Matt Dinerman – Haskell Preview Day ’24

Let's not make him wait any longer.

Friend of the show and friend of mine, his name is Matt Dennerman

joins us from New Jersey. Things I never said, thought I

would say out loud. He is the track announcer at

Monmouth Park. Matt, my gosh, man, what a

whirlwind of a year for you. How are you doing?

Hi, Louie. Good to be on with you.

Yeah, it's been quite a whirlwind, but it's been

exciting and, you know, very lucky to be given some great

opportunities. Here we are in Monmouth Park,

New Jersey, Oceanport, and we're looking forward to a really good

weekend. Everything's good.

How are you doing? I'm doing great.

You are a spoiled man. Now you're in two spots that

really care about horse racing, which is fantastic.

Let's do this real quick. Let's look back your first

season at Oak Lawn Park. Obviously you've got the killer

apartment on the water there. I don't know what your digs are

in in New Jersey, but just the the move east of the Rockies for

the first time in your life. If people don't know Matt, was

Matt born and raised in San Diego, grew up going to Del Mar

and then I was the track announcer in the Bay Area at

Golden Gate Fields for many years.

You make the move though, to to Oakland Park, get to call that

grade one in the Arkansas Derby. What was that year like?

Oh, it was a lot of fun. I mean, obviously when you go

there, you're you're sort of sitting there thinking, OK,

how's this going to be because you're going to a whole new

place going from California to Arkansas.

But the people are fantastic. You definitely feel that

Southern hospitality in Hot Springs, AR and people love

their racing. Like you said, you know, you go

around the restaurants, TV GS on FanDuel TV, people know who you

are. People talk to you about the

horses they like the day prior. They tell you about the horses

they like tomorrow, talk about race.

It's always full of people, you know, the Hot Springs Grandstand

and it's just a fun time. It's like if you're a racing

person and you're in that town, then that's a good town for you

because people really celebrate racing all season long.

Matt Dennerman with us at Three Colts Handicap on Twitter.

You can go find all of his stuff there.

He'll be calling that late pick for all stakes leading it.

It's essentially Haskell preview day.

So getting ready for the Haskell next month.

Matt, I'm like 90% I'm going to be at the Haskell.

How about that? 90%, that's pretty good, which

is a much higher percentage than the storms that are supposed to

come in this evening. What?

Yeah. What are you seeing on the every

track announcer is a bit of a weatherman.

Do you think the track I assume everything will be OK by

tomorrow? Well, I think it's hard to say

unfortunately, because it says here on the weather app, you

know, we've got 4030 to 70% chance of rain overnight, but

that's only going to be for five or six hours.

And on top of that, I know I was talking to Brad Thomas, our on

track handicapper here, and he noted to me that the designers

of the turf course built this, designing it like a golf course,

which means that it drains as fast as anywhere in the country,

maybe even in the world when it gets wet.

So I don't really know. I, I would think those stakes

races would stay on the turf at the very least if we could.

It just all depends on the rain and how it drains.

But it does tend to drain pretty fast here on both surfaces.

So that is a positive if we do get the wet weather.

There you go, Matt Dennerman with us.

He calls the races at Monmouth Park, including Haskell Preview

Day. Tomorrow the Eatontown Stakes

kicks off that late pick four. By the way, if people don't play

Monmouth very often, takeout rates are the same on the pick

fives as they are on the pick four.

Very playable percentage there. And so we'll talk about that

pick 4 winning in for the matchmaker next month.

Phillies and Bears 3 and up going a mile and a 16th out of

that turf chute. Frankly, a familiar look for you

having come from Golden Gate Fields.

Is there one? Is there a stand out in this

field here? I think this is a a really fat

look. I'll be honest, if you told me

any of about 25 horses was going to win a race during this pick

four, I'd probably believe you. I think it's that wide open.

I do as well. I think this is a really

competitive race and I think the morning line indicates that

three to one on the morning lines for the favorite Sacred

wish of the morning line favorites.

I just noticed there's a lot of speed in this race, which is

interesting because you don't always see that, especially in

East Coast turf racing and quality races.

You get a lot of horses that are sort of stock and pouncer, sit

back, make a run, finish strong. That's sort of how they train.

That's what they emphasize here. Not nearly as quick as the West

Coast racing, which is a little bit like dirt, which is like

we're going to show our speed if we haven't.

But there's a good amount of pace in here.

So I think it's a pretty competitive race.

Is there a stand out here? There's no standout.

No, I mean, I I pick mom on June, who I thought was very

impressive, could have won by more last time.

