Jon White Joins the Show - Epsiode #142

Please show your support to Olympia for HB 1703 and SB 5610 for financing critical to racing’s future in Washington. Those bills can offset significant upcoming costs of HISA regulations. Jon White joins Joe and Vince to speak to the national three-year-old picture, less than three months out before this year’s Kentucky Derby. Pool Four of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager is in effect this weekend, closing Sunday at 3 pm. Emerald Downs now has Las Margs Café in the stable area with first day of operations on Monday, Feb. 24. After the first week, regular hours will be 7 am to 2 pm, Wednesday through Sunday. EmD’s Fifth Floor remains open seven days a week for simulcasting, including many top tracks in action this Monday, Feb. 17 for President’s Day.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
I mean.

Speaker 2 (00:02):
Muchos.

Speaker 3 (00:04):
It doesn't matter if you love craps, blackjack machines or
dining on the finest Asian, American and Salish cuisines. It
doesn't matter what you do or where you're coming from Mucos.
What you do is all at Muckleshoe, an easy drive
from wherever you are, all roads lead to Muckleshoe.

Speaker 2 (00:28):
Mucosuit.

Speaker 4 (00:49):
They run to the top of this rat pro science timing,
turns for home and brought Beauty Bark is there to
challenge these two square off with a purlong ago, precise timing,
Beauty Bark the outside stride, first ride, precise timing on
the inside, Beauty Park on the outside. Here comes the finish.

(01:11):
Precise timing and Beauty Bark photo finish.

Speaker 5 (01:15):
In the Juvenile Horse Racing Northwest February addition from Emerald
Downs Valentine's Day. As we do our taping and I
hope you enjoy this one. That was precise timing leading
off the show horse of the meeting at Emerald Downs
for twenty twenty four, Juvenile Philly. That was her winning

(01:36):
the Washington Cup, and she did some other good work too.
Joe Whittie and Vince Bruin Vince unbeaten two year old
Philly horse of the meeting last year.

Speaker 6 (01:47):
Yes, she was, and she will be taking this step
up into the three year old this year and looking
forward to that. I guess she's doing okay or at
the Pennies. So yeah, see her here pretty soon and
we'll talk about training. Just not too long now, Joel,
we'll be getting underway, that's right.

Speaker 5 (02:04):
Spoke with Kay Cooper, trainer of Precise Timing recently, and
you know, Okay and her barn, they don't get on
the track on the opening day of training, which is
coming right up Monday, February twenty fourth. That is the
first day of horses on the track. We'll have our

(02:25):
ceremonial first horse, and we will have training seven days
a week up until opening day. And so yeah, Precise
Timing will be coming back in the three year old division.
And Vince talking about the opening of training. That pretty
much corresponds every year with the WTBA Banquet, which is

(02:50):
Saturday evening February twenty second. You and I are the
co hosts of that. Always a lot of fun.

Speaker 6 (02:57):
It's kind of the midwinter of gala for the horsemen
and owners, and yeah, it's always a fun night. Silent
auctions going on and live auction, live auction, and we
determine all the champions in the state of Washington for
twenty twenty four.

Speaker 5 (03:13):
That's right.

Speaker 6 (03:14):
Why there's plenty of room for people who want to
come on out for a fun night.

Speaker 5 (03:18):
Yes it is. It's kind of a long night, but
it just keeps moving because there's people and horse awards
all throughout the evening. As you mentioned, some fundraising through
the auctions for the WTBOA precise timing. She's kind of
a favorite in her category. I would say three for

(03:38):
three all stakes. That's the first time that's happened in
Emerald Down's history. To start your career with three consecutive
stakes wins at age two.

Speaker 6 (03:46):
Yeah, it'd be hard to deny her top two year
old Philly obviously, and of course she'd be a contender
for Washington Horse of the Year, I would imagine as well.

Speaker 5 (03:55):
You bet that record is impeccable. So the WTBOA Banquet
is a week from this Saturday. It's February twenty second.
It's an evening function, cocktail hours around six thirty or so,
and tickets are sixty dollars per person. If you get

(04:16):
them at the door that night of February twenty second,
they're eighty dollars. It's open to the public, and you know,
there's a lot of Washington racing history involved. We got
a couple of pictures of very prominent WTBOA members from
the past. We've got special people awards throughout the evening,
as Vince mentioned, all the horse awards two three Older

(04:39):
Filly and mayor Older Horses, horse of the Year, claimers
off the Track, Thoroughbreds, and so forth. And there's raffle
tickets available as well, so if you want to and
you know, another thing we've started in recent years, we
do a little recap on Horses of the Year, Washington

(05:00):
Horses of the Year, going back every ten years. So
we'll go back starting in what twenty fourteen, and we'll
go all the way back to nineteen seventy four.

Speaker 6 (05:09):
Yeah, And of course precise timing was the Emerald Downs
horse at the meeting in twenty twenty four and I
think it's either sixteen or seventeen horses of the Meeting
and Emerald Downs have been Washington Breads over the years,
which is a pretty good record. You know only back
that is that's a darn good record.

Speaker 5 (05:26):
This will be our thirtieth season at Emerald Downs and
we're looking forward to that. And of course opening day
is now just a little more than two months away.

Speaker 6 (05:37):
Two months away, and start thinking about it. It's getting
close enough. It's still a little cold outside, as we
all know, winter's still here, but we can start to
start to dream a little bit. The Triple Crown trails
starting to heat up. That's always kind of a sign
that our season is getting a bit closer.

Speaker 5 (05:54):
To John White will be joining us and talking about
the three year Old Picture. You know, we kind of
you know, have our own routine and during simulcast time
and you know sometimes we used to Bob Brown I
used to do the Decide the Derby contest on our
KJR show where we'd each pick a three year old

(06:15):
in February or even January. So we studied a little
bit more. But John is keeping up on that. So
he's going to join us on this podcast and talk
about the national three year Old Picture. Okay again, the
WTBOA banquet Saturday February twenty second, two days later, the
track opens for training and we've got a new operator

(06:37):
of our ever popular quarter shoot cafe we do.

Speaker 6 (06:41):
As a matter of fact, the announcement came out last
week and everyone knows. Joe and Sally Steiner ran it
from ninety six to twenty three, Emerald Downs had it
last year, and ax Land Incorporated. They own four restaurants,
Los Margarita's here in Auburn and their operations managers aliem
Garza was out here last week and the announcement is

(07:03):
that it will become Lost Mark's Cafe beginning on Monday,
February twenty fourth, with the opening of training. They will
serve mainly light Mexican fair and also usual breakfast and
traditional lunch items. And for the first week when training begins,
they'll be open seven am to two and then throughout
the spring seven am to two pm Wednesday through Sunday.

Speaker 5 (07:25):
Yeah, this first week of opening, Monday the twenty fourth
and Tuesday the twenty fifth, they'll be open the first
week that is correct, and then after that it'll be
the Wednesday through Sunday schedule.

Speaker 6 (07:37):
I'm kind of excited about it. I think that's a
nice change.

Speaker 5 (07:40):
Oh yeah, Lost Margarita is just around the corner for
Memorial Downs down on fifteenth, super popular place for track regulars.
It's been there, you know, ever since we opened. And
you know, little salsa on your eggs. I always like that.

Speaker 6 (07:57):
So breakfast burritos, which a lot of people like. So
no one can ever replace Joe and Sally Stein, of course,
but this will be a nice addition to our facility.

