The National Thoroughbred Racing Association
Belmont Preview – National Media Teleconference
May 30, 2024
1 PM
Operator: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. And welcome to the Belmont Preview National Media Teleconference. At this time, all participants are in a listen only mode. Following the presentation, there will be question and answer session. And if at any time you require immediate assistance, please press * 0 for an operator. Also note, that this call is being recorded on Thursday, May 30th, 2024. And I would like to turn the call over to Jim Gluckson. Please go ahead, sir.
Jim Gluckson: Thank you very much, Sylvie. And good day, everyone. Welcome to the National Thoroughbred Racing Association Media Teleconference, previewing the 156th Belmont Stakes, at Saratoga Racecourse in Saratoga Springs, New York, on Saturday, June 8th. Today, we’ll be joined by trainers Kenny McPeek, Chad Brown, and D. Wayne Lukas.
As a reminder, a recording of today’s conference, and a transcript, will be posted on ntra.com, within 48 hours.
Before we begin with our guests, for opening remarks, I’d like to turn it over to the President and Chief Executive Officer of the NTRA, Mr. Tom Rooney. Tom, please go ahead.
Tom Rooney: Thanks, Jim. Good afternoon, everyone, and thanks for joining our call, again today. This is our third and final Triple Crown teleconference of the 2024 season. As we turn to the third jewel of the Triple Crown, I’d like to congratulate Trainer D. Wayne Lukas, who’s with us today, and the 2,750 winning owners of Seize the Gray, for a great win at the Preakness, including one of our staffers at the National Thoroughbred Racing Association. You’d think he’d own the whole horse.
But this year, we’ll see the historic rendition of the Belmont Stakes run at Saratoga, while Belmont Park is completely rebuilt and modernized. I know I speak for many of us in the industry when I say how excited I am for the future. It’s very encouraging to see states like New York and Maryland make such great investments in the sport of thoroughbred racing. The first two legs of the Triple Crown have been filled with great races and equally exciting stories, which lead us here to the Belmont.
The field of equine athletes and trainers is very impressive. And I can’t wait to see the competition, which is expected to include a rematch between the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winners, for the first time since the 2013 Belmont, which is impressive. Jim, now, I’ll turn it back to you, and our great list of trainers that we have, including Kenny McPeek, to start us off. To the horses and the horsemen competing in this year’s Belmont Stakes next weekend, thank you, all very much.
Jim Gluckson: Tom, thank you very much. Let’s begin with Kenny McPeek. Kenny, of course, is the trainer of this year’s Kentucky Derby winner, Mystik Dan, and the Kentucky Oaks winner, Thorpedo Anna. And, Kenny, thanks for joining us today.
Kenny McPeek: My pleasure.
Jim Gluckson: Kenny, both horses are are under consideration for the Belmont. Let’s talk about Mystik Dan’s progress since the Preakness.
Kenny McPeek: He’s actually quite an easy horse to be around and to handle. He came out of the Preakness fine. We vanned him up to Saratoga immediately after the race, or actually the Monday following the race at Baltimore. And he settled in there really good. He’s a very steady horse to be around. He is uneventful. He has taken to the track here. I primarily train him on the Oklahoma sod. It’s a surface that I’m fond of. And the horse has been in a happy routine, up to now.
Jim Gluckson: All right. Now, regarding Thorpedo Anna — if she were to make a start in the Belmont, what is it about the race — why is this race, a good fit for her?
Kenny McPeek: Well, I won’t run the horses against each other. I can tell you that right now. I’m going to make the decision. I’m going to work them both over the weekend, make sure they come out of the works good and they eat up well. And we’ll probably do a little blood work to make sure there’s no issue that we’re not seeing. And, you know, Mystik Dan’s a horse that’s a little bit unusual, because he is a bit of a quiet type.
And he’s been — I’ve used the word old soul with him, repeatedly, or the term. And he’s just a horse that, in some cases, you wonder — he’s not one that rares up and he doesn’t act up. He simply goes about his work every day, and he’s very uneventful. The only thing he does fast is breeze and race. So we’re going to keep an eye on that.
