June 15, 2020
Belmont Stakes Preview
Guests
- Todd Pletcher, trainer, Farmington Road, Dr Post
- Jack Knowlton, owner Tiz the Law
- Mark Casse, trainer Tap It to Win
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, and welcome to the NTRA Road to the Triple Crown Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Following the presentation, we will conduct a question-and-answer session. At this time, participants are asked to press star one to register for a question. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded.
It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Ms Alicia Hughes. Please go ahead, Ms Hughes.
Alicia Hughes:
Thank you so much, John, and welcome everyone to this week’s NTRA Road to the Triple Crown Teleconference. Normally of course, when we are talking about the first leg of the American – Classic – we are usually discussing the Derby, but with the coronavirus pandemic, throwing everything off its axis this year, it is the Belmont Stakes that will lead off the Triple Crown this season. That race will be taking place this Saturday, a mile-and-an-eighth and it will offer 150 Derby qualifying points to the winner.
In a year that has been filled with uncertainty, multiple Grade 1 winner, Tiz the Law has been a consistent force in the three-year-old male range, thanks to his victories in the Holy Bull and the Florida Derby. Jack Knowlton of Sackatoga Stable, which owns Tiz the Law will be joining us in a bit to talk about the expected Belmont Stakes favorite. And we will also be joined later on by newly-minted Hall of Fame trainer, Mark Casse, who captured the race last year with Sir Winston and it’s at the Saratoga to win when this season comes.
First off, however, we are lucky to be joined by three-time Belmont Stakes trainer Todd Pletcher, who has two expected runners this year in Farmington Road and Dr Post. [Inaudible] in 2007 when the silly Rags to Riches bested Curlin in a race for the ages and he won to place a trophy again in 2013 after Palace Malice’s victory and in 2017 when Tapwrit prevailed.
Todd, thank you so much for joining us today.
Todd Pletcher:
Thank you, Alicia.
Alicia Hughes:
Todd, I said, I know it’s been a challenging season for all horseman in terms of trying to map out targets for their runners when tracks were still in the midst of trying to figure out how to even resume operations. With Farmington Road, with Dr Post, how did you come to the decision that, you know, this kind of non-traditional version of the Belmont Stakes would be an ideal fit for each of them?
Todd Pletcher:
Well, looking at Dr Post, he’s a horse that’s probably benefitted from the change in the traditional Triple Crown calendar because he didn’t make his three-year-old debut until 29th March and then came back in – after breaking his mane, he came back into a mile-and-a-sixteenth take, 25th April. So, you know, under traditional timings, he was not going to be ready for probably any of the Triple Crown races, but certainly the Kentucky Derby. So this – this is kind of been to his benefit, he’s progressed greatly since the beginning of the year. I thought he’s very impressive in his maiden win. And while he lacks a little bit of experience in terms of number of races run, he got a lot of education in the Unbridled Stakes, the Gulf stream, when he was kind of boxed in through a good portion of the race and ate a lot of dirt and, you know. So for a lightly-raised horse, we were happy that not only was he able to win but kind of overcome some adversity and get some education.
And Farmington Road’s front, he’s probably a horse who would have benefitted from the traditional distance of the mile-and-a-half into Belmont but he’s come close to delivering that breakthrough performance. And he’s a horse that he doesn’t have a lot of early speed, but he’s got a good sustained run, he would certainly appreciate a good, honest, fast pace upfront and unbiased track that would play to closers, would also help him, so very happy with the way both horses are training. They did most of their preparation in Florida, shipped up last week, worked in company on a Saturday morning together, 44 and both of them seemed like they handle the main track in Belmont very well. So fingers crossed, everything continues to go smoothly as it has this week so far.
Alicia Hughes:
Yeah, I mean you said, you know, you mentioned with Farmington Road, obviously with the fact that the Belmont year – that the Belmont this year is going to be a mile-and-an-eight instead of the usual 12 furlongs, how much do you feel like that will, in particular help his cause of kind of getting the pace set up he needs, because obviously going a mile-and-a-half, you know, you’re not going to get – you’re usually not going to get them going quick fractions upfront?
Todd Pletcher:
Usually not, usually not. And I think, you know, on paper, this is a race that certainly looks like it could have, you know, a solid pace. You know, I think the one turn dimension making it, you know, one turn mile-and-an-eighth, you’ll generally see horses lay a little bit closer. The pack kind of becomes a little more consolidated, you don’t have that first turn to immediately negotiate, which most of the time kind of spreads things out a bit as everyone’s trying to save some ground. And these one turn scenarios, you know, I think you’ll see the group kind of a little closer together and so hopefully that’ll be to the benefit of Farmington Road, who instead of being way out of contention early on, will hopefully be in contact with the main part of the field.
Alicia Hughes:
Sounds good, Todd. Like I said, I know we’ve got a lot of media joining us today. So with that, I will throw it back to our operator, John and check in with the media to see if they have any questions for you.
Operator:
Thank you, sir. Ladies and gentlemen, if you would like to ask a question, please signal by pressing star one. That is star one to queue for a question. We’ll pause for a brief moment to allow everyone an opportunity to signal for questions.
We will now take our first question from Tim Wilkin of Albany Times Union. Please go ahead. Your line is open.
Tim Wilkin:
Hey Todd, the – Tiz the Law is expected to be the big favorite in this race. Is he in an advantage or in a disadvantage, the fact that, you know, his schedule was the fact that he was ready to run as, I guess, a race on Kentucky Derby day and now he’s had to wait and he’s got an 11-week – 11-week layoff. Is that – do you think that helps or hinders him the way the schedule is now?
