April 28, 2025 • 38 mins
Tom talks with Dick Gabriel, Adam Luckett, and Travis Stone.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good day, everybody, Welcome into another week shows here on
the Leech Report, presented each every day by Bob Kat Enterprises.
Coming up today as we start Kentucky Derby Week, we
will chat with Travis Stone from Churchill Downs. You see
the post position draws for the Kentucky Oaks of the
(00:21):
Kentucky Derby on Saturday night, so the fields are sad
for the two big races, and we'll talk with him
on how the post position draw impacted, if at all,
the Derby picture. With twenty horses, it's always a little
bit more of an issue than the fourteen in the Oaks,
but we'll maybe touch base on the Oaks as well
(00:42):
as far as the post positions. We'll talk with Adam
Luckett about the NFL Draft in Kentucky football, and we'll
lead off with Dick Gabriel, who was on the call
for three games this weekend at Kentucky Brown Park, two
of them on Saturday with Doug Flynn on the Sea Network.
Plus coverage of Kentucky baseball winning two of three against
(01:03):
South Carolina. Let's get to the Wildcat News of the day.
It's a service of Giuseppes of Lexington and the NFL
Draft saw Kentucky's Maxwell Harriston taken in the first round.
That was we do that on Friday, and what a
great story Max was. D L Walker didn't go until
Saturday in round four, but he went to the same
(01:25):
team as Harriston and Ray Davis from last year, the
Buffalo Bills. Vince Merrow, the NFL eason as well as
assister coach for the Wildcats, was on Sunday Morning Sports
Talk here in Lexington yesterday and said that the people
in the Bills organization, or the person in the Bills
organization that he talks to, said they believe they got
(01:46):
the steal of the draft in Dion Walker in round four.
Several Wildcats have already signed free agent deals. Zion Childers
with the Cowboys, Eli Cox with Houston. Zach Yenzer, former
co Tucky offensive line coaches on the staff there, so
that's plus for Eli's chances. Jamon Dumas, Johnson from Green
(02:07):
Bay or four signed with Green Bay and those were
the ones that were known yesterday as of the airing
of Sunday Morning Sports Talk, and coach Merrow said he
thought all three had a great chance to make the
roster from what he's heard from the NFL teams that
they went to. And then later in the day came
the news that Marcus Cox has signed with the Broncos
(02:29):
that undrafted free agent deal. So good luck to all
of those guys. Those are the only ones we know
about her I know about at the time. For Kentucky football,
True Edwards has signed a free agent deal with the Rams.
He's the wide receiver from Louisiana Tech that was trying
to get another year of eligibility and was going to
use it at Kentucky. But you can close the book
(02:51):
on that one now, as it looked like that was
the case already, and then there was the legal challenge
I think by a Rutgers player that seemingly he put
a crack back in the door for Edwards. And now
he's just gone on. You can't blame him. He's just
gone on and moved on to his NFL career and
signing a free agent deal with the Rams. So now
(03:14):
Kentucky's probably looking to add a little more in the
transfer portal, and we'll get into that with Adam Luckett
a little bit later on in the show. UK Baseball
beat South Carolina yesterday by account of eleven to five,
so it is a series win two games to one,
and it is the second consecutive series win for Kentucky baseball,
(03:35):
having knocked off Tennessee the week before, and they were
so close to a sweep on Saturday night. In the
second half of the doubleheader. They led into the top
of the eighth and then South Carolina got a two
run homer to go ahead by one and held on
to get the win there, but still a serious win
for Kentucky. Tyler Bell had a basis clearing double, driving
(03:57):
three runs. When Kentucky broke the game open, Cole Hage
threw at a runner at the top of the eighth
at home and had he not done that, had the
runner scored, it would have been seven to six. Was
still South Carolina with one out to work with, and
instead that ended the inning, kept Kentucky's lead it to
and then they blew it open in the bottom of
the eighth. Kentucky now ten and eleven in league play,
(04:19):
twenty five and sixteen overall. Thanks to the stories we
talk about each day, you can find them on the
butt Light Leach Report page at Tom leachky dot com.
We'll come back chat with Dick Gabriel our opening segments
presented by Giuseppes of Lexington. And now that Keelan's over,
there's still a lot of special occasions to celebrate out
(04:40):
at Giseppes. Birthdays, anniversaries, two of which our colleague Bo
Robinson did with his parents last week. Maybe a promotion,
whatever it is, just get together with family and friends.
No place better to do that than at Giseppes. So
go to Giuseppes Lexington, see all the great things they
have on the menu, a lot of them locally sourced,
and then go to open Table and make your reservations
(05:03):
for Giuseppes. We'll be right back on The Leach Report,
presented by Bobcat Enterprises quarter past the top of the
hour on this edition of the Leach Report. To start
the new week, We're coming to you each day from
the Clarks Pumping Shop Studio, Return, Refresh and refuel at Clark's.
They have a new loyalty program you should sign up for,
(05:24):
and apparently it's where you should buy your lottery tickets.
Somebody just one at the Clark's in Georgetown, like a
power ball for one hundred and sixty seven.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Million wasn't you? Was it Dick? Wasn't you?
Speaker 1 (05:34):
Was it Dick Gabriel?
Speaker 3 (05:36):
If it were, I wouldn't be seeking you right now
or your brother, But you wouldn't get me on the phone.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
Well, too bad, we'll tuggle. We'll tuggle UK Baseball. Then
I hug in there for most of the eighteen innings
with you and mister Flynn on Saturday on my iPad
while I was watching some NBA and some Herbie draw
and then when I had to be out in the car,
I was tuned into Darren. So it was a great
(06:07):
full day of UK baseball and they end up getting
a second straight series win with the victory yesterday. So
they what is it that you see that has finally
clicked for this group to win a few of those
close games that they had let slip away earlier?
Speaker 3 (06:24):
Well of late, it's been offense. Earlier it was better pitching.
But now and we talk with Patrick Herrera about this
after the win over Louisville, but he said they have
kind of rededicated themselves to what they call quabs, which
is quality at bats. They've got a better approach team wide,
and he said the players got together and talked about it,
(06:45):
but it just seemed like Tom. They weren't very aggressive
at the plate. They were, you know, letting pitches go
by in situations where you should be able to sit
on a pitch and that kind of thing. So and
I know they worked a lot with the coaching.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Staff as well.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
Chase Sloan is the new offensive coordinate her basically, but
they are much more aggressive at the plate, smarter at bats,
and you know they've always been aggressive offensively, but can't
get on base.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
She can't make it work. And got some young guys
I mean that they are coming through. Bell had been
there from the start at short but the kid in
the outfield, Schortz has given him a little boost.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
He really has. And you know who else has really
done a great job as Cayas Garget And he's the
guy who's had the way.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
He's a sophomore.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
He's had to wait his turn and he's playing right
now at third base because Herrera, who just came back
from a shoulder injury and know nothing major, but had
to sit out a little bit. And then he tweaked
a groin muscle running out of a base hit against Louisville,
so he sat the entire weekend, a garget was terrific
on offense and defense. We've seen him in the outfield
(07:47):
and now at third base. So yeah, you're right, there's
a lot of these young guys and the new guy,
Carson Hanson has played well. Cole Hages had a big
game in the finale last night. He was lumping a
little bit. He's the kid who transferred in from Columbia,
but he's.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
Come back to life.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
So yeah, there's a lot of guys who are getting
more comfortable and playing with a lot more confidence.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
And part of Kentucky's game is being aggressive on the
base pass and that worked well for them this weekend.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Yeah, it really did.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
It work great against Tennessee as well. But and you
know in South Carolina did was more aggressive trying to
stop the run game, and in fact, their catcher threw
out a couple of wild casts trying to steal. But
there was one inning where Kentucky put the leadoff man aboard.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
It was Hage.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
He got caught stealing.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
Next thing, you know, they get been on first and
second for next pitch, double steal. You know, So they
just kept applying the pressure and it kept working, and
it kind of I think got to South Carolina game.
Cost committed four errors in the game last night or
yesterday afternoon, including three on one play basically three bad
throws which led to a Kentucky run.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
So now they'll go back out on the road. Well, yeah,
for road this week because they're at Western tomorrow for
their midweek game, and then they're at Mississippi State and
our friend mister Price is calling baseball now down there.
So yeah, Darren, I'll get to reconnect with him. But
tell me about just an early preview of that series.
Speaker 3 (09:17):
Well, I think that it's just going to be more
of the same. You know, you're gonna put the ball
in the hands of the rotation. That's another thing, Tom
that we need to talk about, as the fact that
Kentucky had to replace its entire weekend rotation from last year,
and you know, they didn't know going into the fall.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
They had a pretty good idea Ben Clever.
