[00:05] Speaker 1: Yeah. This is where it begins. (energetic music) (rhythmic clapping)

[00:18] Speaker 2: Hey, hey, hey.

[00:19] Speaker 1: From the starting gate, to the final stride. Feel the rush as the champions ride. Every heartbeat's a Durham Pond call. One shot glory (glory) , winner takes all. From the dirt to the lights, hear the crowd roar higher. Every second burning, closer to the wire. At the wire, where the fastest hearts collide. At the wire, feel the thunder come alive. You're riding at the wire.

[01:00] Speaker 2: Good afternoon, horsemen. This is Scott Miller coming to you live from Delray Beach, Florida, from the International Equine headquarters. We are having a great time today, getting excited about the Kentucky Derby coming up, getting excited about, uh, the show horses that we have, who are doing good. All our standardbred horses are going back up north. We had about 170 horses leave the, the farm here in the last few days, so it's all getting there. But man, I'm gonna tell you, it's derby time, and this is my favorite week of, of derby. It's three weeks away, and what I like about this is we, we pretty much know the horses that are gonna be in the derby, the, the top 20. And, you know, as soon as you say that, something happens, and we've had a, a few horses that have been, uh, taken of the derby trail due to injury. Uh, I'll know more about that this afternoon or in the morning. We'll see, you know, which ones they are.

[02:03] Speaker 2: Now, with the derby field that we have now, I'm telling you, of all the years, I've been watching the derby 50 years, and of all the derbies, this is a derby that probably that anybody could win. Well, anybody could win it anytime you run, but there's really not any outstanding horses here this year. None that bow you over. Uh, you know, the ones that, that looked good three months ago, started looking bad, ran bad. Now, they're, you know, back on an even keel with all the other horses, you know? And so we just don't know what's gonna happen over the next three weeks. Um, you know, uh, hate to say it, but a lot of times, these horses, th- they take a, a bad step and get a bruise, and, uh, you know, and then they're out, and w- we have other ones that step up, they're, you know, 20 or 30 back. And all... We've got 22 days, 3 hours, 25 minutes, and 49 seconds till the Kentucky Derby, and there's... A lot can happen in, in between now and then, a lot can happen.

[03:13] Speaker 2: Uh, the thing that, uh, got me concerned, um, this year is the weather. Uh, I know I've always talked about the weather, um, you know that, uh, you can't control. Uh, it could be muddy, it could be rain, uh, you know, a little bit, and, and just be nothing but mud. Um, it could be hot, uh, it could... You know, there's a lot of things that could happen, and a lot of these horses are still training where they're at for, uh, the winter, such as Hot Springs and New Orleans and Santa Anita and, and, uh, New York, and so that, that's gonna play a big factor on how many days they really get to, you know, to train in good conditions. Uh, even here in Florida, we've had a lot of, a lot of heavy rains. Uh, just a lot of things have come up, you know, so it all plays a part in what's going on. Now, all the trainers have these horses fit now. Uh, w- we just gotta start, you know, kinda rounding off the edges and keep them maintained at that level, and that's gonna be hard for, for them to do.

[04:25] Speaker 2: Uh, like I said, because of weather, and, and, you know, the whole nine yards. Then, you know, they gotta ship to Kentucky from wherever they're at, unless they're already in Kentucky, and that makes a big difference too. You know, when they start to ship, some of them fly, some of them go by van. Um, it's just, you know, it's c- all different ballgame that you're putting in things in there that could upset the horse. They might not ship well. Uh, there's just a lot of things that, that could happen to these horses. And you hope that it doesn't, you know? You hope that they can get through, because they've got a lot of, uh, experience under their belt now, uh, shipping and going track to track, but those are the things that we're looking at now too. So now, you know, we're starting to get into the derby crunch. Th- you know, the, the trainers and owners are starting to feel the pressure, the jockeys are feeling the pressure, the stable staff is, uh, um, you know, feeling the pressure.

[05:23] Speaker 2: A- and it's kind of unique. Uh, you know, you get excitement, uh, and then you get pressure. And, and I say the most dangerous thing that there is, is the excitement of the derby. Because the tension that makes you think that you're gonna do better than what you hoped you were gonna do. Um, it's tough to win the derby. It's a 20-horse field, and, and leading up here to the, uh, you know, all the prep races that we had coming up, uh, you know, when we started the Iroquois back in 2025, September there, um, you know, those horses put a lot of miles underneath them-... and, uh, we've gone a different track. But we really haven't had a full horse field until the Bluegrass this year, the last qualifier of them all. You know, we had, had a good, good size field. And so now you start thinking, you know, as a trainer and owner and jockey, you know, you got 20 horses that you're going to be going at and trying to, you know, and, and it's going to be different and it's going to be interesting.

