Writers' Room

The TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland returned this week with its first podcast of 2026, and the guest was John Sikura, the owner of Hill 'n' Dale Farms at Xalapa. Sikura was the Gainesway Guest of the Week. While there were several subjects to discuss with Sikura, the prominent farm owner largely focused his attention on racing in California, its problems and what he sees as the industry's obligation to improve the situations at Santa Anita, Del Mar and Los Alamitos. "We need to fix this today," he said....

In this festive finale to the TDN Writers' Room in 2025, the team of Bill Finley, Randy Moss and Zoe Cadman looked back on some of their favorite races and horses of the year. They answered a few listener write-in questions and even fielded a few curveball questions sent in by the producers. Tune in for a trip down memory lane and a look ahead to 2026 with the Writers' Room.

October has been a month to remember for the team from Spendthrift Farm. Since Oct. 3, Spendthrift has won six stakes, including four graded stakes and two Grade I's. Meanwhile, they've also had three maiden winners, including Further Ado (Gun Runner), who broke his maiden by 20 lengths. November could be even better as Spendthrift is planning on sending five horses to the Breeders' Cup. To talk about Spendthrift's recent run of success and its hopes for the Breeders' Cup, Spendthrift General Manager Ned Toffey joined the crew for this...

You probably know that Terry Bradshaw won four Super Bowls, has been inducted into the College and Pro Halls of Fame and was the NFL's Most Valuable Player in 1978. You probably know that Bradshaw has been a mainstay on Fox's coverage of the NFL since 1994. But you probably didn't know that Bradshaw owns a piece of a possible starter in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. Along with Magdalena Racing and Graham Leveston, Bradshaw is the co-owner of the GIII Pocahontas Stakes winner Taken by the Wind (Rock...

Jay Briscione, one of the six owners that make up Atlantic Six Racing, knows how lucky he has been. Some two years ago he and his partners privately bought a Jersey-bred son of Bucchero (Kantharos) out of a mare named Adorabella (Ghostzapper). At the time, Bucchero was an unproven sire and Adorabella never made it to the races. Briscione admits all he was looking for was a horse who could win New Jersey-bred races at Monmouth. What he got was a winning lottery ticket named Book'em Danno. It's been quite...

The Saratoga meet has just gotten started and it's already appears that Mother Nature is ready for a nasty fight, one NYRA is going to have a hard time winning. On paper, Saturday's card looked excellent with the GII Bowling Green S. and the GI Diana S., plus three maiden 2-year-old races that included a lot of horse with a lot of potential. But the card was wrecked before it started, thanks to a deluge of rain Saturday morning. It came down hard and heavy for about an hour. They...

In this special year-end edition of the TDN Writers' Room, the team of Zoe Cadman, Bill Finley and Randy Moss answered write-in questions from viewers and discussed a few other racing related questions, from how they got started in the racing industry to which horse they are most looking forward to watching in 2025.

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...