Lifer horse racing handicapper and journalist Dick Jerardi returns to Baltimore to talk Preakness future and horse racing industry with Nestor.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

preakness, race, derby, years, horse, people, baffert, happened, baltimore, run, big, kelsey, horse racing, racing, belinda, stronach, won, nestor, good, week

SPEAKERS

Dick Jerardi, Nestor J. Aparicio

Nestor J. Aparicio  00:01

Welcome home, we are wn St. Towson, Baltimore. And Baltimore positive. I have lottery tickets. I just have to get them off my bureau your My Kerio Pac Man scratch offs. We’ll have these on Friday down at Lexington market. We’re going to be failing for two of the five the race is Saturday. The alibi breakfast. It’s Thursday. The Orioles are home all week schedule comes out on Wednesday. I’m worn out from chasing the Northern Lights in Spokane over the weekend. Post position draws on Monday night. It’s almost like old times. When I get to welcome this guy back onto the program picture already joined to see as our defending racing champion. I’m going to let him plug gambling betting I learned two weeks ago that he is ahead for life because of these syndicates and these big scores and all of that stuff. But we get the race here. And dude, every time you and I have gotten together for 32 years, it’s been about the future of the race, the future, the race and where the race is gonna go. And we talked a lot of oxygen that two weeks ago, but I can’t say it enough for people that tune in that we feel like we finally have some level of resolution that we haven’t had since let’s be honest, it’s Frank to Francis died 35 years ago, however long ago, it’s been we’ve always been in flux. And as I welcome you down from Philadelphia,

Dick Jerardi  01:16

this is sort of a dawning of a different thing that’s going to happen here in the next couple of years, right? Yeah, no doubt Nestor, this is going to be previous 149. So next year, we’ll have 150 at the site. And then it sounds to me like that’s going to be the last one in the old building. The building is going to come down. They’re going to run it at Laurel for a year. And then hopefully the new facility will be up for the 2027 Preakness if I’m if I’m reading everything correctly down there. It sounds like the legislature has done what they did needed to do. Governor Morris signed it. So it sounds like it’s all going to happen. And I can’t wait to see. Well, in regard to the future of all of this. And we’re racing is and having a good race here this week and having the Kentucky Derby winner here. Like for most of that and I went to the poster on Monday night, it was smaller, you know, they made Stronach did roll out a quarter of a million and by John wait to come in and play for the media Chicago a couple of years ago and so it’s a little French bistro to chicken was delicious. Yo bats off to the Atlas group. I love you, Alex, feed me chicken. But the race and the buzz around the race and what it’s supposed to mean for the community has always been sort of it certainly this century, sort of mired in the future of the race and the uncertainty of the race and all of that. And every time I say anything about horse racing, I get emails from friends of mine who love horses, euthanizing horses and the PETA people. The PETA people are out.

Nestor J. Aparicio  02:46

On Wednesday, I’m doing the crab races. The PETA people want us to use mechanical crabs. So I’m not kidding, Dick. I mean, so this has taken another level but the industry has taken it on. Where is the industry? Where are we finding it this week for this new Preakness? Because if you helicopter into this, if my dad came back to life, he wouldn’t recognize what it is right now.

Dick Jerardi  03:12

Now, it’s very different. The buzz is certainly different. I think now that you have some certainty, and the fact that the Stronach group will not be involved in a couple of years, you kind of have a different look about it. And I’ll be fascinated to see how the Preakness is promoted in the new new Pimlico. When that happens. It’ll be absolutely fascinating to see I can’t I can’t wait to see it. I’m looking forward to the new building drawings. I’ve seen what people want to do. The industry itself. And Esther I would say is in a pretty good spot for the big events. Derby obviously is better than it’s ever been the TV ratings were crazy highest rating since 1989. and won a race. Yeah, it was an Emmy race for the ages right to noses never happened before in the history of the derby. So you got all that. And you have some continuity, because you have the Derby winner, you got Baffert, coming back to the Preakness, which is going to record eight times you have all that, but the I think it’s going to depend on who’s who’s running Pimlico, how is the Preakness is going to be promoted in this new circumstance. And I think we’ll have a better idea of where we’re going forward. But I would say the industry as a whole as a whole is in a pretty good place. I think the highs Initiative is a good one. Some of the things they’ve done up till now I’m not thrilled with but it takes time, I think to have uniform medication rules around the country is long overdue. And I gotta give some people some certainty about some things. But again, there’s a lot of kinks to work out at this stage. And the fact is, despite what you see and hear sometimes the reality is over the last really five years since 2019, and all the problems in the winter at Santa Anita. The fatalities are down dramatically and of course racing. They’ve done a lot better job of prerace exams of scratching horses shouldn’t be there of maintaining racing surfaces better, all of that stuff. So I think, Jeff, again, people don’t want to hear it. Because there’s, there’s a narrative out there. But the reality is all that has gotten dramatically better over the last few years.

