West Point Thoroughbreds has had many star horses over its many years in the business, but some stand out above the others. With back-to-back Grade I wins in the Acorn and Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga, the three-year-old filly Counting Stars (Honor A.P.) has stamped herself as one of the best ever to carry the black-and-gold colors of West Point.To discuss her win in the Coaching Club, plans for the rest of the year, and whether or not the GI Travers Stakes is an option, West Point Founder and President Terry Finley joined this week's TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland. He was the Gainesway Guest of the Week.This was her third start against Always a Runner (Gun Runner), who defeated her in the GI Kentucky Oaks before Counting Stars turned the tables on her in the Acorn. For a moment, Always a Runner appeared to get by Counting Stars in the stretch Saturday at Saratoga, but Counting Stars had another gear and proved emphatically that she is the better horse.“I was worried,” Finley said. “I thought we'd be second-best and we'd be starting to get a plan together for the Alabama. I think you had two very good fillies and they hooked up and I'm just glad we got the job done there. It was it was an exciting race.”After the Acorn, trainer Mark Casse had floated the idea that Counting Stars might go in the Travers. That no longer is the plan.“That came from Mark and not from me,” Finley said. “Our focus is on the Alabama. It would be really cool to win all three races, the Acorn, the Coaching Club and the Alabama. Nobody has swept all three of those races since Sky Beauty in 1993. The others who have done it are the type that have locked their place in the history books of Thoroughbred racing. So that's what we're focused on.”West Point isn't afraid to go into the seven-figure range to acquire a horse at the sales, so how did it get Counting Stars for just $150,000? She sold at the 2025 OBS April sale“One is we raced the mare, Paytnerbynumbers,” Finley said. “George Weaver trained her. We bought her out at the Barretts sale when that was still in existence. We always thought she could run. She had she had quite a bit of talent. We just couldn't keep her sound. And we ended up losing her for forty thousand. I have always been a big fan of Honor A.P. I remember the day that he ran in the Kentucky Derby and he just had a brutal trip into the first turn. He ended up finishing fourth. I thought with a little bit of luck, he could have been second, or he might have been the Derby winner. His stallion career was slow at the beginning but he's really starting to pick it up. (Counting Stars) was a pretty good physical. You put all that together and we decided to take a shot.”The “Fastest Horse of the Week” was Built (Hard Spun). He earned a 105 Beyer figure in his win in the GII Alfred G. Vanderbilt Stakes. The Fastest Horse of the Week segment is sponsored by WinStar, which stands the sire Nashville.Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by the PHBA, 1/ST TV, the KTOB, and West Point Thoroughbreds, Randy Moss, Bill Finley, and Zoe Cadman reviewed the Coaching Club, the GI Bing Crosby Stakes and discussed the torrid run by Irad Ortiz Jr. at Saratoga. They previewed this week's major races, including the GI Arlington Million (Moss doesn't like the chances of Burnham Square (Liam's Map) and paid tribute to the recently retired Journalism (Curlin), with the team predicting he will have a standout career at stud.To watch the video of the TDN podcast, click here.For the audio version, click here. The post Terry Finley Joins Writers’ Room Podcast, Presented by Keeneland, To Talk Counting Stars appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.