I don't think he's the best feeling in the race.

She's lightly race, but she's going to get a pace and I think

there's upside for Triner, Chad Brown and I'm going to pick her.

But there is no standout in here.

Yeah, Mom, on June the 9th there in race 9:00.

Tomorrow we're talking to Matt Dinnerman here on ESPN 680-1057,

Easy track announcer at Monmouth Park.

The Pegasus is up next, and this is the preview of the preview.

This is a winning in for the Haskell Stakes.

I always wanted to ask someone like Matt Dennerman who grew up

on the West Coast. You know, there's a lot of, you

know, in Southern California, for example, at LaSalle, a lot

of trials on the quarter horse side, right?

The fastest horse simply makes the next field, that kind of

thing. I love Haskell preview day.

I wish we did more of this in thoroughbred racing where there

were winning in type races. I like it on the Maryland

circuit ahead of the Preakness, for example.

Do you like this kind of setup? I do.

I think it's really fun. I think not only is it sort of a

a path that easily horsemen can identify and say, OK, we're

going to run in this race. It's going to set up perfect for

that race over here. So it's really sets up horses to

be in the big show when the big show arrives.

But it also is a big day for fans.

It's a big day for the track. You get people tuning in and

exposes racing. I think it's a very much a

positive and these are the types of days that people are going to

tune into and if we didn't have one of these, that's just one

less big day at a track like Monmouth, so why not have it?

He's not the favorite, but there is a Kentucky Derby 150 alum in

here in the seven domestic product.

He won the Tampa Bay Derby back in March to qualify for the

Kentucky Derby. Flavi and Pratt coming down for

the day. I made a joke on the happy hour

last night, Matt, that I'm going to play a $2.00 pick for with

just Pratt in the four races because if he does that, then I

don't want to miss out on it and I'll put my normal ticket

together. Otherwise.

Do you have domestic product on top of this field?

I don't. I mean, I think he's a decent

horse, but I think he's very unbeatable.

I picked the New Jersey bread to see straight who first time

going two turns last time, with the exception of the Holy Ball

where he just didn't fire that day and had a bad trip but

probably wasn't going to win anyway.

I think this horse is just really taking a step forward.

Finished second. The Knightsbridge, who we all

know he's on the sidelines now, but he's a monster and last time

you didn't beat anything. But the way he did it indicates

this horse just is really doing well.

He has a couple of bullet works leading up to this race.

I think it's a fun race. I think there are some horses

with some promise that could really have a say later on down

the road and maybe some grade threes or grade two.

It's not a grade one type of field, but on the same token, I

think C St. is facing a field that based on his last race, if

he can run something close to it then he's got a shot to beat

this field here. Not necessarily a Haskell pick,

but definitely a Pegasus pick for me.

Yeah. And and like we talked about

with some of these setup races, because of the nature of them,

we get both the the Kentucky Derby alum and a horse like C

Streak that's on the way up, right.

And so that sets up a nice, you know, hey, it didn't work out on

this path for grade ones and whatever else.

But hey, let's go try, you know, something like the Pegasus

leading into the Haskell as well.

So go ahead. Absolutely, yeah.

And I think, I think, you know, when you look at this field,

it's very much what you indicated, which is these are

not the top quality three-year olds that we saw in the Triple

Crown trail. These are hey, you know, maybe

they had some success early in their careers.

Maybe they're horses that are on the improve and they're sort of

The Inbetweeners. So a race like this, if they run

well in it, maybe it gets their confidence up.

Maybe they're going in the right direction with a horse like C

Streak around the contrary, maybe you've got a horse like

domestic Product or Tuscan Sky, which have not run well in their

last start, trying to get that confidence booster back.

It really sets them up for when they need to a it's time to take

a step forward to see really what they're made of and if they

can run against the best. With us at Three Colts Handicap

on Twitter, you can go find him there.

He'll call the races tomorrow at Monmouth Park.

This is Louis Rebel Rebel and Co ESPN 681057 taking you up until

noon. The Monmouth is a Grade 3 turf

race here using all of that shoot in the middle, Milan and

eighth or three-year olds and up another $150,000 race here as

well. Excuse me, Some horses that if

you follow turf racing east of the Rockies, you probably know

the names Beatbox, Public Sector, Grand Sonata, Siege of

Boston, Adamo's in this race. Tawny Port, people will

remember. Is Tawny Port going to run at

Monmouth or at Churchill tomorrow, do you know?