Speaker 5 (08:08):
You bet, okay, So that'll be open Monday morning, the
twenty fourth, as track opens for training. And again the
Quartershoot Cafe which is now Los Marg's Cafe. Let's start
getting that name in our head. That is open to
the public. So you can park just right outside the
door there on the west side of the building and

(08:29):
just come on in. You don't have access to the
grounds outside, but you have access to that great cafe
and all the memorabilia and the good food. We are anticipating.

Speaker 6 (08:41):
And we still have the little simulcafst area opening our
as well once training begins in that area.

Speaker 5 (08:48):
Okay. Kentucky Derby Future Wager number four is active and
open this weekend. It closes Sunday at three pm. So
the Risen Star is the three year old race this weekend.
Several Risen Star horses have an individual odds in the
upcoming or this particular Kentucky Derby Future Wager pool number

(09:13):
four and again there's thirty nine horses and one all
other Let's see East Avenue is in the Risen Star.
He's nine to five in the Risen Star, not having
raced yet this year. He was favored in the Breeders'
Cup Juvenle last year and got that bad start after
winning two impressive races previous to that two for two
the son of Mendalia Doro trained by Brendan Walsh, fifteen

(09:36):
to one morning line in the Kentucky Derby Future Wager,
and of course many people will be wagering after the
Risen Star on Saturday and also on Sunday till three pm,
so that's the Kentucky Derby Future Wager. John White he
has gotten into those Kentucky Derby Future wagers. He's kept

(09:57):
us abreast of his wagers. He's had a lot of
good over the years, so he might have a comment
on that racing on Monday. This coming Monday is President's Day,
so that'll be the seventeenth of February. Emerald Downs, of course,
is open seven days a week for full card simul
casting and some of the tracks in action on Monday

(10:18):
this week coming up Aqueduct Fairgrounds, Oaklawn, Santa Anita, Tour, Paradise.
So a lot of great action for simulcast fans. It's
kind of simulcast weather out there right now, Vince. As
you know, the Muckle Shoot Gold Cup will be back
this year at Emerald Downs. What a great addition that
is a Friday Saturday Sunday. As of course we are

(10:39):
racing thoroughbred racing interspersed with those great Muckle Shoot Gold
Cup qualifying races and then the Muckle Shoot Gold Cup
title to be determined on Sunday, June fifteenth, Father's Day.
So that is a great one week on the calendar
at Emerald Downs. Every year. Akafumi Cato won his first

(11:03):
race as a trainer, and he raced here in nineteen
ninety six. Had I forget how many mounts forty or
sixty maybe something like that, And then of course he
had a great run in Phoenix at Turf Paradise. He
was a very prominent rider in Spokane at Playfair for
decades and he made an appearance here in twenty twenty one.

(11:26):
Was it twenty twenty I think it was twenty twenty one. Yeah,
it was either twenty twenty one or twenty nineteen.

Speaker 6 (11:30):
I can't Oh was.

Speaker 5 (11:31):
That before COVID Wow? But he raced and won fifty
straight years he won a thoroughbred horse race nineteen seventy
two to twenty twenty one, and he just won his
first race as a trainer with Charlie Paints at Turf
Paradise on Wednesday fifteen grade.

Speaker 6 (11:49):
Akafumi Cato has been part of horse racing since I
first started looking at a forum and going to the
track in the seventies. So good to see him still
win it. That is a great.

Speaker 5 (11:59):
Career for him, fifty straight years winning as a jockey.
All right, Well, you've got a few items there as
well to talk about.

Speaker 6 (12:10):
Yeah, you know. The stall applications closed on February fourth,
kind of a soft closing, and boy Joe, we are
over eleven hundred stall apps for our twenty twenty five meet,
which is up substantially. A big reason for that, of course,
is looks like we're going to have a pretty strong
influx of people coming out of the pleasant in California

(12:32):
Bay Area up to Emerald Downs for the first time
this year, So that will be a great addition. And
you know, let's face it, we're not happy to see
another track go away, but we're very happy to be
able to give these people a place to run.

Speaker 5 (12:49):
Oh yeah, we don't wish track closings on anybody, any local,
but they're having their struggles in Northern col and we
are going to see some several new trainers at Emerald
Downs this year and their horses. You know, we were
working with right around eight hundred maybe a little bit

(13:10):
less last year total horses as a consistent number on
the in the stable area. But with that number of
stall apps over eleven hundred right now, and there's always
a few. You know, we have so big of a
presence at Urf Paradise, Washington Bread's and our trainers down there,
you know, you figured there would be some attrition with

(13:31):
horses getting claimed, et cetera. So but still we are
going to be up quite a bit in horse population
this year.

Speaker 6 (13:38):
You know, speaking of Turf Paradise, you mentioned the strong
presence down there. Three of the top four riders down
there right now, of course, competed at Emerald last year.
Carl Lopez is going for back to back titles down
in Phoenix. He's up on top with forty six wins.
Manuel Americano is second. The Apprentice with forty one wins.

(13:59):
We know he is strong here last year. And Alex Cruz,
who will be going for a sixth straight title here
this year. He's fourth with thirty eight so he's still
within striking range for the title. Down there on the
trainer's side, listen to this. Justin Evans has opened up
a fourteen win lead over Robertino Diadoro and Jose Silva.
He's got forty five wins and he's running away with

(14:20):
that title, just like he did here at Emerald Downs
the last two years. A few other familiar names Van
Belboir he's got sixteen wins, a great percentage. He's in fourth.
Scott Tubbs with nine wins, Charles Ssex, Georgia Rozalez w
Perry all have seven. How He Gibson six, Joe Toy
and Frank Lucarelli five each. You know that's a little

(14:40):
number for Frank, but he's really picked it up the
last couple of weeks. He had a huge slump to
start the season, even had an exact I want two
finish earlier in the week so he's coming around. But yeah,
the Washington presence down in Arizona is very big.

Speaker 5 (14:54):
It's huge. It's huge. And those all those barns you mentioned,
he'll be back at Emerald Downs this year. So those
along with the new trainers from California, we're going to
have some great handicapping going on at the track this year.
Bigger fields, bigger handles and yeah, okay, well there's another

(15:15):
very important item to speak to. There's a House bill
and a Senate bill currently being debated down in Olympia,
and those two bills, which probably morph into one at
some point, they need to get our attention. I know
the House bill is seventeen oh three. The Senate bill

(15:36):
is fifty six. You know, I don't have that written down.
I should, but you could go on click on there
and find those bills and just click on support for
the bills. If you want to contact your local legislator,
that would be great as well. We really need the
support of Olympia and one of the main reasons is

(15:59):
that the hasa the national organization that governs racing now
in so many areas, those charges, those fees are going
way up next year and between the racing commission and
Emerald downs. We've paid the fees for the trainers, they
haven't had to pay anything on that. But it's going
up significantly in twenty twenty six, and it's even going

(16:21):
to go up a little more than we originally predicted
because we're going to have more horses and more starters
this year. So we need Olympia's help really for support
on those bills that they passed this meet.

Speaker 6 (16:33):
And you know, our particular industry at one time was
the sixth largest in the state, and we don't have
a habit of going down to Olympia really over the
years too much. And looking through some old clippings, I
saw that, you know, the first fifty years of the
operational long Acres in tax revenue, Washington Racing generated over

(16:57):
one hundred and five million in taxes for the state
of Washington. So I mean we've provided a lot for
the state over the years are in revenue wise, so.

