Winning Ponies

Following his recent appointment as executive director of the NTRA Safety & Integrity Alliance, Steve Koch will explain the scope of his new position and will walk us through his extensive career in Thoroughbred Racing from his early years at Claiborne Farm to his many executive positions at Woodbine and now to the NTRA. It's March Madness and it's all about the points - Derby and Oaks points Turfway Park in Florence, Kentucky will host two points races in the Spiral and Bourbonette Stakes. Who better to help us break those races down than Ed Meyer who worked at Turfway Park for many years in Player Development. In addition to those races we will travel to Sunland Park for their Derby which gives 50 points to the winner.

With Shared Belief's huge win in the Santa Anita Handicap this past weekend Hall of fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer will comment on Shared Belief's win and the schedule for his future races and will take us through his life as a conditioner with all the ups and downs and will give us some insight on his 3 year-olds he will be sending to the Kentucky Derby this year. Last year Shared Belief was his best shot at winning his first Derby but the colt never made it to the Race. In the second segment Mary Rampellini will be our handicapper with all that good action at Oaklawn Park , including the only Derby points race the $600,000 Grade II Rebel Stakes.

With the weather in the headlines each day we will talk to trainer Jeff Greenhill who races on the Kentucky/Indiana/Ohio/ West Virginia circuit. Jeff will discuss the challenges of training through a harsh winter, balancing training schedules and racing dates that could be cancelled due to the weather. He will also address the advantages of owning state-bred runners and bringing in new owners through partnerships. New staff writer and Assistant Editor for the Blood-Horse covering racing on the West Coast, Jeremy Balan is the son of a horseplayer, who was the son of another horseplayer in Baltimore, Md. He will help us dissect the competition in the legendary $1,000,000 Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap and the Derby points $400,000 Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita and also analyze the important $250,000 Grade 3 Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct and the $350,000 Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby at Tampa Bay Downs

In the first segment Ms. Maggi Moss will tell us about how she got involved with racehorses and a little about her journey from a chief Prosecutor in Polk County, Iowa to becoming the President of H. A. R. T. the only racehorses' retirement facility in Iowa, while along the way compiling an impressive string of leading owner for races won records at different racetracks from coast to coast. Peter Aiello who currently divides his race calling abilities between Hialeah and Gulfstream Park will be closing out the Hialeah Meet this weekend. Pete, who has also served as odds maker at several tracks will join us to analyze the trio of graded stakes races held in Southern Florida on Saturday - the Grade 2 Swale; the Grade 3 Palm Beach and the Grade 3 Herecomesthebride from Gulfstream.

Pellom McDaniels - former NFL player who wrote a new book on legendary jockey Isaac Murphy and is doing a signing this week at the Kentucky Derby Museum. McDaniel's recently authored The Prince of Jockeys: The Life of Isaac Burns Murphy. He was one of the most dynamic jockeys of his era. Still considered one of the finest riders of all time. Murphy was the first jockey to win the Kentucky Derby three times, and his 44% win record remains unmatched. McDaniels will reflect on the book and the life of one of the greatest jockeys to ever ride a horse. Our handicapper is nationally-known Matt Bernier from the DRF. In a new format, he and Dan Illman are hosting a new live show during the races on Saturday afternoons. We will be covering the Derby Preps the $400,000 Gr. 2 Fountain of Youth from Gulfstream Park; the $400,000 Gr. 2 Risen Star Stakes from the Fair Grounds along with Ky. Oaks prep the $175,000 Gr. 3 Rachel Alexandra Stakes.

Our first guest John McEvoy, a former editor and executive columnist for the Daily Racing Form, is now the author of six mystery novels and 'High Stakes' is his most recent and 5th featuring the colorful racing character Jack Doyle. Two of his books won Ben Franklin Awards from the Independent Publishers' Association. He has been a horse owner and widely published poet. In the second segment Frank Angst who has been a frequent guest on the show, will join John in discussing last week's matchup between Shared Belief and California Chrome and their future paths. They will also handicap the Derby Points race El Camino Real at Golden Gate; Gr. 2 Santa Maria at Santa Anita and Grade 2 Barbara Fritchie from Laurel.

Jennie Rees has had quite a week. Last Thursday she was selected to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame's Joe Hirsch Media Roll of Honor and on Feb. 4th, 2015 she is getting the Tom Hammond Media Award along with Chris Collinwood, Don Atkins and Mitch Barnhart at the Lexington Convention Center's Bluegrass Ballroom. She will reminisce on the kind of year she has had. O'Neil won the NHC Handicapping Contest in Vegas (and $800,000)! We will learn about his winning approach to handicapping an look at the Clash of the Titans - California Chrome vs. Shared Belief in the San Antonio at SA; the Gr.3 Withers at Aqueduct, which carries Derby Points and the Gr. 1 Donn Hcp. at Gulfstream Park.

