March 24, 2020
Florida Derby Preview
Guests
- Todd Pletcher, trainer Gouverneur Morris
- Jack Knowlton, owner Tiz the Law
- Michael Trombetta, trainer Independence Hall
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 NTRA Road to the Triple Crown conference call. At this time, all participants are in listen only mode. Following the presentation, we will conduct a question and answer session. At that time, participants are asked to press star one to register for questions. 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 and welcome everyone to this week’s NTRA teleconference on the Road to the Triple Crown. We recognize obviously that everything is very fluid right now given the coronavirus pandemic, but we do have tracks that are marching on with racing without spectators in – with only having essential personnel on the ground. Gulfstream Park is one of those tracks still slated to run this weekend and they have a blockbuster stakes card on tap, which is set to be highlighted by the Grade 1 Florida Derby.
Among those who are set to contest the Florida Derby this weekend are multiple graded-stakes winner Tiz the Law – who’s owned by Jack Knowlton of Sackatoga Stables – and Independence Hall trained by Michael Trombetta. Both Jack and Michael are slated to join us later in this call, but first up we’re going to go to seven-time Eclipse Award winning trainer Todd Pletcher, who is set to settle Gouverneur Morris in the Florida Derby. Todd has won the Florida Derby five times in what is sure to be a featured hall of fame career, most recently taking the race in 2018 with Audible. Todd, thank you so much for joining us today.
Todd Pletcher:
Thank you for having me.
Alicia Hughes:
Todd, before we delve into the, the race itself, just want to get your thoughts on how things are going, and how you all have been able to cope during the current climate in – with everything being so uncertain right now and just how challenging is it as a trainer to try to get horses tight for races that may not even happen?
Todd Pletcher:
Well it’s, you know, it’s been a challenge for everyone and, you know, first and foremost, your concern for everyone’s health and safety and, while you know, it’s obvious imperative that the horses are taken care of on a daily basis, and so that thankfully we’re in a position where our workforce is able to continue doing that, and you know, we haven’t been – we haven’t had to alter too many schedules or anything like that and it’s just been a frustrating time for everyone, and you know, so juggling some horse schedules seems like unimportant stuff considering what’s going on in the rest of the world.
Alicia Hughes:
Absolutely, you know, all that being said, you know, you do have, you know, the, the big news of the, you know, the Derby being postponed and we’re I guess still waiting to see how the rest of the, of the Triple Crown dates are going to sort out. How is that postponement, how is that going to change the way that, you know, get some of your good, three-year-olds ready considering now you’re looking at a forecast of first Saturday in September instead of first Saturday in May?
Todd Pletcher:
Well, I mean, I think it dramatically affects, you know, the race itself, assuming that it’s run in September. Just, you know, there’s going to be a number of horses that were perhaps sitting on peak performances in the next couple of months that, you know, might not be in peak form in September, and then you’re going to see some other horses that might benefit from the additional four months that, you know, weren’t even on the trail at the moment, or certainly weren’t gonna be in a position to earn enough points to get in. So it will, it will have an enormous impact on, you know, the, the actual Derby that’s run itself with who may or may not be in there and you know, what kind of form they’re in at that time. So yeah, I don’t think you could emphasize enough how big of a change it makes to the race.
Alicia Hughes:
Definitely. Definitely. So, well Todd, it looks like we’ve got a lot of media on, so I will jump out of the way here and I will throw it back and check in with our operator and see if they have any questions for you today.
Operator:
Thank you. If you wish to ask a question, please signal by pressing star one. We will now take our first question from Liz Mullen from Sports Business Journal. Please go ahead. Your line is open.
Liz Mullen:
Yes, hello, Mr. Pletcher, everyone on the call. My question really has to do with the – with the pandemic we’re in right now. And I don’t know if he could answer, if anyone else could answer, but I want to understand what is happening with the horses because in the last call I believe Mr. Waldrop was saying you don’t want to move the horses. You want to keep them where they are. And I’m wondering what sort of safety precautions are being taken where racing is happening, and you know, making sure the backstretch workers and everyone else who’s around the horses does not have this virus.
Todd Pletcher:
So I think there, there are some tracks who have a limited horses or prevented horses coming from different locations onto the grounds, but to my knowledge, I don’t think the horses are carriers or can pass it along from person to horse or a horse, a person. So I think that the biggest concern was a lot of the movement of the horses is with the people, you know, handling the horses and they’re trying to limit the limit the – as much exposure to new people as, as anything else.
Liz Mullen:
All right, thank you. And one more question. The fact that we don’t know when the Triple Crown will be run and the way horses develop, if we were to have a Triple Crown winner in 2020, Do you think there will be an asterisk besides his horse’s name? What do you think of what may happen if we, of course racing is able to run these three races later in the year?
