Down The Stretch Podcast

This podcast covers a lot of ground, gender and nationalities. We go to Aqueduct, Gulfstream and Santa Anita for Kentucky Derby preps. We have the most bizarre dead heat of all time from Yonkers. Chantal Sutherland winning by maybe 2 centimetres. A first at Mohawk Park for driver Natasha Day who will be one of 10 ladies in a special race to celebrate International Women’s Day. A first for Montreal owner Nidel Charfi at Tampa Bay. And when we hear a call at Tampa Bay, it makes us want to chat with colourful announcer, Jason Beem. Race calling is not what Wally Hennessey does best, but after more than 11,000 driving victories, he took at shot at the mic at Pompano Park.

There were some mind-blowing payoffs when Emblem Road, as the longest shot, won the $20,000,000 Saudi Cup. Woodbine Jockey Daisuke Fukumoto won a Grade 3 race at Santa Anita and it was a good Thursday at Gulfstream for trainers Bill Tharrenos and Marty Drexler. We have longshot Canadian content from Tampa Bay. Hill ‘N’ Dale Farms bred a winner and trainer Julie Belhumeur also had one. We stir the controversial pot with a persuasive interview with Bob Baffert’s lawyer, Clarke Brewster who tells us why the stewards got it wrong by taking down Medina Spirit. Jockey (and new mom) Katie Davis is thrilled that the dumb rule about married jockeys is going to be changed and Turf Paradise race-caller Craig Braddick not only increased his vocabulary but provided us with possible the funniest segment we have ever had. Guest appearances by John Travolta, Uma Thurman and Eric Stoltz.

The 2021 Sovereign Awards will be given out on April 14 and the Down The Stretch Podcast is a finalist! Groom Denzil Fonseca doesn’t have to wait – he’s already been told he’s the Groom of the Year and trainer Mike Doyle tells us why. We have calls of Kentucky Derby preps from the Fairgrounds and Tokyo and how could we leave out an 18-1 shot delivered brilliantly by Chantal Sutherland at Gulfstream? Harness driver James Macdonald continues to win in bunches – how about 4 consecutive hattricks at Mohawk? You will enjoy the interview with both Zerons – dad, Rick and son, Scott and you will not believe what a horse named Uhtred did on Saturday.

Exciting horse races, Kentucky Derby preps and odds defying outcomes in this podcast. We have the Sam Davis from Tampa Bay and the El Camino Real from Golden Gate. Ivan Dalos won a case because his lawyer, Stephen Jack argued successfully there was nothing wrong with a horse winning without the use of lasix. We have writer and horse owner Andy Cohen throwing shade on the industry for not taking criminal activity seriously enough. Bill Tharrenos keeps winning at Gulfstream and his horses keep getting claimed. A brilliant return to the track for driver Nick Steward. High 5s all around at Mohawk when the same number kept coming up in the Pick 5. And guest appearances by Sinead O’Connor, Ram Jam, Sesame Street and Fred Flintstone.

This podcast is loaded. We start with the O’Brien Awards honouring the best in Canadian harness racing. We reveal the Horse of the Year. American horse racing podcaster, Jon Stettin talks about the guy who got DQ’d from a betting contest and we borrow from Stettin an interview with Chantal Sutherland. We have Sutherland winning at Gulfstream and Emma-Jayne Wilson bringing in a 9-1 shot in a Stakes race at Tampa Bay. Owner Jim Ensom and trainer Marty Drexler talk about their winners in Florida. There were 3 preps for the Kentucky Derby and we have the stretch calls. Author Jennifer Morrison joined horse owner Larry Cordes at Ajax Downs to sell copies of her newly released book on Queen’s Plate champion Mighty Heart. At Mohawk, it may be frigid, but drivers Doug McNair and James MacDonald are smoking. And Courtney Robson owns and trains Thunder Romps, a rare horse that has won both as a pacer and a trotter.

