TDN Writers’ Room Podcast Focuses On Derby, Derby Preps

[Wandering Eyes]

There are more than three weeks to go before the running of the GI Kentucky Derby, but it wasn't too early for the TDN Writers' Room Podcast team to dive into last weekend's preps and look ahead to the first Saturday in May. The podcast is presented by Keeneland.

The team of Randy Moss, Bill Finley and T.D. Thornton, all thought the best race of the week was the GI Santa Anita Derby, won by Journalism (Curlin). He overcame trouble to win the race and earned a solid 102 Beyer in the process. All agreed that he deserves to be the favorite in the Derby.

Santa Anita Derby runner-up Baeza (McKinzie) was also the subject of a lively debate. Moss called the half-brother to Classic winners Dornoch (Good Magic) and Mage (Good Magic) the second best 3-year-old in the country, behind only Journalism. But, at this time, he may not have enough points to get into the Derby field since the points were reduced for the Santa Anita Derby because of its small field, and he got only 37 1/2 points for finishing second. All agreed that he belongs in the Derby field, but there was also agreement that finding the perfect system for finding the 20 best 3-year-olds in training was an exercise in futility.

The team also went over the results of the GII Wood Memorial Stakes and the GI Toyota Blue Grass Stakes. Moss was particularly impressed with Blue Grass runner-up East Avenue (Medaglia d'Oro), but worried that the Brendan Walsh-trainee might be part of what could be a vicious speed duel.

Thornton went over the latest developments concerning the decoupling situation in Florida, where a Senate committee has said that Gulfstream cannot decouple for seven years. In a prior bill, the time frame was five years.

The Gainesway Guest of the Week was TDN European and International editor Emma Berry, who talked about how Donald Trump's proposed tariffs might affect European and U.S. racing. The podcast segment with Berry was taped before Trump called for a 90-day pause on implementing most tariffs.

In our “Fastest Horse of the Week,” segment, which is sponsored by WinStar, the team  went over the many reasons there are to breed to WinStar stallion Cogburn. The fastest horses of the week were Journalism and Santa Anita allowance winner Wound Up (Mendelssohn). Both earned figures of 102.

The podcast, is also sponsored by the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders' Association, West Point Thoroughbreds, 1/ST Racing and 1/ST TV.

Click here to watch the podcast and click here for the audio version.

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