Wood Memorial Preview | Steve Kornacki & Bob Ehalt

Life's good around here at the Horse Racing Happy Hour, hanging

out with Bobby Hall, The Blood Horse, and Steve Kornacki, NBC

Sports. My name's Louis Rebeau.

Thanks for seeing us yet again on a Thursday edition of the

program. We'll be back tomorrow with a

SoCal Saturday preview of Santa Anita Derby.

About today, we're talking New York City, so we got our guys

from Connecticut and Manhattan alongside between Bob and Steve.

Bob, welcome back in. Buddy, how are you?

We're doing great, Lily, looking forward to the wood, the final

wood and aqueduct, the final two turn wood, everything like that.

So a little bit of fun here at in the air after a kind of

really rough winter up north. I think Steve would would agree.

Yeah, it's nice to get back to racing Steve.

Final one at Aqueduct this weekend.

Hard to believe at this point. You know, it is and about a year

ago when I started looking ahead to this date, I said, well, I'm

going to go there. Of course this, you know, Easter

weekend, I'm going to be traveling.

Otherwise, I'd love to see it for the for the last 1, you

know? Yeah.

So Sean Collins, a blood horse will be out there.

We'll have our full, full reaction to that.

Bob and Sean will be on camera together.

So if you were looking for what we call in the business sexy

overload, check out that video. I was part of Blood Horse Monday

with Bob and with Sean there. But I appreciate both of you

jumping on the program here. Bob, you know, you mentioned

that that last would here at Aqueduct just over the years,

you know, is there a is there a memory of the wood memorial that

stands out? Is there a singular winner that

stands out? I think my favorite would of all

time, even though it was on TV, probably the frosted one in

2015. Do you have a favorite one?

You know, there there are a few. I mean some of the I mean

watching easy goer win so easily when he won in I believe 1989,

you know, that stands out. I remember it's hard to forget

Bellamy Rd. who just just exploded in the stretch and one

in such a dominant form when he set the track or what he

matched, I think matched or set the track record.

Those are really some great efforts.

And, you know, and I will say one of the probably the biggest

upset I can remember, I think, was Uncle MO getting beat

because no one thought he would get beat.

You know, people mention, well, there was Secretariat in the

wood. Yes, he did finish third, but he

did finish. You know, Sham was second that

day. Sham was a real good horse.

I'm not going to say Toby's Corner was a good horse.

I mean, there was nobody thinking Uncle MO was one to 10.

Nobody thought he was going to get beat at any any when he did.

It was such a stunning, stunning happening.

So I was to say you kind of remember the dominance, the the

quirkiness of Fusai Ichi Pegasus and you know, but just some

great memories. I I mean, I will say I hate to

show my age, but this is going to be my 47th St. wood that I've

either been at or covered. And you know, my first one was

79 seeing instrument landing. So yeah, there are a lot of

memories and you know some some good with some very good ones.

Someones where I scratched my head like robotic and said how

that happened so. Some people do blame Bob for

the, the, the lack of Triple Crown winner between 1979 and

2014. I I'm not going to do that here,

Steve. But as we get to the last wood

memorial here, I was making a remark on Monday that, you know,

it's an interesting watching how this field came together.

For example, Steve, in this wood memorial where people have in

recent years been pointing toward Florida, pointing toward

the bluegrass, and the wood has kind of lost some of that cache.

You heard the mention there from Bob of Fusai Ichi Pegasus, the

last winner of the wood to go on to win the Derby.

Now been 26 years since that happened, Steve, it's almost as

though people are using this as the other other way.

You know, we talk about the other Baffert, for example, the

other other way to qualify for the Derby this year.

I think we got some runners like that in this version of the

wood. Yeah.

No, I mean, look, it's just sitting there offering those

hundred points that you can go get in any of these these other

races. And it does feel, I mean, we'll

talk about it when we get there. It does feel like it's sort of

the the Last Chance Cafe for a lot of these, a lot of these

entrance. But but yeah, I mean, it's,

it's, it's a huge feel this year, which it's at least an

interesting field can say that. Yeah, no doubt about it.

To this point in the year, Bob, is there been someone on the New

York route to the Kentucky Derby that has stood out for you?

Is there someone that you think, OK, I've seen them and, and

maybe not a winner of the Derby, certainly in a 20 horse field,

but hey, this is a horse that can hit the board.

I think I iron honor who's going to be favored in the in the wood

fits into that. I I, you know, I think he looked

very I think I thought he looked very good in winning the Gotham

look. He's got to have some ability

because Chad Brown is kind of pushing some of the Chad Brown

parameters in terms of running because you know, he's coming

back on the four weeks in the wood and certainly if he runs

well enough, he'll be in the Derby another, you know, four

weeks from now. So I think he's been the most

impressive. We'll see about talk to me

Jimmy. He won.

He did win that. He did win the Withers by 11.

You kind of wonder the quality of that field.

The track was pretty fluky in terms of aiding speed horses.

So we're going to find out a lot more and you know, as much as we

say about the winter in terms of running at Aqueduct.

And that does go back to my first wood where I liked

Instrument Landing to beat General Assembly because

Instrument Landing was kind of New York based in his career.

Let's see what Napoleon Solo does when he gets back to

Aqueduct because I, I think that was the most dazzling stakes

when I saw a last year by a 2 year old.

If getting back to Aqueduct brings him back to form, we may

be putting a different horse into that.

That answer he just gave? He's Bobby E Hall these from

blood horse Steve Kornacki from NBC Sports lots of other ways to

qualify for the Derby. Steve.

For example, tomorrow we're going to be talking about a

horse and potente just making his third start there at Santa

Anita Park wins the San Felipe last out.

I'm fascinated by him because he doesn't look like many of the

Baffert Derby runners that we've seen historically where he's a

grinder. He just wants the more and more

distance. He's not kind of the go catch me

if you can type that we expect from the Bafford barn.

But looking down, you know, to South Florida, the fairgrounds

to Arkansas. Anyone else stood out on the

trail for you? Yeah, look, I, I mean, it's I'll

be Captain Obvious here, but the last time you had me on, I think

it was right after the CMF Davis and you were saying, who's

caught your eye so far? I said then Renegade and all

Renegade did since then was just look like an absolute beast in

the in the Arkansas Derby. So, you know, I, I, I my own

list, you know, I'm hardly alone in this.

I got to put him at the top. But I mean, look what happened,

you know, down at at Gulfstream. I mean, commandment, you know,

that running style too, which is, you know, he can, he doesn't

panic. It certainly seems, you know, in

those races, but not just commandment.

I mean, Chief Wallaby's been with him there, you know, kind

of right there with the wire and you looked at that gallop out in

the Florida Derby and and Commandment and Wallaby ended

up, I think, going past the Puma a little bit.

So I don't know if you're ever going to get much of a price,

especially after last year on a on a bill Mothorse who ran

really good in the Florida Derby but came in second or excuse me,

third in the Florida Derby was second last year.

But you know, Chief Wallaby maybe gets a little forgotten

just by now. Winning.

Yeah, Has sort of that sovereignty change.

I thought of Mage Bob when I watched the Puma on three weeks

rest come back and kind of not get their same connections, you

know, all those sorts of things. I'm actually excited.

I think that three weeks into the Florida Derby, then five

weeks getting into the Kentucky Derby, I think it sets up well

for a horse like Puma. It could he certainly he's going

to. He certainly is a durable horse.

I mean, he showed that you can come back on these what people

nowadays are. Oh my gosh, short rest.

You know, I wish I could work every three weeks.

That wouldn't, that would be a pretty nice life.

But but you know, I certainly, yeah, I could see that.

I think he's a very game horse. Fun people who around him, you

know, the connections. Yeah.