Todd Pletcher:
I guess that would be up to every individual to make their own decisions about that type of stuff. I don’t -personally haven’t spent much time thinking about that at the moment.
Liz Mullen:
Alright. Thank you very much.
Todd Pletcher:
Thank you.
Operator:
We will now take our next question from Stephen Whyno of The Associated Press. Please go ahead.
Stephen Whyno:
Hey Todd, thank you very much for doing this. I want to kind of follow up on something Alicia asked you. Just when you’re planning out the next several months with a potential Kentucky Derby 2020, 5th September 2020 and maybe Triple Crown right after that, how does that affect kind of how you’re planning now, Gouverneur Morris’s road, other horse’s road to a potential Triple Crown, maybe a Travers scene a prep race. How does this kind of change the next several months for you?
Todd Pletcher:
Well, I think right now it’s too early to say, I don’t know that the NYRA’s even released what they’re what their new schedule is, and I’m not sure that a, they’re in a position to do so with the enormity of the situation in New York at the moment so it’s impossible to say. I think, you know, right now what you’re looking at like in a lot of other cases is you’re, you’re trying to get a horse prepared for, for its upcoming race whether that’s this week or in a couple of weeks, and if you’re able to get those races in, then you get that much closer to making a decision on what you may or may not do in September, but you know, in life and in horseracing, four months is an awfully long time so when you’re talking about changing a schedule from, you know, trying to prepare a horse for a race on 2nd May 2020 to it’s now in September, it’s a little too far out to really say exactly what you’re going to do, I think especially in the uncertainty of with everything going on at the moment.
Stephen Wyno:
Thank you.
Operator:
As a reminder, it is star one to ask a question. We will now take our next question from Tim Wilkin of Albany Times Union. Please go ahead.
Tim Wilkin:
Hey Todd. I’m with everything that’s going on in the world, do you think in all the sports that have been canceled, do you think racing should be going on right now?
Todd Pletcher:
Well, you know, I think as long as we feel like that it’s safe for the participants involved and I think everybody’s taken the appropriate measures through the, you know, the screening of personnel that are working and the jockeys and everyone that’s you know, coming within contact of one another. I think it’s, it’s, it’s critical to the economy of racing that you know, if we can, we can continue racing, it’s certainly great for the economy as long as it’s safer for all the participants then yes.
Tim Wilkin:
I wanted to ask you, Todd, how important is it – I mean, people might not realize – that, that these horses are able to get the daily exercises? I mean, ‘cause you know, like in New York, they’re not running races now, but these horses still have to get out every morning. How important is it that horses get to get their exercise every day?
Todd Pletcher:
I think it’s critical that they, they are able to get out and move around and exercise. I mean these are high-end athletes that are really primed to, you know, to, to raise and, you know, their bodies are set on a clock where they’re, they’re accustomed to training on a daily basis and you know, potentially when you’re unable to do that you can encounter some colic episodes and other, other issues that you know, can become a real problem. So, you know, by being able to maintain a steady, steady course of exercise, I think obviously trainers are going to adjust their schedules a little bit, lighten up their training a little bit, lighten up their feeding programs a little bit, take some precautions that way. But you know, in order to maintain that routine and be able to get out and exercise daily and keep their bodies functioning properly, that’s very, very important.
Tim Wilkin:
Thanks Todd. Good luck.
Todd Pletcher:
Thank you.
Operator:
We will now take our next question from Tom Jicha of Horse Race Insider. Please go ahead.
Tom Jicha:
Todd, hi. I have a couple of questions. Will the situation in New York and Kentucky influence your, your shipping? Will you stay in Florida longer, I guess is what I want to say.
Todd Pletcher:
Absolutely. We, you know, we keep a majority of our horses at Palm Beach Downs for the winter and a lot of times we’ll keep them into April or May here, and I think until we kind of have an idea of what the racing schedules in Kentucky and New York look like, we’ll try to stay here as long as possible, and you know, once we, once we get a better idea of what the schedules are, then we’ll – we’ll look to move North like we normally do for the, for the summer. But you know, right now we’re not making any long-term plans. We’re just sort of taking it day by day and, you know, constantly waiting for updates, but you know, we’re fortunate to be in a situation where we have good, safe training conditions here at Palm beach Downs and you know, so we’ll, we’ll stay here as long as we need to.
Tom Jicha:
And, and toward the Triple Crown, I mean, right now I haven’t Gouverneur Morris is going to race Saturday and you have other horses. I’m sure that you’re appointed to. Do you know where you go next? And I mean that at face value. I’m not, you know. How do you plan where you’re going after this with these horses? I mean, there’s no other races.