Nestor J. Aparicio  05:17

tixati is our guest. He is a Baltimorean. We were colleagues at the Baltimore news, American sports first 40 years ago, and he’s been in Philadelphia for almost 40 years now doing horse racing at a very high level, as well as Penn State basketball. I don’t leave that out for you and all of your other little hobbies and pursuits including cheese steaks and Joe’s steaks. A couple of things. I want it. You’ve mentioned Baffert and Bob’s coming on the show this week, so I want to talk to you about him. Let’s talk about the stro knock people of stone ACA, you know, I’ve never met any of them. Belinda Frank, the fight that they had years ago, the future of the race, dumping money in the laro are we gonna get slots? Why those people ever get invocate? Can you give me a little bit of a history lesson about how this thing I can give you the history lesson on Angelo’s? I’ll give you some future on Rubinstein here soon because I’ve been here for this but this whole thing from the to Francis thing to this mess that it became and television and triple crown and and no governing body to your point through all of this. How did he get like this and why did these Canadian folks ever get involved in this?

Dick Jerardi  06:28

Yeah, I mean strikes an interesting character. Obviously Frank is sort of out of it. Now. His daughter Belinda is run most of the what they’re now calling first racing the Stronach group, which owns for the people that don’t know, obviously, Pimlico and Laurel and Marilyn and Santa Anita Park. First racing

Nestor J. Aparicio  06:45

is there because I see that I don’t know what that is. That’s the clean their name up like Comcast with XFINITY like that,

Dick Jerardi  06:52

I guess. You know, the owner. Obviously, they own an ad W girl Express bet they change that the first bet. I mean, I still call the Express but they also have Gulfstream Park in Florida. So they’re big players in the sport. But the question is, what do they really want out of the game? I mean, Santa Anita sits on some of the most valuable property on Earth. They recently are about to close Golden Gate fields, a racetrack in Berkeley across the bay from San Francisco. So are they really a racing company? Are they more of a gambling company? Are they nothing? Neither of the are their real estate company. So it is a little confusing. But look, there’s a lot

Nestor J. Aparicio  07:34

always felt like it was a debutante party and an EDM get down rave with Belinda Carlisle like all there Belinda Karloff for crying out loud Gina Chaka kill me for that. But Belinda Stronach, who is you know, an image on a screen here, not a you know, there’s been no citizenry about horse racing here. Even though all the trainers, all the jockeys, all the horse people, all the equine people, the horses are bred here, but there’s been no representation at the top here. And I said since Frank died. No,

Dick Jerardi  08:08

I think that’s fair. And I also think that you know, Belinda Stronach has this idea of what works in horse racing, and she’s a big event person, and that’s fine. And she’s got two of the bigger events there are in the Preakness and the Pegasus World Cup down at Gulfstream park, but actually is catering sometimes to the wrong people. She wants everything to be higher end, and that’s kind of where the Preakness is gone. But look, the Preakness is not a high end. It’s never right. It always has been and I just think they’re going in the wrong direction. And they’ve priced the number of people out of the Preakness. Look, the last couple of years, the crowds have been down dramatically, at least a part of the track where I am. I don’t know about the infield. Well,

