August 4, 2020
Travers Stakes/Ellis Park Derby preview
Guests
- Bob Baffert, trainer, Uncle Chuck (Travers), Gamine (Test)
- Jack Knowlton, Sackatoga Stable, owner Tiz the Law (Travers)
- Tom Drury, trainer, Art Collector (Ellis Park Derby)
Full transcript (note: transcript has not been edited)
P R E S E N T A T I O N
Operator:
Good day, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the N T R A Road to the Triple Crown conference call. Today’s conference is being recorded. At this time, all participants are currently in listen only mode. Following the presentation, we will conduct a question and answer session at which time instructions for asking questions will be provided. For operator assistance during the call, please press star zero. I would now like to turn the meeting over to Alicia Hughes, please go ahead.
Alicia Hughes:
Thank you, Ryan. And welcome everyone to this week’s NTRA road to the triple crown teleconference. This week will you will be previewing two races that offer qualifying points toward the, towards the Derby and the grade one travers state, which is the centerpiece of the historic heritogamy[?], as well as the Ellis Park Derby, which takes place at the track affectionately known as the pea patch this Sunday. Weighted to headline this year’s Travers will be Belmont stakes winner Tiz The Law who is also currently the number one ranked tourist on the NTRA top three, top three-year-old pole. And we will be joined later on by Jack Knowlton, the operating manager of owner Saratoga stable. We are also said to be joined later on by trainer Tom Drury[?], who will send out Bluegrass Stakes winner, Art Collector in the Ellis Park Derby.
First up though, we are once again, lucky to be joined by hall of fame trainer, Bob Baffert[?], who is coming off just a huge weekend, where he sent out Improbable to win the Whitney, Thousand Words to take the Shared Belief Stakes and Fighting Bad to win the, the Cohmad L Hirsch. Bob is set to send out Los Alamitos Derby winner, Uncle Chuck in this year’s Travers, as he seeks to capture the Midsummer Derby for the fourth time in his storied career. In addition to having Uncle Chuck in the Travers Bob is also said to have a super impressive acorn winner Gamine in the grade one, test stakes. Bob, thank you again for joining us today.
Bob Baffert:
Yeah, thanks for having me.
Alicia Hughes:
I said first and foremost, obviously we’ll start off with Uncle Chuck. He’s only had those two career starts, but he really dominated in both of his outings. And he was obviously flattered this past week of 1000 words. Who’ll be defeated out at Loss Isle[?], you know, came back and won the shared belief. What was it with Uncle Chuck that, that maybe kept him from getting an earlier start to, to his career and what is about him that is really most impressed you so far as he goes about just trying to figure this whole game out?
Bob Baffert:
No, what when we bought him, he was a big tall lanky horse. Didn’t look like your typical uncle Mo. And so, we, when we sent him to the farm, I just told Barry[?] Eisman who breaks most, most of my horses for me. And I just told take your time with him. Don’t get in a rush. I’m not going to run them as a two-year-old. He’s a big tall lanky horse. And there is good about that and just send him to me when he’s ready and that’s what he does. He went as soon as he says, okay, he’s ready to come. And he sends them to us. And so that’s where we took our time with him. And I knew he was going to be an early type. I mean, he probably could have been, but you know, he’s a big, tall framed horse. We just let him grow into himself. So, the same thing as what happened with Hurricane.
Alicia Hughes:
Yeah. And again, speaking of horses, so again, you took your time with Gamine and she just blew everybody away with a performance for the ages there in the acorn stakes, where she won by 18- and three-quarter lanes. She’s cutting back at seven furlongs this weekend. What was it that ultimately went into this vision to go to, to the test day, as opposed to maybe looking at a spot like the you know, the coaching club Americans or oats, or even the Alabama that’s coming up?
Bob Baffert:
Well, I was thinking the coaching club was coming up a little bit quick on her and I didn’t want to put her back on a plane right away and run her [inaudible] to Saratoga. So, you know, she’s run well that winter and I figured maybe the test and the test, you know, it’s a very important race and so we could run her there and then I’ve been stretched her out for the Kentucky owes, cause we’ve already sent her long if I hadn’t sent her long before. I probably would have maybe done that, but we ran her at Oaklawn, and she was going to turn there so we know she can handle that part. So, it’s such a weird year, you know, it’s sort of hard to, you know, we’ve tried to map things out, but after that race that she ran in New York, I mean, she was just unbelievable that day. And but she’s come back and trained well. And you know, when they run that hard and fast, you always worry like, well, I wonder if, you know, maybe I hope she didn’t you know, pop out or something, but she actually looks, she looks terrific. She looks better now going into this race. So, I just hope, you know, she should run really well. So, it’s just, you know, they, they still have to do that.
Alicia Hughes:
Sounds good. And I liked how you say that it’s been a weird year, that that’s a pretty kind of way of putting it with everything that we’ve been through. But with that Bob, like I said, I know we’ve got a lot of media onto on today. So, with that, I will throw it back to our operator and we can check in with the media to see if they have any questions for you.
Operator:
Thank you. If you’d like to ask a question, please signal by pressing star one on your telephone keypad. If you’re using a speaker phone, please make sure your mute function is turned off to allow your signal to reach our equipment. Again, for any questions, please press star one now. We will pause briefly for any questions. First question, and that is from Art Wilson with Southern California newspaper group. Please go ahead with your question.
Art Wilson:
Hey, Bob, you talked about it being a weird year. And any of the horses, any of these three year olds that they’re winning any of these triple crown races, some people might be apt to poo-pooed cause it’s been such a weird year, but can you make the argument that if a horse happened to win the triple crown this year, that it might be even a more impressive feat?
