Preakness Stakes Preview, Picks & Draft + PGA Championship & NFL Schedule Talk

Nick (00:28.661)
Have you all talked yourself in to being excited?

about the Preakness at Laurel just yet.

Neil (00:38.719)
Yes, I'm there. I've got there. It took me a while, but I'm there. Because it's a 14-horse field, which finally we actually get a decent amount of horses in this damn race, I feel like. So for horse racing gamblers like ourselves that like to try to make a buck, this is great. I'm happy it's a 14-horse field, not some schmuck eight-horse field. Is it a strong field? Not necessarily. But there's 14 horses. It's horse racing. It'll be a good Saturday. It's a small track, but let's go.

Nick (00:48.12)
That's a point.

Matt (01:10.529)
So I would agree that if we get no scratches, we're in good shape, but you know the trainer scratch, you're gonna get your scratches. if we get...

Nick (01:17.976)
Well don't we have some also eligible for like the first time?

Neil (01:23.549)
Is there? I don't think there is any. I haven't heard of any. Are there also eligible? I haven't heard of it.

Nick (01:23.746)
Or do we not? They were talking about that earlier. Okay. There were two horses that were also eligible. It might be too late. Maybe they can't get in now. But I...

Matt (01:33.601)
Is 14 the biggest that the biggest the field can be? Okay. Yeah, I don't see.

Nick (01:36.354)
Yeah.

Neil (01:37.887)
Yeah, I mean, feel like it's, dude, does anybody know the last time it's been a full field? I like it's been a long time.

Matt (01:43.841)
I mean, it was only nine last year,

Nick (01:43.96)
Yeah, it's-

Neil (01:45.868)
Yeah.

Nick (01:47.714)
There's only 14 on the brisnet sheet. I don't think, because normally they would be listed as also eligible. I don't think anybody else can get in this field. But I know there were two horses that were on the outside hoping to get in at one point, but I guess it's past that time. But so I guess we're kind of talking ourselves into being excited about it. And we thought no derby horses, we're getting three. None of them are that great, but we're getting three.

Neil (01:52.309)
Yeah, I haven't seen any.

Neil (02:09.847)
slightly, slightly.

Matt (02:15.713)
3, 3 slash 4 if you want to count great white.

Neil (02:17.505)
I mean, are we counting Great White as a derby horse? Okay, okay.

Nick (02:20.622)
I'm not.

Matt (02:20.769)
I think that's your four.

Nick (02:23.266)
You got Robusta, you got Ocelli, and you got Incredible, and then Great White. So, that's a big half, because that's a big old, big old horse. But we'll do it just like we did with everybody. We'll go through the field. We'll give our wing contender. We'll give our tri-super contenders. And we'll give our pass no chances. And then I think we're going to do a little draft, but we're only going to pick two horses.

Neil (02:28.535)
Great white. Yeah. Three and a half. We got three and a half horses.

Neil (02:36.823)
That's a big

Neil (02:52.326)
Yeah, seems like.

Nick (02:52.958)
And Matt and I were very even in coming to second. I don't remember who won, but we were really close. So Matt will go first, I'll go second, and then Neil, you'll get the third pick since you won the derby draft. Does that sound fair?

Neil (03:08.407)
I guess so. I guess so.

Matt (03:10.667)
Hey, you won, Neil, you get to take it.

Neil (03:13.355)
Maybe people will still listen to me on this show and make some money.

Nick (03:13.58)
Well...

Nick (03:16.984)
Well, I know you didn't win any money on your picks on Saturday, so it doesn't matter anyways. Even though you were the only one that was even a little bit on golden tempo.

Neil (03:23.607)
No, I was-

Neil (03:27.691)
Yeah, Ocelli kinda threw that one off for me.

Nick (03:31.534)
So we'll see, are you riding the Ocelli Momentum as this third pace finish? We will find out here in a second. Let's go through, we'll start at number one, Taj Mahal, trained by Brittany Russell, ridden by her hubby.

Sheldon Russell. Morning line was five to one. Neil, I've seen your spreadsheet. I know you've broke this down. Get us started. Your thoughts on Taj Mahal.

Neil (04:01.803)
Yeah, first of all, can I say how cool it is that it's a husband-wife jockey-trainer combo? I mean, you don't see that a lot, but that's kind of awesome. So, I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. lot of husbands and their wives don't get along all the time, so maybe they get disagreements on how to ride this horse. But I feel like in this case, it's going to be a benefit. I like that. This horse, undefeated, three for three lifetime, all of them at Laurel Park, where this prickness is being run.

Nick (04:08.461)
Pickle.

Neil (04:30.591)
It's not at Pimlico, it is at Laurel Park, small track, 4,800 people. His last race he did win, obviously he's three for three, in the Federico Tessio Stakes on April 18th. If you ask me what that is, I have no idea. Probably a crappy field, but anyways. That's kind of horse, he likes to get out front. So coming from the one spot's gonna be, to me, a little bit of a negative. He's gonna have to work hard to get out front where he wants to be. But if he does get out front,

I think he can stay there. He went wire to wire in his last two starts for the win. He's a formerly trained Bob Baffert horse. he does, you he obviously there was a time when somebody thought highly of him to get Bob Baffert to train him before he moved over to Brittany Russell's stable. So I think it's a quality horse. Like I said, three for three, he knows the track. I think he's got a good shot. If he can just get off, get off that rail, get out front. I think he's got a good shot at it.

Matt (05:29.813)
I am gonna be taking the opposite side. am tossing Taj Mahal. I... Look, I get it. Three for three, Laurel Park, yada yada. But again, it's the fields that he's gone up against. And I'm not saying that this is the best preakness field ever. I just think the lights... And again, there's only 4,000 people, so it's not like that is gonna be too big of an issue. I just don't think it's gonna show up. And from...

Neil (05:34.661)
it's hot!

Matt (05:59.101)
One of the handicappers that I follow pretty well. He tweeted out this morning that watching some of the morning video from Laurel is making me less confident that Taj Mahal is mentally prepared for the task at hand. And he's one of the daily racing forums, David Aragona. I just, I get it. He's three for three. He likes Laurel. I'm just gonna.

have him in my toss. I just don't think he's gonna show up come Saturday.

Neil (06:29.451)
Not even in the tri-supers, just complete trash for throwing them out. Wow. Okay.

Matt (06:33.75)
Yep.

Nick (06:34.702)
Well, I think this horse either wins or he's not finishing in the money. And he has proven that he can win without leading wire to wire. He did that in his maiden race. But, I mean, you mentioned it. The biggest race he's won is $150,000 race. The Federico Tessio.

came off that race and won the pre-discs since 1983. But I can't toss this horse because he's three for three at Laurel. We just watched Sharita Vo become the first trainer to win the derby. Why not make it two straight female trainers to win in the Triple Crown with Brittany Russell?

Neil (07:29.365)
and she would be the first to win the Preakness.

Nick (07:32.136)
I think this horse will have a hard time getting the lead from the one spot. But I do think it can get second and third and figure out a way to win at the end. I've got Taj Mahal as a winking.

Nick (07:52.249)
We move on to number two, O'Selly, trained by Whitworth Beckham, written by Tyler G. Matt, I'll let you lead off with the third place finisher in the Derby.

Matt (08:06.305)
So, Ocelli cost me money. I feel like Ocelli cost a lot of us money. So I already have a little disdain for the horse. I just feel like he's gonna get a lot of hype from the Derby race. Rightfully so, you finished third in that field. I just don't see the Preakness race setting up like the Derby race did for him to excel.

Nick (08:12.494)
We never even thought about it.

Matt (08:35.437)
And there was since 2013, horses who were never favored in a previous race are 0 for 28 in the pre-knee sticks. Ocelli is one of the, Ocelli's never been a favorite in any of his races. I don't think he's going to come through and I'm going to keep him off my exact to try as well. He's in the toss category for me.

Neil (08:59.691)
Yeah, I don't think he's gonna win. To me, he's in my tri-super pick. I think if he runs the way he did in the derby, he absolutely can win this race. I mean, it was a surprising thing. He only lost by a length. He finished third in the wood, one of the derby preps. I mean, it was not a very fast wood. We talked about that when the derby lead up. But he did finish third. Like we said, he's never won a race.

1888 refund would be the last Preakness winner to win as a maiden in the Preakness. I mean, he's a closing horse, so it all depends on the pace. I mean, it's gonna depend on the pace. There's a lot of fresh horses, so coming off the two weeks, we've talked about, you know, is that a positive or a negative? A lot of people think it's a negative. So a lot of fresh horses he's running up against. I don't think he wins. I think he comes off the pace and might get up to third or fourth. But.

If he can somehow pull off a derby effort, which I think was a fluke, if he can pull that effort off again, maybe he does pull out a win.

Nick (10:03.438)
So where are you going?

Neil (10:04.853)
I'm going the tri-super pick. I think he gets up for third or fourth late.

Nick (10:09.934)
See, I think you kinda, you said it, but then you put him in your tri-super. You said it was a fluke. I, look, there's a lot of horses that want the lead in this race. But I do not think that the pace is just absolutely gonna collapse like it did in the derby. Which to me, this horse is gonna get over bet because he finished third in the derby. Which makes me want to put him in the toss category. I will say this.

Neil (10:33.924)
absolutely.

Neil (10:37.525)
me. He's

Nick (10:40.458)
If the Derby's a mile and three sixteenths, O'Sulli might be your winner right now.

Neil (10:46.667)
Yeah. Yeah.

Nick (10:49.25)
Like, because...

Matt (10:50.207)
Wallaby is your winner. Wallaby was coming.

Nick (10:54.636)
But he had the lead. Wallaby never had the lead. Ocelli was in the lead.

Neil (10:56.299)
Yeah. Yeah.

Nick (11:02.166)
Right? Yeah. but still, seven, like both of y'all have had two points that I had written down. A maiden has not won the pretentious since 88. Somebody's not, a horse that's never been favored hasn't won since, what was that number, 83?

Neil (11:02.955)
Yes. This race is shorter. Yeah.

Matt (11:04.255)
Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Matt (11:24.193)
It was 0 for 28 since 2013.

Nick (11:26.318)
Yeah, 2013, yeah. So I think this, because this horse is gonna be overpriced, I'm throwing in my toss category.

We now move to Krupper, trained by Donnie Van Himmel, written by Junior Alvarado, who's 30 to one on the morning line, Neil.

Neil (11:37.921)
I was so-

Neil (11:48.183)
This horse is terrible. This horse is one of the ones that's absolutely terrible. Like, it's his Graded Stakes debut. He's never ran in a Graded Stakes race. He won his last race on April 18th in something called the Bath House Row Stakes. Anybody ever heard of that? No. Never heard of it. Some crap race. He's got poor speed figures. He won't keep up with the quick pace. This horse is the only positive of this horse is Junior Alvarado is riding him, who's a jockey on sovereignty.

who was probably the best horse last year, that was more of the horse than the jockey. Yeah, no, this horse has no shot. Throw him all the way out. Toss, no chance, throw him in the dumpster.