I need to see a good workout from him. I need to see him eat up good. And like I said, I’d like to see his blood work come back flawless. And then, on the off chance that he doesn’t check every box, I am going to consider the filly. Thorpedo Anna, I think, is a high level talent. I think that, the fact that she won the Oaks so easily, and I do think that she would be capable of being very competitive against the colts.
But we’re not going to run them against each other. We’re going to see what Mystik Danny’s going to probably take the lead in all this. And if he participates in the Belmont (program), you’ll see her in the Acorn.
Jim Gluckson: All right. Oh, in the Acorn. Okay. All right. Now Kenny, well, of course we’re in an unusual year, in this Triple Crown, in that the Derby and the Belmont are both being run at one and a quarter miles. Can you point out a few differences, if any, with the layouts, for this distance, in running horses, between Churchill Downs and Saratoga?
Kenny McPeek: Well, I think it’s a huge difference. If we were at Belmont, we’d be going a mile and a half, and everybody knows his nickname Big Sandy, Belmont. I think that that would’ve been difficult for my colt. He’s not a really big horse. He’s a modest sized horse, very well balanced, well made. But I thought that the deeper Belmont would’ve been maybe less interesting for me. But the fact that Saratoga, at a mile and an eighth racing surface, and this race is run a mile and a quarter, should suit him. Well, of course, he’s won at a mile and a quarter already. And I think he’s capable of doing it, again here.
Jim Gluckson: Well now, let’s turn it over to media on the line today, to see if we have some questions from them. So, Sylvie, can you take us into that next section here.
Operator: Thank you, sir. Ladies and gentlemen, if you would like to ask a question at this time, please press *, followed by 1, on your touch tone phone. You will hear a prompt that your hand has been raised. And should you wish to withdraw from the question queue, please press *, followed by 2. And if you’re using a speakerphone, you will need to lift the handset first, before pressing any keys. Please go ahead and press * 1 now, if you have a question.
Once again, ladies and gentlemen, if you do have any questions at this time, please press *, followed by 1. And currently, sir, it appears that we have no questions registered.
Jim Gluckson: Let’s just hold on a second. — I think we have one here, from the Associated Press.
Operator: Steven (Whyno), please go ahead.
Steven: Hey, Kenny. Thank you very much for doing this. I’m just wondering, as a trainer, as a horseman, having a Triple Crown race at Saratoga, how special is this, knowing you’ve been in Triple Crown races before, but just of the scene, and in what you expect it to be like, on June 8th?
Kenny McPeek: Well, logistically I love it, because I’ve got a home in Saratoga. So that makes it a lot easier for us, logistically. We’ve got — it’s a lot trickier to be downstate, Long Island, because we’re not typically set up there. But we really like this setup. So, we’ll see how that goes. I’m excited for this year and next year up here. We’ve moved in earlier. We’ve brought in a larger group of horses already. And we’re trying to get ready for what would hopefully be a good — a great summer.
Steven: And when you look at the race itself — and Mystik Dan, obviously, he beat Sierra Leone by a nose, and lost, just barely, to Seize the Gray — when you have, maybe, all three of those horses in the race, what — how difficult a competition is that?
Kenny McPeek: Well, I think it’s great. I think it gives us a chance to really prove ourselves again. And, you know, Mystik Dan is such a unique horse, in that he’s got tactical speed. And I think they put him in a position to be able to win the Derby, of course, the running style of Sierra Leone’s counter to Mystik Dan. And then, Seize the Grey, we’ve got a speed horse, a stalker, and we’ve got a closer.
So how the race sets up is so unique. And it’s going to be an interesting race to handicap, for players and for jockeys. We’re going to get our horse ready, and assuming everything goes right over the next few days, through the weekend we’re looking forward to being part of it. It’s going to be quite an interesting setup.
Steven: Thank you.
Operator: Next question is from Daily Race Forum. David, please go ahead.
David Grening: Kenny, it sounds like, if what — if you see through the weekend, what you’re seeing now, that Mystik Dan would run — is that fair to say?
Kenny McPeek: Yeah, it’s fair to say. I mean, he’s done quite well up here. I mean, he — like I said, he is been an easy horse to be around. He’s doing everything — he’s stayed on even keel. And I’m pretty confident that we will get through this weekend, and everything will go right. I’ve gone back to what I did before the previous. I don’t need to make a decision right away.