Speaker 3 (09:37):
Might be a guy that can count on, but he
has been absolutely fantastic. Nate Harris, a freshman, pitched extremely
well yesterday in Game one seven innings, gave up just
two runs four hits. Nick McKay was not particularly sharp
on Saturday, you know, was Pitcher of the Week after
the job he did down at Tennessee.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
So you know it's it's going.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
To be more of the same. Just just put the
ball in their hands, try to keep the other guys
from scoring too many runs, jump out early, which Kentucky
has done. You know, Kentucky has led in almost every
SEC game it has played so far. That's an amazing stet.
I don't remember ever seeing that happen. But what that
(10:21):
means is, obviously they can put pressure on the other guys.
So if they can keep that happening, they got a
chance against the Mississippi State team that was struggling kind
of early. But you know, they're twenty five and nineteen now,
they're only seven to fourteen in conference play, tougher at
home naturally, it's a tough place to play now, but
I think you get in there, get a lead, and
(10:43):
you got a real shot.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
I assume whoever the Joe Lenardi is of college baseball
has Kentucky off the bubble now?
Speaker 3 (10:50):
Well, yeah, in fact, it's been off the bubble for
a little while. Last week they were projecting Kentucky as
a three seed. Lately, believe it or not.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
It's a two seed.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
Wow, just because of their strength to schedule and the
fact that their losses. A couple of midweek losses have hurt,
but for the most part, when you lose in the
SEC it's not nearly as damaging. But they've got to
take care of business. Tom, that's the most important thing.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
Well, for many years you would have been talking to
us from the backside of Churchill Downs, with you and
Steve Moss tracking around the track there to get the
stories for WKYT. So do you have a Derby horse yet?
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Well?
Speaker 3 (11:31):
Yeah, and not just for the obvious reasons, but I'm
going to go with journalism. I know he's the chalk
but I liked his race out west and I am
going to study obviously the works this week because it matters.
You and I have talked about this many years. You know,
do those horses like Churchill Downs. It's a different kind
of track and I'm not sure what do we know
(11:51):
the forecast yet I'm sure we do.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
Yeah, it's supposed to be the rain supposed to move
out early on Oaks Day and so as our friend
mister the late John Asher used to say, it's always
Sonnying seventy five on Derby Day, it's actually supposed to
be sunning seventy.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
Well, as long as.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
The track's not wet, because it's just a little wet,
that's when it gets confusing. If there's a lot of rain,
you can handicap fairly well that way, But just a
little bit of rain, Like I told you many times,
Pat Day once said, it's like running in peanut butter.
So it affects horses so differently. So if all goes
as planned, I'm going to stick with journalism. I like
his post position, although that's usually unless you're on the rail,
(12:32):
that's usually overrated. But I do like the fact that
that he's got a chance at a clean break.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
Dick Gabriel, thank you much. All right, Buddy Gabe on
the call over the weekend on the SEC Network plus
coverage with Doug Flynn for Kentucky Baseball Series win over
South Carolina. We will be right back, talk a little
NFL Draft in Kentucky Football with Adam Luckett. It's the
Leach Report, coming to you from the Clark's Pumping Shop
studio twenty five past the top of the hour. Leach
(13:01):
Report guests come to you on the Club Blue nil
dot Com hotline they're the official fundraising partner of UK
and they are proud to introduce Club Blue Kids. It's
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Just click the Kids tab to register. Big things are
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Blue Kids, where future Wildcats rep the Blue with pride.
Joining us now on the aforementioned Club Blue innil dot
com hotline is Adam Luckett from on three Sports KSR
(13:48):
and Maxwell Harriston was one of the stars of the
draft on Thursday night. Adam with just being mister positivity.
Speaker 4 (13:58):
Yeah, absolutely. I think Max Max got a lot of
screen time there in the green room. We're just where
he was situated and just kind of wapping everybody up
as they came out, and then towards the end of
the round he came off the board just right around
where we kind of expected. And I think the bills
are really good fit for him. He's going to be
able to go in play in a scheme similar to
Kentucky's and there's a starting spot for that's waiting for him. There.
(14:22):
So really good, really good ending to what was a
good day I think overall for Maxwell Harston.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
Maxwell in that twenty three season had the two pick
sixers down at Vandy, and an interview popped up that
Alyssa Lang did on the field after the game with
Max and Ray Davis and talking, and Ray talked about
how Max had talked all week about, you know, wanted
(14:49):
to basically make a statement in that game because of
what had happened the year before when he wasn't playing
much and they had a quarterback or a cornerback injured.
Vandy's driving for what turned out to be the game
winning touchdown. I think it's a fourth down play and
he gets put in the game maybe one play before that,
and he gives up a long pass play that leads
(15:11):
to the game winning touchdown. And cornerbacks defensive backs are
supposed to have short memories, but those kinds of things, Adam,
we both though, are easier, you know, said than done.
And I was just always impressed by what that said
about Max's competitiveness, the way he came back from that
the next season.
Speaker 4 (15:30):
Yeah, absolutely, I think, you know, and there was a
lot of skepticism I think around the program that you know,
they didn't go out and address that position. Well, they
did a dress a position, but I think we all
thought maybe JQ Hardaway or Jameson Dubb will be the
starter that year opposite Andrew Phillips and Max kind of
you know, he really kind of took that job away
from all those guys and was the starter that year
(15:50):
and ended up having a really good year. And that
Vanderbilt game was a big, I think vindication moment for
him after you know, he gives up the unfortunate situation
and in a play that really never should have happened,
Kentucky had a penalty that even in that drive and
so so you put a young player in a tough
spot that happens able to bounce back like that and
(16:11):
to turn into one of the better cornerbacks in the SEC.
And then we didn't really we only got to see
a little bit of it this past year because of injury.
But but his just playmaking overall was really something that
Kentucky hasn't had, I think in a lot of outside
cornerbacks in this program. He was the first one where
you thought he could get an interception at any kind
of point to me, since like Tamar Linley, yeah, playmaking
(16:35):
and force bumbles and you know, Blitzer just it seemed
like he was always kind of had a note for
the football and was making plays and that and that
has paid off for him, and specifically after having a
good pre draft process, and now he's gonna go play
in a place where some Kentucky players have succeeded, and
it's a place where they they're gonna need him to
come in and play right away. So it's a great
spot for him. And I think this whole kind of
(16:57):
process of the draft and lead up, I think it
all worked out almost perfect for him.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
A little less than a minute here before the break,
Adam Vince Marrow was on Sunday Morning Sports Talk yesterday
and he suggested there's another cornerback in their room that
could make a similar accent like Maxwell did, seemingly out
of nowhere. Didn't say, he didn't want to say who
it was. Who do you think he was talking about?
Speaker 4 (17:22):
Yeah, I think when you look at JQ. Hardaway, like
he had the first year struggle similar to Max, and
he had a big year last year. I think he
could make the argument he was one of their their
best defensive players overall last year. So for him, he
seems like he's the next one in line to maybe
be that and to try Nichols as a guy sophomore
that I think they're really excited about. So both of
those guys and then the id DJ Waller in there
(17:43):
as well, I think they have three quarterbacks that they
feel pretty good about.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
We'll continue our chat with Adam Luckt talk about the
other former Cat that's now a Buffalo Bill when we
come right back instantly to report presented by Bob Kat
enterprises Chad with that I'm looking from on three sports
and KSR and I'm luckyt KSR on X and Twitter
about the Kentucky guys who were drafted, Maxwell Harriston in
(18:06):
round one, and now we'll talk about the guy who
went in round four, also to the same team, the
Buffalo Bills, Dion Walker. This was Vince merriw UK assistant coach,
recruiting coordinator and NFL eason talking on Sunday Morning Sports
Talk here in Lexington yesterday about Dion and going to
the Bills and how Dion may have slipped down to
(18:29):
the fourth round in the draft.
Speaker 5 (18:31):
The young man was hurt. He was he was he
really really if he would have set out, everybody was saying,
he don't do this, he don't do that. Most guys
would have sat out with, you know, a couple couple
of games just to get his back. But he played
because he really did believe in the team. He wanted
to go out there with his teammates. But I really
do believe he has a chance to be the still
(18:52):
of the draft. I really believe that. It mind me
of when Chris Jones went from Mississippi State. He was
supposed to be a first run he went the late
Saki and you see what he's been doing. I think
has a chance to do that.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
And Vince said that same phrase was what he heard
from his contact with the Bills and the Bills front
office steal of the draft for Dion Walker. So could
that happen?
Speaker 4 (19:16):
Adam Lukin, Yeah, I definitely think it could. There was
reasons that I think kind of you could easily explain
why he dropped. Obviously, the injury, the decrease in production,
and I think Deon he's not like a cookie cutter.