[06:28] Speaker 2: You know, you've got 150,000 people that'll be there, you know. Then you add the weather into it and you add all the other things into it that could, you know, affect your horse. And then you just hope that you come out of that gate, you know, and run well. And you got a lot of horses that are, I wouldn't say really green, but they're still young and, and they're, they're quite experienced. And the problem is, that when you come out of that 20 horse field, you got to pick the spot where you want to go right out, right from the get-go. That jockey's got to determine where he's going to go and how he's going to go there. And that's just the first time down the stretch. Then you get into the turn and a lot of different things happen in the turn, people, jockeys, the, the rail to the middle, to the outside. Um, you know, they're, they're just trying to find out where they go. And then down the backstretch, you got to get your horse to relax.

[07:26] Speaker 2: You got to get him to relax and, and ease into it, you know. And, and hopefully, you know, he's not all wound up, you know, and he's, and he relaxes for you. Then the crucial point is when you hit the three-eighths pole. When you hit that three-eighths pole, buddy, you got to be in your spot and you got to be thinking where you're going down that home stretch. Are you going to be on the outside? Are you going to be in on the rail? Are you going to be in the middle? Are you going to be behind horses? In front of horses? You know, that's al- always the scary part. We had an incident in 1982 with Talbaba who was one of the favorites there in the Derby and he hit the three-eighths pole and we were getting ready to just unload down that stretch. We, we, we had a good horse there and then all of the sudden, we had horses, Coop and Coy Joy, a little filly in there, she tired out and she started backing up. And man, oh, man was it, was it a mess in there.

[08:24] Speaker 2: We had horses all over the place, you know, where do you go? How do you get there? That, that was the tough part, uh, you know, to, to see that happen. And then, you know, once you get up there and y- you get banged and beat around, you know, you, you know that you've got enough to get to the wire. And that's what happens a lot of times in the Derby. Uh, you get a horse up there that, you know, think he's going to win and what happens? You know, the field just kind of backs up and, and a lot of people think in, in the horse racing, that those horses are just running off, you know, when, when they're up there, just running off, you know. Oh, you know, we've got a lot of horse underneath. Well, in, in reality what's happening, is we have horses that are what they call backing up. They're getting tired, you know, all backing up and they're coming back to the horses, you know, that aren't as tired and that are in good condition.

[09:22] Speaker 2: And that, and that's the tough thing about the Derby, you watch the 20 horse field. You know, the, the trainers, you know, the owners, they all their ideas on how the horse should run. And every time that I saddled a horse, I didn't tell the jockey one thing's in the ... I've never been a jockey. I'll never be a jockey. You know, that's his game. I hand him, I hand him the reins and said, "Here's the key, do what you need to do." And that's the way, that's the only way you can do it, you know. You could come in and say, "Oh, well, you know, I think I'll do this and, you know, go here and try to get the lead and try to lay forth." You know, that's just all, that's just all, you know, part of the game. You know, you just don't know until you get up there and when you get in the pack, and you know where you can go and where you can't go, you know who's good and who isn't, you know you just have to let the chips fall where they may, as they say. But that's all leading up to the Derby.

[10:22] Speaker 2: We're going to be having retrospective dow- downs on my website, on msmequine.com and then we're going to be having our morning works like we have every year. You can watch those live, um, every morning start, I believe it's next weekend that they'll be doing that. It's going to be an interesting thing. And we got a lot of live programming on, on the website, uh, for the derby. Um, a lot of things, the good insights, talking to trainers and jockeys and, you know, things of that nature. But, uh, when we start doing the morning works, they'll be live every morning, uh, we'll start, I think we'll start at 7:00 or so. And we'll go right on through the day, you know, we'll have someone... We'll find out who is and who isn't. What I like about it is it gives me a, a sense of being there and being at the track.

[11:14] Speaker 2: And you know, and, and that helps, that makes the der- the Derby more enjoyable because you can pick out your favorite horses, you know, for the Derby and you can see them working every morning, you know, going out to the track, always like that. And then, uh, we got on the 25th, uh, uh, this month, we have the Kentucky Derby, uh, post position draw for the Kentucky Oaks and the Kentucky Derby. Uh, that's on Saturday, April 25th, uh, 2026 from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM Eastern Time. Um, that's, uh, during opening day, uh, at Churchill Downs for the fall meeting. And it's 2:00 to 3:00 PM. Uh, you can come right here to msmequine.com and watch the draw live.... it's a two-hour program, and I think you'll really enjoy it. There should be a lot of insight into what all is going on, you know, there in, in Turkey. Uh, there's, um, a lot of things that we were talking about today, this morning at the barn, about the Derby.