Todd Pletcher:
Well, I mean, Barclay Tagg’s a very experienced, skilled-horse trainer and I think once he knew kind of what the schedule was, he’s been focused on this. And, you know, it looks to me like the horse is training sensationally, it looks great on the race track and, you know, I think it’s not been an ideal scenario for anyone, but I think, you know, there’s no doubt in my mind that Barclay will have his horse ready to go.
Tim Wilkin:
Right.
Operator:
We will now move on to our next question from Mitchell Gibbs of WGSO Radio. Please go ahead. Your line is open.
Mitchell Gibbs:
Todd, I have a question outside the Belmont. The last couple of months or so, when we really didn’t have any sporting and non-sporting events, horse races sort, I had front and center, so I want to know your thoughts if you think that that’s something that can expand the racing a fan base for, you know, for horse racing? Because we always hear about it, it’s kind of an aging fan base, so I want to get your thoughts on that.
Todd Pletcher:
Well, I do think the fact that we were one of the few sports that was conducting, you know, live action, given an opportunity maybe for some people who haven’t been following racing to follow it or people maybe haven’t been following it recently to come back. You know, what’s going to happen when everything else opens up? You know, I’m not sure you’re going to start seeing competition from other sports as well as casinos and that sort of thing. But, you know, you would certainly hope that by exposing it to some new fans and bringing it back to some – maybe some fans that weren’t recently following it, that they’ll continue to do so. I mean – but certainly we all know that there’s going to be a lot of competition out there once the NBA and NHL and NFL and college athletics come back, but, you know, hopefully we’ve made a good impression. I think, it’s been very well televised and, you know, hopefully it can carry some momentum.
Mitchell Gibbs:
Can I ask one more question?
Todd Pletcher:
Sure.
Mitchell Gibbs:
Do you think the distance diminishes the Triple Crown since it’s a mile-and-an-eight as opposed to the mile-a-quarter or the traditional mile-and-a-half? So I want to get your thoughts on that, if that has any effect on – we’ll see, right? Because we don’t even know if we’re going to have a Triple Crown winner or not this year, so I want to get your in – your take on that.
Todd Pletcher:
Well, I don’t think there’s any question that at the end of 2020, you can put a big asterisk by the whole year and the Triple Crown is certainly part of that. It’s a – you know, it’s not going to be the same, it’s going to be spread out over a much different timeframe and, you know, at different distances, different orders. So, you know, I think it goes without saying it’s a non-traditional Triple Crown series. And, you know, it wouldn’t – I don’t think it would take away from the accomplishments of a single horse if they were able to win, you know, one, two or three legs of it. It’s – these are still very difficult races to win but it’s clearly not the same as trying to do it all in five weeks at three different distances, culminating with the mile-and-a-half in the Belmont.
Operator:
We will now take our next question from Robert Kieckhefer, United Press International. Please go ahead. Your line is open.
Robert Kieckhefer:
Thank you. Todd, I was wondering, you know, sometimes when change is forced upon us, like it has been this year, it’s an opportunity to think about, you know, things that we wouldn’t normally think about in terms of scheduling and so on and so forth. I’m just wondering, have you given any thought at all to it? If you could take the stake schedule in the United States and put it into a big paper bag and shake it up, would you restructure things differently as they have been traditionally in terms of how things progressed during the course of the year?
Todd Pletcher:
Well, I think there was a movement for that. And you know, when there was 37 years in between Triple Crown winners and, you know, everyone was saying, ‘Well, maybe we need to change the distances, change the timing in between races and all of those things.’ And then when you have two Triple Crown winners and American Pharaoh and Justify, then, you know, I think all of a sudden that talk sort of subsided. And, you know, to me, I appreciate the tradition of the Triple Crown series and the way it is and that’s part of what makes it so difficult. So, you know, I think I would hope that it would go back to its traditional order and timing next year. There could be some other events along the way, you know, maybe in the middle of the year, later part of the year, they could make some adjustments from this. But, you know, I think the traditional Triple Crown series is – it’s a buried honor tradition and I’d like to see it stay that way.
Robert Kieckhefer:
Fair enough. And a lot of credit is due to you and the other trainers, as owners, and to Alicia too for keeping going through all of this. It’s not been easy, I’m sure.
Todd Pletcher:
Yeah, thank you.
Operator:
Once again, ladies and gentlemen, if you would like to queue for a question, please signal by pressing star followed by one. That is star one to queue for a question. We’ll take our next question from Tim Sullivan, Louisville, Courier-Journal. Please go ahead. Your line is open.
Tim Sullivan:
Yes, Todd. I wanted to get your thoughts on how the gap between the Triple Crown races might affect preparations of various trainers, how you’re looking at it with the Derby still almost three months off? And if – there’s a second part, are you at all surprised that given that this is the first leg of the Triple Crown, that this isn’t a bigger field?
Todd Pletcher:
I’m sorry, I didn’t hear that last part.
Tim Sullivan:
The last part was that given that this is the first leg of the Triple Crown, are you at all surprised that it’s not a bigger field for the Belmont?
Todd Pletcher:
Yeah, I am a little bit surprised and, you know, there was some unfortunate defections recently that contributed to that. But, you know, my original thought was, you know, it could potentially be erased, it would oversubscribe and, you know, now it’s – it looks like it’s going to be more in the neighborhood of an eight or nine horse field max. So that does surprise me a little bit and I think that’s partly due to some bad luck for some horses and also just, you know, the uncertainty sort of the timing of everything. But, you know, on the first part of the question with the timing between races, I mean, I think it’s pretty straightforward from the Derby to the Preakness, you’re going to go 5th September to 3rd October. I think the bigger question is sort of what you do in between the Belmont and the Kentucky Derby, if you’re on that path, you know, with the 20th June, Belmont and then 5th September, Kentucky Derby.
