Winning Ponies

Thoroughbred owner Paul Groves has had success slowly growing his thoroughbred operation over the past decade. He will share his story of entrance into the sport and a unique technique he uses in the care of his horses called Magna Wave. He will describe the therapy and when, why and how he uses the therapy to improve his horses in training. Brian Zipse and John will examine 2018 The Year in Review and do some handicapping on some interesting Saturday Stakes. Two graded stakes at Santa Anita - the $300,000 Gr. 1 American Oaks and the $100,000 Gr. 3 Midnight Lute Stakes. The $100,000 Dave's Friend Stakes at Laurel looks to be attracting some nice horses and if time allows, we will look at the marathon $100,000 H. Allen Jerkens Stakes at Gulfstream Park,

T'is the season for giving, and this year our friends at Taylor Made Farm, home of the legendary California Chrome, and its new venture, the People's Horse, are helping Old Friends with a very special holiday offer. Join the People's Horse between now and the end of the year, and the group will donate 15% of the proceeds from each new membership to Old Friends. The People's Horse's goal is to give everyone who enjoys racing the joy, thrill, and experience of following their own racehorse--in this case a son or daughter of California Chrome. Old Friends' founder Michael Blowen will fill in the details of this unique offer. He will also reflect on the 2017 season at Old Friends' new additions and heartfelt losses. . Eric Wing will give an update on handicapping tourneys over the Holiday Season, and will join John in 'capping 2 races from Aqueduct -- the $125,000 Queen's County and the $100,000 Gravesend; and head south for the $100,000 (G3) Mr. Prospector at Gulfstream Park.

Jeremy Balan, staff writer and Assistant Editor for the Blood-Horse covering racing on the West Coast has had an exhausting week covering the impact the California fires have had on the racing industry. The equine death toll from the devastating brush fire that ripped through San Luis Rey Downs Training Center Dec. 7 is at 46 as of the morning of Dec. 9, according to officials at the California Horse Racing Board. Jeremy will update us on the tragedy and some of the efforts that are taking place to help the horses and horsemen impacted by the fire. Les Instone is living in the Tampa, FL area and is back to hosting handicapping seminars. Saturday is a marquee day for the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners and will be highlighted with the $125,000 City of Ocala Stakes and the $125,000 Marion County Stakes. Les will be hosting a handicapping seminar prior to the races at Tampa Bay Downs on Saturday. Les and John will look at those races and some other stakes on Saturday.

It is the Holiday Season and if you are looking for a good book for a horse loving friend we will talk to author/photographer Rick Capone who has written Celebrating Old Friends - Stories from Kentucky's Thoroughbred Retirement Farm. Award winning writer and handicapper Tom LaMarra, who is now located in the Mid-Atlantic Region will join John to handicap a series of $100,000 stakes races at Laurel Park on Saturday featuring Maryland-bred runners.

Barry Pearl has been retired since 2006 and now lives with his wife in Florida and Pennsylvania. Barry has done many interesting things in his life such as racing cars professionally, getting his pilot’s license, owning an airplane and helping his wife Dee raise 3 great kids. He had started a varied career first racing thoroughbreds in NJ circuit, Pennsylvania and Florida, then he got involved in Photography as track photographer at Penn National and later in real-estate. Barry is one of the founders of Jockeys and Jeans and since 2014 has been its President. We will let Barry tell it. The Thanksgiving pumpkin pie is finished and this Saturday we take a bite out of the Big Apple. Aqueduct is presenting a full menu of graded stakes races highlighted by the $750,000 Cigar Mile (G1) supported by the $250,000 Demoiselle (G2); the $250,000 Remsen (G2) and the $200,000 Go For Wand (G3). Joining John to analyze these stakes will be DRF Handicapper and a regular on this show Matt Bernier.

