First off, you know, how did you get into horse racing?

We always like to ask the people on this show how it is that they

got into this grand sport of ours, whether it be a trainer or

a jockey, person who works in a front office, whatever it might

be, how they got into it. Because you're a kid from

Pennsylvania who's completely and hopelessly in love with the

Kentucky Derby. So how did you get into?

Well, first, good afternoon. And how did you get into?

Good afternoon. And now that I do work with

Louie Rabo, I might need to get out of horse racing.

We'll have to wait and see. We're done here.

Get out. We're done, I think.

I think if, if I, if they keep putting me with you all the

time. I think I've reached my peak and

now I'm on the downward slope. So I'll have to wait and see

there. But no, it was, you know, for me

growing up it was just a love of watching the horses run and the

big races on TVI remember the first Derby that I remember

watching was Smarty Jones in 2004 and then Barbaro 2 two

years later. You know, following his Triple

Crown when he got injured in the Preakness and then following his

recovery process. That just really made me fall in

love with him, which then made me fall in love with the sport.

Gradually Start learning more and more about it to the point

where you know, I was checking the newspaper every day to see

is there any live racing on national TV this week.

That's how I found the Breeders Cup, that's how I found the

Travers. And then eventually over time

found out that there's a fully TV station that's fully devoted

to showing horse races all the time.

First HRTV and then TVGI found and just started watching races

every single day when I got home from school and learned more and

more about it. Ended up coming out to the

University of Louisville to go to the equine business program

out here and I've been loving every minute of it.

I love the sport so much, I love the horses, I love the people in

it and there's nothing else I'd rather be doing in my life other

than not talking to you, Louis. Well, that part I understand

completely, but I do think it's why it's one of the reasons you

and I do work together well, is that we we don't have the same

last name as other people in this industry.

We had to kind of figure this out ourselves, right?

It's something that, you know, you're a blood horse.

You're not supposed to be a blood horse.

You know, I got these great. You know, I'm lucky I've got

these outlets to talk horse racing.

You know, historically, I think in the sport it was very much a

family thing, a generational thing.

I'll give a small example. You know, we go to Preakness,

but I got invited by Mike Poms. He's a kind man.

Country Life Farm just north of town, that's a family farm.

He's like third generation or something, you know, and that's,

you know, if you want to be part of that operation, certainly you

know, they're, they're hiring from outside of their family,

but you know, that is a it's a family operation.

Those guys get up at 4:00 AM everyday because it's a family

operation. You, my friend, get up at 4:00

AM because you're a sicko. That's very.

Good. Exactly.

I don't know how to stop myself. It's, I keep telling myself I'm

going to sleep in today and then I think about it and I'm like,

well, the horse that's going to work out today, what if he ends

up winning the Derby? Then I missed him and then I'll

be mad at myself in three weeks. So then I end up getting up and

I end up going in. So yeah, I'm, I'm crazy.

I don't recommend anybody have the same mindset that I do,

because then you're going to end up going to a lot more than you

should go to. But.

Hey, it's fun. We're having fun, we're getting

to meet, meet the horses, meet the people, and what could be

better than that? Derby 151 happens, sovereignty

wins, journalism runs second. It was a form full race, Sean,

in this this aspect where we said, hey, these 4-5 horses are

going to go to the front. They did these, you know, 5-6

horses are going to trail in, you know, they're going to try

to stalk. They did.

We're going to have a a a rash of late closers in that race and

we did the best closer 1. The best stalker finished

second. We got a great 5th place finish

from an Owen Almighty, we had a hanger on out of the Brad Cox

barn. You know all of the things by

Aza, who's a rising star in our sport, frankly, as far as

derbies go. And of course we get the first

good dolphin winner. I mean all the things as far as

derbies go. A pretty damn fine Derby, was it

not? Oh, yeah, That was an excellent

Derby this year. It's one of those derbies.

We've had a couple recently where, you know, we've not seen

the Derby winner come back and win another race where there's

been a lot of people who have questioned, you know, the

quality of the Kentucky Derby winner quality and maybe some of

the horses that finish in those top spots.

