TDN Podcast

There is increased talk that sports betting my soon be legal in the U.S. Due to a crackdown in immigration policies, there’s a work shortage that is causing problems on backstretches across the nation. The Horse Racing Integrity Act is once again making its way through the nation’s capital. For the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, those issues and others must have its President and CEO Alex Waldrop working overtime. Waldop is this week’s guest on the Thoroughbred Daily News podcast, brought to you by Taylor Made.

Wesley Ward does a lot of things well, but he has one specialty that stands above the rest-his ability to win at the Royal Ascot meet. No American-based trainer has come to close to what he has done there, which is to win seven races at what is one of the most prestigious race meets in the world. Ward, who will send a large contingent to England for this year’s meet, is this week’s guest on the Thoroughbred Daily News podcast, brought to you by Taylor Made.

Cloud Computing (Maclean’s Music) might have made it look easy when he won the GI Preakness, but it was anything but. He had to defeat a GI Kentucky Derby winner and the 2-year-old champion and overcome the fact he had had just three career starts. How did he do it? Whatever the exact answer is, it has something to do with a team effort among trainer Chad Brown, bloodstock agent Mike Ryan and owners Seth Klarman and Bill Lawrence. Lawrence is this week’s guest on the Thoroughbred Daily News podcast, brought to you by Taylor Made, and we’ll get his thoughts on a huge win by their group in the middle leg of the Triple Crown.

Rocco Baldelli may not have bred a Kentucky Derby winner, but then again, Colonel E.R. Bradley, John R. Madden and John Galbreath never hit 60 home runs in the major leagues. Baldelli, now the first base coach for Major League Baseball’s Tampa Bay Rays, is busy breeding thoroughbreds when he’s not on the ball field. Baldelli is our guest on this week’s Thoroughbred Daily News podcast, brought to you by Taylor Made.

Todd Pletcher has been in the spotlight for a long time and his list of accomplishments is an almost endless one. But his finest moment may have come last Saturday at Churchill Downs, where he broke that 1-for-45 hex and won the GI Kentucky Derby with Always Dreaming (Bodemeister). The man of the hour, Todd Pletcher, is our guest on this week’s Thoroughbred Daily News podcast, brought to you by Taylor Made.

It was a little less than 12 years ago that Anthony Bonomo Sr. took a trip to Saratoga with his wife Mary Ellen, and it sounds like Mary Ellen had to twist her husband’s arm to get him to go to the track that day. But as so often happens with Saratoga visitors, he had the time of his life. Fast forward to 2017 and he has come a long way, so far that he is the co-owner of one of the favorites for the Kentucky Derby, the Florida Derby winner Always Dreaming. Bonomo is our guest on this week’s Thoroughbred Daily News podcast.

Olympic gold medalist Bode Miller is best known for his talents on the ski slopes, but he’s pretty well known around the track as well. A longtime horse fan and racehorse owner, Miller has bought into the Derby hopeful Fast And Accurate (Hansen). He talks Kentucky Derby, skiing, horse racing and more on this week’s TDN Podcast.

You could always find horses like Tepin, Wise Dan, Main Sequence or Lady Eli at sales, but you can also, if you really try, find a needle in a haystack. Yearling sales have traditionally been geared toward dirt horses and those interested in finding a horse with a future in the turf had to look especially hard. That’s about to change as Fasig-Tipton will hold the inaugural Turf Showcase sale in Septemer. We welcome their President and CEO Boyd Browning to discuss this new and interesting concept.

Man o’ War’s 100th birthday has spawned a year-long celebration of the horse many consider to be the best in history. There aren’t many people left who can say they knew him, but if you’re looking for someone who did so intimately, look no further than Ercel Ellis. His father was the first one to put a halter on the famed horse, Ellis himself spent many hours around him when he was a sire and attended his funeral, which was broadcast on NBC radio to the nation. Still going strong at 85, Ellis may be the No. 1 expert in the sport when it comes to the original Big Red, who turned 100 last month. Ellis is our guest on this week’s Thoroughbred Daily News podcast.

It may not seem like it, but Chad Brown is a relative baby in this game. He’s been training for only 10 years, but has already reached the heights of his profession. In 2016, he had his best year ever, not only leading the nation in money earned but winning an Eclipse Award as the nation’s outstanding trainer. Chad Brown is our guest on this week’s Thoroughbred Daily News podcast.