Jim Rome?s ?clones,? as his impassioned listeners are called, often don?t take kindly to the radio and television sports host talking about his racehorses, preferring to engage in conversation about more mainstream sports.
They better prepare themselves for this week, because after Rome?s Mizdirection won the Grade 1 Breeders? Cup Turf Sprint on Saturday at Santa Anita Park, the filly is likely to get a lot of air time this week.
?Bam!? tweeted Rome at the end of the race. ?Mizdirection!!!?
Mizdirection and jockey Mike Smith rally up the outside. Photo credit Breeders' Cup Ltd.
The 4-year-old filly, who hadn?t raced since finishing second at the end of May, surged from about 10 lengths off the lead to win her first Grade 1 race. It is also the first Grade 1 win for Rome, who owns Mizdirection in partnership with Bill Strauss, Danny Gohs, Borris Beljak, and Kevin Nish. Rome?s stable name is Jungle Racing, LLC, a reference to the name of his radio talk show.
Mizdirection was purchased as a two-year-old by Solis Bloodstock for $50,000 and sent to California to the barn of trainer Mike Puype. Said bloodstock agent Alex Solis II, ?Mike called Jim and said, ?You need to buy a piece of this filly,? and the rest is history.?
Mizdirection has never finished worse than third in 12 career starts (in one, she finished fourth and was placed third via disqualification), winning seven races; she?s earned $914,621, including the $540,000 winner?s share of the purse of the Breeders? Cup Turf Sprint.
She was ridden by Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith, who has now won more Breeders? Cup races than any other jockey, with 17 victories in the 18-year history of the event.
?He?s a Hall of Famer and that was a Hall-of-Fame ride, and he?s brass,? said Rome, congratulating the jockey.
Earlier in the week Rome had talked on his radio show with celebrity chef Bobby Flay. Flay was recently appointed to the board of directors at the New York Racing Association, and in 2010, his filly More Than Real won the Breeders? Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf.
Jim Rome and trainer Mike Puype. Photo credit Breeders' Cup Ltd.
?I said, ?You?ve been there before, you know what it?s like,?? said Rome in the post-race press conference of his conversation with Flay. ?And he said, ?Outside of the birth of my daughter, it was the most exhilarating feeling in [my] life.?? I would say the same, but I?m too numb to know how it feels.? If you would ask me tomorrow I would have a better idea.? I?ve got a feeling my answer might be close to his.?
Mizdirection went off at odds of nearly 7-1 and paid $15.80 to win, considerably less than her morning line odds of 20-1. Asked if he?d hammered the filly at the betting window, Rome responded, ?I love my?clones, but they don?t roll like that.? I don?t think they can get 20?1 down to 5?1.? I got a feeling that people knew she was not a 20?1 horse and she knew she was live.?
Accustomed to being the one asking the questions, Rome had no trouble taking a spot on the other side of the microphone.
?[It feels] weird, man, weird, but it feels really, really good,? he said. ?We?re all in love with the horse.? It?s an awesome, awesome day,? he said.
?I?ve just had a moment I?ve never experienced in my life. That was absolutely awesome.?
?Awesome? is perhaps a feeling that Rome should get used to. Though Rome got most of the questions at the press conference, leading co-owner Bill Strauss to quip, ?I thought I was just a pretty face up here,? it was Strauss who got the last, and perhaps most important, line.
?She?s coming back [to race next year],? Strauss declared. ?I want this feeling again and again and again.?
Related: a January conversation with Rome about Thoroughbred retirement.
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