Bob Baffert:
I, you know what, it’s hard to say until we get all these races run. I mean, it’s just I don’t even think about that right now. We, I just, we just go week by week because this world changes every day. So right now, we’re just concentrating on what is happening now this week. I really don’t give a lot of thought.
Art Wilson:
With your with your other triple crown winners, has this been with all your three-year-olds? Has this been the most challenging year of your career?
Bob Baffert:
But I think that it’s been frustrating because we are, we had of those horses get, they got injured and that really was more frustrating than challenging. And so now we have a different group here where a horse like Uncle Chuck, he was, you know, he would never run in the Derby, now he’s got a chance, you know, if he runs well, he’s got to run well in the Travers. So, we’re, you know, he’s taken a big step up there and see if he can run with a horse, like Tiz The Law and those other horses in there, see how he fits in and see how he handles his shipping. You know, the shipping. That that’s one thing that’s very important about the shipping art is that you don’t know how they’re going to handle the shipping, you know, Thousand Words it’s shipped from old pond that sort of disastrous probably wasn’t doing as well as he as now. But, you know, you learned from that Authentic, he handled his ship to, so I don’t have to worry about him, but you know, we’re, we’re trying to, you know, that’s what the preps are all about. Not only are you trying to get the points and whatever, but you’re trying to figure out your horse. What’s what, what is he like, what he doesn’t like. And so that’s the challenging part of it.
Art Wilson:
Right. And my last question real quick, you mentioned to me like six weeks ago that if you were going to run a filly in the Derby, that Gamine has the kind of ingredients of a filly that you would want to look for, if you had had more time with her, could you have envisioned running her in the Derby?
Bob Baffert:
Yeah, I might’ve thought about it, Art, you know, but she’s, we know she’s so talented and the temptation is always there, but I think after the test we’ll know more about her, see how she handles that, but I don’t want to get ahead of myself. I like this one race at the time, so it’s one of those things where she probably could fit it. But I just don’t, I really didn’t give it a lot of thought yet.
Art Wilson:
Right. Good luck Saturday, Bob.
Bob Baffert:
Thank you.
Operator:
Thank you. And we’ll move on to our next question. And that is from Byron King with blood horse. Please go ahead with your question.
Byron King:
Hi, Bob. I wanted to follow up with you. I was listening in and on the, the Churchill virtual town hall they had yesterday. And it got me thinking about Kentucky Derby riders. And I wanted to follow up with your Derby prospects and where things stand with your riders. Obviously, Uncle Chuck still has to run Saturday and the Travers, but I was curious about Authentic, for example, if you’ve gotten you know, what Mike Smith might do. I know he rode him last time, but he also rides Honor AP and then also Thousand Words, if you could just update us on there, you know, the jockey situation. And for that matter, if you think Churchill sticks to this deadline of August 24th, if that may change the picture for riders and the Kentucky Derby?
Bob Baffert:
It was pretty interesting. I think it caught a lot of people off guard yesterday. I’m glad I was on that call because it’s, you know, the thing is about it is that we’re all under a lot of pressure. And I mean the word protocol just, we must use it 50 times a day, but I think we’re all pretty educated and how to stay safe and what we need to do the right things. And I just thought bringing those jockeys in 10 days before would be more, it it’s like playing with fire. I think I’d rather have just come in here at the last minute. Don’t give them a chance to even get exposed to something. And I, I hate that, you know, night before day before and your jockey, all of a sudden, he got exposed somehow. And then you don’t have a rider, you know, I don’t know what the economy’s going to look like, you know, you don’t know who’s going to show up. I think California, there’s only a couple of riders here who will probably ride The Derby and mainly it would probably affect like the New York riders more so than anything it seems to me that rule would affect them. So, I don’t know. I really haven’t, we haven’t really, nothing’s really firmed up my rider situation. Nothing has been firmed up yet on any of them.
Byron King:
And then secondly, I wanted to, this is slightly changing the topic, but I wanted to follow up with you on your [inaudible]. You had a debut winner of Freedom Fighter on the first and I see that Spielberg entered this weekend. If you can tell us a little bit about Spielberg. And then for that matter, your other two-year olds this early in the game?
Bob Baffert:
Spielberg, he’s a beautifully bred horse. He was pretty pricey, but you know, everything he’s done. I like, I think he’s one of those horses that when we saw him, we just all had to have him. And that’s why he was so expensive, but, you know, he’s, he looks like a horse. He hasn’t yet speed, but yet it looks like, you know, distance, you know, the further it’s going to be better for him. And he’s trained really well. So, he’s, he’s in on Saturday. So, I’m excited about him and, you know, maybe it all goes well, you know, he’d be a, run him[?] in the Demark[?] fraternity and the hopefully get him the Breeders Cup.
Byron King:
Very good. Thank you, Bob.
Operator:
Thank you. And we’ll move on to our next question. And that is from David Grening with daily racing form. Please go ahead with your question.
David Grening:
Hey, Bob the bottom side of Uncle Chuck’s pedigree really indicates one turn of sprints. What is it about him that has you confident to go two turns to start? [inaudible]
Bob Baffert:
You’re breaking up there. Pretty good.
David Grening:
Either the pedigree suggests yeah, the pedigree suggests the one, you know, that the it’s more of a sprint oriented pedigree on the bottom side, but what is it about him that has, you know, confident to have gotten two turns from the start? And what do you feel about, about a quarter?
Bob Baffert:
You know, that’s one of the reasons I bought him David is because when I saw him, I see his uncle Mo and he’s, it’s all speed. The mare was a really fast mare, but if you look at him, he just doesn’t look at you. You know, it’s just like Aggregate when you, you know, he was my Unbridled Song and he didn’t, he looked totally different also, you know, so he’s got this body of a two turn horse and I really didn’t want to sprint him. Because I was afraid, he’d be a little bit, I didn’t want him to get the rank. You know, he, he, he would have one going short, but that I thought going two turns, I think I was going to, he was showing me more and more. He’s got this long, huge drive and he’s quick. And I thought if I ran in two turns that would give them the catch up, he can handle that.