Nestor J. Aparicio  08:50

I it’s Monday night, the buses, they haven’t sold tickets. That’s the word and the word dick. And this is the worst thing in the world. Not trying, like I remember you could go to the Crown gasoline station and buy Pymble bring this infield tickets, and people just went and did now you can click a button, but you got to want to go and last year was Bruno Mars, Bruno Mars, Bruno Mars, they lost three and a half million dollars book of Bruno Mars, like I’m learning about the business side of this. And I’m like, they just tried to kill the sport here. And every year you and I try to save it and we get together we hug each other and in May, and I’m feeling like getting with these local people in the last month or two and what happened in Annapolis that it might be Dick, I have an appointment about getting my press pass back from the Orioles. So there’s even been changed there. I’m just saying it feels like this is a real serious thing that’s about to happen here to do what you and I’ve been talking about for 25 years because it was never going to happen with these people right like the these folks were never going to differentiate themselves with Baltimore or understand the race. Yeah,

Dick Jerardi  09:55

again, because they own racetracks and casinos and stuff. of things around the country. If Pimlico and Laurel were I don’t say they were afterthoughts, but they were not first off the top of mine, Senator depart Santa Anita Park is there is a crown jewel and they’ve treated it that way. So yeah, I don’t know, again, I don’t know who is going to be in charge or how it’s going to work exactly. But it’s got to be a positive. Hopefully they get some Maryland people who get it, who understand what this track is, what this race is, and the fact that everything is going to change. I think it’s great because everything needs to change. And they still have something. Look, the Preakness is a big deal when you’ve run it 148 times. It’s a huge deal. It’s obviously something the city didn’t want to lose the state with didn’t want to lose it, they’re not going to lose it. It’s going to be there forever. And now it just needs to be marketed correctly and sold correctly. And there’s a way to do this. Hopefully the new people figure that Detroit

Nestor J. Aparicio  10:54

is our guests. Who are you here for I’m going to Jimmy’s notes. I want to make sure I’m promoting your your who you’re betting with what you’re doing and who you’re promoting, because you’re working hard this week. You

Dick Jerardi  11:03

so yeah, bet online.ag. I work with Jimmy Schapiro great guy from South Jersey. He’s out. Seattle’s been there for years. And then online. What they do Nesta, they have the latest odds and props on the Preakness. Yeah, it’s obviously not all they do. But that’s what we’re interested in here. And it’s so they got at the moment they have mirthless to that six to five so you can you can get that number. We will see what he goes off at on Saturday, and the props will be out shortly. But yeah, bet online.ag is the place for all kinds of wild props like the product, the a winning margin, a time overunder, all kinds of cool things that everybody can understand a lot easier than figuring out if you’re going to play a superfecta right props are a lot simpler for people to understand. Well,

Nestor J. Aparicio  11:47

my fierce nests, you know, I could have bet fierce nests for the end of the Kentucky Derby that being said Muth is favorited This is a very unique circumstance where the Kentucky Derby winner will not be the favorite on Saturday, pretty much no matter what right? Yeah,

Dick Jerardi  12:04

no question. It’s the first time that will have happened since 2012 When Bodie Meister had run second I’ll have another in the derby but I’ll have another didn’t really have the form coming into the derby so they still I’ll have another was still a second choice to Bodie moister the derby that he beat him again. And that of course I’ll have another scratch on the eve of the Belmont didn’t get chance to run for the Triple Crown. But yeah, the deal is when these two ran against each other Muth and mystic, Dan, it wasn’t close. Muth won the Arkansas Derby by six lengths over mystic Dan, who was pretty distant third, John Steele, who was second in that race went terrible in the derby. He’s coming back to and one of the cool things about this race. I mean, we so you got Baffert who holds the record for Preakness. When’s he got his eighth last year you got Lucas with six? You got Chet brown with two. And you got Kenny McPeak. Of course, he just won his personal Triple Crown by one of the derby with one so you can add that up that 17 Preakness wins among for the trainers that will be the other racers, nine horses in the race

