[00:00] Speaker 1: (instrumental music plays) Welcome to the Hollywood and Horsepower show, the show that talks about the story behind the story. Today, we're joined by a very special co-host, guest, whatever you want to call him, Anthony Big A Stabile. Big A and I go way back, and from the first moment I've met him, he's been like family, even before he knew it. I first found Big A when... Years ago, I went through a divorce. I was living in Lexington, Kentucky, traveling back and forth to Michigan to see my kids, and the voice that kept me company on many of those trips was Big A. I would listen to his shows. It was the highlight of my week, and it worked out that those were the days that I was generally traveling back and forth. So that was where I first discovered Big A, and then later, I had the privilege of being able to work with a show that he hosted and was able to sponsor it through a company I was with, which allowed me the opportunity to meet him. So, we're joined by Big A.

[01:30] Speaker 1: Welcome to Hollywood and Horsepower, and we really appreciate you coming on.

[01:36] Speaker 2: Mark, what's happening? How we doing?

[01:38] Speaker 1: Good. Even better, now I get to talk to you. What could be better than that?

[01:43] Speaker 2: Yeah, we got a while... We got a while together there. You know, I've told the story... I've probably told the story of meeting you as much as I've told the story of meeting any woman that has come in and out... (laughs) in and out of my life. Uh-

[02:00] Speaker 1: Well, I've been with you longer than any woman that's come in and out of your life.

[02:04] Speaker 2: That's kind of... Right now, you have. Yeah. I was in a relationship for 14 years when we first met, and I don't even talk to the girl or see her or think about her anymore. Um, but yeah, uh, I used to make an annual trip to... This is like... This is... Uh, we'll kick it off with a... with one of my better stories. We used to make an annual trip down to Florida for the Fountain of Youth, which is a prep race for the Kentucky Derby. For you non-horse racing fans, it's the last week of February, first week of March. I don't fly. I've never flown. I got on an airplane once for my "little sister's" wedding down in Florida. The airplane didn't take off for an hour and 45 minutes because the landing gear didn't work, and I was on the tarmac at JFK at 3:15, and driving over the Verrazzano Bridge in Staten Island that connects Brooklyn and Staten Island at 4:15 headed to Florida.

[02:58] Speaker 2: Um-

[02:58] Speaker 1: I remember that.

[03:00] Speaker 2: Yeah. So, uh, few years before that, like I said, 2018, we, uh... Mark started sponsoring some stuff, uh, for the radio network I was working for, and the, the, the bosses said to me one night, "Uh, change of plans tonight. Uh, we're gonna go to dinner, and we need the Big A." And I through... And, and through the course of this show, not just today, but I plan on being a regular contributor, um, so you guys are all stuck with me. Um, you'll find out that there's a big difference between the Big A and Anthony. Um, and they asked for the Big A. So, um, we, we, we go to dinner, and I had seen Mark on Twitter, now X, I still call it Twitter. And Mark, uh, Mark had been liking some stuff and commenting on some of my stuff. And, you know, he said really nice things, especially that, like... My years at the radio network, a lot of people would say, um... You know, because we were on three, four hour... I was on three or four hours a day.

[04:07] Speaker 2: The Wednesdays were three hours, Wednes- Thursdays and Fridays were four hours each. And I would hear people say, not exactly Mark's stories, like, "Hey, I'm, you know, driving and I'm going to see my kids." Plenty, plenty of, plenty of, plenty of divorced dads and moms would say, "Hey, you know, I got a two-hour drive to go get my kid and you guys keep me company and we appreciate it." And, you know, and they'll... Uh, they would play a horse or two, and they'd listen to the, to the results on the radio because you shouldn't be watching your phone when you're driving, obviously. You know, or "I got an hour and 45 minute commute home," um, and guys would call into the... Guys and gals would call into the call-in show. So it was really nice. That was one of the best parts about that gig, was just being able to really interact with the fans as much as we did. Um, so we go to dinner.

[04:53] Speaker 2: We go to a place, uh, called Anthony's Runway 84 down in, in-

[04:57] Speaker 1: Great place.

[04:57] Speaker 2: ... South Florida.

[04:58] Speaker 1: Vincenzo's. Oh.

[04:59] Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah.

[05:00] Speaker 1: Treats us like family.

[05:01] Speaker 2: Yeah. Great, great place. Bunch of Brooklyn guys relocated down to Florida, uh, whether they wanted to or they had (laughs) or they had to. And they opened this great-

[05:12] Speaker 1: Yeah, we don't have to question it. Nobody has to question it.

[05:14] Speaker 2: Yeah. They opened this great place. It was built like, uh, an airplane. It was like, it all, it all comes back around, right? Built like an airplane. Uh, there was a Sinatra table. Frank Sinatra, back in the '60s, '70s, '80s, would always go down to the restaurant. So, there was a lot, there was a lot of history there. I had never been there. I always heard a lot of good things about it. They were famous for their meatballs, and like any good Italian, I rarely eat meatballs outside of my mom's, uh, or grandma's. And, uh, so we get there and we have a few drinks. I'm not driving, so, uh, I get myself a little toasty. I go to my Big A. A Big... The Big A beverage is Jack Daniels with an Arnold Palmer mix. So I made an Arnold Palmer, put Jack in it one day and called it a Big A. Um-... I got, like, three big As in the end, I see Mark. And Mark comes walking in and Mark was, uh, with a, a lady at the time.

[06:11] Speaker 2: And Mark and the lady come walking in and Mark brushes right past my boss and his wife and my co-host and comes walking over and gives me a big hug like I've known him for 100 years. And I knew that it was gonna be, you know-

[06:22] Speaker 1: See, at my end I did. See, at my end I did know you for 100 years. (laughs)

[06:27] Speaker 2: Right. And I got that... And I get that... I used to get that a lot too. I still do. So we get settled. So we walk over to the table. This is my favorite part of the story. Um, the guy running the radio network at the time wanted to sit next to Mark, and Mark did everything in his power to sit next to me. And it was like almost watching, uh, like a Benny Hill, an old Benny Hill episode. And it was everybody, like, just moving around. And Mark finally just said to the guy, he's like, "Hey, I wanna sit next to the big A and talk to the big A." So I kind of sat between my old boss and Mark. And we sit down and I'm a big ham. I love the attention that, that... I think that was part of the reason I was so, um, so good at what I do, especially when there's fan interaction, is I love doing it because especially in horse racing, like, I'm, you're a fan first. Nobody goes into horse racing to get rich.

[07:20] Speaker 1: Exactly.

[07:20] Speaker 2: If you happen to make a lot of money, that's great.

[07:22] Speaker 1: And I think that is the experience that we can talk about that more later, but that's a key to this industry. You know, two things I think that this industry was built on is you're a fan first, and interestingly enough, and you touched on it, is the information comes through radio, it always has. I mean, going way back, you know?

[07:42] Speaker 2: Yeah.

[07:42] Speaker 1: And Lexington was one of the places they would have a, they would have a program every night that gave you the results. And that was kind of reminiscent of what, what that show that you hosted was, and what was-

[07:53] Speaker 2: Yeah.

[07:53] Speaker 1: ... so nostalgic about it.

[07:55] Speaker 2: We hosted... No, we did a bunch of stuff just like, you know, co- ca- cov- cover a couple, three tracks every day, and then we had a call-in show, like I said, where we talked anything and everything thoroughbred racing. We'd have a, a, a, a wrap-up of all the big stakes races, the top races of the weekend or across the country. So we tried to cover all the bases and tried to keep it interesting. And you gotta be a little bit more descriptive on radio, you know. My first gig was at the New York Post as a writer. I, I wanted, I wa- I wanted to be a writer. Um, I wanted to be a racetrack announcer or a writer when I was a kid. The racetrack announcer jobs are so hard to come by. And, you know, now I have one here at Finger Lakes. But, um, but, you know, you need to be a little bit more descriptive on the radio and I think that kind of draws people in when you can paint the right picture. And I think I did a really good job at that.