Obviously, we'll have to wait and see what ends up happening

over the next several months before we can make an official

decision. But it seems like this was, you

know, the first Derby in a couple years where we really had

the best horses run in the best positions.

I know you and I talked about on the Blood Horse Monday podcast

right after the race how it felt like the top 10 finishers in

this year's Derby were the top ten horses in the race.

And then the bottom 9 finishers were potentially the bottom nine

horses in the race. Maybe you switch out one or two,

but it seemed like the best horses ran their race and they

finished in those top spots. Maybe not in the exact same

order that you would rank them, but it seemed like the best

horses ran their race. It seemed like the horses that

were there just kind of be there ran like it and we'll see where

everybody kind of splits up and goes to next.

You know, I was talking with Matt Dinerman earlier today.

That's up at the Horse Racing Happy Hour platform right now if

anybody wants to find it. As is this show, as is Blessed

Horse Monday. You can find all of the stuff

that I work on over there. And Matt made a great point that

I hadn't thought about as far as our, you know, this ongoing sort

of debate about the Triple Crown and what the season should be

and how long and blah, blah, blah.

He made a great point that all of you know, leading to the

Derby, all of the three-year olds are on the same path.

Essentially they're in the same river, paddling along, going to

the same spot. And then a small group of them

are going to go to the Preakness.

A small group are going to go to the Belmont, A small group is

going to go to the mat win, a small group's going to end up in

the Haskell, a small group's going to go back to their home

track and turn into a Miller, etcetera.

Why do we lose sight of that, Sean?

Why do we lose sight of that in our sport that yes, it's a big

deal, the Kentucky Derby, But when horses come out of the

Breeders Cup in November and they run back in, say, January

or February, and they try something different or at a

lower level than the Breeders Cup, we don't freak out.

Why do we do that with the Kentucky Derby?

That's a good question. That just seems to be everybody

always has their opinions. I feel like, and a lot of people

like to be proven right and like to be proven wrong.

So they get really, oh, this horse shouldn't be in the Derby,

They shouldn't belong here. So then when they end up, you

know, running in listed stakes, going a mile at Gulfstream or

something like that, they're like, yeah, see, I told you this

horse wasn't any good. And it's like, well, no, that

horse is still running in stakes company.

He's still performing. Well, let's just.

He took a shot. They took a shot at the Derby.

They made it. They should take their shot and

then you reroute and figure out what they're gonna do the rest

of their career. You look at a horse this year

like flying Mohawk. Who?

You know, they took the shot at the Derby.

It didn't go too well. He probably wasn't a big fan of

the mud and the scenario that he ended up being in.

Now he's gonna reroute back to the turf.

They're gonna point for the Belmont Derby.

They're gonna get him back to what he wants to do.

You take your shot at the Derby and then you can readjust

afterwards. I think sometimes we overplay.

You know, there, there's been some examples of horses who were

really good going into the Derby and then they came out of the

Derby and ended up not having a very successful career.

And maybe it's just that they peaked too early and everybody

else caught up to them. And a lot of times people point

to those horses as being an example, oh, the Derby ruin

them. But then you also see plenty of

examples of the horses that run in the Derby, don't do well in

the Derby and then come back and have huge years.

You think domestic product last year and you think, you know,

you have those types of horses. And so, you know, I think after

the Derby, a lot of times people just, they go into the Derby

with such strong opinions that then when it looks like that

their Derby opinion is being proven right a year and a half

later, they're going to be noisy about it.

And so I, I just feel like they, yeah, it's, it's weird how we

kind of demote the rest of their career after that.

It's like, well, no, this is still a really good horse.

They took their shot and now they're going back to what they

should be doing. No, that's exactly right.

And there are exceptional examples of that.

Whitmore comes to mind, dead last in the Derby and then comes

back with Breeders' Cup race. In 2020.

They renamed the state forum at Oaklawn.

I've been told they're going to rename Oaklawn Park to Whitmore

Park. You know, all these kinds of

things. And so it's a no, but it's it's

own. Get it done there, man.