Then he can handle a next big jump. If it’s going to make it to the Derby. It was almost like Justify the sort of the same thing; you know? I would, you know, here I ran them seven days first out and that helped them, you know, then they ran the mile and then I knew, okay, we’ve sort of got, we’ve gotten caught up and you can only do that with a horse that you feel that has a talent, the raw talent that he has. He’s shown me. So that’s why his second start I wasn’t worried about running in the low sell Derby and now he’s running mile and a quarter. And I really think with his stride he looks, you know, he just a big, tall lanky, beautiful horse that, you know, covers a lot of ground. And he has desire uncle Mo’s brilliance, you know, where he got from Indian Charlotte had that brilliance, you know? And so that’s what, you know, that’s true this time of year. I mean, if I’m, if I have a horse, you know, for the Travers, I really liked that. Or I think it’s going to be a good spot for them. And I didn’t want to run in here going to Mount on the 16th.
David Grening:
You mentioned the Aggregate earlier, are there any, besides the lightly raced aspect of it is there anything about this horse that remind you of Aggregate either from a personality standpoint or pride or anything like that?
Bob Baffert:
The ground that he covers the, when he moves, he does long jumping covers a lot of ground the smooth handles it well, doesn’t get tired, you know, so, you know, and so yeah, this time of year, you’re hoping that, well, maybe, you know, I lost, you know, when, when I, when I lost the doll and then charlatan, that was just, those are two major blows for it. So, so and the Thousand Words now he started to come back around and says, I’m quite, wasn’t ready for this yet. He’s a heavy horse. He struggled the other day, got really tired. And but Uncle Chuck you know, I’m just hoping that so far, he’s done everything right. He’s still green. You know, he still looks around a lot and I was tempted to put a little blinker on him, but I didn’t want him to lose[?] speed[?]. He might get a little bit rank and I don’t want him to do that. He’s learning. But his last work was probably his most professional work. I mean, he had to work like that for me to put him on the plane and I liked the way he worked, but I, I actually saw Tiz The Law worked that day looked just as impressive. So, it shouldn’t take good range.
David Grening:
Yeah. I was going to ask you about sort of the, the greenest, because it looked like the gate, you know, you kind of broke slow the first time and then the time he was there, then he switched to [inaudible] these things that come with more the maturity from that aspect. And it comes with more racing and more time.
Bob Baffert:
Yeah. I mean, his first race he was standing perfect and he stepped back right when they opened, but then he got him. He he’s quick, he’s really quick on his day[?]. And the second time he broke decent and a size. He could have gone to the lead with him, but I told him, you know what, I think that’s, don’t do that. Why don’t we just keep him, maybe he’ll sit, let’s teach them how to sit let’s this is a good day to school him because I think he’s a really good horse and just sit on and get to know him. And he switches leads because he, a lot of it is he says, when he felt the whip, he switched leads to the left and we saw the whip. So, he’s still, but now he’s going to be running against some serious horses. So, you know, I think his mind will be more on business.
Operator:
Thank you. And we’ll, we’ll take our next question. And that is from Mark Wicker with Orange County register. Please go ahead with your question.
Mark Wicker:
Hi, Bob, you know when you had Tiz The Law and Uncle Chuck, you have the East West thing going and I was wondering from a horseman standpoint is how significant is the East West rivalry in horse racing? And what are the differences between them? Particularly as far as you’re concerned?
Bob Baffert:
I think it’s, I don’t know if it’s a rivalry thing, but I think it’s like, you know, it’s the, you know, the, when you, when we come from here to there, it’s, you know, we’re sort of at a disadvantage because we’re shifting to them. They’re the home team. They don’t have the baby just come out of their stall and run. It can make it a little bit where it can be at a disadvantage. But when you have a race like the Travers or those big races, I, you know, I’ve been successful shipping from California to there and winning.
So, I don’t worry about stuff like that, but I don’t think it’s an East West, I don’t think we really look at it that way. Because at the end of the day they were all born in Kentucky, you know? And so, I don’t think about that.
Mark Wicker:
Yeah. What do you think the, what’s the difference between going from California to there and then as opposed to them coming out here in terms of advantage or disadvantage?
Bob Baffert:
You know, I think it used to be, they always thought it was a temporary ship from East to West, but I’ve never had a, but now they’re winning more by, you know, our horses. We were, they run differently here. I think we run a little bit quicker here in California. I think their speed is more, you know, they’re from gate to wire. It’s a little bit faster here.
I think that’s a difference. It’s like in basketball, fast break, whatever. And so, horses aren’t used to it maybe, but we’re when you go to a track like Saratoga or Belmont, you have those big wide swooping turns. We’re here, it’s tighter, you know, there’s certain horses run much better. Del Mar. Some horses are just unbeatable here at Del Mar. And so, it’s because of the way the track is. But I really think that Uncle Chuck just like Aggregate don’t like those bigger turns of big, long was bigger horses. They liked; they liked those bigger, long sweeping turns. They could really get them moving on.
Mark Wicker:
Thanks. Appreciate it.
Operator:
Thank you. We’ll move onto our next question. And that is from Tim Sullivan with Louisville courier journal. Please go ahead with your question.
Tim Sullivan:
Hey Bob. I don’t know if you saw it, but the Indianapolis 500 has reversed itself and will not allow spectators this year. I’m wondering what your outlook is on along those lines to the Derby. Do you think it will be run with the, with the crowd or is that improbable?
