Our oldest media pal Dick Jerardi joins Nestor to discuss Kentucky Derby fave Fierceness and the future of Preakness in Baltimore. Oh, and everything you ever wanted to know about the Beyer Speed Number. Get educated and caught up on the horse racing world as we run for the roses in Louisville on Saturday.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
years, preakness, horse, steadman, baltimore, run, derby, sports, horse racing, bet, maryland, race, people, week, win, talked, buyer, andy, fierceness, story
SPEAKERS
Dick Jerardi, Nestor J. Aparicio
Nestor J. Aparicio 00:01
Welcome home we are wn St. Am 5070 Towson, Baltimore and Baltimore positive celebrating 25 years of this madness around here 40 years of practicing and Derby being we’re going to be next week at fade Lee’s the new fate Lee’s election DeMorgan I will be giving away the Pac Man scratch offs from the Maryland lottery. If you feel lucky, we’re also going to have our friends at Liberty pure solutions talking about water, as well as Jiffy Lube. MultiCare out on the road for the Maryland crab cake tour. Luke will be with us next Friday as the Arizona Diamondbacks come to town. I know once a by next Friday we will have a Kentucky Derby winner that we always hope is pointed toward the second leg of the Triple Crown. I had a lengthy lengthy chat this week in Hampstead, Maryland at the Green Mountain bowl with Alan Forman and David Richardson about the past, the present and the future of Maryland horse racing the Preakness, the Maryland Jockey Club, the Magnum people and Belinda Stronach and all of that. This guy goes back to the days of Chicky laying and Frankie to Francis and Little Joe and they’ll Karen to Francis running Bowie as or Lauro as my friend Charlie Ekman would say, you are not featured in my 40th anniversary piece. But you are you don’t realize this. There’s a scoreboard page, your name is on it. The news American you can go check it out. It’s it’s in the 40th anniversary thing. Dick Gerardi, you’re my first, you know, sports first 40 years ago, and I’m glad to meet you for the first five minutes of the 25th anniversary documentary long enough to see Marlo.
8
Dick Jerardi 01:42
So I got my start. And I’ll start with sports first all those years ago, so yeah,
Nestor J. Aparicio 01:46
we share that.
Dick Jerardi 01:49
Literally, did I’m looking forward to it. I’ve got Yeah, like you said. Yeah, absolutely. I got the first few minutes of the doc and I will look forward to getting the last 30 and I saw John Steadman, a little picture of sports first, which is how I got my start in this crazy business in 1983. Is that sound right? That is
Nestor J. Aparicio 02:08
8right, September of 83. Right? Yeah, that’s what we’re seeing moved here, right. Yeah,
Dick Jerardi 02:14
the month before the Orioles beat the Phillies in a World Series.
Nestor J. Aparicio 02:17
So the Rock and Roll part of Scott Lebar in the newsroom on South Street, saying to me, can you take a call from Steven Tyler in 15 minutes that sort of began my my rock’n’roll journey. The sports journey was a guy named Tom Robinson, who was collected the interns Chris pica, who is a frequent frequent door here and has been for 20 years was my big brother in the newsroom to show me around he went to Loyola University. And then I walked into what we call the bullpen area, which was the area between the main newsroom and what will became the sports department, which was really the commissary before it was the sports department. It was like the eating lounge if the news American which was a 200 year old building, you had to go past the morgue down this hallway and the area was called the bullpen. And that’s where Steadman office was in the glass and you’d walk in and there were people everywhere doing sports first and we’re VT T’s and terminals. I want you to tell some sports first stories but Stephen would sit in there and he had his feet up on the desk, and the phone was glued to his ear just like it was in the CIG in the news American he had the phone to the year because that’s really what John was. And John loved me, man, and I can’t express enough What a legend My father thought he was. What a legend. I thought he was what like a hero he wants to me all I really wanted to be was John Steadman and tick when I went back and archived and because of otter and you can transcribe, you know, audio and I have the audio. I found John Steadman saying stuff about me that when I found that at two in the morning, I started sobbing. This was like, five, six weeks ago, I found this audio piece where he says, and you haven’t gotten to that part of the documentary, but he says, Senor, I used to say behind your back at the Sun papers, you want to send a reporter to get into anywhere in the world, Rome burn. He goes through this whole list of places that I’ve now been in my life. And he said, Put Napster Nestor Aparicio on it, he’ll get the job done. And I’m like, Oh my God. John Steadman said that about me that has to be in the documentary dick.