Speaker 5 (17:06):
Five percent mutual tax all those years.

Speaker 6 (17:09):
Yes, So you know, I think a little relief for
us in what the jobs at stake is not. You know,
I don't think it's too much to ask, And just
my humble.

Speaker 5 (17:20):
Opinion, I'm with you on that not too much at all.
That yeah, the five percent mutual tax directly to Olympia
that funded all are so many of the fairs in
the state. I mean, there was a fair fund that
came right out of that, and the little tracks benefited
all around the state, of which we.

Speaker 6 (17:38):
Know there was Bloo Mountain Circuit, a.

Speaker 5 (17:39):
Bunch of them in the seventies, eighties, nineties into the
two thousands. So yeah, please support and contact your local
legislator on the racing bills for wagers at Emerald Downs.
This year, we're gonna have a twelve percent takeout on
pick threes.

Speaker 6 (17:58):
I like that. I think as great. We always hear
from handicappers around the nation that takeout is too high. Well,
I happen to like win bets, doubles and pick threes,
and I'll certainly take advantage of that. Twelve percent is
very competitive in our industry.

Speaker 5 (18:18):
It's fantastic, and most of the multi race takeouts are
over twenty twenty two percent even higher in some states.
Home boy. So and we're going to have a twenty
cent jackpot pick six. So again, those jackpot wagers, you
need to have the only ticket to take the big
part of the pool and that figures to be a

(18:40):
little more lively this year too with the higher field
size at Emerald Downs.

Speaker 6 (18:44):
I saw where just last week Turf Paradise had one
up over five hundred and forty thousand. I think it
got hit finally. But that generates interest once you get
up to those kind of numbers. Oh heck yeah.

Speaker 5 (18:56):
So twenty cent jackpot Pick six our final six races
each and every day at Emerald Downs this year. And
you've got some data there on the Washington Thoroughbred Hall
of Fame, which we'll have a ceremony coming up in
August for the twenty twenty five class.

Speaker 6 (19:15):
We will in fact, voting is underway right now and
we plan to announce the winners at the banquet we
mentioned on Saturday February twenty second. We got some great
finalists this year. What it is We have four finalists
this year in the following categories horse, Owner, breeder, and trainer.
And there's a committee of sixteen voters each category. The

(19:41):
horse or person that gets the most vote is the winner. Well,
in the horse category, listen to this lineup Fast Parade, Pures,
Gold Rock, Bath, and Wasserman. So one of those will
be going to the Hall of Fame owner, which is
a new category we had within the last couple of years.
Pasky di Domenico. All know Pasky and of course his

(20:01):
son Mark for many years operating Pegasus. Just passed away
last year. Pasky di Domenico. One of the real icons
of ownership in the state. Doctor Sean Furrakawa Riverview Farms. Boy,
it was kind of fun researching him and just learning
about you know, he was a dentist in Sunnyside and

(20:23):
also ran a very successful grape growing business. He was
one of five brothers that fought with distinction in World
War Two. Five brothers, yes, and there's all kinds of
articles on them online and the family trait when they
talk about all them is just how quiet and humble
they were. But they were doers, not talkers. So doctor

(20:44):
John ferra cow Riverview Farms, he had quite a run
there in the seventies, eighties, even into the nineties. Dave
Mowatt ten Brook Farm. We all know some of his exploits,
many graded winners over the years. And Gerald and Gail
Schneider right here in Auburn, Washington. They've really been successful
in the last three or four decades, and boy, they're

(21:05):
racking up stakes wins the last few years here in
Emerald and the Breeders. Charlie Dunn's Dunbar Ranch, fron Andigan
AA Hagen's Eldorado Farms, carl and Darlene Craig, and then
then the Trainer another real tough category, Mark Glat, Clinton Roberts,
Tom Wins, will Blaine Wright.

Speaker 5 (21:20):
Oh man, that's a great list right there of nominees
for the class, he said. The voting is going on
going on right now, and that'll be announced at the
banquet on the twenty second, the Breeders banquet. Okay, well,
that is a pretty full first segment here at Emerald Downs.

(21:41):
Lots of news to talk about. And let's talk a
little horse racing with John White when we come back
here on horse racing Northwest.

Speaker 7 (22:22):
As they come toward the top of the stretch, Citizen
Bull and Gaming and they turned for home together. The
stablemate's won two. They're into the stretch. Citizen Bull in front,
try to take them all the way and he kicks away.
Citizen Bull by two. Gaming is all out, second getaway car, third,
Badford one two three. As they come to the finish,

(22:45):
it is going to be Citizen Bull and Martine Garcian
to win.

Speaker 5 (22:50):
That was Citizen Bowl, taking the Breeders' Cup Juvenile last
fall and earning top two year old status, and he's
at the top of many lists right now on the
road to the Kentucky Derby twenty twenty five. He's coming
off of winning the bob Lewis at Santa Anita, and

(23:12):
John White, who spent a few fairly nice afternoons at
Santa Anita the great race Place, is joining us on
horse racing Northwest. Great to have John on once again
in the recent class of the Washington Thoroughbred Hall of Fame,
inducted last summer at Emerald Downs. Again, congratulations for that, John,

(23:36):
highly deserved and it was a nice weekend for you
as we recap that once again.

Speaker 1 (23:43):
Well, that was the trail of a lifetime for sure,
and really the pinnacle of my career which began in
horse racing in nineteen seventy four Playfair race Course and
then I concluded in twenty twenty four when I retired
on June sixteenth at Santa Beda Park. So worked the

(24:04):
tracks all over the country, but my roots have always
been in the Pacific Northwest, and it's so meaningful for
me to be in the Hall of Fame with my
all time favorite raceource, Turbulator. Of course I've talked about
on Dubers occasions. We have very sobering to me. You know,
Turbulator was born in nineteen sixty five, so Turbulator would

(24:26):
be sixty this year, and I still haven't forgotten him.
He still means the world to me.

Speaker 5 (24:31):
Yeah, that was one great horse, Spokane native, just like
John White. So John, Yeah, we're going to talk a
little three year old picture. Vince and I haven't talked
too much national scene since the Breeders Cup last fall,
so you can kind of lead us on that. And

(24:52):
you know, the Kentucky Derby Future Wager is in effect
this weekend. Pool number four closes at three pm West
Coast time on Sunday. You've had a lot of good,
you know, moments in the in future wagers for the
Derby Boy, and you've outlined a lot of those on
our podcast or the wind Play show on KJR over

(25:14):
the last twenty five years or so. You been getting
involved this year at all?