[08:46] Speaker 2: So-

[08:46] Speaker 1: Absolutely.

[08:47] Speaker 2: ... like Mark said, Mark felt like he knew me because I'm, I'm an open book. I, you know, I talk about my personal life on the air, um, talked about the young lady I was with at the time. And, you know, uh, you know, so we sit down. So we finally sit down and, um, the NCAA tournament, the, the college basketball tournament was around the corner and they were having all the regional tournaments. And I, I'm a diehard New York Mets fan. I really don't watch any other sports. Um, besides horse racing and baseball. And I had just went to spring training the day before up in, um, up in Port St. Lucie for my beloved New York Mets. And, you know, the, the old boss used to... was trying to talk college basketball and Mark shifted the conversation and said, "Ah, let's talk about the Mets. Big A doesn't like college basketball." And then he asked if my girlfriend was down. He's like, "Oh, no, she's not. She's an accountant.

[09:42] Speaker 2: It's tax season." (laughs) Like, he knew so much about me without ever having a conversation that... But it happens sometimes and it's a little, it's a little off-putting, but it wasn't with Mark. It was like fam- It was, like you said, we're family. It was like family. Um, you know, and-

[09:59] Speaker 1: Well, I think we're a lot alike. You know, I'm the same way. What you see is what you get.

[10:04] Speaker 2: Right.

[10:04] Speaker 1: I'm the same person that I am on the air and, and you're the same way. I mean, this is who we are. If somebody meets us at the track, we're no different than we are right now.

[10:14] Speaker 2: Right. You're not gonna be disappointed. If you know me, like... And I've had a lot of friends say that, like, "You don't, you don't pull any punches. You don't hold back. You are who you are." I was like, "Well, you gotta be genuine," right? If you want to be successful at this, you have to be genuine. I, I don't know... I don't understand these people that put on the facades. I don't understand that people are changing their voices. That's the thing that really, uh, that really gets me. Like, you know, I call a race, I do a radio show, I do a TV show the same way I'm screaming at my TV during a Mets game. The same way I'm, you know, out with my girlfriend. So I, I think you just have to be genuine and, and we're both kind of that way. Here it is. You know, there's no... We don't have a lot of pitches in our repertoire when it comes to who we are. I'm a 96 mile an hour fastball. If you can hit it, hit it. Um, so we start talking about everything and, um, it's time to order.

[11:08] Speaker 2: So I'll never forget this part of it. The waiter's name was Sergio. And Sergio comes walking over and everybody's ordering. We order a bunch of appetizers for the table and now it comes time for dinner and Mark wanted meatballs and spaghetti, but they don't have meatballs and spaghetti on the dinner menu, on the entrees. So I said, "Hey Sergio, we can get my man some meatballs and spaghetti for dinner, right?" He goes, "Yeah, of course." So, um, I order my chicken parm, which I do every time I go to a new restaurant, new Italian restaurant. It is chick- I have to have the baked clams and I have to have the chicken parm. That's my barometer as to if a place is good or not. And of course, the bread.

[11:45] Speaker 2: Those three things-

[11:45] Speaker 1: I remember that because I asked, "What, what do you order?" And that's what you told me.

[11:50] Speaker 2: Those three things have to be tri- The, the bread comes on the table, baked clams appetizer, chicken parm. It's like when you go to a Chinese restaurant, the ribs, the fried rice, the egg rolls, and the duck sauce has to be good. If three of those four things are good, you're in good shape. If, if, if, if it's two or less you, you, you get out of dodge. So-... my order and Mark tells Sergio, "You know what? Just give me chicken parm too, like the big A." So the appetizers come, the meatballs are fugazi. It's not as good as your mom's meatball. My mom makes the best. I'm not the biggest meatball fan. My mom makes the best meatballs in the world.

[12:26] Speaker 2: Um-

[12:26] Speaker 1: I can believe that.

[12:26] Speaker 2: But every Italian says that about their mom, so get the, get the meatballs, get some baked clams. Baked clams are good. And, and we're all talking and stuff and dinner comes. And the waiter comes over and he puts my plate in front of me and he puts Mark's plate in front of him, and we both have the chicken parm. The pasta's on the side. And Mark's chicken cutlet is at le-

[12:55] Speaker 1: Hanging off the side.

[12:57] Speaker 2: ... 30% bigger than my chicken cutlet.

[13:01] Speaker 1: (laughs) I, I think that's being kind. It was like 50% bigger. It was-

[13:05] Speaker 2: You're right, it might- it was being kind.

[13:06] Speaker 1: It was, again, we're back to the Benny Hill show. (laughs)

[13:10] Speaker 2: Yes, correct. And it's just this gigantic, I mean, like a hen house is on Mark's plate and for some reason they found, uh, uh, you know, like a pigeon to put on mine.

[13:23] Speaker 1: Yeah, the 50.

[13:24] Speaker 2: And I take another mouth- I'm pretty... I'm drunk at this point. I'm straight up drunk at this point. So, um, and I've eaten enough bread-

[13:30] Speaker 1: And you didn't wanna say anything. I can tell you didn't wanna say anything. (laughs)

[13:34] Speaker 2: Yeah, I wasn't gonna say anything and I had eaten enough bread to kill a small horse. So Mark, before I can do it, says, "I can't do this." And he switched plates. He put the bigger chicken parm in front of me and I can tell you, um, it was one of the most "romantic gestures" anybody (laughs) -

[13:57] Speaker 1: (laughs)

[13:57] Speaker 2: ... has ever done on a first dinner date for me.

[14:00] Speaker 1: It was definitely the defining moment of our relationship. (laughs)

[14:04] Speaker 2: I mean, it put you in a category of you were in the pantheon of greats that you weren't gonna make me suffer through this single small chicken breast Parmesan. I got the Dolly Parton of chicken breasts and the f- it was amazing. It was absolutely amazing and it turned out for the best because Mark didn't even finish his. You know I polished all mine off and took the rest off his dish because we weren't taking leftovers because we were all traveling and, um, a, a great friendship-

[14:37] Speaker 1: I was talking the whole time and that's why I didn't finish mine.

[14:40] Speaker 2: ... was born. Yeah. Yeah, but you were eating out of the side of your mouth too a little bit. I hit you with a lot of-

[14:44] Speaker 1: Yeah, a little bit.

[14:44] Speaker 2: ... but they let me order the appetizers, which is never a good thing.

[14:46] Speaker 1: I am Italian. Yeah.

[14:49] Speaker 2: Yeah. And then the en- I think the last straw was we ordered dessert, um, and I'm a big carrot cake fan so I ordered carrot cake and Mark was just like, "I'll have carrot cake too." And the lady he was with was just like, "Oh, this is ridiculous already. You've never eaten carrot cake in your entire life."

[15:05] Speaker 1: (laughs)

[15:05] Speaker 2: And the whole table erupted and it was pretty good carrot cake too. So, um, yeah, anybody that wants to order the same-

[15:11] Speaker 1: And one time when I ordered that, I've actually come to like carrot cake since then. (laughs)

[15:14] Speaker 2: (laughs) It's the bes- it's the best dessert in the world and I, I, this is what I do. I, I, I, I weave dreams. Um, carrot cake's the best dessert. There, there's no better cake, uh, the, I, don't come at me at that. The, the, carrot cakes are the absolute greatest.