First of all, we don’t even know what alternatives are necessarily there, Saratoga’s not put out their fixed schedule yet. So I’m going to assume that the Travers is probably going to be positioned somewhere in between so that you could potentially run in both the Belmont, the Travers and then follow up with the Kentucky Derby. The Haskell is scheduled for 18th July, so there’s also the opportunity to run back, you know, after the Belmont there. And I think of course, there’s the, you know, also the possibility that you could train from the Belmont up to the Kentucky Derby. So, you know, a lot of those things still to be decided and a lot of it to be determined once we see sort of what all those options are.
Tim Sullivan:
Thank you.
Operator:
We will now take our next question from Beth Harris of Associated Press. Please go ahead. Your line is open.
Beth Harris:
Hi, Todd. I’m wondering if you have been told whether your owners can attend on Saturday and whether they plan to do so?
Todd Pletcher:
It is my understanding that there will be no spectators, no owners, which, you know, is unfortunate in a lot of ways, but with the current protocols in place, I think everyone’s health and safety is first and foremost. And as we sort of get a little further down the road, maybe, you know, things will start to loosen up as we see how this progresses. But it’s my understanding that there will be no owners in attendance.
Operator:
We will now take our next question from Brad Stevens from First Racing Nations. Please go ahead. Your line is open.
Brad Stevens:
There’s no racing without spectators that’s been going on for a couple of months now, but do you think it’s really going to set in and you have a Belmont Stakes when you’re, you know, you’re used to seeing that big atmosphere on Belmont Stakes Day and having no one there Saturday, do you think that’ll be, you know, really when the difference stands out when you see an empty crowd on Belmont Stakes Day?
Todd Pletcher:
Well, it’ll certainly be a far different. I, you know, I’ve always said that the Belmont Stakes, especially when there’s a Triple Crown at stake, is one of the most exciting sporting events in the world and, you know, and match it up there with Super Bowls, and World Series and everything else. So when you take that traditional 90 to 100,000 fans out of the grand standards, it’s going to be, you know, a far different scene, for sure. So it’s, you know, sad in some ways, but like I said, we’re grateful that we’re getting the opportunity to run and, you know, hopefully, get a good viewership on television and, you know, the one thing I think we’ve all seen from the coverage is that, you know, horse racing makes good TV. And so, hopefully we can build on that.
Brad Stevens:
Thank you.
Operator:
We will now take our next question from Jay Privman of Daily Racing Form. Please go ahead. Your line is open.
Jay Privman:
Todd, I was wondering if you could describe the two colts you’re running from a physical standpoint and compare both of them to their sire who you also train for part of this career, please?
Todd Pletcher:
Well, I think Dr Post, you know, physically reminds me a great deal of quality road. He’s a big scopey colt that, you know, when you first look at him, you think, you know, he wants to run all day, but he also, like his sire, has good tactical speed and stable to break his maiden go on 7 furlongs and then stretch out and just this third lifetime start in second start of the year. So from a physical comparison, very similar, same color, [inaudible] and he’s a very challenging horse. This is Franklin Road who I would classify as a little more compact tidy version of his sire and still resembles quality road. Not quite the same color, a little darker color, but really a ‒ just a bright disposition, easy horse to train. Very, very relaxed in the mornings and quiet and ‒ well, you don’t hear much out of him until it’s time to breeze and that’s when he kind of picks strides up a bit.
Jay Privman:
Thank you.
Operator:
It appears we have no further questions at this time.
Alicia Hughes:
Thank you so much, Todd. Again, I said, I know things are always busy in your world, so as always, I want to thank you for taking the time out to come on and share your thoughts with us. And, you know, best of luck for it this week of what’s it going for when Belmont wins number four.
Todd Pletcher:
Thank you so much, Alicia. Take care and have a good day.
Alicia Hughes:
Thank you. And next up, we’re going to go to owner, Jack Knowlton, who is enjoying another ride of a lifetime with Tiz the Law. Knowlton and his partners in Sackatoga famously campaigned Funny Cide in 2003 when the gelding one two leagues of the Triple Crown before finishing third in the Belmont stakes. Jack, thank you so much for joining us today.
Jack Knowlton:
Happy to be there.
Alicia Hughes:
Happy ‒ always happy ‒ It’s always a pleasure to have you on here. So, Jack, I know I saw ‒ oh, we saw obviously that Tiz the Law put in his final serious workout yesterday and it sounds like your trainer, Barclay Tagg, was more than satisfied with what he saw. What does it say to you just about Barclay as a horseman and Tiz the Law as a talent that, you know, that he’s been able to maintain such a high level, especially, you know, when the schedules have constantly had to be adjusted in the ‒ in this current climate?
Jack Knowlton:
Well, Barclay has been in this game for 50 years and, you know, he has all the experience you need. You know, Barclay doesn’t get the kind of horses like Funny Cide and Tiz the Law are very often, but when he does get an opportunity, he makes the most of it. And, you know, I think that he’s been adaptable and fortunately, you know, Tiz the Law is the kind of horse that, you know, seems to take everything in stride and he’s very easy to work with. So from that perspective, I think we’ve been very fortunate that that was already proven that, you know, the horse can run well off a layoff winning his two races this year of eight, nine week layoffs. So this one is going to be even a little bit longer, but, you know, Barclay has been patient to, you know, working him, you know, a little hard when a line of do that, but not continually doing that. So, you know, a week ago, we had kind of his last, you know, real serious work and then yesterday, it was just kind of a maintenance work. But from all indications, he’s doing as well as he’s been doing all year and hopefully, that’ll carry over into the Belmont.
Alicia Hughes:
And I knew with you, Jack, obviously, you know the Travers is a race that’s up there with you as far as in terms of how meaningful they would be to win. Assuming all goes well this weekend and depending on whenever the Travers is contested, with a plan B just to wait for that race and then go to the Derby or is there maybe another race timing-wise that you think could be sort of his last prep before potentially heading to Louisville?