Speaker 1 (25:19):
Oh, yes, no question about it. Of course, the highlight
of my life for that was setting one hundred dollars
on Justify before a datas career debut and got him
at one hundred and one. So that was a nice
ten thousand dollars future book book score. But no matter
what I've done before then or after then, I'll be

(25:40):
showing a profit lifetime in that Kentucky Derby future wagering.
I made that through a friend at the win back
when the win was really the Maine Kentucky Derby place.
John Avello ran the gracebook at en Sportsbook in those days,
and nowadays it's really become quite corporate in Vegas. The

(26:03):
only one basically going right now is the Caesars Future Book,
but it's not the same. I mean, they would never
let somebody bet one hundred dollars on an unraced Bob
Bapper horse and give him one hundred to one. They
would give you like twenty to one maybe. But so

(26:24):
that was very lucky for me to be kind of
in the right place at the right time to get that.
But yes, you know, speaking of Justify, of course, was
our most recent triple crown winner in at twenty eighteen,
Bappert really has two of the leading three year olds

(26:45):
on the Derby Trail. This year, you played the race
of Citizen Bull. I have Citizen Bull of thirty nine
to one. I played three horses in the Future Book
number one, which was before the Breeders Cup Juvenile, and
I bet the hundred bucks on Citizen Bull at thirty
nine to one. I bet one hundred dollars. Also on

(27:10):
I bet two hundred dollars on East Avenue and he
was like, I want to say, around eleven to one.
And of course then in the Breeders Cupt juvenilely stumbled
badly and I think that's a race you can throw
out the window. And so that was a couple of
the bets I made at that time. But you've got
Citizen Bul who right now I'm looking at the current

(27:32):
odds in the Kentucky Derby Future Wager for this week
and he is the six to one favorite in the
in the odds ride at this moment. That's live odds,
and of course whatever you would bet, you'll get the
price as it is at the time of closing. And
also at six to one is the all other three

(27:54):
year olds option that is also six to one. And
then Barnes, who is also trained by Bob Baffert and
is a very extensive He's a three point two million
dollar auction purchase, a son of infamisshif as his citizen bowl.
I mean into Mischief has had a flock of very
good three year olds this year and those are two

(28:17):
of them. And right now Barnes is also well supported
in that Kentucky Derby Future, who was seven to one.
I think another horse that learns a lot of respect
for the Kentucky Derby this year is Sovereignty. Can't believe
by it? Yes, the Mischief and trained by Hall of
Famer Bill wont. It's not raised and swinning the Grade

(28:39):
three streets and stakes by five lanks at Churchill Downs
last October, but he's training at Payson Park in Florida,
and I think he is certainly one that merrit's a
kind of respect. And then you've also got.

Speaker 5 (28:51):
To use hey, John, just second you cut out a
little bit there. The name of the horse was Sovereignty, Sovereigntyny.

Speaker 1 (28:59):
That's correct for Bill Mott had the Hall of Famer.
And then also East Avenue who's running in the Risen
Star Stakes this Saturday, and as I lost, it's the
start of the breederstep Juvenile, but prior to that he
had looked awesome winning at Keenland the Grade one Breeders
for Charity and was also just eye popping in his

(29:21):
career debut at Ellis Park last year. So he's by
Medalliado and his damn is a daughter of the horse
of the Year Ghostsapper, who Bobby Frankel, who was a
multiple Long Anchors Mile winning trainer, once told me that
was the best horse he ever trained, was Ghostsapper. And

(29:42):
then another one is journalism. I think you have to
look at him, but I'm going to give you some
long shots. I'm going to give you four long shots
that either I've already bet on, or I'm going to
bet on, or I'm going to bet on again. And
I'll go in alphabetical order, and first off as Captain Cook.
He is trained by Richard Dutrow, who of course won

(30:05):
the Breeders' Cup Classic here at Santa Anita with White
to Barrio. And I think this is a real intriguing runner.
He's a grandson of Indian Charlie, who was the favorite
and undefeated in the Kentucky Derby when he lost to
his stablemate Real Quiet, who would lose the Triple Crown
by a scant knows when he lost to Belmont Stakes.

(30:28):
But Captain Cook really looked good to me, and the
Withers got a ninety four buyer speed figure. His buyers
are really improving. He got a seventy one in his
debut eighty three and his maiden in the ninety Ford.
I think we're just kind of scratching the surface of
how good this cult might be. And let's look at
his current odds in that future book. Right now, Captain

(30:51):
Cook is forty four to one, so you know he's
a type of horse I may put something like a
hundred bucks on at that kind of price. Patch Adams
is a horse that I already bet I have them
at thirty three to one, and he came out in
his first start this year and was very disappointing. Plibian
Proud had blown to Arkansas from California to ride him

(31:15):
at Oakland Park in the Grade three Southwest Dates. He
was an odds on favorite and finished a flat fourth
in that race. But I think he's capable of much better.
In fact, he ran one of the best buyers you're
going to see from this class of three year old
in ninety eight and his maiden ran at Churchill Downs,
and he's been training extremely well to pace and park.

(31:36):
Most likelyly he'll come back according to brad Cox, and
either the Tampa Bay Derby or the Fountain U Steakes.
And I think that that horse still is not one
to take lightly. Right now, Patch Adams, he's sitting up
there at forty nine to one, even though I have
them at thirty three to one. I may likely put

(31:56):
even some more.

Speaker 5 (31:57):
Money on him.

Speaker 1 (32:00):
Called Hipness, here's a yet another into mischief out of
an uncle boldmare who was a Grade one winner, dream Tree.
She was a very nice billy trained by Baffert. And
this Hipness was I thought an impressive debut winner in
the slot going to mile to sixteenth in New Orleans
at the Fairgrounds. Kenny McPeek, who won last year's Kentucky

(32:23):
Derby with Mystic Dan, has hipness, and I think this
is definitely mcpeak's best chance to perhaps get back to
back derby winners. So this hipness, you know, you don't
see horses win going away in their debut going a
mile the sixteenth very often, and right now Hipness is
forty five the one. So there's another one at a

(32:44):
very nice price. And then I'll also mention keep it Easy.
This is a horse trained by Dale Romans. He's a
hard spun called hard Spung. Finished second in the Kentucky
Derby the streets End and keep it Easy was a
very impressive maiden win at Churchill Downs in June of
last year. And Dan he was sent to Saratoga ran

(33:06):
in the Grade to Saratoga Special. But that's a race
you can for draw a line through for sure, because
much like the horse East Avenue, he stumbled badly at
the start, practically unseated the rider almost and he got
He finished dead last in that race, but I mean
that he had no chance that day. And then in

(33:28):
his final start as a two year old he won.
He had brown steaks at Churchill Downs and he won
it with authority by over five lengths, I think, you know.
And he's really been impressive in some of his workouts
in Florida this winter. So let's see what price he
is right at the moment, and he is fifty one

(33:49):
to one.

Speaker 6 (33:49):
Okay, there's some.

Speaker 1 (33:51):
Real long shots for these for podcast listeners to maybe
take a look at.

Speaker 5 (33:57):
Very good. Yeah, up to thirty nine individual horse the
last couple of years in this Kentucky Derby Future wager
and then all others is another wager as well. And
you've hit the all other before as also, haven't you, John.

Speaker 1 (34:11):
Yes, I have, Yes, I have this year. In fact,
this is the first year and many years I haven't
played that in any of the pools so far, and
I probably won't play at this time either. I just
get a feeling this year that we're not going to
get some horse kind of that hasn't been listed among
the individual horses yet. I feel comfortable with the horses

(34:34):
that are that the Churchill Downs has made as individual
horses so far. So okay, you know, but I can't
blame anybody forever taken that because look, if you had
played Rich Strike, you know, if you played all others
in any of those pools that year and he was
I think he was listed in one of the tools

(34:54):
that more often than not he was among the all others,
and you would have won. That shows you that even
though the Wind Hotel took a hit for me and
some others when I had them at for ten thousand dollars,
imagine what the Wind Hotel did. Racebook did that year,
nobody would have had rich Strike, So that would have

(35:16):
meant that the wind was scooping up every single future
bet book bet that had been made all the way
up to the Kentucky Derby that year, except maybe one
or two or three people that maybe like the name
or something or you know, maybe played rich Strike. But
all it takes is one year like that for a
race book, and they just scooped up all of the

(35:38):
future books. But so even though they took a hit
from me and some others would justify more often than not.
That's why they build all those hotels there and thinks
it isn't because those guys, you know, do totally in
booking these future bets.

