Down The Stretch Podcast

April 22 was Opening Day of the thoroughbreds at Woodbine and this podcast is all over it. We talk with first race winner Amanda Vandermeersch and her fellow apprentice rider, Sofia Vives. Robert Geller shows he’s game ready in the broadcast booth and fans grabbed their free Woodbine fanny packs to stuff with their winnings. Raj Maharajh explains how a palace intruder and a Trinidad Calypso star helped him name his two-year-old Sovereign Award winner. Philip My Dear. James Macdonald continues to crush it at Mohawk – he scored hattricks on both Friday and Saturday. Less than two weeks until the Kentucky Derby, but we have a debuting two-year-old who popped huge at Keeneland. And we embarrass race analyst, Andy Serling who emphatically claimed a certain horse could not win. Guess what happened?

We have complete coverage of the 48th Sovereign Awards, including interviews with Kevin Attard, Bruno Schickedanz, Kazushi Kimura and Slade Jones. The always accessible Jim Lawson explains his reasons for stepping down as Woodbine’s CEO. Harness trainer Teesha Symes went 4 for 4 at two tracks recently, but gave Peter Gross blowback when it was suggested it was the greatest night of her career. It was last chance time for Kentucky Derby candidates – the Lexington Stakes at Keeneland. Mohawk ran three legs of the Ontario Sired Graduate Series. James MacDonald continues to win in bunches and we couldn’t resist having some fun when a horse named Somebody ran at Parx.

This podcast has a nice package of Canadians cashing $US at Gulfstream - Chantal Sutherland, Mike DePaulo, Marty Drexler and Bruno Schickedanz. We go to Aqueduct, Keeneland and Santa Anita for Kentucky Derby preps; wait until you hear what the winner of the Wood memorial paid!

With just a few days until the April 13 Sovereign Awards, we break down the more significant categories; can you say Moira?

There’s controversy at the Meadowlands and it concerns some rules about what drivers can and cannot do in a race and both writer John Berry and driver Scott Zeron tell Down The Stretch the potential punishment is excessive.

How many pop stars have made it as jockey? Troy Hearn has been trying to win a thoroughbred race for over 20 years, but as Troy Fernandes, he’s found the YouTube winners circle as an appealing singer.

It was Easter weekend, and at Mohawk Saturday night, Doug McNair carved out the sign of the beast - 3 straight wins, all from post 6. And how about that ‘tip’ that God himself gave the Aqueduct bettors on Good Friday?

Chantal Sutherland was on a 14-1 winner at Gulfstream. Nick Gonzalez cashed in Hallandale and Cheifswood’s Weyburn took down a Stakes race. An amazing Saturday at Gulfstream as the Ortiz brothers, Irad and Jose won 10 of the 14 races, including the Florida Derby. We also have the Arkansas Derby from Oaklawn. Jockey Steven Bahen talks about his career after announcing his retirement at the age of 56. Does that mean there is an opportunity for another good rider? Jockey Ryan Munger e-mailed audio from South Africa, explaining why he's coming to Woodbine this year. Trainer Josie Carroll commiserates with host Peter Gross over the probability neither of them will win the Sovereign Award in their respective categories. James MacDonald won 6 at Mohawk Saturday night, including both New Holland Series finals and when you hear our interview with 11-time Sovereign Award-winning writer, Curtis Stock, you will want to get a copy of his latest book about the 5 Turcotte brothers who were all jockeys.

This podcast takes us all over the planet – to South Africa and a winning race from jockey Ryan Munger, who, as we hear from his agent, Mike Luider, is coming to Woodbine this year. Canadians continue to use U.S. racetracks as their personal ATMs; Chantal Sutherland and Kevin Attard with wins at Gulfstream and Steven Chircop scoring at Aqueduct. This podcast has 3 Kentucky Derby preps and we document an amazing Japanese sweep at the UAE Derby in Dubai. Then we go to the Jeff Ruby Steaks at Turfway Park in Kentucky and the Sunland Derby in New Mexico. Dan Vella talks with us about retiring from training and taking on a new position at Woodbine as the horse people’s liaison. There was a horse racing question on Jeopardy last week. We would have nailed it but all 3 contestants blew it. And possibly the most important story we have ever done - when Jody Jamieson put a picture of his creamy chicken dumpling soup on Facebook, we got him on the phone to tell us how he makes it.

