Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00So if you think about some of the best horses throughout the years, Cigar won this race in 1996 when it was first created.
00:08It's been run every year since 96, except for 2020, it was canceled because of COVID.
00:13Silver Charm, Pleasantly Perfect, Curlin, Animal Kingdom, California Chrome,
00:18some of the names of horses that have won this race through the years.
00:22And we don't have to go farther than the number one to talk about one of the best horses in the world right now, Alexa.
00:29When you look at the Long Jing World Thoroughbred rankings,
00:34they rank all the horses around the world a couple times a year,
00:38and they'll show you where horses from different countries will kind of stack up.
00:42The number one ranked horse in the world right now is this guy, Forever Young,
00:47who comes off of winning the Saudi Cup, and he is hands down the horse to beat in this race.
00:53Absolutely. I mean, you just can't argue with him.
00:56He basically probably should have won the Kentucky Derby this last year.
01:02I mean, so he won the UAE Derby, which we're going to talk about later,
01:06which is a way to send your horse to the Derby, one of the last Derby prep races, which got him there,
01:12and then lost the Derby by, I think, a nose, maybe a head, and was given some interference in the lane.
01:21So really, really good horse from Japan. I mean, he's won over $14 million.
01:28He's so tactical. He's just so impressive.
01:30So, I mean, four to five odds, though, less than one to one is hard to swallow in a race that's so competitive,
01:38but he deserves the odds. He's so good.
01:41Yeah, his resume just towers over the rest of the field in here, Alexa.
01:47The races that we remember him from in the U.S., he was third in the Kentucky Derby
01:51when Sierra Leone was like bumping him and leaning on over on him,
01:54and then he was third in the Breeders' Cup Classic, and he ran an incredible race there.
01:59Following that, he's come back and won. Afterwards, he's just one of the best older horses in the entire world,
02:06and he comes off a really impressive win last time out.
02:09Let's continue along through the field, Alexa.
02:12We move to Hitcho. We know Hitcho from the U.S., but he's not really been like a top tier horse in the U.S.
02:19I could see him being like an underhorse and maybe picking up some pieces.
02:22What do you think about Hitcho?
02:23I said the same thing. You know, he's shipping in for one of our top trainers, Brad Cox,
02:27who wins 27 percent in stakes races, and he's coming off a decent win.
02:32He grabbed a couple of grade twos last year.
02:35It's kind of a mid-pack closer, but this is his first time overseas, which is always a question mark.
02:41His speed figures probably need a bit of a jump, but at 30 to 1, I think he's somebody you could consider including underneath for some value.
02:48Yeah, and right next door is Il Miracolo. He's another United States-based horse.
02:52But when you look at the U.S. contingent, I think that's what also makes Forever Young such a tough, tough horse to beat.
03:00We don't really have some of the top U.S. horses. Horses like White Aborio didn't get sent out there.
03:07Horses like Locked, Mindframe, Fierceness, Sierra Leone, any of them you figured would have been top, top players,
03:15but they had different campaigns picked out for the year.
03:17They're just going to plan out the races they run in a little differently.
03:21So Il Miracolo hasn't really been a top-tier U.S. horse either.
03:25No, he hasn't. I mean, he plays in some graded stakes, like the Pennsylvania Derby, but I just think he's overmatched here, I think.
03:34I mean, he's got a morning line of 60-1 or plus 6,000. Would that be plus 6,000?
03:39Yeah.
03:40So, I mean, I think it's too tough for him.
03:43The number four, Imperial Emperor, had an impressive win over this course at Maydawn.
03:49I think that's something to note. He did lose to Walk the Stars two starts back, but he has a local advantage because he's a three-time winner over this course.
03:57He feels like a player if Forever Young wouldn't show up with his best effort,
04:01this could be one of the horses that could maybe win the race.
04:04Definitely. I think he's one of the main threats to the favorite.
