Imagine if Incredibolt wins the Preakness… and THIS is how he got into the race.
Incredibolt was doing well after running sixth in the Kentucky Derby, so trainer Riley Mott called his dad, Bill Mott, to get his thoughts.
"First person I called. While I was eating lunch, I called and said, 'What do you think?' He said, 'If he’s doing good, put him in. When do they enter?' I said I didn’t know. I called up the racing office and was like 'Hey, when do you enter?' They said, 'We close in about an hour.' That’s a true story. I am not embarrassed to say that. That is how not on the radar this race was.
As a father myself, I love this so much. Sometimes that’s all kids need to hear — No overthinking. No fear of failure. Just trust the work, take the shot, and see what happens. Whether it’s horse racing or life, we should encourage our kids to chase opportunities when they’re in front of them. Rooting hard for @Riley_Mott.
🚨 ‼️ Breaking Horse Racing Industry News!!!!!
I’ve spent months asking The Jockey Club and its Stewards for ONE thing… get the real decisionmakers in a room and let’s come up with a REAL action plan to save this sport.
My only motive here is to make racing better, fix the sport and help the sport grow again for everyone.
I want to help every participant in the industry and protect the Horse.
All I have asked for is REAL meeting with people empowered to make change.
Instead, The Jockey Club offered me another one-on-one meeting with Everett Dobson.
I said no.
Then they offered a Zoom call where “maybe” some other Stewards would join.
A Zoom call is supposed to fix what’s broken in Thoroughbred racing???
NO CHANCE.
We need the leaders of this industry sitting face-to-face, committing to transformational change with real solutions and accountability!!!!!
So Wednesday, my lawyers proposed a day-and-a-half IN PERSON meeting June 3-4 in Saratoga Springs during Belmont week.
At a minimum, Chairman Everett Dobson and the lead Stewards Stuart Janney, Vinnie Viola, Bill Farish, Bill Lear, and Terry Finley must all be there.
We should be talking about:
• Aftercare
• The SAFE Act
• HISA
• The collapsing foal crop
• CAWs
• Access to data
• Declining owners, breeders & racetracks
• California & Florida concerns
• Lack of innovation
• Board overlap conflicts
• Transparency around TJC subsidiaries
• Marketing & fan engagement
and EVERYTHING else threatening this sport.
I even offered to buy dinner and let them pick the wine!!!!!
Mr. Dobson says he agrees with me on 90% of the issues.
GREAT.
Then let’s sit down and fix 90% of the problems.
No more excuses!!!!!
The Jockey Club just has to say YES or NO to this meeting.
They have a deadline til the end of the day to accept my meeting invitation.
If the answer is NO, then everybody in racing will CLEARLY know they have no interest or intention about saving this sport.
I am trying!!!!!
How do you think they will respond???
Ok ok ok…
I can’t tell my two superstars apart. 🤦♂️
Zany is built like a colt…and yeah the great work from the last post was actually Zany on the outside.
I know I screwed that one up. 😅
Doesn’t Zany look AWESOME though???
This video here is
Renegade on the outside and
Powershift on the inside.
They look the same and they both worked GREAT.
LFG!!!!! ♥️💪🐎
"We get nothing from the Breeders' Cup. We get nothing from The Jockey Club. And HISA is accelerating the death of the sport, and that's the truth."
Never afraid to speak his mind, Mike Repole (@RepoleStable) joins this week's TDN Writers' Room Podcast.
https://t.co/CIkOOoJhE1
Three blockbuster trades this past week.
Aggressive moves. Teams and Coaches taking swings. Raising the level of competition across the UFL every single week.
Shoutout to all the coaches and staff that made this possible
What do you guys think???
LFG!!!!! 🏈💪
Maybe it was coincidence 😂 but funny how the “do-nothing” entities suddenly found their voice last week on the SAFE Act.
In a few months, @PatCummingsNTA and I have made more real progress than the “trust us” crowd at The @JockeyClub and @BreedersCup have made in 20 years.
Three months ago, after doing the work and having real, gut-wrenching conversations with the people who actually fight for these horses after racing, we knew this wasn’t optional.
This had to get done.
So we acted.
Hired Chris Heyde.
Sent Pat to D.C. multiple times.
We stopped waiting. I personally funded everything and started pushing.
This sport and industry needs results not “talk.”
And credit where it’s due, I want thank Congressman @RepAndyBarr from Kentucky, currently running for U.S. Senate, and his team for stepping up and being incredibly helpful.
This can and must get done.
Not someday.
Now!!!!! 🐎💪
How dumb is the @jockeyclub???
Dumb enough to promote the bullshit of their own Chairman Everett Dobson on the TDN Writers’ Room.
They weren’t smart enough to even clip his segment.
22:00 mark.
That’s where the BS starts!!!!!
Watch it. All of it.