I would say defensive tackle. He brings a unique skill
set that I think your coaching staff is going to
(19:36):
have to be flexible more than the using. I think
for Buffalo, their big point of emphasis was fixed the
pass defense and fix the pass rush. I think Dion's
gonna have a chance to kind of be their backup
defensive tackle guy they bring in to rush the passer,
and I think that's going to be a good fit
for him, and I thank for Dion. He played a
lot of snaps here at Kentucky or I think he's
(19:57):
walking in a situation with Buffalo where the stat count
volume is going to decrease, and if that decreases and
he's healthy, Ken's efficiency and his playmaking really really shine through.
I think it's a it's a big swing there by Buffalo,
but we've seen him be able to do it against
top flight competition, so you could definitely see him being
(20:17):
turned out to be one of maybe Buffalo's better picks
in this draft class if it hits right. But there
is some projection I think needed for Dion at the
next level. But then again, if we've seen him put
it together and if he can stay healthy, we know
he can make plays he.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
Was dealing with the back issue. Certainly this season. The
guy we saw the year before in a lot of situations,
there was a really probably his freshman year. I think
back to a play I think was down at Florida,
wasn't it where he basically took on about two or
three blockers and got to the quarterback. If Buffalo can
get that guy on a regular basis, and even just
third down situations, that's how he could be the steal
(20:51):
of the draft.
Speaker 4 (20:53):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I think for him, it's going to
be able to show, you know, he plays a little
high at times and it's the best offensive guards in
the world that he can hold the point. But his
real value to me is going to be as a rusher,
because they it's the planet theory. There's not many guys
that can that that big, at that size that can
move like him, and so if he's able to kind
(21:16):
of carve out that role, you could definitely see him
having a really productive NFL career.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
The big story of the draft of just so many
people are talking about beyond just draftnicks, the Shudar Sanders
falling to Day three after being projected as high as
number three by some Belkiper at the top of that list.
I see Texas quarterback Quinn Yours's a post on X
from Dick Weiss hoops Wiss that yours might have made
(21:43):
eight million dollars if he put himself into the portal. Instead,
he declared for the draft and slipped into the seventh round.
Life is a gamble, Yes it is.
Speaker 5 (21:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (21:52):
It's a different dynamic we're dealing with right now, isn't it.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
Yeah, it's it's crazy with you know, we see what
happened at Tennessee with the you know, the quarterback signing
a deal that didn't grow with the the way the
marketplace was changing. That I guess his folks didn't foresee
and wanted to change. And I mean to me, ultimately
it comes down.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
To to this.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
I see if you agree that for you know, whether
it's im Alieva at Tennessee or Shular Sanders in the NFL,
if the folks writing the checks think you're you're that good,
they think you're Patrick Mahomes or Joe Burrow or Lamar Jackson,
they'll work it out. Otherwise, that's making a statement about
what they think about you as a quarterback.
Speaker 4 (22:39):
Yeah, I agree, if they if they think you're good enough,
they're going to put up with whatever they have to
put up with.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
But but by the same token, you know, the yeah,
they don't need the distractions if if they don't, you know,
they can find a lot of other guys to be
the backup at with without a lot of the the
distractions and costs, et cetera.
Speaker 4 (23:03):
Yep, Yep, again one hundred percent agree. I think it's
fascinating to me, Tom. I just kind of look at
this through the college football lens, like with Viewers and
Sanders both, Like if you if they really kind of
I think they both. I think both sides you can
make a case that they didn't read the market correctly.
Like if both those sides really read the market collect correctly,
(23:24):
both those players are still in college and they're both
making you know what at you know, three four five
million dollars whatever it is. And I believe Sanders had another
year of eligibility. I could be wrong on that, but
I thought he had another year, and then Youwers debts
did have another year and decided to not enter the portal.
But they you know, from a money from a financial standpoint,
they call themselves a decent chunk of change in this draft.
Speaker 1 (23:48):
Hey, guys like to be fair. Guys like Tom Brady
Joe Montana over the years have shown that the NFL
guys can be wrong about those talent evaluations.
Speaker 4 (23:58):
That's true too. You know, it's an inexact science. If
they were good at it, the Browns wouldn't go thirty
years without having a quarterback.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
It's like my daughter lived in an apartment complex out
in Colorado at a time and there was actually a
bear that showed up in the complex somewhere, got in
the trash, and she said, what should I do if
I see a bear? I said, ask him why they
haven't found a quarterback in fifty years?
Speaker 4 (24:21):
Absolutely? Yes, yes.
Speaker 1 (24:24):
Jalen Caldwell, Offensive Lineman, Division two, Grand Valley State, Kentucky's
apparently involved in that. What do you think they're going
to end up doing with him and anybody else in
the portal?
Speaker 6 (24:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (24:38):
As of right now, it's looking like another big story
come out of this weekend with Drew Edward signon undrafted
free agent deal with the Rams. So that pretty much
ends his eligibility case. So they have four open scholarships
that we have accounted for at least right now, so
they were seeing how they spend them. I think they
want to get I think they're definitely in the receiver
market and they're looking around there and then they've lost,
(25:01):
you know, they've lost some death pieces on the offensive line.
So I'm not surprised that we're here in Jalen Calwell's
name popped up. He visited it on Sunday, So seeing
where they would spend it, I think we'll have to
wait and see. But definitely it's been a lot of
scrimmage off season, so the one that's still addressing the
offensive line is not a surprise. But I do think
they're really really searching hard to find another receiver after
(25:23):
losing True Edwards and not having not going to have
him on the team next year.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
It's Adam Louckett on Three Sports KSR.
Speaker 4 (25:28):
Thank you much, Thanks Tom.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
Thanks Reports presented by Bobcat Enterprises. They have four locations
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hallmark of their company from the beginning.
Speaker 2 (25:55):
We'll be right back with.
Speaker 1 (25:57):
Travis Stone from Churchill Downs on the Leak's Report Radio
Network nets up on the Club Blue andil dot com hotline.
We welcome in Travis Stone. He is the track announcer
for Churchill Downs and you see him seeing the post
position draws for the Kentucky Oaks Kentucky Derby over the weekend.
And Travis, before we talk about calling the Derby, I
(26:18):
want to talk about the post position draw because to
me this you know, some years it's uh, there's maybe
some manufacturers storylines out of that, or it's not that
big a deal, not that impactful. I think this year
it's a particularly interesting storyline to the race because it
seems like almost every speed horse drew down inside the
first seven post positions, right.
Speaker 6 (26:41):
Yeah, I mean Citizen both from the inside and Rodriguez
is down toward the inside, so they figured to be forward.
And then you have Owen Almighty who has some real
speed on on O. Mighty is a very good gate horse.
If you watch his replace, he breaks well almost always.
He's in the twenty so if he breaks, well, they're
going to probably get aggressive, try and angle toward the inside.
It just has the makings.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
Of a fast paced for sure. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:06):
And with Bob Bafford having both Citizen Bull and Rodriguez
breaking from one to four respectively. Could Bafforts was asked
a lot about it. I think finally at one point
he did acknowledge that he thought Citizen Bull was a
little quicker, which was the case when they ran against
each other. But sometimes you know, you kind of give
(27:27):
one horse you think maybe he's the better horse. You
let him kind of have the controlling position and make
Rodriguez track. If your opinion on those two has changed,
do you know will that change?
Speaker 2 (27:39):
That?
Speaker 1 (27:39):
To me is fascinating the two Bafforts, right.
Speaker 6 (27:43):
Yeah, I mean it's funny to say that because when
they ran against each other earlier this year, I don't
think Rodriguez was given his best chance to win.
Speaker 2 (27:52):
That's a speed horse. He likes to be on the lead.
Speaker 6 (27:56):
And now with Citizen Bull drawing the rail, it does
make things interesting from the perspective of does he send
Citizen Bull and put Rodriguez in a rating position which
is in my opinion suboptimal for him.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
Or does he do a little bit of both.
Speaker 6 (28:10):
He sends Citizen Bull to get position, angles him outside,
allows Rodriguez to come on and take the lead, you know,
a little tag team blocker action for some of the
other speed.
Speaker 2 (28:20):
There's a lot of variables.
Speaker 6 (28:22):
In interplay there that I find fascinating and I will
be keenly watching in that opening furlong because it's going
to play a big role in how the rest of
the race goes.
Speaker 1 (28:31):
The runner up in the Keelan Derby prep the Toyota
Bluegrass Stakes here East Avenue is part of this. Wanting
to be up in the mix early. That's his best
way of going. I saw his last workout which was
look very impressive, but he was tracking off of a
(28:51):
stablemate a little bit. So do you think he tries
to stalk to some point, even if it's maybe a
half length. That's another intriguing element to how this pace
plays out. And then all of this pace talk, do
you think it's going to be an exceptionally fast pace.