Jack Knowlton:
You know, the Travers is definitely on our schedule. I continue to hear that most likely date is going to be 8th August and, you know, 1st August, 8th August. You know, either one of those that would set well and still give us four or five weeks before the Derby.
Alicia Hughes:
Sounds good. Like I said, with that, Jack, I will throw it back to our operator, John, and we can check with the media to see if they have any questions for you.
Operator:
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, once again, if you would like to queue for a question, please do so by pressing star followed by one. We will take our first question from Mark Whicker of Orange County Register. Please go ahead. Your line is open.
Mark Whicker:
Hi, Jack. This horse has returned its investment pretty impressively. What ‒ do you remember what you saw in the horse when you bought him that appealed to you?
Jack Knowlton:
Well, Barclay Tagg and Robin Smullen and, you know, they’re ‒ they serve as our bloodstock agents. And historically, we have tried to buy horses at the New York-Bred Yearling Sale in August and Saratoga each year and Barclay and Robin both like the horse’s physicality and we absolutely liked, you know, the mayor. She was a Grade 2 winner. I would have Tiz now. And constitution as a race horse was certainly, you know, had been successful although he had a shortened career. He is the son of Tap It. So looking at the catalog page, that impressed us and then, you know, seeing the horse physically at the sale, that also impressed us. He vetted out great, like there was a third criteria and as a result, fortunately, we, you know, made the $110,000 investment and we got a dual grade 1 winner already.
Mark Whicker:
Yeah. Thank you.
Operator:
We will move on to our next question from Stephen Whyno of Associated Press. Please go ahead. Your line is open.
Stephen Whyno:
Hey Jack, thanks for doing this. I’m curious. Two things on Barclay and Funny Cide. First of all, just how happy are you for Barclay to have another chance at completing kind of his personal Triple Crown here and also just what are the differences you’ve seen between Tiz the Law and Funny Cide?
Jack Knowlton:
I’m, you know, very, very pleased for Barclay. You know, he, for 50 years, has been involved in this sport and now I’m fortunate as an owner of Sackatoga to, you know, have probably, for sure, the two most accomplished horses that he’s had. And he works 51 weeks a year, seven days a week without break. I mean, he and Robin take one week off a year and go to an island you know, in the Caribbean. And other than that, it’s the horses every day, all day. So he deserves it. And, you know, I’m hopeful if, you know, Tiz can, you know, win some more big races. Maybe he’ll get some consideration for the hall of fame which I would really like to see.
In terms of the differences between the two horses, Funny Cide was kind of all speed, very high-strung, very, very difficult to manage. Robin used to have a terrible time just trying to handle him in the morning. She was the only one in the barn that would be able to get on him to, you know, get him to do what was needed to be ready for races. With Tiz, he’s a different horse altogether. He’s, you know, a much lower key, very easy to handle, does anything you want him to do it when he does it. He’s so relaxed. I mean, you may have seen some of the pictures that he is, you know, sleeping and he was just very laid back and he was that way in his training and also that way, you know. Even in the races, what we’ve seen Manny be able to do with him when he needed to, you know, take action, kind of put them where we wanted to put them, stop them, start them and that’s a great characteristic events.
Stephen Whyno:
Thank you.
Jack Knowlton:
You’re welcome.
Operator:
We will now move on to our next question from Pat Forde of Sports Illustrated. Please go ahead. Your line is open.
Pat Forde:
Hi, Jack. Just wondering if you have a school bus lined up for the week and any reminiscences you have from the Funny Cide run that you kind of would like to receive and replay here?
Jack Knowlton:
Well, the school bus will be reserved for Louisville. That’s ‒
Pat Forde:
Okay.
Jack Knowlton:
You know, the Triple Crown is backwards this year. First of all, we don’t even know if any of us are going to be able to go to the Belmont. So I mean, that’s ‒ and certainly there’s no way that we’re going to have a school bus for it. So we’re hoping that, you know, when Churchill made the announcement that it’s going to be a first Saturday in September instead of the first Saturday in May, They have worked things out that, you know, they’ll be able to have, you know, certainly a sizable number of owners and hopefully, a very sizable number of fans in Churchill. And you know, going back to the Funny Cide days, I mean, it really wasn’t planned that we were going to go, you know, from the hotel to, you know, Churchill and a school bus. But when one of my partners, you know, David Mann, who passed away since then, talked to someone at the hotel about getting, you know, a group of 53 people back and forth to Churchill for the hotel and he said, ‘Well, we can get your bus for 3,600.’ And they said, ‘Isn’t that kind of expensive?’ And they said, ‘Well, how much pride have you got?’ And David says, ‘Not much.’ So then they called back and said, ‘Well, we’d get your school bus for 1300.’ They said so. So that’s how the school bus saga started. And by the time we went to Chemico, we had 120 people in two buses. And by the time at Belmont, it was four bus calls.
So that, you know, everybody expects that if we can get back to the Derby, we’ll be in the school bus and maybe two because of social distancing, but that’s what we’re going to do.
Pat Forde:
Thank you.
Jack Knowlton:
You’re welcome.
Operator:
We will now move on to our next question from David Grening of Daily Racing Form. Please go ahead. Your line is open.
David Grening:
Jack, what do you remember about Belmont Stakes Day of ‘03 and did you ever think that your group could get back with a chance of, I don’t know if redemption is the right word, but another shot?
Jack Knowlton:
Well, I never, never dreamed that I figured, you know, once in a lifetime for an outfit like ours, that, you know, typically buys, you know, one horse, maybe two horses a year, always New York-Bred, you know, never, you know, as much as $200,000. So to have it happened again, still, I wake up and kind of pinch myself and say, ‘You know what? It looks like lightening really has struck twice.’
