Bill Finley

Watch out for the "Little Guy." Sold for just $70,000 at a yearling sale in Texas, owned by a grocery store owner from Alabama who has had just a few horses and trained by a veteran who had never won a graded stakes race before last weekend, Coal Battle (Coal Front) isn't exactly your typical GI Kentucky Derby horse. But the son Coal Front did it again last week, winning the GII Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn. Having also won the Smarty Jones Stakes, he is obviously for real. To talk...

Norman Stables' Coal Battle scored one for the little guy Sunday at Oaklawn Park, overtaking pacesetting California invader Madaket Road in upper stretch and leaving favored Sandman in his wake while striding home a 1 1/4-length winner of the GII Rebel Stakes. His owner, Robby Norman, joins this week's TDN Writers' Room podcast to talk about the race, his Kentucky Derby aspirations, and the offers he has had to buy the horse.

A veteran Hall of Fame trainer, Mark Casse knows that sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. The Casse-trained Sandman (Tapit) turned in a remarkable effort in his last start, the GIII Southwest S. at Oaklawn, finishing second after breaking in a tangle and dropping far behind the leaders. Once straightened out, he rallied furiously and finished second, missing by just a length. To talk about the Southwest and Sandman's next start, Sunday's GII Rebel S. at Oaklawn, Casse joined the team on this week's TDN Writers' Room podcast...

Brad Cox joins this week's TDN Writers' Room after his trainee John Hancock took an impressive step forward on the road to the Kentucky Derby this past weekend. Cox also has a loaded group of runners heading into Risen Star weekend at Fair Grounds.

It sometimes seems that not a weekend goes by where Brad Cox isn't making news and visiting the winner's circle somewhere after winning another important race. That was the case last weekend as Cox won the Sam F. Davis S. at Tampa Bay Downs with John Hancock (Constitution). This coming weekend he'll send out one of his top threats for the GI Kentucky Oaks when the filly Good Cheer (Medaglia d'Oro) makes her 2025 debut in the GII Rachel Alexandra S. at the Fair Grounds. To talk about past successes...

Ian Wilkes doesn't rush his young horses. You won't seem them running in 4 1/2-furlong races at Keeneland in the spring and they may not peak until late in their 3-year-old year or even early in their 4-year-old year. That's probably why he's had only one starter in the GI Kentucky Derby, McCraken (Ghostzapper), who finished eighth in the 2017 GI Kentucky Derby. But this time it's different. Wilkes has come up with a horse that has forced his way into the Derby picture. That was evident when the Wilkes-trained...

Trainer Ian Wilkes joins the TDN Writers' Room to discuss his stable star Burnham Square, who is now on the Derby trail after winning the GIII Holy Bull. Randy Moss and Bill Finley also review the rest of last weekend's Derby prep races and discuss Baffert's domination of the California stakes races.

When it was announced by The Stronach Group (TSG) earlier this month that it had the blessing of the group representing horsemen in South Florida to push for the decoupling of the track's racing and casino licenses it looked like TSG had scored an important victory. To have the horsemen on its side would no doubt make it easier to convince legislators to make the necessary changes that would allow the track to focus its attentions on building a new, full-service casino on the track grounds and eventually shut down...

Saffie Joseph, Jr. has had some big days since he came to the U.S. from his native Barbados in 2011, but perhaps none bigger than last Saturday at Gulfstream Park. He had three stakes wins, including a score with Be Your Best (Ire) (Muhahaarar ({GB}) in the GII Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Stakes and a win with Mystic Lake (Mo Town) in the GII Inside Information Stakes. But the one that really mattered was the victory by White Abarrio (Race Day) in the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes....

KY HBPA President Dale Romans joins this week's show to discuss the state of racing at Gulfstream Park.

Eoin Harty's world is chock full right now. For starters, his home is situated in the midst of one of the worst wildfires in California history, but somehow it has survived the nightmarish ordeal. Then, there is his role as the president of the California Thoroughbred Trainers, a position he has held since 2019. What that means is he is at the forefront of trying to turn around the declining fortunes of racing in the state, which he admits is no easy task. The good news is that he has...

Eoin Harty joins this week's TDN Writers' Room to discuss the tragic fires in California and how they have affected racing at Santa Anita. In happier news, the trainer also gave an update on his two Kentucky Derby hopefuls.