But no, the I, I, I'm with you there.

But it's, so the reason is, is a bunch of reasons, but the nuance

there is we, we really just love the Derby, right?

We want, we want that Derby winner.

We want to not just be right about who's wrong.

We want to be right about who's right too.

And so it is a, it's a fascinating exercise.

It's a reminder, too, that the money might be bigger at the

Breeders Cup and the entries might be a little better than

Derby weekend. But damn it, there's nothing

like the Kentucky Derby and there's nothing like winning on

Derby day and there's nothing like winning the damn Derby

itself. And so it is.

That's the kind of reminder we get every year with this

conversation. It also, though, that that river

analogy, I love it, Sean, because I think everyone thinks

if you go to to Louisville, the Top 14 finishers from that race

should just go to Baltimore. And it's just not.

It's just not how the world works.

It just isn't. Yeah, no, it's not.

And you see where, you know, you look at the Japanese, for

example, I feel like are kind of the perfect example for this

where if they end up winning the Derby, chances are they're not

going on to the Preakness of the Belmont.

They're going back home. It's like that's that's the race

people care about. That's the race that they want

to get in. And you look at a horse like,

oh, and almighty, where, you know, the distance is probably

too long. But the Kentucky Derby, who

knows if we'll have another shot at this.

We're going to take our shot. He ends up surprising people and

runs very well. Obviously there's horses on the

flip side of that that do the opposite where they take the

shot and they don't run very well.

But it's just it's one of those races where if you have a horse

that you can say is good enough to run in the Kentucky Derby, in

my opinion, it's more important for the horse, you know, the

kind of the horse's reputation to say that you ran in the

Derby. I think that has a huge thing to

do with it is just, you know, being able to say this horse was

good enough to get into the Derby.

We gave him the shot to run in the Kentucky Derby.

And you know that not every horse is cut out for that, which

is where you see you. Not all of them come back in the

Preakness. Not all of them come back in the

Belmont because that's just those longer distances on the

dirt at that level. It's just not what they want to

do. But you know the everybody's

going to have their opportunity in the Kentucky Derby, which I

think is part of what makes it fun because you do see the

horses that are the route courses, you do see the horses

that are the milers, you do see the horses that are the

sprinters. All take their shot, meet in one

big race and then they kind of disperse afterwards into

whichever divisions they're going towards.

Yeah, no, it's, it's a, it's a coming together of the different

styles. You're exactly right.

It's why when Travis Stone puts out his grid every year of front

runners, pressers, you know, stalkers, whatever, we look

forward to it every year because you're right.

It it is a rare meeting of that many different types of running

styles in one spot because #1 field size and #2 just you get

you, you just get those disparate, you know, different

types of running styles from around the country as well.

So it's just, it's a fun a, a, a fun, fun exercise once we do get

to Derby Saturday. Someone who qualified for the

Derby last year, Sean was a man named Larry Demeret.

And I know you got to spend time around him last year like I did,

his assistant Dante, all the guys in that operation, just I,

I posted a picture on, on Twitter after I heard that he

had passed away. And it's one that I just took

randomly Sean. And I know you know exactly

what's in the picture. It's a small man in a varsity

jacket with his name on it, and he's smiling and his his smile

is almost bigger than he is because it was always a little

bit bigger than he was. And it's how I'll remember Larry

getting emotional. Gosh, because he was just.

So you know how when you meet someone who's doing what they're

supposed to be doing, right, what they were made to be, that

was Larry. That was it that, you know, I

saw an interview with him a couple years ago and he said,

yeah, I won the I won the trainer title twice in the

Bahamas and I was like, I need to go.

I need to go do something more difficult for this.

He didn't win any training titles stateside.

He didn't, you know, he didn't light up the world over here.

But damn it, that smile was always with him.

And it was, it was poignant, frankly.

It was impossible to be around his operation and not smile

yourself. I mean, I think he quoted, he

was quoted as, you know, saying W Saratoga cost $11,000.

That's a lot of money. It's a lot of money to me, he

said, and what up? What?

