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All right, catch the ticket. A little special edition for you guys, and it's not going to be the normal deal. We're not handing out picks, but as you know, I like to do the horse racing stuff for the Triple Crown, some of the bigger races I go to, and there was a big story this weekend, and I happen to be down in Louisville, and it's about Churchill Downs cancelling the remainder of their meat and moving it to Ellis Park, and I have to tell you, it upset me because I think a lot of it is performative theater.

I think a lot of this is about being PC, and it's a PR move, and I don't think it's earnest. So I said, you know what, I was down there, I got a chance to talk to a lot of people at the track on Saturday, and I thought the statement that came down Friday was a bit of a folly.

So let me, let me give you the background to it, the reason this is happening is there have been a rash of horse deaths at Churchill Downs in the lead up to and in the following of the Kentucky Derby, there have been 12 horses that have died, and again, when you, when a horse has a catastrophic injury, and is not weight bearing, you have to euthanize it, it's just what it is.

And I said this to cookies when we did this episode leading up to the Derby and at the time there were seven horses.

If you think anybody is racing, whether it's owners, trainers, fans, or the tracks are in any way, shape or form, fine with horses dying, you're an idiot.

But I think like a lot of things in life, it's it's about how you approach these things. Look, I love horse racing. I grew up in the shadow of Saratoga, I love this game, but I have never fooled myself into the idea that we are going to operate on a zero risk basis, I have explained timeless amounts about this game, about how we have bred the stability out of horses in the name of speed and greed.

Look, I know the risks, the tracks know the risks, the owners, when they watch their money vaporize, know the risks, the trainers know the risks, horse racing can do a lot to make the game safer, but if you are operating on a zero basis, right, a zero tolerance.

Then don't bother. Look, nothing is risk free, nothing. So I want to take you through this, because look, this went this happened at Santa Anita in 2019, and there was a rash of horse that's there, and I think the difference is at Santa Anita, they lost the track, meaning the surface went bad, they had had about a foot of rain, they had unseasonably cold, 10

temperatures, wild swing, Santa Anita lost the track, and therefore had to shut down. Churchill Downs hasn't lost the track. Churchill Downs has brought in some of the foremost authorities to do a track analysis on the composition of the track, on the moisture in the track. There's nothing wrong with the track. So Churchill Downs releases this statement Friday. Now again, this is, you've seen the coverage through NBC,

and it is just this, you feel it, you see it coming from a mile away, it's the day and age, we're in where, you know, people want to use terms of whether it's woke, whether it's PC, whatever it is.

They are highlighting the horse that's left and right on the NBC coverage, and I don't have a problem highlighting it, but I think it is so disingenuous for people that are involved with the game.

To just publicly agree with ridiculous decisions like this, and in private, not share the same opinion.

Look, I'm going to shoot you straight on it. I think it's a ridiculous decision, and I'll tell you why. Let me read this statement to you from June 2nd, because my phone exploded. I was in Louisville for the weekend, plans were to go to the track on Saturday, and it's one of the biggest days of racing at Churchill Downs at Stephen Foster preview day.

There are these the biggest day, Stephen Foster preview and Stephen Foster day, but I'm on the part are number two and three.

So Churchill Downs on June 2nd, okay, that's Friday.

Churchill Downs Incorporated announced today that they will suspend racing operations at Churchill Downs racetrack beginning June 7th through the remainder of the spring meet scheduled to run to July 3rd.

Live racing will be conducted this weekend, as scheduled on Saturday, June 3rd and Sunday, June 4th. The remainder of the race meet will be relocated to Ellis Park in Henderson, Kentucky beginning June 10th. So let me get this straight.

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