Speaker 6 (29:09):
Yeah, it's interesting when you talk about you know, we
talk about speed, we typically mean the horse that goes
to the front, right, but pressers and stalkers contribute to
that forward momentum from behind horses or hurt animals, and
they hear those horses behind them and it causes the
horses in front of them to accelerate a little bit.
In terms of East Avenue, I don't think they're going
(29:32):
to be right on the lead with him. I get
the impression. I talked to both the dolphin. I talked
to Brendan before the draw. They had to send in
the Bluegrass because they had to find out what they had.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
This horse they felt.
Speaker 6 (29:43):
Needed to get in a dogfight, needed to take a
step forward, which he did.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
I think they're probably gonna.
Speaker 6 (29:49):
Try to rate him a little bit, and I'm not
saying pull back three four legs off the pace. I
think it'll be close, but I don't think the intent
will be there like it was in the Bluegrass.
Speaker 2 (30:00):
Wrong. I mean, this is worth racing.
Speaker 6 (30:01):
We're wrong a lot, right, But yeah, So I think
that's a component of that, and I think Going Almighty
follows him in terms of scenarios, so I think, you know,
it's just a two for long run to the turn.
There's one hundred and fifty screaming thousand, you know people,
the inside speed has to get positioned. Once you accelerate
(30:22):
a horse early in a race like this, you do
not slow them down. But I just have a hard
time believing we see anything but a fast pace. It's
at least going to be contested. We might not see
twenty two forty four, although I think it's possible. I
think we will see more likely a forty five ish pace.
And when you look back at recent Kentucky Derby's, that
(30:43):
just totally favors closers. Only exceptional horses like Justify are
able to sit on top of forty five halves and finish.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
So I think it's this.
Speaker 6 (30:53):
Race definitely favors those coming from off the pace, and
I think we see a fast pace more often than not.
Speaker 1 (31:00):
Yeah, here's an interesting thing, though, I suspect you'll agree
with this. If you were trying to identify a horse
that could and you mentioned Justify. The guy who trained
him is the guy who trains two of these speed
horses we're talking about. He's the guy that you know
trains his horses in a way that causes him sometimes
(31:20):
to run faster, farther than others. Right, he said, a
guy that asks a lot of his athletes.
Speaker 6 (31:28):
Yeah, I mean He's always said to win the Derby,
you got to have a battle hardened, battle tested race horse,
and you can't come into the derby with kid gloves.
You have to be ready for a fight because it's
a dog fight, twenty horses, you know, the biggest race
in the world. So, yeah, Bob has experienced, he's He's
won plenty of.
Speaker 2 (31:45):
These, right.
Speaker 6 (31:46):
I think the problem for him though, is that I
don't know if Citizen Bull is good enough, and I
don't think he's a Justify type. Yeah, he enjoyed some
pretty soft setups as a two year old, and this
is going to be of real adversity he's going to
have to overcome. And Rodriguez enjoyed a easily last time
in the Wood Memorials. So it's not like we're talking
(32:08):
about ah horses that did nothing but win. I mean,
Justify was undefeated. It was light, but it was undefeated.
He was dominant in those wins. These two have not
been that, So I think that might be one of
the factors there. But you know, I'm saying this, and
we're some friends and are kind of joking, and watch
us wake up Sunday morning, and Bob did another derby
where he he like went one two the whole way
(32:30):
because everybody else tried to back off and get cute, you.
Speaker 1 (32:33):
Know, yeah, like the war emblem was it the citizen? Yeah,
course the was Baffer and Lucas one two all the
way around exactly. Journalism got a nice straw. He overcame
some adversity and winning the sanity to Derby was in
kind of a box along the inside and uh finally
extricated himself and ran down a loose leader in a
(32:56):
good horse and by asa. So is journalism well ahead
of the pack in your estimation or is he just
the leader of a tighter pack.
Speaker 6 (33:08):
I think he's well ahead. I think there's two things
to worry about with journalism. One is he did regress
numbers wise in that Santa Tita Derby.
Speaker 2 (33:17):
So if you're a sort of a.
Speaker 6 (33:18):
Pattern or form handicapper, you wonder what's the next move.
Does he regress further or does he bounce back and
improve again.
Speaker 2 (33:26):
That's one concern.
Speaker 6 (33:27):
The other concern is the twenty horses, And this is
a horse that has been racing in smaller fields' virto
recently is going to have to work out a good trip.
He's capable, very good rider, but as a specimen and
as a race horse, I have not heard horsemen meaning
trainers and people that I would consider experts and horse
(33:48):
flesh and horse movement rave about a horse this much.
I'm going to go back to American Pharaoh. I was
standing with Al Stahl the other morning for the Saturday
Worksjournalism and like to just to gallop because they because
we had some marine that morning and they wanted to
push it back a day. And here comes journalism galloping bias.
We're right at the sixteenth pole or so, and Al goes,
(34:10):
look at this horse move There's not an ounce of
wasted energy.
Speaker 2 (34:15):
It is just a.
Speaker 6 (34:16):
Fluid, beautiful stride. He just looks like a horse that
knows he's good. And an Aaron Willman, who is the
managing partner in Eclipse Throw Bread, said the same thing
to me this he just has that in factor. So
I really think that when we were saying before wake
up on Sunday morning, I think most likely Journalism is
(34:37):
the winner of the derby. I'm even thinking about it
in terms of being a fairly dominant win, not.
Speaker 2 (34:43):
Even close finish.
Speaker 6 (34:44):
Yeah, and here's the big thing is he has a
little bit more speed than some of the deep closers,
So he's going to be ahead of all of his
main rivals Burnham Square, Sandman, Sovereignty, They're all going to
be behind him, So he's going to have the benefit
of moving when he wants to move relatives to them,
they're going to have to go get him. And if
(35:05):
you watch his replays, when he comes down the stretch,
he has this stride where he just reaches and lowers
his head and it's almost like he's just like a train.
He's gaining momentum and just powerhousing home. Yeah, I'm very
impressed with him. You know, I'm not I don't buy
(35:26):
and sell horses. I don't train horses. I just call them.
So I feel like I'm not like anybody else where.
You maybe don't see horses every day, but I can
definitely tell when you see a good horse, I think,
and like, this horse is just he has wowed me
every single time I've seen him.
Speaker 1 (35:41):
Travis Stone could continue this for a while, but we're
running short on time, so I'm sure you're busiest. Well,
thank you. Then it's gonna be a crazy week. Have
a great call on Saturday and all week long.
Speaker 2 (35:51):
I appreciate it. Yeah, enjoy the weekend and see.
Speaker 1 (35:53):
You trave a Stone Drag announcer Churchill downs. We take
our break and come back with our final segment of
the Leach Report, presented by Bobcat Enterprises. Shufflebean Coffee is
Kentucky based group of Kentucky. It's got together more than
a decade ago with a plan to make the very
best coffee they could and they have done it best
(36:14):
coffee beans. That's how it starts. And you can read
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Shufflebean coffee and cured capsules are already ground or a
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Pick up some shuffle Being Coffee today. Put some hustle
in your shuffle with Shufflebean Coffee. Stan Wildcat History is
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presented by Kentucky road Show, Sports Cards and Memorabilia on
Romney Road in Lexington at at roadshowcards dot com. Two
Wildcat Birthdays, the blur Dwight Anderson. Well, that's one of
the all time great nicknames. Okay, we'll let for gave
Dwight Anderson he was born on this day, and then
Laron Ellis celebrating a birthday today as well. Derby and
Triple Crown coverage again the spring presented by Clayburne Farm
(36:59):
doing the usual usually well for more than a century.
We appreciate Travis Stone joining us. Wanted to talk a
little bit more about just calling the Derby, but an
interesting discussion about the impact of the post position drawing
the race and then obviously what he thinks of journalism today.
Citizen Bull, we talked about him. One of the Bafford horses,
really sharp workout fifty eight and four fifths this morning.
(37:21):
Bieza and Cole Battle also had timed workouts today, So
that should be it. It should be just you know,
maintenance gallops and things leading up to the race. Now
for all of the Derby horses to take a second
talk about Cornbread Hemp. The group of the team there
Cornbread Hemp Kentuckians that are committed to doing this the
(37:43):
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It's Cornbreadthemp dot Com. See you tomorrow.
Good day, everybody, Welcome into another week shows here on
the Leech Report, presented each every day by Bob Kat Enterprises.
