Just The Cats · Michael T Bennett

Just The Cats 03-09-26

March 9, 2026·1 hr 15 min·6 clips

Michael Bennett and Justin Kaelin grade Mark Pope's season a C, citing poor roster building and inconsistent effort.

Ocala is home base. The host opens from Florida at the breeder sales, with call-ins, texts, and tweets already stacked up while the show gets moving. The drive was ugly. A rainy Saturday run from Louisville to Nashville turns into the sort of everyday complaint that can fill good radio without trying too hard. Weather comes up right away. Florida shorts, Louisville skies, and daylight savings all get worked over before the show settles anywhere bigger. Nobody rushes it. The clock-change gripe gets room, especially the bargain between darker morning drives and more light at night. Then the texts start driving. A note about National Shane Day becomes a goofy little intervention for one Shane who apparently made some bad choices. The bit stays joking, but the host leaves a path back for him, even slipping in a church invitation while everyone is still laughing. Then horse racing takes over. A listener floats the idea of a syndicate for listeners, and the host gives it a real look, including the maybe-not-crazy thought of buying a claiming horse for the group. The website gets its plug. Scenic Hill Stable, the web designer, and the host's son get credit for building something he plainly likes. Ocala keeps pulling him back in. He wonders if listeners would want video from the horses he is checking out, then admits he might not buy anything. Basketball waits its turn, but it matters. By the end, Kentucky tournament talk finally lands, mostly through the simple pleasure of a 12:30 Wednesday tip and daytime games all over the place. That is the show: horses, texts, weather, local irritation, and UK basketball, all treated like they belong in the same conversation.

As heard by us

A loose morning hang built around horses, listener chatter, and Kentucky tournament talk.

The episode opens in Ocala with breeder sales, then wanders into rain-soaked travel gripes and daylight-saving complaints before settling back into listener texts and the usual local-radio back and forth.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

You want horse-sale chatter that keeps wandering toward Kentucky hoops.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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