And then going back to ‘03, I just remember rain and the longer that the day went, the harder it rained. And, you know, I tell everybody that I’ll go to my grave wondering what might have happened had we not, you know, had a rainstorm and had a fast track that day because Funny Cide was doing so well at that point. However, I mean, Empire Maker was a tremendous horse and no surprise that he relished a mile and a half. But that was a day. I mean, it started raining. We left the hotel about 8.30 in the morning, got there, four school buses and it was raining lightly and it just continued to rain harder as the day went on. And there are over a 100,000 people there with the rain – I mean, everybody was soaked. It was out there and it was a tremendous day. We had an opportunity to talk to Penny Charity who wished us well and probably spent about 15 minutes with her. We were meeting with politicians and doing interviews, but it was the rain. That was a big story for us.
David Grening:
In the interim 17 years, were there – were there other horses that you bought that you were getting reports that, “Hey, this could be the next one.” And when you had this, when this one horse was training, was there the word that, “Hey, this could be the next one.”
Jack Knowlton:
Yeah. I mean, we had a couple of nice horses that probably the best one was a horse named Seattle Mission who broke his maiden in August 2009. On the grass in open company going a mile and 16 and the horse that finished third in that race was Dawson Myer. Unfortunately, he came out of that though with a shin – that wasn’t a shin but with some problems with his legs and he raced for a couple of years, but he really was never the same. And that was probably going to be our next real Stakes horse. But other than that, we really haven’t had any high profile horses. We won a Stallion Stakes race and in Saratoga in 2008 with a horse named Doc N Roll, those are the most successful other horses.
With this horse, when I saw them train at Saratoga and I’d go out back with him out there at 6 o’clock in the morning. And he worked well, he worked fast, not crazily fast, like Funny Cide used to, but what impressed me the most was the way he galloped out. I mean, the riders just couldn’t pull him up. I mean, he wanted to keep running and we thought that he was going to be a winner his first time out and he did that in Saratoga. And actually ran the highest buyer speed figure of any two-year old that raised at the Saratoga meet. So that right there gave us hope and then even though we considered possibly going to the same route, we went with Funny Cide in New York bred races, we thought that he was good enough to try the champagne and fortunately, we were right.
David Grening:
Thank you and good luck.
Jack Knowlton:
Thank you.
Operator:
We will take our next question from Tim Wilkin of Albany Times Union. Please go ahead. Your line is open.
Tim Wilkin:
Hey, Jack, we haven’t the horse since the Holy Bull, with the fans not being able to – not being able to go to Florida Derby. And right now, we still don’t know what’s going to happen on Saturday. If you could make your case to the governor, why you should be able to go over to [inaudible] –
Jack Knowlton:
Well, I think there are a number of things. One if you want to promote the New York bred program, this is a time to do it, and you have a – you know, what’s going to be the betting favorite and the Belmont, and this is an opportunity to showcase what the breeding program in New York does. Secondly Belmont is so spacious, so huge that with the opening up of New York, which the government’s been doing in stages, certainly I think that was social distancing and a little bit of planning on entrance and exits that you can put probably 200 people in Belmont easily, if not a few thousand. But it’s not our call. It’s, you know – it will be frustrating sat in my condo a mile away from golf stream when he won the Florida Derby and I’m hoping beyond hope that maybe we’ll get a chance to be there.
Tim Wilkin:
Thanks, Jack.
Jack Knowlton:
You’re welcome.
Operator:
We will take our next question from Beth Harris of Associated Press. Please go ahead. Your line is open.
Beth Harris:
Hi, Jack, along those lines –
Jack Knowlton:
Hi.
Beth Harris:
If – hi. If it turns out that owners are not allowed at Belmont on Saturday, what’s your – what’s your game plan? Where will you watch? How many people will you have? Will you turn it into a party?
Jack Knowlton:
There is always a Sackatoga in some way, shape or form. One of our partners, Bruce Cerone owns Pennell’s restaurant in Saratoga Springs. So we have already made arrangements with Bruce. He has a nice outside patio that has – it’s covered and certainly – you know, think that at most we might be allowed to have a handful of partners down there, but we’ve already got probably 30 or 40 people that have signed up to be at Pennell’s and have a viewing party there.
Beth Harris:
Thanks.
Jack Knowlton:
You’re welcome.
Operator:
Once again, ladies and gentlemen, if you would like to ask a question, please signal by pressing star followed by one. That is star one to queue for a question. We’ll move on to our next question, which comes from Tim Sullivan from the Louisville Courier Journal. Please go ahead. Your line is open.
Tim Sullivan:
Yes. I was curious how you view the – where the race sets up now, particularly with the attrition recently the back of horses. Is it any different in your mind than it was maybe a month ago?
Jack Knowlton:
Well, obviously, it’s tremendously different. I had the spoken to people three or four weeks ago and said that in many ways I felt that the Belmont Stakes issue was going to be the Kentucky Derby. And the first time that the best horses in training were going to be meeting each other in West coast and East coast and in between. Clearly, because of the injuries of Bob’s two horses and now with Maxfield out, there isn’t quite the star power that we all expected. But I feel good about the race being a mile and eight. We know that that is the law can handle Belmont. He trains on it. He’s the one – the grade one champagne there. And I think the configuration with a long run down the backside, man, he’s going to have an opportunity to kind of put him or he wants to put up and be able to make the run that he’s made. And you know, all four of his wins, just kind of stocking and coming on a little bit off the pace and then moving forward there around the turn and winning the – winning the race in a stretch.
Tim Sullivan:
Thank you.
Jack Knowlton:
You’re welcome.
Operator:
It appears we have no further questions at this time.