Dick Jerardi 04:28
Well, John Steadman was a fabulous guy. Nestor. It’s interesting. You know, I started at sports first when it opened in September of 83. And that following May, I covered my first Kentucky Derby for the news, American and accompanying me was John Steadman. And of course, John had been to a number of them and I was the rookie and John was guiding me even then a wonderful guy and I had so many great John Steadman stories, obviously a legend in Baltimore sports. The one I remember our good friend Mike Marlow and I went up to New York with a guy named Jared beads, where he was going to run from New York to Baltimore without stopping, right, and you can do the mileage. And John basically said, this is an awesome story. Go do it. Mike was doing the story. I was just along for the ride with Jared son. And Jared actually got all the way to Philadelphia before His legs gave out, we’d left in the middle of the night ran across the George Washington Bridge. And John got so behind that story. And the idea that he was going to leave at midnight on Saturday night in New York, and arrive at city hall in Baltimore on noon on Monday. That was the theory. He was this long distance runner. He didn’t make it. But that wasn’t the point. That journey was so cool. And Johnston had gotten behind it. It was very nice.
8Nestor J. Aparicio 05:45
Well, Stephen was the guy with the tape measure out trying to find out exactly how far Frank Robinson So Ron went, and Stedman as was brought up to me, and your ears must have been buzzing. Last Wednesday afternoon as I was sitting up in Carroll County, talking about you and all your horse racing guys. I had never met Alan Forman before, and Alan form and the first thing Alan says, Stedman always thought we fudged the numbers on Preakness day, was famous for that bitching about them hyper inflating the crowds. At the Preakness. All I cared about were bare boobies, you know, was the 80s that was the lawlessness that I didn’t care about how many people came I just cared about how much beer and fried chicken we could get into the infield. And whether Sunday silence was gonna, you know, hold off Ali Sheba or whatever, you know.
Dick Jerardi 06:35
I hear you. It’s interesting question, Frank Robinson is home run. There’s not a lot of dates that stick out for me. But may 8 1966, Louis Tiana was the pitcher for the Indians. I was there, I was sitting on the first base side. And I don’t know that I knew the ball had gone out of the stadium. But I didn’t realize that John had been out there with a tape measure in the parking lot. Were all the cars back then remember, they were all parked, where if the guy next to you didn’t leave,
Nestor J. Aparicio 07:00
you couldn’t leave, you want to go and I put an aerial picture up because there’s Baltimore people that share all these awesome old memories and stuff. And they know I’m a mark, you know, they know that. If there’s an old picture of the Circle Drive in or something I want to see it you know, the old Tom McCann, oh, my God does show me a picture, you know, but like, that’s a pictures of all of that. But that era of baseball, by the way, picture already here, we’re gonna get the horse race and we’re gonna get to the derby. Dick grew up here in Baltimore. He’s made a life in Philadelphia. But we were the earliest of colleagues at the very, very genesis of my, what’s been kind of a fun 20 years dick, you know, 27 Super Bowls. I’ve covered 65 baseball World Series games. I mean, like, I’ve had this incredible thing that people don’t even know what I’ve done. But it really was seated by my love of sports years was seeded by your love of sports and gambling and understanding horse racing and having an entree into the newspaper business to get your pics right next to Rick peach rose and Charlie lambs back in the day. And I would just say the richness of journalism in our city, and the people like you that have gone on and done other things. And we can go through a litany of every Frank, the Ford and all of that. But this was a different time, 40 years ago, when the Hearst Corporation was so ambitious about sports in Baltimore, that they put a sports only tabloid newspaper here and employed people that I was with Tom Cousins out in Sacramento a couple of months ago, like people that came into this industry, Bernie Nicholas, John Hawkins, legendary golf writer, like all of these people, Barry Levine, at that place at that time, 40 years ago, that Baltimore and then on the one year, won the World Series, the first month that was in business, lost the NFL team four months later, and then went out of business in September of 80, in less than one year, and so many of us do talk about it so fondly. Yeah. And
