Exciting horse races, Kentucky Derby preps and odds defying outcomes in this podcast. We have the Sam Davis from Tampa Bay and the El Camino Real from Golden Gate. Ivan Dalos won a case because his lawyer, Stephen Jack argued successfully there was nothing wrong with a horse winning without the use of lasix. We have writer and horse owner Andy Cohen throwing shade on the industry for not taking criminal activity seriously enough. Bill Tharrenos keeps winning at Gulfstream and his horses keep getting claimed. A brilliant return to the track for driver Nick Steward. High 5s all around at Mohawk when the same number kept coming up in the Pick 5. And guest appearances by Sinead O’Connor, Ram Jam, Sesame Street and Fred Flintstone.

Down The Stretch Podcast

Down the Stretch for February 14, 2022

This podcast is loaded. We start with the O’Brien Awards honouring the best in Canadian harness racing. We reveal the Horse of the Year. American horse racing podcaster, Jon Stettin talks about the guy who got DQ’d from a betting contest and we borrow from Stettin an interview with Chantal Sutherland. We have Sutherland winning at Gulfstream and Emma-Jayne Wilson bringing in a 9-1 shot in a Stakes race at Tampa Bay. Owner Jim Ensom and trainer Marty Drexler talk about their winners in Florida. There were 3 preps for the Kentucky Derby and we have the stretch calls. Author Jennifer Morrison joined horse owner Larry Cordes at Ajax Downs to sell copies of her newly released book on Queen’s Plate champion Mighty Heart. At Mohawk, it may be frigid, but drivers Doug McNair and James MacDonald are smoking. And Courtney Robson owns and trains Thunder Romps, a rare horse that has won both as a pacer and a trotter.

Down the Stretch for February 7, 2022

People are now allowed to enter Ontario racetracks. Woodbine’s CEO Jim Lawson discusses that and the fact that even though he has never lined up at Saratoga’s Big Red Spring to get a cheap baseball cap, he’s open to the idea of enticing fans with giveaways. They ran the $3Million Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream and let’s just say that Life is Good for jockey Irad Ortiz. It’s not so bad for Chantal Sutherland, who had another win in Florida and Daisuke Fukumoto broke through at Santa Anita. We have an animated chat with the former head of OHRIA, Hec Clouthier. Clouthier has some fond memories of ‘Bud’ Fritz and tells us a wild story of a government meeting in Berlin that turned into a police chaperoned trip to the racetrack where he drove the Mayor’s horse in a harness race. Carmen Auciello is the leading trainer at Mohawk, but he wonders why there aren’t more quality pacing mares in this province. If James MacDonald is going to repeat as Mohawk’s driving champ, he’s going to have to repel Louis-Philippe Roy and Doug McNair. And we have an astonishing story of a jockey named Debbie Waymouth. Wait until you hear how badly she was hurt in an accident. Wait until you hear how old she is.

Down the Stretch for January 31, 2022

In this episode, we remember harness racing legend Bud Fritz. Should horse racing be concerned that Michael Beychok, one of its brightest and most successful bettors is backing away? Why are there no full-time lady race callers in North America? We seek the answer from Turf Paradise’s Craig Braddick, who persuaded Dani Jackson to come from England to call the races. Shannon ‘Sugar’ Doyle has ceased calling the action at the Raceway at Western Fair. He tells us that Alberta racing made him an offer he couldn’t refuse. We also have an early Kentucky Derby prep from the Fair Grounds and the Raroma Stable, Jim Ensom, Marty Drexler and Chantal Sutherland repping the Maple Leaf and winning races in Florida.

Down the Stretch for January 24, 2022

It was a great week for Woodbine’s boss, Jim Lawson, who explains why more money is bet at Mohawk than at any other North American racetrack. Moira Fanning and John Campbell tell us why Mohawk was awarded the next Breeders Crown races. Kevin Attard is a finalist as Outstanding Trainer in the Sovereign Awards. Nick Gallucci is up for an O’Brien as Outstanding harness trainer. Both of them join this podcast and admit to being longshots. Jacob Roberts is a standardbred trainer who notched his first career win at Flamboro and Bill Tharrenos is taking down purses at Gulfstream. By the way, how may DiPaolas or DePaulos does it take to win a race and how does Madonna get into this podcast?