Listen to Everett talk about “leadership,” “progress,” and “change”… then listen to the excuses, the spin, and the flat-out BS about me, my relationship with him, and the pheasant-hunting stewards.
He admits we agree on 95% of the issues.
NINETY-FIVE PERCENT.
And that’s exactly the problem.
Because I want ACTION and CHANGE on that 95%.
They want meetings, panels, press releases, and more decades of incompetence.
He even goes out of his way to say I’m smart and successful.
Oh Great, then maybe start listening!!!!!
When he’s forced to talk about real issues, you can see it him uncomfortable, awkward, and exposed. That’s what happens when you’ve been hiding behind control and your own narrative for decades and someone finally calls it out.
This sport is dying!!!!!
The Jockey Club is hiding, deflecting, and pretending everything is great.
Here is the truth.
I asked the Jockey Club for a full-day meeting with me,
Industry leaders, Everett and
All the Stewards.
Let’s ALL sit in a room.
Let’s have real unity, real collaboration and a real discussion.
DENIED!!!!!
Everett Dobson and ALL of the Stewards turned down a full day meeting with me and Industry leaders!!!!
Bullshitters!!!!!
But remember Everett says Mike and the Stewards and I agree on 95% and by the way Mike is really smart and successful.
The Jockey Club doesn’t want change, they only want CONTROL.
Unlike the Jockey Club, I’m listening to all Horse Racing participants.
What should be my move???
Let’s F$&king Go!!!!! 🐎💪
Sorry Dave @stoolpresidente
I’m glad we talked through the Miss Apples scratch situation.
We both love the horses. We both love this game. And we both agree, horse safety comes first.
But let’s stop pretending everything happening right now is helping this sport. It’s not.
There is so much overreach, overreaction, and over-precaution from state vets and regulators that we are pushing this sport toward extinction.
Due to their incompetence and mismanagement, HISA, and their direct or indirect partner, @jockeyclub, have accelerated the demise of this sport.
Kenny, it’s brutal hearing you this deflated about our game. Every time we talk, it’s about solutions, fixing things, pushing forward, and you’re usually the optimistic one.
But let’s be real…whether you’re a trainer, owner, horseplayer, or fan, frustration is at an all-time high.
We’re losing participants every single day. That’s not opinion, it’s a fact.
And what are the so-called leaders doing???
@BreedersCup sitting on $100M of OUR money for a two-day event buried in the middle of college football
Season.
@hisa_us charging outrageous fees that are accelerating the sport’s decline.
And the The @JockeyClub pheasant hunting stewards??? Hiding, deflecting, or telling us everything is “great.”
Enough with the bullshit.
This sport is bleeding, and the people in charge either don’t see it…or don’t care.
Our voices are starting to be heard. These entities are hearing our uproar, our unhappiness, and our disappointment, and they are nervously feeling the pressure.
Let’s continue our momentum.
Overwhelmed by the support to keep the pressure on the @JockeyClub and all of its direct and indirect affiliates, including HISA.
I’m not slowing down. I’m going harder. Louder. Relentless.
This sport needs real, transformational change, and I won’t stop until we fix it and save it for future generations.
The truth is simple.
The @JockeyClub and its Stewards are responsible for the decline of this sport. Years of selfish, greedy behavior and a need to control everything.
And here’s what says it all…
If they weren’t guilty, they would’ve:
Addressed the facts
Met to fix the sport
Or sued me
They’ve done none of it.
So I’ll say it again…
PLEASE, PLEASE SUE ME!!!!! PLEASE!!!!!
If there’s nothing to hide, let’s go to court and put EVERYTHING on the table.
#FUJC
Any guesses what that stands for???
I want to share a @JockeyClub update based on my tweet last week.
They missed my deadline…but they finally responded.
I asked for a real meeting:
Jim Gagliano
Everett Dobson
ALL the Stewards
With me, Pat, and 10 respected industry leaders across racing…tracks, trainers, breeders, aftercare…real voices that actually understand the sport.
Their response???
Send them a “detailed agenda” for approval…and maybe they’ll allow a 1-on-1 with Dobson. 😂
I’ve already had plenty of long meetings with Dobson.
Let’s be honest…he’s not the decision maker.
The Puppetmaster and the rest of the curtain hiders are.
And there is ZERO chance they want to sit in a room with me and real industry experts.
Transparency???
Collaboration???
Stop it.
This is exactly what fear looks like.
I will respond.
And I will keep pushing.
Because 95% of this industry sees exactly what’s going on.
Weak communication.
Zero transparency.
Total control.
So let me ask you…
Should I stop pushing the @JockeyClub for answers???
Or keep the pressure on and fight to fix and save this sport???
On the Road to the Kentucky Derby with THE PUMA 🌹 Winner of the G3 Tampa Bay Derby, he earned 50 Kentucky Derby qualifying points.
The Puma heads next to the G1 Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park this Saturday, March 28.
🎥 Watch the full episode: https://t.co/GwxQkgFqkn