Matt (12:30.975)
Yeah, I would agree. I would agree. Yes, it beat Stakes Company out last time, but we're going to use air quotes on that Stakes Company. And it needed an absolute perfect trip. It's just too slow of a horse and it's not going to work in this race. I hear it toss and I'm adding on the no chance.

Nick (12:52.717)
Yep, is, I mean look at some of these brisnet figs. 67, 71, 79, 76, that's four of his six figs. look, if I'm gonna pick a long shot, it's not gonna be one that wants to be up front because he's not gonna get the lead, he's not fast enough to get the lead. This is an absolute no chance.

So I think we are through, yeah.

Matt (13:21.983)
Interesting fact. sorry, go ahead. Junior Alvarado's never won the Breakness.

Nick (13:27.105)
No, you're not.

Well, he's going to go one more year.

Neil (13:31.126)
Well, if Sovereign 2 would have run last year, he would have won one, but they were babies and decided to skip it.

Nick (13:36.973)
Way to keep it PG with the babies there.

We move on. Robusta, trained by Doug O'Neill, written by Rafael Beorano. Also, Morning Line of 30 to 1. Matt, your thoughts on this one.

Matt (13:54.193)
I have Robusta in my Xacto Tri Super. I think it's, I know he didn't have the best showing in the Derby, but I'm going to lean on in this race experience against Good Fields and just running in the Derby gives you that. And I feel like with his race style, he has a chance to get in there in the end or be up there and stay up in your second, third, fourth spot. So I've got him in the Xacto Tri Super spot.

Neil (14:23.093)
Yeah, no, no, this horse has no chance. I mean, we talk, yeah, he ran against the quality field in the Derby, but he finished 14th and he lost by 18 links. I mean, any horse can go out there and lose by 18 links. Like a freaking donkey can do that. So no, this horse is out. His career highlight was finishing second to Patente in the San Felipe Stakes. He finished seventh in the Santa Anita Derby. I mean, he's gonna try to get out early. He's one of those pace setters. He's gonna be up there with Taj Mahal and,

some of the others, but he's gonna fade. He's gonna try to get out quick. It's gonna be too fast for him. He's out. I mean, his only positive is Doug O'Neal as his trainer, but other than that, this horse.

Nick (15:05.921)
He did no running in the derby. So you wonder like, does that help him? Is maybe he's a little fresh because he really did nothing. He did nothing. I will say some of his speed figures aren't that bad. Like he's posted a 97 in the San Felipe where he finished second by a head to Potente. He's prime power seventh in this field, but I don't.

Neil (15:13.815)
He jogged. He jogged in the derby.

Nick (15:34.655)
really want a long shot that's going to want the lead. And that's why I'm putting Robusta in my toss category. Just because I don't think he can get it. And when he can't get the lead, he's going to falter and fall out of the money. That's just my thoughts on

Nick (15:54.111)
And all these horses, of them, like there's so many of them want to be up front.

Neil (15:58.839)
Yeah

Nick (16:01.837)
The Five Horse is talking, trained by Danny Gargin, written by I-Rad, Neil. He weighs morning light of 20 to 1, Neil, your thoughts.

Neil (16:14.518)
You guys might have him in your toss category. He's 20 to one. He's kind of a long shot. I'm not quite there. I think he could potentially sneak into a top four. I have him in my tri super. He finished third in the bluegrass stakes behind winner, Further Ado. He was fifth in the Tampa Bay Derby behind the Puma and the Further Ado. So he's raced against quality competition. mean, Further Ado and the Puma would have been two of the favorites in the Derby. He is 0 for 4.

In Greatest Stakes race, he's lost by a combined 41.5 links, which is not great. I mean, he's gonna be behind the pace setters. He's gonna push them a little bit. He's gonna sit there and try to make his move. You know, the positive is Ired Ortiz is on him, which Ired was going to be on the probable favorite Silent Tactic before it scratched. So he's got one of the best jockeys on him who knows what to do in a race like this. I think he's not gonna win.

but I think he could sneaky get up in there in that third, fourth spot.

Matt (17:14.433)
So as of right now, again, this is with only like $188,000 in the wind pool, talking is down to 7 to 1. early money, yep, early money on talking is at 7 to 1.

Neil (17:26.25)
Already? Ugh.

Yeah, seven, I love the 20 to one price, the seven to one, hey.

Matt (17:35.137)
Yeah, yeah. I have it in my toss category just based on the fact that like, it hasn't like, it came in third in the bluegrass. And if you figure how far further ado finished, like third was really like fifth, because further ado ran away like crazy in that race. And Tampa Bay downs also fifth, but again, it's a much better field.

He's looked really good in his first two starts, but I feel like his form has declined since we've stretched out around two turns. And I just not going to go with him to figure it out in a race like this. So he is in my toss category.

Nick (18:16.897)
Yeah, at 20 to one, I'm putting him in my try and see here. But at seven to one, and it's all because of IRAD. And that was the concern to begin with is look, there's a pro and a con with IRAD being a board. Like you're getting a good jockey, but you're also going to be back down. And is that horse good enough to be that price? And I don't think talking is that good a price. He ran a bullet half mile at Keeneland on May 9th. That's another reason why I think everybody's so keen on him.

Neil (18:26.583)
Yeah.

Nick (18:46.605)
But at 7 to 1, he has not proved that he has the ability to beat or even really hang for the most part with horses of this caliber. And I get it, I know that this race is not the caliber of the Derby, but at 7 to 1, I got a toss talking.

Neil (19:05.207)
Yeah, I don't like the 7 to 1. The 20 to 1, I loved them. I didn't know he back down to 7 to 1. I'm still not going to toss them. think he can still get up to get third or fourth, I think. But you're not going to get paid.

Matt (19:07.713)
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, again.

Matt (19:14.249)
Yeah, it's early.

It's early, so it's gonna change at some point, but having that much money now is kinda tough.

Nick (19:19.039)
I just... He... He's...

Nick (19:27.009)
Yeah and look, he's gonna be up but he's not necessarily a horse that's gonna be in the top one, two or three. So I I guess there's a chance that he could get up and get in the money but still it's a toss for me at that price. And look, I was gonna say that even before I knew he was 701 because I figured he was gonna get that down. I just, I didn't know it had already happened.

Move on to Chip Honcho, trained by Steve Asmussen, written by Jose Ortiz. Matt, start us off.

Matt (19:59.457)
I've got Chip Honcho in my win contender. He is one of the few horses that has actually had a graded stakes win. So that's impressive in this field. And his best performance actually probably to me was the coming runner up at the Risen Star finishing behind Paladin who Paladin was probably going to be a Derby favorite had it ran. And he was five lengths ahead of Golden Tempo in that race. So.

You got Honcho, he's got great at stakes experience and he has Jose Ortiz on. So I'm Jose's going, I think it said that he'd be the first jockey since Calvin Burrell to ride a different horse, but you could win the Derby and win the Freakness. So I'm going to go with Chip Honcho and my win contender.

Neil (20:53.152)
There's a lot of positives to this horse. I don't have him as a win contender. I have him in that tri super pick. In his last race, he finished fifth in the Louisiana Derby, but he did go up against a lot of horses, emerging market. Yeah. He lost the emerging market Pavlovian and the Derby winner Golden Tempo in that race, quality horses. But he also have proved, you know, can outrun quality horse. He beat Golden Tempo, as Matt said.

Nick (21:06.291)
You can buy 11 links.

Neil (21:21.974)
and that risen star stakes on February 14th when he lost the Palladian. He's got good early speed, his late speed is absolutely terrible. He's lost ground in the stretch in all of his last three races, and he's not won as a three-year-old, he's over as a three-year-old. His graded stakes win, which I think he is the only horse in the field that does have a graded stakes win, came as a two-year-old in the gun runner stakes. So a little concern there that he hasn't been as good as a three-year-old as he was as a two-year-old.

He does have a really good trainer in Steve S. Musen who's won two preknesses with Curlin and Rachel Alexandra. And he does have a good jockey in Jose Ortiz who's hot right now. He's won the Oaks, he won the Derby. Why not win the prekness? I think he's a quality horse. I don't think he's a horse good enough to win this race. I think he'll be there at the top of the stretch, but he'll fade. I think he probably ends up in that second, third, fourth spot. I'm putting him in my tri super pick.

Nick (22:21.165)
Yeah, and one of the things they talk about him is like he's been a really high, strong horse. And they think the fact that Laurel is only a 400 fans might actually play in his favor. But I just keep looking at that Louisiana Derby, like it just sticks out to me. And that's the last time we've seen him. And Steve Asmussen couldn't really find a excuse for why he ran so poorly.

I do wonder if there was a like he skipped the Derby he could have ran in the Derby and set his sights on the Preakness and it is Steve Asmussen he does have some decent speed figures so I don't think I can toss this horse completely I'm with Neil I gotta put this horse in my tri super contenders

Neil (23:06.6)
we're not tossing.

Neil (23:10.944)
Like was the Louisiana Derby, was that just a one off? Was that just a bad day? I mean, like he ran great as a two year old and you know, in that Risen Star Stakes when he finished second, that was a great race that he ran there. I mean, the Louisiana Derby seems to be an outlier.

Nick (23:15.052)
Right.

Nick (23:29.547)
Yeah, but that race alone is why I can't move him into winning at it.

Neil (23:33.28)
No, I agree. That's big factor why I don't have a minute.

Nick (23:38.807)
We move on to the best horse name in the race. The hell we did, trained by Todd Fincher, ridden by Luis Saez, was 15 to one on the morning line. It's Matt's turn, I believe.

Matt (23:53.217)
Um, I have the hell we did in the exacta and try category for me. Um, I know, uh, he ran second in Alexis and stakes first time stretching out. Um, but looked like he was really good in his prior start at Sun Lillin Park step up in competition, but he's got Louis, Louis Sias on board. I think he can kind of hang around and sneak in.

Neil (23:58.228)
Okay.

Matt (24:20.659)
even if he's not, he's gonna wanna get out front, but I don't think he needs to be out front. If he can kind of do a stalking trip, I think he's got a shot to get in that second, third, fourth category.

Neil (24:32.287)
No, this horse has a great name, but he's not a great horse. I mean, he did finish second in the grade three Lexington Stakes. His two wins that he has have come only at six furlongs against not good competition. So six furlongs ain't gonna get it. Like, you win in that, it's fine, but it ain't gonna cut it in this previous. So I think the distance and he's stepping up into a grade one race, he's not, he's got no chance. He's a toss category. I like Luis Saez, but no.

This horse, good name, but throw him in the trash can.

Nick (25:05.257)
Never worse than fourth or never worse than second and in four starts.

and the son of authentic. But here's another one to me that it's another horse that wants to be upfront, is not fast enough to be upfront. This is a toss for me.

Nick (25:27.723)
The next horse is Bull by the Horns, trained by Safi Joseph, ridden by Micah Husbands. 30 to 1 on the morning line, Neil.