Todd Pletcher:
Yeah, yeah. No, I don’t, I don’t think you can have any further plans. Yeah. Arkansas scheduled for 2nd May 2020 now, but you know, I think at this point we’re, we’re not looking beyond, you know, the next possible race on Saturday and just like I said, you know, main concern is for the health of all the participants and your employees and your family and the rest of the world, and, you know, there’s, there’s much larger things going on than horse racing, but, you know, this is what we do, and so we’re going to, you know, try to execute our game plan as best we can. But it’s, it’s certainly not a time to be thinking too much about what you’re going to be doing a month from now or two months from now. And, you know, you just literally take it day by day and … and do the best you can with it.
Tom Jicha:
Thank you very much.
Todd Pletcher:
Thank you.
Operator:
And there are no further questions at this time.
Alicia Hughes:
Todd, before we go ahead –
Operator:
We actually do have one.
Alicia Hughes:
Oh, we have one more. Go ahead.
Operator:
We do have one more from Hal Habib of Palm Beach Post. Please go ahead.
Hal Habib:
Hi Todd. I – obviously you’ve been involved in races, you know, in Kentucky, 100,000 fans looking on and cheering for your horses. I read a quote recently from a trainer who said he was in the winner’s circle at an empty track and, wondering if he was supposed to imagine what the fans’ cheering might be like. And I’m wondering for you, what is that like, the atmosphere when you’re at a racetrack now and there’s nobody there?
Todd Pletcher:
Well, it’s, it’s certainly, certainly different, but you know, I do feel good about the fact that you know, we’re, we’re able to go through with some races and, you know, I’m sure there’s a lot of people that are watching them on TV and, and you know, I think hopefully that’s providing an outlet during a time where people are certainly looking for one. So, you know, I try to draw a positive from that, but it’s certainly a different feel at the racetrack without, without any attendance.
Hal Habib:
Thank you.
Operator:
And we have one final question from Victor Ryan of Horse Racing Nation. Please go ahead.
Victor Ryan:
Yeah, hi Todd. I’m just wanting to ask you about Candy Tycoon. He’s kind of been under the radar at this point. He’s a Colt that you started relatively early in August. It took him five starts to break his maiden. He seems much improved as a three-year-old. Can you kind of talk about his development?
Todd Pletcher:
Yeah, he’s actually been a little bit of a frustration to us. We felt like Saratoga, we trained exceptionally well before his debut and it took him a little while to kind of get to where we thought he might be. Want to say that, you know, his last race in the Fountain of Youth, even though he was, he was beaten eight and a half lengths, he was still second, and you know, we thought that was an improved upward. He kind of came from a little bit off the pace, which may be, is a, you know, a tactic that he’s, he’s been looking for. So he’s he’s trained forwardly for this. We’re going to give it a try, and I think you know, if everything sets up, like it could – based on the way the pace figures look – that it gets a good solid pace to run out, I think that would, that would certainly improve his chances.
Victor Ryan:
Okay, great. Thank you.
Operator:
And there are no further questions at this time.
Alicia Hughes:
Todd, before we let you go, I just wanted to ask you one more question. Obviously, you have – about your colt for the Florida Derby with Gouverneur Morris. Just talk a little bit about the decision to bring them back in an, in an allowance race at the start of the year instead of going into, right straight into one of those derby prep races.
Todd Pletcher:
Well, one of the things that we’ve felt like coming into the end of the spring and we were making all these plans assuming that the Derby was going to be run on first Saturday in May, but we felt like that for his development purposes coming into the Kentucky Derby in his third start was going to be the best way to prepare him for his best effort, and so we decided to go to the Tampa allowance race, which we’ve had success going through Champagnes here in the past and you know, Always Dreaming and Super Saver both made starts there as three-year-olds. So we felt like that was the best plan, and you know, we put ourselves in a position at that time where we might only have the opportunity to run in one point, one race that you know, was going to gain points. So something that we talked about with team Valor and, and WinStar and everyone felt comfortable with that plan that you know, felt like if we got to the Florida Derby or the bluegrass or the wood or whatever his final crop was going to be that if he finished in the top two, that would earn enough points and if he was able to do that, we would get in. And if he didn’t, then he probably you know, needed a little more time to get there. So that was the plan, and you know, you always, you gotta be prepared to make some adjustments along the way and just felt like, based on the strength of his last breeze that, that he’s ready to go and Florida Derby’s right in front of us. And you know, in uncertain times like this, we felt like we need to go ahead and take what’s right in front of us now as opposed to possibly waiting around for something else.
