There was a lot to cover this week on the TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland, including the upcoming GI Travers S. and last week's gut punch that was the deaths on back-to-back days of Grade I winners Art Collector (Bernardini) and Cave Rock (Arrogate), both from laminitis.
That's why this week's podcast had two Green Group Guests of the Week.
Dr. Raul Bras, a specialist in laminitis who practices at Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital, explained why laminitis remains such a serious problem and gave an update on the efforts being made within the veterinary community to combat the condition.
With a victory in the GI Kentucky Derby on his record, Mage (Good Magic) has already had a standout campaign. But his connections are looking for more and will be looking for a second Grade I win on the year in Saturday's Travers. To get the latest on Mage, assistant trainer Gustavo Delgado, Jr. shared his thoughts on the 10-furlong feature. He said the entire Mage team was very pleased with the colt's second-place showing in the GI TVG.com Haskell S., pointing out that he wasn't fully cranked.
“We really were aware that he wasn't 100% for the Haskell,” Delgado said. “Not even close. So we were happy with the effort.”
Mage has proven he can win at the highest level, but he has not proven that he can beat Forte (Violence), the morning line favorite in the Travers. He finished behind him in both the GII Fountain of Youth S. and the GI Curlin Florida Derby. Why might it be different this time?
“The thing that has changed the most is the lack of experience he had before,” Delgado said. “He was in the Fountain of Youth in only his second start. That's what we had to do. We had to do that in order to gain the points to get into the Derby. If we hadn't done that we probably wouldn't be talking about a Derby winner because he got 10 points in the Fountain of Youth and then 40 in the Florida Derby. He's more experienced now. He's not just a baby. He's more mature and we got to know him better, too.”
Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored byhttps://coolmore.com/https://lanesend.com/ the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders, NYRABets.com, WinStar Farm, XBTV.com, Stonestreet Farms, Lane's End and https://www.threechimneys.com/ West Point Thoroughbreds, the team of Zoe Cadman, Bill Finley and Randy Moss took a look back at the GI Alabama S. and the front-running win by Randomized (Nyquist) and the impressive debut of the latest foal from Beholder (Henny Hughes), Tamara (Bolt d'Oro). The filly earned 'TDN Rising Star' status when she broke her maiden Aug. 19 at Del Mar. The team also took a moment to remember owner and breeder Anthony Manganaro of Siena Farm, who passed away last week at the age of 79.
To listen to the audio of the podcast, click here; to watch the video, click here.
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