Nestor J. Aparicio  13:06

for the legend of the Derby, and you’re much older than me, so I’ll let you educate me. You remember secretary? You remember hokum whatever you hook that day to run off the Belmont do whatever you’re doing. purchased for the Preakness and its distance over the last 40 years of falling from the derbies. You know platinum, but the Preakness is gold it’s right there, you know, to it being almost a Preakness became you know, below copper. At one point. I’m they’re not gonna be a lot of people out there this week. It’s not 150,000 Steadman won’t be around a pitch about them lying about how many people are out there as he used to do all the time 50 years ago, but the notion that the derby is the biggest race in the world, and everybody wants to be in it. And there’s 28 horses that want to run out of 20 stalls and everybody all the cheeks want to be there and Tom Brady, everybody wants to put their money in and all that. And then you get a winner. And they had this thing called a triple crown that they have tried for 100 years to make a big deal. This two week thing is very screwy. That’s why Muth is going to be favored and rested horses come in here and that’s why Baffert kicks everybody’s ass, you know, at this race. But this race, I’ve always thought this is a better person, like, if that’s the beginning and that horse wins and that horse comes here shouldn’t just be moving into from wherever platinum is into the next level, to say, this is the AFC Championship game, not the playoffs or the wild card on the way to what would be a Super Bowl which would be Belmont if the horse wins two races. And that’s happened you know enough of the time over the last 30 years. I mean, how I went up for big brown smart, smart enough all of these horses that had a chance to win the Belmont American Pharoah broke broke through finally. But the notion from television, the industry, the Stronach people, how it’s gotten screwed up that this race got set the sale to be well It’ll never be what the derby is or whatever. That was not the idea of this 50 years ago, Dick, right. The idea this was the crescendo and I’ll meet you in New York, and we’re going to have the biggest thing we’ve ever had in June. And somehow that fell by the wayside with television, the industry, maybe spend a buck not coming here years ago and all that happened with the industry. But it feels to me that if I own the Preakness, and if and and I were promoting the Preakness, I would be making a much bigger deal about it being the next thing that the derby is instead of, we feel sorry for the people that have to run two weeks later and come in in that little s hole of Baltimore. Like Baffert doesn’t feel that way. When he comes here, the people that horse people love this race. Correct?

Dick Jerardi  15:44

Yeah, I mean, I think you’d never get people say anything but nice things about the Preakness. The two most prominent guys in the sport, Bob Baffert, and Wayne Lucas, love the brightness. Of course, Wayne won his first ever triple crown race in the famous 1980 Preakness with Codex denarius back. What am I getting this right at 44 years later tried to win the Preakness again. So yeah, I mean, they love the so here’s what I think has happened over time. So Churchill Downs Incorporated is a major corporation, right? Not not the most likable people in the world. But they run a really good shop. They’re smart, they know what they’re doing. They know what they have. And if you look at Churchill Downs, from the time I first went there, Nestor in 1978, just to to what it is now, it’s unrecognizable, because I don’t

Nestor J. Aparicio  16:37

recognize it on TV. When I saw that pack two weeks ago, I said to my wife, now, we probably have to go there, because I see the football stadium and the dust it’s in the dirt looks the same but and aspires. But that’s it.

Dick Jerardi  16:50

Right? So what they’ve done little by little, they’ve had a vision for what this is going to be in the future, right, they’ve thought down the road. And so And really, it’s been over the last 20 years more so than that back in the 70s 80s and 90s. Since 2005, when they redid the whole place, and they actually were doing it exactly 20 years ago when they’re in Smarty Jones derby. And they built up right where the spires are no longer that not even close to the tall edifice there. And now each year, they’re building something else. And you know why they’re doing that? Because because they can afford to do it. Next year. They’re gonna pay for that paddock in seven years. It cost them 200 million. They’re gonna make like 30 million a year in seating and drinks and food and everything else. So the company and they’re not only into that they’re into the casinos or into different things. So the company is flush, where Pimlico was, was never like that. It was like different management teams. It was it’s good as Frank Francis was

Nestor J. Aparicio  17:53

condemned dick, like, I went down to call stream 20 years ago, and the NFL through their media party. They’re on a Tuesday like 20 Oh 9080 Not my wife came down and we’re like, oh my God, these magma people magma, you know, it’s kind of like magma lava lava. Like, I don’t know how to say it. I’m like these people, man. They’re gonna, they’re gonna turn west Baltimore in them, you know, they got that they got the Preakness, they’re gonna want to like they’re gonna be fair, they own the Preakness. They’re gonna want it to be bigger than the derby. That’s kind of how I look at it. And now every time I go down to Fort Lauderdale, it’s just a bigger mole. It kind of reminds me a little bit of what I’ve seen from that paddock in Louisville, where everything’s white marble, it looks like the freakin White House, right? For the Gulf Stream was Ritchie highway with the beach. And now it’s like, the four seasons like literally for me.