He’s a horse that we want to pay close attention to. Like I said, he is a little tricky, in that he is a quiet type, and we want to — we don’t want to miss anything. So you don’t want to rush into any of this stuff. And really, you don’t have to make a decision until Monday, when we enter. But I’m sure we’re going to get quite good clarity Sunday night, Monday morning, or Sunday morning. And I’m confident everything will be good, that we’ll be able to get him there. And he’s a — just a lovely horse to be around. You couldn’t ask for an easier horse to be around. So we’ll see what happens.
David Grening: And has he surprised you at all, or is this a sign of just physical development or maturity, that he’s handled the schedule that he’s had, as well as he’s had?
Kenny McPeek: Well, my biggest worry is, is dehydration. But the fact that we’re not running on Lasix is — that somewhat eliminates that. And you’ve got to concern yourself with a horse, how much flesh they’re holding, and that they’re staying in the feed tub. But at this point, he’s doing that. Like I said, he’s not a big horse, in the sense that he’s — size wise. But he is very efficient and, like I said, everything, at this point as well.
My options, and I discussed this with Lance Gasaway this morning, okay, let’s say we skip the Belmont. Do we point towards the Jim Dandy or the Haskell? The Jim Dandy being grade two, isn’t exactly — we don’t want to take a step down. The Haskell, we would have to ship and run, which I’m not excited about. And then ultimately, I want to have this horse really good for the Travers and possibly the Pennsylvania Derby and the Breeders’ Cup.
So, the Belmont actually seems to be a little more attractive, because I don’t have to ship. It is grade one. Obviously, the prestige is a no brainer. So, if everything goes right, I suspect that we’re going to try — we want to run. We do. We just got to make sure that all boxes are checked, and T’s are crossed, and I’s are dotted.
David Grening: Very well. Thank you.
Operator: Thank you. Next is Blood Horse – Byron (King), please go ahead.
Byron King: Thank you. Kenny, I was hoping you could expand a little bit on Thorpedo Anna, and talk to us about how she’s done in the, you know, last month or so, since her Oaks win, and reflect a little bit on her Oaks triumph. She went to the lead that day, whereas most of her other races had been more of a, just off the pace kind of variety. But talk to me about her and what your expectations are, should she run in the Acorn, or for that matter, style wise, or the Belmont.
Kenny McPeek: I don’t think we’ve seen her best yet. I think this filly can be even better. I mean, Brian (Hernandez) never even hit her in the Oaks. And the pace of that race, the way that the pace laid out, it didn’t look like there was anybody fast enough to go with her. So I gave Brian the go ahead to let her roll. And I think she could handle the mile and a quarter, if we went to the Belmont. Like I said, I’m not going to run them against each other, which is unfortunate.
I don’t want to take Brian off either horse. And I don’t have to do that if I keep them separated. But she is pointed towards possibly being champion three-year-old filly. And whether she gets a chance to do that against colts, is — it remains to be seen. But she just is — just a real — I mean, her work at Churchill last week, before I shipped her, she throws down a 46 and change breeze, and does it in hand. And she’s just got world class talent. And, like I said, I think she’s improving. So if that’s the case, I think we could have a whole lot of fun, from here on.
Byron King: And Kenny, refresh my memory, when she was second in the Golden Rod, did she have any excuse that particular day, or obviously, it was her first step into the stakes company, for the first time? Talk a little bit about that particular run.
Kenny McPeek: Well, we trailed together three, quick races. I mean, she broke her maiden by nearly 10. She wins in non-winners of two by nearly 10. And then we wheeled her right back, in two weeks, into the Golden Rod. And maybe, the back to back to back was probably too much. But at the same time, the season was ending. And typical of me, I’ve never been really scared to run one back if they’re doing well.
But we wanted the black type. And if we skipped the Goldenrod, we were going to look at — we were running out of graded races for the season. So we really wanted to go ahead and run then. And, maybe, the back quick three in a row stepped her back a little bit. And she was a two-year-old filly. It was asking a lot. But, you know, she still ran a credible second. And, from there we’ve, you know, we’ve — well we did have one setback during the winter. But she’s done everything right, otherwise.
Byron King: Very good. Thanks. Good luck.
Kenny McPeek: Thank you.
