TDN Podcast

With four Eclipse Awards, three Breeders’ Cup victories, 11 Grade I wins and over $6 million in earnings, Beholder is truly the horse of a lifetime-of many lifetimes, really. The future Hall of Famer has accomplished what most can only dream about and did so in a way that left the racing world in awe.

Performing on the biggest stages for years was, in fact, Beholder’s specialty, and while she may no longer be doing so in front of adoring crowds, the 9-year-old mare is still the star of the show at Spendthrift Farm. This was evident on my trip to the Lexington farm, where I visited with the superstar mare and her offspring. Beholder was not born a leading lady, however. She earned it with each and every scintillating racetrack performance over her lengthy career.

Christie DeBernardis talks to Ned Toffey and others at Spendthrift about Beholder’s life at the farm.

TDN Senior Editor Steve Sherack makes his TDN podcast debut today, joining Joe Bianca, Brian DiDonato and DJ Stables’ Jon Green. The writers debate the Vino Rosso DQ, talk Horse of the Year picture, and spend a little bit of time mocking Bill Finley, who was out with the flu. They also weigh in on the TDN’s new series, “What Would You Fix First?” and let us know what they would each fix first, and have some very interesting answers.Finally, what do Tupac and Biggie have to do with racing? Joe Bianca explains.

This week, the writers talk about the three-year-old picture after the disruptive Pennsylvania Derby, which did nothing to clarify the division. We recap the weekend’s races, and look ahead to this week. The TDN team also welcomes Jon Green back to the TDN studios, after his trip to Keeneland September. He talks about the sale, but jokes he’d rather not discuss the Cotillion Stakes, which marked the return of his Breeders’ Cup champion Jaywalk.

His grandfather’s greatest achievements, on the Turf, were all about looking outward; about opening minds and dismantling boundaries. Listening to John Phillips, however, you realize that the impetus for the whole adventure–for the mutual enlightenment, either side of the ocean, achieved by sending Roberto and Ribot in opposite directions–could not have been more definitively American. Listen to Chris McGrath’s podcast with John Phillips, part of the Keeneland Life’s Work project.

This week, the writers–Joe Bianca, Alan Carasso and Bill Finley–talk about the story about the Justify Scopolamine positive, the three-year-old picture, the upcoming Pennsylvania Derby and Cotillion Stakes at Parx, and next year’s Derby picture. Plus, we talk on the phone with trainer Chad Brown about the Cotillion favorite, Guarana.

Opinions are in no short order.

Of all the terrible things that mankind has inflicted upon one another, there is none so terrible as war. Estimates of the total number of people killed in war in the history of the world range up to a billion lives, and for the combatants, oftentimes just surviving the conflict seems like the goal. But of course, too many people come home from combat only to find that they cannot leave it behind. In 2013, the Veterans Administration released a study which showed that 22 veterans a day were committing suicide. And now one man, former U.S. Ambassador Earle Mack, has decided to do something about it.

Saturday, 27-year-old Cameron Beatty will watch his filly Horologist compete as one of the favorites in the $1 million Cotillion Stakes at Parx. Just eight years ago, however, he thought he had lost everything when a motorcycle accident cost him his college football career, and left him seriously injured. We talk to Beatty about his recovery, his life, and his star filly.

This week, Joe Bianca, Alan Carasso and Bill Finley discuss the astronomical returns at Keeneland, the upcoming weekend’s racing, and Finley’s horrible understanding of the apostrophe rule.

The Curragh has recently undergone a much publicised €80 million redevelopment, but it is much more than just a racecourse. Set in Ireland’s Thoroughbred heartland of Kildare, it is home to the country’s largest training centre and more than 800 racehorses. Listen as Emma Berry talks to some of the industry icons who call The Curragh home.

In this week’s TDN Writers’ Room podcast, Joe Bianca, Brian DiDonato and Bill Finley welcome Jon Green from DJ Stables. Green co-authors the TDN’s popular tax column, Proven Strategies, with his father Len Green as part of the accounting firm The Green Group. Their stable will send out A Thread of Blue in this weekend’s $1 million Jockey Club Derby at Belmont. The quartet discusses the Saratoga and Del Mar meets, TDN Rising Stars, how the first-crop sires are faring, and the upcoming Keeneland September Sales.