Just what up? And he talked about his team and

he talked about, you know, of course he was first trader of

color in 35 years in the Derby. And he just talked about Dante.

He talked about the team and he said, look, I just don't want

this to be something that only happens every three decades or

what have you. And so I I've been caught off

guard this week, Sean, by my appreciation of Larry and I

didn't know how deep it was until unfortunately he was gone.

And so I regret not having expressed that to him.

But I will do my best to to tell Dante how I feel about the

entire operation over there, for sure.

But Larry, Deborah's story, maybe, or just an impression of

him, because I don't know that I have a great story.

It's just being around him with such a delight every single

time. Yeah.

It, it was a delay and I am so beyond thankful that I had the

chance to just for, you know, a short ended up what ended up

being kind of a short week. And then a few times I've seen

him afterwards, just having him be a presence in my life for

just a little bit. I remember the the first time I

met Larry, it was the day before West Saratoga was going to show

up for the Derby. And myself and Corey Mccroskey,

who was our video editor at the time, we were going to do a

video with Larry ahead of the Derby.

And so we were going to meet him there as they were setting up

the stall just to kind of talk about it.

And it was supposed to just be like a 5 minute kind of, you

know, just check in with him. We ended up standing back there

with him and Dante for probably about an hour or so and it was

just us talking about all sorts of thing, him telling us his

story, him telling us about, you know, all the, you know, that

always say doctors can't count 'cause they gave me 5 years to

live and then they gave me 6 months to live.

And that was over 20 years ago, so years ago and I'm still here.

And just the smile on his face and, you know, just hearing

about how he always dreamed of having a horse in the Derby and

the one another thing that always really the, the thing

that showed what kind of person he was.

You know, he's coming up on the biggest moment of his life.

He's got a horse in the Kentucky Derby.

I think it was the Tuesday before Derby.

I had my mom with me on the backstretch and I took her over

to see Larry and like introduced her and we talked for maybe 5-10

minutes. He talked with my mom, and then

I saw Larry in the track kitchen two days later.

And the first thing he asked when he saw me was, oh, is your

mom enjoying her trip? And so all it was going on, he

remembered that my mom was out here visiting the Kentucky

Derby, that she was excited to go to the race.

And he wanted to know, you know, if she was having a good time

and if she was having fun. That just kind of showed the

person that he was. I was very lucky.

I got to see Larry Derby Week this year for just a couple

minutes and kind of talked to him a little bit.

And yeah, I didn't, I didn't get to know him for too long.

I didn't get to talk to him too many times.

But every time it was such a pleasure.

And he, he, you could see just, he was thankful to be there and

he knew that what he was doing and what his message was that it

was having a larger impact on himself.

And I don't know if it really got covered as much, but just

the physical toll that being in the Derby took on him last year.

I know talking to Dante about it and you know all that, it's like

that. It took a lot out of him.

But he is still always was there with a big smile on his face,

always was there because he knew that he was inspiring other

people that were in a similar position.

And just what a man. And you know, I just, again, I

wish I could have known him for longer, but the little bit that

I didn't know him, he really left the lasting impact on me

and found a lot of other people. The thing with that operation,

it wasn't just diversity of of what people look like.

Dante's a West Virginia Kidman, right?

And it's a, you know it. So you get the behavement

trainer, you get Dante from whatever that West Virginia

culture is, man, like that's a that's a it's different there,

man. It's the West Virginia horse

culture is its own animal and it getting to be around Larry and

around Dante and around W Saratoga, just the the general

feel of the barn. Great horseman, really, really

interested in the sport and and the example and Larry, despite

being a smaller guy and and a smaller personality, frankly,

yes, you he could talk forever and all those things, but he was

he was quiet, right? He was, you know, and he was a

gentleman. I I think literally a gentleman

in the in the gentle sense. And and yet he knew he couldn't

hide from camera. So he always said yes, right,

And he didn't turn down interviews.

He did that work. He was willing to be that

person. He knew it didn't matter where W

Saratoga finished in the Derby. What what it meant for someone

who looked, you know, that had his skin color, that looked like

him to be in the Derby. It mattered.