Speaker 5 (35:54):
Yeah. Well, Vince, Vince, you were on Sandman I think
in the south West, who was a little bit unlucky
to run second. I see, he's pretty highly lucky.

Speaker 6 (36:05):
I think he was easily best in that race. I
mean he didn't just miss the start, he missed it
badly and made a long, sustained run. I will say,
watching Oakland a lot, I think closers are having the
best of it at that meet. But certainly that was
a very eye catching run by a horse who looks
like John he's gonna want maybe the mile in the quarter.

Speaker 5 (36:24):
Say, I can certainly see him.

Speaker 1 (36:28):
You know. He ran third to Sovereignty in that Street
Sense stake, Okay, but then he was a nice winner
and his first start at Oakland which was final start
as a two year old, and then he came back
and really he was to be the best horse in
the Southwest. Now that said this Steede King that Ron
Molquette has. I'm from time to time on an Arkansas

(36:52):
radio program and the guy that hosts this program that
I talk with usually for the Kentucky Derby and the
Breeders' Cup, but this year he was also talking to
me before I was on his radio program before the
Southwest and I'll be on it again next week before
the Rebel Stakes. He had mentioned to me that Moquette

(37:15):
had told him that he really loved speed King and
he really thought he might be one of the best
horses he ever had. And I can tell you one thing,
at least this person that hosts this radio program I'm
on with in Arkansas cleaned up nicely at fourteen to
one when speed King took that Southwest sax. So that's

(37:35):
a very interesting horse, you know, before the Southwest speaking
and had a workout that was absolutely I have to
think might have been one of the greatest workouts in
the history of Oakland Park because it was like a
bullet that was the best of more than three hundred
workouts of distance. So that kind of caught my eye

(37:57):
when this radio pointed out that he thought that this
horse was live in the Southwest and I hadn't noticed
the workout before that, and I thought, wow, you know,
maybe they're onto something here. So even though I certainly agree,
I mean, to me, Sandman ran the best race to
overcome the poor start he did and to finish a

(38:19):
strong second was really to his credit. But don't be
too dismissive of this speed King either.

Speaker 5 (38:26):
Yeah, that was a bad day for me in that
regard the Southwest on January twenty fifth, speed King, you know,
I'm not afraid to play a little price and okay
that's yeah, yeah, Well, you know Patch Adams is in there,
who might be really awesome. So I sat there and
watched speed King lead all the way and went actually

(38:46):
pretty easily at fourteen to one, and I talked to
Vince shortly after the race, and he had Sandman, who
we just delineated his trip in there. He very well
could have been best. I mean, he was really running
after that battle start.

Speaker 6 (39:00):
I got one question for John you mentioned Citizen Bull, John,
is what did you make of his season debut? You know,
a lot of the social media were saying, well, you know,
it's kind of Bafford's got three in there, and certainly
his stablemates aren't going to go out and challenge him,
and we didn't really learn a lot out of the race.

(39:21):
But Noan Bafford, I'm sure that start was with the
big picture in mind. Did you elevate him after that race?

Speaker 1 (39:29):
I did, indeed, because and look as far as the
Kentucky Derby is concerned, even though I have him at
thirty nine to one, I bet him before the Breeders
Cup Juvenile. So for me, it was kind of good
news bad news in terms of that future book in
the Breeders' Cup Juvenile. What do I mean by that? Well,
the good news is he proved that he's one of

(39:50):
the top courses of his class because he had finished
a disappointing third as the favorite in the Delmark Fraternity.
But then he want the American Pharaoh and then he
won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, so that certainly made my
future book bet on Them at thirty nine to one
look good. But then you say, well, what is the
bad news to that? The bad news is that in

(40:12):
the forty year history of the Breeders Cup, only two
Breeders Cup juvenile winners have ever won the Kentucky Derby,
and that would be Street Since and also Nightqluist. So
in other words, to me, the odds are against any
Breeders Cup juvenile winner winning the Kentucky Derby. It's not impossible.
We've seen it happen twice. But I'm one that likes

(40:34):
to go with the probabilities. That's why to me, I
still prefer horses that have run as a two year old,
because yes, we had justified, and yes we had made
so we've had two horses within the Kentucky Derby that
didn't run as a two year old, but that doesn't
make me flock the horses that didn't run as a
two year old. I still say the odds are against

(40:55):
a horse like that, and sure you're going to have
exceptions to the rules. I'm a little soft on Citizen
Bowl even now in terms of will he be only
the third horse to win the Breeders' Cup, Juvenal and
the Kentucky Derby, And you're so right, Vince, in terms
of people that were saying, what can we learn from

(41:16):
this race? When Baffort has the top three finishers in
a five horse field, can we really learn anything from
that race? One thing I think we learned. I like
Rodriguez in that spot because he had come off such
an impressive win the time before and got a one
hundred buyer, and I thought that race kind of had
him written all Obert. I kind of figured Citizen Bul

(41:39):
might need the race because he hadn't started since the
Breeders Cup. So I give a lot of credit to
Citizen Bowl because it wasn't like he did need the race.
He went right to the front and got the job
done and did it very professionally, and he's obviously a
quality colt, but I'm still a little weary on him.
In terms of the Kentucky Derby. On the other hand,

(42:00):
when you've got a trainer like Bob Backert that knows
how to win that Kentucky Derby as much as he's
done it, that's a huge plus for Citizen Bowl. And
it's also a huge plus for this Barnes. And I
think we're just scratching the surface with this Barns how
good he might be. You know, the fact that they
named him Barnes named after Jimmy Barnes, who's been mister

(42:23):
Baffert's ragged hand man. Is this top assistant for you know,
years and years and years, and that Baffer trusts to
take horses on the road to Kentucky and the you
know wherever, even overseas and so forth. And you know,
when they spent three point two billion dollars that they
thought a lot of this cult and the fact that

(42:46):
they named him Barnes speaks volumes. And also Barnes went
over to the Churchill Downs and became the first winner
at Churchill Downs for Hall of Famer Daffert since he
was you know, suspended from competing at Churchill Downs for
the last several years following the Bedema spirit disqualification. So

(43:08):
the fact that Baffer thought enough of Barnes to send
into Churchill, you know, to try to get you know,
his first starter as a win with a win at
Churchill also said a lot about Barnes. So you know,
here again we're at this time of the year. How
many times do our lives has Baffer been holding a
strong hand at this time of the year. You know,

(43:29):
when I got Justify, the top horse in the baffer
barn that year was Mackenzie. And unfortunately for Mackenzie, he
got hurt on the trail before the Kentucky Derby. And
in fact it was Mackenzie that Baffert was planning to
run into Santiny to Derby and they were going to
send Justify out of town. And once Mackenzie got hurt,

(43:52):
they kept Justify at home and he won the Santa
To finished verst in the Santity to Derby and then
of course became an undefeated Triple Crown winner. Is undefeated
at the time, which only one horse in the history
at thoroughbred racing had ever swept the Triple Crown without
having previously been beaten on the track, and that was
the Great Seattle Slut.