Neil (25:40.876)
yeah, this horse doesn't really have much of a chance. I've got him in my toss. He's a closer, which we saw in the Derby that closers, you know, they, got up for first and second. So not necessarily a bad thing. He won his last race on March 21st in something called the rush away stakes. Don't know what that is, but he came from last at the six fur long pole to win. So he did come from behind. He defeated Lexington stakes winner trendsetter.

In the rush away stakes and trendsetter has beaten two other prickness horses That's probably the only positive of this horse as he's beaten somebody that's beaten other horses in this race It's only one graded stake start and that was the g2 fountain of youth stakes and finished seventh by 19 links So not a good horse low speed numbers. No shot. The trainer is not bad The trainer does have a couple graded one stakes that wins this year with white a barrio and skippy long stocking But the trainer is about the only positive of this horse

I don't think the horse is any good. Out. Toss.

Matt (26:42.465)
no chance for me simply because he has yet to run a buyer speed figure higher than 70.

Nick (26:53.941)
Is he the slowest horse in the field by speed figures? I think he is. The only thing that makes me even think about putting him in Tri Supers is the fact that if you look at the sheets, it's really just him, Ocelli and Incredible that really don't want to get out front. And if this pace is super hot, then

You know, some, one of these horses is going to make a run. And if this horse is going to be worse than 30 to one, which he could be potentially makes me potentially like want to throw him in my try in my super just hoping he gets a piece. But I just look at his numbers and I'm like, I don't know if that's even possible. but I got to find one horse that's going to, you don't make a charge late. I don't know who that's going to be. I.

I'm tossing bull by the horn. He's just not fast enough.

Matt (27:53.409)
17 to 1 right now.

Nick (27:55.499)
Yeah, there's no chance.

Neil (27:56.61)
Is anybody even 30 to one anymore? What's the longest odds in the field?

Matt (27:59.457)
Yes, pretty boy Mia is at 42 right now.

Neil (28:04.191)
Okay, well, it was 15 to 1 to start on the morning line, so everybody at least agrees with that horse. Sucks, but we'll get to that in a little.

Nick (28:13.677)
Iron Honor, trained by Chad Brown, written by Flavien Pratt, was 9 to 2, Neil.

Neil (28:22.837)
Really like this horse, absolutely like this horse. Put him in my win category. He had a bad wood memorial. He was the five to two favorite in the wood. Finished seventh, but he did come out of the 17 post in the wood. Had a bad trip, so to me I think that was more of a fluke than anything. He won the Gotham Stakes, which is a grade three stakes race on February 28th. He's two for three in his lifetime, so he's lightly raced. Not a lot of wear and tear on that one.

Both of his wins have come by pressing the pace, which I think he'll do here. He'll push the likes of Taj Mahal and some of the other pace setters. So I think he'll be right there, ready to make his move, and I think he will. The only negative to him is he's not won a race over a mile, but I don't think a lot of these horses have either, so that's not too big of a concern. He's racing with blinkers off. I saw they're taking those off, so a little bit of a change there.

But the biggest positive to me is Chad Brown, who's had success in the Preakness with horses that are fresh that didn't run in the Derby. Just skipping them to the Preakness. He's won two of those with early voting in 2022 and cloud computing in 2017. So this horse, think, as the favorite in the wood, I think he's had a bad trip, two for three in his lifetime. Has the stakes win, grade the stakes win, put him in that win category. I think he can do it.

Matt (29:43.125)
Yep, I completely agree. He is also in my win category. He is, you know, gonna stock, which I think this race needs. So if you, I know closers do well in the Derby. I think if you can stock this pace and you don't fall apart, I think that's where you're wanna be. So I have him in my win category.

Nick (30:04.621)
And, you know, we talked about, uh, chip honcho and how his Louisiana Derby, that poor performance, like there was no excuse for it. I think there was an excuse for iron honor in the wood. He kind of got bumped at the gate and we just really just was behind the eight ball the whole way. If you, if you just cross that race out, which, like I said, I think you can do that. He's the best horse in this field. And.

Chad Brown has had success, just like Neil said, with skipping the Derby. You do wonder a little bit, like, why did Chad Brown feel more comfortable going with the merging market and not iron honor in the Derby? Like, is that a negative or is it a positive that he's pointing this way? I think this is a clear, I think, and the fact that he's gonna be just right off the lead, I think is an absolute plus. This is a definite win candidate for me.

Neil (31:03.416)
Coming out of post 9 I think way better than what he had in the woods. coming out of post 9 definitely a positive. What are his odds currently?

Matt (31:14.177)
Key is at eight to one.

Nick (31:18.029)
I he like that all day. He will not be 8 to 1 on Saturday.

Neil (31:18.12)
great price. That is a great price on Iron Honor. Great price. Great price.

Matt (31:23.039)
Yeah, right now, again, early, early, early odds, like you're, you're leading horses five to one. So we're going to get a good price. We're going to get a good price. So hopefully, yeah, you got to get it right. And then I've got some things before we get going to the next one. I feel like the Preakness has been negatively influenced the last few years due to heavy favorites, like influencing the wind pools and such. Like I went back the last three years and.

Neil (31:32.855)
Yeah.

Nick (31:33.965)
We just gotta get it right.

Matt (31:52.321)
Last year you had journalism at one to one even odds and Goskar at 15 to one. That one dollar exact only paid out 16 bucks. And you'd think that even in 15 to one would get you a good price. mean, nine to one, two to one the year before paid out 60. So that was better. But then you had five to two, nine to two in 2023 and it was only $16. So you kind of need prices in the preakness, I feel like.

If we can make sure that whoever is the favorite going off is no worse than four to one, that's good for us if we pick right.

Nick (32:28.64)
That's just a trick. Pick it up.

Nick (32:35.018)
We move on to Napoleon Solo.

Trained by Chad Summers, written by Paco Lopez, was 8-1 on the morning line. Matt, your thoughts on Napoleon Sola.

Matt (32:49.767)
I have Napoleon Solo in my trifecta superfecta spot. I think it's got, you know, he's one of those horses that has some excuses for his poor performances. I feel like the last few times out and in this field, I think he's got enough skill to get into those two, three and four spots. So I'm not going to throw him out. I'm going to have him hanging around. And I think he can kind of, if he runs a good race, he can finish in third or fourth.

Neil (33:21.42)
He's an okay horse. I debated going back and forth between the try, super, slash toss. Ultimately, I ended up tossing this horse. He finished fifth in the wood. He also ran fifth in the Fountain of Youth behind really quality horses in Commandment and Chief Wallaby too with the Derby favorites. He was great as a two-year-old. He won a grade one stakes in the Champagne stakes. He went wire to wire and defeated Tauken, who's also in this Preakness race back in October.

However, as a three-year-old has not yet finished in the money. So for that reason, not finishing the money as a three-year-old is why I tossed him. He's gonna get out. He's probably one of the fastest, if not the fastest of the pace setters. So I think he will be the one to set this pace. I just don't know if he's got the stamina to do it over a mile and three sixteenths. I think he fades. think he's out for most. You'll see his number out first for a lot of the way, but then he'll end up sixth, seventh. I think he's out.

Nick (34:20.02)
I, this is the horse that's going to get the lead. This is the horse that's going to be out front. And I'll be honest as a two year old, dude, this horse was talked about as one of the best two year olds in the country. And that wind in the champagne that Neil just talked about, he didn't just win like, dude, he dominated that race. Like he played with them, let them catch up. Like he was dying a little bit. And then he just put it another gear and won by six links. I, to me,

Neil (34:22.456)
Mm-hmm.

I

Nick (34:50.162)
I don't know if this horse can go a mile and three sixteenths.

But from what I saw as a two year old, I'm putting him in the win. I think this could be, I think I'm putting him in the win category. I think there's a chance that this horse could get the lead and can finish the race. will not put him, like I think he's either gonna win or he's gonna falter and be out of the money. But I do think this horse is super talented. And if he gets the lead on his own, can figure out a way to finish the race.

Neil (35:01.881)
How do you put him the- how do you put him in he hasn't finished in the money as a three year old.

Neil (35:22.847)
We're gonna discount the last two races he ran as a three-year-old where he finished fifth and fifth. He hasn't finished the money yet as a three-year-old but you're gonna put him in the win count.

Nick (35:32.768)
I saw how talented this horse is, a two-year-old.

Neil (35:34.551)
He's not two anymore! He's not two. He's now three. He's somewhat of a grown-up as a horse. He's not what he was.

Nick (35:37.14)
I know that. I know that.

Nick (35:43.478)
We're not going to agree on all these. I wonder if he's is just a miler. But what's his number right now, Matt?

Matt (35:53.919)
His number right now is 11 to 1.

Nick (35:57.79)
At 11 to 1, I'm gonna take a chance on that.

Neil (36:02.393)
11 to 1 is actually not a bad price for them, but it's fine.

Nick (36:07.254)
But yeah, no kidding, it's fun.

Corona De Oro, trained by Dallas Stewart, written by Johnny Velasquez. What are your opinion on this one so I can yell at you now?

Neil (36:22.135)
Yeah, this horse doesn't have a chance. Throw him out, put him in the dumpster. His last race he was third in the Lexington stakes behind Trent Setter and Prickness Horse, the hell we did. It's just a big step up in competition for him. His only career win was a wire to wire against the weak field back at the fairgrounds in March. I don't think he's going to be able to get out and get the lead against some of these other quality horses. Like I think he wants to. He's just going to be left behind to me. He's got no chance.

One cool thing is if Johnny Velasquez wins at age 54, he would be the oldest jockey to win the Prickness, surpassing Mike Smith. So that would be kind of cool, but to me that ain't gonna happen. This horse, no chance. Like Dallas Stewart, but this horse doesn't belong.

Matt (37:11.425)
I was going back and forth. actually have him in my trifecta superfecta spot. you know, I feel like him being just off the pace is going to help because we don't have a of horses in this race that are just off the pace. And Dallas Stewart has been known to fill out those exact, those tries and superfectas and triple crown races. The only negative is that the last two races have been his best and he's run with LASIK.

He is not running with LASIK on Saturday. So I went back and forth between the Xacta and the try and the toss. I'm just going to throw him in there just in case he comes into that fourth spot.

Nick (37:52.247)
This horse is five for five in the money. And that is the last positive thing I'm going to say about him. Took him four times to break his maiden and he broke it at 54,000. Like you shouldn't, there shouldn't be horses in the triple crown that broke their maiden at 54 K. He's just not fast enough. This horse is a no chance.

toss.

Nick (38:27.008)
We move on to incredible, trained by Raleigh Mott, ridden by Hami Torres. Matt, you were on this horse in the Derby. We'll let you lead off with this one.

Matt (38:35.883)
Yeah.