Alicia Hughes:
Definitely. So, Todd, I know, I know you’re, you’re busy as always, but again, thank you again so much for taking the time out to join us and give us some wisdom and some insight into everything that’s going on right now.
Todd Pletcher:
You’re welcome. Thank you.
Alicia Hughes:
Thanks again Todd. Best of luck with everything. Stay safe. And next up we are going to go to Jack Knowlton who knows all about life on the Derby trail. Jack and his partners with Sacatoga famously took the sport by storm in 2003 when their charge Funny Cide captured the Derby and the Preakness on route to winning the divisional championship and that team including trainer Barclay Tagg is back at the forefront this year with the highly regarded Tiz the Law. Tiz the Law won the Grade 1 Champagne stakes last year and opened up his sophomore campaign with a very impressive win in the Grade 3 Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream Park. Jack, thank you so much for joining us today.
Jack Knowlton:
Hi, you’re welcome. Great to be on.
Alicia Hughes:
Thanks again, Jack. Again, I’m going to first and foremost, just wanted to ask you how you and your team are adjusting to this new, new reality, I guess we can call it. I know you mentioned the other day that you can’t even go out and see your own horse train and we don’t know what the full prep schedule is going to look like going forward. So just how are you guys dealing with everything?
Jack Knowlton:
Well, I’m hunkered down here in Hallandale Beach. I’ve been down for the last week and a half, and you know, my usual routine is to, you know, go up to Palm Meadows anytime that one of the horses that we have – we have four up there – they’re going to breeze and sometimes I’ll, I’ll just go up on other days as well. And every day going over to the Gulfstream where they’re racing. So it’s been a big adjustment to, you know, to my schedule personally and given you know, what’s going on in our world, you know, in New York – which is our home state – which has been, you know, devastated by this and continues to be, and even here, we’re in the epicenter in Florida, in Broward County, but you know, I’m going through and what the, you know, the rest of our team is going through really is somewhat trivial given the state of the world right now.
Alicia Hughes:
Absolutely. So switching to a happier note with your very talented colt with Tiz – colt with Tiz the Law, you know, his win in the Holy Bull Stakes was such a great effort. I know he ended his, his sophomore season with the loss of the Kentucky jockey club, and there may be some people who are, you know, have a little bit of questions that, you know, coming out of that race. How, how satisfying was it to see him kind of go out there and, and, and let you guys know that he was who you thought he was, so to speak with Holy Bull win.
Jack Knowlton:
Now I tell everybody, it was a very long eight weeks going from the Kentucky Jockey Club to the Holy Bull because you know, we, you know, felt that you know, he was, you know, a very special Horace not only when he won the Champagne, but the way he broke his maiden at Saratoga. And unfortunately, we, we just hit a race that things didn’t go our way at Churchill. The rain would not relent. The longer the day went to, you know, the sloppier the track got and he got stuck down inside and that really wasn’t, you know, the best of trips for him. So basically, that was one where I think all of us just said, you know, you draw our line through that race. Even though we only got beat three quarters of a length, what it prevented, I think was, you know, the, the real possibility he could have gotten the Eclipse Award as a two year old had he won that race. But fortunately, he came out of the race in good order and you know, Barclay did a, did a great job getting him trained up for the, for the Holy Bull. And I think, you know, in that race he, he went really beyond expectations. We were confident. We thought that you know, he was a horse that, you know, could win that race, but to win it as impressively as he did, and you know, against some of the numbers that that he got you know, Beyer Speed Figure, and some of the other numbers was you know, very rewarding for us. And it I think validated the fact that you know, he is one of the ones that should be in the starting gate first Saturday now in September.
Alicia Hughes:
Sounds good, Jack. Like I said, we’ve got a bunch of media on. So with that, I’m going to throw it back to the operator and checking to see if they have any questions for you.
Operator:
Thank you. As a reminder of it is star one to ask a question. We will now take our first question from Danny Brewer of HorseRacing.com. Please go ahead.
Danny Brewer:
Jack, how are you doing?
Jack Knowlton:
I’m good, I’m good. That said, going to hunker down here in South Florida. The weather’s great. I can get outside and walk around, but you know, like most parts of the country or a lot of parts of the country, life is anything but normal for sure.
Danny Brewer:
So you’re just chasing bikinis from a distance.
Jack Knowlton:
A long distance. All the beaches around that’s are closed. You know, in Hallandale Beach, all the beaches around here are closed. And unfortunately, Broward County, which is where Gulfstream is, is kind of the epicenter of you know, the virus in Florida. So things are, you know, pretty, pretty quiet, pretty closed up, but at least we can get outdoors.
Danny Brewer:
When we talk about the sport of horse racing and all of the – you, you’re such a great story. What, what has this sport done for, for you and your life?