The Jockey Guild has just wrapped up their annual meeting last week in Miami, FL. Jeff Johnston will discuss the new measures the Guild is promoting for the health and safety of the jockeys. In the second segment DRF writer/handicapper Steve Andersen will give us his insight into the progress of Horse of the Year California Chrome, Shared Belief and Bayern. He will also join John in 'capping the following races from Santa Anita : the $300,000 Gr. 1 Las Virgenes Stakes, the $200,000 Gr. 2 Arcadia Stakes and the $200,000 Gr. 2 Palos Verdes Stakes.

NYRA recently retired track announcer Tom Durkin will expand on his amazing career in Horse Racing as a standardbred owner, a track announcer for 24 years at NYRA and now embarking on a new career as equity partner in West Point Thoroughbred partnerships. He will reflect on his most thrilling moments in the booth and his thoughts about racing in general. In the second segment recently crowned DRF/NHC champion Eric Moomey will go over the kind of year he has had handicapping the DRF/NHC Tour and will join John in giving us some insight into 3 stakes races this weekend notably the $400,000 Gr. 2 Holy Bull Stakes, the $200,000 Gr. 2 Forward Gal Stakes and the $150,000 Gr. 3 Hutcheson Stakes all from Gulfstream Park.

Travis Stone, the race-caller at Monmouth Park in 2014 and backup announcer at the New York Racing Association this winter, has been named the new track announcer at Churchill Downs Racetrack and voice of the world-famous Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (Grade I) - America's greatest race which has been run every year without interruption since 1875. He will be our first guest and will talk about his journey as an announcer that lead him to his new position at Churchill Downs. In the second segment award-winning journalist Scott Jagow will join John in 'capping the Gr. 2 La Canada S. from Santa Anita, the California Derby from Golden Gate and the Sunshine Millions Classic from Gulfstream Park.

Joe Clancy will tell us about his lengthy career from a sports writer of high school and college sports, then semi-pro baseball, the odd Phillies and Orioles games and any number of topics involving Thoroughbred Racing to the DRF, New York Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Baltimore Sun to publisher and owner of ST Publishing Inc. He is about to receive an Media Eclipse Award for writing. In the second segment Equibase John McDulin will review the Eclipse finalists and then join John in handicapping the 3 graded Stakes at Gulfstream Park - the Grade 2 Fort Lauderdale Stakes, the Grade 3 Hal's Hope Stakes and the Grade 3 Marshua's River Stakes.

Jim Mulvihill was just elected President of the Turf Publicists of America and will report on happenings at the recent International Symposium on Racing and Gaming at the University of Arizona in addition to new happenings at the NTRA.Tom Law will join me in looking back at the Best of 2014 in racing and we will handicap Saturday's only Grade 1 race - the Los Alamitos Futurity. We will also handicap the 2 features at Gulfstream Park the Tropical Park Derby and Oaks.

Bill Mooney the author of 'The Complete Encyclopedia of Horse Racing' will be our first guest. A staple in the Keeneland press box, Mooney has some strong opinions about the Breeders' Cup coming to the track in 2015. He will share his thoughts with us. In the second segment Robert Earle founder and CEO of 123gaming.com will tell us how he came to conceive 123gaming and will share with us his vision for his company. With 1997 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner and champion Silver Charm settling in at Old Friends president and Founder Michael Blowen will tell us about all the preparations made to receive the old Champion at Old Friends.

Brian Zipse is the Managing Editor of Horse Racing Nation since 2010 and a Derbywars' team member since inception. He is also Board member on the ReRun Thororughbred Adoption and a Vox Populi committee member for Secretariat.com. He will talk about 2014 Horse of the Year, specially after California Chrome made easy work of the Hollywood Derby at Del Mar. brbr In the second segment we are going to handicap some of the races from the Claiming Crown at Gulfstream Park with Mike Welsch who is the Gulfstream Park Handicapper/Writer for Daily Racing Form.