Bob Baffert:
I don’t know. You’d have to ask Churchill downs that question. All I know is that I know as much I know what I read and the only thing I know about Churchill downs is that they they’re going to run. They’re going to so you, you would probably know more than I would.
Tim Sullivan:
You have a sense one way or the other, would you know where things are headed?
Bob Baffert:
I haven’t. I haven’t heard anything. All I know is that they’re going to run, and they told us their protocols and, and we’ll follow them and see what happens.
Operator:
Okay. Thank you. Thank you for that. We’ll move onto our next question in this from Ed McNamara, who is a freelancer, please go ahead with your question,
Ed McNamara:
Bob, how do you see the pace of the Travers shaping up? Would you rather see Uncle Chuck on the lead or stalking? Because Tiz The Law will be almost certainly coming from behind you?
Bob Baffert:
Oh, I don’t know. You know what I, I think the break is so important. I mean, until they break look at the other day in the Whitney, you know, it was like, you know, things can happen. And so, I, I think the break is so important. I think the post positions are important. I think once they draw the post, you can sort of figure out I really haven’t looked. The only horse. I know is Tiz The Law. And some of those other horses I’m not real familiar with. And so, but I just worry about, you know, my horse getting there make sure that everything goes well. He shifts well, eats well, he feels well. And when the gate comes open, you know, I’ll have sort of a game plan, but I usually leave it up to the jockey. You know, I’ll talk to Louis[?] sides[?] a little bit. He’s, you know, they’ll have an idea of what to do. You know, he’s a young horse and also, plus I can’t give you my, my game plan over the phone here mean, you know, I mean, you know,
Ed McNamara:
Then asking for secret information, I just wanted to know another question. A few months ago, it looked like you had one of the strongest hands in the history of the Derby, then stuff started happening. How confident were you that you could get back into the triple crown with a real chance with good horses?
Bob Baffert:
Well, I mean it’s just things happen, you know, like they’re athletes and they, unfortunately either they get, they get injured and me, we have to just move on. And fortunately, I still have a few left. We’re getting ready. I had the strong group and it was, you know, in the doll, you know, the Dollar Charlatan that was just massive, massive hits right there, you know, but for the Derby, but I think Thousand Words and Authentic, I mean, Authentic, for some reason, he’s a lot of people didn’t realize that he sort of threw the brakes on himself because he just lost interest there. He, you know, he’s a very good horse and I still think he’s one of the top horses and then we’ve got, Uncle Chuck, we just don’t, you know, we’re going to find out how he fits with those horses. We don’t know, you know, maybe, you know, he’s until they turned for home and I just hope he, when he turns her home, it’s he’s right there and he gets to strut his stuff, but you know, we know he’s a good horse. We know he’s been working well. I feel, I feel good about him. I feel that he’ll, he should run well, but he’s got to get away from the gate. He needs a clean break and there’s a lot of luck involved.
Ed McNamara:
Okay. Thank you very much, Bob.
Operator:
Thank you. We’ll move on to our next question. And that is from John Clay with Lexington Herald leader. Please go ahead with your question.
John Clay:
Hi Bob. I was just wondering how much have you seen of Tiz The Law and what are your impressions of him?
Bob Baffert:
No, I’ve been very impressed with him. I think they managed them really well. They picked the right spots with him, they had one hiccup when they went to Churchill downs and that would, you know, he was in a tough spot the whole way around there. And since then, I mean, they’ve kept them out of trouble and that’s the thing, you know, keep these the rider, you know, keep these good horses out of trouble, but I think he’s progressed perfectly. And he’s definitely the, you know, the, the best three-year-old in the country right now and we just want to, we’ll get an idea, you know, I’ll get an idea if I can run with him or not, you know, so it’s going to be going to be exciting at the same time. I’m hoping we’re as good as he is. And so that’s why we’re going over there.
John Clay:
Thanks, Bob.
Operator:
Thank you. We’ll move on to our next question. And that is from Jason Franks with the courier journal. Please go ahead with your question.
Jason Franks:
Hey, Bob, thanks for joining us. I was wondering if you might, could explain you, you mentioned looking at Uncle Chuck and kind of looking at your hand and knowing you, you didn’t want to run him as a two-year-old. I was wondering if you’d sort of explain that philosophy of, of what you look for and, and knowing that a young horse is ready to run versus waiting on a horse like that, is it, is it simply a matter of, of a bigger horse just needing more time to grow into himself? Or is there something else to that?
Bob Baffert:
Yeah, I think he was kind of horsetail and he was he was tall, and I just wanted to take my time with him. I said, I’m not in a rush with him. And so, it’d be like, you know, I didn’t want to, you know, play a freshmen into this with the varsity, just let him, let him grow into himself. And he’s still growing into himself. He’s just starting to; I can see maturity just these last 30 days. I’ve seen a big difference in him, but we knew a few months ago he was a pretty serious horse. And so, you know, I knew I was going to miss the Derby with him and all that. And but luckily that, you know, he didn’t have the Derby, so I supplemented him into the, the Derby. And so, and so this is going to be, you know, if I know the Derby is coming up a little bit quicker, you know, the timing’s not perfect for the Derby, you know, running this week.
I would like to have a little bit more time, but we don’t. So I think Saturday, we’re we’ll know, after the race, we’ll say, you know, okay, maybe he is a Derby or do we wait for the Preakness[?]You know, so we’ll, but I just thought that, you know, I think the Travers is so important. It’s such an important race, prestigious race, and it is the, you know, it’s the summer Derby and it’s, it’s you know, if you can win that race, it’s just, it’s huge. It’s, it’s huge. Just like winning the Whitney is huge, you know? And so, and there’s certain races, you know, the Haskell I just leave my, my clients and I trained for these clients and they, they want to be in these big races, and they want to win these, these big races and be competitive. And I feel we’re going to be very competitive and, and, and hopefully, you know, maybe we’ll just get lucky and, you know, or maybe things won’t go well, but, you know, you don’t know, but the, you know, the horse couldn’t be doing any better. He shipped; he was on his way. I won’t know until later on how he shipped, you know so hopefully you know, they’re going to beat the hurricane in there, the wind and the rain and all that,
Jason Franks:
Real quick, there’s any update on Authentic since the Haskell?