Jack Knowlton:
Well, clearly it has given me the opportunity to make a tremendous number of friends that I otherwise wouldn’t have. I mean, we not only through our Sacatoga partners, I have between 40 and 50 people involved in, in our four horses that we currently have. 31 of them in addition to me are – have ownership interest in Tiz the Law. So that is certainly you know, one of the biggest things and then just the opportunity to interact as I am today. I mean, having had Funny Cide and winning the Kentucky Derby gave me the opportunity to really enjoy the sport at the highest level. I’ve gone back to the Derby each year. I’ve been going to the Preakness for probably 25 years. Same with the Belmont. Same with the Breeder’s Cup so I, you know, get to be a, a fan, but do it kind of at a different level than I would be able to if I hadn’t had the opportunity to have a horse like Funny Cide, and now, you know, totally unexpectedly you know, having a horse that we’re hopeful we’ll be able to, to run in the next Kentucky Derby.
Danny Brewer:
When, when you think about, I mean, are there any parallels – I know each horse is different, each year is different. Are there any parallels? Are you, are you pacing yourself on, hey, can we do this again? Or, can you talk about that for just a moment?
Jack Knowlton:
Well, never in my life, once Funny Cide retired in 2007 did I expect that Sacatoga would have a horse that we could even, you know, be thinking about the Derby. We buy – usually one horse, maybe two horses a year. We don’t spend a lot of money and we always buy New York bred. So you know, we’re, we’re not in the game to, to try and get a horse to go to the Kentucky Derby. What we’re hoping for is to have a, a horse that can run in the New York bred stakes races, and if we’re successful doing that, we see that as kind of being the, you know, the, the top level that our expectations are. Obviously in this game, you just don’t know. The parallel really between these two horses more than anything else is they both came out of first crop sires that turned out to be tremendous sires and we got the opportunity to buy them 75 cents or $75 for funny side and you know, $110,000 for Tiz. And you know, you can’t get horses from established sires, you know, for those kinds of prices, you know, when they have a good catalog badge[?], if they, you know, do well and you know, the breezes, it’s two year old sales. So we have just been extraordinarily sometimes and getting those first crop sires.
Danny Brewer:
Well, I, I think you folks know how to get a New York bred to win the Kentucky Derby. So I wish you the best of luck, man, and I appreciate all you’ve done for the sport.
Jack Knowlton:
Well, thank you very much. I appreciate that.
Operator:
And as a reminder, it is star one to ask a question. We will now take our next question from Tim Wilkin of Albany Times Union. Please go ahead, Tim. Your line is open. You may be on mute, Tim. Please, please unmute your phone. We’ll move on with our next from Tom Jicha of Horse Race Insider. Please go ahead.
Tom Jicha:
Jack, hi.
Jack Knowlton:
Hi.
Tom Jicha:
Florida Derby’s – Florida Derby has always been, they call it a prep and million-dollar prep, but for the, for the Kentucky Derby this year, obviously it’s not. How does that change the way you approach the race? I mean, you don’t have to save everything for a race in five weeks.
Jack Knowlton:
Well, it really hasn’t changed anything. We had targeted this, this race for our next race after the Holy Bull. You know, everything that Barclay is done and getting him prepared for this race really hasn’t changed. I mean, for us, you know, this is the race that we had targeted. This is a race that we really were you know, hoping and still do hope that it would be the race that would get us a number of points that we would need to put us over the top and get into the Kentucky Derby. We’re still hoping that. You know, even though the Derby now has been moved four months if we can, you know, be successful here first or second, I think would guarantee that we’d have enough points. Third would probably put us in a, in a nervous situation with 42. So that’s really what our game plan is. There is no game plan beyond that. Buckley and I have talked about it, but you know, nobody knows what any next races may be. I think that, you know, Todd talked about that earlier. Really, it’s a blank sheet in front of us with no idea, you know, where we go, what we do. I certainly would hope that things would work out in a way that we’d be able to run into Travers. Obviously they, NYRA would have to change the schedule for the Travers in order for that to happen. But you know, anything before that that’s four months away really is up in the air. I don’t think anybody has any idea what the landscape’s going look like after the Arkansas Derby.
Tom Jicha:
And as long as you brought up the Travers, I know you’re from Saratoga, most of the Sacatoga Stables is from there. Have you any discussion with your people or the people you know back home about the unthinkable that there would be no Saratoga this summer?
Jack Knowlton:
Well, I mean, we, we really haven’t. I don’t think any of us want to even think about that eventuality. Unfortunately, you know, every day I watch Governor Cuomo give his briefing in New York and it’s a very scary situation. They’re obviously the epicenter of you know, the virus and we’re, we’re all hopeful that you know, some of the steps that are going to be taken. They’re going to, you know, let us get back at least to semi-normal life in racing at Saratoga come July. But there’s, there’s no guarantee of that at this point.