Down the Stretch for January 17, 2022

The Down The Stretch Podcast loves stories about the relationship between people and their horses and this one fulfills that quotient. Mark McKelvie lays out the rules for watching the races at Mohawk. George Millar tells us how satisfying it is to be nominated in several O’Brien Award categories, especially after what he went through in 2021. Debi O’Brien-Moran talks about her favourite horse, Ciona Bromach who never raced in a claimer throughout his 330-race career. Quarterhorse trainer, Jason Pacoe chatted while driving back from Oklahoma, where Ontario-based horses will be running this winter. Carmen Auciello had one of those training dream nights at Mohawk and the racetrack is the only place in the world where a 20-cent bet can make you a millionaire. It happened at Gulfstream.

Down the Stretch for January 10, 2022

This podcast is barely 28 minutes, but somehow we squeeze in Kazushi Kimura, Rafael Hernandez, Justin Stein, Emma-Jayne Wilson, Patrick Husbands, Luis Contreras, David Moran, Daisuke Fukumoto, Antonio Gallardo and Gary Boulanger. We speak with agents, Jordan Miller and Pram Seebah. Listen to wins in Florida from Chantal Sutherland and Isabelle Wenc. Tampa Bay Race caller Jason Beem channels his Billy Joel. Ric Chapman files from Australia about an American mare who's getting rich. James MacDonald spent so much on Christmas presents, he needed to win 6 races on Boxing Day and his 5 year-old son, Chris tells us why daddy is so good. Props to those 14 year-old standardbreds who took one last shot at glory and even the Rolling Stones make a guest appearance.

Down the Stretch for January 3, 2022

Race callers Robert Geller, Ken Middleton, Frank Ferrari, Frank Salive, Peter Aiello, John Imbriale, Larry Colmus, Dan Loiselle and even Earl Lennox help us this week remembering the greatest races of 2021 and the events that touched, inspired and disturbed us. From Safe Conduct to Weyburn to Munnyfor Ro to British Royalty and Pink Lloyd, Essential Quality, Medina Spirit and Knicks Go. From Venerable to Desperate Man to Monte Miki to Bob Loblaw, the biggest races and the most stunning finishes of the year.

Down the Stretch for December 27, 2021

To celebrate the 100th podcast, we present 30 minutes of the craziest, funniest, most touching and most unusual moments in horse racing in 2021. A wonderful interview with Jim Cuddy of Blue Rodeo, a woman dq’d because her brother claimed foul, the night Garnet Barnsdale went 10 for 10, a horse named Ho Ho Ho that didn’t have anything to laugh about, Punxatawney Phil winning on Ground Hog Day and what could possibly go wrong if you bet a horse called Whacudposblygowrng? Imagine being a race caller and there’s only 3 horses in a race. How do you make it sound interesting? There was a night at Mohawk when the number 7 just kept coming in and how did we mix the Kennedy assassination and a classic episode from Seinfeld into this podcast?

Down the Stretch for December 20, 2021

Is Patrick Husbands retiring? We go straight to the great jockey and we get trainer Mark Casse’s take on it as well. Pink Lloyd has settled into his new life at LongRun’s Farm and Vickie Pappas reveals how you can own the bridle he wore in all his wins. We chat with standardbred owner, promoter, and horse racing visionary Adriano Sorella, and ask why he’s bringing Jimmy Freight back to the races. Bill Tharrenos is off to a sizzling start at Gulfstream. Geriatric horses are still finding the wire in the last year of their career. We present the argument for Chantal Sutherland as Canada’s Female Athlete of the Year, and a bet that only Garnet Barnsdale was brave enough to place.

