Journalism (Curlin) won again, taking down the GI Haskell S. at Monmouth. But that's what we've come to expect from one of the sport's most consistent horses and the trainer, Michael McCarthy, who has pushed all the right buttons. To talk about Journalism and what's ahead for the 3-year-old, McCarthy joined this week's TDN Writers' Room Podcast, presented by Keeneland. McCarthy was this week's Gainesway Guest of the Week.
Journalism is a throwback, an iron horse who doesn't miss any dances. McCarthy noticed early on how tough this horse was.
“He was a horse early on that seemed to thrive on training and running as a 2-year-old, three races in seven weeks,” McCarthy said. “That kind of gave me the impetus that maybe he could handle something like the Triple Crown, if we were fortunate enough to get there, and we were. I thought his race in the Kentucky Derby was very good on a sloppy racetrack and he had a little bit of trouble early in the race. He came back and trained just as well for the Preakness and you saw what happened there. Then it seemed like to me like he may have even gotten better after the Preakness and had a very gutsy performance in the Belmont at Saratoga. We brought him back to California, tried to give him an easy 10 days, two weeks, and he didn't seem to be having it. So, we started back up with him lightly and he made it known pretty quickly that he wanted to get back to the work tab. So, I guess you could call him an iron horse. People call him a throwback. He's a horse that carries a lot of condition. He's a very smart horse and takes good care of himself.”
As is so often the case with Journalism, he looked like he was spinning his wheels in the Haskell. Then, 100 yards or so before the wire, he took off like he was shot out of a cannon.
“In the Haskell, going into the first turn, he had taken himself back a little bit farther than we're accustomed to,” McCarthy said. “Then going around the first turn, Umberto (Rispoli) gave him a tap on the shoulder and he re-engaged and put himself in contention by about the five-eighths pole. Sometimes with good horses, until they get to the quarter pole, you just never know where they're at.”
What's next for Journalism? There are a number of possibilities, including the GI Travers S. and the GI Pacific Classic.
“We'll kind of watch him here over the next week and maybe come up with a game plan,” McCarthy said. “But, as of right now, I think everything needs to be on the table. It'll be interesting to see what happens in the Jim Dandy this weekend. He's been on the plane, off the plane. Part of the reason for us to go to Monmouth, outside of it being a Grade I, was it was just the easiest locale to get to. You can fly directly into Newark. Obviously, if you head back to Saratoga, you've got to go to Newark. Hopefully, that's a direct flight to Newark and then a four or five-hour van ride to Saratoga. So a lot of those factors will come into play. Some horses thrive on shipping and running. Sometimes it gets to them a little bit, but we're going to give him an easy couple of weeks here before we come up with anything.”
McCarthy served as a long-time assistant to Todd Pletcher. What did he learn from the Hall of Famer?
“Showing up was probably number one,” he said. “You do whatever it takes to get the job done, and that was number two. Organization was definitely number three. Anyone that walks into Todd's barn can see. They get things done in a timely fashion and everything is professional. So, there's a lot of things. I could start and we could talk about this for quite some time.”
In our “Fastest Horse of the Week,” segment which is sponsored by WinStar, the team went over the many reasons there are to breed to WinStar stallion Life Is Good. The fastest horse of the week was the Pride of New Jersey, Book 'em Danno (Bucchero). He got a 111 Beyer for his win in the GII Alfred G. Vanderbilt S.
Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by 1/ST Racing, the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders' Association, West Point Thoroughbreds, the KTOB and 1/ST TV, the team of Zoe Cadman, Bill Finley and Randy Moss talked about Chad Brown's big day Saturday at Monmouth, where he won four races and increased his lead on his rivals in the trainer's standings. They looked at the blowout win by Scottish Lassie (McKinzie) in the GI Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga. The show wrapped up with a discussion of the interview that Kentucky Governor and 2028 Presidential hopeful Andy Beshear did with the TDN.
To watch the Writers' Room, click here. To view the show as a podcast, click here.
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