[15:27] Speaker 1: I would agree, especially if the icing is right. It's gotta have the right icing.

[15:32] Speaker 2: Yes. 100%. 100%. So and it, the, though the friendship was forged, as most of mine are, over food and, uh, we've been very, very close ever since, so but it's a, it's a great-

[15:43] Speaker 1: Well, he gets cake story though.

[15:43] Speaker 2: ... it's a great first story.

[15:45] Speaker 1: He brings the cake out, sets it down (laughs) and he-

[15:48] Speaker 2: Which-

[15:48] Speaker 1: ... and Big A picks up his fork to go eat and I grab his arm and I'm like, "Hold on." And he, he looks at me like, "What? What's, what's the matter?" And I point at both cakes and I'm like, "You know, we good?" And he starts laughing and he's like-

[16:01] Speaker 2: (laughs)

[16:02] Speaker 1: ... "We're good. We're good. Go ahead." (laughs)

[16:05] Speaker 2: (laughs) Yeah, we had another drink in between those courses so I was kind of, uh, done after that and we... I remember we got in the car and my co-host on the radio is a guy named Jude Feld who's just an absolute sweetheart, um, former horse trainer.

[16:17] Speaker 1: Yeah, Jude Feld is forever a great guy.

[16:18] Speaker 2: Been around forever, very well liked, just a good overall g- another guy who, you know, he likes a lot of sports but like me, mostly a horse racing and a baseball guy and, uh, he, we got in the, we got in the truck to go back and he was like, "Big A, I gotta tell you right now if you told me that story and I didn't see it, there's no way I can believe you that another man gave you a bigger piece of chicken parm." And I was like, "Yeah, I probably wouldn't have believed it either unless I was the beneficiary of it." So, you know, it's awesome man.

[16:51] Speaker 2: It's-

[16:51] Speaker 1: That was such a crime against humanity though. I couldn't just sit there. I wouldn't have been able to enjoy it. (laughs)

[16:57] Speaker 2: Yeah, I would have went, I would have went back to the hotel and had some Sun Chips or something. I would not have been, I would not have been good on that one piece of, uh... May, I may have had to go to a second dessert, maybe a half a tartufo with the, uh, with the carrot cake but, uh, all's well that ends well like they say and, uh, yeah, we had a good time and a great meal and, um, I haven't been back to Anthony's 6 since but he's taken me to a lot of other great places down here in Palm-

[17:21] Speaker 1: I've been back, I've been back multiple times and, you know, for people who don't know and we touched on it and, and they aren't a sponsor of this show. We're just talking about them because we love them that much. You know, Anthony's Runway 84-

[17:34] Speaker 2: Yeah, 100%.

[17:34] Speaker 1: ... in Fort Lauderdale is, is one of my go-to places and I have several go-to places. I'm a regular at The Palm Miami. I will plug that because I love that place. Shouldn't plug it because I don't want it to get too crowded. I'm a regular there to the point that I have my own table. Table 28 in the corner is mine. I walk in and they just point to it and say, "You're good." The, um, but Anthony's 84 has just an amazing, it's like no other restaurant I've ever been to.

[18:04] Speaker 1: They have a fuselage out of a Delta airplane in-

[18:08] Speaker 2: Yep.

[18:09] Speaker 1: ... the middle of the restaurant that divides the restaurant from the bar.... so when you're in the bar, it feels like in not a, you know, some of our listeners will remember this, most of them probably won't, but years ago and, like, when I was a kid, they would have a lounge on some bigger airplanes, like 747s. That's what it reminds you of. It reminds you of, like, the lounge on a 747 inside the bar. And then the restaurant, you're looking at the outside of the fuselage on the airplane. So it's just a cool place. But on top of that, the food's amazing. Anybody who's anyone has been there. When you walk in, the hallway is lined with, you know, headshots of everybody who's been there. And I mean, most of them are in black and white, so it'll give you an idea of the, the era. But it's a, it's a great, great place. You know, the, the, um, the other place there in Fort Lauderdale is ... and I'll probably butcher the name, but Morti- Morgano's.

[19:09] Speaker 1: You, if you're ever there, you got to go see Steve's place. Great place. I've never eaten greater than there.

[19:15] Speaker 2: No, it's not Morgano's?

[19:15] Speaker 1: Yes. Absolutely amazing.

[19:17] Speaker 2: Not a Ronalds and Vicky's. I've been to the one in Atlantic City. Excellent food. Excellent food.

[19:20] Speaker 1: Yeah, he's just a terrific guy.

[19:22] Speaker 2: But see, the guys from, the guys from Runway are Brooklyn guys, Brooklyn Queens guys. So, and we have a group of-

[19:27] Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah. Vincenzo. I doubt that's really his name. He looks like he's right out of central casting, but a terrific guy.

[19:32] Speaker 2: Right.

[19:32] Speaker 1: And if you're a regular there ... I shouldn't give this up just like that, but if you're a regular, he will always go out of his way to get you in. I mean, he's just one of those guys that if he sees you in the back of the line, he'll come and get you and bring you up. He's just a terrific guy.

[19:50] Speaker 2: Yeah.

[19:50] Speaker 1: I have a picture-

[19:51] Speaker 2: Food's great. They're all Brooklyn guys.

[19:53] Speaker 1: You'll love them.

[19:54] Speaker 2: And, uh-

[19:55] Speaker 1: I have a picture of him, myself and my kids on the wall in my dining room.

[20:03] Speaker 2: That's great. That's great. You should.

[20:08] Speaker 1: So you've got-

[20:09] Speaker 2: You should. Yeah, you, you know, you come-

[20:10] Speaker 1: Restaurant has always been a big part. It's kind of interesting. To me, horse racing is one of those sports that's made up of more than just the sport. It's the combination of ... and you can add to this or correct me, you know, it's, it's horse racing, restaurants and music.

[20:31] Speaker 2: Yeah.

[20:31] Speaker 1: It seems like those all intertwined, you know, within this, so-

[20:36] Speaker 2: Listen, the restaurant ... So like up here, so in New York, when the races are over, each track ... And, and, and I'm talking about downstate, because Saratoga, Saratoga's really developed. I don't even want to put, like, Saratoga in the conversation. But like by Aqueduct and Belmont, there are two go-to spots. By Aqueduct, it's Don Pep's. It's less than a mile from the back stable gate, Italian food, menu on a wall. For years they didn't have a menu. You order what you want. They, they charge what you want. Um, two types of wine, red and white. But everything is just, everything, everybody loves Don Pep's.

[21:16] Speaker 1: Yeah.

[21:16] Speaker 2: And there's an atmosphere in there, you know. There's a, there's a culture in the Howard Beach, Ozone Park area. There, you know, there was a mafia culture for years in that area, um, right? A lot of people, when I tell people I'm from Howard Beach, they're like, "Oh, John Gotti." That's the first person they think of.

[21:32] Speaker 1: John Gotti.

[21:32] Speaker 2: And that's fi- and that's fine, um, you know.

[21:35] Speaker 1: But you know the funny thing is, and I don't, and you know how I feel.

[21:38] Speaker 2: It really is.

[21:38] Speaker 1: I mean, I actually look at it differently, and I'm not condoning anything. I'm not ... one way or another. But as a man, I actually think John was a great guy.

[21:47] Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean-

[21:48] Speaker 1: And he, he ... And there was a lot of good that he did for that area, and there's a lot of good that, you know, some, you know, a lot of the ... I've, I've always had just absolute respect for him and his family.