Yeah, I was in on him as like my mid-pack choice and I don't think the way he ran the derby has taken me off of him. I thought he ran a pretty good race. Mott thinks he's going to be all right to run him in two weeks time and I liked again how his stakes win the way he did it works well in a race like this. He doesn't need to be in the lead. He can push the pace and hopefully take advantage when those leaders fall back a little bit.

So I definitely have him as my wind container. He is my favorite in this race.

Neil (39:15.992)
Yeah, no, I mean he he's he's one of the favorites for sure. He's one of my favorites I don't know if he's my the favorite for me, but he's one of the best horses in this race I've got him as a win contender He finished sixth in the Kentucky Derby by four lengths and that was after being bumped around a little bit So he really could have gotten even better than that. He won the Virginia Derby back on March 14th He's got one of the best late pace numbers in this field. He's a closer which I think

Closer is probably gonna end up winning this thing So that's a positive. He does have the only two turn graded stakes winner win of the field when he won the street since as a two-year-old There was an outlier there he finished last in the Holy Bull in January, so I don't know what was up with that I'm just gonna throw that one out because I think he's better than that And as the quote from Riley Mott of why he ran this horse. He's doing extremely well

He came out of the Derby in good shape and we've been clocking the field of Preakness horses and we thought it would be the right opportunity to bring this horse back. So to me, he's in this race because the other horses in this field suck. And with that thought process, that's awesome. I think he's probably could win this. I mean, that's one of the reasons I think he's going to win. His trainer thinks he's the best horse. He is the best horse. He's in the win category.

Nick (40:35.584)
Yeah, we talked about that Holy Bull in our Derby preview just because it was so bad. Like he finished 25 links out of it in sixth place. But now we're two races past that. We've seen him win the Virginia Derby. We've seen him compete in the Kentucky Derby. He's going to be close enough to where I think he has a chance. look, Ocelli beat him in the Derby, but I don't think the pace is going to collapse like it did in the Derby.

That's why I'm more on incredible than I am Ocelli. Also think like I said Ocelli's number is gonna be way too low for me to want any part of him. I've got this horse not as a win contender, but as a try super contender.

Neil (41:21.23)
What are the odds on Incredible right now? I like he might be the favorite.

Matt (41:24.993)
Incredible is 6 to 1. Ocelli is 10 to 1. Your current Moneyline favorite is Taj Mahal at 5 to 1. Do you want to guess who is tied with Incredible at 6 to 1?

Nick (41:43.884)
Poncha?

Neil (41:45.626)
Fire and honor?

Matt (41:47.061)
Nope, nope. It's our next horse. 13 Great White is six to one right now.

Neil (41:52.271)
Yikes!

Nick (41:52.375)
Wow. Okay. Well, let's get to it. Great white trained by John and it's written by Alex. The shard was 15 to one. He's not 15 to one anymore. Neil, your thoughts on the giant great white.

Neil (42:09.85)
I we can basically just rinse and repeat what we talked about before the Derby. Because I mean, he didn't run in the Derby. He decided to flip over and do a barrel roll before the gate and they threw him out. So, before the Derby. Before that, he finished fifth in the bluegrass stakes but lost by 22 lengths behind Preakness winner one of the horses talking.

I mean a smaller venue like Laurel Park might not get him as excited as he was in the derby so maybe he has the nerves are a little calmer and he's not you know doing backflips before the gate so that might help. We talked about him being such a large horse at over 1300 pounds so I don't know he'll push the pace setters in this race. I think he fades. I hate the 6 to 1 price or 5 to 1 price or whatever you just said. He's not that good of a horse. I've got him in my toss category. He's out.

Matt (43:02.911)
Yeah, I had him in my toss category before the early odds of bed and down to six to one. I just think that like, again, he's a great horse to talk about. It's a great story because he's huge, but he didn't even come close to messing around in the bluegrass with further ado and any of the horses. He finished way back. So I am just tossing him because you might argue that the bluegrass stakes might've had a better feel than this. There it's close. It's very close. So.

If he was that far back and could be an even or better race, it's toss for me.

Nick (43:39.222)
Keep, keep betting him everybody. Keep, keep betting him.

Neil (43:41.402)
Please, please, please.

Matt (43:43.809)
This could be the so happy of this race.

Neil (43:46.68)
Why are, like, I don't understand, why are people betting him? Because they feel bad for him because he got thrown out of the derby? Like, they just know the name because he got thrown out of the derby?

Nick (43:50.509)
I think it's a combination. Everybody saw him flip. He's huge. He's a gray. There's a lot of elements to it.

Neil (44:00.73)
There's just nothing about him as a great horse runner that makes him any good.

Nick (44:06.156)
Dude, that bluegrass is the only time he's ran on dirt. And he came in fifth by 22 links. His two wins are both on synthetic at Turfway. mean, he's got his speed figures, other like are 80, 79, 81, like keep betting him everybody. Make him the favorite. And I will toss him.

Matt (44:30.719)
the

Nick (44:33.756)
and try to beat him every single time.

Matt (44:36.881)
Nick, you said we're not live, right? Because they just had an update. He is now tied for your Moneyline favorite at 5 to 1.

Nick (44:39.371)
We are not.

Nick (44:46.166)
Keep it coming. Keep it coming.

Matt (44:47.325)
Literally as you're talking about it a credible went to seven to one Incredible went to seven to one great white is now five

Neil (44:49.603)
Let him down to two to one. Let's get him down to two to one.

Nick (44:53.004)
Dude, I love it!

I love it.

Neil (44:56.281)
That's just absurd. That's absurd.

Nick (44:59.37)
We round out the field with Pretty Boy Mia, trained by Jeremiah Engelhardt, written by Ricardo Santana. Matt, think it's your turn to finish this out here.

Matt (45:12.944)
I really don't have much about him, so I have him in my toss category and he is currently 36 to 1, so the highest ob in the field. Yeah, he's the longest shot, yes. Now, they're gonna wanna get him up front, which again, if you're not a talented horse in this field and you wanna get up front, it's not gonna go well for you and you're all the way out in post 14, so not a good combination, he's toss.

Nick (45:21.942)
So is he the longest odds on the board?

Nick (45:36.844)
You're all the way outside.

Neil (45:41.807)
Yeah, now this is the worst horse in the field, there's no doubt about it. He won his last race, a claiming race on April 25th at Aqueduct. Never run a race longer than a mile. He's got some impressive sprint speed, but as you said, coming from 14th, he's gonna have to sprint his ass off to try to get out front, which is what he's gonna wanna do, and that's just gonna waste all that energy. He's no chance, absolutely no chance. Never run a race outside of Aqueduct.

Never rush against competition like this. Throw them in the dumpster. Send them to the dog food factory.

Nick (46:17.42)
I agree with everything he said except I don't know if he's the worst horse in the field. I mean, he posted a 95 brisnet in his win one by six links. He's just.

Neil (46:26.542)
Who did he race? What race did he win? I don't even know the name of the race.

Nick (46:31.948)
It was a maiden 80. So it was higher than the 54 that we talked about earlier. No, this horse is absolutely no chance. It's a terrible draw. It's a terrible race for him. Everybody wants to lead. He's not going to get it. Yeah, it's just, but I don't think he's the worst horse in the field.

Neil (46:50.874)
Who do you think is the worst horse in the field?

Nick (46:55.64)
I think it's a competition between that or Krupper. I think Krupper is the worst horse in the field.

Neil (46:58.052)
Bull by the horns.

Neil (47:04.826)
Crapper? Crapper Crapper?

Matt (47:06.837)
Hehehehehe

Nick (47:08.712)
Yeah, Crumper and Wolvahow are the two worst horses in the field.

Nick (47:15.276)
All right, let's do last lap for the derby. did three horses. We're only going to do two here. Neil won. So you, you get the third pick. Matt and I essentially tied our points. I don't even remember who came in second or third, but they were close. But Matt's going to lead us off. You get the first pick in the first ever height differential preakness draft. Who you taking?

Neil (47:26.074)
Follow me.

Matt (47:40.577)
12 incredible, you can thank me on Saturday.

Nick (47:48.115)
I will go with Iron Honor. I just think he's the best horse in the field. He doesn't absolutely have to get up front. Can just kind of stalk and then take the lead whenever he feels like he wants it. And then I've got two horses that I'm...

Neil (48:07.29)
It's not your draft pick.

Matt (48:08.801)
Okay, yeah. No- Yay! Neil hasn't drafted yet, buddy! No, Neil, Neil, you sh- Neil, you should've let him go!

Nick (48:09.216)
Yes it is, I get two!

Neil (48:11.114)
I drafted yet!

You're an idiot! What are you doing? He's stealing all the horses! I'm gonna take Taj Mahal, Sallie, Robusta, Tawkin, Chip Hancho. sorry, you guys don't get any. Idiot. My God, he's like, what are you talking about?

Nick (48:14.395)
yeah! I'm drunk. I'm not even that drunk!

You get to! You get to!

Matt (48:28.191)
Neil's got cropper.

Nick (48:28.396)
I'm so used to being the last pick and getting two in a row.

Alright, make your pick. You get two, you get two.

Neil (48:35.992)
Well, I wanted Iron Honor, now you threw me off. I know, I mean, it's hard to ignore the favorite Taj Mahal. Give me Taj Mahal as a pick and then, give me Chip Honcho as my other one.

Matt (48:37.025)
PIXZ, PIX, not

Nick (48:54.38)
So I do actually pick now, right?

Neil (48:56.856)
Yes, finally your turn. Go ahead, O'Sneely.

Matt (48:57.014)
Yes.

Nick (48:59.052)
Give me Napoleon to wire the field.

Neil (49:03.8)
You know who?

Nick (49:04.948)
Napoleon solo to wire the field.

Neil (49:07.299)
himself.

Matt (49:10.017)
All right, I got the last pick. I am, I'm gonna go.

I'm gonna go with Ocelli. This is perfect for me, because I'm not gonna bet him. So if he does well, at least I get something in this little thing that we got. But I'm gonna go Ocelli over the hell we did.

Nick (49:31.904)
the most hated horse in the Derby.

Neil (49:36.704)
You were thinking about the hell we did is of draft pick?

Matt (49:40.221)
I mean, well, look at the board right now. What's left?

Nick (49:42.442)
My eye!

Neil (49:43.098)
I mean, I would have gone talking to be honest with I would have gone talking if I was in your spot,

Nick (49:48.268)
Would you have gone Napoleon Solo or did that affect you at all?

Matt (49:53.281)
I was keen on Napoleon Solo. didn't think you were going to go with him. So I had to basically decide between the Hell We Did or Ocelli. And I'm going to bet on the Hell We Did, so I'll take Ocelli here.

Neil (50:05.978)
All right, so Matt. Matt.

Nick (50:06.316)
Well, I think there's a clear drop off after the top five. I think you having the last pick was tough.

Matt (50:15.998)
I could even argue that there's a drop off after the top four. Napoleon Solo's fringy into that top category to begin with.

Neil (50:27.674)
So who your top four? But Taj Mahal, Iron Honor, Incredible, Chikancho?