Tom Jicha:
Thank you very much.
Jack Knowlton:
You’re welcome.
Operator:
We will now take our next question from Tim Reynolds of Associated Press. Please go ahead.
Tim Reynolds:
Hi Jack. I’m down here as well. I’m in Miami and you had alluded earlier that South Florida kind of is the epicenter for, for this thing, in this state anyway. The numbers here are just much higher than everywhere else in the state. Are you concerned about being here, Jack?
Jack Knowlton:
No. I’m really not. We’re taking all the precautions. I’m here with my wife and my 12-year-old grandson and you know, basically we, we stick around the condo. We do have a pool here that we can use. And I you get out and, you know, go to the grocery store, go to the pharmacy. But other than that, we’re pretty much isolated and we, you know, take the precautions; washing hands and using hand sanitizer and things like that that the experts tell us we should be knowing.
Tim Reynolds:
Thank you, sir.
Operator:
Now we will take our next question from Mitchell Gibbs of WGSO Radio. Please go ahead.
Mitchell Gibbs:
Hey, Jack. It’s great talking to you. We met actually at the Pegasus last year, but I’ve written a lot of this stuff down in New Orleans about the fact that we’re wanting all these prep races for the Derby or some of them, not all of them, but most and that we’re not going to run the Kentucky Derby. So my question is I guess one, if they’re not going to do the Derby in its normal sequence, why are they running these prep races? Do you think that they just don’t want to run the Derby without the fans there? And is this all going to be a point if they shut them down? Maybe after next weekend after Santa Anita Derby? So I just want to get your thoughts on those issues? Hello?
Jack Knowlton :
Hello? I lost your, I lost you briefly.
Mitchell Gibbs:
Okay. Do you want me to repeat the question?
Jack Knowlton:
You, yeah, go ahead. Yes, please.
Mitchell Gibbs:
All right. So what I’m saying is, ‘cause you know, I talked to some people at the fairgrounds before they shut the meet down after the Louisiana Derby last – this past Saturday. But my question is do you think the Kentucky Derby did not want to run partially in its normal sequence because there would be no fans there? Because they we’re doing all the other Kelby prep races now without, okay. Well, I’m trying. I’m just asking you if you think that we should be running prep races if we’re running the Derby or the issue with the fans not being at the Derby if there’s going to be a Kentucky Derby. Did you hear the question?
Operator:
Please bear with us one moment while we get Jack back on the line. Okay. Can I confirm Jack that you can hear me?
Jack Knowlton:
Yes, I can.
Operator:
Great, so we, we have one more question for you from David Grening of Daily Racing Form. Please go ahead.
David Grening:
Hey Jack. I was just curious where are you going to watch the race from and will you have any Sacatoga people with you?
Jack Knowlton:
There might be one. What I’m not certain of yet is whether I know, you know, I can’t be inside the, the fence at Gulfstream. Whether I would be able to watch it, you know, along the rail in the stretch, I don’t know yet. If that’s possible, that’s where I want to be. If not, I’ll be in my condo you know, about a mile away from Gulfstream watching it and you know, on television, I mean, we, we plan probably 60 or 70 of our people were going to be down for the race. Obviously, the world changed the, all of our plans. So that’s, that is my, my plan as of now.
David Grening:
I know this is hypothetical and if you had to make a choice later in the year between the Travers or the Derby, how would you go about doing that if either didn’t change the date.
Jack Knowlton:
Well, obviously that’s a, that’s a tough, tough question that you know, thought about a little bit. That’s an awful long way off. You know, my, my biggest regret and, and you know, a great run with Funny Cide was the fact that, you know, we had to scratch out of the Travers because he, you know, had issues that came as a result of running in the Haskell. We’d like, you know, obviously loved to run into Travers being a hometown horse and a lot of our partners are from Saratoga, but, you know, the Kentucky Derby is the Kentucky Derby. I mean you know, having a chance to go back to that, which arguably is the race that everybody in the world wants to be in, obviously, and win.
I’m hoping it doesn’t come to that, you know, my, my biggest concern, and I understand, you know, why Churchill did what it did was that, you know, there, there was a, you know, some discussion and a plan put in place, you know, among all of the parties so that at least, you know, tentatively maybe they could have put a race schedule out there that people could look at and say, no, yeah, this, this makes sense, and you know, let’s, let’s go with it. Obviously, everybody has to adjust what’s going on in in our lives now, but that would have been nice. We’ll see. I would certainly hope that it doesn’t come to a situation where, you know, we’re going to not be able to run in and both, and obviously the only way we could run in both as for NYRA to make a change, maybe flip with a, with the Whitney or something like that.