[21:57] Speaker 2: You'd l- you'd love Howard Beach and they'd love you. Come on in. Um, but Don Pep's is the place, and it has that kind of culture and that kind of vibe, and people absolutely love it, especially, you know, if they're coming from out of town and JFK Airport's a mile away, so ... When Bobby Frankel was one of the most famous and successful horse races of all, horse race, racehorse trainers of all time. When he was, before he bought a house on the East Coast, when he used to fly in from California, he was originally a Brooklyn kid, went out to California and made a bunch of money and won a million races, and then came back east and had two shrinks. When he would come in, me and my dad would take him up from the airport when I was old enough to drive, and the first place we went was Don Pep's. He loved the, the atmosphere, the aura, and the food is great. People swear by, people swear by the baked clams, the, the fish sauce, the, the, the linguini with clam sauce. All the food's great.

[22:45] Speaker 2: That's the Aqueduct spot. The Belmont spot is the one that's near and dear to my heart, and that's King Umberto's.

[22:51] Speaker 1: Oh, yeah. Great.

[22:52] Speaker 2: I, on a holiday, on a dinner-

[22:53] Speaker 1: That is my favorite place in New York now.

[22:56] Speaker 2: ... I hold my dinner in Derby. Seminars are there, Breeders' Cup Bash is there. Um, you know, uh, a regular, to say the least. Belmont Week, they name a dish after me. Um, you know, Chito and, and, and Johnny who makes all the pizza, and Rosario has run the place since, really since it opened in 1976. Um, you know, I remember the first time I went in there, Allen Jerkens, another one of the greatest trainers of all time, like a grandfather to me, he had won a stakes race and I had, I had won my Little League game that day. I, I couldn't have been more than eight or nine years old. And we went and met Allen, and I f- I remember being like ... I was a little sharper than the average bear when I was eight or nine because I was always around adults and always at the racetrack, so it kind of ... You grow up a little quicker than your friends do.

[23:41] Speaker 2: I remember saying to my mom, like, "I feel funny going in here in my Little League uniform." 'Cause we went straight from the game and my mom and dad were like, you know, Allen said don't worry about it. And Allen sit- kept a chair next to him, and it was the first time I ever went to King Umberto's, and I went and sat down in there and you see a bunch of Allen's winning pictures on the wall. Allen literally ate in King Umberto's four or five nights a week.

[24:06] Speaker 1: Wow.

[24:06] Speaker 2: His wife Liz made the greatest ... Well, his wife Liz made the greatest reservations you've ever se- (laughs) you've ever seen in your entire life. She could make a reservation like nobody else. Um, and-... and I remember just sitting there and just, you know, he had just won one of the biggest races of the year at Belmont, and he had his owners with him and, you know, his son was there, and ... Who's assistant, Jimmy, who's a very successful trainer on his own right now. And, you know, his wife was there. And all they wanted to hear about was me going three for four with four RBIs for, I think we were sponsored by Lenny's Pizza that year in, in my, in my powder blue Lenny's Pizza uniform. So, you know, it's, it's a place that I have unbelievable memories. Been going there for almost 40 years. Their fried capellini is probably one of the three best appetizers God ever put on this green Earth.

[24:58] Speaker 2: I mean, it's just this, this, this, this angel hair pasta with a combination of Pecorino Romano and heavy cream and they deep fry it and it's just like, um, uh, it's, it's heaven on a plate. They're unbelievably-

[25:12] Speaker 1: Yeah. It's a question-

[25:13] Speaker 2: ... servant was ... out of my mind.

[25:14] Speaker 1: I actually have the menu that you and I got there on my wall as well.

[25:19] Speaker 2: Yeah. We went there in, uh, 2022 together and you had le- ... One of your last trips to New York. That was the last time. It was ... Oh, no. Yeah. It was the last time I think we saw each other, um, because-

[25:27] Speaker 1: I think it was the last time I was there in person, yeah. The- and Grace was with me.

[25:31] Speaker 2: Yeah. Yup. You got Gracie with you and, um, I was home for, uh, I was home for a couple of days from Saratoga. I used to come home on, uh, Mondays and Tuesdays every other week to try to break up the monotony of that place, so ... Um, and see my, you know, see my girlfriend, see my mom. Um, so those are the two places-

[25:50] Speaker 1: Yeah. But it is, it is funny that like with this sport, how much that wraps around it. And it's not just us. Like you hear, you know, other shows talk about it. You, uh, you know, I've never ... Know there's even been like blogs and websites that give you, like, tips of where to go when you're at different tracks.

[26:05] Speaker 2: Yes.

[26:06] Speaker 1: I don't ... Like my kids and I would do, you know, trips in the summer from the time they were little. Keith and Grace and I would go, you know, Kentucky, New York, Florida. And, you know, the one that we did a lot was the Saratoga trip and then obviously Kentucky we did an ex- an awful lot. But same thing, it was like you would almost plan your trip around where you were going to go to dinner, because you're like-

[26:32] Speaker 2: Yup.

[26:32] Speaker 1: ... "Okay, this is a great place, you know, up by Finger Lakes. This is a great place over by Rochester." Yeah obviously-

[26:40] Speaker 2: Oh, and there's a-

[26:40] Speaker 1: ... there's a dozen great places in Saratoga, you know. Then when you leave Saratoga, you have to go down to the city and the Island, you know, and loop back around. So it's like, it's just like it kind of builds around it. So it kind of brings me around full circle. You touched on it a little bit, but if you were to list ... We already talked a little bit about restaurants, but if you were to list your top race tracks, what would be your top three favorite tracks?

[27:10] Speaker 2: Um, so I'm not gonna count the buildings that are gone.

[27:17] Speaker 1: Sure.

[27:17] Speaker 2: Belmont Park is gone. The Belmont Park you and I went to is ... It does not exist on the planet anymore.

[27:22] Speaker 1: But it's still gone.

[27:25] Speaker 2: Um ... Well, it will be.

[27:26] Speaker 1: Yeah.

[27:26] Speaker 2: I mean there's nothing (laughs) there's nothing there right now. Um-

[27:30] Speaker 1: True.

[27:31] Speaker 2: The racing surfaces are all ripped up and it won't be the same, but yes, um, you know, you hope that some of that magic is, is in the new building. I don't know if it will be. We'll ... Time will tell. We got a couple of years to figure out if that magic will be there. It won't be ready til 2026 or 2027. We probably have two years before-

[27:47] Speaker 1: And that's truly been home for you.

[27:50] Speaker 2: ... we'll, we'll answer the question. Well, yes and no. I mean, the whole circuit has, um ... Of the places still standing, I almost have to put Finger Lakes number three at this point because it's my first move to ... Like-

[28:03] Speaker 1: Sure.

[28:03] Speaker 2: ... it's the first place that, uh, my ... I have a name plate-

[28:05] Speaker 1: Probably good idea, yeah.

[28:05] Speaker 2: ... that says Anthony J. Stabile, track announcer, on that, um ...

[28:10] Speaker 1: Program.

[28:11] Speaker 2: On the door.

[28:12] Speaker 1: Yeah.

[28:13] Speaker 2: Um, second would probably be Saratoga at this point. And I don't know, I ... Let's make it a top four. Let's go with-

[28:24] Speaker 1: Um-

[28:24] Speaker 2: ... Finger Lakes, Saratoga. I love Monmouth Park in Ocean Port, New Jersey. Love it. Spent a lot of summers there. Dad was training horses and stuff. Great, great place. Um, another place, you know, went to Squires Pub or Oceans20 after the races. Those were the two places you went. And Oceans20 was down in Long Branch and there was a- an amusement pier and a couple of amusement parks, especially when I was a little younger. A lot younger. I'm 47 now, and I was ... I'm talking about like being a kid, like '80s, early '90s. You know, you were 20 minutes away from Seaside Heights. It was a popular destination. Of course, that was made famous by the show Jersey Shore. Um, but number one, uh, is and always will be my namesake, the Big A, Aqueduct. Um, if I walk ... If I was ambitious enough to walk it and I could walk a straight line, it would be one mile from my house. Driving it's about a mile and three quarters. You could walk it in about a mile and a half.