Speaker 5 (44:14):
And Justify now stands for a stud fee of two
hundred and fifty thousand dollars and.

Speaker 1 (44:21):
Has proven to be a world class sire. I mean
he's fired top horses in Europe, top horses of Japan,
top horses in the United States. He's fired top dirt winners,
top turf winners, top sprinters, top long distance horses. He's
been an absolutely and I gotta tell you he looked
the part. I mean, he was just a gorgeous chestnut

(44:45):
cold and really was secretariat ish in terms of his
physical appearance. And he certainly had a ton of talent.

Speaker 2 (44:54):
You know.

Speaker 1 (44:55):
One thing I'll never forget. When Justify won the Triple Crown,
Bob Bamfert was on with Darren Rodgers, who is the
media relations director at Churchill Downs, and that was after
the Triple Crown, and Darren said this on his radio show.
He has a weekly radio show during that time of
the year in Louisville, And I was listening to the

(45:18):
show on the internet and Darren said that he asked
Baffert who's better American Pharaoh or Justified. Now, I didn't
expect Bamfort to answer the question, quite frankly, because it's
like saying who's your favorite child, you know, But Baffert
answered the question this way. Baffert told Darren, if I

(45:38):
were robbing a bank and I had both Justify and
American Pharaoh tied up outside the bank, and I had
to go out and make my getaway, I would have
gotten on justified.

Speaker 5 (45:50):
Okay, that's saying something speed and maybe a little competitive
nature and all that. So okay, good data from John.
John might have retired a little while ago, but he
is all over it still, as you can tell listeners
to horse racing Northwest. John, We've got thirteen horses in

(46:11):
the Risen Star tomorrow at Fairgrounds, going a mile and
an eighth. Four of those horses are in the Kentucky
Derby current future wager pool, Jonathan's Wave, Visimo, East Avenue
and Bill, who do you like in the Risen Star tomorrow?

Speaker 1 (46:28):
I'll be very surprised if the winner is not East Avenue,
because again he looks so impressive before that. Greater's cut
the bacle, and I just I find it hard to envision.
I mean unless he has a horrible start again, which
you know that was kind of a flucash type deal.

(46:48):
I mean, he had not been a gate problem before that.
But he's drawn well, he's in post war. He's got
one of my favorite jockeys, and Tyler dath Leone, and
I mean he just for me. He lays over this field.
He's nine to five on the morning line. You'll never
see that, especially since it's been reported Jonathan's Way has

(47:11):
come down with an issue and is going to be scratched.
And he was the four to one second favorite. So
without Jonathan's Way in there, you're looking at odds on
I think on East Avenue, so probably four to five
or shorter on him, and I just there's nobody in there.
I mean, the main threat is Built and look, he's

(47:32):
a decent horse. He's buy hard, spun out of a
curl in there and racist for a tremendous ownership operation
that's eclipsed Thoroughbreds and they really know their business and
had tremendous success. And this horse ran extremely well and
defeating the Grade three le Comte at Fairgrounds on a
sloppy track. Before that, he won the gun Runner and

(47:55):
got a ninety two buyer. He's the main threat. But
here's the way I can kind of look at the
risen star. Either East Avenue is going to win and
probably win convincingly, you know by i'd say daylight, or
I think there's if he doesn't win, we could be
looking at one of those bombs that we get from
time to time, especially we see it, and maybe the

(48:17):
Risen Star the Louisiana Derby where some horse that is
just not even on your radar pops up and wins
the race at twenty to one or thirty to one
or fifty to one or sixty to one or whatever.
So that's the way I look at it. It's either
East Avenue or some some you know long shot that

(48:38):
is just canty you couldn't even almost really come up
with before the race.

Speaker 5 (48:44):
Yeah, there's there's some fairly lightly raced horses in there
that are real promising on race record and breeding and
so forth that you know certainly could be moving forward
this time of year. Okay, So the Risen Star is
the big one tomorrow, and John, thank you so much
for doing that rundown of the three year olds. There's

(49:07):
some really good value on some Kentucky Derby future wagers
out there right now. Again, the odds can change quite
a bit depending on certainly the Risen Star tomorrow. The
pool closes at three pm on Saturday or Sunday three
pm on Sunday, and you can wager right here at
Emerald Downs on the Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool number four.

(49:28):
John Great catching up with you and we'll be gaming here.

Speaker 1 (49:32):
And by the way, I want to say that, sure,
it's very sad what has happened in Northern California ins
in terms of horse racing, but a beneficiary, quite possibly,
if not quite probably, is going to be Emerald Downs,
because it seems to me that these horsemen in northern

(49:54):
California they got to go somewhere. And having been to
Emerald Down to myself just last August, uh, you know,
it's such a wonderful place and everybody or it seems
like so many tracks, I should say, are struggling to
get horse population and to get you know, some decent

(50:16):
field sizes. And I think that the fact that it
looks like there won't be any horse racing in northern Caloria.
And it's sad for me too because the biggest track
I was ever a steward at was Golden Gate Fields.
I was a steward there on two different occasions in
two different years. And I was also a steward on

(50:38):
two different occasions in two different years at Ferndale. That's
the Humboldt County Fair not too far south of the
Oregon border. And if I and you know, a bowl
ring tie track, and I really enjoyed my time at
both of those Northern California tracks. But if there's going
to be this sad situation of no horse tracing in

(51:00):
Northern California in twenty twenty five, it seems to me
that that could be a shot in the arm in
terms of the horse population of Emerald Downs.

Speaker 5 (51:10):
Yep, we went over that in our first segment. Are
stall apps stall applications from trainers or way up, including
a bunch of trainers from previously being based in Northern
cals So yeah, we're smiling a little bit about all
that and looking forward to more fans following Emerald Downs
in twenty twenty five. John, thank you so much, man,

(51:33):
and enjoy the racing this weekend as I know you will,
and we'll be catching up later.

Speaker 1 (51:39):
Thanks a lot. It'll be certainly a lot of fun
if one of those big price future bets comes through.
Like I said, I've got a few of those, and
that's what the future base wadering really is all about.
And you don't want to be taking six to one
on Tratizen Bowl or something like that. Well you're playing
the future book. What's your look him for is? You know,

(52:01):
a really nice score because it's hard enough just to
get to the Kentucky Derby and to get into that
starting gate, that's right, and so you want a really
nice price. And that's why I gave out some of
those that you know are in the forty to one
fifty the one area, because that that's what makes a
real good future book.

Speaker 5 (52:20):
Bet indeed. Okay, John, take care, talk to you soon.

Speaker 6 (52:25):
Thanks seanck you soon, guys.

Speaker 5 (52:26):
John White joining us on horse Racing Northwest and a
bunch of great info on the top three year olds
and some good looks in that Kentucky Derby future wager
pool that again is in action this weekend through Sunday
at three pm at Emerald Downs.

Speaker 6 (52:47):
You know, the problem with John is he just doesn't
have enough enthusiasm for his subject. I can, of course,
it's just amazing. You know, John retired last year and
as you can tell, he still is doing the and
really on top of the three year old picture. Yeah,
that's some just some great info. Okay, we'll take a

(53:07):
short break and come back with our final segment here
on horse Racing Northwest, Mucos.