Jim Gluckson: All right. Well I think, Kenny, we have completed the question and answer session. So I greatly appreciate your time today with us, and good luck, whatever you decide to do with your horses. And, best of luck over the weekend and for — into next week.
Kenny McPeek: Thank you very much. More than likely, we’re going to come with an answer, best guess Sunday. So we’ll see.
Jim Gluckson: On Sunday — we’ll look forward to that. Thank you, Kenny. Have a great day.
Kenny McPeek: All right, great. Thanks.
Jim Gluckson: Okay. We’re going to wait here for a second here. We’re going to try to bring in our next guest, Chad Brown. Just hang one second.
Operator: Mr. Brown is on the line.
Jim Gluckson: Great. Chad, good afternoon. Jim Gluckson here. How are you today?
Chad Brown: Good, good. How are you?
Jim Gluckson: Good, good. Thanks for joining us today. Chad, of course, a four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer. Is pointing Kentucky Derby runner up, Sierra Leone, for the Belmont. And also under consideration is Tuscan Gold. First, Chad, we’ve seen that Sierra Leone has had two workouts, since the Derby, up at Saratoga. Can you give us a chart of his progress and your workout plans for him, going into the weekend?
Chad Brown: Yeah, the horse has been training great. He bounced out of the Kentucky Derby in really good order. I’ve been very pleased with how he is training in Saratoga. Have one more breeze, on Saturday. And then all the important work will be done for him.
Jim Gluckson: Okay. As far as Tuscan Gold is concerned, now, he was bumped at the start in the Preakness, regrouped, and ran a pretty credible fourth. How did you see that race?
Chad Brown: I saw that he wasn’t really handling the track at all the first turn. He was just off the bridle. And the rider was encouraging, with his stick, just to maintain sort of contact with the field. And, in the second half of the race, he got him engaged, and he made a little run there. But I just drew a line through the race. And it wasn’t much of an effort, overall, because he just looked like he would spin his wheels everywhere.
So I wanted to leave the — my option open to run in the Belmont. I had toyed with running in the Peter Pan and the Belmont. And now, with the benefit of hindsight, I wish I did, just because of all the rain at Pimlico. But you just don’t know those things, that front advance. So I brought him to Saratoga. And he looks pretty good to me. He’s going to have a work on Saturday. And after I evaluate how that goes, how he comes out of it, I’ll make a decision if I’m going to enter him. Right now, I’m planning on entering him. So unless he doesn’t work well, he’ll be in the field.
Jim Gluckson: Right. Son of Medallia Doro, Travers Stakes winner — good bloodline’s there, for sure. One more question here — you’re from nearby Mechanicville, New York. This is a Belmont, for the first time, up in Saratoga. What’s been the buildup like, up there? And what would it be like, for you personally, of course, growing up in this area, to win the Belmont Stakes?
Chad Brown: Well, first part of the question — it’s been a very exciting time up here in Saratoga, preparing for the Belmont. Everywhere you go, people are talking about it. And the city’s getting prepared, and I think everyone’s really anticipating this being really a historic and exciting weekend. For me personally, to — the idea of possibly winning the first Belmont Stakes ever run at Saratoga, would just be incredible moment, for me personally.
I got into horse racing, just from going to Saratoga Race Course with my family. I have so many family and friends that still live locally, and fans, and every other thing that’s associated with our business, really centrally located here. It’d be really huge for us.
Jim Gluckson: Outstanding. Well, let’s turn it, now, over to our section for the media questions. So Sylvie, can we start in that section, please, now?
Operator: Certainly. Ladies and gentlemen, as a reminder, if you would like to ask a question you will need to please press *, followed by 1, on your touchstone phone. First, is Fox Sports — Lynne, please go ahead.
Lynne Snierson: Thank you. Hey, Chad, thanks for doing this for us. I know you’re super busy. So we really appreciate it.
Chad Brown: No problem.
Lynne Snierson: Just kind of jumping over to the rest of the card — I was hoping you could let me know, let us know, what your plans are for running in the Met Mile, and in the Manhattan, please?
Chad Brown: Sure. In the Met Mile, I’m planning on running Blazing Sevens. So his horse has come back healthy this year, after having needed some time off last year. It’s going to be a really tough race, and a big step up for him. But, you know, he nearly won the Preakness last year. And I think he deserves a chance in that race.