I think it's going to be a pretty wide open Derby in terms

of the wagering. I'd like, I guess imagine once

all the sheet numbers and everything get formulated, we'll

see. But I think right now it's a

little hard to peg exactly who you might want as as a favorite

because you could certainly look at commandment, you could look

at Renegade. And then as I say, who, who, who

even you know, the horses behind them are probably not going to

be far off in the in the wagering.

The great news is the the general public loves a favorite.

So they're going to they're going to pound one of these

horses for us and give us lots of great vending options once we

do get to that first Saturday in May.

And look lots of ways to go into the Derby.

Last year we had a very top heavy type of Derby journalism,

Sovereignty coming in out of their very impressive Derby

trails. This year with the Defections,

Palin and Ted Nafi, etcetera, does seem to open it up a little

bit. But we still have, you know,

command. It's got a billion points.

You know, these sorts of horses that are turning up.

I mean, are we really going to turn down to Florida Derby

winner out of the Brad Cox bar to get, you know, think that

that horse doesn't have a chance?

Of course, we won't do anything like that.

Yeah. I would, I would like to say I'm

wondering who's going to be the wise guy horse.

Yeah, right, Because you know, every year you get that one or

so you didn't expect is going to get bad and then it usually

doesn't do too well. But I'm just wondering this year

you got a lot of possibilities for who might be the quote UN

quote wise guy horse on the 1st Saturday in May.

Yeah, I always give Danza a shout out at this point of any

of this kind of conversation because he actually hit the

board as the as the buzz horse in his year in the Derby.

Steve, do you have a sense of the buzz horse so far this year?

I, I know I'm curious for the same thing.

I, I, I hadn't picked up on it, you know, I.

I think silent tactic might be it, just as he's closer and

people love closers, right? Yeah.

I mean, but just look so thoroughly beaten by by Renegade

there. But yes, no, I, I think that's

exactly the way the race has run the last couple years.

You know, with these, with these closers, you know that that

might get some attraction. Well, and frankly, silent

tactic, not terribly different than what we thought of Mystic

Dan going in to the Kentucky Derby just a couple of years ago

for Kenny Mcpeak. Should be a fun one as we

navigate the next month or so of Derby talk.

Let's get into the handicapping here.

Obviously heading to Aqueduct for Saturday.

We're gonna talk about four races.

We'll start with the Carter, Then we'll move into the

Distaff, the Gazelle, and of course, the Wood Memorial to

close the card. We'll start with you here,

Steve. Race 7 on the card is the

Carter. They're at Aqueduct on Saturday,

7 furlongs on the dirt. We're only running on the dirt

this time of year at Aqueduct 4 and up and $300,000 on the line.

One of the more historic races, frankly, there in a New York

that isn't a race at Saratoga. Steve Bucumdano back in here.

Man, I, I love quality, but boy, it really hurts us, those of us

that like to bet on these things, Steve.

Yeah, I know. I, I, I said call me Captain

Obvious the on the Derby trail. A question there.

I'm going to say the exact same thing here.

I mean, I, I looked here, I spent a little bit of time

seeing is there some way to to beat to beat book of Dano here?

I mean, look, he is coming off the long rest.

So, you know, there is that, although I think the the main

threat to him is also coming off what, four or five months, you

know, on the bench rated by merit.

I just think look, Bookham, Dano was so impressive last year that

they kind of I think the switch last year was they had him

running a lot closer to the front.

He wasn't having to do as much work kind of in the stretch.

He was getting himself in trouble I think earlier in his

career last year. They seem to figure that out.

I really do believe, I know he's a kind of a controversial

figure, but I really do kind of believe Paco is a perfect match

with this horse, Really gets something out of this horse,

maybe a little bit extra. I've seen Paco do that with

other horses. I believe, think this is one of

them. Here's Paco, you know, coming up

to Aqueduct Saturday. And I just, yeah, I have a hard

time getting around the book of piano here.

I think a very obvious set up for him to return in the

Churchill Downs on Derby week back in the grade one.

His only loss under Paco Lopez last year was a fourth place

finish in that race, only behind Mind Frame, Banishing and Nice.

Those turned out to be an OK race there.

Bob, are you going to try to beat Book of Dano here?

You know, I, I, I agree with Steve, I mean, you guys, I, I

think certainly he's the class of the field.

The the layoff gets you wondering is he going to be

totally wound up for this race? You know, again, are they

looking forward to the to the grade one at Churchill Downs?

Though again, with the horse horse being a gelding, I don't

think that really matters too much in some terms like that.

But you know, it's interesting because like you mentioned, like

you mentioned, you know, rated by Merritt, he's coming off a

layoff. He's one of those horses.

He he he rarely shows up, but when he does, he turns in a big

effort. But I'm not sure if, you know,

he's up to really meeting a seasoned, experienced horse like

Bukum Dano. I I think if it could be a could

be an upset, maybe the horse on the rail, point doom speed from

the rail. And you kind of wonder, like,

you know, how is this race going to how's this race going to

unfold? Is is rated by Merrick going to

go out with point Dume? Are they going to let him go?

And then the other two jockeys kind of play cat and mouse and

say, OK, when are you going to go after him?

When are you going to go after him?

And maybe he gets away with reasonable fractions and kind of

is able to hold on and pull off a victory from the rail.

So to me that that might be how it goes.

But yeah, it is tough. You know, he's certainly very

tough to get past Book of Dano. Point Doom, the winner of the

general Georgia 7 furlong race there at Laurel Park.

We have seen over the years Bob, plenty of horses come up from

Laurel Park and run really well at aqueducts, so that would not

be a total stunter for sure. In this spot.

We move on to the Distaff, the Mayor and Philly side of this

thing. Same race, same condition, 7

furlongs on the dirt. In this one it will start the

late pick 3. Steve and I will share our late

pick three tickets as we get later in the show as well.

But in the distaff here Bob, I thought a fun field.

Take the money honey and trying to remember here.

Sorry about well time. The 1:00 and 2:00 almost

certainly going to be running in Maryland this weekend leaves a a

trio of horses led by Immersive who are going to be the shortest

odds on the board. When you look at immersive in

this spot here, Bob, what do you what do you think the intention

is for Brad Cox? Do you think he wants her to be

a one turn horse going forward here or is this a setup to get

her back into say a longer race at Churchill Downs over a Derby

week, something like that? It's kind of a it, it's a hard

situation to see because these, these races for the Phillies and

mayors, I, I mean, is, is she ultimately going to get herself

ready to go in the say, the Ogden Phipps, the LA Troy Anne,

things like that? I think he's going to look to

see how she performs in this race to see exactly where she's

going to fit in as a safe. Certainly 7 furlong Sprint.

That's where you have the that's where you have the Breeders Cup

Philly and mare Sprint at that distance.

So I think this is going to be very telling as to see whether

that'll be the the long term objective or does he feel she

could be good enough to run against the very best Phillies

at a mile and an eighth. So as I say, I think this is

going to be an interesting test for her as to how she could do.

But it's it's a good field. It's not really I I don't think

it's a great field. I, I think she's certainly on

class alone. You'd like her.

I think the one that I'm kind of interested with.

She loves Aqueduct. Jodie's wish, Jodie's pride.

She, you know, she's here 3 for three at Aqueduct, has not been

racing well, but you know, has been given a little bit of time

off. Sometimes getting back to a

track they like brings out the best in the horse.

And certainly I've seen her perform well enough at Aqueduct

that I would kind of look at her in my mind as the as the main

competition who you might get a nice price on depending on how

the public kind of looks at those last few races.

Jodi's Pride, the winner of the Ruffian, the Grade 2 there at

Aqueduct last May as part of their Belmont series as well.

That was over the one turn mile. Steve, what do you make of a

horse like with the Angels, Looked really good last time

out. Has never been worse than second

in eight tries at Aqueduct. What do you make of her?