This podcast has many races from Gulfstream featuring wins by Emma-Jayne Wilson, Chantal Sutherland, Bill Tharrenos, Marty Drexler and Bruno Schickedanz. Tedson Holder talks about his important connection to It’s a Gamble, the recent winner of the Sandy Lane Barbados Gold Cup. Jeff Hunt didn’t drive his first standardbred until he was 32, but that was worth waiting for it – we have Hunt talking about his great first impression. Kathleen O’Connell made racing history by becoming the winningest lady trainer in North America. We also have Liam Burke, oldest winning jockey in Ireland and 80-year-old Robert Sampson still winning harness races in Maryland. Saulsbrook Victor continues to dominate at Mohawk and we have more proof that Gulfstream’s Pete Aiello is the brightest race-caller on this side of the Atlantic.

This is another full package of exciting, spinetingling, mind-blowing horse racing results, stories and interviews. We go to Tampa Bay Downs for the Tampa bay Derby, a Kentucky Derby prep. We go to Gulfstream and find Canadians winning races, specifically - Marty Drexler, Bruno Schickedanz and Emma-Jayne Wilson. Last Thursday at Mohawk there were 2 races in which all the drivers were women. That same night, a rare result in a 10-horse trot. We talk Sovereign Awards with Mark Casse, Kevin Attard and Groom of the Year Amber Hutchinson. And how would you feel if your horse ran straight and true, didn’t impede anyone, didn’t break any rules and the judges disqualified it after watching the wrong replay? Believe it or not.. that happened.

With the Kentucky Derby just 2 months away, we run Derby preps from Gulfstream, Aqueduct, Santa Anita and Turfway Park. We have another winner at Penn National for Steve Chircop who tells us why his lead in the trainers’ race is probably temporary. Roger Attfield chatted with us from Payson Park about the 4 Sovereign Awards his horses might score. Groom Ricardo Nicholson already knows he’s a Sovereign Award winner and he tells us how good that feels. Woodbine’s champion jockey Kazushi Kimura had a big win in a Grade 1 race at Santa Anita and we wish we had bet it. Mark McKelvie explains the thinking of Mohawk Park when it did two different things on snowy nights in Ontario. Saulsbrook Victor won again, and the way he did it is worth listening to, and Vic Stauffer is a great race caller – but wait until you hear how he announced a race when he couldn’t see the horses.

Another podcast jammed with fascinating, relevant and historic horse racing material – a $Million Kentucky Derby prep race at Oaklawn and a history making win by trainer Steve Asmussen at that same track. This podcast always emphasizes success by Canadians and we have Bill Tharrenos sending out a winner at Gulfstream and trainer Steven Chircop continuing to score at Parx. Natasha Day was mic-ed up at Flamboro and thanks to COSA’s Wired 360, we play her descriptive audio as she does play-by-play of her pacer. Also in this podcast, racing commentator Jeff Bratt tells us how excited he is to be hosting the upcoming Sovereign awards, and long-time broadcaster Chad Rozema explains his move from the studio to the job of running the show at Grand River Raceway. And just to drop your jaws, a night at Flamboro when the first 5 winners all came from the same post, and a 6-year-old pacing mare who didn’t let a 78-race losing streak discourage her.

We’ve got a nice package of Canadians - Chantal Sutherland, Marty Drexler, Jim and Susan Hill – winning at Gulfstream. There was a 13-1 upset in the Risen Star Stakes on the road to the Kentucky Derby. Jennifer Morrison files from the Quarter Horse Awards Banquet, which had a sad subtext. Trainer Willy Armata assesses the chances of Ironstone for a Sovereign Award in the 3-year-old colt category and Woodbine’s Mark McKelvie reveals how the Free For Alls at Mohawk will mean bigger purses for harness people. We were fascinated by a Finnish study that determined that men with high IQs are more likely to bet the horses, so intellectual giants like Jim Bannon, Tommy Massis, Garnet Barnsdale and Jim McKenny submitted their opinions. And a guy had just one job at Rosecroft Raceway – how could he not know there was a race going on?