[29:27] Speaker 2: And when I tell you that a third of that walk is the parking lot, I'm not exaggerating. Uh, that's how close I live to Aqueduct. They have the screens on, the infield tote boards on all night, and you can see it from my house. That's how close I am to Aqueduct. Um, my parents met at Aqueduct. So-

[29:51] Speaker 1: Oh, wow.

[29:51] Speaker 2: ... there's no Big A without the Big A. Um, my parents met at Aqueduct. I did my first TV show, my first Talking Horses before I was a regular guest when they first started the program, two decades ago. Did my first TV show there. I covered my first race as a journalist there back in 1999 for the New York Post. Um, my first full like news column we used to do a thing called Through the Binoculars and I had built my ... The first year I co- ... The first day I covered for someone was at Aqueduct. Um-... the first horse race I ever called was December 13th, 2018, race number two, post time was at 1:21 in the five-horse field of, uh, Julkin Disco, Angry Moon, Ajnabeen, Colton, Mississippi, American Rule. I'm not reading that off anything. That is ingrained in my brain until the day I take my last breath.

[30:47] Speaker 2: Um, and it started-

[30:50] Speaker 1: Who made that possible? How did that come about? Who got you -

[30:53] Speaker 2: Frank Mirahmadi.

[30:54] Speaker 1: Okay.

[30:55] Speaker 2: Frank Mirahmadi and John Imbriale made it possible. I was coming home from a bachelor party a day early from Mohegan Sun, which is another place that's been supportive over the last, uh, t- 20 years. Was coming home from Mohegan Sun, we had to cut it short. Uh, the best man's kids got sick and he had to run back to Boston with the groom. Me and one of my closest friends, my first friend at the Post, a guy named Dan Martin, who still covers baseball for the Post, mostly the Yankees, um, we decided to just call it a day. Dropped him off at his girls in White Plains, I went down to Aqueduct. My folks were out of town, Mom and Pete were out of town and, uh, went to the track. Thought that we'd get some pizza for dinner, and Frank Mirahmadi is, uh, the foremost expert on cheese pizza in the world. Uh, he had never been to Ozone Pizza, which is, uh, a mile and a half from the track.

[31:44] Speaker 2: And I said, "Hey, you want to come to Ozone Pizza, you and Jennifer want to come to Ozone Pizza with me and Anthony? We're gonna go have, uh, we're gonna go have dinner." This was right after EquestriCon for your old company. And, uh-

[31:56] Speaker 1: Oh, wow. Oh, yeah, I remember that.

[31:58] Speaker 2: Yeah. Week and a half later, uh, he said, uh, Frank said, "Okay." He said, "Where are you going? Sit down, watch the race." And Frank and I were friends for about a year and change at this point. We had started getting friendly 'cause Frank and I are a lot alike. Um, we had met actually at Mohegan Sun the day of Tonalist's Belmont Stakes win in 2014. And, um, he sat, I sat down in the booth and what he hadn't known was that that was probably one of my favorite places on Earth. And when I was a kid, I used to look up at the patch of grass that I played on at Aqueduct. There's a patch of grass right by the clubhouse turn. I used to look up at that booth and say, "I want to be there one day." So I spent time in there with, with the great Tom Derken, who was my idol growing up, and, you know, I watched Johnny I call a race in there, and, you know, uh, I watched m- m- uh, an, insurmountable amount of, uh, and, and just an u- unreal amount of races with Tom calling in there.

[32:52] Speaker 2: And I sat down and I watched Frank prepare for his race, and Frank uses crayons and Frank kind of prepares the European way by memorizing the field from the top down. That's European and Australian. So, I started asking him questions as he was preparing. And he looked at me, and I'll leave the expletives out, but he was like, "How do you know, how do you know so much about this?" And I was like, "Oh, I've wa- wanted to be a race track analyst since I was eight or nine years old." And he said, "Do you want to call a race before I leave?" He was heading to ... He had just gotten the job at Santa Anita, the full-time job. And I was like, "Yeah." He's like, "I got to check with the bosses and with Johnny I because it's his booth." But I can't imagine Johnny I is going to say no, there was no shot at that happening. And, uh, he's like, "You're gonna come in here every week before radio and you're ...

[33:36] Speaker 2: Every day before radio and you're gonna learn." And for the next five racing days, I went in for an hour before my radio show, and I watched. And he taught me the Quicksilver method, he taught me the right way, he taught me the wrong way. You know, I've ... Listen, those elevators at Aqueduct, they're old. I've been stuck on them. So I know there's always a chance that I could be sitting in my office, which was right down the hallway from the booth, and somebody could give me a call and say, "Hey, Johnny's stuck in the elevator. Go call the fourth." Because I've been stuck on them numerous times.

[34:08] Speaker 2: So-

[34:09] Speaker 1: (laughs) own-

[34:09] Speaker 2: He showed me every way to do it, emergency preparation, regular preparation, full-day preparation. I remember him telling me full-day preparation and just thinking of what an alien thought that was, like, you want me to call full-days here? And, um, yeah. I went in five days in a row, I knocked on the door the sixth day, he's like, "I get it, you really want to do this. You'll call one before I leave." And his favorite pizzeria in the world is Newport Pizza in Howard Beach. It's a block and a half from my house. I think it's the biggest hype job on the planet. He absolutely loves it.

[34:39] Speaker 1: (laughs)

[34:39] Speaker 2: We were sitting in there on Sun- on a Sunday night, um, December 9th. And he's like, "You don't like this because the sauce is sweet. Put some salt on that slice." And I was salting the slice and he said, "Oh, by the way, you're calling one Thursday to pick a race out." And I was just like, "Huh?" And by that time, we had went to the four-day week, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. So it was like the first day of the week and Frank was leaving that following Sunday. I was like, "What'd you say?" He's like, "You're calling one. Try to find the two-turn race." He says, "I know that doesn't make sense, but it'll be better with your breathing and your cadence. I don't want you calling anything out of the chute." My luck, there were no two-turn races.

[35:22] Speaker 2: Um, and there was a race, second-

[35:27] Speaker 1: So explain for people what the two-turn race is.

[35:29] Speaker 2: Well, the distance races go around the two turns-

[35:32] Speaker 1: It's a longer race, yeah.

[35:33] Speaker 2: ... but it's like the circumference of the Aqueduct, it's a mile and an eighth. It's a longer race, and it's easier for your breathing. Like, to this day, it's funny, I don't know if he implanted this on December 9th, 2018, but when I open the program to get ready for the day, I always count the distance races as opposed to the sprint races. And I love the distance races, and I think that's a, I think that's a big reason. I think because he put that in my head before I even called one.

[35:56] Speaker 2: Um, and-

[35:57] Speaker 1: Is it easier to call-

[35:58] Speaker 2: I mean-

[35:58] Speaker 1: ... a longer race?

[36:00] Speaker 2: Yeah. Much easier.

[36:02] Speaker 1: Okay.

[36:02] Speaker 2: They're not going as fast, they slow down a little bit, they give you time to be a little creative. Yeah. It shre- the field stretches out a little bit more, absolutely. Um, so-

[36:11] Speaker 1: You know, Derken, and Frank is amazing at it. Derken's amazing at it as well. It is, it is an art. There's no two ways about it.