Matt (50:32.065)
Actually, for me, I only have a top three. It's honcho, honor, and incredible.

Nick (50:39.286)
See, I take Honcho out and I've got Solo in there.

Nick (50:45.908)
I will say this race, anything can happen, which is intriguing about it. And like it still gets the hype because it's a pretty nice, it's kind of cool. Like it's, not cool, but it's also intriguing because it's on a totally different track. Like that first turn is going to be so different because it's a lot tighter than it is in Pimlico. So that makes it even harder for horses like, pretty boy Mia is on the outside. Like they got to move even quicker.

or they're gonna get stuck, but that turns so quick. So I don't know. I'm excited to watch it. I wish there were more Derby horses in it. And look.

Neil (51:22.586)
All right, so on the record, Matt has Incredible and Napoleon Solo. Nick, you have Iron Honor and, no, sorry. Matt has Incredible and who, Ocelli?

Nick (51:31.146)
No, no, no, no.

Nick (51:38.796)
I'll sell it.

Matt (51:39.251)
Sally,

Neil (51:40.706)
Nick, you've got Iron Honor and Napoleon. And I've got Mahal and Honcho.

Nick (51:43.264)
It probably is.

Nick (51:49.194)
Yeah. And we'll just do it this

Neil (51:51.022)
Who's our winner? We gotta pick a winner. We have to pick a winner.

Matt (51:56.086)
Incredible.

Neil (51:56.184)
I'm going iron. Iron honor is my winner.

Nick (52:02.57)
Yeah, I I think it's the clear win pick. I think he's the best horse in the field. If I wasn't going to go Iron Honor, I would pick between either Taj Mahal or Napoleon Solo.

I just think Iron Honor is a better horse and the way that he's gonna run the race, I think it plays out perfectly.

Neil (52:27.685)
Two Iron Honors and Matt is all incredible.

Nick (52:32.712)
And look, Matt picked two horses in the Derby that ran in the Derby. And we talked about this in detail last show, how we all three agree that the best thing to do for the Triple Crown is to move the races. First week of May, first week of June, first week of July. And the quality of this field would be exponentially better. If Ocelli, incredible and robusta,

all finishing the money. Is that good for not moving the Triple Crown races?

Neil (53:10.671)
No. Because they did it against nobody, a bunch of crap horses. No. That's not going to incentivize anybody else to run.

Matt (53:15.935)
Yeah, if you want.

If you want to keep that argument, you go back to last year and say journalism was just fun.

Nick (53:26.336)
Well, journalism ran all three. he finished second in two legs and first in the other. And sovereignty didn't even run in one leg.

Matt (53:39.041)
I what hurts the Preakness more right now, and obviously this is the last year that it's gonna be this way, is the Belmont not being the full distance. Because when you go back to the regular Belmont distance at a mile and a half, some horses might not skip the Preakness to go to that. They're gonna go to the Preakness because they're not sure their horses can run a mile and a half. So I think that'll help next year, but I still think...

Let's just spread it out. It'll be better for horse racing. creates a buzz. And yes, people will be, it will be a, if you win a triple crown, there'll be an asterisk to it, but who cares?

Neil (54:15.803)
This is like you came in 12th in varsity high school track in the 100 meters and you turn around two weeks later to run a bunch of kindergartners and you whoop their ass. Like no. Like you don't get credit for that. Like no. No. I still say you move it. We want better competition. We want better horses. You gotta move.

Nick (54:30.624)
But, yeah.

Well, look, and let's say that Golden Simpo decided to run, which we all hoped that he would.

Neil (54:43.429)
Mm-hmm.

Nick (54:45.194)
You're telling like, okay, yeah, it's two weeks. So that the two weeks is the hard part. But is it easier to come back in two weeks and beat these horses? Or is it easier to come back in a month and beat everybody that was in the Derby?

Neil (54:59.237)
No, it's easier to come back in two weeks and be these horses.

Matt (55:02.081)
Yeah, but I will say, don't, if it was running in this race, I don't think it would win. Cause I don't think the pace, like we've been saying on the show, I don't think the pace is going to break down as big as it did.

Nick (55:03.136)
I 100 % agree with that.

Neil (55:18.939)
I was absolutely about to ask you guys, if Golden Tempo was running, would you pick him to win? I don't think he'd be the favorite. He would be the favorite because he won the derby, like the betting favorite, but I don't think horse wise, he should be the favorite.

Matt (55:26.537)
No. Yeah.

Nick (55:33.791)
No.

Matt (55:33.846)
a race and not as fast of a pace.

Nick (55:37.229)
Yeah, because the horses just aren't as good. just because everybody wants to lead, which there's a lot of horses in this field that want to lead, does not mean that the pace is going to be as fast. Now let's we did talk about this last week to the Derby pace. Was it crazy? Like I would it was just around what forty seven at. And. Yeah.

Matt (55:57.185)
Yeah, it was a forty, forty six, forty seven half.

Neil (55:59.217)
mean, he ran one of the slowest derbies of all the winners, right?

Matt (56:03.327)
Yeah, because wasn't it like an 85 buyer? Like it was like the slowest buyer since like the 90s.

Nick (56:07.914)
Yeah, yeah. So I think everybody's gonna try to get the lead. I just don't think the horses are good enough to really have a fast pace for to have these deep closers finish. like you all said, it's a shorter race. So that's why I really think it plays out for a horse like Iron Honor, who's gonna wanna be right there, third, fourth, and then when they get in the stretch run can kind of turn it on and.

and win the race. And I really think there's a chance that if Taj Mahal or Napoleon Solo can get the lead and not be pressed too closely, could figure out a way to wire the field. I think that's the other possibility. Those are the two ways I think this race is going to go. But remember, two weeks ago, I'm talking about how much I don't like closers in the derby and what, four of the last five winners in the derby have been closers. So.

Neil (57:02.588)
And Chad Brown knows what he's doing. I trust Chad Brown in the situation with Iron Honor.

Matt (57:08.193)
Does anyone looks at the weather? What do we got weather wise here? Are we going to have a fast track or are we going to have rain? I know they were off turf today. So they had a little bit of rain. Where is this? What's the city? What is the city? I'll look on weather.com right now. Is it Laurel, Maryland?

Nick (57:27.532)
I

Matt (57:27.901)
see there's a Laurel Maryland I'm gonna hope that Laurel Park is in Laurel Maryland. 84 and sunny no precipitation tomorrow 84 and sunny on Saturday you're gonna have a fast track.

Nick (57:39.116)
So we're good.

Neil (57:44.902)
Nice.

front of 10 people.

Nick (57:52.343)
Yeah, 10 people. But there's a chance it's back there again next year. Like it's not 100 % that it's going back to Pimlico.

Matt (57:53.889)
Thank you.

Neil (58:00.477)
This is all. Just take it out of that. Well, Churchill owns it next year, so they'll figure it out.

Matt (58:04.128)
No.

Nick (58:06.774)
Well, that's why they could potentially push to move it because they see some opportunity with it.

Matt (58:12.513)
Could they keep it at church or just do Churchill?

Nick (58:17.343)
I don't know.

Neil (58:18.182)
What do you think the crowd, let's just say for argument's sake, they do that. We have the Derby two weeks ago and all of a sudden turn around and we have the Preakness at Churchill on Saturday. What's that crowd like? What do you charge?

Nick (58:34.12)
I, it would be interesting to see how it goes, but.

Matt (58:35.723)
see if church.

Matt (58:39.977)
If Churchill is smart, which they wouldn't do this, if you're hosting the preakness, I would scale down the pricing to make it more accessible for the Louisville people. Like you, you give it back to the Louisville people and be like, Hey, you know, we hear you. You don't like, you know, you might not like what we're doing with Oaks and Derby, but here we're going to give you a, we're going to let you pack this place. We'll bring prices down. is increased revenue.

Neil (58:48.476)
Oh yeah, 20 bucks.

Neil (58:59.406)
Yeah, 20 bucks.

Matt (59:06.88)
They would get more money because I mean, they just have regular racing on this Saturday. You get more money by just bringing it down for the preakness. Or I would say, know Churchill doesn't own it, but I'd love to see it at Keeneland. That'd be awesome.

Nick (59:20.428)
Kingland would be awesome.

Neil (59:23.42)
I think you have a higher demand for keenly.

Nick (59:25.588)
Well, in Keeneland just doesn't get races like this every year. they don't have, yeah, but that's not every year. They don't just have it like a yearly race. I mean, their biggest race is the bluegrass, which is leading up to this.

Matt (59:25.717)
Mm-hmm.

Neil (59:31.373)
They get the Breeders Cup every...

It's often enough.

Matt (59:40.737)
They don't have, yeah.

Neil (59:42.715)
we just talked about the bluegrass field was better than this field.

Nick (59:46.026)
Yeah, but I mean the bluegrass is a prep for the derby, a prep for the Triple Crown.

Neil (59:49.116)
Correct it is, in this situation it might be a better race than what we're watching on Saturday.

Nick (59:56.095)
And look, it'll be interesting to see what the TV numbers are on Saturday, Because.

Neil (01:00:03.079)
I'll be at Havana Rumba, hopefully the Cuban restaurants like horse racing. Hopefully they have it on.

Matt (01:00:09.045)
I'll be at a wedding up in Chicago. So I think the main entrance is at six o'clock central time, so right at post. So I might get really excited for the main entrance if Incredible comes through first.

Neil (01:00:20.029)
Get that phone on. Get that phone on.

Nick (01:00:24.812)
I should be driving home from from Indy after hopefully not coming in last in my golf tournament

Nick (01:00:33.098)
How much speaking of golf, how much did you all watch today?

Neil (01:00:36.655)
I had it on, I had it on in the background. I saw Rory was absolutely dreadful today, a plus four for Rory McElroy. What? Yeah, bogey the last four. He sure did. Yeah, not good. Scotty tied for first. Scotty doing Scotty things, I saw. Potgeater.

Nick (01:00:42.528)
Boggity's Last Four.

Bogey is last four.

Nick (01:00:54.4)
Well, he hadn't been doing that this year, like his Thursdays have not been good. So the fact that he's tied for the lead on Thursday, I think says he probably gonna win this thing.

Neil (01:00:58.011)
I know, it's about time to see you.

Neil (01:01:04.177)
Yeah. Yeah, I like where he's at. Justin Thomas was up there for a while. He kind of faded late in his round, finished at minus one.

Nick (01:01:14.23)
Well did you see what he did on that par 3?

Neil (01:01:17.638)
I did not.

Nick (01:01:19.308)
So he was three under and he's on the back, which the back nine is harder than the four. Yeah. But he it into the gallery pretty much, had a terrible chip into the bunker and then a terrible chip out and had like a 25 footer for Bogue. I mean, you're staring triple potentially if you three putt from there and you're pissed off. So there's no telling what's going to happen. Yeah. And he drained it.

Neil (01:01:24.093)
Is that where we made the long bogey putt? Yeah, I saw the long bogey. I didn't know it was part three, but yes, I saw the long bogey. Yes, yeah.