[12:23] Speaker 2: We've got, um, we've got three or four possible horses that are gonna, um, skip the Derby because of injuries or, you know, just because of a lot of things. Now last week we had the, the Blue Grass Stakes. And that, that, that was really a good, good race, a lot of horses in it. And I see a lot of horses from the Blu- Blue Grass Stakes skipping over the Derby. And them, they might go to, uh, the Pat Day Mile or, or one of the other, uh, stake races on the Indycar on a derby day to get ready for the Preakness. You know, a lot of these guys that, you know, trying to get ready for the Derby, you know, they put it all in. Uh, you know, they're going to broke. Um, they say, "You know, we're ready to go." And I'll be honest with you, I've been in this position before. Sometimes you've got a horse ready for a race, and you know, you look at the race and everything, you say, "Hey, wait a minute.

[13:19] Speaker 2: Maybe I, you know, better go somewhere else on this horse." Uh, and, and that's what I was thinking about this year, with, with a lot of the horses in the Blue Grass Stakes. Horses that come out of the Florida Derby, Arkansas Derby, Louisiana Derby, Santa Anita Derby. You know, they might want to skip over and go to the Preakness. Now, everybody likes to run in the dirt, would like to run a horse in the dirt. Everybody would like to win the derby. Everybody would like to r- run good in the derby. But a lot of times, you put your, you know, your, everything you've got on the line in the derby, and then it throws you, it throws you off-course from what you really want to do with your money. And for the owners and, and, uh, trainers, and, and jockeys, you've got to really look at, look at it. I mean, that, that's a tough decision to make. And the decision that you have to make is what's best for your horse.

[14:20] Speaker 2: It's nice to win the derby, but you gotta think about your resume for your horse as a, as a breeding stallion. Um, you gotta look at that. Uh, you can go to the Preakness and win that, and you got a nice grade, you know, graded stakes race there. Now, and then you gotta start looking at Saratoga. Saratoga and Delmar are similar races. You can, you can chalk up a lot of victories on your resume with Saratoga and Delmar. And I'll tell you what, if you got a horse that can go onto Saratoga, and you won a nice graded s- stake race like the Travers, uh, you know, you're, you're, you're putting a good, good res- uh, resume together for your horses. And then you can start looking at coming back to Keeneland and Churchill, you know, for the, for the fall time. And then you can get in and think about the, the Breeders' Cup. And so, those are all the kind of things that, that you'd like to do.

[15:20] Speaker 2: You know, you'd like to come in with a good resume and, and, you know, let me tell you, there's a lot of derbies that, derbies that were won by horses that didn't fare well after the derby. So that, that, that was a tough, tough one to do. And, you know, one of the things that, things that I love, I love the points that, um, that they have for, for the derby and the standings. Um, we've got Commandment at the top. He's, uh, he's got 150 points. Um, certainly gonna go to the derby. $943,000 in earnings. Um, let me tell you, uh, the thing that scares me is Brad Cox. Brad Cox might be able to get this one this year. You know, you know, he could... He's in the best hands, I'll put it to you that way. Um, he's got Further, Further Adoo behind him. That, that's a good, that's a good horse. It's another Brad Cox horse. We've got Renegade for Todd Pletcher.

[16:28] Speaker 2: Uh, he's at the number three spot, uh, which is, which is good, and then we've got the newcomer on, um, um, on, on the road to the derby, So Happy. Um, he's a nice one. Uh, he's doing really good. Um, it's gonna be interesting to see what he does. I think he, he was in a pretty big race the last time out, and I think he got a little screwed. But, uh, you know, I hope it was worth it. You know, I, I'm sitting here looking at all these horses, but another Brad Cox horse, three in the top five. You know, my thriller for it. It, it's, um, a nice horse. He's really good. You never can tell what's gonna happen. Um, you know, and as you go down through here, there's a lot of them that, that are lightly raced. Silent Tactic showed some good, good efforts in his, uh, training for the derby. Emerging Market, uh, showed, showed good, um, things for the derby. Um, you know, I, I just, I don't, I just don't know, you know, where to go with it.