Alicia Hughes:
Well, I said – well, Jack, like I said, it is the Triple Crown season is always more fun when you – when you and your team are involved in it. So I said, again, I want to thank you so much for taking the time to come on and join us. And like I said, fingers crossed and we continued the best of luck that you guys have another great weekend this Saturday.
Jack Knowlton:
Thank you so much. We’re looking forward even though it is a backwards triple crown, hopefully we can get through this first leg and then wait until the first Saturday in September.
Alicia Hughes:
Absolutely. Sounds good. Again, I said, Jack, always a pleasure to have you on here.
Jack Knowlton:
Okay, well, thank you. Bye-bye now.
Alicia Hughes:
Take care. Last but not least, we are going to go to trainer, Mark Casse, who was recently voted into a – into induction into our national event, Racing Hall of Fame. And he also just won his 12th. I believe it is sovereign award for outstanding trainer in Canada. Mark captured last year’s Belmont Stakes with Sir Winston and he is looking to become the first trainers since D. Wayne Lukas won three straight additions at the Belmont from 1994 to ‘96 to take the race in consecutive years. Mark, thank you for joining us today.
Mark Casse:
Oh, thanks for having me.
Alicia Hughes:
You’re – yeah, you’re always my star when it comes to the teleconferences. So it’s always a pleasure to have an excuse to have you on here. I know with Tap It to Win, he was a horse that you guys were high on as a two-year old. And I know he kind of ended that season on a down note. What do you feel has been the big thing that has allowed him to really take the big steps forward that he has so far, is two wins this year?
Mark Casse:
Well, I’ll give you a little history about Tap It to Win, so when he broke his maiden at Saratoga, I told Mrs Weber at that time, I said, ‘I think this colt has a good shot to possibly win the Breeder’s cup that fall.’ I said, but the only thing is, we’re going to have to kind of – it’s going to be a rush. We’re going to have to try to run him two terms as the next start.
And we tried that and he did not handle that at all from a mental standpoint. He broke a little slow, then he took off and fought with Tyler for a half a mile. And that was it. We then came back and tried him again this time in the streets and he did a little similar thing, but what he did at the start, he hit the inside of his inside sesamoid and he gashed himself up badly. So much so that, for a couple weeks afterwards, he couldn’t hardly walk and it turned out that a piece of the bone actually died and we had to go in and operate on him. So that’s – and he was operated on over the wintertime.
I want to say – let’s see, must’ve been the latter part of November, I guess it would have been, or maybe early part. Anyways, and he just came back and we gave him a lot of time, a lot of love and love. And boy, when he came back, he came back with vengeance. He trained – he’s trained extremely well and not only that, but he came back with a much better attitude than he did. So I think that’s, it he’s always shown from the time we got him that he was something that, you know, exceptional.
Alicia Hughes:
Yeah. And I said, I know you’re always a big proponent of the – of the theory of you run them with when they’re good. Did you go into his allowance race at 4th June hoping that it would serve as a springboard to the Belmont Stakes with him? Or did he kind of convince you with the way that he won that, that day, to go ahead and move on to this spot?
Mark Casse:
Well, I went into the race thinking that it could be a springboard to something. I wasn’t sure whether it was going to be the Belmont or the Woody Stevens. And even after the race, it was something that I talked about it a little bit, but Johnny is – Johnny Velazquez was one that kind of convinced me for sure that the Belmont was the way to go. He felt like that he finished with something left and he also – he said he galloped out very strong. So the source has a pedigree that says he can run all day. And he’s a beautiful moving horse. He’s not very big. He’s a more, a little bit on the lean side. And if you look at him, he’s just – he’s not real big, but if you watching him train and you watch him go by, you’ll pick him out because he’s beautiful. Every day, this winter, as he would train, I would just smile and every time he went by and I was like, “I think this horse has to be a good horse.” That’s what I say every day, so –
Alicia Hughes:
Okay. Sounds good, Mark. Like I said, and with that, I will throw it back to our operator, John, and we will check in with the media to see if they have any questions for you.
Operator:
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, if you would like to ask a question, please signal by pressing star followed by one. That is star one to queue for a question. We’ll pause for a brief moment to allow everyone an opportunity to signal for questions. We will move to our first question from David Grening of Daily Racing Form. Please go ahead. Your line is open.
David Grening:
Mark Casse, what’s the feedback so far on how he’s done a week or so after the race? And do you think that his speed is something that you’ll just utilize and say, ‘Hey, if you come with me, you’re in trouble. If you don’t, you’re also in trouble.’
Mark Casse:
Well, we’re going to say, if you come with us, you’re in trouble, we’re not going to convince him to come – yeah. You know what, David? His energy level’s really good. Luckily, I have Shane Tripp up there who has been with me for forever over almost on and off for 30 years. He knows him well. He’s gotten on him all winter long. He’s up there. He gets on him and he’s extremely happy with him. And it’s ideal, to me, I love – I don’t have to [inaudible] back. We just we’re letting him – his energy level get back up and it’s a good cycle too. He had the race down at Golf Stream, which off the long layoff. So that race may have – took a little something out of him. He came back, ran a very strong race, but according to Johnny and he’s written a few good ones, he said that, he was strong on the Gallop out and now it’s the third race in the cycle. I couldn’t ask for much better than that. He’s shown that he likes Belmont and I like our position.
David Grening:
All right. I’ll ask again, we’re getting an enforceable update or are you with him?
Mark Casse:
He breeze – let’s see. He breezed on Friday. It’s 58 and 4, at our training center. I can see, you’ll remember a few years back, we had Classic Empire, and I think everybody kind of thought we were nuts and I said I was going to get him ready. And if you remember, we ran him right off of our place and won the Arkansas Derby. Our plan is to do the same here with Enforceable. We’re going to run him in the bluegrass. That’s our plan and Joel Rosario is going ride him.
