Down The Stretch Podcast

Marvin Katz is this year’s Cam Fella Award winner. Katz tells us how surprised and grateful he is for this honor. This is - in Chinese astrology - the Year of the Horse. Astrologer Sam Mukherjee breaks down what this means and we identify famous people born in the Year of the Horse - Barbra Streisand, Clint Eastwood, Jerry Steinfeld, Adam Sandler, Joe Biden, Denzel Washington and Steven Bahen. Harness driver Tyler Borth kicked off 2026 with a tsunami of wins and we ask if he belongs among the elite drivers at Mohawk. We remember Dianne Crump, the first woman in North America to ride in a pari-mutuel horse race. We go to Charles Town racetrack in West Virginia for a win by trainer Steven Chircop and to Gulfstream for a longshot that came out of the clouds for Marty Drexler.. And 2 horses named Best Bet – one paid over $70 to win and the other flopped at even money.

Every racehorse celebrated a birthday on January 1 and racing fans celebrate that the now 4-year-old Sovereignty will race in 2026. Pychic Nikki gives us her predictions for horse racing this year and trainer Marty Drexler predicts he will be a Sovereign Award finalist. The Ontario-bred Full Screen won a Stakes race at Aqueduct recently and we kick off the year with the first Kentucky Derby preps – the Jerome Stakes from Aqueduct and the Smarty Jones at Oaklawn. The first night of harness racing in 2026 at Mohawk produced hattricks from Tyler Borth and Jody Jamieson. We tell you why Clive Cohen is a lock for what will be his 10th Joe O’Brien Award and wait until you hear Ryder Pallet call a horse race – the Australian racing fan is just 11 years old.

We wrap up the moments from 2025 with these great horses and people: Moria, Kevin Attard, Emma Jayne Wilson, Roger Attfield, James MacDonald, Chantilly, Patches O’Houlihan, George Millar, Robert Geller, Brooke Bays, Mansetti, Pietro Moran, Doug McPherson, Runaway Again, Ryan Munger, Sid Attard, Tom’s Magic, Rafael Hernandez, Travis Stone, Sovereignty, Jr. Alvarado, Journalism, Larry Collmus, Umberto Rispoli, Frank Mirahmadi, Hunter Meyers, Kelly Meyers, Peter Kleinhanz, Jason Ryan, Ricky Bobby, Brett MacDonald, Saulsbrook Victor, Mike De Paulo, Micah Husbands, Chad Rozema, Louprint, Notable Speech, Selawi, Maximus Miki, Scott Zeron, Lexus Kody, Yannick Gingras, Beau Jangles Bob McClure, Dr. Ian moore, Brett Sturman, Evan Louks, Louis Philippe Roy, Sugar Doyle, Dan Noble, Flavien Prat, Jody Jamieson, Doug Brown, Ken Middleton, Don McKirgan, Perry Ouzts and Bill Megens

A look back at the ‘Uns’ of the year – the Unexpected, the Unusual, the Unsettling, the Unthinkable, the Under reported, the Uncanny and the Unimaginable:

+ Electrifying race calls from Pete Aiello, Frank Mirahmadi, Robert Geller, Chad Rozema and even... Conan O’Brien?

+ Horses that won at ridiculous odds

+ Crazy moments when race callers knew who the winner was....and then didn’t

+ A race where Attfield defeated Schwarzeneggar

+ A race at Gulfstream that Chevy Chase would have loved

+ A race at Parx when Mychel Sanchez abandoned any chance of winning to save a fellow jockey

+ The day a guy proposed in the winners’ circle then watched a race won by Please Marry Me with Put a Rock On It coming in second

+ The day Perry Ouzts set an insane record at Belterra Park

+ The day a jockey with the letter Zed went 4 for 4 at the Fort, then a jockey with the letter X went triple X at Woodbine

+ What did host Peter Gross do to deserve the wrath of Trevor Denman, Robert De Niro, the Godfather and Andy Rooney?