Neil (01:01:44.893)
think it was more than 25, but he drilled it. That putt had some heat on it too. If that doesn't hit the count, that's going to buy. Yeah.

Nick (01:01:50.496)
No, it was gonna be seven, eight feet high. But I think a lot of people thought that they were gonna be 13, 14 under the winner of this tournament. And after round one, leaders are all sitting at three. They cut down all the trees, you all, before the tournament. Why are we cutting down all the trees?

Neil (01:02:16.977)
The birds aren't happy. Birds are pissed.

Matt (01:02:17.483)
What, now one of my dad's hot takes, not for the PGA, but the US Open, he wants the US Open to be the toughest course alive and he wants the winner of the US Open to be plus one or plus two. I wanna see what are your guys.

Neil (01:02:30.993)
Which is usually the case though. That is usually the case in the US.

Nick (01:02:34.506)
Not plus, they're usually around three or four. Yeah.

Matt (01:02:34.785)
Not, not lately. Some of the courses they've played has been a lot easier. If you want to get my dad on a rant, just ask him about like LA, LA country club, cause the Marine layer and it was too easy. Like, you know, Pinehurst.

Neil (01:02:40.861)
Alright.

Nick (01:02:42.859)
yeah.

Nick (01:02:48.65)
Yeah, Rick and Xander shot 62 to start that tournament two years ago. Three years ago.

Neil (01:02:51.773)
All right, so next month, next month, June for the US Open, we're having Mr. Paris on as a podcast guest.

Matt (01:02:52.159)
Yeah.

Matt (01:02:57.729)
I'll call him in and just rant about the US Open. But I wanted to ask actually, guys, like PGA, like, because I feel like Valhalla got a lot of heat because Valhalla was an easy course, but it always produced drama towards the end. Does the PGA necessarily need to be an easy course? Do you want it to be difficult? What's your thoughts on this?

Neil (01:03:22.909)
I don't like guys struggling where it's even par 2-3 under, but I also don't like guys shooting 20 under. I like a good mix. Like, give me my winner at around 9-10 under. In a close match as well. I don't want some blowout, but give me like that 9-10 under score. Yes, I like this. I like this. Challenging, but not impossible.

Matt (01:03:37.729)
Yeah, so this right now is ideal for you.

Nick (01:03:46.727)
I've listened to a couple like Smiley Kaufman, I've listened to his pod and like some other people this week and they really are expecting some people to throw some 62, some 63, some 64s out there because of the fact that you can, it's just drive and see how far you can get it down then you can figure out a way to get it to the green. Like you're really not penalized too much for wayward drives. Now the rough is

You could hit in one spot and you could get a terrible lie and then you hit in other spots where it really is not that bad. But they say for the most part you're really not penalized for wayward drives. The defense for this course is their greens which are gigantic. And I don't know if you all saw Bryson play early this morning, but he had like a 15 footer at above like he was a

Matt (01:04:31.041)
Hehehehehe

Nick (01:04:38.249)
the top of the green or like he was past the green a little bit on the fringe and he puts that thing downhill and he gave it a little good little boost and that all he had to do was just tip it and that thing went 30 pass 30 past the hole. These greens are tough and whoever gets the most two putts is probably gonna win.

I just, once we see Scottie go three under on opening day, which we've seen him struggle in opening rounds and fight to come back and figure out a way to come in second, but just not win a lot this year. I don't see anybody beating Scottie after he did that today.

Neil (01:05:19.035)
No, he's in a good spot. Good spot. I mean, he's got to be, obviously to my knowledge, be the favorite to win this thing, especially after that three under. said Rory Struggle plus four, Bryson plus six. Your boy Rick.

Nick (01:05:32.927)
Bryson didn't have a birdie until the last he was plus seven going to last.

Neil (01:05:35.953)
Yeah, he's definitely in danger of missing the cut. Your boy Rick, not a bad round, even par for old Rick Fowler. Coming off a really good tournament from last week, last weekend.

Nick (01:05:47.766)
Yep, four boughs, four birds, missed a couple seven footers though. Had a chip that if it had one more rotation would have went in for birdie. So he's right there where he could have been one, two under. I think today you take even par. You're still in the tournament.

Neil (01:06:03.589)
Everybody's favorite PGA pro Michael Block also even par on the day. He's back again

Matt (01:06:08.841)
Love our block guy.

Nick (01:06:09.917)
Hey, for the, that's for the non long knockers, baby.

Neil (01:06:13.937)
the long non-long knockers.

Nick (01:06:17.077)
He don't hit it very far.

Neil (01:06:19.164)
now.

Matt (01:06:20.193)
What do you guys want to Scotty's odds are right now after round one to win with 54 holes left?

Nick (01:06:30.827)
Mmm.

210.

Matt (01:06:36.193)
What you got, Neil?

Neil (01:06:36.475)
I said once in I said once in because he's still tied

Nick (01:06:36.511)
Minus two ten.

Matt (01:06:39.553)
Plus 170. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, you know I know. Plus 170. The second best odds are Zander Schauffle at plus 1,000.

Nick (01:06:41.611)
I meant plus 210.

Okay.

Neil (01:06:51.805)
Not even anybody that's tied with him. Nobody believes in old pot-geater, huh? Nobody believes in pot-geater?

Matt (01:06:56.193)
No, Min Wu is, Min Wu is 16, plus 1600, John Rahm plus 1500, and then Brooks is plus 27.

Neil (01:07:09.671)
How about this dude, did you see Garrick Higgo today? Yeah, shoots a one under par on his round. So he's two shots off the lead, really good round. Minus the fact he had a two stroke penalty before he teed off, because he was one minute late to the tee time. So what would have been a three under becomes a one.

Nick (01:07:10.015)
I mean, but you...

Nick (01:07:14.219)
We need to talk about it.

Matt (01:07:15.876)
my god.

Nick (01:07:30.379)
Well, he would tell you he would tell you he would tell you he wasn't late because his tee time was was like 718 and he was there at 718 30 and that's still 718.

Neil (01:07:42.597)
Nah bro, you late. On PGA time? You late. You need to get there at 7.15. What? What was he doing? Well I solo-

Nick (01:07:49.526)
Like legitimately in his post game. Like that's what he's saying. You sound like some kid that has been late to class four times in a row and you're trying to outsmart your teacher and you sound like a dumb ass. Like how do you even cut it that close to begin with?

Neil (01:08:02.461)
Yes.

It's not even close, you're late. 718, 8, 7, 18, 30, it's 718. Hit the ball. He was obviously on the putting green because he walked down to the tee box with a putter in his hand. Like bro, just get to your tee time and get there a couple minutes early, get your granola bar and a Gatorade, get your little something for some energy, hit the ball on time and let's get going. He'd be tied for the lead. He'd be tied for the lead right now.

Matt (01:08:19.265)
Mm-hmm.

Matt (01:08:28.663)
You know what? I'm gonna give you a

Matt (01:08:33.471)
I'm going give Neil credit here. He was not late as a walking scorer for his two rounds at the NCAA Women's Golf Regional this week. He was there before the tee time started.

Neil (01:08:40.722)
I was on time. Early. Early.

Nick (01:08:45.701)
Have you seen the Garrett Kegos quote? Because I told you a little bit about it. was there on time, but the rule is if you're one second late, you're Duh. So if you think, but he continues. So if you think about it, I was there on time. If you know what I mean.

Neil (01:08:55.834)
One second late is late! He's an idiot!

Neil (01:09:03.942)
No, nobody knows what you mean, dumbass.

Nick (01:09:06.313)
And he's like, yeah, maybe I should have walked over from the driving range a little sooner. Yeah, you should have.

Neil (01:09:13.404)
His caddy was there! His caddy was there on time! Where was he?

Nick (01:09:16.341)
This cat is yelling for him. This cat is yelling for him.

Neil (01:09:19.634)
Why is the caddy not with it? First of all, or second of all, this could be on the caddy. Get your guy, get your guy, be like, hey, my guy, we need to go now. We'll go to the T-box. Why are you going to the T-box without him, though? Don't go without him.

Nick (01:09:25.097)
No, it's not.

Nick (01:09:29.035)
I guarantee you he was saying that.

Matt (01:09:33.311)
No, if I'm the caddy, I'm at the driving range and be like, brother, we gotta go right now. The caddy's job is like, hey, you're in your head, you're hitting your shots, but like, bro, we gotta go and I'm not leaving without him.

Nick (01:09:45.675)
And he talked about how laid back he is, like he's just chill.

Neil (01:09:49.951)
He looks like a surfer, I he's from South Africa, looks like a little surfer dude. Like bro, get over it. Like get over yourself. Get there on time. You'd be tied for the lead right now. Hope he loses by a shot, hope he loses by a shot.

Nick (01:09:55.573)
It is.

Nick (01:09:58.923)
and

Dude, dude, also said like, if you don't get disqualified for five more minutes, so if I'm going to take a two stroke penalty, could have, I could have been four more minutes late and still got the same penalty.

Neil (01:10:14.364)
I bet people on tour hate this idiot.

Nick (01:10:17.459)
I mean, he said that the guys that were playing with him were arguing for him that he shouldn't get a penalty. And then he spent 20 more minutes after his round trying to get it removed.

Neil (01:10:26.248)
No.

Nick (01:10:28.145)
I- you do have to give him credit though for shooting a three under. After that.

Neil (01:10:33.502)
No, he played great golf. But also you're an idiot. You're an idiot. I hope you lose by a stroke.

Nick (01:10:37.353)
But, like, you messed up the easiest part.

And you didn't even oversleep. You were just lollygagging around hitting balls. Yes.

Matt (01:10:46.773)
Yeah, you were there.

Neil (01:10:48.254)
He's on the putting green. Idiot.

Matt (01:10:50.241)
Scotty was in a jail cell and made it to his tea time.

Neil (01:10:54.238)
Good point. It's a point. If you get arrested and make it to your tee time on time, you've got no excuse if you're this guy, Big O.

Nick (01:10:55.083)
Do we have to bring that up?

Nick (01:11:04.786)
Ugh.

So are we all going Scotty? Like it's pretty boring. Like if you're not going Scotty, who are you going?

Neil (01:11:13.31)
Ummm... If I'm not going Scotty, give me Xander. Too under right now.

Matt (01:11:21.163)
John Rahm.

Neil (01:11:23.723)
Ugh, no. He had a hole out from 100 just to even get into negative numbers.

Matt (01:11:29.76)
Rambo.

Nick (01:11:31.339)
J2.

Neil (01:11:35.442)
No, no chains.

Nick (01:11:37.311)
He's only been in the top 20, I think one other time after opening round in the PGA anyone.

There's a part of me who wants to go Rick, man. He's playing well. But if I feel like if I pick him, I would jinx it.

Neil (01:11:44.51)
it in.

He ain't winning though.

Playing well and winning are two different things.

Nick (01:11:52.607)
But if you look at the top of the leaderboard, there's not a ton of people that scare you if you're Scotty. There really isn't.