And he knew that. And and he wasn't going to hide

from it. And he even said, I don't want

the next person to color to have to wait this long, right?

That shouldn't have to be what happens.

And that's why I'm trying to be an example for Dante, the rest

of the guys around here and yeah, just just a remarkable

person. And I, and I'll miss, I'll miss

seeing him around the track and, and hopefully if there was pain

associated with his life and those things, I, I'm, I would be

happy that that's over. But otherwise I'm really just

going to miss seeing, seeing Larry on the track.

But, but yeah, just what an incredible life, incredible

legacy that way. You and I were at the Preakness

this past weekend. Of course, the last races at Old

Hilltop. Lots of things going away,

unfortunately, but this one needs to go away.

It's, it's a renovation that needs to happen.

And I should stop using the term renovation.

This is a rebuild and. You and I both love going to

Pimlico. We both love the Preakness

weekend itself, going to Baltimore, Charm City, doing all

the things. Give me your top one or two

things that you're going to miss about Old Hilltop.

I've got I should actually write down.

We should do this as a We should do a Blood Horse Monday on.

That's what we're going to miss when New Hilltop opens, yeah.

I think it's a reasonable thing to do in a couple years here,

but what do you, what are you going to miss about old Hilltop

man? I got.

I got a bunch. You know, it, it's funny 'cause

it's, it's probably something that a lot of people in our

position are gonna say. But it's something that was

brand new to me as of two years ago 'cause I had never covered

the Preakness as a member of the media before then, even though I

had been to several it. It was just the atmosphere back

at the stakes bar in the morning.

Hopefully it's something that they can replicate and something

that they really make sure to keep at the at the new version.

But it's just the relaxed atmosphere, having everybody in

that one barn, you know, just being able to walk by and see

Bob Baffert and you and Lucas having a conversation together

'cause their horses are stapled right next to each other.

It's like those are the kind of things that makes it a lot of

fun. That was something that I had

been to six Preaknesses before I had joined the media, before I

joined Blood Horse, and now I've had two Preaknesses with Blood

Horse. And being able to have access to

that stakes barn has really made the Preakness an even better,

like an even better and more important experience for me to

be at every single year because of that.

Outside of that, you know, I just, I love the inside of that

grandstand. It's falling apart.

It looks old, but it's just the design of it is, you know, as

somebody who grew up always reading about racing history and

just having a love for that part of it, seeing like, you know,

the inside of a grandstand, the way they were always built and

in like the 40's, the 50's, the 60s, you know, kind of having

that old time feel. It's something that some of

these newer ones just don't have and I it's like I just love,

love the inside of that building.

One thing I will be happy to get rid of is the paddock.

I'm not a big fan. Of it but.

Otherwise like the inside of the grandstand where you can place

the bets, where you can sit and watch the simulcast.

I just always liked that area and I'm going to miss being

inside of there. Yeah, I'm going to miss the deco

art, I think as much as anything.

I love that 50s art, man of the of the horses on the walls and

and different places. I thought it was just great.

I will miss that crappy fake bar above the press box.

Oh yeah, because we did the shows there.

I think I did, gosh, 810 days of shows up there from the fake bar

up at the top of Pimlico. But the views for the press box

are just unbelievable. I mean undefeated in horse

racing and that. Press box is the press.

There's also just something about the tenor, the tone, the

energy of Pimlico. It's so friendly, it's so easy

going. It's such a nice juxtaposition,

Sean, two weeks after the Derby where it can be very stressful,

very busy, tons of people, swarms of people.

Frankly, you can walk around Pimlico and be comfortable in

those things. And it's my hope is long term

with Pimlico that all of the things we love about it are

actually intrinsic to Baltimore. They're intrinsic to Park

Heights, whatever, right? That they're intrinsic to that

area, that the culture around it, etcetera, rather than a, an

effect of the building or of the setup or what it might be.

And hopefully it's just the general, you know, sort of

feeling of Preakness. And as we look forward, by the

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dkhorse.com/bet/offers/details. We moved to the Belmont in a

couple of weeks gone, but I wanted to ask you about

something different because I think we're going to see and

there's going to be lots of conversation.