Dick Jerardi 08:59
8I’m certainly one of them Nestor. For me. It was awesome, because I got to make all these mistakes. And I’ve made tons of them. But nobody knows. Because nobody was reading it. It was just look, we were we came at the same time as USA Today. Not exactly good timing. But it was great. And there’s so many as you mentioned, there’s so many people that were there that went on to be you know, major players in the business. I was so fortunate that after it folded after a year, I was at the Philadelphia Daily News The following February. And what sports first did for me was give me all those clips where I could say hey, here’s what I could do. And I only showed him the good clips. There were a
Nestor J. Aparicio 09:38
number of clips I put the spine up in my video because it was it was it was well edited by Dave Smith, I’m sure picture already he’s here like we get together every year. We’ve talked cholesterol. We’ve talked cheese steaks. I’m actually in Philly this weekend. I’m coming up to see the Black Crowes up in Bethlehem Pennsylvania. So I’ll be coming through you might find me for cheesesteak Saturday, Polestar open Saturday Can we do something gymnastics. There’s some I don’t know, the Derby and the Preakness and the Triple Crown. I just need to reset this and give you the floor and we’re going to promote your sponsors and the people will take care of you and all that. But I sat with Alan Forman last week and David Richardson and David and I’ve known each other for a number of years. He’s at Dundalk guy and I’ve been involved with they’re doing up at Greenmount stations in the beginning with OTP and gambling and sports wagering and mobile and all that. I got an education last week and we’ve run this piece this week. I hope everybody goes out and finds it out of Baltimore positive. I am stunned at what’s about to happen in Maryland. And you and I have talked about the uncertainty, uncertainty, uncertainty and certainty, keep the Preakness but it’s an annual deal with you and I have we’ve been doing this, you and I you would have been gathering Derby and Preakness for 32 years. You are ever you and Marty McGee every single year Clementa Lee died. Every year you guys come on, and we talk about this. And every year it’s are we going to save it are we and it feels to me after sitting with Alan and David. And after the state legislature has done this, at least from our perspective, there is some clear vision for what we’re trying to do here in Maryland with our race. But that does not belie the fact that the derby is stronger than it’s ever been. Would you say?
Dick Jerardi 11:20
The derby is absolutely stronger than it’s ever been Nestor. They just did a $200 million renovation on their paddock. And I’m sure NBC Saturday night’s gonna give it major play, but I’m not down there this year. But I know people that are they say it’s absolutely spectacular to see. I mean, there’s actually a see thru window where the people, I don’t know how much they’re paying probably like 5000 for the two days where the people can look in and see the horses in their stalls through a window, but the horses can’t see them. That’s one of the many deals with this new paddock, but about Pimlico look, and I’ve known Alan since he was the he was the general counsel for the Maryland racing commission back way back in the day when I was covering down there. It’s awesome what they’re doing at Pimlico. I think it’s great. I think it’ll be great for Maryland racing. I think it’d be great for the Preakness looked a couple of years when it has to move the Laurel that’s fine. We can deal with that. But the fact that it’s going to stay in Baltimore, they’re going to renovate the racetrack is great for the sport, and it’s great for the city. Because look, the Preakness after the Colts, you and I’ll never get over that 40 years later, but you don’t want to lose one of the other jewels of Maryland sports the Preakness and they’re not going to it’s going to be in Baltimore forever as it should.