Dick Jerardi  18:47

Again, it was funny when I first went down there after they redid Gulfstream park and I love the old Gulfstream Park nester, I drove in there on a Sunday, Sunday morning, I couldn’t find the racetrack. It was like hidden behind the parking lots of casinos in the mall and everything else. It was bizarre. But yeah, they basically downsize that. I don’t that’s not what’s gonna happen at Pembroke. They’re gonna downsize. Obviously, they don’t need the building that they had now. And obviously, the condemned part is a little tear that down sooner rather than later. But yeah, what happened at Pimlico was just allowed to be was neglected, while at the same time church was building up and getting bigger and better than ever public out under the present management did the opposite. And it’s really unfortunate because they let a Jew kind of just die on the vine and they know they need to get out. They are getting out, fortunately, and it’ll be a new group in there. And it’s just, that’s it. Can it be brought back to what it was when you and I were growing up in a city when it was such a huge deal? I don’t know the answer to that. But what Pimlico and Preakness always had going for him. It was the first place you could see the derby. It was a huge deal. It was a great marketing event. And the you’re the Preakness actually blew up Nestor in 1973. That’s when the infield became a thing. And then why was that? Secretary? He brought people on you watch the old films, you can watch him today. Go on YouTube, wherever watch the 73 Preakness. And you’ll see when that when horses come into the stretch, all these people running from the infield, and literally right up next to the racetrack, they ran over the turf course, on to the track. That’s why they put up the fence. The next years, he couldn’t do that anymore.

Nestor J. Aparicio  20:32

So the guy punch a horse 15 years later, right where there

Dick Jerardi  20:34

was that my man that got a punch Artex is not one of the smarter moves I’ve seen. But he has some really good through whatever the security was. But yeah, that’s that’s what’s that that’s when Pimlico and the Preakness it were marketed smartly, you know, that’s when the Cohen’s on the track way back when and and the Preakness was a huge deal. Can it be that again? I think so done correctly because horse racing is big events are really really big. You just gotta have somebody who gets behind it understands it. And you got you got a great city like Baltimore which is changing for the better almost everywhere what’s your what’s your message Baltimore positive it’s all it’s all there it’s all sit

Nestor J. Aparicio  21:15

here all day tell you great things that are going on in the city but I pretension ality is is not gets us right? That the Orioles have potential there’s money to build the state. There’s potential there’s Peninsula potential there. But then it takes people smart people to make smart decisions and have their heart into it and have local people not debutantes from Canada who strolling every 51 and a half weeks, you know, I

Dick Jerardi  21:44

think at one point, I think the Stronach group had the right idea, but different things. And then as you mentioned, Belinda and her dad, Frank had a fight and the company kind of just kind of it was just kind of a mess. And do I think she wants it to do well, I do. I mean, I think she’s got her heart in the right place. But the reality is, what’s happened is what’s happened. And I think they knew it was time to go, they’re going. And I think it’s going to be great training for Maryland racing. And I think it will improve over time. But it’s going to take a little time. What is this? What’s this going to look like, in 2027 when the Preakness comes back to Baltimore with the new if everything goes according to plan, and nothing ever does, but hopefully it will. And it’ll be back in three years and you and I’ll be talking about the new publico with the new grandstand and, and how it’s marketed and ours being sold. And it’s all doable. You just got to have the right people do it. I

Nestor J. Aparicio  22:38

will use the big news, American word reimagined. It needs to be reimagined through all this great race here this week. Right? I mean, like, to your point, like from a handicapping standpoint, from a pure horse racing standpoint, we got a Derby winner, that won’t be the favorite. We got a horse coming in, we have all the people who speak like Baffert and Lucas coming in. We had the alibi breakfast, we have the fresh potentiality of the next thing, we have some certainty. But more than that, we’re coming off of a legendary derby race and bringing that horse here under circumstances that as I saw the names being pulled down at Monarch on Monday night, seeing the odds being made, you know, on the site, I’m thinking, this is an open race. This is this is the kind of race you love to talk about. Yeah,