The wait is finally over for trainer Dale Romans. The South Louisville native took sole possession of the record for most wins by a trainer in the 143-year-old history of Churchill Downs from Hall of Fame horseman Bill Mott who held the record since June 8, 1986. Born and raised in Louisville and a graduate of Butler High School, Romans grew up on the Churchill Downs backstretch learning his trade from his father, veteran trainer Jerry Romans, who passed away in 2000 – two years after saddling his 211th and final winner at Churchill. Romans took out his trainer’s license in 1986 at age 18 and saddled his first winner at Turfway Park on Feb. 15, 1987. He will give an insight into his long successful career. Taking more looks at the Breeders' Cup results and their impact on year-end awards. We will also look to the $100,000 Grade 3 Cardinal Handicap at Churchill Downs; the $150,000 Artie Shiller Stakes from Aqueduct and Woodbine's $125,000 Frost King Stakes for Juveniles.

Two past Presidents of the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters will join the show two discuss the outcomes and impact of this year's Breeders' Cup World Championships at Del Mar. Jay Privman was manning the microphone at trackside throughout the two-day event. He had an up close view of the action and insightful questions for the winning connections after each race. Jay covers the Southern California racing circuit plus such national events as the Triple Crown and Breeders' Cup. Tom Law hosted a handicapping seminar at the legendary Parting Glass in Saratoga covering all of the races. We will see how his picks panned out and get his reaction to some of the surprise outcome over the two-day card. Tom is the Managing Editor of ST Publishing, Inc., the award-winning publishing company that produces The Saratoga Special and Steeplechase Times.

We've assembled a trio of popular handicappers to cover the two days of the Breeders' Cup. All will give their Classic picks and then hand pick their selected favorite races over the two days of talent laden thoroughbreds competing in the Breeders' Cup at Del Mar. Our Stable of Stars includes Daily Racing Form's Dan Illman, Thisishorseracing.com's Tom Law and our Las Vegas connection Rich Eng. Dan Illman is the DRF.com's handicapping editor and host of the DRF News Desk. Illman's “Spa Babies” and “Keeneland Babies” columns are featured on DRF.com during the Saratoga and Keeneland meets. Award winning writer and handicapper Tom Law helps operate the popular racing website thisishorseracing.com and is the managing editor of ST Publishing. Rich Eng covers the horseracing industry. Handicapping for Dummies is one of the many handicapping books he wrote. He also is a writer for DRF. As always we will have a FREE contest for cash and merchandise prizes. Details are forthcoming.

Tim Glyshaw an up and coming trainer may have Bucchero (who has notched his 2nd win from six starts on the grass in the Woodford Stakes) start in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint. He will tell us about his start in the thoroughbred training business and briefly talk about his charge potentially running in the Breeders’ Cup. Tim Glyshaw was born in Evansville, Indiana. After graduating from Indiana University, he taught school in Illinois for 2 years. Unhappy with his career, he decided to make a change. After entering and graduating from Taylor Made Farm's internship program, he was launched into a career of thoroughbred trainer. Vance Hanson an associate editor with TwinSpires.com and Brisnet.com since 2008 will join John in discussing the just-released Breeders' Cup entries and handicap the $200,000 Hagyard Fayette Stakes (G2) at Keeneland; the 200,000 Bold Ruler Stakes (G3) and the $200,000 Athenia Stakes (G3) at Belmont Park.

A unique opportunity to see the “Stars of Racing”. The conference speakers, panelists and presenters include many top Thoroughbred industry owners, trainers, jockeys and industry executives led by keynote speaker Jeff Fager. Three days of learning, asking questions, networking and socializing with owners from around the US and Canada and increasing your knowledge of Thoroughbred ownership. Gary Falter will give us an insight into this event to take place at the Del Mar Hilton. Register now for the Owners Conference hosted by OwnersView and receive Breeders' Cup reserved seats. Gary will give out all the details. When was the last time you handicapped a card with 11 stakes? On Saturday Laurel Park runs the Maryland Million Series. Tom LaMarra has moved from Kentucky to the Maryland region where he covers racing on a regular basis for the Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred. Tom will pick the top races on the card and handicap those with John hopefully bringing out a slew of betting angles.