Nestor J. Aparicio 12:32
Well, it’s been a life support issue for years I found that my wife loved to go out and shaker asked if Bruno Mars in the rain last year, and you know, they lost millions of dollars paying Bruno Mars $5 million to come in. I don’t think I’m speaking out of turn your Belinda Stronach has run this place for a decade she’s had no interest in meeting people like me. I have been, I talked about how I’ve been mistreated by the Orioles and the Ravens. They threw me out of the press box last year, when I had a press pass. And Pimlico. I mean, it is I don’t know if they’re gonna have me this year. I have no idea how these these creatures behave, who run these communications departments. They they do everything but communicate all of them. And the thing’s been in a state of disrepair for so long. I mean, half the track is condemned Dick Right. Like, literally, you can’t walk into it. And this has been going on for years. You follow this from afar through your racing I through your old Philadelphia Daily News I through what you do, and I should promote your sponsor right now bet online bet online as the most up to date odds and props on the web. It’s the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby I bet nice even number for you. And Deke and I obviously been friends a long, long time. Are you shocked that it that it got saved to some degree? I mean, and the only reason I say this is I spent all of last week talking to people in Oakland. The Orioles played the Oakland, Sacramento, Las Vegas, whatever the hell they are this week. And I went back to my hatred of catfish Hunter and Blue Moon Odom. And they were the first team I hated in 7370 fours with Reggie, because I was five years old, right? And what’s happened there is they drag, drag drag. It’s been a disgrace like the Preakness for 20 years playing in a slum. And it always felt to me like they were leaving, you know, Oakland and it always felt to me like this was going to be a state struggle with the name of the Preakness. I felt like Gulfstream or Hollywood or Delma somebody was going to come in and just say goodbye that and the state’s like, No, you won’t. And the politicians here fought God bless all of them. Everybody that here that fought so hard to keep something that quite frankly Dick and I don’t mean to be a dick, but I live here. It’s a big deal to me. It’s a big deal to nobody. I know the Preakness you’re gonna mean like they have devalued it in a way. In the same way the Orioles had 23,000 People at the ballpark on Monday night. The new guy owns it and all but the damage has been done. It needs to be undone. It’s just not roll it out where the Orioles are rolling out. Here’s the Preakness we saved it. I mean it needs real watering and is a guy that’s been to a handful of derbies and you’ve been down there 20 times what they do in Louisville, the way it’s embraced as a civic treasure that’s been lost here. And we try I’m I’m doing crab races that if at least two weeks from now, but late nights and concerts, and let’s do this and do that. I don’t know what the air for it is. But it needs to be bigger than what it’s been the last 20 years, which is this thing that I was always fearful that somebody was just going to come and give the racing people enough money to pirate it away the way bobber stated and they rename it or come up with a new triple crown and call it the Gulfstream special or something you know.
8Dick Jerardi 15:44
Yeah, it’s not the same Nester and it needs to be and I think the when the new Pimlico rises, and I don’t know exactly what it’s going to look like, but it’s going to be vastly different than what we have now. But they’re going to have to get the city behind it again, realize what a treasure they have. possibly move it away from two weeks from the derby. I know there’s been some discussion of that. But, man, whenever you try to change anything in horse racing, it’s very difficult. But look, they’re never going to be the derby. The derby is a one off, it’s you’re not going to try to emulate that because nobody can it’s just impossible. 150 years of it and the amount of money that CDI Churchill Downs Incorporated has, and they’re not just a racetrack company. They’re a gambling company, they own casinos they own they’re traded on the stock exchange, they’re in a different position. And the fact that you can charge regardless of what the number is at the derby people will come. That’s that’s not the case in Baltimore, but they need to make it an event. Again, it’s doable. But as you said, it’s going to require some work because so much has changed in the last 2025 years.
