Page 26 - Flat Racing News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Both my grandparents owned horses and raced horses. my upping be kel trained. my father rode. i actually wanted to be a linebacker i didn't grow up big enough to even carry the water bucket. [laughter] so i was athletic and i loved horses. it was just the next best thing. janice: do you feel it's a calling what do you? >> i believe it is. it feels like it is. i know when i pray about it feels right and i do a lot of that. it's a fast game. it's a dangerous game. a lot goes on. a lot of pressure. need a lot of help. the good lord above. trust me. you can't handle it on your own. janice: tell me...

Music song it's on medina spirit for the 146th preakness stakes. bob baffert has a second horse in the running, too. carley: mike smith who rode justify in 2018 will be riding baffert's concert tour today. pete: our own janice dean spoke to smith. joins us now live from pamilico in baltimore. i like your horse riding motion at the end of the tease there you do it well, much better than us. janice: you like that? my jockey look. i practiced this now for many years. pete: well done. janice: i have met so many amazing people horse racing over the years covering the kentucky derby and the preaknes...

Now. it's good to see you. >> thank you, great to see you. janice: do you remember the last time we were together? look at me? look at me go. [laughter] >> yeah, we were going for the triple crown, i believe the holy grail of horse racing. janice: that's right. justify. tell me what it's like to be on a triple crown horse. >> interest is a lot of great athletes there is a lot of great basketball players. there is only one michael jordan. that's what it is like to ride triple crown horse. that's why there has only been 13 in the history of horse racing. janice: how is justify? have you kept in ...

Baffert your relationship with him. >> not only is he one of the greatest trainers of all time i think his record speaks for itself. he is arguably the best. we're very close. i have ridden for him for many, many years. is he a wonderful man. janice: obviously what's happening this week is like a cloud over the racing industry. but i don't think that people understand what these measurements mean and, you know, it's not like performance enhancing drugs. have you got the mussels. tell me what you know. >> it's not that type of steroid. people hear the word steroid and think it's something that ...

>> i'm the chief veterinary officer for horse racing no among our properties include pamblico and maryland. janice: huge controversy with baffert's horse medina spirit who is going to race in the preakness. tell me what people don't understand about this story. >> yeah. i mean i think the hardest part for people to understand is really, you know, what happened in kentucky isn't even in the -- hasn't even been completed. i mean, it's as if we are trying to have a trial without actually having any charges brought. janice: right. >> the kentucky horse racing commission hasn't issued their complai...