Mahoning Valley's Racing Secretary Ed Vomacka on North America's newest racetrack is our first guest. He has been long associated with thoroughbred racing, having been the Racing Secretary at Beulah Park, River Downs, Belterra Park for 12 years. Now with Beulah defunct, he has taken over at Mahoning. He will tell us a little about his past experience and give us some insight into this newest North America racetrack. In the 2nd segment Belterra Track Announcer and line-odds maker, also previous host of this show will join John to discuss potential divisional championships post-Breeders' Cup, some of Ed's recent winningponies' blog posts and take a look at some races you may want to handicap while getting out of the house after Thanksgiving Day.

Thoroughbred trainer James E. (Jim) Morgan may be the greatest trainer you may have never heard of with one of the most interesting sports backgrounds. A native of Kentucky, the first horse race he ever witnessed was when Dark Star upset the great Native Dancer in the Kentucky Derby. While born in the bluegrass he made his reputation on the hardwood basketball floors of Dayton, Ohio where he led Stivers High School to be ranked #1 in the state. Jim will discuss his career and the evolution of the racing game since he first witnessed the Kentucky Derby as a young man in 1953. In the second segment DRF correspondent and handicapper Mary Rampellini will be looking at the top stakes at Delta Downs on a day when they feature 8 stakes, 2 of them graded. Delta Downs is having a $200,000 guaranteed Pick 4 on the $1,000,000 Gr. 3 Delta Jackpot Stakes, the $500,000 Gr. 3 Delta Princess Stakes, the $200,000 Delta Treasure Chest Stakes and the $150,000 Louisiana Jewel Stakes.

Matt Darby and his wife Darci designed Speed Silks® over two years, and built the product from the ground up exclusively for use by jockeys. Both their blueprint and manufacturing process allow for seamless designs; no matter how complex the silks pattern, no seams are added to the garment, as the colors are dyed directly onto the Aero Dimplex fabric. The state-of-the-art dye sublimation process allows for very bright, saturated colors and razor sharp detail. Matt will tell us about this product which has taken the racing world by storm. brbr In the second segment DRF contest editor Peter Fornatale will join john in 'capping all the major stakes from around the country: - from Aqueduct the $250,000 Gr. 3 Red Smith Handicap; from Churchill Downs the $100,000 Gr. 3 Commonwealth Turf Handicap; from Del Mar the $100,000 Gr. 3 Bob Hope Stakes and from Laurel the $300,000 De Francis Memorial Dash.

Jay Privman, who hosted the 2 days of the Breeders Cup coverage will be our first guest. We will be looking in the rear view window going over the 2-day event. We will discuss all the Breeders' Cup races, the expected and the surprises. In the second segment veteran contest player Gary Johnson who has already qualified for the Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship (NHC), will join in for the handicapping portion of the show. We will look at the only 2 graded races - at Churchill Downs the $150,000 Gr. 3 River City Handicap and at Aqueduct the $200,000 Gr. 3 Long Island Handicap; the Sunshine Million Preview from the newly named Gulfstream Park West and from Thistledown for the $100,000 Cardinal Handicap. Mark A. from Florida, who made $100,000 on Friday's Breeders' Cup card and a whopping $311,452 on the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint on Winningponies' recommendation, will call in and tell us how he managed to hit that windfall.

We'll be tackling All Things Breeders' Cup. Our first guest is Jim Gluckson who heads up the media team for the Breeders' Cup. Jim will give us the latest breaking news as we have already seen some major defections of some of the top races. He will also update us on the two-day schedule, wagering formats and outlets where the races can be viewed. Our second guest is the Young Gun as he was referred to as one of the featured handicappers on the television show Horseplayers. Impressed with his handicapping skills and on-camera presence, he was asked to join the staff of the Daily Racing Form. He is often seen at DRF.com hosting the weekend analysis with Dan Illman. Bernier is on site at Santa Anita and will give us his up-to-the-minute observations of the Breeders' Cup fields.

Lenny Shulman author and now humorist has a new feature called Lenny's Place that airs on the Blood-Horse website. In a new and different twist he does a stand up comedy act touching on all aspects of racing and then follows with an interview with a major racing personality. A very refreshing and unique perspective of the sport. Lenny is no stranger to comedy as he had worked with comedian Andrew Dice Clay on the feature film “Dice Rules” and on several HBO comedy specials. Lenny author of many books Ride of Their Lives, Long Way From Home and others, will tell us about his new venture in equine comedy. In the second segment Belterra new track announcer and previous host of this show Ed Meyer will join John to go across the country with the $200,000 Grade 3 Bold Ruler Handicap from Belmont; the $200,000 Grade 3 Fayette Stakes from Keeneland; the $100,000 Grade 3 Autumn Miss Stakes from Santa Anita and the $200,000 Jean Lafitte Stakes for 2-year-olds at Delta Downs.