Dick Jerardi  23:24

there’s no doubt and I thought, Look, NBC has got to be thrilled right? Because everybody has been talking about the derby because the finish right, it’s the first Nose Nose finish in Otter and 50 years they’ve had three horse photos, but Nose Nose and and when you got to sit around for five minutes start to figure out who won. Although I think it’s pretty obvious to the naked eye that mystic Dennett held on so you get that you get those people now you have the Derby winner. You have the Arkansas Derby winner beat the Derby winner in Arkansas, you had the Louisiana Derby winner in catching freedom. You have Baffert with two horses. You have Wayne Lucas with two horses and I will tell you this you have a great story, a great Maryland Pennsylvania story and a horse called lapo heavy uncle heavy is Pennsylvania bread. Is was bred on marguerites farm and is trained by his brother butchery both of whom are University of Maryland graduates. Marguerite was the heavyweight ACC heavyweight wrestling champion and his nickname and he was a longtime trainer. Everybody down there in Maryland knows more. His nickname for years has been heavy. And this horse is named after him. All his nieces and nephews call him uncle heavy. Mike Marlin owns the horse. Good South Jersey guy Glen Bennett. Pa guy. Jersey guy’s done really well in business. He’s a co owner of Uncle HEVC got that story. Every horse has a really cool story and to me the star of the show has got to be mystic Dan right your derby where you got to Kenny McPeak was one of the great marketers smartest guys in horse racing. Very media friendly. way. In fact, you love this. You talked about the Jason Kelce thing with the podcast with Secretary at the steroids and all that crazy stuff. So Kenny calls me on Sunday says, Can you get me on the Kelsey brothers podcast? He wants to cross over which is really smart. Because that’s an audience.

Nestor J. Aparicio  25:18

Get him on that podcast. Could you get him on it?

Dick Jerardi  25:20

I’m trying, but you can you can make it happen. I can make that happen. I’m gonna text you his number right after. You’re gonna make it. I

Nestor J. Aparicio  25:28

promise you. I have. I have the right arm of Jason Kelsey. I figured you would. Travis but But Jason. No, Jason’s the guy was urinated with Jason Kelsey at the Super Bowl victory party in Minneapolis. And it was a Craziest thing. I’m at a Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl victory party. let that marinate as a guy who’s from Baltimore that lives in Philly and rooting for Johnny you on 33rd Street. And so I I was a guest that Jim Schwartz and Joe Douglas in the guys that have worked for the Eagles. So I’m there and it’s a big party. It’s not just friends and family. There were like, a couple 1000 people dancing drunk. Eagles fans three in the morning, men’s room. You can’t get in the men’s room because of one little men’s room and everybody had to pee because everybody been drinking, and the lines out the door. And all of a sudden everybody cleared the way because Jason Kelce had to pay like I’ve never seen 300 Men just move to the wall and say, after you sir. He got a standing ovation in the men’s room. So you know, once you have that kind of experience with Jason Kelce. You You have I can I can get I can get but he has to win the race this week. Right? Or does he want to come on this week? Yeah, I

Dick Jerardi  26:42

think he wants to come on just for I don’t think he needs to win the race. I think he just wants to be on to talk about horse race and talk about football. Go and he’s a guy that Jason Kelsey and his brother would love. In fact, he actually put on Twitter X or whatever it is these days. He says, Hey, I’m inviting Jason Kelce to come down to the Preakness, which he will do and he said, he can bring he can bring his brother and his girlfriend, whatever her name is, you know, so he’s already having some fun. But yeah, Kenny has to get up Kenny this week he’s one of the all time good guys it not just in horse racing but in sports in general. He’s flying up today horse got there Sunday mystic dance the first horse to get there but yeah, we need to get Kenny on Kelsey brothers pockets.

Nestor J. Aparicio  27:20

We got to get Kenny on Baltimore positive because his horses are set on the dirty work on that. You can take on my show and I’ll get him on Kelsey show. Picture already is here. He is still gambling. So last thing Baffert. I had Baffert on later on today, what should I ask Bob Baffert? What if you’re co hosting that would be what are we talking to Bob about?