[17:41] Speaker 2: There's, there's a horse called Incredible, Incredible. Riley Mott has. Now, this horse is really good. And I, I think where, where this goes with, uh, with Incredible, um, Riley is a good trainer, son of Billy Mott. He's on his way up the ladder. He's laying the foundation for his, his schooling, and his, uh, all of his training, um, that he had. You know, he's, he's developing, uh, you know, his, uh, habits.... you know, to get horses in. Now, this incredible... He, he might... He might do pretty good, but I don't know if he's seasoned enough yet. You know, he, he hasn't gone in, into the battles yet, you know, to, to really, um, you know, so you, you look at there. Um, he's got b- he's got a good chance. Um, then Clash... Then Clash President is a horse I think they scratched today for Todd Fletch. You know, I think he was scratched today, uh, out of the Derby. I don't know what had happened.

[18:45] Speaker 2: We've had three or four of the horses that have gotten, uh, bone bruises or foot bruises here in the last, uh, two weeks. So we're gonna see, you know, what happens with that, you know. But like I said, uh, there's a lot of people still in the game here. You don't know who's gonna win and you don't know who's gonna get in, so that, that, that's the one that you, you really think about, right? Bob Baffern had a horse called Whitman Stone. Well, I thought he was really moving, fire, ready to go, and then he think... He hasn't shown up in his last couple of races. Uh, Napoleon Solo and Chad Summitors. Um, he's pretty good horse, William's Map is a flyer. He's got the, the blood to go the distance. But, you know, you just... You never do know what's going to happen with all these horses. You know, who's going to show up? You know, there's so many things that can go on.

[19:44] Speaker 2: You just hope that on derby day that they all show up and are all healthy and ready to run, and, you know, that's what we're looking at there. I hope you guys, uh, can get to go to the derby this year. Um, we got Dawn at the Downs tickets. They're gonna be on sale, uh, Monday, April 27th, they're starting to sell. They start at $76 and go up. And you get a good meal and you get a good, um, view of the, the track. You get to meet a lot of people, do a lot of, you know, which is a... Which is really good. I always liked seeing it there. And we would get to meet people and we would bring them on the backside of the track in a, in a little van, and, you know, we'd, we'd get to see the horses up close and getting bash and saddled to go to the track and everything. And, and then I started, um, giving out the One Star in our, in our barn. I started giving out horseshoes, so we'd get a group of people to come up and I'd give them horseshoes that were actually our One Star horse.

[20:50] Speaker 2: And that really went over real good, you know. So there's a lot of things that you can do there. Good food, you get to meet a lot of people. A lot of the people that met on their first trip to, um, you know, do the backside, at Churchill they met people from California and Colorado and Florida and Arkansas, West Virginia. And they, they kind of make it an annual thing now. They, uh, come in and, and they all meet up in- on the same day, and they visit with each other, and, you know, they do the, the church event, which is, you know, which they do. Uh, which is really nice, you know, so that's good. You know, the museum there at Churchill is really good. Uh, it, it, it's unbelievable. But I like Dawn at the Downs because you can get up close to the horses, and, you know, you get to relax and the kids can have fun, and, you know, you can go to the, the, the event, you know, which is really good, and, you know, so... Um, that, that's where we're at with this, this year. It's kind of a...

[21:56] Speaker 2: For me, today is the day of decisions. Um, it's going to be interesting to see, um, you know, what goes on. Um, I'm part owner in, in a horse called Madam Secretary, and, uh, she's going to be running in the third race at Keeneland Sunday. And we've, we've come a long way with her. We had her out in California, and she did real good. And, and so then we brought her back to, uh, back to Kentucky. And, uh, you know, she's, she's traveled a lot. And so it's a nice race, uh, named Madam Secretary. Uh, it's on the third race on the card at Keeneland Sunday. And what I'm hoping for is that she's kind of outgrown her, her, um... She was a young horse, and, you know, she, she's always been good, good for us. We were really, you know, pleased with that. Uh, she's a three horse and the number... Yeah, and, and, uh, ooh, I didn't think about that. Now that she's the third race, number three horse, the third time runner, it's, it's a lot of three. But no, she, uh, she's well schooled.

[23:14] Speaker 2: The, the trainer we have for her is really a great guy. Uh, and they're, his name's Brandon Walsh, and we've got Tyler Gathje riding him. So, uh, it's won a mile and an eighth, and it's for $120,000. So, uh, we, we hope she does well, and then we're looking forward to getting her up to, uh, Saratoga, you know. So we got all these things that we're thinking about now, uh, you know, as horse people. And sure, you know, you don't want to get caught up in the derby fever, because sometimes that kind of takes you away from your, you know, your ultimate goal. And, you know, in thoroughbred business, we have the triple crown, uh, the derby, the Preakness and the Belmont. Those are all good. And then aside from that, with your horses and the way you train them and where you want to go, you have tracks. You got tracks like Saratoga, you got tracks like, uh, the Churchill Downs, Keeneland, Santa Anita and Delmar.... you know, Gulfstream Park in, in Florida.