David Grening:
Very well. Thank you.
Mark Casse:
Okay.
Operator:
We will now move on to our next question from Dan Ralph of Canadian Press. Please go ahead. Your line is open.
Dan Ralph:
Thank you so much. Mark, I’m wondering what your thoughts are about the Triple Crown this year. The way that it’s – the way COVID has impacted it, not only the race order, but the distances. And I’m wondering if this – how different this is for you heading in?
Mark Casse:
You know what, man? It’s just been – it’s been crazy. I think I’ve told David, David Grening, the other day, I said – I’ve always said training race horses is like putting the puzzle together. This year, it’s been putting a puzzle together with no edges or pic – or a picture. So it’s been crazy. I’m just happy that we’re going to have a Belmont and we’re going to have Preakness or at least I hope we’re going to have Preakness in the Derby. So whatever order it become it’s in, that’s good. You know, I’m fine with that. Obviously, we’ve seen a lot of things happen now. A lot of horses, some good horses have fell to the wayside and so I guess I’m just – I’m also glad it’s a mile and an eighth, because if it was a mile and a half, I don’t think you would – you probably would see – you’d see Tap It to Win running in the Woody Stevens. So I think the key to Tap It to Win is the one turn – the one turn in his ability to get himself together, down the backside.
Dan Ralph:
Is it going to be different doing this race without fans?
Mark Casse:
Oh yeah, of course. You know, that’s all part of it. Last year, with all the people and it’s exciting. But given the circumstance, we’re – I just feel like as I said, we’re fortunate that we’re running. So if we have to do it without fans, then so be it.
Dan Ralph:
Thank you as always.
Mark Casse:
Okay.
Operator:
We will take our next question from Brock Sheridan of the Florida Horse. Please go ahead. Your line is open.
Brock Sheridan:
Thank you very much, Mark, who performed the surgery on a Tap It to Win and can you tell me what leg it was specifically?
Mark Casse:
It was Dr Sloan at Peterson and Smith. He’s been our surgeon for probably over 30 years and it was right front medial.
Brock Sheridan:
Okay. Thank you.
Mark Casse:
Okay.
Operator:
We will move to our next question from Tim Wilkin of Albany Times Union. Please go ahead. Your line is open.
Tim Wilkin:
Hey, Mark.
Mark Casse:
Hi.
Tim Wilkin:
What are your thoughts on the fact that the owners can’t commit? How bad do you feel for the owners that are unable to see these horses run and what could be one of the career highlights for them?
Mark Casse:
Well, It’s disappointing. I mean, we were unfortunate last year. I don’t know if you remember, but Tracy Farmer and Carol Farmer, they weren’t able to come because he was sick. So we had to win the Belmont – we won the Belmont without him, which was so disappointing, but it’s still the Belmont. And like I said, just that we’re running, it speaks volumes. So disappointing but I can tell you, it’s not going to make us want to win it any less. We want to win it. And Mrs Webber is a huge, huge fan of New York racing. And she said to me on more than one occasion, she said the Kentucky Derby would be nice, but I really want to win the Belmont. So it’s a little different Belmont, but I’m sure she’ll be ecstatic to win it. Even if she can’t be there.
Tim Wilkin:
One more for me, Mark, if I could, how formidable is [inaudible]?
Mark Casse:
I’m sorry?
Tim Wilkin:
How formidable is [inaudible] in Belmont, do you think? How tough is he –
Mark Casse:
So he’s, you know – he’s going to be – I think if you beat him, you win.
Tim Wilkin:
Thanks, Mark.
Mark Casse:
Okay.
Operator:
Once again, ladies and gentlemen, if you would like to queue for a question, please do so by pressing star followed by one. We’ll take our next question from Tim Sullivan, the Louisville Courier Journal. Please go ahead. Your line is open.
Tim Sullivan:
Mark, how is your schedule likely to be influenced by the gap between the Belmont and the Derby? Are you looking to race in the middle? And my second question, you shared the video of your granddaughter after the Derby last year and it was pretty funny. I’m wondering if there is another video with her learning that you got into the hall of fame?
Mark Casse:
Oh, I’ll never forget her video. Ruby’s video of showing – telling that they hurt my dad, granddad. No, there is no video yet. I’m hoping that – and I was not disappointed that they decided not to add the Hall of Fame ceremonies this year because I think Ruby and her dad and my daughter will all would love to come. So no, there’s no videos, but maybe. I don’t want any more of those type of videos, made her upset, but – yeah, we’ll go for a happy one.
As far as what happens after the Belmont here and between the Derby, I still – we’re still waiting to see where they’re going to put races. As a – the last time I looked, now, maybe it was out from yesterday, but we still haven’t seen the Stakes scheduled for Saratoga. So it’s – again, it’s kind of hard to do decide, but we would definitely want to get another race into him before the Derby. If he goes to the Derby – Tap It to Win is not even nominated at this point in time. You got to remember, when we did nominations, he had just come out of surgery, you know?
Tim Sullivan
Right. Thank you.
Mark Casse:
Okay.
Operator:
We will take our next question from Brad Stevens of First Racing Nations. Please go ahead. Your line is open.
Brad Stevens:
Yeah, obviously, you had two horses last year – two different horses on to Preakness and the Belmont, how do you think Tap It to Win kind of compares in running style or form or anything like that to War of Will and Mister Winston?
Mark Casse:
That’s a good question. Comparison – there’s no comparison and that’s all – that’s all with Sir Winston. Because Sir Winston had no speed. He kind of just went behind and it took him a long time even to come around.