Jose Lozano and Linda Rice here. Yeah, no, I, I very, I think

interesting, competitive and I wouldn't be shocked if she won.

But the stat that I, that always stands out at me when I, when I

see a horse like this is Linda Rice in graded stakes.

And it's what I had three for 59, three for 59 greatest stakes

at Aqueduct. So I, I just, you know, I think

she, this is one of her, you know, better horses.

She doesn't tend to, I mean, she tends to excel in the more in

the claiming ranks and stuff. But so this is one of her better

horses. But that's, that just kind of

always when I, when I see your horses pop up in these races, it

always kind of pushes me away, I think, especially if the, unless

the price is going to be something, something really

special. So I I really kind of agree with

Bob on this one where I just I like Jodie pride.

I think the one turn race sort of at this track at Aqueduct is

better specialty. What I just said a minute ago

about a little bit of that. I believe in it that Paco Lopez

magic Paco lands here again. I look at her last couple races.

I think that Gulfstream race she comes out of, she ended up

racing on the lead there, which has not been her thing.

I just think that you can almost kind of throw that one out.

They had her on the turf twice. So it just feels like she's

getting back to where she wants to be, doing what she wants to

do with a rider who I think can win.

So I'll take a shot there. If someone said they were going

to play Jody's Pride and they were going to try Bob, if they

were going to try with the Angels to beat Immersive in the

late pick 3 here, would you would you support that kind of

wager where you know you're you're pressing your opinion

outside of the favorite? Yeah, I can see that.

I mean, you, you have, you got to try to get a little bit of

value into the ticket because I mean, certainly you know,

there's some, there are some good favors there.

There are long there are there are at least decent sized fields

that are going to help you in terms of the of your payoff and

such. But you know, I, I think it

could be possible. I mean to go that way.

I I think immersive. Immersive looks like a horse

really. I think you definitely want your

exactas. I don't, I don't think she's

going to finish any worse than second, but I could see

scenarios where she can get beat.

And you know, it just depends on how you want to play your

ticket. Maybe play them with the the

horses that you might like and then kind of maybe put together

a long shot ticket with immersive and go looking for

some long shots in the next two legs so that maybe you're

getting a pretty nice payoff. Because if you get the three

favorites, you're going to get the three straight favorites.

I mean, it's a payoff. You're not going to, you're not

going to miss. Or at least if you're, if that's

what you really feel, just play a $25.50 dollar pick three.

Just just put those three in there, be done with it and just

do that and take your 4 to 1 or whatever it might be by the end

of the by the end of the races. By the way, Steve Kornacki will

tell you in his pick 3 why he's going to try to be immersive in

the Distaff later on. The Gazelle is up next.

It is the Oaks Prep on the card up there at at Aqueduct, a mile

and an eighth. If you are unfamiliar with the

layout there at Aqueduct, it is a mile and an eighth course just

like Saratoga, Ellis Park, etcetera.

So start at the same place where they are going to finish and we

will get into this one horse by horse.

I'm fascinated by this race, guys.

I think it's a very fun field and this Oaks field in general,

I'm having a hard time landing on a single horse.

I know everyone's real excited about Zany who will run in the

Ashland tomorrow. Excuse me there at Keeneland,

but boy, I really like paradise in here.

And you know, Steve, as we go through here, get Brad Cox, you

get Manny Franco and you get a horse that last time in the Bush

or seemed to really take to the track really well.

Hard not to like her in this spot.

We're going to play a game like we always do on this show.

But first, are you guys ready for some Gazelle fun facts?

I think you are. Young Bobby Hall, did you know

that gazelles have been clocked at over 60 miles an hour?

And do you know that when they jump, it's it's known as

pranking? You know those like those real

sudden jumps that those gazelles are able to make?

It's called pranking. Bob, do you feel like you've

ever pronked in your life? I'm not going to talk about it

in public. That's usually I'll go.

Steve, what do you like? What do you like or not like

about Paradise? We are playing Gazelle if you

think she's got a shot to win, or Donkey if you don't.

Which one does she fall under? She's definitely a gazelle.

You know, what I don't like is I think you know the price, the

fact that she hasn't gone two turns yet.

I know this is gun runner, but I think there are, you know, some

questions with exactly what she's done, who she's beaten.

I think there's some vulnerability.

So it's yeah, she's a gazelle. I don't know if she'll be

pranking after the race, though. It's.

A solid pranking reference. All right, Bob, is she a gazelle

or a donkey here? Paradise breaking from the

inside. Does the inside post bother you

at all in this race? No, not really.

You're gonna save ground. I don't think she is a horse

that's I think that's going to be a good position for her.

If she wants to let the speed go out, she will.

She's not really a horse who has to be on the lead.

So I think that's a real good position that she could, she's

going to be able to save ground. So definitely the gazelle.

And when she's retired, we'll see if we'll see if she goes to

the farm for you know what. Always a rudder will break from

the 2 here. Bob a second timer for Chad

Brown and we have seen already on this Oaks trail second timers

pick off 100 point races and or excuse me, horses coming out of

maiden wins at least pick off 100 point races.

Always our honor Dylan Davis gets them out here.

Gazelle or donkey in the spot? I I might tend to say donkey.

I generally am a big fan of all of Chad Brown's horses, but I

saw a similar, similar things with this.

I mean, you're looking at the buyer figure.

It's a 59. That means you really, he's

really got to make a big she's got to make the big jump to

become a, to become a factor here.

So I'm tempted to I'm tempted to look past this one in that spot.

Dylan Davis, six wins already in 49 races this year.

Steve Gazelle or donkey for the two horse here.

Always a runner. I'm going to call her a gazelle

mainly because I think when in that Tampa race, it seemed like

she was pretty green. I think first of all, so there's

room for improvement. It's Chad.

It's second time. So there's definitely room for

improvement. I also think just it was she

just towered over that field and was in command late.

And I did kind of think that buyer could have been higher if

they wanted and if that buyer had been mid 60s or something.

And then you're, you're saying, can she make another move

forward second time out? I think that would put her right

in it. So I'm going to, I'm going to

call her a gazelle. Whit Beckman shipping Nikon up

to New York rather than running at Keeneland.

Lots of cross entered horses, but Nikon will run in New York.

Steve, we saw her in the Butcher last out.

She was very good in the cash run before that at Gulfstream

Park. 2nd place finisher gets her into the Oaks for sure.

So you imagine they're trying to do that once again.

Whit Beckman and Jaime Torres on this one, of course.

Icon Racing owned by a former major leaguer, Jason Wirth.

So be careful here. Steve, Gazelle or Donkey?

I'm just kidding. I swear I'm not going to answer

this for every single one of them, but I'm going to say

gazelle again. Oh no, Steve, Oh, I like them

all. Press all though.

We'll see there's a logic to this.

I, I think that'll be, that'll be revealed in, in due time

here. She passed Paradise on the

gallop out, you know, and I, I just think there's the chance

here that, you know, going around 2 turns, you know, go in

nine furlongs. That's what she's meant for, not

what she was doing in the Butcher.

Bob. I, I agree, I put her as, as a

gazelle. I mean, this is a horse.

She's always, she's always in the mix.

I, I mean, I certainly don't see any reason why you couldn't pick

her to be in your trifectas. I, I mean, certainly I think she

has the breeding to handle the distance.

She's got the running style that if you know, horses get a

little, you know, sometimes you might see 1 speed horse kind of

dominate and then the rest of the field backs up.

And certainly I could see her and, you know, being in your

exotic. So I would definitely consider

her a gazelle. Talk with Bobby Hall, The Blood

Horse, Steve Kornacki, NBC Sports.

I'm Lou Rabod and this is the Horse Racing Happy hour.

We are going through the field for race number.

I lost my race numbers for race #11 at Aqueduct this weekend.