Nestor J. Aparicio 16:56
Thick for you with the derby this year and the horses and where the scandal of you know, I remember walking into cost this year, two years ago on a Sunday Mr. Costas, who owns horse races in his own way, he said to me, Baffert, they they have disqualified him. I’m like, why? Sunday morning. I’m like, I just talked to him last night. He was he had roses and everything was good. They were feeding the horse, peppermint, and it was beautiful. Where is the state of horse racing, Bob Baffert, doping dead horses. The piano people need all of that still revs up its engine this week, but we’ve got a horse race and I love the fact that I liked the suffix nests. Like you know my name like Preakness I like fierceness, fierceness as the favorite has to be talking Derby this week.
Dick Jerardi 17:48
Yeah, as do I Nestor I’m a fierceness fan look is by our figure numbers are just way better than anybody else in the field. He’s my choice for sure. And not just because of the NESs but I do like that part of it. It’s interesting. Todd Pletcher is brought 62 horses to the derby. He has only two wins. But interestingly, he’s only had one post time favorite. That was always dreaming and 2017 and he won. This is going to be a second post time favorite and fierceness and I think it’s the best horse he’s ever brought to the derby. If he runs back to now he won the Florida Derby at the Breeders Cup nobody has a chance to beat him. The only issue is what happens if he doesn’t break well in the two races he broke poorly he ran very poorly so that’s the issue he gets out of the gate and he’s in a position when they hit the finish line the first time which is a quarter mile from the starting gate then I think he’s gonna win and probably win pretty convincingly number of good prop bets by the way on on BET online the one I liked the most investor is West Saratoga for last is six to one I think he’s got a real chance to be last one of my all time favorite prospects for last and horse I like it a longshot is honor Murray probably going to be 20 to one in the race as a chance I think to be second or third you can get six to one on honor Murray to be in the top three I think that’s also a good prop bet as well. The other one I’ll give you get its own bet online over under margin on margin of over under on margin of victory. It’s a length and a half.
Nestor J. Aparicio 19:26
8So like understand all of these profits I’m just it’s like rereading the form all over again but you would surely teach me this back in 84
Dick Jerardi 19:35
Yeah, so over under on how much the margin of victory is going to be is the length and a half but if you like fierceness as you do and I do he’s one is three races by a combined 30 legs is average margin of victory is 10 likes, how’s he going to do is beat a length and a half. And the good news is even if he doesn’t win, you got the rest of the field to win by more than like two and a half. So I like the overall in the light than I have even money proposition on federal law.
Nestor J. Aparicio 20:04
When did life begin where you could bet on which horse finishes last?
20:15
No.
8Dick Jerardi 20:17
Say that again, Nestor.
Nestor J. Aparicio 20:18
At what point? Did could we start betting on when a horse could finish last?
Dick Jerardi 20:24
Yeah. And that’s been around for a number of years. I’ll tell you a great Andy buyer story. You’ll love this, the legend from the Washington Post to my mentor in the game, and I’m part of the buyer speed figure team and have been for a number of years. I did
Nestor J. Aparicio 20:36
8not know that. But go get your story. And then I’m going to ask you about that in general. Go ahead. You’re
Dick Jerardi 20:40
so Andy in 1989. There was a third choice in the race. This is ego or Sunday silence this year, the third choice of the races was called Western playboy. And the world word was out. The whole week that he had some issues. There just was something off with but they ran them anyway. And everybody of course, is watching the race. And they’re all looking at Sunday silence is winning the race easy. Our closest for second, except buyer is looking at the back of the pack, where a jockey named Chris DeCarlo is writing faultless Ensign. Like he’s like his life depends on finishing 16th. And in fact, it does depend on buyers depends on it because he has Western Playboy for last. And he’s desperately trying to get faultless and set up over western playboy. And he beats him at the wire and buyer tells the story the next day how he’s rooting like a wild man for Western Playboy to finished last. And he did. And that was 1989. So it’s been around at least that law where you could bet a horse to be last.