Coming up today as we start Kentucky Derby Week, we
will chat with Travis Stone from Churchill Downs. You see
the post position draws for the Kentucky Oaks of the
(00:21):
Kentucky Derby on Saturday night, so the fields are sad
for the two big races, and we'll talk with him
on how the post position draw impacted, if at all,
the Derby picture. With twenty horses, it's always a little
bit more of an issue than the fourteen in the Oaks,
but we'll maybe touch base on the Oaks as well
(00:42):
as far as the post positions. We'll talk with Adam
Luckett about the NFL Draft in Kentucky football, and we'll
lead off with Dick Gabriel, who was on the call
for three games this weekend at Kentucky Brown Park, two
of them on Saturday with Doug Flynn on the Sea Network.
Plus coverage of Kentucky baseball winning two of three against
(01:03):
South Carolina. Let's get to the Wildcat News of the day.
It's a service of Giuseppes of Lexington and the NFL
Draft saw Kentucky's Maxwell Harriston taken in the first round.
That was we do that on Friday, and what a
great story Max was. D L Walker didn't go until
Saturday in round four, but he went to the same
(01:25):
team as Harriston and Ray Davis from last year, the
Buffalo Bills. Vince Merrow, the NFL eason as well as
assister coach for the Wildcats, was on Sunday Morning Sports
Talk here in Lexington yesterday and said that the people
in the Bills organization, or the person in the Bills
organization that he talks to, said they believe they got
(01:46):
the steal of the draft in Dion Walker in round four.
Several Wildcats have already signed free agent deals. Zion Childers
with the Cowboys, Eli Cox with Houston. Zach Yenzer, former
co Tucky offensive line coaches on the staff there, so
that's plus for Eli's chances. Jamon Dumas, Johnson from Green
(02:07):
Bay or four signed with Green Bay and those were
the ones that were known yesterday as of the airing
of Sunday Morning Sports Talk, and coach Merrow said he
thought all three had a great chance to make the
roster from what he's heard from the NFL teams that
they went to. And then later in the day came
the news that Marcus Cox has signed with the Broncos
(02:29):
that undrafted free agent deal. So good luck to all
of those guys. Those are the only ones we know
about her I know about at the time. For Kentucky football,
True Edwards has signed a free agent deal with the Rams.
He's the wide receiver from Louisiana Tech that was trying
to get another year of eligibility and was going to
use it at Kentucky. But you can close the book
(02:51):
on that one now, as it looked like that was
the case already, and then there was the legal challenge
I think by a Rutgers player that seemingly he put
a crack back in the door for Edwards. And now
he's just gone on. You can't blame him. He's just
gone on and moved on to his NFL career and
signing a free agent deal with the Rams. So now
(03:14):
Kentucky's probably looking to add a little more in the
transfer portal, and we'll get into that with Adam Luckett
a little bit later on in the show. UK Baseball
beat South Carolina yesterday by account of eleven to five,
so it is a series win two games to one,
and it is the second consecutive series win for Kentucky baseball,
(03:35):
having knocked off Tennessee the week before, and they were
so close to a sweep on Saturday night. In the
second half of the doubleheader. They led into the top
of the eighth and then South Carolina got a two
run homer to go ahead by one and held on
to get the win there, but still a serious win
for Kentucky. Tyler Bell had a basis clearing double, driving
(03:57):
three runs. When Kentucky broke the game open, Cole Hage
threw at a runner at the top of the eighth
at home and had he not done that, had the
runner scored, it would have been seven to six. Was
still South Carolina with one out to work with, and
instead that ended the inning, kept Kentucky's lead it to
and then they blew it open in the bottom of
the eighth. Kentucky now ten and eleven in league play,
(04:19):
twenty five and sixteen overall. Thanks to the stories we
talk about each day, you can find them on the
butt Light Leach Report page at Tom leachky dot com.
We'll come back chat with Dick Gabriel our opening segments
presented by Giuseppes of Lexington. And now that Keelan's over,
there's still a lot of special occasions to celebrate out
(04:40):
at Giseppes. Birthdays, anniversaries, two of which our colleague Bo
Robinson did with his parents last week. Maybe a promotion,
whatever it is, just get together with family and friends.
No place better to do that than at Giseppes. So
go to Giuseppes Lexington, see all the great things they
have on the menu, a lot of them locally sourced,
and then go to open Table and make your reservations
(05:03):
for Giuseppes. We'll be right back on The Leach Report,
presented by Bobcat Enterprises quarter past the top of the
hour on this edition of the Leach Report. To start
the new week, We're coming to you each day from
the Clarks Pumping Shop Studio, Return, Refresh and refuel at Clark's.
They have a new loyalty program you should sign up for,
(05:24):
and apparently it's where you should buy your lottery tickets.
Somebody just one at the Clark's in Georgetown, like a
power ball for one hundred and sixty seven.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Million wasn't you? Was it Dick? Wasn't you?
Speaker 1 (05:34):
Was it Dick Gabriel?
Speaker 3 (05:36):
If it were, I wouldn't be seeking you right now
or your brother, But you wouldn't get me on the phone.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
Well, too bad, we'll tuggle. We'll tuggle UK Baseball. Then
I hug in there for most of the eighteen innings
with you and mister Flynn on Saturday on my iPad
while I was watching some NBA and some Herbie draw
and then when I had to be out in the car,
I was tuned into Darren. So it was a great
(06:07):
full day of UK baseball and they end up getting
a second straight series win with the victory yesterday. So
they what is it that you see that has finally
clicked for this group to win a few of those
close games that they had let slip away earlier?
Speaker 3 (06:24):
Well of late, it's been offense. Earlier it was better pitching.
But now and we talk with Patrick Herrera about this
after the win over Louisville, but he said they have
kind of rededicated themselves to what they call quabs, which
is quality at bats. They've got a better approach team wide,
and he said the players got together and talked about it,
(06:45):
but it just seemed like Tom. They weren't very aggressive
at the plate. They were, you know, letting pitches go
by in situations where you should be able to sit
on a pitch and that kind of thing. So and
I know they worked a lot with the coaching.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Staff as well.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
Chase Sloan is the new offensive coordinate her basically, but
they are much more aggressive at the plate, smarter at bats,
and you know they've always been aggressive offensively, but can't
get on base.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
She can't make it work. And got some young guys
I mean that they are coming through. Bell had been
there from the start at short but the kid in
the outfield, Schortz has given him a little boost.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
He really has. And you know who else has really
done a great job as Cayas Garget And he's the
guy who's had the way.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
He's a sophomore.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
He's had to wait his turn and he's playing right
now at third base because Herrera, who just came back
from a shoulder injury and know nothing major, but had
to sit out a little bit. And then he tweaked
a groin muscle running out of a base hit against Louisville,
so he sat the entire weekend, a garget was terrific
on offense and defense. We've seen him in the outfield
(07:47):
and now at third base. So yeah, you're right, there's
a lot of these young guys and the new guy,
Carson Hanson has played well. Cole Hages had a big
game in the finale last night. He was lumping a
little bit. He's the kid who transferred in from Columbia,
but he's.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
Come back to life.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
So yeah, there's a lot of guys who are getting
more comfortable and playing with a lot more confidence.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
And part of Kentucky's game is being aggressive on the
base pass and that worked well for them this weekend.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Yeah, it really did.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
It work great against Tennessee as well. But and you
know in South Carolina did was more aggressive trying to
stop the run game, and in fact, their catcher threw
out a couple of wild casts trying to steal. But
there was one inning where Kentucky put the leadoff man aboard.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
It was Hage.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
He got caught stealing.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
Next thing, you know, they get been on first and
second for next pitch, double steal. You know, So they
just kept applying the pressure and it kept working, and
it kind of I think got to South Carolina game.
Cost committed four errors in the game last night or
yesterday afternoon, including three on one play basically three bad
throws which led to a Kentucky run.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
So now they'll go back out on the road. Well, yeah,
for road this week because they're at Western tomorrow for
their midweek game, and then they're at Mississippi State and
our friend mister Price is calling baseball now down there.
So yeah, Darren, I'll get to reconnect with him. But
tell me about just an early preview of that series.
Speaker 3 (09:17):
Well, I think that it's just going to be more
of the same. You know, you're gonna put the ball
in the hands of the rotation. That's another thing, Tom
that we need to talk about, as the fact that
Kentucky had to replace its entire weekend rotation from last year,
and you know, they didn't know going into the fall.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
They had a pretty good idea Ben Clever.
Speaker 3 (09:37):
Might be a guy that can count on, but he
has been absolutely fantastic. Nate Harris, a freshman, pitched extremely
well yesterday in Game one seven innings, gave up just
two runs four hits. Nick McKay was not particularly sharp
on Saturday, you know, was Pitcher of the Week after
the job he did down at Tennessee.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
So you know it's it's going.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
To be more of the same. Just just put the
ball in their hands, try to keep the other guys
from scoring too many runs, jump out early, which Kentucky
has done. You know, Kentucky has led in almost every
SEC game it has played so far. That's an amazing stet.