It is the Gazelle. It is a prep for the Kentucky

Oaks. If you win this one, you get a

spot in the starting game for that race. 2 bits will break

from the four Bob. And this is a an Amelia Green

trainee. How about that?

We saw her last out in the Ruthless before that in the

Busanda behind. Dazzling game.

Quite a bit there, but boy, this is one that's already won twice

at Aqueduct. It was a second place finish in

the booth. Santa at least comes back, looks

a lot better, frankly, in the Ruthless, much closer to the

pace even later in the race. What do you make of her here,

this daughter of American Pharaoh?

I definitely got her as a gazelle.

I mean, this is hard. I mean, this is like a this this

is a winter horse. And generally I kind of look at

it that the winter horses are live until March.

And then when April comes, the better horses start coming up

and they kind of fade back into a little bit of obscurity.

But you know, I like the way that she was running on tracks

that really were not suited for her.

That mean they were they favored the speed and she really showed

some some grit and determination.

You know, I I kind of like this horse.

I think to me she could be a possible upset her in the race.

So I, you know, I definitely would consider this one a

gazelle. Well, and with the connections

there, I think you're gonna get every bit of the 9:00 to 2:00,

if not a longer number, right, Bob?

Yeah. I think you again, because it's,

you know, you look at this, this is your prototypical winter type

horse. And sure, like I say, they, they

generally have a certain shelf life, but I'm just thinking the

way that the tracks were playing, I'm I'm going to try to

play into that. Hopefully that she gets a that

she could get a good trip. And and I do think being by

American Pharaoh, I think she's going to like the distance.

So I'll, you know, I definitely, definitely could see her being

in this picture. She's definitely pranking, but

is she a donkey for you, Steve? She's my first donkey, Yeah,

although I don't. Prong at all?

Don't prong fun for you. That's.

Right. I'm feeling a little nervous,

though, hearing, hearing Bobby take on it because I, you know,

I think, you know, he follows Aqueduct more closely than I do.

And I my own sense of some of those races was that the, the

flow and the way the trap was playing might have been helping

her. So it was, it was sort of on

that basis that I was saying, you know, I know the, what was

it? The ruthless was that early

February when everything seemed, seemed mixed up.

So I don't know, my own, my own sense had been that maybe she

was, you know, they were kind of flukish races and she was helped

a little bit. So that was why I was tossing

her. But now, of course, I'm second

guessing myself. He's Steve Kornacki, you can

catch him pranking on NBC Sports #5 is Baffle, Kendra Karbusha,

Todd Platcher. Boy, if we were betting any race

at Aqueduct, this is one we would look at.

The two of them always win about 25 to 30% of their races

together. We last soccer in the Virginia

Oaks over the one turn there. Steve, what do you make of her

chances here? Donkey or gazelle?

Yeah, I know I'm going to go donkey on this one.

Just I you know has not really been that close and maiden still

6 times. So, you know, I'll, I'll throw

Fletcher out and call him a call her a donkey.

There you go. It's a, it's a, it's a bold

strategy, Cotton. What do you make of that one,

Bob? Oh, I'm on the donkey trail too

on this one. I mean, I I think this, you

know, this looks like a horse is just going to be maybe closing a

bit at the end and kind of suck up into something.

I don't I don't see her being able to win the race.

Maybe superfecta players might want to use it to to get into a

picture, but I I don't really see her as a competitive one.

You'd want in like 1 of your like a pick three or anything

like that. Out of the Ripoli stable,

Daughter of violence there. Munning's on the damn side,

obviously trying to find out what distance that one wants to

go. Bob Pashmina will break from the

six year Ramon Vasquez in town to ride for Rob Actress.

This is one that we saw at Sunland at Sunland Park of the

Oaks. There ran third behind Bottle of

Rouge, who's turned out to be an OK contender generally speaking

amongst 3 year old Phillies. What do we make a pash mean on

here? An interesting entry.

You know, I'm generally not a big fan of some of the I I, I

will put her as a gazelle. I mean, I think I'm not a big

fan of, you know, I mean, that's weird.

Sunland Park and now you're out at Aqueduct.

So the, the horse definitely has a lot of frequent flyer miles.

But you know, she seems to be a good, honest, competitive horse.

Rob actress has been on fire. So you, you want to definitely

kind of respect that. You know, I, I think this is a

this is the kind of field where and the distance where we don't

know as much about these horses yet and we're going to find more

out. So I I think I wouldn't be

surprised if she turns in a big effort.

The second best last out speed figure coming in is Pashmina, a

gazelle or Donkey Steve. She's, she's a gazelle to me.

Definitely. I, I think, you know, I, I kind

of look at her, her PPS here and I, I feel like this might be the

race where it all finally kind of comes together for her.

You know, I think in that Sunland race, you know, she had

trouble in the stretch there that I think cost her some

momentum. She still finally got going

late. She passed the winner, a good

winner, as you're just saying, on the gallop out.

So again, going longer here, you know, I kind of like that.

And then you look at some of those other races.

You know, she was down at fairgrounds running on a day

when I think it was very speed friendly and she was not, you

know, on the lead. And she was on the lead back in

December, which I don't think it's her game.

She took them as far as she could.

And then you go back to her maiden win back in November and

it was just, you know, she absolutely crushed the field.

So I just, I think there's a lot of, you know, I think potential

here. I think if she can kind of get a

clean trip going that 9 furlongs this this might be her day.

Always a runner, of course. A debut winner.

Last outgoing 2 turns. Pashmina never gone shorter than

two turns. Debuted at a mile at Keeneland

on the turf. Since then has been running two

turns at Fairgrounds and at Sunland Park.

If you are wondering about experience going two turns, Hot

Gossip Steve for Linda Rice here.

Jose Lescano comes out of a muddy win over 7 furlongs and an

optional claimer. Was in a maiden optional before

that. I mean, back-to-back wins if you

want to be positive about this one, but go ahead and call it a

donkey. Well, tell me if if with the

Angels wins the, you know, wins that, then I got to reassess my

Linda Rice stat here. But until that happens, I'm

going donkey. How about you, Bob?

This gets the Hee Haw. Yes, there's definitely the

definitely the donkey on this one.

I I think really that's it's it's that's asking a lot to

class up into this and the speed figures don't really don't tell

you that she's better than than she looks.

So yeah, definitely, definitely Donkey.

Tom Morley will send will send Victory Hall, a daughter of

Independence Hall to the gate here.

Ricardo Santana junior, who really reinvented himself last

year in New York got back into the kind of groove that we

really Bob We got spoiled by here at at at Churchill Downs

when he was running with Steve Asmussen trainees for so many

years. She wins the Mattie Mae last out

at Aqueduct over good go that was in state bread company.

She is a New York bred here. What do you make of Victoria

Victory Hall here as a potential upset?

I'm going to say donkey. I, I just don't.

I think I'm, I'm just not overwhelmed by anything that I

see. I, I think she's a good horse

going to be a very, very useful New York State bred might be

able to win some minor open stakes.

But I, I think in this one in particular, I think it's, I

think it's a good solid field. So I, I think she's going to

have a little bit of trouble in it.

Steve. Yeah, I know.

I I agree. It's to me, it's a donkey.

It's I just don't think the spots she's been in and the

competition that she's been facing really has her prepared

for this. A second maiden in the field on

the outside, Steve in slow Cara. I, I really do question the

names of some of these horses. I want to be on on record here.

I think Victory Hall when your mom's name is in the victory and

your your dad's name is in, you know, is Independence Hall.

That's a good job on the name. Slow Cara seems a little mean

for no reason. Daughter of Medalladoro is still

a maiden. Maybe she is slow after all.

Steve Gazelle or Donkey here. Yeah, Donkey, and I'm saying she

lives up to the name. Steve Oh, no.