[36:18] Speaker 2: Oh, I've, I've been, I've been fortunate to be around and pick the brain ... You know, I ca- I consider all these guys friends. Like, my friends ... My, my, my two oldest, two of my oldest friends are Joe Koster and Steve Davis. They wanted to be Don Mattingly when we were growing up.... um, neither did. Uh, (laughs) ni- uh, amazingly enough, neither made it to the major leagues. Um, and, uh, I wanted to be Tom Durkin. I wanted to be Dave Johnson. I wanted to be Johnny I. Uh, you know, I was a little older to really kind of idolize Frank, and Frank's, uh, I mean, Frank's just taken over. Frank's like a big brother to me now. Um, and I remember just, you know, just imagine being able to not only pick the brain of the people you wanted to be of your idols growing up, but actually be friends with them, you know?

[37:08] Speaker 3: Yeah.

[37:08] Speaker 2: I slept on Tom Durkin's couch after his Christmas party. Like, I've had a really, really, real- You know, we used to have a great Christmas party in Floral Park. I played the, the cymbals when we used to go t- traversing through Floral Park, caroling for booze and food. Um, that's, like, great times, like great memories. And yeah, I just remember, like, Frank telling me that, like, "You gonna call this race?" And I was just like, "I found the race. It was the second race." It was a five-horse field. It was a s- six-furlong race, and he's just like, "Okay, that's fine." And I, you know, I had the field memorized before we left New Park. And I remember getting there, and there were so many memories at Aqueduct already. Um ... We'll talk about my favorite race in a minute, but like, there was a time three years before that happened where I was getting ready to walk away from the game. Um ...

[38:02] Speaker 2: And, uh, I, I really ge- I get (laughs) As you can tell, I get a little choked up and emotional when I think about it. And I remember it was the second race. Frank did talking horses for me that morning 'cause he wanted me to just concentrate. And we went upstairs, and I went upstairs before the first. And my office was down the, down the hallway. And I sat there and I just looked out at Aqueduct, and it looked like it always did. Said a prayer or two, made a couple of phone calls, walked down the hall, got into the booth. We took a few pictures. Pat McKenna, Director of Communications was there. He took some pictures to, you know, kind of mark the moment. There's a great shot of me that I have as, uh ... Frank's, uh, Frank's ... on my phone of me and him in front of the announcer sign outside the booth. And I went in (laughs) when the first was over. I went in. He told everybody I was gonna call the race, and we stood there until about 12 minutes to post.

[39:13] Speaker 2: And he looked at me, he's like, "All right, I'm watching it in the press office." I was like, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Where are you going?" He said, "You gotta have this moment with yourself." He goes, you know, "Who knows what's gonna happen here, but you need this, t- b- you need to be alone in here." You know me pretty well. I almost died in 2013, and after that surgery-

[39:37] Speaker 3: Sure did.

[39:37] Speaker 2: ... nothing really scares me.

[39:40] Speaker 3: (laughs)

[39:40] Speaker 2: Nothing really gets to me. He walked out of that door and I was like, "What is going on right now?" I'm in the only place I've ever wanted to be professionally. And at the time I thought I was in love, but it's funny that a few months later, a few years later, I would find out what love really is because of Aqueduct. Um, and I just stood there, and like that clock didn't move. It just didn't move.

[40:08] Speaker 3: Solo flight in a 747.

[40:11] Speaker 2: Oh, man. That clock didn't move, Mark. So I finally turned the microphone on. I'm like, "Now fill for the second down on the track, one play show, exacta, trifecta, pick four wagering, both times in five minutes." Clicked it down. Durkin always did three minutes to post. He never said ... He would just say, "Three minutes." So that was my little homage to Tom. I put the f- microphone on, I said, "Three minutes," shut it off, and I looked out again. Now, I am at the 16th pole. My office at Aqueduct was at the 16th pole. I'm right on the wire now. And I looked out like I had done a half hour ago from my office, and it looked like the biggest place on the planet. I've never been to the Grand Canyon. I cannot imagine the Grand Canyon looked bigger than the mile and an eighth circumference of Aqueduct Racetrack at that moment.

[40:58] Speaker 3: And the difference is with the Grand Canyon, you're not trying to spot the number on the newel across the canyon.

[41:03] Speaker 2: (laughs) Exactly right. So I'm standing there and I'm just like, "God, I need the best 10 minutes of my life." I'm sure a lot of my ex-girlfriends up until that point were not happy to hear me ask for my best 10 minutes at that point. But I was like, "Please, (laughs) please, I just need the best 10 minutes of my life."

[41:24] Speaker 3: All things considered, yeah. (laughs)

[41:29] Speaker 2: And the gate opened and Jewel Can Disco went to the lead. Ognadine chased him. Angry Moon sat third. And, you know, I didn't really ... I, I wanted one horse in particular to win. And it was the horse that won, because his trainer Kieran McLoughlin is one of the people who, when I was a kid, left a real impression on me and he was always a good guy. You know, my dad was a jockey agent and the trainer, and so was Kieran. And they used to play a lot of rummy in the, in the agent's room, and liar's poker. And I would sub in for Kieran if he had to do something. Kieran always treated me really, really well, and I said to myself ... And Kieran was the favorite. I was like, "Be really cool if Kieran won this race." And I wrote one thing on my program, one line on, uh, on, on my form, I should say. I didn't even write it on my programs. I wanted my program to be pristine from the day. I wrote one thing on the program.

[42:31] Speaker 2: And right around the, right around the five sixteenths pole, Ognadine took the lead and I said, "Ognadine's on the scene."... and he started to draw away. And that was the only thing I want to say, it was a real Dirken kind of thing, where like there was a little, there was a little alliteration there.

[42:47] Speaker 1: A little color to it.

[42:48] Speaker 2: I just gave the big, "Haj Nadine's on the scene as the field turns for home." And he drew off to win by like five and a half, six lengths. And I remember Frank come flying, Frank came flying into the booth, and he was like, "That was a 10." He's like, "I cannot believe how good that was. I cannot believe how good that was." And now, you got one of the best annou- I mean, uh, to me, for right now, Frank Laramonni is the best announcer in the game right now. And it's not even close.

[43:13] Speaker 1: Okay.

[43:13] Speaker 2: This guy's telling me this now, right? And I'm just like, "Wow." And I just remember it was, it was, it was un- it was an unbelievable feeling. And I figured like, all right, I did it. Lived my dream. All I ever wanted to do was call a real horse race. I had called some fake horse races and video slot machine races at Mohegan Sun for a couple of years. And so, uh, I did it. And one of the things I used to do every year is I used to have two little lunches for the TV crew. The guys and gals that work, especially at the, at, at NYRA and at Yonkers. They're the two hardest working crews I've ever worked with. And I used to buy them lunch summertime before Saratoga, and for Christmas before we went on our break, and I used to get a bunch of pies from Ozone Pizza. And that Saturday, get a bunch of pies from Ozone, bring Frank a pie up for himself, and we're sitting downstairs and Johnny I. walks in, Johnny Real walks in, he's like, "Hey, kiddo.

[44:13] Speaker 2: You got, uh, you got, you got five minutes?" I was like, "Sure." And he was chowing down on a Si- on an upside down Sicilian from Ozone, which is better than L&B's from Olney Garden for you New Yorkers out there. And, uh, he pointed out that at one point in the race, I said, uh, they go to the stretch when they were still on the turn. And he kept saying it to me. And I was like, "Yeah, John, I know. I've watched the race 50 times the last two days, and I still beat myself up for it." He goes, "No.

[44:39] Speaker 2: You made one mistake." He's like, "I'd like to get everybody's first race call up and see how many mistakes were made." I was like, "Oh." And he said to me, "Do you want to do this?" And I was like, "It's all I've wanted to du- do since I was eight or nine years old."