David Grening:
Got you. Thank you. And best of luck and stay safe.
Jack Knowlton:
Thank you. Appreciate it.
Operator:
And there are no further questions at this time.
Alicia Hughes:
Okay. Hi everybody. Sorry. Thank you for hanging in for the technical problems today. Like I said, last but not least, we are going to go to trainer Michael Trombetta who has very promising Independence Hall set for this weekend. Independence Hall most recently won his first three career starts including the Grade 3 Nashua Stakes. He was most recently, second in the Grade 3 Sam F. Davis. Michael, are you there with us right now?
Michael Trombetta:
Yes, I am.
Alicia Hughes:
Hey Michael, thank you again for hanging in and for joining our calls, our call today. First and foremost, we’ve got, I’ve been checking in with everybody. Just wanted to ask you how you are coping, how your barn is coping with the ongoing challenges that everybody’s facing with trying to conduct business as usual given the, the current climate.
Michael Trombetta:
Well, it’s a whole new set of challenges for us and we’re just trying to get to this weekend and see if we can’t get this race in.
Alicia Hughes:
Yeah, this is definitely a situation of taking what’s in front of you right now as far as a race options. The Sam F. Davis was his last race, I know it was his first time going behind a mile. While he didn’t win that day, he was well clear as a third-place finisher. How do you kind of evaluate what you saw from him that day and what are you, what are you hoping to see from him going forward?
Michael Trombetta:
Well, we were hoping for a little bit of a better result, but it was his first to two-term race. He, you know, he had a few excuses that we could build on. It was very lively paced. He chased that pace. Probably paid for it a little bit towards the end. And for whatever it’s worth, he did lose his shoe in the race, which was something that we can’t control, but we’d rather not had that happen. So, you know, we’ve, we moved him on down here to Gulfstream. He did get a breeze over to track. He seems to be doing well and we’d like to give it a chance on Saturday.
Alicia Hughes:
Sounds good. Sounds good, I say. Michael, I was going to go throw it back to the operator and we will check in with the media to see if they have any questions for you.
Michael Trombetta:
Sounds good.
Operator:
Thank you. If you ask a question, please signal by pressing star one. We will now take our first question from Mitchell Gibbs of WGSO radio. Please go ahead.
Mitchell Gibbs:
Hey Michael. I tried to ask this question to Jack, but there was a technical issue. But my question is, and your thoughts on this. We’re running these prep races and I guess we’re going to try to get through at least to the semi of the Derby next weekend, but they’re not gonna run the Kentucky Derby in the normal sequence. So my question is do you think that the Derby does want spectators there? That’s one of the reasons why, beyond the health issues, why they don’t want to run the Derby? And do you, what do you think about running these prep races when we’re not going to have the Derby probably till the fall?
Michael Trombetta:
Well, I guess the prep races are important to the, to the tracks as well because they’re just part of what they’re hoping is a huge day for them. So, you know, there are many other good races that are gonna run as well other than the Derby preps. So, you know, they’d like to tie that all together and hopefully get in whatever they can to build whatever business they can before ultimately, they, they could be shut down temporarily. And as far as the Derby goes, I mean, we can all surmise that, you know, a large portion of the revenue comes from ticket sales. So I can’t blame them one bit for pushing that on down the line until a time when things get back to normal and everyone can enjoy it the way they’re supposed to.
Mitchell Gibbs:
Okay. Thank you.
Operator:
As a reminder, it is star one to ask a question. We will now take our next question from Danny Brewer of HorseRacingSkills.com.
Danny Brewer:
Michael, how are you today?
Michael Trombetta:
Very good. Thank you.
Danny Brewer
Independence Hall, what do you like best about him?
Michael Trombetta:
Oh, that’s a good question. He’s, you know … I just don’t know how far he’s going to take us. There’s so much upside to him. He’s handled everything real well to this point. For any thoroughbred that’s, you know, had four races at the level that he’s had to race at and he’s only had one defeat, I still believe there’s a tremendously huge upside and, you know, I, I look forward to seeing it out.
Danny Brewer:
Whenever you look back – like the Nashville was one of his really, really super impressive performances. How much do you think you’ve progressed from that? I mean, he looked great there, but how much do you think he’s progressed physically, mentally, all those things that it takes to make a great horse?
Michael Trombetta:
He’s making progress. The Nashville was just a, you know, super race for a horse in that early in his career. It was real unlikely to come back and duplicate that kind of performance. He did come back and perform well enough to win but didn’t run quite as fast as he did in the Nashville. And I’m hoping with this time and continued training and getting ready for the races that lie ahead, that he can in fact find that form that he did in the Nashville.