About what you got here. Yeah, I'm in the same camp, I

think. This one a donkey.

I don't understand why she's here instead of a maiden race.

Yeah, but I will say one thing in like a horse, like grittiness

will show you sometimes maidens in these type of races are not

just automatic toss outs because, you know, a lot of

these horses don't have much experience.

They're they're not really removed from the maiden ranks

And horseshoe could be competitive in the maiden ranks

can sometimes offer you pretty good value in these type of

races. But I mean, this is a horse who

got clobbered in a maiden race. So I I just don't I know, I

don't even know why it's here. And especially from the outside

post, you know, she's going to lose a lot of ground on the

turn. So it's going to take some

performance for her to win. Yeah, getting clobbered.

Very different than pranking for sure.

That was the gazelle. We appreciate everybody hanging

out in that. Who do you have on top of the

gazelle, Steve? Yeah, pashmina is my top choice.

Here. OK, how about that?

All right, great, Bob, How about for you?

Who's your biggest gazelle amongst the gazelles?

I'm going to try 2 bits. I'm going to, I'm going to see

if she can pull off, you know, pull off a bit of a bit of a

price source. I think you're going to get 5 to

1, six to one on that horse. Yeah, I think that's.

I'm willing to take a chance with her.

I think after that, you know Paradise would be the choice

below her so. Paradise on top for me.

I'll talk about that when we get to my pick three ticket to close

the show. The Grade 2 Wood Memorial is the

closer on the card. Shout out to everybody in

equestress taking in the final Wood Memorial there at Aqueduct

of Island and 8th on the dirt here. 3 year olds of course

winner gets a spot in the Kentucky Derby starting gate.

Bob and I were talking yesterday.

No guarantees that a second place finish here.

It definitely gets you in, but everybody's gonna try at least

to be in the top 2 here. We'll go horse by horse again in

this one slightly different game.

We play this one every year. If it's a winner, it's a

hardwood. If it's a loser, it's a plywood.

OK Very simple game that we play here.

I have no fun facts about plywood, Steve Kornacki.

So no worries there. Again, the wood Memorial of

Violet at 8th here. I will start with you, Bob.

Napoleon solo. I know you're high on this one,

Chad. Summer trains, and boy, if

Steve's been talking to Paco Lopez, no reason to think he

won't go. Hard win on this one, Bob.

Where'd you land on the inside horse here in Napoleon Solo?

Well, definitely a hardwood. I mean, talking to the

connections before, before the fountain of Youth, they weren't

looking for a win, but I was really a little bit disappointed

in how he did run. Now they were saying, well, once

Kendrick realized he was BD eased up on the horse.

OK, that's fair. So maybe he's a little bit

closer. But I I do think that when you

since then he's worked out sharply.

He's got the rail. Talking to Chad trainer, Chad

Summers, the other Chad in New York, he they were a little coy.

He was coy about it. I mean, I say, I guess you're

going to go to the front, right, And I would think would talk to

me Jimmy next to it. It is So this you know, I I

think we're going to try to see a performance much more like the

champagne. You know, it's I I think we're

going to see the best of Napoleon Solo in this race.

He'll have his maybe you know, this should be a strong

performance from him. He'll have every reason to be

right there at the finish being that he has the rail.

How fast he and talk to me Jimmy is going to hold the key to the

race that could they could set something up.

But I've seen enough of these where you went in the wood where

you see a certain speed horse. They kind of if they get the

early edge sometimes they just keep going in the stretch.

And certainly I think Napoleon Solo is a very much one to beat.

$40,000 yearling purchase. Good job.

Good job, Steve. Where'd you lay it here?

Hardwood. Plywood.

Yeah, I mean my man Paco, but I'm going to go plywood on this

one. And I, you know, it's one of the

just kind of I I think it kind of to me, it kind of had to make

a decision here on the two, you know, the two favorites,

whether, you know, you think the winner is coming from one of

them or it's coming from elsewhere.

Obviously I landed elsewhere and the case against this one that I

ended up just making was, you know, that fountain of youth

that that Bob's talking about. I was just, so I, I had some

expectations for Napoleon Solo in that race and I was so

disappointed. You know, he seemed to be in

pretty good position. I know there was a little bit of

trouble early, but I think it was too much.

He seemed to be in pretty good position when they got to that

turn and I just thought he folded, folded real bad and

before there was any decision by the rider.

So I, I just, you know, the idea of, of the step up in

competition there, the first race is a three-year old going

around 2 turns to just being that empty.

I, I just, I got too discouraged by that.

And then I wondered if there is, you know, I, I take Bob's point.

You see a lot of speed on paper. It doesn't certainly doesn't

always materialize in New York. But then I do wonder is, is

there going to be a little too much here for them to do what

they want to do? So kills me to go against Taco,

but I'm going to go plywood on this. 1 Napoleon Solo, of

course, the winner of the champagne, as Bob said, a son of

Liam's map $40,000 purchase. They have gotten their money's

worth there for sure. Talk to me Jimmy will break from

the 2 Steve and I'm going to have to be talked off of the

ledge about talk to me Jimmy because I love this horse.

I love him in this spot. I think he makes a ton of sense.

I don't understand the the path to the wood Memorial going two

turns, then one turn, then two turns, then one turn.

But here we are. He was the one who went two

turns in the Withers and really, really loved it.

He's he's my top pick in this race.

Where'd you land on him? Hardwood plywood.

Oh geez, I'm going plywood again here.

I I, you know, I, I didn't, I, I struggled on this one because

the the Withers win came when the track was really, I think at

its funkiest. And, you know, I, I whether it

was the rail or it was speed or it was both and it was favoring.

Yeah, I think both of those things were doing very well.

And he just traveled. He had such an easy lead in the

Withers and, and really in that, in that maiden win too, which,

you know, state bred maiden race.

So I just think the dynamic in this race is going to be much

different. You know, I, I noticed in the in

the Withers too, it was like I wanted to say it was the rail.

He was pretty far off the rail. So I don't think the rail was

really carrying him. And I did give me kind of give

me kind of pause here, but I just kind of felt like it was a

weird time at Aqueduct. He had it incredibly easy.

And it's just going to be very different here, Bob.

Lily, I respect you because you, you've surprised, you've really

surprised me with some of the horses you come up with.

And boy, do they run lights out. So I got it.

But I am tempted. I got to, I got to agree with

Steve. I'm going to give him plywood.

I, I, I think, you know, I mean, look at you look how the race is

drawn. The two main speed break next to

each other from the from the inside.

So they're going to go. I, I mean, I don't think one of

them, you know, now again, somebody could break slow,

somebody could stumble, something could happen, but I, I

just think there's a situation that the two of them are going

to go. I'm I'm tempt I I like he did

grab 1/4 in that race. The Rudy said he didn't lose

much time, but you know, you kind of wonder if that was like

for him what they might call the knockout number.

That was the best race he's probably ever going to run.

I think everything went his way. Everything was perfect.

This is going to be a lot tougher.

I'm so I'm tempted to to play against him in this spot all.

Right and just enjoy being wrong on Saturday, boys.

Have fun with it. All right, so we move on to the

next horse. Just tell us about Ethical

Diamond Louie. Yeah.

Poor Bob. Poor Bob covered that race from

Blood Horse and had to deal with me at Del Mar.

I can't imagine how terrible it was to be around me on that

Saturday. You're picking heartless, I

said, wait, where do you think you are?

Far Hills? I mean, I'm saying, you know,

when he, when he came up with that horse, I was wondering,

boy, who's this room? What's he coming up with?

Who brought these? Kentucky.

Guys to roll $100 bills after the race.

So it's sort of like, jeez, come on, boy.

What OK for me? All right, so up next on our

hardwood or plywood with Steve Kornacki and Bobby Hall.