You and I are going to have the Belmont conversation a lot.

Good thing, bad thing for horse racing to see a Matt win stakes,

to see an Indiana Derby with the kind of purse that it has.

Do those things take away from the Triple Crown or do we need

those in supplements? We definitely need them for

sure, but it is interesting because you're looking at horses

this year like a Burnham Square, like a cold battle that like a

potentially a final gambit who you would think of being Belmont

quality that that are pointing. Yeah.

Is East Avenue definitely on Matt Wynn?

Because then yeah, him. I don't think he, I know he's

not going to the Belmont. I know that.

But I do think he's he's, he's a probable for the Matt Wynn.

But yeah, so you're looking at, you know, the Matt Wynn is going

to have like a good portion of the top finisher.

Yeah, it's going to, it's going to have a very solid field.

So it's interesting because it does feel like that's kind of, I

feel like this year that's more of a topic because I I don't

think you get the same pool of horses when the Belmont's a mile

and a half. I.

Agree. So you know, these horses that

are with the exception of maybe Burnham Square, it's like I

think these horses would be better suited for a mat win than

a mile and a half Belmont. But when it's a mile and a

quarter Belmont, it does kind of seem like that.

Maybe he's taken away a little bit from it.

But you know, at the end of the day, I don't I'm personally not

offended by that at all. I think these horses have the

right to take their shot and a race like the mat win, try to

get themself on track before races like the Haskell and the

Travers, those grade one events down the year.

Or they can go on that Midwest Derby scene with the Ohio Derby,

Indiana Derby, West Virginia Derby, maybe eventually turn

that into a grade one in the Pennsylvania Derby.

So, you know, just to show you how excited I am for the Matt

win, I'm going to be at the Belmont and then I'm flying out

early in the morning to make sure I'm back here in Kentucky

in time for the Matt win. So.

You know that that's the excitement level that that race

is pulling right now, which I definitely think is a good thing

for the sport. To be able to have a race the

day after that monster card at Belmont that's pulling people's

attention. I think that's definitely a good

thing. The exciting part for me about

the Belmont this year, and it's a weird thing to say #1

obviously I want that rematch between those two horses.

The number, the undercard on Belmont Day.

My goodness, we're already starting to see the works for

that and all the connections that have already shipped up

there to Saratoga. It feels, you know, because I I

I don't know how you are on this stuff, but I think of like the

10 best cards of the year and I always put Belmont day, man, it

might be top five, frankly, right.

I mean it's just one of those where, you know, the met miles

going to be awesome, the acorns going to be awesome.

There's a couple turfs stakes that are going to be fantastic.

I I think this year sets up in a way where we're going to get

that rematch. I think we'll have like a six or

seven horse Belmont. Hey, Sean, how many horses were

in the secretary of Belmont in 1973?

I think it was 5, right? OK.

So like we, we only care about field size ahead of the race.

We don't care about field size. After race, it's one of those

things too. You know what we talked about

these horses going to the mat when part of it might just be

because there is there does seem to be a strong belief both going

into the Derby and coming out of the Derby that sovereignty and

journalism and then maybe Baeza as well are kind of the clear

top horses in this division. So why for these horses that we

just mentioned that are going to the Matt win, your Burnham

Square, your final Gambit, your Coal Battle, your E Avenue,

you're already based at Churchill Downs.

Why ship all the way out to New York to run 4th and then when

you could win the Matt win stakes that the very next day?

So, but yeah, that undercard is going to, I mean that they're,

they're changing it up a little bit at Saratoga.

They're spreading it over a couple days.

So we're going to have a couple days of really nice races.

So a lot of those Saturday races are now on Friday, the Acorn,

the Ogden Phipps and a couple others.

And so I'm looking for, that's going to be a really big

weekend. I'm looking forward to it.

I can't wait. Yeah, that'll be a really,

really good one of the newer shooters in this series, Heart

of Otter Hill Rd. Rodriguez, that might show up in

Belmont. Do any of those get you going

especially? Rodriguez maybe if he's healthy

enough, if that foot is, is healthy.