Dick Jerardi  27:42

The obvious question is, what is it about the city that you obviously love so much? Because he never has anything but good things to say about Baltimore is a part of it. He’s won the Preakness eight times. Yes. Is Derby winners have always done exceptionally well in the Preakness? And you know what else Nestor given what’s happened at Churchill Downs? Right at the moment, he is still barred

Nestor J. Aparicio  28:05

when he was never like me with the ravens and the Orioles. Is

Dick Jerardi  28:09

that so you can relate. He was never barred from publico no other race track barred Bob Baffert. It’s only a Churchill thing. They realize he’s not a bad guy. He’s a good guy. Yeah, he’s not. He’s not the devil incarnate. He’s precisely the opposite. Anybody that actually knows Bob understands that. So like the fact that nobody again the people at Pimlico and and Naira had a little bit of an issue at the at the beginning, because there’s some idiots out there. But yeah, it was only it was a 90 day suspension in Kentucky that kept him from the Preakness and 2022 It wasn’t pimlico’s it was just everybody reciprocates when you get a suspension and that Bob understood that he got that but he wasn’t barred he was never barred from pimlico’s So I think that Churchill was

Nestor J. Aparicio  28:53

trying to scarlet letter him and as a guy who’s been Scarlet lettered by billionaires like it’s it’s you know, I got Bob’s back on this because everybody in industry tells me I should all the smart people like you tell me this is this is outrageous. This is punishing guy for an Advil literally right

Dick Jerardi  29:13

and think think about this dude, that’s a good analogy. Think about this too. Churchill’s the only one that’s doing it. So they put a scarlet letter on him and nobody else is looking at the letter. They’re gone now. I mean, he’s home tracks and are needed never even gave it a consideration. It’s just again, the only reason he wasn’t able to run on the Triple Crown two years ago, it’s because he was in the middle of a 90 day suspension and that that’s that’s a horse racing commission suspension. And that’s because the worst tested positive for the pedal metazoan it was disqualified out of the derby. That’s, that’s what happens. All that stuff happens. Not that horses get kicked out of the Derby, but there are our suspensions like that. But yeah, every other tracks that no, we’re not. We’re not buying this. It’s just it’s silly. It always has been and now it’s vindictive, and it just needs to stop. I hope the church will announce at some point that Bob was welcome back for the derby next year but I don’t know what I don’t know what they’re gonna do. Frank what’s what you said it’s

Nestor J. Aparicio  30:05

vindictive and that is exactly it is vindictive. That’s the exact your writers that’s a great word, but more Who is it? Is there a human at Churchill Downs and hates ball bat like like because it always I can tell you Greg Bader with the Orioles Chad Steele with the Ravens you want to answer is go ask them. It’s not about Mr. Big or it’s one person and I’m wondering what the Baffert thing like, how do they get away with this keeping the biggest star in the sport a wave and saying, if you were the Derby, we don’t need you. And I’m thinking he’s one of the few people that talks the horses don’t talk. They need Bob Baffert. In the same way, that when, when, when Brady was cheating and taking air out of football, if they didn’t want to embarrass him, much of their you know, like, later on, I look at it and think it’s 30. But you don’t want to embarrass your star usually. Well,

Dick Jerardi  30:53

Churchill is the only entity in the sport that could get away with that, because the derby is supersedes everything. That’s just a reality. Look at the biggest ratings in history. 150 they had this giant crowd, the derby is not going to be overshadowed by Bob Baffert not being there. I know, people wrote columns that he shouldn’t be there. And of course, I agree with that. But they can get away with it, because the event is the event. But it’s just it’s still vindictive, it’s still stupid. I don’t know who that person is. The CEO is a guy named Bill car sturgeon. If I’m saying his name correctly, he actually said to Mike Tirico. Look, if the bomb has no more problems, you know, he’ll be welcome back. If there’s no more positives. Well, there were no more problems. Were no more positives than that he wasn’t welcome back. And they’re basically saying, because he says he never admitted that he did anything wrong. We can’t let him back. Which is absurd. I think I made the analogy with you a couple of weeks ago, it would be like somebody who has been convicted of something. And then they serve their sentence. And then you go, Well, you know what you haven’t said, you’re sorry. So you got to keep serving your sentence. That’s not how it works. You get to say on medicine, what you keep saying that forever. And look, the reality is what happened was, there was an overage of a therapeutic medication, anti inflammatory, that is legal to train with, but is no longer legal to have in a horse’s system on race day, it will mess up. Turned out it was an ointment that had this bet about the zone in it. It wasn’t an injection. It wasn’t something to help the horse run faster or performance enhance it was none of that. So yeah, this should have been over a long time ago, but unfortunately, it’s not.