Appreciate both guys jumping out with us here on the horse racing

after we're talking about the wood Memorial win and in for the

Kentucky Derby. Breaking from the three will be

right to party. Chris Elliott, one of the

finalists there for the Eclipse Award last year, Kenny Mcpeak

trains here. They teamed up in the Gotham.

This was the 3rd place finisher in that race.

Steve go to actually no, I'm sorry, we go to Bob here first.

Bob is this one that maybe hey son of Constitution maybe just

wants to get around 2 turns hardwood or plywood here?

I give him a hardwood. I mean, again, I do think he's

going to be a fast pace. You know, he he has the look to

me of a horse that is going to want this extra distance.

I saw him break his, I saw him break his maiden.

I saw him run in the Gotham. I think two turns might really

suit him this overseas in good hands.

I mean, Kenny Mcpeak is the trainer, but he's got Jimmy

Jerkins in New York taking care of him.

I can see this horse, you know, he's a nice 20 to 1 price.

I I would definitely use him in exotics and who knows if the

pace gets ridiculous, a horse like this might be the one who

really benefits from it. So I'm, I'm definitely going to

be keeping an eye on this one and, you know, give him, give

him the old hardwood knock. There you go.

All right, Steve, what you got I.

Mean is, is there some combination of hardwood and

plywood we can do? I don't I didn't do too well in

in shop class in in high school, but I kind of feel like, you

know, I should be saying hardwood, I guess only because

I, I, I have a feeling the winner's not going to be one of

these two favorites and it's going to be the kind of race

where something a horse like this comes in.

This isn't the I I had three or four that I'm kind of like in,

in my mind are the real contenders.

This this is not one of them. But I, I don't disagree with

what with what Bob was saying, you know, I, I, I just, I think

I would have liked to have seen, you know, a little bit more, I

think from the horse, you know, in that Gotham.

But but sure, at A at a giant price, you know, I I wouldn't, I

wouldn't be saying it's a bad, it's a bad call by anybody.

All right, we'll go to Steve for Steele.

Up next comes out of a maiden break or second race ever for

Bill Mott. My friend JD Fox, who's on the

show pretty often, he says he might not be the price of the

last wood winner. I actually gave out on your

show. Burbonic.

He did, by the way. But I do expect big improvement

out of the gate and from his strong closing debut for Bill

Mott. And hey, Sahein Savacci, of

course, my pick for the most underrated jockey in North

America. No pressure, Steve, Let's say

you about hardwood or plywood here for Steele. 12 to one in

here for Bill Mott. Yeah, I I spent a lot of time

trying to figure, you know, figure this one out and I I'm

going to just land for the the description I just gave you of

my method here. I'm going to call them plywood

still, but like it's ma it you know, they never win debut.

We one debut. It's tap it, it, it should you

know, the distance should be. I mean, there's there is a ton

here and I I I I get it. I just, I kind of thought I, I

watching that race that it wasn't this big strong

overpowering performance by this horse as much as it was the

others just went real fast early in A1 turn race and they were

just gassed and he just, you know, kind of just got up.

So I, you know, I, I again like it's, it's tapping.

It's not there's there's a lot to like here, but I just I when

I saw the race on paper, I was like, I think this could be my

horse. When I watched that race, I said

maybe it doesn't indicate what it looks like it does on paper.

It is interesting this time of year Bob to see a talk to me

Jimmy, a $5000 breeding job next to 110 thousand $185,000 free

job here. What do you make a steal in this

spot Bob? I'm.

I'm going to call him I'm going to call him plywood.

I I'd like this, you know, you know, like Bill shows you with

with Chief Wallaby. He he could turn, you know,

these, you know, relatively short raised horses into, into

really good horses. I'm not sure if this is the one

the the other thing he broke slowly and and I know then he

made this real big charge to win.

I've over the years have seen when I see a horse break slowly

in the first start, I don't know what they're going to do in the

second because you really don't know if this horse is style, is

that he's a lake closer or is he really a speed horse who just

didn't get out of the gate? And now maybe tomorrow, I mean,

I'm sorry, Saturday he's going to go out and, you know, show

some early speed, which I don't think it's going to be very

helpful to anyone. So I'm just I think he's going

to be over bet because he's Bill Mott.

If it was somebody else other than Bill Mott, you would have

gotten a much higher price. That, of course, explains being

from Belmont. Yes, you, you want to, you want

to think about him. That's the other side.

Yep. In a, in a field this big, I'm

going to, I'm going to put him as a, as the, as the, I was

about to say donkey, but we'll call him the plywood.

No pranking at all. All right, so we move on.

We get to the next horse here in Ocelli, wit Beckman sending this

one up here instead of to Keeneland.

Joe Ramos keeps them out here. We saw him in the Derby last

year aboard Flying Mohawk. What do you make of Ocelli in

here, Bob? Definitely plywood.

I I mean, he hasn't really shown you much in stakes company that

you would think he's. Going to turn in.

That he's going to turn in a real big performance.

The taking the blinkers off, which means that they're they're

they're not sure of what to get from the horse.

You know, yeah, maybe, maybe the blink is off all of a sudden he

decides to run. But I'm not, you know, as I say,

there's so many other options in this race at 20 to 1, even a 20

to one. I'm I'm going to pass and you

know, I'll, I'll put him in with the plywoods.

I saw Steve nodding in plywood here.

Do you know what Ocelli's going to do, Steve?

He's going to win a maiden race on Derby week and he's going to

be awesome at Churchill over the mile at a 16th like mind frame a

couple of last year or two years ago, whatever it was where he he

really made his appearance. We were like, whoa, who's that

three-year old whoa. I think it might be Ocelli this

year. I don't think it'll be on

Saturday. Yeah, no, I agree.

I mean, that's that that plywood for me, that Virginia Derby.

I mean, with the last furlong, he was right there and you're

like this this guy might win and that he just folded completely

when it mattered. So I I just, yeah, he's had

chances to impress me and is not.

Mitre inconvenience 30 to 1. Rodriguez and another Amelia

Green starter in here. This is another New York State

bred here. Did win the funny side at

Saratoga in August 2nd off the layoff here Steve.

Why not 30 to 1? Minor inconvenience, minor

plywood or minor hardwood here. What?

Yeah, I'm going the minor, minor, maybe major plywood.

To be honest with you, I don't mean to knock the horse.

It's, you know, I love these sort of overachieving, you know,

New York breads or whatever. First round, two turns, first

time in open company. I have a note here.

I don't remember to race too well, but in that funny side, I

have a note. Not the best here, but the

luckiest. So I.

Hey, luck is good Bob. I haven't been very lucky in my

life. I I look like this after all.

But a hardwood or plywood here for minor inconvenience.

I, I would say plywood speed figures aren't bad, but the

class, the class that she's stepping up and he's stepping up

into I, I, I can't go with them. All right, Elvis will break from

the seven here, Steve, and this is an interesting one.

Yao Pone on the sire side, but we do get the Bernardini mare.

We're always looking for that Bernardini mare out here.

Breaks made the last out for Riley Mott at Tampa.

I'm fascinated by this one. I've interviewed Riley Mott and

I know you have Bob. That's a sharp dude.

He's going to be a good trainer for a long time.

But what do we make of Elvis here when we see him in

Louisville? Finally, I get to say hardwood.

This is I, I, I'm really that race at Tampa the the maiden

win. Now I know there wasn't a ton in

there and he was like, you know, one to two, but he just he

looked like a horse that had serious potential.

This is 3 races now, three significant jumps in the buyer

performance. Yeah, as the first time at, at

3, going around 2 turns, looked like 9 furlongs.

I, I know the breeding makes you question it with, with Yokpan,

but looked from that Tampa race like, you know, I, I, I, you

know, this, this is a horse who could go pretty far.

