Retired NFL Receiver Mike Renfro Joins TDN Writers’ Room Podcast Presented By Keeneland To Talk King’s Plate

[Wandering Eyes]

Mike Renfro caught 28 touchdowns during his eleven seasons in the NFL playing for the Houston Oilers and the Dallas Cowboys. Like most athletes, even after all these years, he misses those Sunday afternoons, the camaraderie with his teammates and the thrill of competition.

But what would fill the void when he walked off the field for the last time in 1988? To Renfro, that's a very easy question to answer. He discovered horse racing. Thirty-seven years later, Renfro is part of the CJ Thoroughbreds ownership group, which has its sights set on Saturday's King's Plate at Woodbine with Tom's Magic (Justify).

To talk about his careers–in football and in racing–Renfro was the Gainesway Guest of the Week on this week's episode of the TDN Writers' Room Podcast Presented by Keeneland.

“Any ex-athlete that spent some time at least at the highest level for a while will tell you the same thing,” Renfro said. “There's been others before me and there'll be others to come. But any pro athlete that gets out of the game, it's hard. We have a lot of ex-teammates. We have a lot of teammates that struggle after a life of fame and the fortune, right? And whether it's Hollywood actors, pro athletes, whoever it may be, if they're in the spotlight and they've been exposed to that lifestyle, it can be very difficult. Thank goodness for horse racing. It's a wonderful sport.”

 

Tom's Magic was bought by CJ Thoroughbreds out of the 2023 Keeneland September sale. The podcast's very own Zoe Cadman helped pick out the horse along with partner Marette Farrell. Paying only $200,000 for a son of Justify, they got a bargain.

“I think Zoe said it right when she said we just got lucky,” Renfro said. “It's as simple as that. He needed a little time, not from anything that stands out in my memory or anything that put him on the vet's list, but he came to our farm instead of going directly to Florida. Normally, we send them to Ocala. He came to our farm and just chilled for about 60 days. And then he went on to Kevin Nolmeyer's at Silver Springs right there in Lexington. But bottom line is I think we just got lucky.”

Tom's Magic is 3-for-5 lifetime and won the Black Gold Stakes at Fair Grounds and the Tale of the Cat Stakes at Monmouth. He has raced only on the turf. Renfro said they began to think of Tom's Magic as a King's Plate horse almost from the start.

“We're all traveling for the first time to Woodbine Racecourse and to have an entry in the King's Plate is pretty special,” Renfro said. “We've been pinching ourselves. It's been a plan for several months. This plan actually worked out, which is somewhat rare in our industry as you know.

“We've been thinking about this race for a long time. We had an Ontario-bred. We knew he had some talent. Our friend Zoe was very involved in helping select this horse. But you know, things worked out. We got to run him late as a two year old and he showed some promise and won his second start. Since really the first of the year, we've been honing in on this race and he stayed sound as he can be and it's worked out. He's certainly a contender.”

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 Life Is Good. The fastest horse of the week was GI Sword Dancer winner El Cordobes (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), who earned a 104 Beyer.

Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by 1/ST Racing, the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders' Association,West Point Thoroughbreds, and 1/ST TV, the team of Cadman, Bill Finley and Randy Moss previewed the GI Alabama Stakes and the King's Plate. They reviewed the GI Sword Dancer Stakes and the GI Arlington Million Stakes.

Also on the docket, the group discussed the foul-up last Saturday at Saratoga where the last race on the card was run at the wrong distance.

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

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