I don't remember ever seeing that happen. But what that
(10:21):
means is, obviously they can put pressure on the other guys.
So if they can keep that happening, they got a
chance against the Mississippi State team that was struggling kind
of early. But you know, they're twenty five and nineteen now,
they're only seven to fourteen in conference play, tougher at
home naturally, it's a tough place to play now, but
I think you get in there, get a lead, and
(10:43):
you got a real shot.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
I assume whoever the Joe Lenardi is of college baseball
has Kentucky off the bubble now?
Speaker 3 (10:50):
Well, yeah, in fact, it's been off the bubble for
a little while. Last week they were projecting Kentucky as
a three seed. Lately, believe it or not.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
It's a two seed.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
Wow, just because of their strength to schedule and the
fact that their losses. A couple of midweek losses have hurt,
but for the most part, when you lose in the
SEC it's not nearly as damaging. But they've got to
take care of business. Tom, that's the most important thing.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
Well, for many years you would have been talking to
us from the backside of Churchill Downs, with you and
Steve Moss tracking around the track there to get the
stories for WKYT. So do you have a Derby horse yet?
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Well?
Speaker 3 (11:31):
Yeah, and not just for the obvious reasons, but I'm
going to go with journalism. I know he's the chalk
but I liked his race out west and I am
going to study obviously the works this week because it matters.
You and I have talked about this many years. You know,
do those horses like Churchill Downs. It's a different kind
of track and I'm not sure what do we know
(11:51):
the forecast yet I'm sure we do.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
Yeah, it's supposed to be the rain supposed to move
out early on Oaks Day and so as our friend
mister the late John Asher used to say, it's always
Sonnying seventy five on Derby Day, it's actually supposed to
be sunning seventy.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
Well, as long as.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
The track's not wet, because it's just a little wet,
that's when it gets confusing. If there's a lot of rain,
you can handicap fairly well that way, But just a
little bit of rain, Like I told you many times,
Pat Day once said, it's like running in peanut butter.
So it affects horses so differently. So if all goes
as planned, I'm going to stick with journalism. I like
his post position, although that's usually unless you're on the rail,
(12:32):
that's usually overrated. But I do like the fact that
that he's got a chance at a clean break.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
Dick Gabriel, thank you much. All right, Buddy Gabe on
the call over the weekend on the SEC Network plus
coverage with Doug Flynn for Kentucky Baseball Series win over
South Carolina. We will be right back, talk a little
NFL Draft in Kentucky Football with Adam Luckett. It's the
Leach Report, coming to you from the Clark's Pumping Shop
studio twenty five past the top of the hour. Leach
(13:01):
Report guests come to you on the Club Blue nil
dot Com hotline they're the official fundraising partner of UK
and they are proud to introduce Club Blue Kids. It's
the ultimate club for young Wildcat fans. Members get awesome
perks like exclusive access to events, athlete experiences, a T shirt,
a membership card, beating greets, tons more, and it's totally free.
(13:25):
So sign your youngsters up now at Club bluenil dot com.
Just click the Kids tab to register. Big things are
coming soon, so get online with Kentucky club with Club
Blue Kids, where future Wildcats rep the Blue with pride.
Joining us now on the aforementioned Club Blue innil dot
com hotline is Adam Luckett from on three Sports KSR
(13:48):
and Maxwell Harriston was one of the stars of the
draft on Thursday night. Adam with just being mister positivity.
Speaker 4 (13:58):
Yeah, absolutely. I think Max Max got a lot of
screen time there in the green room. We're just where
he was situated and just kind of wapping everybody up
as they came out, and then towards the end of
the round he came off the board just right around
where we kind of expected. And I think the bills
are really good fit for him. He's going to be
able to go in play in a scheme similar to
Kentucky's and there's a starting spot for that's waiting for him. There.
(14:22):
So really good, really good ending to what was a
good day I think overall for Maxwell Harston.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
Maxwell in that twenty three season had the two pick
sixers down at Vandy, and an interview popped up that
Alyssa Lang did on the field after the game with
Max and Ray Davis and talking, and Ray talked about
how Max had talked all week about, you know, wanted
(14:49):
to basically make a statement in that game because of
what had happened the year before when he wasn't playing
much and they had a quarterback or a cornerback injured.
Vandy's driving for what turned out to be the game
winning touchdown. I think it's a fourth down play and
he gets put in the game maybe one play before that,
and he gives up a long pass play that leads
(15:11):
to the game winning touchdown. And cornerbacks defensive backs are
supposed to have short memories, but those kinds of things, Adam,
we both though, are easier, you know, said than done.
And I was just always impressed by what that said
about Max's competitiveness, the way he came back from that
the next season.
Speaker 4 (15:30):
Yeah, absolutely, I think, you know, and there was a
lot of skepticism I think around the program that you know,
they didn't go out and address that position. Well, they
did a dress a position, but I think we all
thought maybe JQ Hardaway or Jameson Dubb will be the
starter that year opposite Andrew Phillips and Max kind of
you know, he really kind of took that job away
from all those guys and was the starter that year
(15:50):
and ended up having a really good year. And that
Vanderbilt game was a big, I think vindication moment for
him after you know, he gives up the unfortunate situation
and in a play that really never should have happened,
Kentucky had a penalty that even in that drive and
so so you put a young player in a tough
spot that happens able to bounce back like that and
(16:11):
to turn into one of the better cornerbacks in the SEC.
And then we didn't really we only got to see
a little bit of it this past year because of injury.
But but his just playmaking overall was really something that
Kentucky hasn't had, I think in a lot of outside
cornerbacks in this program. He was the first one where
you thought he could get an interception at any kind
of point to me, since like Tamar Linley, yeah, playmaking
(16:35):
and force bumbles and you know, Blitzer just it seemed
like he was always kind of had a note for
the football and was making plays and that and that
has paid off for him, and specifically after having a
good pre draft process, and now he's gonna go play
in a place where some Kentucky players have succeeded, and
it's a place where they they're gonna need him to
come in and play right away. So it's a great
spot for him. And I think this whole kind of
(16:57):
process of the draft and lead up, I think it
all worked out almost perfect for him.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
A little less than a minute here before the break,
Adam Vince Marrow was on Sunday Morning Sports Talk yesterday
and he suggested there's another cornerback in their room that
could make a similar accent like Maxwell did, seemingly out
of nowhere. Didn't say, he didn't want to say who
it was. Who do you think he was talking about?
Speaker 4 (17:22):
Yeah, I think when you look at JQ. Hardaway, like
he had the first year struggle similar to Max, and
he had a big year last year. I think he
could make the argument he was one of their their
best defensive players overall last year. So for him, he
seems like he's the next one in line to maybe
be that and to try Nichols as a guy sophomore
that I think they're really excited about. So both of
those guys and then the id DJ Waller in there
(17:43):
as well, I think they have three quarterbacks that they
feel pretty good about.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
We'll continue our chat with Adam Luckt talk about the
other former Cat that's now a Buffalo Bill when we
come right back instantly to report presented by Bob Kat
enterprises Chad with that I'm looking from on three sports
and KSR and I'm luckyt KSR on X and Twitter
about the Kentucky guys who were drafted, Maxwell Harriston in
(18:06):
round one, and now we'll talk about the guy who
went in round four, also to the same team, the
Buffalo Bills, Dion Walker. This was Vince merriw UK assistant coach,
recruiting coordinator and NFL eason talking on Sunday Morning Sports
Talk here in Lexington yesterday about Dion and going to
the Bills and how Dion may have slipped down to
(18:29):
the fourth round in the draft.
Speaker 5 (18:31):
The young man was hurt. He was he was he
really really if he would have set out, everybody was saying,
he don't do this, he don't do that. Most guys
would have sat out with, you know, a couple couple
of games just to get his back. But he played
because he really did believe in the team. He wanted
to go out there with his teammates. But I really
do believe he has a chance to be the still
(18:52):
of the draft. I really believe that. It mind me
of when Chris Jones went from Mississippi State. He was
supposed to be a first run he went the late
Saki and you see what he's been doing. I think
has a chance to do that.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
And Vince said that same phrase was what he heard
from his contact with the Bills and the Bills front
office steal of the draft for Dion Walker. So could
that happen?
Speaker 4 (19:16):
Adam Lukin, Yeah, I definitely think it could. There was
reasons that I think kind of you could easily explain
why he dropped. Obviously, the injury, the decrease in production,
and I think Deon he's not like a cookie cutter.