Nestor J. Aparicio 21:45
Yeah, I you know, obviously we discussed your degenerative gambling a year ago, whether you’re ahead or behind after all of these years or expertise. I had you and Marty McGee both telling me you’re way behind. So I and I pointed that out to Alan Fuhrman, on the air last week as well.
Dick Jerardi 22:00
I did not tell you I was way behind because I’m not way behind.
8Nestor J. Aparicio 22:05
Well, Ed, your head for life? Well Ahead. Really? Correct. So it’s been a good investment in your time over 40 years. 100%. See, I didn’t know that. See? Then I stand corrected. I, I have often thought like who actually does when if you can’t win. If you’re not winning in horse racing, who could possibly win that’s what I think.
Dick Jerardi 22:30
It’s a really, really hard game. You can’t get upset when you get beat because you will get beat anybody that tells you they went all the time you automatically dismissed them, you know, they’re full of it look less or sick five years ago at the Breeders Cup betting challenge 2019 My partners and I finished third we hit for a quarter million. So that was that was a nice day. And I got I got a pretty significant percentage of that. That was a nice score, right. Tannehill is a legend Baltimore sadly passed away a number of years ago, Ray and I finished first, second and third in the pan National World Series of handicapping. Our buddy Dave coddle. The former Maryland lacrosse coach was our partner when we want it. He was actually our beard. He was the guy who was putting our bets up because everybody knew who Ray and I were and we wanted somebody that nobody knew, putting our bets up with six minutes of post. So nobody would know that it was our bets. We hit 400,000 that day. So yeah, we’ve, we’ve, we’ve had some nice scores through the years and
Nestor J. Aparicio 23:32
100,000, which we’ve also had
Dick Jerardi 23:34
8some brutal beats and anybody again, anybody that tells you they went all the time, forget that. They’re just not telling you the truth.
Nestor J. Aparicio 23:42
Well, okay, fair enough. I mean, and we always tell people gamble responsibly. I mean, I’m the most responsible horse racing person in the world. I’m a $2. Better. You know, I bet fun names I sometimes I read the form and try to take it seriously. But that’s when I just I’ll think myself because if you read the form, you’ll just bet the favorite. You know, if you’re a neophyte, right, you mean the favorites, the favorite for a reason? Because it looks like the best horse most of the time. Right? Right.
Dick Jerardi 24:06
And keep in mind, the favorite wins about 30% of the time, which means the favorite does not win 70% of the time. So yeah, that’s not you can look at it that way. And one of the keys of the game Nestor is identifying really good favorites, you know, like a flight line and the Breeders Cup where he literally couldn’t lose and vulnerable favorites. Like a lot of people think fierceness is vulnerable on Saturday. And look, he could be because he’s got a problem if he doesn’t break well, so there will be people betting against him for that reason. That’s fine. I’m betting on him because his speed figures just dominate the field. And I’m more than anything a data guy and data to me is you know who’s the fastest horse in a race and that’s a learn out who the fastest horse races by the speed figures. Get
Nestor J. Aparicio 24:50
