Librado Barocio Joins TDN Writers’ Room Podcast Presented by Keeneland

[Wandering Eyes]

Many involved with the sport probably know little about trainer Librado Barocio. But that could be about to change. His small stable has been on fire as of late and it recorded a milestone when Lovesick Blues (Grazen) upset his better known rivals to win the GI Bing Crosby Stakes Saturday at Del Mar. For the trainer who has been training off and on since 1999, it was his first Grade I win.

How did it feel? That was among the questions our team asked Barocio when he joined us on this week's TDN Writers' Room Podcast presented by Keeneland. Barocio was this week's Gainesway Guest of the Week.

“It's a blessing and it's a big blessing for my family,” Barocio said. “I consider myself an underdog who is trying to play in this arena. I found a horse that was an underdog, too. The horse did it all. For him just to accomplish that, it means a lot for my family. It means a lot for my parents.”

Lovesick Blues is a 7-year-old veteran on the California circuit whose best surface appeared to be the grass. Barocio approached his owner, Nick Alexander, about purchasing another horse, Desmond Doss (Grazen), but when told that horse was not in serious training, he decided to buy Lovesick Blues.

The Bing Crosby is a “Win and You're In” race for the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint, but Barocio will still need to pay $100,000 to get in the race because the horse was not nominated for the Breeders' Cup.

Barocio said he was not sure which way to go until his son intervened. Also called Librado Barocio, the son is an assistant coach for the UCLA football team. He talked his father into committing to the Breeders' Cup.

“He said, 'Dad, you made it to the Super Bowl,'” the elder Barocio said. “Right now he's at UCLA, but two years back he was with the Washington Commanders and Coach Rivera. And of course, their goal was to get to the Super Bowl. And when he played football at UCLA, their goal was to get to the national championship game. He said, 'Dad, you're in the Super Bowl.' He equated this victory with the Super Bowl. I agreed with him. The Breeders' Cup is the Super Bowl of racing. He said, 'You have to go,' and I said, 'absolutely, you are right.'”

Barocio, who says he divides his time between racing and his business as film maker, had his best year in 2023 when he won 24 races. This year, he is 16-for-65, good for a win rate of 25%. Barocio won his first graded stakes race in 2024 in the GIII Senorita Stakes with Visually (Enticed).

“I have to give all credit to my help, my workers, my assistants,” he said. “They work endlessly and they don't miss a beat. They do everything and sometimes they do it twice a day. We work on horses twice a day. I think the horses respond to that.”

In our “Fastest Horse of the Week,” segment which is sponsored by WinStar, the team went over the many reasons there are breed to WinStar stallion Heartland. The fastest horse of the week was none other than Lovesick Blues, who got a 105 Beyer for his win in the Bing Crosby.

Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by 1/ST Racing, 1/ST TV, the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders' Association, and West Point Thoroughbreds, the team of Zoe Cadman, Bill Finley and Randy Moss reviewed the big effort by Sovereignty (Into Mischief) in the GII Jim Dandy Stakes and lamented the fact that he skipped the Preakness in a year where he might have won the Triple Crown.

As for the 2-year-olds, 'TDN Rising Star' Brant (Gun Runner) was a hot topic. A horse that cost a record $3 million at OBS March, he romped at first asking in a Del Mar maiden race, earning a 101 Beyer figure, the fastest number run by any 2-year-old this year.

The team also reviewed the GI Whitney S., which attracted possibly the best field of older dirt horses assembled this year. The consensus was that Fierceness (City of Light) is the horse to beat.

To watch the Writers' Room, click here. To view the show as a podcast, click here.

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