Danny Brewer:
Well, I certainly do wish you the best of luck and I appreciate your time.
Michael Trombetta:
Thank you.
Operator:
We’ll now take our next question from Tom Jicha of Horse Race Insider.
Tom Jicha:
Yes. Michael, I’m going to ask a question. I asked him, Mr. Pletcher a little while ago. Other years, this was the last race before the big race. So you, you approached it differently. You didn’t want to empty your horse. Now that it’s, you don’t know when there’ll be another race, how – does it change the way you approach the race?
Michael Trombetta:
Not for us because we’ve given our guys plenty of space in between. We haven’t really jammed his schedule up tight where he’s racing every three or four weeks. So it looks like we’re not going to be possibly doing a whole lot of racing soon after this weekend, if in fact we get to that so you know, we’re hoping for a big race and I’m sure it’s going to set up to be a good one.
Tom Jicha:
Do you have any idea where you’re going to go next?
Michael Trombetta:
Thinking a whole lot past this weekend is very likely to give you a probably a pretty strong headache. So we’re just gonna try to get through Saturday and then have some hopefully great discussions on what could be next.
Tom Jicha:
All right. And one last question is to kind of like a response to what you said. You’re the second person on this call is that if we get through this weekend. do you wake up every morning and check that the governor of Florida hasn’t said to Gulfstream, okay, that’s enough.
Michael Trombetta:
I can’t tell you how many times in the course of the day I turn on the television or check Twitter or whatever because you know, that is a real worry because we’ve seen it happen in multiple other jurisdictions. You know, so I, I’m, I’m hoping that things turn the corner and it gets better for all of us for so many reasons.
Tom Jicha:
Thank you very much.
Michael Trombetta:
You’re welcome.
Operator:
Our next question comes from David Grening of Daily Racing Form. Please go ahead.
David Grening:
Hi Michael.
Michael Trombetta:
Hi David.
David Grening:
I just was wondering, you know, he’s had some issues pre-race behavior, paddock and such. Are you, where do you think you are with that or is it just you won’t know until Saturday afternoon?
Michael Trombetta:
Well, I’m estimating those probably to be about 40 spectators and people that are there to watch. So it should be pretty quiet. I’m hoping that helps me.
David Grening:
Is there anything you’d been able to do to try and replicate these situations? Are you schooling a lot? Even in Tampa when you still had, you know, people running around.
Michael Trombetta:
Yeah, we did school him in Tampa quite a bit and he was much better last time. He did get himself a little bit worked up, but not nearly as bad as he did in New York. So, you know, he’s, he’s just an aggressive type of individual. When he gets around other horses, you know, he tends to get his game face on and start to get very serious. So hopefully with the situation here as it is now, it kinda helps us at least, you know, it’s something that we’re dealing with and working with. But other than that he’s done everything really well.
David Grening:
And I was also just going to ask you, are you able to – you know, you’re based in Maryland at the training center there at Fair Hill. Are there any restrictions on you being able to go back there with, with him in your other horses? Or is that what your plan is to go back, you know, with him and your other horses?
Michael Trombetta:
That is the tentative plan and as of now, no, there’s no restrictions. It’s just you know, right now, there’s no racing in the mid-Atlantic anywhere. So, you know, we’re on hold and I guess it’s anybody’s guess for how long that’s going to be.
David Grening:
I appreciate it and best of luck this Saturday.
Michael Trombetta:
Thank you.
Operator:
There are no further questions.
Alicia Hughes:
Oh. Michael again, I said I know that these are busy times and trying times, so I just want to thank you for taking the time out to, to come on today’s call and, and share your, your perspective and your knowledge with everybody today.
Michael Trombetta:
Thank you very much. No problem.
Alicia Hughes:
Thanks again Michael. As I said, continued best of luck with everything they face out there.
Michael Trombetta:
All right, thanks again. Bye bye.
Alicia Hughes:
Bye. And that will do it for today’s NTRA National Media teleconference. Thank you to everybody for hanging in with us. An audio file of this call will be up later today on NTRA.com and a transcript will be up there tomorrow approximately 24 hours following the conclusion of this call. Once again, we would like to thank Todd Pletcher, Jack Knowlton and Michael Trumbetta for joining us and thank you and thanks again to all of you for participating today. We are, again, tentatively slated to be back on March 31st to preview the Santa Anita Derby, though I don’t need to tell you all, things are fluid and can change at any given moment. So, but I said, we hope to be back next week and now back to our operator to wrap things up.
Operator:
Thank you. That concludes the call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.
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