Speaker 3 (53:16):
It doesn't matter if you love craps, Blackjack machines or
dining on the finest Asian, American and Saless cuisines. It
doesn't matter what you do or where you're coming from Mucos.
What you do is all at Muckleshoe, an easy drive
from wherever you are, All roads lead to Muckleshoe, Mucosuit.

Speaker 5 (53:45):
Horse Raising Northwest. Thanks for joining us and our final
segment underway. Thanks again to John White for all that
great three year old information. And again the WTBOA banquet
a week from Saturday. It'll be February twenty second, sixty
dollars per person. If you buy a ticket at the door,
it's eighty dollars and a really great evening of Washington

(54:08):
thoroughbred horse racing, horses and people with awards. And of
course that ticket includes dinner. I don't think we said
that in our first segment. That's a nice dinner as well,
and dessert, dessert, auctions, all that stuff. So it's a
really fun evening. All right, we are in our final
segment and sports shorts. You know, we're going to crown

(54:31):
the twenty twenty four Washington Horse of the Year at
the banquet on Saturday, the twenty second, and the nineteen
ninety Horse of the Year was a five year old
as he entered that season, and he ran in one
stake early in the meeting at Long Acres and that

(54:53):
made him zero for seven, no wins in seven stakes
tries in his Long Acre's career. He was from the
first crop of slottle Do, who was I believe, from
the first crop of Seattle Sleugh. Sluttle Do certainly a
son of Seattle Slough didn't race, did Sluttle Doo, But

(55:13):
of course he was just a legendary Washington sire brought
to the Northwest by Roy Dane. Snipple Doo was o
for seven in stakes at Long Acres and then claimed
for sixty thousand dollars, a record claim that stands to
this day in Washington, and Bob Resoff claimed him. Marion

(55:36):
Smith became trainer, and what a run he went on, Vince.
He won seven races at the meeting, including the Long
Acres Mile. The sprinter stretched out won the mile dominantly.

Speaker 6 (55:48):
Yeah, and a lot of eyebrows were raised when the
sixtieth k went through on the claim, because that was
a record I believe at the time. And uh, Marion Smith, Yeah,
they still is the record. I remember I wrote a
little there. They go call him on it and he well,
the first thing we found out about the horse was
he really doesn't like to be visitors too much, and

(56:09):
he had a little bit of an attitude or whatever.
But he hooked up with James Corral, the rider, and
they just went on a terror.

Speaker 5 (56:15):
Yeah, they won everything, almost everything. I know. They won
five straight races together, and you know, seven wins at
the meeting, won a couple before. I think he won
two allowances before he won his first steak that meeting,
he won the Governors, he won the Owner's Handicap, he
won the Magnuson after the mile snipp will do zero

(56:36):
for seven and stakes turned it all around at age
five with Marion Smith as the trainer, who was in
the Washington Thoroughbred Hall of Fame. You might do you
have another note on that or.

Speaker 6 (56:48):
Well, I think he paid fourteen dollars in the mile.
There was a couple of shippers that came up that year,
including the Ride Road. An annual date might have been
one of the favorites came up and it was a
deep field and oh thirteen at least. Yeah, and Adventuresome
love a Horse down from Canada, ran second at a
big price, ended up winning the mile I think a
couple of years later. Yeah, ninety three was a really

(57:09):
nice horse, but certainly Snipple Doo. He was kind of
a like a real black living horse on the racetrack
and he's just really fast and bay or black. Yeah,
and Jim Mayer, the previous trainer, did just fine with
the horse. Really was a battler down the lane. I
mean he was maybe a couple of stakes, but boy,
when he was in a race, you had to respect

(57:30):
him because he was going to be up front and
he was going to be hard to get by.

Speaker 5 (57:34):
Yeah, he want to stake up at Exhibition Park either
at three or four, but he was zero for seven
at Long Acre. Okay, one other quick sports short. We
just ran the super Bowl. We ran the Super Bowl,
and talking horse racingling go there last weekend. Which team
has the longest consecutive decades streak of appearing in the

(57:57):
Super Bowl, And of course the twenty twenties there have
been five Super Bowls. Now we're halfway through this decade.
So you'd start at the zero and go to the
nine for the decades, that's not too easy of an answer, real,
it was gonna so you would guess maybe Denver. No,
Denver probably didn't two from zero zero to nine.

Speaker 6 (58:22):
Yeah, because I know they did seventies, eighties and nineties.
Of course they won it a couple of times. Pittsburgh,
I would have said, but they didn't. May haven't made
it in several years.

Speaker 5 (58:30):
Yeah, So it's happens to be the La Rams.

Speaker 6 (58:35):
That's good.

Speaker 5 (58:35):
Yeah, they lost or they won the Super Bowl in
twenty twenty one.

Speaker 6 (58:39):
They barely made it in the seventies. Right in the seventies.

Speaker 5 (58:42):
Well, their streak isn't that long. It's only the last
four decades. The nineties, gotcha. Okay, they won in ninety
nine with the great offense with Kurt Warner and when
they were a meal Saint Louis. Yeah, and then in
theos of course, they were a huge favorite against New
England and one and got beat and got beat. And
then in the teens their huge offense kind of got

(59:06):
slowed down. I think it was twenty eighteen and New
England beat them like thirteen to three in the Super Bowl.

Speaker 6 (59:11):
Yeah, one of the real duds.

Speaker 5 (59:12):
And then of course they've won it in the twenties,
so there's only been five Super Bowls this decade, but
the Rams have the longest streak going right now. And yeah,
so there's a sport short.

Speaker 6 (59:25):
I got a couple real short one i'll pick up
on the Super Bowl.

Speaker 5 (59:29):
You know what the.

Speaker 6 (59:30):
Average cost of a Super Bowl ticket is the last
five years.

Speaker 5 (59:33):
I saw a graphic during the game that this year's
ticket I think was thirty five hundred or was it
fifty five hundred something like that.

Speaker 6 (59:41):
Average cost is seventy five eighty five, five and eighty
five dollars the last five years. The lowest ticket on
the resale market in the week leading to this year's
this year's game was six seven hundred and thirty three dollars.
No wonder I haven't gone to a Super Bowl. That's
just incredible, isn't it. I mean, having's sakes, that's expensive. Okay,

(01:00:01):
I got one other horse racing one here. I told
you this one recently. Well, no Chinook Pass won the
Eclipse Award in nineteen eighty three, first Washington bred to
do so. But he also finished third in nineteen eighty
two in the Eclipse Award balloting. Yeah, and the two
that finished ahead of them was a Philly named Gold Beauty.

(01:00:22):
She was eight for eleven lifetime by mister Prospector, and
of course this was before they had the Breeders Cup,
and finishing second was a horse called Dave's Friend, a
Maryland bred. He ended up his career thirty five for
seventy six and was a millionaire when that was a
big deal back then. So Chinook passed quite a run
third and eighty two and of course winning the Eclipse

(01:00:45):
Awards Sprinter in nineteen eighty three.

Speaker 5 (01:00:47):
Yeah, I can think of three Chinook Pass wins at
Long Acres. In nineteen eighty two he won two older
horse stakes, was with the Governors and the speed. I
believe he's third in the mine, of course, and then
he won the owners and set the fild record five
for long world record that still stands fifty five and
one for five eighths on the dirt.