People are now allowed to enter Ontario racetracks. Woodbine’s CEO Jim Lawson discusses that and the fact that even though he has never lined up at Saratoga’s Big Red Spring to get a cheap baseball cap, he’s open to the idea of enticing fans with giveaways. They ran the $3Million Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream and let’s just say that Life is Good for jockey Irad Ortiz. It’s not so bad for Chantal Sutherland, who had another win in Florida and Daisuke Fukumoto broke through at Santa Anita. We have an animated chat with the former head of OHRIA, Hec Clouthier. Clouthier has some fond memories of ‘Bud’ Fritz and tells us a wild story of a government meeting in Berlin that turned into a police chaperoned trip to the racetrack where he drove the Mayor’s horse in a harness race. Carmen Auciello is the leading trainer at Mohawk, but he wonders why there aren’t more quality pacing mares in this province. If James MacDonald is going to repeat as Mohawk’s driving champ, he’s going to have to repel Louis-Philippe Roy and Doug McNair. And we have an astonishing story of a jockey named Debbie Waymouth. Wait until you hear how badly she was hurt in an accident. Wait until you hear how old she is.

In this episode, we remember harness racing legend Bud Fritz. Should horse racing be concerned that Michael Beychok, one of its brightest and most successful bettors is backing away? Why are there no full-time lady race callers in North America? We seek the answer from Turf Paradise’s Craig Braddick, who persuaded Dani Jackson to come from England to call the races. Shannon ‘Sugar’ Doyle has ceased calling the action at the Raceway at Western Fair. He tells us that Alberta racing made him an offer he couldn’t refuse. We also have an early Kentucky Derby prep from the Fair Grounds and the Raroma Stable, Jim Ensom, Marty Drexler and Chantal Sutherland repping the Maple Leaf and winning races in Florida.

It was a great week for Woodbine’s boss, Jim Lawson, who explains why more money is bet at Mohawk than at any other North American racetrack. Moira Fanning and John Campbell tell us why Mohawk was awarded the next Breeders Crown races. Kevin Attard is a finalist as Outstanding Trainer in the Sovereign Awards. Nick Gallucci is up for an O’Brien as Outstanding harness trainer. Both of them join this podcast and admit to being longshots. Jacob Roberts is a standardbred trainer who notched his first career win at Flamboro and Bill Tharrenos is taking down purses at Gulfstream. By the way, how may DiPaolas or DePaulos does it take to win a race and how does Madonna get into this podcast?

The Down The Stretch Podcast loves stories about the relationship between people and their horses and this one fulfills that quotient. Mark McKelvie lays out the rules for watching the races at Mohawk. George Millar tells us how satisfying it is to be nominated in several O’Brien Award categories, especially after what he went through in 2021. Debi O’Brien-Moran talks about her favourite horse, Ciona Bromach who never raced in a claimer throughout his 330-race career. Quarterhorse trainer, Jason Pacoe chatted while driving back from Oklahoma, where Ontario-based horses will be running this winter. Carmen Auciello had one of those training dream nights at Mohawk and the racetrack is the only place in the world where a 20-cent bet can make you a millionaire. It happened at Gulfstream.

This podcast is barely 28 minutes, but somehow we squeeze in Kazushi Kimura, Rafael Hernandez, Justin Stein, Emma-Jayne Wilson, Patrick Husbands, Luis Contreras, David Moran, Daisuke Fukumoto, Antonio Gallardo and Gary Boulanger. We speak with agents, Jordan Miller and Pram Seebah. Listen to wins in Florida from Chantal Sutherland and Isabelle Wenc. Tampa Bay Race caller Jason Beem channels his Billy Joel. Ric Chapman files from Australia about an American mare who's getting rich. James MacDonald spent so much on Christmas presents, he needed to win 6 races on Boxing Day and his 5 year-old son, Chris tells us why daddy is so good. Props to those 14 year-old standardbreds who took one last shot at glory and even the Rolling Stones make a guest appearance.