Writers' Room

When it comes to winning Breeders' Cup races, no rider does it better than Mike (Big Money) Smith. His 27 wins leads all jockeys and is seven wins better than runner-up John Velazquez. With the Breeders' Cup quickly approaching, Smith sat down with the team at the TDN Writers' Room Podcast presented by Keeneland and took us on a trip down memory lane. Smith was this week's Guest of the Week. Of the 27 wins, is one his favorite? "It would have to be Zenyatta (in the 2009 Classic)," he...

On Monday, there will be a seismic shift in horse racing. That's when the Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Authority will launch its Anti-Doping and Medication Control program and, in most states, will take over the responsibilities of drug testing and drug adjudications. With that date right around the corner, the TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland brought in HISA's CEO Lisa Lazarus to give an update on what to expect once HISA takes over. Lazarus was this week's Green Group Guest of the Week.

The Del Mar summer meet, always a hot attraction in Southern California, could not have gone much better this year. The stand set records for average daily handle and average field size, and crucially, recorded zero racing or training fatalities, the fourth stakes Del Mar meet with no racing breakdowns. Tuesday, Del Mar CEO Joe Harper joined the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland as the Green Group Guest of the Week to talk about how the track has become the gold standard for racehorse safety, what the future looks...

It was announced last week that in order to properly renovate and reimagine Belmont Park for 2023 and beyond, the New York Racing Association would be shifting this year's fall meet at Belmont to Aqueduct, and Wednesday, NYRA CEO Dave O'Rourke joined the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland as the Green Group Guest of the Week to discuss the process and future ramifications of this major capital investment in Big Sandy. O'Rourke said that the main objective of the construction project is the building of two major tunnels to...

One day after Coolmore released its star-studded Ashford Stud stallion roster and fees for the 2022 breeding season, Coolmore's nomination sales head Adrian Wallace joined the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland Wednesday morning. Calling in via Zoom as the Green Group Guest of the Week, Wallace talked about his upbringing in the Irish racing and breeding world, the surging Munnings and Caravaggio and early returns on Triple Crown winner Justify. Asked about Munnings, whose stud fee has jumped all the way from $40,000 to $85,000 in recent years, Wallace...

This week NYRA's VP Martin Panza joins the TDN Writers' Room to talk racing at Belmont and Saratoga.

Santa Anita and Gulfstream are only two of the six tracks still racing in the U.S. This week, we check in with Craig Fravel from the Stronach Group to talk about the precautions they're taking. Also, the writers talk about the latest developments in horse racing with the coronavirus, and the challenges horsemen face.

The TDN Writers' Room podcast, presented each week by Keeneland, was a strange affair this week, conducted in an otherwise empty TDN office, with Bill Finley and Jon Green sitting six feet apart, and host Joe Bianca calling in from home. "We need to march on, just like the world does," said Jon Green. "We're just a small part of what's going on out there, but I've been implementing social distancing for just about all of my 50 years." That led Bianca to crack, "All of those nights without a...

There was a time when radio host Jim Rome poked fun at horse racing, demeaning it as a sport. "It's not a sport, it is a bet," he said. Today, he is not only a fan and an owner and breeder but he has become an ambassador for horse racing, sharing his love affair with the game with his audience of 2.5 million and anyone else who will listen. Rome's transformation from critic to an advocate happened virtually over night. The credit, he told the panel on this week's TDN...

Drew Mollica started his career in racing as a jockey agent, but had an epiphany at the age of 47: he was miserable. While keeping his day job, Mollica enrolled in law school, and today, is the most popular and affable lawyer on the New York Racing circuit. Mollica joins Joe Bianca, Bill Finley, Brian DiDonato and Jon Green to talk about Ahmed Zayat and other legal issues in this edition of the Writers' Room.

As the writers came on the air, the Breeders' Cup released a 25-page report on Mongolian Groom's injury, ushering in what may be a new era of transparency in horse racing. The writers talk about that, and have owner Willis Horton on as a guest. That and more on this week's Writers' Room podcast.