A unique opportunity to see the “Stars of Racing”. The conference speakers, panelists and presenters include many top Thoroughbred industry owners, trainers, jockeys and industry executives led by keynote speaker Jeff Fager, Executive Producer of 60 Minutes and guest speaker, author Laura Hillenbrand. Three days of learning, asking questions, networking and socializing with owners from around the US and Canada and increasing your knowledge of Thoroughbred ownership. Gary Falter will give us an insight into this event to take place at the Del Mar Hilton. Register now for the Owners Conference hosted by OwnersView and receive Breeders' Cup reserved seats. Gary will give out all the details. Frank Angst will join John to discuss the impact of last weeks' races on the upcoming Breeders' Cup. They will also analyze the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth Challenge at Keeneland; the Grade 3 Futurity at Belmont Park and the $350,000 West Virginia Breeders' Classic at Hollywood Casino at Charles Town.

Over $750,000 will be on the table for Ohio-breds at Belterra Park on Saturday. Who better to have on the show than their odds-maker and the man who has been watching these horses run all season - Ed Meyer. In what is known as The Best of Ohio series, there will be five $150,000 races that will cover every division. A lot of great opportunities for multi-race and vertical money-making wagers! The same could be said 75 miles south of Cincinnati where Keeneland will kick off their meet, highlighted by Fallstars Allstars on Saturday. DRF's Eclipse-Award writer and handicapper Marty McGee will be covering the three Grade 1 races and two Grade 2 events: - The $1 million Shadwell Turf Mile, the $500,000 Claiborne Breeders' Futurity, the $400,000 First Lady S., the $250,000 Thoroughbred Club of America S. and the $200,000 Keeneland Select. Four of the five are Breeders' Cup Win and You're In races, and promise highly competitive fields.

Brian Zipse will be our East Coast handicapper covering an amazing card at Belmont that includes the Grade 1 $400,000 Beldame Stakes; the Grade 1 $500,000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic and the Grade 1 $350,000 Vosburgh Stakes. Jay Privman has his finger on the West Coast action. We will get his input on a slew of Breeders' Cup Win and You're In races at Santa Anita - the Grade 1 $300,000 Awesome Again Stakes; the Grade 1 $300,000 Chandellier Stakes; the Grade 1 $300,000 Frontrunner Stakes and the Grade 1 $300,000 Zenyatta Stakes.

After 35 years, 52 racetracks, and 32 broken bones, jockey Joe Steiner retired July 21, 2016. Steiner said he will pursue a career in sports psychology following a riding career in which he rode in 10,846 races. He said ideally he would like to help jockeys and other athletes deal with the trials and tribulations of life. That decision has already become a reality as he is the “Life Coach” for 27-year-old Rocco Bowen, far and away the current leading rider at Emerald Downs. He will tell us about his life in the saddle. Tom LaMarra grew up in New Jersey, which lead him to many forays to the Philadelphia area where Parx will feature three graded Stakes races, highlighted by the Grade 1 $1,000,000 Pennsylvania Derby. On the under card is the Grade 1 $1,000,000 Cotillion Stakes and the Grade 3 $300,000 Gallant Bob Stakes. Tom is now the Managing Editor of THAracing.com, he handles Communications for the Maryland THA and is involved in special projects for the Maryland Jockey Club.

The world's eyes are on the Kentucky September Sales where a record number of million dollar-plus yearlings are bringing final bids. It is an exciting time of the year with the pedigrees of champions flowing through the bloodlines of these well conformed yearlings. But there are many steps of coordinating an auction and Dan Mahaney operates on every level. He is a bid spotter for the major auctions and runs his own auctioneer company. Dan will give us insights into what steps actually go in to getting that horse in the ring and then evoke the highest potential final bid. We will head north of the border for our handicapping portion of the show. Last week we had Hall of Fame Jockey Sandy Hawley, a spokesman now for Woodbine talking about the advances the track is making. This week we will see who draws into the Breeders' Cup Win and Your In Ricoh Grade 1 $800,000 Woodbine Mile; the $300,000 Grade 1 Northern Dancer Turf and the $250,000 Grade 2 Canadian Stakes.