Bob Baffert:
Great. He came back here, and he looks great. It was a very easy race on him, which, which is good, you know, he didn’t have to run really get it out. And so, he’s doing very well, so there’s, he won’t run until the Derby. And so, we’re, he’s here at Del Mar just enjoying himself. And but he looks fantastic. He knows that he wants to, because he’s actually, he’s exactly the part around here.
Jason Franks:
Thank you, Bob. Appreciate it.
Bob Baffert:
Sure.
Operator:
Thank you. And there are no more questions for Bob at this time,
Alicia Hughes:
Bob, as always, you are truly generous with your time. Like I said, we appreciate that as always continued best of luck with everything the best. Let’s try to get Travers though, before this weekend. And thank you as always for, for coming on with us today.
Bob Baffert:
Anytime.
Alicia Hughes:
Thanks again, Bob, your best. Right.
Bob Baffert:
Alrighty.
Alicia Hughes:
And next up, we are going to go to Jack Knowlton of Saratoga stable, which has the expected favorite in multiple grade one winner, Tiz The Law. Trained by Barkley Tag, Tiz The Law completed his final major workout in preparation for the Travers on August 1st, where he went five furlongs in 59 and four, and Tiz The Law has only been beaten once in his six career starts. Jack, thank you for coming on the call today.
Jack Knowlton:
Glad to be here.
Alicia Hughes:
I say again, you, you’re another one you’ve been extremely kind with all of your time with all of us this year. So, we thank you for that. Bob Baffert was just on and he mentioned this and I, and I read where he said this the other day, where he watched Tiz The Law’s workout the, on this past weekend. And he watched it trying to find something there you know, trying to find a weakness or some or something they’re not but he couldn’t do it. As good as Tiz The Law is, do you and do Barkley, do you still think that there is another level of his game there to still be unearthed?
Jack Knowlton:
Well, we really do. I mean, if you look at his three races this year, he’s won each of those convincingly by, you know, three and a quarter three and a half, four, and a quarter length and Manny, Manny Franco and Jackie. Hasn’t really had to get after him to, you know, get him to win those races. So I think two things, that’s one that you know, Manny hasn’t really had to dig deep with him, but secondly every indication that we have from him from his breeding, from his works from his races is that he’ll relish a mile and a quarter. And we’re hoping that you know, we’ll find that out on Travers day on Saturday and that that we’re right about that.
Alicia Hughes:
And I know obviously you would Saratoga, that’s a special place for you. I can only imagine what the emotions must be thinking of potentially getting a Travers win through this week of what it would mean for yourself.
Jack Knowlton:
It would be great. We’d be very happy if we could do that. And you know, it’s special to me because it’s Saratoga and a lot of the Saratoga stable people some of them from around here, but most of them always make at least one summer trip into Saratoga. So, we’re hopeful that you know, we can check this box. We’ve won, you know, the other, you know, two of the other biggest races in, in New York you know, when you win a two-year-old champagne and he just won the Belmont stakes. So, if we could get you know, this win, that would mean an awful lot, I think, you know, and in his history and also in a, in history for the New York bred program,
Alicia Hughes:
Absolutely sounds good like that. And with that, Jack, we are going to throw it back to our operator who will check in to see if the media has any questions for you today.
Operator:
Thank you. Again, for any questions, please press star one now. In the interest of time, please, please limit yourself to one question. Again, that is star one for any questions, and we will take our first question for Frank and that is from Jason Franks with the courier journal. Please go ahead with your question.
Jason Franks:
Yeah, thanks for joining us. I’m just curious, did you have any inhibitions at all about running a mile and a quarter race four weeks before another mile and a quarter race in the Kentucky Derby?
Jack Knowlton:
Not at all. We think he is well suited for that. He’s obviously, you know, well rested the schedule you know, with the pandemic this year has been one where there’ve been many weeks between races actually probably more weeks, certainly into the Belmont. So, we feel we have a fresh horse. He’s only run three times and we’re, we’re ready to ready to go. If you look at his work that he’s had since he got the Saratoga, certainly it looks like a horse that’s ready to run.
Jason Franks:
Thank you.
Operator:
We’ll take our next question. And that is from Art Wilson with Southern California newspaper group. Please go ahead with your question.
Art Wilson:
Yeah, Jack with all this going on this year and, you know, obviously, and not just in the world, but in horse racing very wacky kind of a year. And some people might want to either dismiss or poopoo, anything that is done in the triple crown races this year, but in your way of thinking, if a horse were fortunate enough to win the triple crown this year, can you make the argument that it would be even a more impressive feat considering all that’s happened this year?
Jack Knowlton:
Well, I think that there certainly is an argument that can be made for that. First, I guess the naysayers will say, well, you know, you didn’t have the mile and a half test of champions, but I will go back to anybody. And if they watch the Belmont, if they will say, or think that cause a lot of when the one that race, it was a mile and a half, I would have a big argument with them. So that’s number one. But number two, I think that, you know, what Barclay Tag has been able to do to keep this horse at the top of its game, you know, for all these many weeks and months, that is really a true test of horsemanship. I went through the triple crown is you knew, with Funny Side when it was five weeks in 2003 and you get a horse that’s really good. And Funny Side was really good during that time. Unfortunately for us, we had all that rain, but I think that keeping a horse for months upon end, it’s going to be about six months doing that. I think certainly there’s a case to be made that that’s a more difficult feat.