your audience here courtesy of pet online tell everybody about the buyer speed figures and numbers because you just casually threw that out there. I mean, I’ve remembered Andy Barbie In the studious guy, before they throw me out of the press box and I’ve sat in 1000 times at Pimlico last year, I would see Andy there I, I, I left Andy alone. Andy to me was like I never talked to Kyle senior, I was very intimidated by him. There are just certain people that are so serious. And I don’t want to say curmudgeonly, but your perception is leave them alone, because they’re, they’re doing things and they don’t want to be bothered, and you shouldn’t bother them, because they’re doing important things that you should leave them alone. And that was before. I don’t know what that the buyer speed figure became a thing. Maybe mid the late 90s. It became a named item. But Andy was doing it a lot. He and Vinnie Perone and I mean all those guys, I remember seeing but give everybody the story of it because it started as a thing amongst you guys, I think in the press box. And then it became a thing they put in the paper in the Washington Post. And it’s now like, an era for a pitcher. Right? Like literally, it’s like, it’s beyond an opinion. It’s it’s it’s a statistic that is widely recognized as the most important analytic in horse racing, right? That
8Dick Jerardi 26:09
is correct. And you know, Andy, for the people that don’t know, and I suspect most people listening do know, he’s the longtime racing columnist for the Washington Post before that for the Washington Star. And it story is an awesome one. I mean, he was a Harvard grad. But he passed on his final Chaucer exam to go bet on Android and the 1966. Belmont Stakes. That’s kinda, yeah, I don’t know. I don’t know if Andy actually ever gotten this diploma or not. But he’s a brilliant guy. And when he was there, he had a classmate, and he wrote about in his wonderful book picking winners, which was a huge influence on me getting into the game, and the book came out in mid 70s. He had a classmate named Sheldon COVID, who explained to him the difference in times relative to how far horses run, right, so like, let’s say, let’s in his analogy has always been if you’re if you’re a sprinter, right, and you’re about a second off the off the fastest 100 meter time, well, you’re okay, but you’re probably a college sprinter. But if you’re a second off the fastest mile time, you’re in the Olympics, right? So that it matters more, the longer the distance, it’s explained through the buyer figures, to your point they’ve been now published for 30 years, first in the racing times, which went out of business after a year and into racing for grub now the last 30 years and have been part of the of the relay. If you’re into horse racing, you know what the buyer speed figure means. And essentially, how it’s compiled. Nestor, there’s there’s several of us, I think, seven or eight of us around the country that look at every track in the in the country were assigned different racetracks, Randy Moss from NBC as part of our team, by the way, he’s been he’s been an original with us, for the beginning, Mark Hopkins, and Andy owned the company. And what you’re trying to find out is time by itself doesn’t really mean anything. But time is, is a context in how fast or slow mo is the racing surface. And what the numbers do is basically you take that time, you average all the times for a particular day, then you come up with what we call a track variant. How fast or slow is the racetrack and then all that is converted into a number. It’s the opposite of golf. The higher the number, the better, like the great horses like a flightline American Pharoah, they could be up in the 120s. A fierceness is a 110. In the Florida derby. That’s why he’s dominant in the numbers, like the Kentucky Derby strict typically one to like 105 Number, something like that. So again, the higher the number, the faster the horse. You’ll see horses running at Pimlico and a couple of weeks that are run 60s They might be a $5,000 claiming horse and then you try to equate time six furlongs versus a mile to 16. It sounds more complicated than it actually is. But it’s one of those things it’s like riding a bike once you understand it. It’s not it’s not that complicated. But I have a sheet right in front of me where I got to do some speed figures here when I get off with you for for a track and Ohio thistledown. That’s one of the tracks and I’m assigned.