[44:57] Speaker 1: (laughs)

[44:57] Speaker 2: He's like, "Why didn't you ever say anything to me?" I was like, "I don't know. I was in my 40s by the time you and I got close and I started working here." Like, you kind of think like, "It's done." And he's like, "Kiddo?"

[45:07] Speaker 1: Yeah, you're on your path.

[45:09] Speaker 2: Yeah. He's like, "Kiddo..." I, I was, uh, I was happy. Uh, at least I thought I was. And he said, "Kiddo, it's never over." And I was like... And, you know, between Frank and John, they, uh... This sounds a little cocky. I don't, this doesn't always come out right. But they got to make somebody's dream come true. Could you imagine how amazing that has to feel? And they're s- they're the type of people-

[45:43] Speaker 1: I agree. And I think that that's something else that's unique to this industry. And maybe it's not just this industry. Probably happens in a lot of other things. But uh, within horse racing, you know, you said something that he said, you know, that it's never over. And it really is true.

[45:57] Speaker 2: It's never over.

[45:57] Speaker 1: I mean, you've seen so many people, you know, reinvent themselves, get into something else. And I'm, and I mean later, like, 50s, 60s, and become amazing. You know, Michael Blowen at Old Friends Farm comes to mind. You know-

[46:10] Speaker 2: Yeah.

[46:10] Speaker 1: ... he was the entertainment writer at the Boston Globe for 27 years. And for people that don't realize, that was pre-internet. That was when the Boston Globe was one of the three points of entertainment. You had The New York Times, Boston Globe, and LA Times.

[46:27] Speaker 2: Yup.

[46:27] Speaker 1: If you released a movie and it did not do well in those three, you had a problem. And he was the entertainment writer. He traveled the globe meeting with the most amazing people on the planet, and hopefully we'll have him on this program at some point. But it's interesting, you know, he retires from there, goes on to start Old Friends Farm, which becomes the poster child for aftercare in this industry. I don't know how old he was when he started Old Friends, but you know, I think we would both agree, he, he was on his second career, maybe third.

[47:03] Speaker 2: 100%. Yeah.

[47:04] Speaker 1: And he's-

[47:05] Speaker 2: 100%. He's been over it.

[47:05] Speaker 1: ... seen that over and over again.

[47:08] Speaker 2: And the funny thing about that was, none of it would have happened... Three years earlier, I was just doing the radio gig. And I'm sitting in the old booth at Belmont having lunch. I think it was October 1st. And I took a bite of my peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch, and I couldn't swallow it. And turned out that I had a collapsed vocal cord. And I missed three weeks of radio. I was not feeling well with everything. You know, it was really hard to eat anything. I lost a bunch of weight, not wanting to lose a bunch of weight. I couldn't eat and I couldn't work. And the Mets were in the World Series and I couldn't yell and scream at my TV. And, uh, you know, the radio gig was not paying well. There just wasn't a lot of stuff going on. And the girl I was with at the time, we had just gotten back together like a year earlier, and I remember we were at, right before the vocal cord collapsed, we were at my uncle's block party.

[48:11] Speaker 2: And my uncle is a successful realtor and mortgage guy on the island, buying and flipping houses. And the girl I was dating and my aunt were talking about, you know, well, is Anthony, you know, the guy's gonna settle down. And my uncle, I remember my uncle calling me when my vocal cord collapsed, right, right at the beginning. Yeah

[48:32] Speaker 1: He was like, "Look, you know, Christine..." Her name was Christine. "Christine-"

[48:36] Speaker 2: I remember.

[48:36] Speaker 1: "... and Aunt Lisa were talking, and uh..."

[48:41] Speaker 2: ... you know, I, I think she's looking to get serious and how are you gonna do that with radio? Why don't, why don't I give you some money, you start, come work for me, you start taking the tests, because you'll be really good at it. Every- you have a great personality, people will love you." And I, I was seriously thinking about it, 'cause I had lost my passion for the game a little bit. Um, it was hard. I was just like, you know, I was struggling financially, and I'd... now I wasn't feeling well. You know, I was just... everything was, like, kinda caving in on me. And Acacia Courtney, now Cormont, uh, Miss Connecticut 19- uh, 2014, had just started working with us at the network. And wonderful young lady, you know.

[49:25] Speaker 2: I mean, obviously she's a beauty queen, but she's, uh, a more beautiful person, but-

[49:29] Speaker 1: Just as amazing a personality and as natural-

[49:30] Speaker 2: 50 fold.

[49:31] Speaker 1: ... as it is too. She's just beautiful.

[49:31] Speaker 2: Yeah. You know, her and her mom have a... speaking of Aftercare, have Racing For Home. Um, and-

[49:37] Speaker 1: Which is, large part, I think, was inspired by Old French. She was a, she was-

[49:41] Speaker 2: Yeah.

[49:41] Speaker 1: ... a big supporter of Old French.

[49:43] Speaker 2: Yeah. So Acacia had come onto the radio team, and started working with her, and she was a sponge. And I really enjoyed working with her. And I was like, "Ah, I'll stick around for a few months, I'll train this kid," um, and I could sp- you know, Johnny I always called me a kiddo, I always call her kid, she's, you know, almost 20 years younger than me. I was like, "I'll train this kid and, and then, then I'll, you know, I'll, I'll take this money from uncle Jimmy and, and I'll run off and I'll, I'll, I'll go do my thing." And her and I were doing a show for the Cigar Mile, which is the last week of November at Aqueduct. And one of my favorite horses of all time, now my favorite horse, Tonalist, was in the Cigar Mile. He had won the Belmont the year before, I made a bunch of money. When I first started doing the radio, he was really the horse that brought me to the fore because I talked about him winning the Belmont for about a month. And, uh, I, um...

[50:38] Speaker 2: we went and did the radio that day, and I was struggling through it. It was maybe my third week back doing radio. My voice was still really, really weak. I didn't talk between commer- like, during the commercial, like, I was saving my voice and it was just a rough day. And we had so much fun doing the show that I kind of forgot about everything and I was like, "Well, maybe I'll stick around and, and train her another month or two and then I'll get out of here right, like, right around New Years." And they turned for home in the Cigar Mile and Tonalist was last. I didn't bet a dollar on him. Made about $35,000 when he won the Belmont. I had $83 in my pocket/too many in when they turned for home on November 28th, 2015 in the Cigar Mile. And he came from last and I couldn't root, so I was doing my snapping. And he came from last and he ran by the field and he won. And Acacia tells me that I just got up and I started clapping. I don't remember it.

[51:47] Speaker 2: Um, I remember walking away when we through with the commercial and having, like, a moment. So we wrapped the show, I took her to the train. And when I dropped her at the train, I pulled over, I just started crying. And it was like him winning was a sign. It was

[52:08] Speaker 1: Well-

[52:08] Speaker 2: I was driving out of the parking lot, I was driving out of the parking lot at Aqueduct. I called my uncle. I was like, "Uncle Jim?" He's like, "Yeah?" I was like, "I gotta see this through. I'm supposed to stay here." And he was like, "Okay." He was like, "I can tell in your voice, even though it's not that powerful right now, that I'm not changing your mind, so..." Went, um, started getting better. Started taking some ENTs and, uh, they gave me some therapy and stuff and I, my throat started feeling better. Six months later, I started doing TV for NYRA. Um, we talked about the first race call, um, but I really think the reason I was supposed to stay, I... on March 9th, 2019, um, a couple of weeks earlier, a young lady, um, named Nikki friend requested me on Facebook. And I used to keep my Facebook really tight.