I would say defensive tackle. He brings a unique skill
set that I think your coaching staff is going to
(19:36):
have to be flexible more than the using. I think
for Buffalo, their big point of emphasis was fixed the
pass defense and fix the pass rush. I think Dion's
gonna have a chance to kind of be their backup
defensive tackle guy they bring in to rush the passer,
and I think that's going to be a good fit
for him, and I thank for Dion. He played a
lot of snaps here at Kentucky or I think he's
(19:57):
walking in a situation with Buffalo where the stat count
volume is going to decrease, and if that decreases and
he's healthy, Ken's efficiency and his playmaking really really shine through.
I think it's a it's a big swing there by Buffalo,
but we've seen him be able to do it against
top flight competition, so you could definitely see him being
(20:17):
turned out to be one of maybe Buffalo's better picks
in this draft class if it hits right. But there
is some projection I think needed for Dion at the
next level. But then again, if we've seen him put
it together and if he can stay healthy, we know
he can make plays he.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
Was dealing with the back issue. Certainly this season. The
guy we saw the year before in a lot of situations,
there was a really probably his freshman year. I think
back to a play I think was down at Florida,
wasn't it where he basically took on about two or
three blockers and got to the quarterback. If Buffalo can
get that guy on a regular basis, and even just
third down situations, that's how he could be the steal
(20:51):
of the draft.
Speaker 4 (20:53):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I think for him, it's going to
be able to show, you know, he plays a little
high at times and it's the best offensive guards in
the world that he can hold the point. But his
real value to me is going to be as a rusher,
because they it's the planet theory. There's not many guys
that can that that big, at that size that can
move like him, and so if he's able to kind
(21:16):
of carve out that role, you could definitely see him
having a really productive NFL career.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
The big story of the draft of just so many
people are talking about beyond just draftnicks, the Shudar Sanders
falling to Day three after being projected as high as
number three by some Belkiper at the top of that list.
I see Texas quarterback Quinn Yours's a post on X
from Dick Weiss hoops Wiss that yours might have made
(21:43):
eight million dollars if he put himself into the portal. Instead,
he declared for the draft and slipped into the seventh round.
Life is a gamble, Yes it is.
Speaker 5 (21:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (21:52):
It's a different dynamic we're dealing with right now, isn't it.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
Yeah, it's it's crazy with you know, we see what
happened at Tennessee with the you know, the quarterback signing
a deal that didn't grow with the the way the
marketplace was changing. That I guess his folks didn't foresee
and wanted to change. And I mean to me, ultimately
it comes down.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
To to this.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
I see if you agree that for you know, whether
it's im Alieva at Tennessee or Shular Sanders in the NFL,
if the folks writing the checks think you're you're that good,
they think you're Patrick Mahomes or Joe Burrow or Lamar Jackson,
they'll work it out. Otherwise, that's making a statement about
what they think about you as a quarterback.
Speaker 4 (22:39):
Yeah, I agree, if they if they think you're good enough,
they're going to put up with whatever they have to
put up with.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
But but by the same token, you know, the yeah,
they don't need the distractions if if they don't, you know,
they can find a lot of other guys to be
the backup at with without a lot of the the
distractions and costs, et cetera.
Speaker 4 (23:03):
Yep, Yep, again one hundred percent agree. I think it's
fascinating to me, Tom. I just kind of look at
this through the college football lens, like with Viewers and
Sanders both, Like if you if they really kind of
I think they both. I think both sides you can
make a case that they didn't read the market correctly.
Like if both those sides really read the market collect correctly,
(23:24):
both those players are still in college and they're both
making you know what at you know, three four five
million dollars whatever it is. And I believe Sanders had another
year of eligibility. I could be wrong on that, but
I thought he had another year, and then Youwers debts
did have another year and decided to not enter the portal.
But they you know, from a money from a financial standpoint,
they call themselves a decent chunk of change in this draft.
Speaker 1 (23:48):
Hey, guys like to be fair. Guys like Tom Brady
Joe Montana over the years have shown that the NFL
guys can be wrong about those talent evaluations.
Speaker 4 (23:58):
That's true too. You know, it's an inexact science. If
they were good at it, the Browns wouldn't go thirty
years without having a quarterback.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
It's like my daughter lived in an apartment complex out
in Colorado at a time and there was actually a
bear that showed up in the complex somewhere, got in
the trash, and she said, what should I do if
I see a bear? I said, ask him why they
haven't found a quarterback in fifty years?
Speaker 4 (24:21):
Absolutely? Yes, yes.
Speaker 1 (24:24):
Jalen Caldwell, Offensive Lineman, Division two, Grand Valley State, Kentucky's
apparently involved in that. What do you think they're going
to end up doing with him and anybody else in
the portal?
Speaker 6 (24:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (24:38):
As of right now, it's looking like another big story
come out of this weekend with Drew Edward signon undrafted
free agent deal with the Rams. So that pretty much
ends his eligibility case. So they have four open scholarships
that we have accounted for at least right now, so
they were seeing how they spend them. I think they
want to get I think they're definitely in the receiver
market and they're looking around there and then they've lost,
(25:01):
you know, they've lost some death pieces on the offensive line.
So I'm not surprised that we're here in Jalen Calwell's
name popped up. He visited it on Sunday, So seeing
where they would spend it, I think we'll have to
wait and see. But definitely it's been a lot of
scrimmage off season, so the one that's still addressing the
offensive line is not a surprise. But I do think
they're really really searching hard to find another receiver after
(25:23):
losing True Edwards and not having not going to have
him on the team next year.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
It's Adam Louckett on Three Sports KSR.
Speaker 4 (25:28):
Thank you much, Thanks Tom.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
Thanks Reports presented by Bobcat Enterprises. They have four locations
across Kentucky. So when you need to buy or rent
some heavy equipment for a job, or you know somebody
who does needs to be Bobcat Enterprises, just google them
and you'll find the location that's closest to you. They
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a fantastic service after the sale, which has been the
(25:52):
hallmark of their company from the beginning.
Speaker 2 (25:55):
We'll be right back with.
Speaker 1 (25:57):
Travis Stone from Churchill Downs on the Leak's Report Radio
Network nets up on the Club Blue andil dot com hotline.
We welcome in Travis Stone. He is the track announcer
for Churchill Downs and you see him seeing the post
position draws for the Kentucky Oaks Kentucky Derby over the weekend.
And Travis, before we talk about calling the Derby, I
(26:18):
want to talk about the post position draw because to
me this you know, some years it's uh, there's maybe
some manufacturers storylines out of that, or it's not that
big a deal, not that impactful. I think this year
it's a particularly interesting storyline to the race because it
seems like almost every speed horse drew down inside the
first seven post positions, right.
Speaker 6 (26:41):
Yeah, I mean Citizen both from the inside and Rodriguez
is down toward the inside, so they figured to be forward.
And then you have Owen Almighty who has some real
speed on on O. Mighty is a very good gate horse.
If you watch his replace, he breaks well almost always.
He's in the twenty so if he breaks, well, they're
going to probably get aggressive, try and angle toward the inside.
It just has the makings.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
Of a fast paced for sure. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:06):
And with Bob Bafford having both Citizen Bull and Rodriguez
breaking from one to four respectively. Could Bafforts was asked
a lot about it. I think finally at one point
he did acknowledge that he thought Citizen Bull was a
little quicker, which was the case when they ran against
each other. But sometimes you know, you kind of give
(27:27):
one horse you think maybe he's the better horse. You
let him kind of have the controlling position and make
Rodriguez track. If your opinion on those two has changed,
do you know will that change?
Speaker 2 (27:39):
That?
Speaker 1 (27:39):
To me is fascinating the two Bafforts, right.
Speaker 6 (27:43):
Yeah, I mean it's funny to say that because when
they ran against each other earlier this year, I don't
think Rodriguez was given his best chance to win.
Speaker 2 (27:52):
That's a speed horse. He likes to be on the lead.
Speaker 6 (27:56):
And now with Citizen Bull drawing the rail, it does
make things interesting from the perspective of does he send
Citizen Bull and put Rodriguez in a rating position which
is in my opinion suboptimal for him.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
Or does he do a little bit of both.
Speaker 6 (28:10):
He sends Citizen Bull to get position, angles him outside,
allows Rodriguez to come on and take the lead, you know,
a little tag team blocker action for some of the
other speed.
Speaker 2 (28:20):
There's a lot of variables.
Speaker 6 (28:22):
In interplay there that I find fascinating and I will
be keenly watching in that opening furlong because it's going
to play a big role in how the rest of
the race goes.