The the speed in this race I don't think is there yet unless

somebody else decides to run in this.

You know, you look at if he can get the distance, if his foot is

healthy, You know Mike Smith is a top tier rider when it comes

to trying to slow down. He knows Saratoga.

Way he knows Saratoga very well, so I do think that he's probably

the most intriguing. I do think Heart of Honor is

going to run better here than he did in the Preakness, even

though I think he ran a sneaky I'll.

Totally find the Preakness. But I think being in the US for

longer, being more settled and now having an extra 16th, extra

16th will help him out. And if they're going slower at

the beginning because there's not a lot of pace and I like

that he's going to be a little bit closer potentially because

he's one that just does not get out of the gate all that well.

Hill Rd. We'll have to wait and see.

I've always kind of, I've liked him.

I don't know if I've always loved him in his races, but when

he ran as big as he did against the pace in the Breeders Cup,

that caught my attention and so I am interested to see how he

does here. I just think maybe he maybe he's

a step below here. I'm starting to think those the

top 2 year olds of last year when it came to the Breeders

Cup, or maybe just a step below where the top three-year olds

are right now, but we'll have to wait and see.

And that's pretty common, by the way, right.

That's pretty typical that, you know, if you're great in the

fall of your two year old year, no guarantees of your spring

year, 3 year old year. So that's not a a hot take at

all or a surprising outcome of any of those things.

Frankly, we didn't really know who journalism was until the low

S fraternity in late December. So it's always there's always a

way to give us some of these things.

Couple more weeks of of Churchill.

You're going to be spending a fair amount of time at Saratoga

this summer, but Ellis Park bumps its maidens to 100K and

we're talking about a 2 year old program at Saratoga.

That is, we know what it is and we're never, I'm not in the

business of putting it down because I'm not going to do

that. It's, it would be a silly thing

to do. How, how long are we from or is

it just it going to take a couple of horses, maybe this

year, next year, whatever from that Ellis Park program,

everyone going oh, OK, that's what we're doing.

I don't think it's going to take long at all because you're

starting to see, and I mean, you saw it last year, you know,

trainers like Brendan Walsh, trainers like Brad Cox that are

starting to use Ellis as kind of a launching point for some of

these top 2 year olds that they have.

It's, it's going to be I think very quickly where it is going

to kind of turn into that spot where, you know, these Kentucky

trainers are keeping them there rather than shipping them out to

Saratoga. If it's not already going to be

at that point this year. I definitely think that's going

to be something that's in the future, you know, and that's,

that's exciting for the state of Kentucky.

We're really starting to see where this is becoming, you

know, with Turfway Park now starting to see more of the top

trainers, keep some of the better horses here during the

winter. You're really starting to see

where this is turning into that year round major circuit, which

I think obviously is a great thing for the state.

And it's it's an exciting, exciting time to be in Kentucky

right now. You know, where's the first

money's not better anywhere else.

Where can you get the first money you're running for here?

And you know, it's the it's always been the top state when

it comes to breeding. So why not make it the top state

when it comes to racing? Hey, Sean Collins, you can hear

him every Monday on Blood Horse Monday.

Does a yeoman's amount of our work there on the interview side

of things. Hopefully that'll start to calm

down for him as we get away from some of these Triple Crown

races. But of course, catch him at

bloodhorse.com as well for all of the good work he's doing over

there. Sean, thank you so much for

jumping on the Kentucky Racing Spotlight.

We appreciate you, buddy. Yep, thanks for having me.

Sean Collins here with us on the spotlight show presented of

course by TK Horse, but always by our friends at the Kentucky

HBPAKYHBP a.com. Go in and check out the website

today. Great articles and videos and

photographs from around the state.

All the great interviews as well of the people that make our

great state go our great sport go here in the state of

Kentucky. Well, I'm Louis Rabo.

This has been the Kentucky Racing spotlight for May 23rd,

2025. Good luck with your wagers this

weekend. And of course, hey, keep a

Bluegrass.