I mean, he ran six or seven times as a two-year-old and he ran fine latter – in the latter part of his two-year-old year, but, you know, there’s no comparison there. The only comparison I would put is that Sir Winston showed that he liked Belmont and it’s so important, after Sir Winston – I can’t remember what was the name of the race that he ran second in, but at that point in time, I said, you know, ‘Sir, Winston’s going to be a force in the Belmont.’ And, you know, so I think those are the comparisons.
Now comparison to War of Will and Tap it to Win, Tap it to Win’s a smaller version of War of Will. But both – I would say if you looked at War of Will and you graded his – the way he moves, I would – on a scale of one to ten, ten being the best I would give War of Will maybe a nine and Tap it to Win, maybe a nine or even a nine-and-a-quarter. So both horses are great moving horses and very fluid and you can – you can watch them move and tell that there’s something special about them.
Brad Stevens:
Thank you.
Operator:
We will now take our next question from Greg Joyce of the New York Post. Please go ahead. Your line is open.
Greg Joyce:
Hey, Mark. I’m just curious –
Mark Casse:
Hi, Greg.
Greg Joyce:
– last year’s win at Belmont, did that give you any insight or benefit in the training on for this year or I think so different than it kind of throws all that out the window and it’s just a completely new one?
Mark Casse:
Yeah, it’s kind of just – I don’t really think so because we don’t really change a lot of what we do. We do change depending on the horse. And, you know, Greg, obviously we’re going from a – last year was a mile-and-a-half, was a mile-and-an-eight, you know, if the Belmont was a mile-and-a-half on Saturday, I would doubt we would be in it, so, no, not really, not changing anything. He’s pretty simple because he only ran, I think they’re 16 days between races, so we’re just going to go – we’re going to train the exact same way we trained up to his last race. And hope we get – if we get the same performance out of him again as we did two weeks ago, he may not win, but you’ll know he’s been – you’ll know he’s there.
Greg Joyce:
Thanks.
Operator:
We will now move on to our next question from David Grening of Daily Racing Form. Please go ahead. Your line is open
David Grening:
Mark, I want to switch gears for a second and get a thought from you on Friday, you have Jack and Noah in the Stakes here at Belmont going six furlongs on the grass. His last race was very – he did everything, I think his last race is a win, how much better do you think he is – well, having had that race in the go three quarters at Belmont?
Mark Casse:
And he was, you know, he was ready for that race. I think, he’s a really good horse. I was so disappointed that we didn’t get in, you know we were on the A’s for the Breeder’s Cup. We did give him a try, running two turns and at this point in time in his life, he wants to do one thing and that’s go as fast as he can for as long as he can. I was proud of him in his last race at Churchill. He fought back, he – you know, he tried really hard, there was some given the ground and I do – I find that Churchill, there is a bit of an outside bias when you get some rain. And I think had you switched – you know, I’d put – switched the two horses around and may – it may have made us a winner. I still – I think that they’re going to have to run us down, but just a really nice horse named after Gary Barbers’ two grandsons, twins, Jack and Noah. It makes sense.
David Grening:
Do you run Old Chestnut as well? And if so you went and tried the dirt with him and now you’re coming back to a Turf Sprint?
Mark Casse:
Yeah, the problem, David is, you know, with three-year-olds that have already won a Stake, there’s just so – and more so this year than ever. There’s just so few, few opportunities that you end up after a run whatever is there for you. So it’s the cards – you got to play the tough cards that’s dealt to you. That horse is training really well, you should come with a run. Why are we there? We have no other spots.
David Grening:
Thank you. And oh, last thing, Proven Strategies, when you brought him in the – on the –
Mark Casse:
Yes. Yes. Yeah, he’s going to run in the – what? Pennine Ridge is that I believe?
David Grening:
Yeah. Yeah. And just, you know, going up against –
Mark Casse:
These are – I’m sorry?
David Grening:
I said, how do you feel about going up against a horse like Decorated Invader?
Mark Casse:
Well, he’s tough. He’s tough. Our horses run well though, they run well. He’s doing well, he’s matured over the winter and I mean – I mean, I had shipped him everywhere, I went all over with the last minute that we even got – knew we were going to get into the Breeder’s Cup, so he was like getting out to California, maybe – where he get beat two-and-a-half lengths or something, so. And he’s a better horse than he was, he is a better horse now than he was then the problem is, so are the others. So, you know, it’s not going to be easy.
David Grening:
You got a rider for him?
Mark Casse:
We do, Jose Ortiz. That’s a good question, you always ask me.
David Grening:
At certain times, I get your – I – I can’t ride and you can ride. Thank you.
Mark Casse:
Yeah.
David Grening:
Thank you.
Operator:
It appears we have no further questions at this time.
Alicia Hughes:
Thank you. I said – I said – again, Mark, as always, it is – I said it is always a pleasure and a privilege to be able to have you on one of our calls. And selfishly, it is also fun to officially be able to introduce you as a Hall of Fame trainer, Mark Casse.
Mark Casse:
I like that. I like the sound of that. You can do that anytime.
Alicia Hughes:
So I said, Mark again, thank you so much for taking the time out, to speak with us and best of luck this weekend and beyond.
Mark Casse:
And thank you, and everyone have a great day.
Alicia Hughes:
Thank you and –
Operator:
Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes – apologies. Go ahead, Alicia.
Alicia Hughes:
Oh, no. I was just going to say, you know, I just wanted to say that just like – that will do it for this NTRA National Media Teleconference. An audio file of this call will be up later today on ntra.com and a transcript will be up hopefully within about 24 hours after this, after the conclusion of this call.
Once again, we would like to thank our guest today, trainer, Todd Pletcher, owner, Jack Knowlton, and trainer Mark Casse and thank you to you all for participating on our call. Now we will throw it back to our operator, John, to wrap things up.
Operator:
Thank you, Alicia. Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today’s conference call. Thank you for your participation.
You may now disconnect.
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