[53:09] Speaker 2: That trip that I talked about, coming to Kentucky for the Breeder's Cup in 2018 with EquestriCon when I was work- doing some work for you, I had a really weird incident at, uh, one of the breeding farms. Like, I had mentioned on the air that I was gonna be at the farm and there were like seven people waiting for me at the farm, which kinda freaked me out a little bit. And it was like, "Well, maybe I should button up a little bit here." So my Facebook was always very, you know, very close-knit, um-

[53:36] Speaker 1: Yeah, always

[53:37] Speaker 2: delay. At the time it was only- They let you be able to- Yeah, it was... at, at the time, there was only one person on there, two people on there, that I had never met in person. My old radio producer and an owner named Harry Rosenbloom, who I knew since I was seven years old. So I kept it very, very c- very, very close, very tight-knit. And I get this friend request and, you know, cute little blonde girl from Brooklyn. I remember the background picture on her Facebook was AP Indy. AP Indy was a champion in the early '90s.

[54:13] Speaker 1: Oh, yeah.

[54:13] Speaker 2: Really nice horse. Neil Drysdale, Breeder's Cup Classic winner, Belmont Stakes winner. And he has my birthday. AP Indy's born on March 31st. And I was like, "Oh, maybe this is a sign." I was like click, accept. Exchanged a couple of messages. "Oh, I'm big fan," this and this, that and that. "Is there any way I can meet you?" And I was like, "Sure." And you know, March 9th, 2019, I went up the escalator at Aqueduct Race Track, a escalator I had gone up-... a thousand times in my life, got to the top, um, right outside of Longshots, which is the sports bar there, and there was this unassuming blonde with the smokiest blue eyes I had ever seen, wearing eight layers on a cold Aqueduct winter's day, all fidgety and everything, and, um, we talked for like 10 minutes. I was going upstairs. I was still in my, I was still on my race calling training at the time. I was maybe 15 races in and, uh, I was like, "Who do you like in the second race?

[55:24] Speaker 2: I'm calling the second race today." And she said, "Well, my favorite trainer is Rudy Rodriguez and my favorite jockey is Manny Franco." I was like, "Yeah, Manny rode the first winner," I have her call. Um, she said, "I like Daddy DT." I was like, "Okay." So I went upstairs, and sure enough, Daddy DT rolls for Rudy and Manny, and I, you know, day is over, I go with Michael and Libby Imperio who, Libby runs the Belmont Childcare Association, I'm an advisory board member there. Um, we go to Stella's for dinner, and I'm, I'm dating the girl, you know, that I was with for 14 years, and, and, and, and I, I, it was the first time I've called her Nikki in a very long time. Nicole was with someone, um, and I didn't think two thoughts about it, and then a year later we, we became friends. And I don't know why I can tell you every single thing, I mean, I do now. I can tell you every single thing about that day.

[56:27] Speaker 2: I could not tell you what happened on March 8th, I cannot tell you what happened on March 10th, but I can tell you every single thing that happened on March 9th. Every single thing.

[56:37] Speaker 1: Yeah. When you have like a pivotal moment. I mean, everybody has those moments where you just remember every detail.

[56:43] Speaker 2: Yeah, every single thing. And believe me, I've had people, I had people ask to meet me, and me to ... And I've met up with a thousand people off of Twitter. I'm not even exaggerating. There's probably close to 600, 700 people who have just stopped by the set, especially at Saratoga, you know, on the road at Penn National and Monmouth Park. Like, you know, just meet dozens and hundreds of people in one day. Like, and I couldn't tell you anything about it. I could tell you everything about that day, um, every single thing. And, you know, more often than not when they want to meet you, they're not... You know, now she's the most beautiful girl in the world, so, eh, you know, they're not these pretty blonde, you know, petite, pretty blondes, unfor- unfortunately (laughs) or in my case, fortunately.

[57:35] Speaker 1: Completely, yeah.

[57:37] Speaker 2: And, uh, I, I would love to tell you that since then it has been sunshine and rainbows. It has not. Not even together right now, but I know I stayed at that racetrack to meet her. And there's-

[57:56] Speaker 1: No que-

[57:57] Speaker 2: No doubt.

[57:57] Speaker 1: And it is amazing that everything, you know, I've always said everything happens for a reason.

[58:02] Speaker 2: Yeah.

[58:02] Speaker 1: And you look back on it at times it's like you're, it'd, it'd, uh, when you're going through it, it doesn't, it isn't always very clear, but when you look back on it, you know, you can sometimes see it, sometimes not. I guess you'd also like to think that maybe it isn't just your reason. Maybe you were a pivotal point in that person's life and served a purpose.

[58:21] Speaker 2: 100%.

[58:21] Speaker 1: So you just never know.

[58:22] Speaker 2: Oh, 100%. Yeah, and it'll work out and it'll be fine. And here's the, here's the, here's the topper to the whole thing. So we start dating, you know, COVID got in the way, obviously. Everybody's life was on hold. Um, we started dating the middle of June in '21, and I was going to... The, the day before Thanksgiving that year, uh, we had a, we had a Fox show. I was working for NYRA and we were doing a Fox show from Churchill Downs, and I was working the early shift with Maggie Wolfendale. Maggie is one of my favorite people in this, like, for you Game of Thrones fans out there, she's my racing Khaleesi. Nicole's my Khaleesi khaleesi, Maggie's my racing khaleesi. And we're going down the escalator and I was like, uh, I was looking at the spot where I met Nicole and she's like, "Mr.

[59:28] Speaker 2: Beal, you're in oblivion." I was like, "I met Nicole there." And she's like, "Right there?" I was like, "Yeah, right there." And she goes, "Look who watched over you." (laughs) And throughout Aqueduct, there are pictures-

[59:45] Speaker 1: You see.

[59:45] Speaker 2: ... of the big stakes race winners. The picture directly looking over the spot is Tonalist winning the 2015 Cigar Mile.

[59:59] Speaker 1: Wow.

[01:00:00] Speaker 2: Eh, you can't make it up. I mean, you literally could not, could not make it up. And the first Christmas we were together, she got me the program, Nicole got the program, the Bloodhorse magazine, and the pro- the program from the Belmont Stakes win, which I did not have 'cause I was at Mohegan Sun. The Bloodhorse from that, and the program from the Cigar Mile.

[01:00:33] Speaker 1: That's amazing.

[01:00:34] Speaker 2: That was one of my first Christmas presents she got me.

[01:00:36] Speaker 1: Yep. That's remarkable.

[01:00:38] Speaker 2: Yeah.

[01:00:38] Speaker 1: Hey, that brings us to the top of the hour and it's hard to believe we're already kind of coming to the end, but we're gonna have to save this for another show, which I hope you, like you said you'd be a regular contributor, I hope we can pick this up on another one.

[01:00:56] Speaker 2: You got it, brother. Anyti- anything for you, you know that.

[01:00:59] Speaker 1: No, I really appreciate you. It's been, it's always fun talking to you. I enjoy everything and I, and I'm very serious, I really want to continue this, um, you know. Producers are whispering in my ear that I need to wrap, so we're gonna have to bring this one to a close, but we will absolutely pick this conversation up. This is Hollywood and Horsepower, we appreciate you s- come, stopping by and hanging out with us for a little while. We're brought to you by Valley Rose Farm, valleyrose.com, and the Thoroughbred Post, another program on this amazing network, it's BBS Radio. So we appreciate you coming by. If you're in Miami, go to The Palm. If you're in New York, go to King & Bergo's and if you see either of us, come and say hi. Thanks for joining us, this is Hollywood and Horsepower.

[01:01:53] Speaker 1: (instrumental music)