Speaker 1 (28:31):
The runner up in the Keelan Derby prep the Toyota
Bluegrass Stakes here East Avenue is part of this. Wanting
to be up in the mix early. That's his best
way of going. I saw his last workout which was
look very impressive, but he was tracking off of a
(28:51):
stablemate a little bit. So do you think he tries
to stalk to some point, even if it's maybe a
half length. That's another intriguing element to how this pace
plays out. And then all of this pace talk, do
you think it's going to be an exceptionally fast pace.
Speaker 6 (29:09):
Yeah, it's interesting when you talk about you know, we
talk about speed, we typically mean the horse that goes
to the front, right, but pressers and stalkers contribute to
that forward momentum from behind horses or hurt animals, and
they hear those horses behind them and it causes the
horses in front of them to accelerate a little bit.
In terms of East Avenue, I don't think they're going
(29:32):
to be right on the lead with him. I get
the impression. I talked to both the dolphin. I talked
to Brendan before the draw. They had to send in
the Bluegrass because they had to find out what they had.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
This horse they felt.
Speaker 6 (29:43):
Needed to get in a dogfight, needed to take a
step forward, which he did.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
I think they're probably gonna.
Speaker 6 (29:49):
Try to rate him a little bit, and I'm not
saying pull back three four legs off the pace. I
think it'll be close, but I don't think the intent
will be there like it was in the Bluegrass.
Speaker 2 (30:00):
Wrong. I mean, this is worth racing.
Speaker 6 (30:01):
We're wrong a lot, right, But yeah, So I think
that's a component of that, and I think Going Almighty
follows him in terms of scenarios, so I think, you know,
it's just a two for long run to the turn.
There's one hundred and fifty screaming thousand, you know people,
the inside speed has to get positioned. Once you accelerate
(30:22):
a horse early in a race like this, you do
not slow them down. But I just have a hard
time believing we see anything but a fast pace. It's
at least going to be contested. We might not see
twenty two forty four, although I think it's possible. I
think we will see more likely a forty five ish pace.
And when you look back at recent Kentucky Derby's, that
(30:43):
just totally favors closers. Only exceptional horses like Justify are
able to sit on top of forty five halves and finish.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
So I think it's this.
Speaker 6 (30:53):
Race definitely favors those coming from off the pace, and
I think we see a fast pace more often than not.
Speaker 1 (31:00):
Yeah, here's an interesting thing, though, I suspect you'll agree
with this. If you were trying to identify a horse
that could and you mentioned Justify. The guy who trained
him is the guy who trains two of these speed
horses we're talking about. He's the guy that you know
trains his horses in a way that causes him sometimes
(31:20):
to run faster, farther than others. Right, he said, a
guy that asks a lot of his athletes.
Speaker 6 (31:28):
Yeah, I mean He's always said to win the Derby,
you got to have a battle hardened, battle tested race horse,
and you can't come into the derby with kid gloves.
You have to be ready for a fight because it's
a dog fight, twenty horses, you know, the biggest race
in the world. So, yeah, Bob has experienced, he's He's
won plenty of.
Speaker 2 (31:45):
These, right.
Speaker 6 (31:46):
I think the problem for him though, is that I
don't know if Citizen Bull is good enough, and I
don't think he's a Justify type. Yeah, he enjoyed some
pretty soft setups as a two year old, and this
is going to be of real adversity he's going to
have to overcome. And Rodriguez enjoyed a easily last time
in the Wood Memorials. So it's not like we're talking
(32:08):
about ah horses that did nothing but win. I mean,
Justify was undefeated. It was light, but it was undefeated.
He was dominant in those wins. These two have not
been that, So I think that might be one of
the factors there. But you know, I'm saying this, and
we're some friends and are kind of joking, and watch
us wake up Sunday morning, and Bob did another derby
where he he like went one two the whole way
(32:30):
because everybody else tried to back off and get cute, you.
Speaker 1 (32:33):
Know, yeah, like the war emblem was it the citizen? Yeah,
course the was Baffer and Lucas one two all the
way around exactly. Journalism got a nice straw. He overcame
some adversity and winning the sanity to Derby was in
kind of a box along the inside and uh finally
extricated himself and ran down a loose leader in a
(32:56):
good horse and by asa. So is journalism well ahead
of the pack in your estimation or is he just
the leader of a tighter pack.
Speaker 6 (33:08):
I think he's well ahead. I think there's two things
to worry about with journalism. One is he did regress
numbers wise in that Santa Tita Derby.
Speaker 2 (33:17):
So if you're a sort of a.
Speaker 6 (33:18):
Pattern or form handicapper, you wonder what's the next move.
Does he regress further or does he bounce back and
improve again.
Speaker 2 (33:26):
That's one concern.
Speaker 6 (33:27):
The other concern is the twenty horses, And this is
a horse that has been racing in smaller fields' virto
recently is going to have to work out a good trip.
He's capable, very good rider, but as a specimen and
as a race horse, I have not heard horsemen meaning
trainers and people that I would consider experts and horse
(33:48):
flesh and horse movement rave about a horse this much.
I'm going to go back to American Pharaoh. I was
standing with Al Stahl the other morning for the Saturday
Worksjournalism and like to just to gallop because they because
we had some marine that morning and they wanted to
push it back a day. And here comes journalism galloping bias.
We're right at the sixteenth pole or so, and Al goes,
(34:10):
look at this horse move There's not an ounce of
wasted energy.
Speaker 2 (34:15):
It is just a.
Speaker 6 (34:16):
Fluid, beautiful stride. He just looks like a horse that
knows he's good. And an Aaron Willman, who is the
managing partner in Eclipse Throw Bread, said the same thing
to me this he just has that in factor. So
I really think that when we were saying before wake
up on Sunday morning, I think most likely Journalism is
(34:37):
the winner of the derby. I'm even thinking about it
in terms of being a fairly dominant win, not.
Speaker 2 (34:43):
Even close finish.
Speaker 6 (34:44):
Yeah, and here's the big thing is he has a
little bit more speed than some of the deep closers,
So he's going to be ahead of all of his
main rivals Burnham Square, Sandman, Sovereignty, They're all going to
be behind him, So he's going to have the benefit
of moving when he wants to move relatives to them,
they're going to have to go get him. And if
(35:05):
you watch his replays, when he comes down the stretch,
he has this stride where he just reaches and lowers
his head and it's almost like he's just like a train.
He's gaining momentum and just powerhousing home. Yeah, I'm very
impressed with him. You know, I'm not I don't buy
(35:26):
and sell horses. I don't train horses. I just call them.
So I feel like I'm not like anybody else where.
You maybe don't see horses every day, but I can
definitely tell when you see a good horse, I think,
and like, this horse is just he has wowed me
every single time I've seen him.
Speaker 1 (35:41):
Travis Stone could continue this for a while, but we're
running short on time, so I'm sure you're busiest. Well,
thank you. Then it's gonna be a crazy week. Have
a great call on Saturday and all week long.
Speaker 2 (35:51):
I appreciate it. Yeah, enjoy the weekend and see.
Speaker 1 (35:53):
You trave a Stone Drag announcer Churchill downs. We take
our break and come back with our final segment of
the Leach Report, presented by Bobcat Enterprises. Shufflebean Coffee is
Kentucky based group of Kentucky. It's got together more than
a decade ago with a plan to make the very
best coffee they could and they have done it best
(36:14):
coffee beans. That's how it starts. And you can read
all about it at Shufflebean dot us and order some
of the product while you're there. You can get the
Shufflebean coffee and cured capsules are already ground or a
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Pick up some shuffle Being Coffee today. Put some hustle
in your shuffle with Shufflebean Coffee. Stan Wildcat History is
(36:35):
presented by Kentucky road Show, Sports Cards and Memorabilia on
Romney Road in Lexington at at roadshowcards dot com. Two
Wildcat Birthdays, the blur Dwight Anderson. Well, that's one of
the all time great nicknames. Okay, we'll let for gave
Dwight Anderson he was born on this day, and then
Laron Ellis celebrating a birthday today as well. Derby and
Triple Crown coverage again the spring presented by Clayburne Farm
(36:59):
doing the usual usually well for more than a century.
We appreciate Travis Stone joining us. Wanted to talk a
little bit more about just calling the Derby, but an
interesting discussion about the impact of the post position drawing
the race and then obviously what he thinks of journalism today.
Citizen Bull, we talked about him. One of the Bafford horses,
really sharp workout fifty eight and four fifths this morning.
(37:21):
Bieza and Cole Battle also had timed workouts today, So
that should be it. It should be just you know,
maintenance gallops and things leading up to the race. Now
for all of the Derby horses to take a second
talk about Cornbread Hemp. The group of the team there
Cornbread Hemp Kentuckians that are committed to doing this the
(37:43):
right way. And if you're looking to shake off the
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It's Cornbreadthemp dot Com. See you tomorrow.
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