And I just think we'll see. I'm saying earlier, you know,

like, like Bob was saying, the speed doesn't always show up in

New York, but the more there's kind of speed here, I think

there's more there's potential for this, this horse to come

from just a little bit off of it and, and just, you know, pass

them all on the stretch. So I, I, yeah, I, I like this

one a lot. And Riley Mott, by the way, is

well, he has incredible. He's been doing Will Walden on

turf, Riley mount on dirt. These have been the 2 when I see

them in these spots that I kind of hone in on.

You know, it's interesting too, Bob.

We just watched Emerging Market do exactly this in the Louisiana

Derby. Goes from winning a 2 Turner in

a maiden run at Tampa. Goes to Louisiana.

Wins the longest prep in North America for the Derby in his

second start. Any chance Elvis does this year?

You know, I'm going to borrow Steve's in between wood.

I definitely think this is one that is on, you know, showing

the kind of improvement you like getting better from start to

start. Got a good fig off that race.

Certainly when I look at that, I I think, yeah, this horse has

has a real good chance. But I don't like, again, he

seems to want to be part of the pace and I'm not sure if that's

really where I where I want a horse this, you know, I just

don't think he's as fast as some of the other ones.

And will that take something out of them?

The other key thing in him the the big race last time when he

looked so impressive at Tampa, he was on Lasix and and you

know, he's not going to have that here.

So you do wonder, was it the Lasix that really helped him or

is he really that good that that's why, you know, he's

inviting at the price. You know, if he's if he's 12 to

one, that's a very inviting price.

We'll see. We wonder if this might be kind

of like one of those wise guy horses they bet down.

But like I say, I see things to like and things not to like.

So I guess in the end price is going to determine really where

where he falls into my category, into my.

I'm fascinated by him for what I talked about with Emerging

Market. But we also saw with Renegade,

horses are coming out of that tamper route and they're flying

everywhere they go, whether it's Oaklawn, whether it's in

Louisiana. Those aren't the same kind of

track at all to me. So I don't know why this horse

to to back up Steve here and frankly, you too, Bob.

I'm I'm I'm kind of in the in between spot too.

But boy, I I'm completely unstunned.

If this horse shows up at a big way on Saturday, they're at

Aqueduct alongside Bobby Halt from blood horse and my friend

Steve Kornacki from NBC Sports. I'm Lou your bow and this is the

horse racing happy hour Courting will break from the 8 here,

Steve. And this is a fascinating one

that I think we all thought of ahead of the Remsen, where he

wasn't the favorite but boy he was coming out of a very

dominating maiden Special win in November.

Gets into that R.E.M. city, runs behind Paladin and Renegade, no

shame in that. Gets back high Paladin again and

there isn't Star. No shame in that.

But boy hasn't really been close and graded stakes.

What are you making him though? And are we doubting Todd

Pletcher in the Wood Memorial? Yeah, Yeah.

So you mentioned Burbonic a couple minutes ago kind of you

know, so this one won't be that kind of a price, but I'm, I'm

going to call him a hardwood here.

You know, I thought that you mentioned the Remsen and he had

a real bad start in the Remsen. So I remember going into that

Risen Star, he was my, I think he was my pick in the Risen

Star. He just want, you know, and just

sort of based on the company he had in the Remsen and the

trouble that he had at the start of that race and the potential

right? This is what a 5 million dollar,

$5,000,000 horse here again, I think he had some there is give

you a little bit of an excuse still from that Risen Star.

I didn't run well, but also didn't have a didn't start well

in that race again. And I just feels to me with

Pletcher, with the expectations, with the breeding full sibling,

the Clarier that there could be something here and this is sort

of the acid test race. So I'll call him, I'll call him

Hardwood for 5,000,000 bucks. I should call him Hardwood,

right? 8 to one on courting.

I don't think we thought that ahead of a couple months ago.

Ahead of the Wood Memorial here. Bob, what do you make of him

here? No, I mean, I, I, I agree.

I'm going to, I'm going to put him as a hardwood, you know,

$5,000,000 horse at 8 to 1. He, he has had troubles at the

gate and so we kind of know that that's his style.

He does have the leg running style.

I might be kind of looking for to to try to find that with a

long shot. You know, he really hasn't shown

a lot, but he has had some excuses.

Maybe this is the day everything goes right.

Todd Pletcher has this great record in the woods, seven wins

in the last 15 tries. You know, you got to respect his

horses. So, you know, I'll definitely

look at him. But you know, as I say, I you,

you do wonder if he'd be here if he was only, shall we say, a

$400,000 horse. I mean, I'm sorry.

When you pay that much for a horse, you want to give him

every chance to shine in the biggest spots.

So I think that's part of the reason he's here.

And we'll see if he can, really if he deserves it.

Bravaro will break from the 9 Bob, a son of upstart.

Here we're throwing the blinkers on another one that I think

they're trying to figure out if he fits in this spot or not.

Look bred New York here. We've seen him at Gulfstream

Park the last two times. Bravaro hardwood or plywood?

I would, I would say hardwood. I mean, you know, Safi's come up

here and won this race, you know, at a big price if I recall

properly. And you know, again, they are

trying, they're putting the blinkers on.

They're trying to see what went on.

He hasn't raced that badly. And you know, I do think again,

he's going to be a horse that'll be depended upon the pace and I

I think he's going to get the pace that he likes.

So I think he definitely want to want to give him a look and, you

know, just see if he could work out a really good trip.

He's an interesting possibility again at the 8 to 1.

You know when you're getting the prices that make you want to

take the chance on these horses who are maybe 5050 to fire.

My mic got muted there. Sorry.

What do you make Steve here of the ever difficult to fight?

I know you were swearing under your breath over something I

said. I wasn't sure I said.

What did I say that you know? Bleep these Connecticut guys for

knocking Michigan State out of the tournament.

No, it wasn't that the the. Hard little basketball and

pizza. Yeah, we're not doing that.

We're not doing that. Hardwood or plywood, Steve,

which one you got here? No, I'm going.

I'm going hardwood too on this one.

You know, he's not running against commandment in Chief

Wallaby this time. You know he's not running

against. I mean, you know, nearly was

nothing in the Florida Derby, but there wasn't much in the

Florida Derby, but certainly wasn't the Holy Bowl.

So he's run against, you know, some of the best here.

You know, I think in that fountain youth, like I don't

think he's going to win the race, obviously, but he had

trouble, you know, early in that race.

He wasn't, you know, wasn't the most comfortable trip for him.

So no, I, I, I think this is another horse, you know, like

Bob is saying, I I think there is there's there's potential

here. He's back in New York and he's

facing maybe a more manageable spot.

Sorry, this thing is messing up on me.

There we go, Three more horses to go here.

I'm cussing at Steve now. It's not good.

The three more horses to go here, breaking from the 10 for

Hugo Padilla will be Red Zone Runner.

They're praying for rain here, Steve.

What do you make of him? Yeah, no, look, if if the race

were at parks and had a different field, I'd be all over

him. But I I think he's just in a

different league here. So I'm going to go plywood on

this one. And for you, Bob?

Plywood. If it's not Butch Reed, I'm not

coming up from parks. I'm not going with it.

Otino will ship to Kentucky. So Steve, you're going twice

here. Butane Bob Baffert once again

ships for the wooden Memorial winter last year with Rodriguez

a front running style. And Bob, let's go ahead and play

it out. We haven't done this together.

How how do you look at Rodriguez in last year's Derby field if he

doesn't get hurt? I I liked him a lot.

I did like him a lot. I thought that performance in

the Wood Memorial was really impressive.

Bob Baffert was liking them. You know, look, Baffert really

is. When you talk to Baffert, he'll

tell you about his horses. You know, you can get the feel

of what what he likes and what he doesn't like.