04:08You know, he has tactical speed. He does seem to kind of be peaking in his career.
04:12And like you said, he has that home field advantage, which is really big.
04:15You know, you think about just shipping to another state, try shipping to a whole other continent and what all that entails.
04:24You've got different weather, you've got different – some trainers even bring water with them because water and a goat to keep the horses happy and, you know, used to what they've been used to.
04:35And that's a great point, Alexa, because they've already had a delay.
04:39They're going to postpone the carb an hour because of heat, because of extreme heat.
04:44So, they're going to start all of the races an hour later and just hope that they're able to stay out of the heat a little bit longer.
04:50Both the five and the six I think we can kind of talk about together because they're Doug O'Neill train runners from out here on the West Coast.
04:56But I don't really know if they stack up with the best horses in the world.
05:00They're both up there at big prices. Katona won a not as strong graded stakes out here recently.
05:06And Mixto won a not really great edition of the Pacific Classic.
05:10Those are kind of their big victories. Can you make a case for them?
05:13I mean, the only thing I'll say about Mixto is that he did, I think, improve a lot in the Pegasus World Cup last time.
05:20And it was the first time that a world-class jockey, Frankie Dettori, jumped aboard.
05:25And he is staying aboard tomorrow.
05:27So, I think that's a plus. If he somehow found his best stride at 30-1, he could be an interesting play.
05:33But long shot for sure, not to win, maybe underneath.
05:36It was tough for me to make a case for a horse like Ramjet because while you look at his form,
05:41his last three races in a row, he's been handled pretty easily by Forever Young.
05:46Yeah, I mean, he's lost to Forever Young and Wilson just saw another one in here.
05:51So, for me, it feels like probably a cup below.
05:55And then moving to the number eight, that's Rattle and Roll we've seen out in the U.S.
06:00Rattle and Roll has been a solid like high grade two, maybe low grade one horse in the U.S.
06:05but is another who was facing Forever Young last time out.
06:08He was pretty overmatched there. Do you think he can run better in this spot?
06:12Like you said, you know, he finds true grade one company a bit difficult, which is what he's going to find here.
06:18He does get a really good jockey, William Buick.
06:21So, he's reliable. He's a reliable horse, but I think a bit of a tough spot, but maybe underneath.
06:27Ushpa Tesoro is a former winner of this race, Alexa.
06:31I think you like this horse a little bit, right?
06:33I do. He's trying to reclaim his title. You know, he won in 2023 and got second last year.
06:39So, he rallies from the clouds a lot of the time.
06:42Sometimes he keeps him a little bit closer to the pace.
06:45He's an eight-year-old now.
06:47So, he's getting a little old, but he's still just super deadly on the course.
06:54And we're getting like plus 750 on him. So, pretty decent odds, I think.
06:58The number 10, Walk of Stars, was second in the Godolphin Mile last year.
07:03That's a race on the undercard, but in the Saudi Cup most recently, was well behind Forever Young.
07:09He did have a nice win over this course in January, though.
07:12So, I could see him being in the mix here. What do you do with Walk of Stars?
07:15He's another interesting, like, strong local contender who's pretty versatile and proven over the track.
07:20So, from that standpoint, I understand playing him.
07:24I did not end up putting him in my top four, though.
07:27And rounding out the field, Wilson Tesoro, who was fourth in this race last year.
07:32He's earned over $5 million.
07:34But again, he's going to have to deal with Forever Young, who's been in front of him in the last couple.
07:38And also, Ushpa Tesoro outfinished him in the Saudi Cup.
07:42Yeah, he's a classy Japanese runner.
07:44You know, I think 26 to 1 odds feel like an overlay on him.
07:48So, I definitely am including him in my selections.
07:52And as we move to selections, you've got Ushpa Tesoro on top.
07:55You're looking for a little more value than me in this race.
07:58Yeah, it could be folly, but I'm going to try to beat Forever Young.