I haven't heard anything but he has been training at Belmont so

it certainly would be a shorter shift to go from Belmont to

Monmouth and this is an easier field out be at.

The Kentucky race is worth a little more money, but

Christophe Clements already got another horse in there as well

so I would lean towards running at Monmouth here.

That'd be my guess. And Tawny Park coming out of

that man of war at Aqueduct, not his best, but before that ran

really well in the Pan American and Maxi Armada at at Gulfstream

Park. Does he stand out in this field

or is this just another one of those good luck and throw a dart

kind of races? Because that's kind of how I

felt last night. Yeah, I mean, he's not a

standout by any means. He's still one of the top picks

for being here and I'm leaning towards him right now.

There are quite a few horses and I'm sort of thinking about, but

he's not a standout. There aren't any standouts in

this race. Very competitive.

Good race, yeah. Running B on the outside.

Vincent Schemineau getting a lot more run this year at at

Monmouth. And I remember in the past, does

he stand out on turf more than on dirt, Anything like that?

Well, he's getting a lot of turf opportunities and he's actually

getting minimal rides on the dirt.

So I mean, we've we've seen this before.

We've seen it. Rich for Spoley and Pratt where

early on they came here and folks would say things like, oh,

well, they're better on the turf.

And maybe that's the case very early on because they're coming

from countries that only raced on turf.

But I, I think that's a little bit of an overuse statement for

overseas riders. I think that any good rider can

adapt to any surface. And I think Vincent Cheminot is

a very good jockey and he he's doing just fine.

And he's remembering he, he is written in Kentucky.

So it's, it's not like this guy has never ridden on a dirt horse

before. So even though a lot of people

are using him for the turf, understandably so, I think that

I'm sure he'd be just fine if he gave him a live mound on the

dirt. You know, I haven't gone

through, but I just did. Do you know the combined number

of wins this year for the nine horses running in the Grade 3

Monmouth? Tomorrow is 2.

Really. Yeah, I mean.

I mean, it's just one of those races, man.

Yeah, but a lot of hitting the board just, you know, just

haven't broken through yet. Well, I guess it's it's sort of

going back to the conversation in the Pegasus.

In this race, it's a little bit different.

You've got older experienced horses.

They have a lot of experience and, and this is a good point to

OK, you know, we want to get a win with these horses.

Our horses are obviously solid in this race, but they're

running against tougher company. They're not getting the job

done. We've got a graded stake at

Monmouth. Let's put them in and maybe

it'll get their confidence up, maybe they'll run well.

Maybe it's the when they need to go back in the right direction.

So it's it's interesting in that respect.

But again, you said there's not a lot of 2024 winners in this

race, but you look at their collective records, you look at

who they've run against, where they've run, and it's actually a

very impressive roster. Yeah, no, that's exactly right.

Matt Dinnerman with us will be calling the races at Monmouth

Park tomorrow. That is a winning in for the

United Nations, which is one of my two or three favorite turf

races all year. If I make it to Monmouth for

Haskell Day, can I be in the booth for the United Nations?

Is that a thing we can make happen?

Ah, to be honest, I don't know. It depends.

It's just all depends. It's just all depends because

we've, there's a lot of things going on that day.

I might be able to have you up early in the car. the United

Nations, not sure about that, but we'll fit.

We'll figure it. Outlook at me making impossible

tasks in front of the listening audience here of Matt Denver.

But he would not lie to the people.

You hear that, Zach Petrelli, understand me?

Matt Denneman, not going to lie to the people.

He'll be called the races at Monmouth tomorrow.

The closer is the Salvatore Mile.

Sneaky good race here. Bright Future comes back off the

layoff out of the Breeders Cup Classic $150,000.

We're back on the dirt for this one, Matt.

Feels like a pretty simple race to me.

Either you like Bright Future or you try to beat him.

That's right. And I know there are signs that

maybe this horse is going a little bit short today, going a

mile. This is a comeback race.

They're not looking to win the the the Salvador Mile this year.

They're looking to win bigger races than that.

But he just appears a notch or two better than these.

And the fact of the matter is Todd Pletcher is very good off

of layoffs. This horse, I agree with a lot

of people, probably wants a little more ground.

But this is not a stellar cast of characters when you look and

compare them to who Bright Futures run against and what

kind of races he's done well in. So I think Bright Future is

going to be ready today. OK, Does Todd Pletcher need to

have him 100%? Probably not.

But if he's 8590% and he runs a decent enough race for him, he's

probably going to be tough in this race.

So I'm not going to try to beat him.