He has so many horses. So it's not like, oh, I love all

my horses. There's somebody he focuses on,

like I say, I mean, I, there's a lot of talk for him.

He really likes this Cherokee Nation in the Santa Anita Derby,

so it's going to be interesting with him.

But yeah, I thought Rodriguez was really going to turn in a

big effort in the Derby. But then, you know, he came up

with those problems and never really played.

He never really caught up. But I think he would have turned

in a real big performance on the on the in the Derby based on

what I saw in the wood. I totally agree with you, Steve

Butane here out of the Virginia Derby most recently.

Very clearly the Zadon folks think that this is a Derby

horse, so they have shipped him to New York for this one.

Hardwood plywood on Butane. Go on plywood on this one.

He's he's no Rodriguez, you know, in different, different

style. And I was going around 2 turns

twice and I don't think didn't wow me either time.

And really, I think in that last one in the Virginia Derby, you

know, to me watching the race, I, I, I, I noticed, I think the

comment in the, in the form is that he was, he had some

trouble. It was bottled up.

But I, I, you know, Incredible, I didn't think he had much worse

of a trip than Incredible did who won the race.

So I didn't think there's much of an excuse there.

I, I think, you know, they, yeah, they paid again, you pay

this kind of money as these kinds of expectations, you're

going to do everything you can to find a spot to get him there.

This is, this is desperation time for them.

And I just I I don't see it. We saw Martine Garcia in the

Derby last year for Baffert. He rides butane here.

What do you say, Bob? You know, look, I'm usually a

big, big backer of Baffert's horses, but I don't think

they've really been firing that well, especially the Colts, you

know? So I'm going to go plywood.

I just, I don't see a lot that's tells me he's sitting on a big

race. I think he might be competitive

in this field, but you know, I just, you know, kind of like a

horse, like maybe litmus test that we saw who, you know, OK,

horse can win maybe in in the right spots, but I don't know, I

just don't see him jumping up and turning in the kind of

performance like I say, like we saw from Rodriguez.

I mean, I think it was a little bit more confidence coming out

of the Rodriguez camp last year that maybe what we're seeing for

this one. Iron Honor will break from the

outside, Steve, the 13 hole, essentially the 12 hole here.

Now that Otino has decided to ship or the connections have

shipped the Otino to Key Lin, What do you make of Iron Honor

on the outside? We heard Bob earlier in the

show. This would be the most likely

high level Derby contender out of this race should he make.

Yeah. No, look, I, I gave you my

philosophy on my hardwood plywood designation here.

So I'm going to call him plywood totally recognizing that he may

end up in the in the winner's circle here.

But I guess more from a betting perspective, I'm going to call

him plywood. Having the outside post in a big

field like this going two turns for the first time.

I think when you look at that Gotham that he won, one thing

that jumped out at me. I don't know if it if you had

read too much into it. He got passed on the gallop out

by crown the Buckeye. Crown the Buckeye, you know, not

exactly. I think it would be a a distance

horse here and I, I just think again, he's probably going to

have to go fast early just given that outside post.

If there is a lot of speed in this race, he may get a little

bit mixed up in that, I think. So I I just think this is a

different challenge for him and there's enough doubts and enough

knocks given the short price from a betting standpoint at

least, I'll call him plywood in this one.

I don't hate that at all. Bob, how do you feel about this

one? Can he win from the 12?

I'm going to, I'm going to be a bit of a contrarian.

I'm going to go hardwood with him because here's my take on

it. Aqueduct is not Gulfstream, so

the outside post is difficult, but you do have a more of a run

to the first turn. I think you're going to have a

situation where the two rail horses are going to go off.

Manny, if he breaks well and this horse has some speed, I

think could draft over and get a decent position going into the

first turn. It a lot has to go right and in

a sense, from a wagering standpoint, taking the five to

two or the 2 to one that he's going to go off at that's risky,

hoping that you're going to the trip is going to work out

because certainly he doesn't want to get caught four or five

wide on that term, first term. But I, I I think the dynamics of

the race might work out to favor him.

Manny really knows this racetrack and and I think he has

tactical enough speed to sit off and and and I say get that

position. I I think in terms of in, in

terms of the quality of the horse, yeah.

I mean, look, I think to be frank, the best horse in the on

the on the best day, the best horse in the field is probably

Napoleon Solo. Are we going to get that?

We'll see. I think this horse will be.

I think this horse will be right there.

I, I, I'm, I'm thinking he could work out a good trip.

I can understand how people might want to bet against them

and I could see the odds. I think it's, it's a risky shot

for, for a favorite, but I think the horse is, is that good.

And let's face it, you know, this was a horse where this was

going to be Chad Brown's maybe second, third option going into

the Derby. Now without Paladin, this is

this an emerging marketer, probably his two best shots.

So I think this horse is going to be really looking to put in a

pretty good performance that will set him up for another big

run in the Derby. Napoleon Solo on top for you,

Bob. I'm going to, I'm going to, I'm

going to go with him because he has the rail, he has the speed.

I think we're going to see, I think the return to Aqueduct is

going to bring him out, bring out a real good performance by

him, and then I think I could see Iron Honor getting second

off the trip. Steve, your late pick 3 involves

only the seven horse in the wood, which makes me think I

know who your top pick in the wood is, but you also are going

to single in the Distaff with Jodie's pride.

You're going to try to beat immersive that way.

You and I have something in common that way in our pick

threes, but you are going to spread in that middle leg and we

talked about that with Bob earlier on.

You're going to take two stands here though, so spreading a

little bit in that middle part of the pick three there is just

fine. On a dollar basis.

Steve's pick 4 is 4 bucks per unit that you play it at the

seven horse though in the Wood Memorial, of course you're going

for it. You're taking the maiden winner

last out in Elvis with Riley Mott.

I'm just, yeah, I'm going to take a shot here.

I I, like I said, my my logic was sort of let's play against

these two favorites. Bob makes a really, you know,

good case there and, and, and, you know, for all I know,

they'll run 1-2 and, and that'll be it.

But I wanted to take a shot in the price in that last race.

I really do like Jody's pride for the reasons I said.

And then if those two ever hit, I just want to make sure I have

it. So, you know, I think you got

the top four choices there in that in that middle leg.

I went a slightly different way. I'm also going to try to beat

immersive in the Distaff. I'll use Jody's pride.

I'll also use the five horse there.

And I apologize with the Angels is the Linda Rice horse.

I just think she's a real is just a player at Aqueduct and

that's what it's going to be. I think the most likely winner

in the late sequence is Paradise for Brad Cox, the daughter of

gun runner in the Gazelle. And then I'm going to use my the

horse I think has the best value on the inside that can win the 2

horse here and talk to me, Jimmy.

And then the horse that I think is by far just the best horse in

this field. And I are an honor, at least at

this point in his career. And that pick three as well.

So 351 and 2 and 13 in the final leg.

Again, like Steve, 4 bucks per dollar on my pick three there as

well. Well, gentlemen, thank you so

much for hanging out. Bob, enjoy the final, the final

Wood Memorial at Aqueduct. What an impossible thing to say

the 101st, but here we are. Appreciate both of you guys

jumping on for the show. Steve, you said you're

travelling for Easter. Does that mean you don't get to

go to like the Santa Anita Derby, something like that?

Whatever you you NBC types get to do?

Is that how this? Apparently I'm going to Bob's

home state for. Look, look at it talk.

There you go. All right, Well, appreciate both

of you being on of course Bob's coverage available at one

force.com. We're checking out over there.

If there's any of those. I believe about this is the

Horse Racing Happy Hour back right here in this spot, 2:00

tomorrow for our Santa Anita Dirty Preview Live, 11:00 on

Saturday right at Keeneland Raceway.

Don't say hi to us, We'll be right by on the finish line

there for Bob and Steve. My name is Libel.

Have a great weekend.