Then in the Manhattan, I’m planning on running — I’m Very Busy and Program Trading. Both horses came out the race at Churchill in good shape. Obviously, Program Trading ran terrific off the layoff. He got a great trip, saving all the ground on the inside, and really came through, and continues to be a nearly perfect horse, in — with his record, and looks set up for an even better four-year-old year. On I’m very busy, I feel briefly sort of took control of the division, after his (Mervin) Muniz win at Fairgrounds, and a really nice second in the Pegasus.
Just didn’t really handle Churchill Downs at all. I’m not — he’s a pretty reasonable horse to get along with. And he just, mentally just wasn’t having it. And in their paddock, he was very difficult, and he lost his focus, big time. And I was quite concerned, leaving the paddock. And he was even worse in the gate. He stuck his hind leg through the gate.
And he just — it was a total disaster, to be honest. So, we got him settled in Saratoga, and he’s been back to his normal self, nice and settled. So, you know, if he goes over to the paddock and behaves, and gets into the starting gate quietly, I think this horse will come back into form.
Lynne Snierson: Thank you very much. Lots of good luck to you.
Chad Brown: Thank you.
Operator: Next is Horse Insider — John, please go ahead.
Jon Pricci: Good afternoon, Chad. I was — I’m not familiar with how cage bits work. So can you tell me why you are putting them on, and how it functions, to help Sierra Leone?
Chad Brown: Sure. So sometimes there’s more than one term for a bit. You can call it a cage bit. Harness trainers will call it a Helt bit. What it is, is, it’s a bit that’s a straight bar across, in their mouth. And then it has another bar that sort of goes outside the mouth, under their jaw. It’s not a severe bit, by any means.
It’s just different from a normal, what you’d hear a D bit or a snaffle bit — the same thing, really, where that sort of aluminum bit has a breaking point in the middle of it, where it’s — it can move. And it’s nice and kind in the horse’s mouth. And it’s kind of a jingly, sort of loose, non-aggressive bit that most horses run in, and standard horses are broke to learn to train in. That’d be like the first bit you’d put a horse in, when you’re breaking them, and most horses racing and train daily in them.
The cage bit, being straight bar and not having that break in it gives the riders more control to steer the horse. So, you know, you pull on one rein, and that’s the way they’re going to go. You don’t really want to train a large number of horses in it, because it’s not quite as comfortable for horses. So, although it’s not severe in any way, it’s just not the preferred way to go. And the other — a drawback with a straight bit, any kind of straight you use — this is a cage bit. There’s other versions of bits that are even more, I would say — when I say severe, not painful anyway, but more aggressive would be a better term — to get the horse to steer a horse that really has steering issues — the different versions of it — the breaks aren’t as good on it.
So when you pull, front to back, with a straight bit, the rider wouldn’t be able to necessarily harness the horse back, or control the horse as much, from going faster than they want. The D bit gives you more leverage to do that. But the cage bit, or any sort of straight bit, gives you much better power steering than a D bit. There’s always a trade-off for what you’re doing.
With this horse, when he lugged in, in the Remsen, to all of our surprise — the jockey was Jose Ortiz — never shown that in the morning. He kind of cocked his head a little bit. And in his maiden win, he was fairly straight. I toyed with putting this on right away. So he didn’t train as well on it, to my eye, in the wintertime. So I abandoned it, and I just went with a blinker instead.
And the horse looked pretty good — and, obviously, ran well his first two starts. He brushed through the lead, and came over a path on his way to victory both times. But it wasn’t much — very reasonable. The other important thing, in combination with the blinker and such, was having your stick in your left hand. Not that we’re striking him the whole way around the track, with the stick. In fact, I don’t like using the stick at all on my horses, if it’s not necessary.
But with this particular horse, if you’re carrying in a left hand, and he gets one reminder or two, coming off the turn, he knows he really shouldn’t be coming in. That was another issue I think, in the Derby, that sort of was a — was something that didn’t go our way, I’ll say, you know, with — maybe if Tyler maybe had a stick in his left hand sooner, like we did in the other races, and like we talk about — I’m not blaming him, because it’s, you know, it was a challenging trip. And the other two horses ran terrific, that he is on the wire with.