I think he'll be very difficult to beat.

If someone's betting Monmouth tomorrow for the first time or

they're going to be watching for the first time, what would you

suggest they look for as they watch the telecast tomorrow?

Well, I, I would suggest that you want to look at the turf

races and how the tracks playing there.

We've seen some obvious biases as time has gone on with the

turf Force, for example, going 5 1/2 out of the turf shoot inside

speed generally as a little bit of an edge.

I think the dirt track has been very fair this meet and it's

continued that whole way. It was fair opening week.

It's continued that way, but interestingly enough when the

rails are out and that will have the rails out at 12 feet on

Sunday, on Saturday it's going to be 0.

But people think well when the rails are out that favors speed.

Well, actually at Monmouth interestingly and Brad Thomas,

our track handicappers been big on the track bias as he noted

it, we've seen a lot of off the pace horses wins.

So when the rails are in tomorrow, we haven't seen them

all the way in at 0 yet until this afternoon.

So I would say the dirt track has been very fair.

Typically the sprints play a little more towards speed, but

for the most part it's been very, very fair.

So the turf is what you're going to want to look at and that

that's really how it is. Matt, I'm going to get you out

of here on this. And, and it's not an easy

question to ask you about, but I, I, when I met you years ago

doing the podcast, you were the guy at Golden Gate Fields.

And I feel like we were probably the only podcast calling you to

do interviews of this sort of stuff.

And, and we, we really have formed a really nice bond over

this medium. And we, we got to know Golden

Gate Fields. We got to enjoy watching it and

wagering on it and doing those things.

And obviously, they ran their last races there on Sunday.

And you were a guy that was there.

You were on the backstretch, you know, on the backside, I should

say, excuse me, meeting trainers, hanging out with the

horses, calling the races there. Frankly, you were the face of

that place for a couple of years as far as the broadcasts were

concerned. What was Sunday like, man?

Well, you know, watching it, I think it's just almost for me,

it was being there for the people in emotional way and, and

you know, in spirit. And actually I was invited to a

BBQ, believe it or not. And I said, you know, I'll come

to the BBQ after. And usually, you know, if

there's a big race, I'll watch a replay.

But I just wanted to, to watch the last day out of respect.

And it was, it was a melancholy type of deal.

I mean, I was in in my spot here alone and I didn't have any of

the lights on. It was dark when the last space

went out here on the East Coast. And I felt that was the right

setting for it. And it, it, it was just very

melancholy because I thought, you know, watching it on Fando,

I thought Todd Trump and Dave Weaver did an absolutely

fantastic job. And it's just it, it was closure

for me personally. I went through the stages of

loss knowing Golden Gate is, is now not going to be a racetrack

anymore. And that day was good for me in

the sense that I was able to get my closure and acceptance that

it is not going to be around anymore.

And that was the past chapter in my life and it's time to move

on. But it was melancholy just

because there's, I, I know a lot of people in California and

California racing is, is struggling right now.

So just thinking about them, especially our Northern

California friends, and I know it's not easy.

And I feel really bad for all the folks there that have worked

so long and have dedicated their lives really to that community.

So trying to pick themselves up, it's not going to be easy, but I

feel for them and definitely not an easy situation.

And it wasn't easy to watch. And it's sad to think about, but

you know, the best we all can do is push forward.

And that's what I know the California folks up north are

going to. The red light is flashing on the

starting gate at Golden Gate Fields.

I'll never get to hear Matt say that again, but here we are.

I do want to say though, Matt, one of the one of the things

I've come to, to try to do at least with whatever small role I

have in, you know, horse racing, media or whatever, is just

embrace the positive things that are going on.

My friend, you're one of those positive things.

The fact that you are at 2 great spots like Oak Lawn and Monmouth

gives me a lot of hope about what we're trying, you know, as

we reorganize the sport essentially.

Is it? I think it's, you know, it's

easy to use negative words. I think what's happening right

now in horse racing is a reorganization.

And I'm very proud that you are, you know, one of the voices of

the reorganization. So keep doing what you're doing

buddy, and good luck on the calls tomorrow.

I appreciate that, Louie, and looking forward to meeting you

in person and Haskell Day and we'll get you up to the booth.

All right, Little. Not the United Nations, but

another race. I'll take it.

How about that? I'll bring you a rubber duck.

We'll make it happen. How about that?

That sounds good. There you go, Mad dinner man,

get him out of here. Mad dinner man at Three Colts

Handicap on Twitter. One of my very favorite people

in a horse racing.