Matt (01:11:57.781)
no.

Nick (01:12:02.654)
I mean, Xander doesn't scare me right now, the way he's playing.

Nick (01:12:09.271)
And I mean, you might have somebody like you had JJ spawn last year that just kind of comes out of nowhere. I mean, he did compete in the players last year, almost won it. So he at least was up there. I mean, none of these guys have really even been in contention that are two and three under.

Matt (01:12:26.079)
Lowry's interesting if Lowry's hanging around come Sunday.

Nick (01:12:31.721)
Well, I mean, we saw what he did to close a couple months ago. Am I going to trust him to finish in the PGA championship?

I don't know, I just, there'll be some different names after tomorrow and the leaderboard will look totally different. But right now, if I'm Scotty, nobody that's two or three under really even scares me at all.

Neil (01:12:53.001)
Yeah, he's in a good spot.

Nick (01:12:56.915)
Matt, do you want to stick around while we talk about NFL schedule real briefly?

Matt (01:13:01.729)
Yeah, why not?

Nick (01:13:04.331)
out

Like they were leaked real early today, were they not? Like supposed to come out at eight o'clock where they, like how does the NFL allow these to get out like they do? Or do they want them to be?

Neil (01:13:10.195)
Yeah, it was.

Neil (01:13:15.463)
Well, I hate the fact that they leaked like the, all right, here's the Monday night games, here's the Thursday night games, here's the overseas games, here's the... People start to piece it together and then more leaks come in where like, if you're gonna do a schedule release show and all and like let the teams do their social media stuff at seven o'clock on a Thursday, then just button it up and let them do it at seven o'clock on a Thursday. Don't leak anything. Don't give us any teasers, don't give us anything. Like I knew half the Bengal schedule before it was released because of all this other nonsense that was going on.

Matt (01:13:21.057)
you

Neil (01:13:44.063)
If you're gonna do a schedule release day and a schedule release show, leave it at that.

Nick (01:13:49.206)
problem is too many people know what the schedules are before the official release because all the teams have to have this information to get their stuff ready. Right? And not everybody's... Yeah, and somebody's gonna get it out there. And you don't know what to trust throughout the day. But I think the big one on the bingo schedule is they're finally getting a home game in prime time against the Ravens. And it's on New Year's Eve.

Neil (01:13:56.799)
Correct. Yeah.

Matt (01:13:57.217)
And somebody talks to somebody.

Neil (01:14:16.435)
New Year's Eve night.

Nick (01:14:18.357)
Like I love going to Bengals games, more than anything. Do I want to be at Paycore on New Year's Eve? I'm gonna try to.

Neil (01:14:22.527)
I'm not going to that one.

Neil (01:14:27.443)
You're kiss your seat mate when the ball drops at midnight after the Bengals beat the Ravens. You're gonna turn to old Sandy, 55 year old Sandy that sits next to you and give her a little smooch on the mouth there for New Year's.

Nick (01:14:33.003)
I mean, we had that.

Nick (01:14:40.971)
but Matt we have one hot chick try to come to our section one time and Terry who sits with us has a sign saying this isn't your section because so many people get it wrong had it laminated just because he knows so many people and he's like this is not the hot chick walks up sees a sign and turns away immediately I was like that was our one chance bro and your lame laminated sign just ruined any chance that we had

Matt (01:15:08.609)
you need to have on the backside of the sign unless you're hot so you can flip it over and be like, come on in, come on in.

Nick (01:15:11.957)
You

Neil (01:15:12.841)
Good point. That's a good point.

Nick (01:15:14.665)
Yeah, Terry, Terry doesn't think that far.

Neil (01:15:17.693)
Yeah, no, like, yeah, actually finally get a one o'clock Sunday game in Baltimore and then they give us the Thursday night prime time on New Year's Eve, which really, really sucks, but.

Nick (01:15:28.831)
And you will not be there? Is this official?

Neil (01:15:33.183)
I mean, I don't want to spend my New Year's Eve in the car on the way back from pay core. I mean...

Neil (01:15:41.409)
To me the biggest takeaway is the Bangal schedule is front loaded. It's very, very front loaded. Two home games before November, only two home games, four road games in the bye. play quality, we open with the Buccaneers who just barely missed it. They barely missed the playoffs and lost their division on a tiebreaker I believe. Texans playoff team in week two. Steelers playoff team in week three. Jaguars playoff team in week four.

the Crappy Dolphins, which will be a nice break on the road in week five by week, and then what should be one of the best teams in the NFL, and the Ravens in week six. So you're basically facing five playoff teams in your first six games. And then after that, we get more home games and it gets a little bit easier.

Nick (01:16:29.919)
And so many, like they've talked about how the Bengals are gonna have the third easiest schedule. And I guess they do, but I look at it, they don't look that crazy easy to me.

Neil (01:16:39.368)
It looks easy to me. It does.

Nick (01:16:41.056)
Does it?

I mean, you talked about that start where you're getting three playoff teams out of your first four and the Bucs were right there. Now the NFC South sucks. whoever wins that is, I still think the Bengals should beat them with what they have.

Neil (01:16:59.05)
I mean, we beat the Jaguars last year with our awful Jake Browning as quarterback. And the Jaguars went on to win the division.

Nick (01:17:04.159)
I mean, what are the guaranteed wins on the schedule? Like the Dolphins, the Titans?

Neil (01:17:09.62)
Falcons, the Saints, I would hope the Browns, and the Browns are never again, but the Browns, Colts, Panthers, I mean, yeah, there's a lot of wins to be had out there, a lot.

Nick (01:17:10.921)
The Saints, the Panthers, Pan... Alts? Yeah.

Nick (01:17:21.833)
When's our first loss?

Nick (01:17:25.887)
You have the schedule in front of you, As a... Who's schedule do you have in front of you?

Matt (01:17:28.383)
I don't have your all schedule.

Neil (01:17:30.752)
I mean...

Matt (01:17:32.353)
I've got the Patriot schedule in front of me.

Neil (01:17:36.107)
I mean, the first loss is going to come early. I mean, the Bengals historically have not gone off to great starts. Even the Super Bowl team and the team that went to the FC title game, we struggled early. Like we've never, it's been a debate of do we play our starters in the pre-season and what we never did. We did last year and we still got off to a bad start because the defense sucked. So we've never gone off to great starts. And with that in mind and playing the hardest teams early,

Doesn't bode well in my mind, from my confidence. I think we probably lose, I hate to say it, but probably at the Texans with that Texans defense, probably at the Texans in week two.

Nick (01:18:16.671)
Yeah, I think you beat Tampa in the opener at home. And no, with that defense that the Texans have coming back, it's gonna be a tough game in week two on the road. If you win that game and you start off 2-0, you're feeling really good about. Yeah, so well, then you lose your QB. But the good news is you don't have to go to Baltimore on prime time for the first time in forever.

Neil (01:18:19.509)
Yes.

Neil (01:18:32.064)
I mean, felt good at 2-0 last year, Nick, and it sucked.

Neil (01:18:44.926)
We beat him in primetime last year though on Thanksgiving.

Nick (01:18:46.731)
Yeah, we did. I don't know. If you can finish those first four games, three and one, or even if you're two and two, I think you're feeling pretty good.

Neil (01:19:02.376)
If you can get those first five games, your three and two after those first five games, I'm okay with that.

Nick (01:19:05.865)
Yeah. Yeah.

Nick (01:19:10.739)
Yep, because then that gives you some leeway against Baltimore and coming off the bye.

Neil (01:19:14.15)
I hate the early about week five. There should not be anybody, nobody should be on a bi-week in week five when there's 18 weeks in a season. What do we do?

Nick (01:19:21.705)
Well, I thought it would be after the Madrid game. I really did when they announced that I thought our bye week would be the next week.

Neil (01:19:26.24)
You know, that would make the most sense. You you gotta go to Spain to play a game. Maybe you get a week off to recover. Nah, I'll throw you right back into prime time against the Steelers.

Matt (01:19:34.901)
Ooh, you guys don't have a bye coming off your Europe game?

Neil (01:19:37.95)
No, it feels stupid. week, week five. There should be no bye weeks, week five.

Nick (01:19:46.473)
What's the thoughts on the Patriot schedule since we've got you here?

Matt (01:19:49.761)
It's gonna be a lot harder than last year. Seven of the first 11 are away from home, so that's not ideal. But starting on October 22nd, they have eight straight games in a prime time window, or a national TV window, I count that, like 425 slot, a national TV window. So, a lot of opportunities to the Patriots don't need to get NFL Sunday ticket this year, but I mean...

Nick (01:19:52.703)
Well yeah, you had the easiest schedule in the NFL last year.

Matt (01:20:19.359)
It's gonna be tough, open the season against the Seahawks, drop on the banner. But I...

Neil (01:20:23.424)
Super Bowl rematch in Seattle,

Matt (01:20:26.657)
But I kind of like it too because they've got to travel a lot this year. They're playing the Lions in Munich. They got to go out to the West Coast twice because they're playing the Chargers. So I actually don't mind playing Seattle week one because you get rid of one of those West Coast trips and they're playing on a Wednesday. So they kind of get a mini bye right off the start.

So it's interesting. We got two Thursday night games. And then think a couple of Sundays and a Monday. So yeah, I don't know why when.

Neil (01:20:53.792)
Wednesday night open why Yeah, like usually it's a Thursday if I don't know why you're on Wednesday, but why if you're the NFL to me Patriots Lions Pete Patriots Lions is a really good matchup Patriots Super Bowl team last year Lions really good team. That's Potential Super Bowl team. Why are you playing that game in Germany? At 9 o'clock in the morning

Nick (01:21:05.451)
There's a reason for it, can't remember.

Matt (01:21:19.905)
wanted to go to that game in Detroit.

Neil (01:21:22.334)
Like, put your crappy games overseas. Give the Germans like, I don't know, give them the Browns versus the Cardinals or something. Like, why are we giving the Germans and Europeans some of our best games?

Nick (01:21:36.075)
Trying to grow the game now.

Neil (01:21:37.875)
Okay.

Matt (01:21:37.921)
So we'll say this, I'm a proponent of if you're going overseas for games, it needs to be the opposite conference game. Like you gotta play somebody from the NFC or the AFC because you shouldn't...

Neil (01:21:49.674)
which that is the case in all but one. And I agree with you, what makes no sense is the 49ers and Rams opening in Australia. It's a division game. So one team, those two teams were up the top, one of tops of the division, them and the Seahawks, those three teams are battling for the division championship.

Matt (01:21:59.711)
the Australia game.

Neil (01:22:15.125)
The 49ers are getting screwed, or I'm sorry, the Rams are getting screwed out of a home game. The 49ers get to play the Rams at home, but the Rams don't get to play the 49ers at home. How do you have a division game in Australia?

Matt (01:22:26.977)
You can't have tiebreakers rely on an international game. That's just bad for business.