But for our horse, it very well could have prevented him from even getting to the point where he was next to Forever Young. I revisited this cage bit situation, now that the horse has more experience. He’s been in some more racing. He’s just a little bit more mature. And sometimes with horses, if something doesn’t work the first time, you can sort of reintroduce it later — all sorts of various things we teach horses.
I put it back on him, in conjunction with the blinkers, which I hadn’t really done both together. And the horse seems to train pretty well in it. He’s accepting of it. I haven’t made my final decision, but I’m leaning towards putting him in it. And lastly, these are normal — this is a normal equipment change on certain horses that have steering issues.
A horse like Kerlin, a horse that was lugging out really bad — I’ve seen different pictures of that horse having a cage bit on, and at one point, even an extension bit, where one side of the bit is extended out from their mouth, where the reign would attach, because it was really going out. I couldn’t really speak on that. Obviously, Steve Asmussen could. But just to give everyone a reference point of a horse that had a lot of steering problems, and they tinkered with equipment, with straight bits, a very famous horse, a great horse, and a well-managed horse. That’s one example.
Jon Pricci: That’s a wonderful explanation. Thanks, Chad. If I could have one follow? Obviously, you hope that would address the lug-in issues or whatever. Will that bit also help him bit help him or physically, or give the rider an easier time getting out of there, or anything like that?
Chad Brown: I didn’t quite understand. Out of the gate?
Jon Pricci: Yeah. Would it — would his wearing the cage bit help him — help give, say jockey (Flavien) Pratt, more control out of the gate?
Chad Brown: No. I understand your question. No. It wouldn’t be applicable for anything to do with the gate, or how well they break or anything like that — or even starting out of the gate. It’s a quick jump straight. He’s not a horse with early speed. And that wouldn’t be — I wouldn’t expect it to have any impact on the way he leaves the gate.
Jon Pricci: Thanks very much for your time, Chad. Good luck on Saturday.
Chad Brown: Thank you.
Operator: Next is Thoroughbred Daily News. Alan, please go ahead.
Alan Carasso: Hey Chad, just a question on the workout — is he going to go again, with Domestic Product?
Chad Brown: I’m not positive yet. So I normally line my works up the afternoon before — so tomorrow afternoon, when I look at it. Fortunately, I have a lot of nice horses in my barn. He has been working with that horse a lot, during the spring. But not only him. He’s worked with Tuscan Gold and a few other horses I’ve had in my barn. So he’s definitely in the mix to work with him.
Obviously at this point, Domestic Product is headed towards some other race. I’m not exactly sure which one. So I might choose to separate them. So it’s something I’ll decide tomorrow afternoon.
Alan Carasso: Okay, gotcha. And he seems to go very, very kindly, very smooth, holds a straight line when he’s worked down inside of him. What happens under race conditions that sort of get him a little more unfocused or off center?
Chad Brown: Yeah, that’s a great question. Challenging thing for trainers can be, to sort of replicate race day issues that you try to resolve, in the morning. You’re not going at race speed. We’re always working much shorter distances, and at slower speeds than — in racing. And of course, you have a full field of courses and such. And it’s quite challenging, when you have problems to work on, whether it’s lugging in or out, or sometimes it’s gait training.
No matter how much you try to make them break, in the afternoons they don’t, or there’s just so many things we could go through. But, you’re right, he — so now that there’s a lot of footage of the horse breezing, because he was on the Derby trail and such, and there’s so much technology to do it, you and the media can really get a good feel for that now. Like, wow, we’ve never seen him do it in the morning.
Well that’s what trainers say, too. So it’s hard. We can put him in some situations. Now I have him inside a lot, because he prefers to work there. And I have had him outside, and he really doesn’t do it there, either. But — so we just have to adjust and react for what we see in the afternoon, and just try to prepare for potential situations. So it’s a lot about just being prepared, at all times, anticipating things that could happen. So now that we’ve seen more of this horse, in the afternoon, I’m definitely — I have a more aggressive approach about correcting it.
Alan Carasso: Okay. Great. Thanks very much. I’m sorry, go ahead.
Chad Brown: I’ll say one last thing,