+ We’ve got AI musical tributes to Garnet Barnsdale, Ken Middleton and Randy Waples

+ Bad beats... we have two of the worst

+ And the race between good and evil at Mohawk

Sunday was the last of 128 cards of racing at Woodbine- though it ended somewhat abruptly, Even so, we name the champion jockey, trainer and owner. Jody Jamieson drove into the winners circle for the 9,000th time and he discusses his excellent career. Louis-Philippe Roy crushed it in the Drivers’ Challenge at Western Fair; he had 6 wins as the industry made sure all kids get toys this year. We’ve got David Anderson telling why the acquisition of stallion Sergei Prokofiev is important to Ontario horse racing. Jennifer Stein tells us why she’s heart broken that there will be no more horse racing at Hastings Park. We also examine the unsettling relationship between slots and horse racing. And it was a Group 1 trot in New Zealand and the driver was pretty sure he was about to win until disaster struck.

The Valedictory Stakes was the feature at Woodbine Saturday and on that card, Rafael Hernandez won 5 races - he may now be unbeatable for the jockeys’ title We lost trainer Mike Doyle last week Janice Murchison, owner of Bourbononaholiday, Doyles’ last winner, tells us about the long-time trainer. We have multiple story lines on jockey Dane Nelson - why he brought his tack east from Alberta, what happened when his horse fell, and how did he do in Jamaica’s most important race, the Mouttet Mile on Saturday? Debbie Salhani, now in her 50th year at the Raceway at Western Fair, talks with us about the art of charting horses. Question - what’s a more amazing accomplishment; wining 10 races on a single card of harness racing or winning every single race on a card of thoroughbred racing? And you could go years without witnessing a triple dead heat…or you can hear about one in this podcast.

There were 2 Stakes races Saturday at Woodbine; both worth $250,000 - the Princess Elizabeth and the Coronation Futurity. We love it when Emma-Jayne Wilson wins a Stakes race. She did it with Duckduckduck in the Clarendon, and the trainer Evette Chartrand-Hoek tells us that the 2 Stakes she won this year are the first 2 of her career. Woodbine’s Jamie Dykstra breaks down the method by which your horse welfare initiative can get up to $5,000. from the track. Harness driver Austin Sorrie wore the Maple Leaf in France last Friday in an international drivers’ event. We have the race call – in French, of course. Imagine watching a quarter horse race and as the field is galloping down the backstretch, the track ambulance is barrelling towards them. This actually happened at Evangeline Downs. How many horse races get mentioned in a list of the 50 greatest sports moments? We found…one. And someone always wins a horse race, but what is the track protocol when no one wins?

We have 3 Stakes races from Woodbine. Robert Geller called the Ashbridges and Lake Ontario Stakes, but why was it Doug McPherson for the Shady Well? Canadians winning in the U.S. – John Bianco sent out Bourbon Day at Aqueduct and Total Heart won at 12-1 for Susan and Jim Hill at Churchill Downs. No fries or burgers, but we go to MacDonald’s twice; James MacDonald reviews his World Driving Championship and Anthony MacDonald gives his wife Amy props after she wins a qualifier. And Sunday, November 17 was a very good night at Mohawk for Louis-Philippe Roy - he had 5 winners.

How immature can we be reporting that Nobals won the Kennedy Road Stakes for the 2nd year in a row? James MacDonald won the World Driving Championship in New Zealand. Not quite so glamourous was Jody Jamieson who tells us he’s just fine after a scary spill at Mohawk. LongRun’s Vicki Pappas expresses her gratitude for Woodbine’s generous donation and reminds us of our commitment to the horses that entertain us so much. We go to the Meadowlands to see how many U.S. dollars Canadians reaped in a night of big money Stakes action. Shelly Silver passed last week and long-time racetracker, ‘Coffee’ John Calleja tells us about Silver and the danger of gambling too much. And from Hoosier Downs, a horse named On To Norway who has put together a world record streak.

From the Saturday card at Woodbine - the Maple Leaf Stakes, the Bessarabian Stakes and the Autumn Stakes. We update Canada’s James MacDonald at the World Driving Championship in New Zealand, and while we’re down under, Australia’s Ric Chapman reports on the Melbourne Cup which was won by a lady jockey. Questions - Is it better for Mohawk Park to run race on Sunday instead of Thursday? And - Can a 2-year-old pacer who never raced in the United States, be acclaimed Horse of the Year by U.S. Voters? American writer Brett Sturman tells us why the unbeaten Beau Jangles should win the Dan Patch as Horse of the Year. And neat stuff from Aqueduct: Flavien Prat became the first jockey ever to win 7 races at a New York track and Canadian John Bianco sent out a winner at Aqueduct.