Nestor J. Aparicio  32:36

Well, we’ll be talking about it all week. And we have to break this down this week. Ditcher Ortiz, you’re telling me who you’re here for and how to bet on the race. Give me a little quick handicapping. So we take care of your sponsors and make sure that, you know, this the hard race man this week, because I’m betting against smart people like you this week, so when I saw the odds pop out on Monday at the poster, I’m like, this is an interesting betting race, right?

Dick Jerardi  32:59

It is and I think one of the things that stands out Nestor is how little early speed there is in the race like so, it will not help the real deep closers were very much helped the deep closers in the derby. So I think Muth will be out there, I suspected Baffert, other horse imagination is going to be in the vicinity. Then it’s just a question of if anybody else wants to try to go to the top. And I just was watching moose races before I came on with you, his last couple, and he has yet to run a giant speed figure. But you can see and watching it, it’s common. And I think it’s probably going to come Saturday wave finishes. And I’ve watched all his works between the Arkansas Derby which was at the end of March and now and it looks like every good Bob horse that wins big races around the country. And imagination is a pretty good horse to lose Britain by the great legendary Italian jockey, Frankie Dettori trying to win his first ever American Classic after winning every big race in England and France and everywhere else over and over again. So yeah, Bob’s got himself a really good entry. See, I like moves, you’re gonna get a terrible price on but I do think he’s the most likely winner and bet online.ag Jimmy Spyros I’m working for get on their latest Preakness odds, all kinds of cool props, and you’ll see it stuff changing but up right up until race day, so yeah, bet online.ag must go on there and check it out.

Nestor J. Aparicio  34:29

I was promised by David Joseph of the Gulfstream Pimlico people that not only will I have a press credential, that I will not be thrown out and demanded to be escorted out of the press box after 14 years this year. So I will have access to you. So I can come up. I can walk all six stories up because I’m in decent shape right down and helps me up that little that back all the way there. And then I’m gonna come and give you a hug and we’ll take a Preakness day picture for old times

Dick Jerardi  34:58

100% Have you had text me they have and I’ll make sure I’ll be down. I’m not probably not going to be there too early afternoon. I’m actually doing a radio show up in Philly in the morning and then I’m gonna drive down but I will be there in plenty of time. I will be

Nestor J. Aparicio  35:10

there to see you Victor Ortiz. Here. Follow him. Tell me about your sponsor again. Get get get me out. Did he go ahead tell me where it is. Yeah,

Dick Jerardi  35:17

yeah, bet online.ag latest odds and props on the Preakness. 140/9 Preakness on Saturday.

Nestor J. Aparicio  35:24

You know what, we got to take a picture from the top because that structure is going to be gone soon, right? Like, we gotta take pictures from up there. Up top. I always like watching the race where the old Pete Axtell thing would be there. I mean, they used to have all these legendary people’s names

Dick Jerardi  35:41

there Yeah, no, no it’s a scene yeah um look on this it but it’s not

Nestor J. Aparicio  35:51

alright, prick is 149 He’s being run on Saturday pop after we’ll be here. Peach gonna be here. Now that I know a Dictor already has his phone number and get them on the Jason Kelsey. Kick it myself booked on the Jason Kelsey show but I can get him booked on PacMan scratch offs on Friday afternoon we’re gonna be down at fade Lee’s dicks not getting in here quick enough early enough to get himself a fade these crabcake but I love dick enough that if he comes by crab cakes for everybody on Friday, Luke and I’ll be getting ready for the Seattle Mariners game. I’m inviting Dave Sims. There’s a good Philly guy for you. So maybe you’ll come by on Friday as well because the mariners are in town this weekend. races in town mariners are in town this week. We’ve got the Orioles are in like all week long and first place we have pitching out fields towers, all this stuff going on. And Luke and I will be monitoring all things NFL schedule as the Ravens begin the season in Kansas City against Patrick mahomes. NFL is going to melt down on a Thursday night. I am Nestor we are wn st am 1570, Towson Baltimore. We never stop talking Baltimore. Positive