Down the Stretch for December 13, 2021

Woodbine CEO Jim Lawson talks about a completed thoroughbred racing season, single game betting, the best date for the Queen’s Plate and whether or not a podcast host can be comped at the new hotel on the racetrack site. Braiden Reibeling chose the best time to score his first harness racing win – he did it on his 21st birthday. Emma Christoforou is only 19, but she trained a winner at Mohawk. Jack Darling tells us how his great and versatile pacer, Bulldog Hanover is going to manage racing and reproducing at the same time. New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association President Joe Applebaum explains how his state passed a bill banning horse slaughter. How did a dog get into a horse race at Monticello? And there was a great and emotional night at the Meadowlands when brilliant race caller Larry Lederman returned to the announcer’s booth.

Down the Stretch for December 6, 2021

Thank you Pink Lloyd for scripting our lead story. The amazing sprinter won the final race of his career. Jockey Rafael Hernandez, trainer Bob Tiller and owner Frank DiGiulio heap praise on the incredible 9 year-old. Writer Jennifer Morrison talks about her book, Run With a Mighty Heart, about the 2020 Queen’s Plate Champion. Trevor Henry was great last Thursday at Mohawk winning 5 races. Twenty-two year-old Austin Sorrie is on the verge of greatness and we will tell you why. This podcast also presents the strongest argument you will ever hear for betting the daily double, and Ajax Downs race caller Frank Ferrari provides his rendition of the most outrageous race of the year – The Massive Ego Stakes.

Down the Stretch for November 29, 2021

This week, there’s a new race secretary at Mohawk Park and we find out why Tony O’Sullivan is a good choice for the job. We have a beef with Santino DiPaola, not because his training stats are improving every year, but because his video essays keep bumping this podcast off the Sovereign Award eligibility list. What’s it like to be one of the jockeys at the bottom of the statistical ladder? We talk with Corey Jordan, whose win last week was his 2nd of the year. Also, we have Stakes races from Woodbine, Jody Jamieson and Sylvain Filion winning in bunches at Mohawk Park, and two driving brothers hitting an unprecedented plateau.

Down the Stretch for November 22, 2021

Amazing accomplishments, thrilling finishes and bizarre outcomes are the varying themes this week. Pink Lloyd won again – it was his 25th Stakes conquest. Trainer Robert Tiller expresses his love for the great sprinter. Jockey Patrick Husbands scored win #3501. Driver Ross Battin steered home his 5,000th winner. Jonathan Drury and Carmen Auciello teamed for a huge night at Mohawk. Chantal Sutherland was booting home winners at an awesome rate at Gulfstream. Brad Grant loves his amazing trotter Atlanta, so he and partner Howard Taylor ponied up large for a full baby sister. A horse owned by Bruno Schickedanz won a Stakes race at Aqueduct at 44-1, and where were you when the lights went out... at Grants Pass, Oregon?

Down the Stretch for November 15, 2021

In a week in which so much happened in horse racing, what they did to the bettors on Friday at Del Mar was astonishing, as in astonishingly stupid. It tarnished what was otherwise a great Breeders’ Cup weekend. Pink Lloyd can still rock 6 furlongs at Woodbine - he won a Stakes race for the 25th time. His jockey Rafael Hernandez talks about another fine season and how he ended up riding a quarter horse at Ajax Downs. There was a frightening spill Friday night at Mohawk and drivers Doug McNair, Nick Boyd and Bob McClure were all fortunate not to be seriously injured. Ajax Downs completed its season of quarter horse racing and Jennifer Morrison wraps up the year for us. We sample a brilliant version of harness racings Mic’d Up and Ric Chapman files from Australia on the $6 million Melbourne Cup. By the way, wasn’t it a great week to be called James MacDonald?

Down the Stretch for November 8, 2021

A colourful, entertaining and passionate weekly look at thoroughbred, standardbred and quarter horse racing in Ontario.

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Down The Stretch Podcast

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