Art Wilson:
Okay. Thank you. Good luck Jack.
Jack Knowlton:
Thank you.
Operator:
Thank you. Again, for any questions for Jack, that is star one, now. We’ll move on to our next question. And that is from Tim Sullivan with the Louisville courier journal. Please go ahead with your question.
Tim Sullivan:
Hi Jack. I don’t know if he’s thought, but the Indianapolis 500 decided not to allow spectators today. Wondering if you have any thoughts about whether the Derby is likely to follow suit and how that may or may not affect your plans and your bus reservations?
Jack Knowlton:
Well, I would certainly hope that it doesn’t come to that. I think as everybody’s aware, at least you know, Niara at Saratoga has allowed some owners at this point the number of owners is 12. So, you know, unless something changes in the next few days, 12 of Tiz The Law’s owners will be able to see the race. Clearly, if owners weren’t allowed that would be a big blow because, you know, we have 35 partners and the idea of having an opportunity to run in the Kentucky Derby, which I think is every horse owners dream, if that were to be swept away that would be a bitter pill, certainly for all of us to swallow. I’ve been through that twice already this year with the Florida Derby and with a Belmont stakes. So, it’s not a lot of fun. You know, even if we can gather some of our group together to have a watch party like we did for the Belmont, I’ve been to the Derby every year, since 2003, and there’s no other experience like it anywhere. So, I’m hoping for sure that you know, at least there can be a way found to let owners go and hopefully a lot more than that.
Tim Sullivan:
Thank you.
Operator:
Thank you. And there are no more questions for Jack at this time.
Alicia Hughes:
Just before we let you go, I just wanted to ask you we all, obviously we know how a great horseman Barkley is we know how great Robin is to the success of the whole operation. Wanted to ask you about, about what Heather[?] [inaudible] who gets on Tiz The Law for his workouts. How key has she been, you know, in, in his, you know, in his progression and getting him to kind of tone that fine line in the mornings between being aggressive, without going over the top of his preparation
Jack Knowlton:
Helen has been tremendous. Back in Palm Meadows where he trained you know, over the early spring Heather would come up from Gulf stream and she would breeze him Manny flew down a couple of times and breezed him. But you know, other times it was Heather. So, she’s, you know, very, very familiar with him. You know, they get together and very, very well. She understands him and she says, you know, he’s just such a delight to ride. I mean, she really doesn’t have to force him to do anything. She says, he’s a smart horse. He figures out what he’s supposed to do and just goes out and does his job
Alicia Hughes:
Sounds good. Like I said, Jack, again, you have always been so kind with coming on these calls and sharing your time and your thoughts on Tiz The Law. In a year that has been anything but normal it’s been a, it’s been nice to see, you know, this horse, you know, stay, stay so, so great with his progression and watch him really get better and better every time out. So again, thank you again for coming on, you know, continued best of luck with everything. Hopefully, we get to keep having these conversations all the way through November.
Jack Knowlton:
Yep. No, we’re hoping that as well. And thank you for having me.
Alicia Hughes:
Thanks again, Jack pleasure as always.
Jack Knowlton:
Alrighty, bye. Now.
Alicia Hughes:
And last but not least, we are going to check in with trainer Tom Drury, who has one of the leading Derby hopefuls in Art Collector. Art Collector announced himself when he captured the bluegrass stakes by three and a half lengths. And in the process, he provided Tom with his first career graded stakes win. The duel figures to be the heavy, the heavy favorites when they head to Ellis Park this weekend for the Ellis Park Derby, which does offer 50 qualifying points to the winner towards the run for the roses. Tom, thank you so much for joining us today.
Tom Drury:
Thank you, guys, for having me.
Alicia Hughes:
Thank you again for coming on. I guess whirlwind would be one way of putting it to describe the journey that that you guys have been on the last few months. I know with Art Collector, he came to your bar and was, I think about two months before the bluegrass stakes, you’ve gone three for three with him.
What if any knowledge that you have about him, but, you know, before he arrived in your barn and how do you even put into words what life has been like for you and for your whole team since his, when that day at Keeneland?
Tom Drury:
You know, when he, when he first came in Bruce had called, he just, just said that, you know, he was going to be shuffling some horses around and asked if he could kind of use my place as a holding area until he figured out exactly what he was going to do. And, you know, Art Collector was one of those horses. And I, you know, we very spoke very highly of the horse and, and said, you know, he had been a really nice two-year-old.
He looked like he had a lot of upside. And, and, and I really, to be totally honest, I didn’t know a whole lot about him at first. And you know, I did get a chance to go back. I watched his races then, you know, as he progressed in his training, you know, you just couldn’t help but to like what you see, I, you know, if I told you I was thinking Kentucky Derby, when I first got him, I’d be lying to you. But I, I, we certainly thought he was going to be a nice colt that, you know, a next level kind of colt we were thinking stakes, stakes quality and then it’s like, once we got him back to the races and we got that first start under our belt, it’s like, you know, the light switch came on and, and he just really started going the right way. And you know, we, we were a little late getting to the party, so we’ve really needed every little thing to kind of fall into place for us and those of you that follow horse racing closely know that, you know, more often than not, that doesn’t happen. So, to be where we’re at today and to have won the bluegrass. And gosh, it’s just, I, I’m still trying to find the words to describe it. It’s just it’s, it’s unbelievable.
Alicia Hughes:
As I said, I can only imagine what this is. Yeah. This has all been like it, everything in, you know, he’s, he’s also a horse that looks like he’s had, you know, he’s a very versatile horse. I think he came from mid pack when he won in May at Churchill, he did wire the field next time out in June, then he sits a stalking trip in the bluegrass stakes. Is there a running style that you think is preferred for him, or is he just kind of that nice type where you can, where he can just sort of adapt regardless of what the circumstances?