North America’s 1st selected yearling sale will take place Sunday, Sept. 10. It is called “The Turf Showcase” and is presented by Woodbine at Fasig-Tipton in Lexington, Kentucky. Hall of Famer Sandy Hawley is the Public Relations Ambassador for Woodbine and is here to tell us about the event and reminisce on a career that spanned 31 years. Award-winning journalist Caton Bredar grew up in the shadow of Arlington Park and held a variety of licenses including exercise rider, owner, trainer and racing official before turning her attention to broadcasting. The grand-daughter of Hall of Fame jockey Ted Atkinson, began her television and radio career in Chicago before moving on to Florida, New Jersey and California, ultimately settling in Louisville, KY. Caton will join John to re-cap the Saratoga meet and handicap the 3 grade 3 races at Kentucky Downs – the $600,000 Calumet Farm Kentucky Cup; $400,000 Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint and the $350,000 Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf.

Racing returns to America's most European racetrack - Kentucky Downs. With a brief boutique all turf meet, the purses are through the roof and have drawn horsemen with their best grass runners from all over North America. Gary West is part of a team of top handicappers gathered to give their analysis on every day's eclectic program. Saturday's features include the $400,000 Tourist Mile; the $350,000 Exacta Systems Juvenile; the $350,000 Kentucky Downs Juvenile and the $150,000 One Dreamer Stakes. With the help of Winningponies E-Z Win Forms, odds-maker, announcer and turf writer Ed Meyer has been cashing Pick-4 tickets on a regular basis at Saratoga since the meet opened. The Regular Guys, Ed and John will try to find value in the Gun Runner's $750,000 Woodward Stakes (G1); the $350,000 Spinaway Stakes (G1); the $300,000 Saranac Stakes (G3) and the $200,000 Glens Falls Handicap (G3).

In Donna Barton Brothers' role at Starlight, she has been focusing on women in racing through Starlight and StarLadies Racing. Starlight Racing is the longtime core partnership that Jack & Laurie Wolf started in 2001. While they used to buy both colts and a few fillies, this year Starlight Racing will purchase only colts. StarLadies Racing is an all female partnership started by Laurie Wolf and Barbara Lucarelli. StarLadies Racing purchases only fillies. In 2011 Donna published a book titled 'Inside Track: Insider’s Guide to Horse Racing.' The Midsummer Derby will be a historic event. With Always Dreaming and stablemate Tapwrit, the Belmont Stakes winner who is also expected to run, it marks the first time that the 3 individual winners of three Triple Crown races will meet in the Travers since 1982, when Runaway Groom upset classic winners Gato del Sol, Aloma's Ruler, and Conquistador Cielo. John will be joined by one of the top handicappers in the country, DRF's Dan Illman.

Jimmy McNerney doesn’t have dark days, serving as the voice of Ellis Park in Henderson, Ky. in the summer and Turfway Park in Florence, Ky., in the winter, as well as jockey agent at Indiana Grand for apprentice Katie Clawson, Deshawn Parker and Leandro Goncalves. McNerney also hosts the weekly handicapping show Inside Track at Ellis Park and is the on-air television host and racing analyst at Turfway. He will tell us what a day in McNerney's life is like. Ellis Park is hosting a Handicapping Contest over the weekend: The Bluegrass Tournament, presented by AmWager live-money format with a $500 entry fee. Jeremy Balan covers the west coast racing scene for the Blood-Horse. He will have plenty to cover on Saturday as Arrogate sets out to prove he is the top horse in training with a win in the G1 $1,000,000 TVG Pacific Classic at Del Mar on his way to a trail to the Breeders’ Cup Classic. On the under card are the G1 $300,000 Del Mar Oaks and the G2 $250,000 Del Mar Handicap.

Justin Nicholson is a longtime owner/breeder of thoroughbred racehorses after first being introduced to the game by his father. He co-founded Ninety North Racing Stable in 2011 and also manages private breeding and racing operations in the US and the UK under the name AJ Suited Racing Stable. He has been identified in several publications as an up-and-comer in the industry, and hopes to help racing grow. He will tell us how he got his foot into thoroughbred owning and racing and relay some information on his 2 entities AJ Suited Racing Stable and Ninety North Racing Stable. DRF eclipse award winning writer Marty McGee will be our guest handicapper. Marty is already on the backstretch of Arlington Park seeking out stories on Arlington Million week. The 35th Arlington Million (G1) will anchor a fantastic under card with the $600,000 Beverly D. (G1); the $400,000 Secretariat Stakes (G1); the $250,000 American St. Leger (G3) and the $100,000 Pucker Up Stakes (G3).