Speaker 6 (01:01:09):
Yeah, you talk about it all times since and racing
he was five furlongs for Chinook Pass in nineteen eighty two.

Speaker 5 (01:01:16):
Yeah, And you know, three year olds just did not
win stakes at Long and well they don't hear either
hardly ever. Yeah, but Chinook Pass was that good. And
of course did you just mention he was second in
the mile that year, Dude second in the mile. In fact,
Gary Bays had ridden him when he beat older horses
and took off, which was understandable. The horse was a

(01:01:36):
three year old, as you say, and had never proven
he could route. But he finished a pretty good second
there at a Pompeii court. I think he held off
police inspector right per second. And I remember Jody Davidson
wrote him and he came back like he had won
the mile. Well, he was really excited to finish second.
That was a big pot and second was awful good
money too. Yeah, Okay, good stuff on Chinook pass third

(01:01:58):
in the Eclipse balloting of eight and then the only
remains the only Washington Bread Eclipse Award winner Champion Sprinter
nineteen eighty three. Okay, some selections, you know John talked
about East Avenue is going to be a huge favorite now,
even more so than his nine to five morning line.
In tomorrow's Risen Star, with the probable scratch of Jonathan's Way,

(01:02:23):
the second choice listed at four to one. Well, there's
the number three horse in the program is going to
be Vasimo Vassimo Vsimo trained by Todd pletcher I rad
Ortiz listed at eight to one morning line. We know
that's going to come down a little now with the
second favorite, Yeah for sure, So I don't like the
coming down in price. But Vassimo's two for two. He

(01:02:47):
won a one turn mile at Gulf Stream in his debut,
and then he won an allowance at Tampa on January seventeenth,
stock the pace one easily that race at a mile
and forty. He's by Niquist, who, as John mentioned earlier,
is one of just two horses to win the Breeders'
Cup Juvenile and the Kentucky Derby. And he's out of

(01:03:09):
B Sharp Sonata, who was seven for sixteen for just
about six hundred thousand in earnings. She won six steaks
B Sharp Sonata by Pulpit great Blood on the bottom end.
And not only did she win six steaks, she's produced
five winners from six starters, not counting Vesimo, so she's

(01:03:31):
six for seven now as a producing mayor. So this
horse has got a good present and probably a really
nice future and irad orties for Todd Pletcher. So if
East Avenue first starts since November, you know how things
change between late two year, old year and even February

(01:03:51):
or three year old year. He looks like a really
good Cold East Avenue, but so does Vesimo, So I'm
gonna I'll take him at a little bit of a
price there in the Fairgrounds, risen Stone tomorrow.

Speaker 6 (01:04:00):
I really haven't done the homework for this weekend, so
I'm going to pass, and probably just as well. I'm
really kind of fighting the ball these days.

Speaker 5 (01:04:07):
We've been watching a lot of Roco bowing at Oaklawn
and he rides every horse, doesn't.

Speaker 6 (01:04:13):
He He does. He's very aggressive and puts a horse
in a race, and quite frankly, you know, watching him ride,
he's not respected enough down there because he outperforms his
odds consistently. But every time you look up, he's on
a horse that's twenty thirty fifteen. I mean, if he's
on a horse that's single digits, that's that's a live

(01:04:34):
wire for him. He's just not And it's a deep calling.
When you got one hundred and thirty thousand dollars lounce races,
I get it. But keep an eye on him. He
has a habit about performing his odds on his stock
down there, and at least you'll get some early run
out of a horse when he's up.

Speaker 5 (01:04:49):
Yeah, and it's easily to think back of Roco's three
consecutive riding titles here at Emerald Downs. And of course
he came back and what a what a stretcher on
last year in the mile twenty four five star General
and twenty twenty one was pretty much the same thing
as background things. Yeah, just he couldn't win. He could
not win at the quarter pole.

Speaker 6 (01:05:10):
Yeah, but rock ok the jockey and the horse willed
themselves to that win and it was quite a win
over wind Ribbon, who's still participating, by the way, in California,
won an allowance race last week down in southern Calo.

Speaker 5 (01:05:23):
Okay, there's some sports shorts selections and time for trivia
last shows. Trivia question was kind of wordy, but Blazing
Bella Blue is shooting for her fourth consecutive Washington Bread
Divisional championship. She's been Top Older Philly and Mayor the

(01:05:46):
last two years. Three years ago she was champion three
year Old Philly and Horse of the Year. So she's
going for four straight. That'll be announced at the banquet
on February twenty second Top Older Philly. Name the three
horses who've had four consecutive titles among Washington Breads, and

(01:06:08):
I didn't get any answers on this. Yeah, I was
kind of convoluted asking for three horses. Nusa Beach won
his division every year. He raced two thousand and eight
to twenty eleven, absolutely cool, twenty twelve to two thouy
fifteen included a couple of Phoenix Gold cups in there,
and Striker PhD twenty thirteen to two thousand and sixteen

(01:06:35):
second in the mile in twenty thirteen. He won the
mile a course in fourteen and fifteen and also was
a stakes winner in California in twenty sixteen. So those
three horses have won four consecutive Washington Bread Divisional Honors titles.
And there's a whole bunch of them with three including

(01:06:55):
Smoggy Doo back in the sixties. She only raised three
years or she probably would have been a four time winner.
So no answers there. Our new question. Trooper seven was
not Washington Horse of the Year in nineteen eighty one,
and Vince, I know you brought this up a few times.
He was five for five that year and won the mile.

(01:07:18):
He was absolutely awesome. He became well known all throughout Washington,
one of the greatest Washington breads of all time, the
inaugural class of the Washington Hall of Fame. And you're
going to know the answer to this, but I want
kind of a specific answer. Why did Trooper seven not
become Washington Horse of the Year in nineteen eighty one

(01:07:40):
going five for five and winning the mile. Send your
answers to Trivia at Emerald Downs dot com. No comment, Vince,
because I know you know the answer there. But anyway,
that's that's pretty rough, isn't it.

Speaker 6 (01:07:51):
I'm not gonna I'm not going to answer the question,
but I am going to say chastise the voters a
little bit there, because sometimes there's a greater thing in play.
And it's just like when American Pharaoh or justified, there
was actually talk that people wanted to vote for. So
how do you not vote a triple crown winner horse
of the year. Yeah, and how Trooper seven, if anyone

(01:08:14):
was there in nineteen eighty one, what he meant to
the stage that day and that year just dwarfs anything
else than any other horse. Nothing against the winner who
you know, hopefully someone gets the question right, but I
just think they kind of take your eye off the
ball there if you don't vote Trooper seven the horse
of the Year that year.

Speaker 5 (01:08:34):
Yeah, and we've got a nice long story on Trooper
seven on YouTube. Emerald type in Emerald downs Trooper seven
at YouTube and Gary Bay's a big part of that,
a story we did several years ago on Trooper seven,
not horse of the Year in nineteen eighty one, and
just as a sidelight he was washing horse of the

(01:08:55):
Year as a four year old in nineteen eighty when
he did win the mile as well. Okay, thanks for listening,
and again the Quarters Shoot Cafe now the Las Marg's Cafe.
It'll be open on opening day of training Monday, February
twenty fourth. Stop in and get a reacclimated to the

(01:09:16):
place that Joe and Sally Steiner made famous and onto
racing and simulcasting at Emiltown. Thanks for listening to horse
Racing Northwest