Jeff Piecoro brought horse racing talk and Reds baseball stories to Friday’s KSR show

Jeff Piecoro wears a lot of hats in the sports and media world. On Saturdays in the fall, he is next to Tom Leach in the radio booth, providing color analysis to Leach’s play-by-play for Kentucky football games. You can also see Piecoro on television in Lexington on WTVQ-TV, where he is the station’s sports director, following a 24-year career as co-host of “Reds Live” on Fox Sports Ohio. He has also covered horse racing and other sports around the Bluegrass and beyond.

On Friday, Piecoro brought all of his expertise to Kentucky Sports Radio, filling in for Matt Jones and Ryan Lemond as the host of the show for a day. Jones is almost two weeks into his 10-week vacation, and Lemond was with his son at a football camp in Missouri, so Piecoro accepted the invite to drive KSR for a couple of hours alongside Shannon The Dude and me as co-hosts.

Piecoro used the opportunity to highlight the upcoming Belmont Stakes, featuring Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan, owned by Kenny McPeek. McPeek is one of Piecoro’s longtime friends, so he called into the show before Saturday’s race at Saratoga Race Course to preview what’s ahead, including his Kentucky Oaks winner, Thorpedo Anna, running in the Acorn Stakes on Friday afternoon.

It may have been the most horse-racing talk ever on Kentucky Sports Radio.

Before McPeek, former UK baseball coach Keith Madison returned to KSR’s airwaves to check back in before the Supers. Piecoro pulled some stories from the past out of Madison in the first hour.

Later in the first hour, UK football assistant coach Jay Boulware called in for updates on his special teams and an explanation of the punting strategies. Unfortunately, the conversation ran out of time before Boulware could brag about his running backs.

A second hour for Cincinnati Reds fans

Fans of the Cincinnati Reds will enjoy the second hour of Friday’s show. Per my (and many listeners’) request, Piecoro used much of the 11 o’clock hour to share stories from his time working with the Reds. For more than a decade, he traveled with the team, stayed at the team hotel, and was around the clubhouse on a daily basis, part of his role covering the Reds. On Friday, he recalled a time when 50-year-old Tom Browning stepped back on the mound to remind everyone how he became an All-Star and World Series champion. Even after a long night out, Browning made quick work of a much younger batter.

Piecoro also revealed what Joey Votto wears to bed (which isn’t what you’d expect), how John Calipari’s fantasy camp started, and more proof that Dusty Baker is a great person. How’s that for a tease, Reds fans? You can hear it all in the podcast below.