Tom Drury:
Yeah, I think he’s, I think he’s going to, it’s going to adapt to, you know, you kind of see what the other horses around you’re doing, and then you can kind of make up your mind as to what kind of trip you want to give him if you know, if a couple of three of them things bounce away from there and, you know, the, the pace is a little hotter than you. Like, Brian’s able to kind of ease back off of him. And if there’s, you know, as the, like the race of Churchill, where there was zero pace you know, he just kind of made the lead and threw his ears up and galloped around there until it was time to go.
So, I, I don’t, that’s, that’s one thing I just don’t worry about with this horse. And, and I’ve got to give Brian Hernandez a lot of credit, you know, he, he gets along well with the horse. There’s never not that I can think of. There’s never been any instruction in the paddock. It’s always been just, you know, give him the best trip possible. And I think that’s where, you know, Brian has faced that you know, the, this can handle whatever’s thrown at him. You know, he’s kind of ridden him three entirely different ways all three times.
Alicia Hughes:
Sounds good, Tom. With that, we’re going to throw it back to our operator and they will check in to see if the media has any questions for you.
Operator:
Thank you. Again, for any questions, please press star one now. In the interest of time, please limit yourself to one question again, that is star one for any questions, and we will take our first question. And that is from Art Wilson with Southern California newspaper group. Please go ahead with your question.
Art Wilson:
Yeah, Tom, I asked this question of the first two guests and considering the crazy year it’s been and a lot of people might want to downplay anything that’s done this year in the triple crown races, but anything’s done this year, or if a horse was fortunate enough to win the triple crown, do you think that you can make the argument that what happens this year would even more impressive considering all the roadblocks that have been put up?
Tom Drury:
I don’t think there’s any question it’s more impressive. You know, if, if his goal was to win all three races you know, I’ve said it a bunch of times, I think Barkley’s done I mean, that’s an eclipse award training job that he’s done with this horse. He’s, you know, he’s, he’s, that’s a tough campaign, you know, these things starting to follow their two year old year and, you know, you’re kind of stop and go and you know, you don’t really get a chance to get your horse into a routine. And I think, you know, I think Barkley’s done a fantastic job keeping his horse around as you well know a lot of these, you know, a lot of these horses haven’t, you know, they haven’t held up to it. And, and that’s not to say anything negative about them. It’s just that, that’s just an example of what a tough campaign it is to keep a horse on top of their game for that long.
Art Wilson:
Right. Okay. Thanks. Good luck with your colt.
Tom Drury:
Yes, sir. Thank you.
Operator:
Thank you. And we will move onto our next question. And that is from Jay Privman with daily racing forum. Please go ahead with your question.
Jay Privman:
Tom. This horse has made his last start at two, for his previous trainer at the end of November, and his first start for you in mid-May. I was just wondering when, during that timeframe he came into you?
Tom Drury:
It came to me it would’ve been, it would’ve been the middle of the latter part of January that he came to me.
Jay Privman:
And was at that point, had he pretty much been, been stopped on. And did you need to like start breathing them a new again, or was he had he been in decent training?
Tom Drury:
Yes, sir. He had been stopped on and you know, Bruce, it’s, it’s certainly not uncommon for Bruce to do that with his two-year olds and give them a little downtime over the winter. And he had been stopped on and, and, and sent to a farm just for a little RNR. And he came to me, it would have been the latter part of January. He came to me and us, you know, we just kind of started him over again and just, you know, he’s a very straightforward kind and easy horse to be around and work with. There really wasn’t a lot to do other than just getting ready to run and, and that’s, you know, he just kind of fell right into the routine.
Jay Privman:
And then one more, if you’d indulge me just you know, the, the change in dates of the Derby was announced towards the end of March. I know you said earlier to another question that you know, when you first had the horse, you really didn’t, you know, you’d be lying to say to you given when you first had him some thoughts of the Derby, at what point, either prior to his first race for you or after his two allowance wins, or even the bluegrass, at what point did you go, okay, I’ve got a Derby horse here?
Tom Drury:
You know, I’d be lying to you if I told you it was after the first one, because I, I, you know, that was seven, eight that day. He had kind of proven that, you know, he could be a come from behind sprinter, but the jury was still out on him getting that second turn. You know, they tried it, they tried it at two. It didn’t really go that well. And you know, I was kind of new to the horse and trying to get to know him myself. And I just, you know, at the time there was some uncertainty as to, as to how far he really wanted to go. You know, after he won the second race at Churchill you know, the way he came home that day and, and just, you know, had his ears thrown up, galloping out it, at that point, we knew he was pretty special. Even then though, you know, we knew that to get to the Derby, every little thing was going to have to go just right for him and as you well know in horse racing more often than not, that doesn’t happen. So I guess, you know, we’ve all been a little cautious about using the D word, to be honest with you, but I think his race in the bluegrass certainly you know, certainly made a good case for him to be one of the top picks in the Derby.
Jay Privman:
Thank you very much. Good luck Saturday.
Tom Drury:
Yes, sir. Thank you.
Operator:
Thank you. We’ll move onto our next question or comment, and then it’s from Jimmy Reeves with Ellis Park. Please go ahead with your question.
Jimmy Reeves:
Hey Tommy, could you just talk about the balancing act. You’ve said you don’t have to win this race. You’re in the Derby, on points already that the bouncing out fine line between having him prepared and good enough to win, but also not to maybe take more out of him than you when you’re looking ahead to September 5th.
