Hall of Famer Jerry Bailey has won 15 Breeders' Cup races and has watched hundreds more in person as a commentator for NBC Sports. Always on top of things and not afraid to voice his opinions, Bailey joined the TDN Writers' Room Podcast sponsored by Keeneland to discuss Breeders' Cups past and present.
When asked who would most want to ride in this year's Classic if he were to come out of retirement, the answer was somewhat of a surprise. He picked GI Whitney S. winner Arthur's Ride (Tapit), who is 15-1 in the morning line.
“One of the most interesting horses to me is Arthur's Ride,” Bailey said. “I think he turns into a very quality horse when he can be comfortable on the lead, and I think he might have a comfortable lead this year. With Skippylongstocking going to the Dirt Mile, with Dornoch leaving the picture a month ago, the speed of the race is Arthur's Ride. I don't think anybody with the early speed to challenge him will really want to, thinking he may not be a threat. I think he will get a comfortable lead.”
Like most everyone else, Bailey doesn't quite know what to make of European superstar City of Troy (Justify), who will start in the GI Breeders' Classic in what will be his dirt debut. But after observing the horse in person he said there were some things not to like.
“I was more convinced about City of Troy's chances in the Classic this year before I saw him this morning,” Bailey said Tuesday. “He still is a good-looking horse but he's more feminine than I thought he would be…more long and lanky, more turfy, if you will. He's built like a turf horse. Believe me, I love the horse. I think it's a great story and I would love to see him win. But I think the biggest question anybody has is will he dirt? Seeing him, I didn't get the answer I was looking for.”
The Breeders' Cup win he is most proud of?
“I think it's probably Six Perfections in the (2003) Mile,” Bailey said. “There was one thing I wanted to know because she had drawn the 12 post. I asked (trainer) Pascal Bary is her first step from the gate decent? And if I ask her leaving the gate, can I turn her back off again and get her to relax during the middle part of the race? And he said, 'yeah, no problem. She'll break quick enough.'
“He said that you can do what you want early and she'll still relax for you. I said that's all I need to know. And my good friend, Gary Young, after the drew called and said, 'I'm sorry.' He calls me 'Beetle Bailey.' He said, “Beetle, I'm sorry about your post. I said, don't feel bad for me. Feel bad for the guy inside me, because I'm going to shut him off the first jump to get over and save some ground.”
And what did Andre Fabre tell him before his historic win aboard Arcangues at 133-1 in the 1993 GI Breeders' Cup Classic. With Bailey, knowing nothing about the horse, he was hoping that Fabre could give him some useful tips. I didn't exactly happen that way.
“I was always a student of the past performances and the video,” he said. “I really didn't think I was quite as physically gifted as some of my contemporaries, like Angel (Cordero) and Laffit (Pincay Jr.) and guys like that. But I thought I could out prepare them and out think them in a race. So I was heavily dependent on PPs and video, of which there were really none available for Arcangues . At that time, you couldn't get videos. So I thought I'll just ask Andre Fabre, the trainer. He should know exactly where he wants to be, where he's most comfortable and how much of a pace I can ask him to keep during the middle of the race. I walked into the paddock, there's like a thousand people in there at Santa Anita, and you can't find anybody. So I couldn't find him. And I was kind of beginning to panic a little bit. I thought I'll just go to the horse. I'll ask the assistant or the groom the questions I need answered. And so I get there and I'm asking them all these questions and they speak nothing but French. So I don't know jack about this horse when I'm getting on him. We go around the ring and head for the tunnel and all of sudden I hear the trainer. He says, 'Jerry, Jerry.' And I thought, great he can give me some instructions. He said, 'good luck.' That's all he said.”
In our breeding spotlight section we took a look at the Winstar stallion Life is Good (Into Mischief).
Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders' Association, West Point Thoroughbreds, WinStar, XBTV.com, and 1/ST Racing, the team of Randy Moss, Zoe Cadman and Bill Finley handicapped all 14 Breeders' Cup races and, hopefully, picked a lot of winners.
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