[24:22] Speaker 2: You got all those tracks to look at, and that's when you like to go and have your horses win, win it. I've been very lucky with, with what I do and everything. We've had wins in, uh, in, uh, San Anita we've had wins, at Keeneland we've had wins, in, in Saratoga. Uh, you know, so it's really nice to, you know, to get to those tracks and, and find out what they are. And it's kinda like, you know, as soon as the Derby's over with, you know, you're thinking Preakness and Belmont. Um, but from the reality of it all, you're really thinking about Saratoga, you know, after that, and, and Belmont. Okay? I mean, that's what you're really looking at, you know, because all these others are just stops on the way to, you know, creating something good. Let me tell you, that Saratoga meet is gonna be a super meet. You- the Belmont is gonna be held there, so it's gonna be the last time they hold the Belmont there, because, uh, Belmont, uh, track is, is, uh, getting ready to open.

[25:23] Speaker 2: They, they finished it up and they're ready to go. You know, and then we got Keeneland in the fall. We got Saratoga in August. We got Del Mar and San Anita in the summer and in the fall. And that's what we, you know, really look at to see what we're doing a horse. But all in all, tune in next, uh, on the 25th of April to msmequine.com. You'll be able to see the derby poll, their post position, the oats for, for the Kentucky Derby. You'll be able to get all the interviews from all the trainers, the jockeys and the experts, and who they think is gonna win the derby. Then you get to see racing all week long from Churchill on, on msmequine.com. And you also will get to see highlights of the trade, like the Pegasus Trade at your, uh, in Louisville. Um, the balloon race, uh, in Louisville. Um, the gl- the Bell of Louisville, uh, has the riverboat race as well. You know, so you're gonna see all the different things about that.

[26:36] Speaker 2: And, uh, we're gonna have, next week we're gonna have a special on, um, msmequine.com. It's, uh, the Kentucky, um, food festival. Uh, see what the different people fix for the derby and how they fix it and what their traditions are. And we'll do the same at Pimlico for the Preakness and the same at Belmont, and same at the Breeder's Cup there. And, you know, uh, lessons. You know, so then- but it's fun. And it's a good way to spend your summer. It's a good way to spend your fall. You know, doing things like that. Make a lot of friends, get out to the track. Um, you know, uh, what I like about it is you can go out to the track in the morning, you know, and, and see the horses. And you can do that. It's really exciting. I'm excited. Of course, it don't take much to get me excited. (laughs) It's a- if I wake, (laughs) if I wake up in the morning I'm excited. I'm ready to go. I don't care what it- if it's raining, if it's hot, cold, or whatever.

[27:43] Speaker 2: You know, just as long as I can get up and get going, you know, to see my horses. But, uh, there's a lot of things you can do free with the horses. Um, if you Google, you know, equine or horses in your area, it will tell you any and everything that you can do in your area with a horse. It might be sales, it might be horse shows. Um, you know, it might be a horse sale. It might be trail rides. Uh, that's what I like about the internet. You can Google horses in your area code and it'll tell you where you're at and what you can see and where you can go. And I tell you, when you're here in Florida, come out and see me here at the farm. I'll take you over to the polo matches. I'll take you over to the polo matches. I think you'll really like that because there's a lot of, uh, thoroughbreds that have quit racing and, um, you know, they go play polo or they show them. We just had a million dollar, uh, horse show down here in Wellington, um, a couple of weeks ago.

[28:43] Speaker 2: And, uh, you know, you can go see that. And you come, come here to, uh, to Sunshine Meadows. We've got the show horses, we've got standard breeds which are the trotters. And then we've got trail rides, and then at Palm Beach Downs all the, you know, well there's like six horses that'll be running up on, on derby day at Churchill that trained with us here all winter long. We have, what, Todd Fletcher with us for all, all winter long. So stop by, call. We'll see the horses. This is Scott Miller from the International Equine Network. Next week, folks. Next week.

[29:20] Speaker 1: (upbeat music) Hey. Oh. Oh. Oh, from the stories told to the races won. Every journey ends where it all begun. Legends run but the track remains. Echoes of glory in the rains. Through the dust and the dreams. Through the fire and flame. Every finish line remembers your name. At the wire. Where the spirit never dies. At the wire. See the truth in every stride. We'll see you at the wire.