Nestor J. Aparicio 29:12
I always forget how like smart you are. And no offense to you. But by now it comes to me he was too smart for me to talk that didn’t have that problem with you or some other people but I left him alone in the corner because I knew he must have been a Harvard guy. Victor Ortiz here on behalf of Beto lon, he’s been my friend for 40 years. No one knows more about the horse racing and I apologize for thinking you were behind all these years. I I’ve told that story. Now that I know you’ve been a big winner and all this. Any thoughts on the Preakness before we get to two weeks from now as well the winner go now like where are we in this? How attractive is the Preakness in the industry to make sure that that the Triple Crown remains what it was because we’ve had that issue going back to when we lost you and Philadelphia we’ll spend the bulk of that year to Um, but we’ve had, you know, occasions where the horse doesn’t come here and that’s always it’s a tragedy for the Preakness when that doesn’t happen. Yeah,
Dick Jerardi 30:06
it happened two years ago with red stripe who was like the accidental winner of the Kentucky Derby. I mean, it was a total fluke. You never want another race. So I don’t know that the Preakness really missed out. Other than that, having that 80 to one shot there in the story. Look, Master, it’s become a problem because the two weeks everybody already understands that horses at that level don’t run back in two weeks anymore. Now, let’s say fierceness wins the race. Todd Pletcher never runs horses back in two weeks. In fact, the two Derby winners that came to the Preakness they rent terrible. I mean, they’re both awful. And because Todd typically doesn’t do that. I don’t get any sense that he wouldn’t come this year. Microfoliant would love to first he wants to win the derby. He’s been in the vicinity a few times. They said horses scratched on the day of the race, like forte last year. So I don’t know what will happen but I surely hoped that Derby winner comes I do know that pop Africa is going to be represented. You know he was represented last year with national treasure we gave out on your show last year, and Muth is going to be back for tours this year. And if he’s not the favorite, there’ll be no worse than the second choice. And if some longshot wins the Derby, then he’s going to be the favorite Muth will be the favorite in the Preakness. And of course, Bob owns the Preakness and has nothing but good things to say about Baltimore and thankfully the people in Maryland have not done what Churchill Downs has done. They understood that what happened with Medina spirit, he was not Lance Armstrong, Jr. It just the whole thing is just silly. And I don’t know why this band is still going on. But that is another story for another the band is still going on in the bathroom. Yes, it is. Yeah. I mean, they announced that originally as a two year ban, everybody thought it was up after last year’s derby. And then on July 1 of last year, Churchill said we’re extending it. And they didn’t say they’re extending it for a year. They’re extending at least through this year. That doesn’t mean it’s not going to continue. We don’t we don’t really know what’s going to
Nestor J. Aparicio 32:02
8happen. You know, all the pissing and moaning to fix fix it. We’re invested in it now. Right? I mean, state of Maryland has said this is important. You can go listen to my conversation with Dallas forum this week at David Richardson as well. And Dick, I love having you on man. It’s always good to see you. Now that I know you’re heading horse racing. I will not feel bad when you fork over the 12 bucks for that Cheesesteak. We’re gonna get Philly.
Dick Jerardi 32:23
It’s on me pal whenever you come up Joe’s. Joe’s taken show to shop up right on Girard Avenue right in Fishtown just that just outside of Center City, Philadelphia. So
Nestor J. Aparicio 32:36
I’m gonna say this to you as kindly as I can. I’m spending the evening on Friday in the great state of Pennsylvania. I’m coming back through Philadelphia, I have no chance of getting a cheesesteak with you on Derby Day, right? There’s no
Dick Jerardi 32:54
Derby Day I will be gambling all day long. Say
8Nestor J. Aparicio 32:57
Exactly. Well, you know what I could do I should get a cheesesteak and bring it to you and be a good friend to you. All you’ve done for me I should I should bring you a meal on Derby Day appropriate maybe I’ll do that because I’m I don’t get north of Philly much. I mean, hey, you know, the hell’s up there Bucks County? No, I don’t you know, John, literally coming through your neighborhood. I might bring you a Joe’s cheesesteak, especially since I got the gambling party. You all wrong. Not the degenerative part, just the fact that you’re ahead. So I love your deck. I appreciate you and I hope we get together again soon.
Dick Jerardi 33:26
Sounds good, Nestor. You’re the best. Thanks about two weeks from today. We’ll
Nestor J. Aparicio 33:31
have the Derby winner. We’ll talk about it. All right. Nick Gerard is here courtesy of bet online my thanks Jimmy Shapiro’s Well, old friends nothing like old friends from radio row with the Super Bowl where they threw me out of because I don’t know my long hair. I don’t know my last name. Go to bet online for the most up to date odds and props on the 100 and 50th. Running of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness is two weeks away on Nesta, we are wn st am 1570, Towson, Baltimore, we have Preakness fever, and Oreo fever, and go go birds