Tom Drury:
Yeah. Yeah. I’m going to kind of, a lot of that have kind of be left up to Brian. I, you know, I say that more so you know, I think, I think Tom’s De Tal and over the weekend was a perfect example of, of things that can go wrong in horse racing. And it’s something, you know, if something like that were to happen, I’d certainly wouldn’t want to see my jock come whipping and driving to be third.
We’ve got the points we’d like to just get the, you know, we’d like to get the race under our belt more than anything, you know, if he wins it, that’s fantastic. But if it’s somewhere along the, the race, something doesn’t go our way or we’re not getting the trip, then, you know, I, I certainly wouldn’t want to try to get to the bottom of him in this one.
Jimmy Reeves:
You’re looking at this sort of almost as part of his training. I mean, a conditioning?
Tom Drury:
Exactly, exactly. I felt like, yeah, you know, I felt like he needed the bluegrass. You know, that’s the first time this year that he’s had, had had to really eyeball one any at all. And I felt like he needed that race. And, you know, I feel like you know, one more I think it’s going to; I think it’s going to probably be to his best interest.
And again, you know, it’s not a, it’s not a have to win, but it’s definitely a race that, you know, I think, I think it’s going to help him to move forward to, you know, you talk about, you know, the next one, the water’s going to get, it’s going to get really deep. I mean, you’ve got the big guns coming in for that one. And you’ve got these, you know, you got to go a mile and a quarter, there’s a lot of new things that’s going to be happening. And we just want to try to have our horse 110% for that one.
Jimmy Reeves:
And final question, I’m pressing it here, but can you start out the horses that we know that are talking about going in to the Ellis Park Derby you know, you’ll be facing shared fence again, for instance, looks like just, just a general comment on the field.
Tom Drury:
You know, I think it’s, I think a lot of people are, you know, they’re, they’re taking their final shot here and trying to figure out where they want to go with their horse. You know, I don’t expect it to be a walk over by any means. I don’t, I don’t think it’s going to be an easy race. You know, a lot of these horses are, I mean, that, that horse of our ads were in Vegas, Indiana Derby. I know we did beat him at Churchill, but he came back and ran a big race in Indiana Derby. So, you know, I certainly think, you know, we’re going to have to, if we do win this thing, we’re going to have to work darn it. So, I can’t really, you can’t really think about that. You just got to kind of focus on your own horse and do the best you can with your own horse. And you know, hopefully, you know, hopefully we’ll get the trip and, and, and a fair chance to, to go win this thing.
Jimmy Reeves:
Okay. Thank you.
Operator:
Thank you. As a reminder for any questions for Tom, that is star one now. We’ll move on to our next question. And that is from Jason Franks with the courier journal. Please go ahead with your question.
Jason Franks:
Hi, Tom. Thanks for joining us. I’m just curious as, as someone who has been in the business for nearly 30 years now had you resigned yourself to maybe not ever getting this opportunity in this sort of on this sort of level, or is it something you, you still thought about on a yearly basis that, you know, maybe one day I’ll have a chance like this, maybe sort of the progression of those, those thoughts along your career?
Tom Drury:
You know, I it’s, it’s funny when you’re, when you’re 28, you’re, you know, you’re thinking about winning Kentucky Derbys and Breeder’s cups every day, your wife you know, when you’re 48, I think your, your expectations are a little more realistic as to what your situation is. And with the, you know, with the biggest majority of my work being at the training center no, I, I guess there’s a big part of me. I, I didn’t necessarily expect to be in this situation. I felt like one was going to have to fall through the cracks or something was going to have to happen, you know, for me to put myself in that situation. It’s not that I know I have the utmost faith and confidence that, that I can, I can train this kind of horse and that we can do as good a job as anybody else.
But you got to get that opportunity and if you look at the way that we’ve kept Art Collector and the way that we came about getting him you know, that’s exactly what it took to get us in this situation. So no, I don’t know that I ever expected it, but you know, this is all I’ve ever known. It’s all I’ve ever done my entire life. And, you know, I, I we’re, I think we’re having fun with it and just trying to remind myself to enjoy it more than anything just cause you know, it’s, it’s, it’s just a chance of a lifetime.
Jason Franks:
Has your life changed at all since winning the bluegrass?
Tom Drury:
Oh gosh, there’s been so many firsts. It yeah, it, it really has you know, just it’s been a lot of fun to read about the horse and, and, you know, the, the people that are following him and you know, the, the people reaching out offering congratulations and well, which, I mean, it’s, it’s just yeah, it’s been amazing. It’s been a lot of fun and you know, it’s not, and it’s not just me, you know, my, my entire staff. I mean, we’re all, you know, we all, we’ve all been doing this a long time and, and it’s, you know, it’s just, it’s just been a lot of fun for all of us.
Jason Franks:
Thank you. Good luck Sunday.
Tom Drury:
Yes, sir. Thank you.
Operator:
Thank you. At this time, there are no further questions.
Alicia Hughes:
Well, Tom, like I said, yeah, I know you said that, you know, you may not have expected this moment, but like I said, you are certainly in an enviable spot right now. You’ve got a good colt who’s on the upside. Who’s improving, looks like you’ve got peaking at the right time. Thank you so much for joining us today and for coming on our call.
Tom Drury:
Thank you, guys, so much for having me. It was a lot of fun.
Alicia Hughes:
Thanks again, Tom. Like I said, to continue, but best of luck for this weekend and beyond.
Tom Drury:
Yes, ma’am thank you very much.
Alicia Hughes:
Every one that will do it for today in TRA national media teleconference. An audio file of this call should be up later today on N T R A.com and a transcript will be available there tomorrow. Once again, we would like to thank our guests for coming on today. Trainer Bob Baffert, owner, Jack Knowlton and trainer, Tom Drury. And thank you all again for joining us now back to our operator to wrap things up.
Operator:
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today’s conference. All participants may now disconnect.
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