Neil (01:22:34.195)
All division games, if you're playing each other twice, you need to have a home at home. You shouldn't play the same conference, but if you do, the Rams should be playing the Lions or something. Like don't play a division game overseas. That just makes no sense. You're just screwing one team out of a home game.

Nick (01:22:46.997)
Dagger.

Nick (01:22:50.485)
Seems pretty simple too, honestly. Just keep it to where it's NFC versus AFC. Seems pretty simple.

Neil (01:22:53.611)
They're making sense.

Yes!

Neil (01:23:00.619)
The NFL can't figure that out. We're two teams from California to Australia. A division game.

Nick (01:23:11.275)
So this Taco Bell worker just did this.

Neil (01:23:18.197)
Give me the right now.

Matt (01:23:18.212)
Hehehehehe

Nick (01:23:20.469)
Taco Bell employee in Florida is accused of shooting at three customers this week after one of them attempted to fill a water cup with soda. Police say three women entered a Taco Bell in West Palm Beach. One began filling up their cup at the soda fountain, which led to a verbal altercation and eventually shots fired.

Neil (01:23:48.511)
Is everybody okay? First. Before we making fun of the whole thing. Is everybody alright?

Nick (01:23:51.2)
Like, yes, everybody's Yes, everybody's okay. One fell to the ground after being shot, another was grazed, the other one ran outside. The Taco Bell worker obviously was arrested.

Nick (01:24:13.534)
Employee of the month?

Neil (01:24:16.787)
I mean, you order water, you better get water. Don't be trying to steal. That's stealing. That's First of all, that's theft. Whoever did it should also be arrested. You shoot at somebody, you should be arrested. But if you're doing the water cup and you're trying to get yourself a Pepsi, you should be arrested as well. Now, have you in your lifetime, have you ever done something like that? Done the water cup, try to get the soda, get a little sprite, try to make it look like water before?

Matt (01:24:17.281)
Okay.

Nick (01:24:21.899)
you

Nick (01:24:43.019)
I'm sure I've got a little taste. We'll test. Has anybody, is there anybody that has never done that?

Neil (01:24:47.541)
Listen, I'm giving this shot at.

Neil (01:24:52.289)
I most everybody's probably done that a time or two, but.

Matt (01:24:55.905)
to.

Nick (01:24:57.367)
I don't think I've ever just straight up filled up the whole thing blatantly, but maybe got a little taste. Little taste.

Neil (01:25:05.001)
Also, in 2026, why are we still doing self-serve soft drinks?

Nick (01:25:10.343)
Are you saying because of COVID or what's the reason for not having it?

Neil (01:25:14.315)
cost. Like a lot of waste.

Matt (01:25:17.27)
Yeah.

Nick (01:25:17.375)
that soda cost them nothing. The cost is all in the cup.

Neil (01:25:21.633)
I don't know what the soda cost, but.

Nick (01:25:22.635)
That cup costs more than the soda. I promise you.

Neil (01:25:25.761)
Oh, know a cup of probably cost more than a soda, but there's a lot of waste going on there.

Nick (01:25:29.975)
But can we talk about how passionate this dude is about his job? Like does he get... Does he get some credit for that?

Matt (01:25:33.909)
Rooz a Rooz.

Neil (01:25:34.049)
Protect and defend. Somebody's coming on your home turf and stealing your soft drink. You gotta protect it. I don't know if I do it with a gun, but that's a little extreme. The thought process was there. Trying to stop this nonsense.

Nick (01:25:56.779)
passionate Taco Bell worker.

Neil (01:25:58.901)
Always fashion.

Nick (01:26:00.246)
Probably went a little too far.

Neil (01:26:01.995)
I would say a little too far, yeah, slightly.

Nick (01:26:05.097)
And if you're that little lady who just filled up your water cup with a little bit of Big Red and this dude's coming at you hard, you're like, chill out. Like, this ain't that big a deal. And then it escalated and the gun eventually came out.

Matt (01:26:16.107)
Mm.

Matt (01:26:22.571)
Yeah. Talking to our friends, how did you get shot? I was put in starry into a water cup at Taco Bell.

Neil (01:26:32.3)
Yeah. I mean, I did see him.

Nick (01:26:34.547)
Yeah, the guy behind the register, he came at me pretty hard.

Neil (01:26:39.872)
I did see McDonald's phasing out the self-serve soft drinks. I don't know their reason, but...

I just don't like, like, you don't need self-serve soft drinks anymore. Let them fill your cup up for you.

Nick (01:26:52.117)
Well the book-

Well, the rave like five, 10 years ago was those machines where you could add flavors to all the different sodas. Like, so what happened to all that? All that's out the window?

Neil (01:27:01.411)
the Coca Cola remix? Yeah.

Matt (01:27:03.073)
Yeah, the happiness machine.

Neil (01:27:05.954)
Well now they're called dirty sodas or something, I don't know, and they're like a dirty something or other, you put vanilla cream and crap into it.

Matt (01:27:10.123)
Yeah, that's.

Nick (01:27:13.035)
I know, but that was like taking self-sacrifice to the next level. And now you're saying we're going the other way?

Matt (01:27:13.269)
the Mormons.

Neil (01:27:16.502)
That was the exhaust for the next one.

Yeah? Yeah?

Nick (01:27:22.762)
Why?

Neil (01:27:23.98)
cost so to probably win it.

Neil (01:27:28.832)
It's all getting stuck in the straight up hormones. We can't get the sodas through.

Matt (01:27:31.617)
Can't get gas and we can't get soda.

Nick (01:27:36.459)
and the cost of everything's going up.

Neil (01:27:36.77)
An extra large soda now cost $4 instead of $1.99. Can't be doing that. Can't be letting people go back for fourth and fifth drinks of soda. And then they're dumping it out in a little grate and all that. It's all messy and gross and I don't know. We don't need self-serve sodas.

Nick (01:27:42.687)
We gettin' We gettin' there.

Nick (01:27:49.451)
We give.

Matt (01:27:52.897)
Mm.

Nick (01:27:57.472)
because the employees aren't doing that. But I guess you're not touching it, I don't know. I kind of trust doing my own better than somebody else doing it. But also, I don't want to get out of my car and go inside either, so.

Neil (01:28:11.712)
When's the last time you stepped foot in a fast food restaurant?

Nick (01:28:15.679)
been a long time.

Neil (01:28:17.098)
long time.

Nick (01:28:18.869)
So yeah, it doesn't affect me at all.

Neil (01:28:21.654)
You order on the app, you tell them your code, you get your food and you go home.

Nick (01:28:24.523)
And if you're not over on the app, you're doing it wrong.

Neil (01:28:27.616)
Stupid.

Matt (01:28:28.641)
The only time I step in a fast food restaurant, and I feel like you all can appreciate this, is at McDonald's on campus, because we're walking from the office to go pick it up and just, but it's pre-ordered, pre-ordered on the app, and I just walk in and grab it.

Neil (01:28:43.296)
Yeah, that makes sense.

Nick (01:28:45.227)
What's your McDonald's order?

Matt (01:28:49.809)
snack wraps have put me into a blender. I love the snack wrap.

Nick (01:28:56.725)
See, I usually just do the value meal, even though now it's up to six bucks. But you get the double cheese, the four nugs, the small fry on a small drink.

Neil (01:29:04.562)
I had that one last night, that was my dinner last night. No.

Nick (01:29:07.135)
Is that the move? You're just a regular cheeseburger.

Neil (01:29:10.45)
I'm a two double cheese in a coat.

Nick (01:29:13.743)
you've moved, you've grown up to double cheese. It used to be the number two. It used to be the number two. The two cheese.

Neil (01:29:20.096)
Yeah, that's when the number two was the best value on the menu. You get a large fry, two cheeseburgers, and a large Coke for like six bucks. Well now the number two is like 12 bucks. I don't want that, or 10 bucks, whatever it is.

Nick (01:29:29.471)
So.

It's his wedding day. Dude gets a number two the morning or the afternoon of his wedding day. Cheese and ketchup only. And it's got everything on it. And he's just like, I'm not eating this. I'm not eating this.

Neil (01:29:45.087)
I hate mustard. I can deal with taking pickles and onions off but mustard it just soaks in the bread and it smells like shit. I hate, I hate mustard. I hate mustard.

Matt (01:29:51.585)
Mm.

Nick (01:29:53.803)
So yeah, I'm a mustard guy.

Neil (01:29:57.496)
You would be a mustard guy. You look like a mustard guy. You look like a mustard guy.

Nick (01:29:59.467)
I'm a mustard guy.

Nick (01:30:03.326)
We gotta wrap this up y'all. I gotta get this thing posted and I gotta get in the car at 7 a.m.

Neil (01:30:10.349)
Good luck, don't come in last. Don't come in last to all the one-armed people.

Nick (01:30:11.051)
to drive up to Indy.

Matt (01:30:13.739)
Yeah.

Nick (01:30:16.735)
Dude, that's just messed up.

Neil (01:30:18.443)
You did, I'm just saying you did. You did.

Nick (01:30:22.379)
No, last year I came home from it and you all asked me, it's like, did you get beat by any one-armed people? And I said, yeah, I got beat by all the one-armed people, every single one of them. And all the one-legged people and all the short people and all the people, I lost all the people.

Matt (01:30:42.037)
Was that after we played golf that week before?

added your course.

Nick (01:30:47.071)
I don't remember. It might've been. I think it was close to it. We need to play again.

Matt (01:30:52.245)
Yeah, yeah, I smoked that lady's back patio on too.

You

Neil (01:31:00.008)
yeah, that's right. I'll play with you then. Remember, you smoked the deck. Yeah.

Matt (01:31:06.591)
And she came out. sorry. That's all good. Nothing broke. Thank God.

Neil (01:31:09.581)
Yeah. Yeah.

Nick (01:31:14.537)
All right, well, I guess, can we do this on Monday to recap the PGA and the pregness?

Neil (01:31:20.365)
track meet on Monday. one. So last one of the year. Last one of year.

Nick (01:31:21.867)
You gotta be kidding me.

Matt (01:31:24.705)
Do it later in the week. Later in

Nick (01:31:26.827)
And then bowling on Tuesday still?

Neil (01:31:29.717)
No, we're taking a summer break for bowling. We'll start that in the fall.

Nick (01:31:33.621)
We'll figure it out. We'll have a show. Beginning of next week sometime to break down the PGA, break down the preakness.

We'll talk about my tournament.

Neil (01:31:41.731)
We'll be talking about Iron Honor's triumphant win.

Nick (01:31:46.834)
Or incredible.

Matt (01:31:47.263)
You misspoke with incredible.

Neil (01:31:48.247)
Bucky. Bucky.

Nick (01:31:51.98)
Incredible but for the 56 meal For the 56 Matt for the 660 Matt. Thanks for joining us. This three shows in a row. Look, you're just like a regular now I'm the fortune Nick Remember to follow at height differential on all social rate and review on the on whatever podcast you listen, we appreciate y'all We'll talk to you then