Winning Ponies

We have two timely and experienced guests on the show this week. Tragedy struck the racing world when Caixa Eletronica, winner of the 2012 Fall Highweight at Aqueduct, a popular four-time graded stakes winner, died as the result of injuries he suffered in a training accident at approximately 8 a.m. on Saturday at Belmont Park. The 9-year-old was galloping on the training track when he collided with another horse, Six Drivers, who was running loose after having unseated his rider behind the starting gate. Our first guest is Janice Blake a jockey, exercise rider and now the author of How To Exercise A Thoroughbred Race Horse. Janice also produced a series of educational videos that take the viewer through the experience and complete duties of an exercise rider. Beulah Park, in operation since 1923 will be closing its doors after this season. Oaklawn Park will be opening its gates for a new season of racing on Friday. John McDulin of the Daily Racing Form will share some humorous stories of his many years in the

In the first segment, retired jockey Frank Lovato, Jr. will share an interesting journey that took him from jockey to writer, inventing along the way the Equiciser. As a writer, Frankie has had some articles published in various magazines through the years. Topics include his passion for horse racing and his personal adventures outside of racing. He enjoys educating people on the insides of racing and mentoring those who have the same passion as he did when he was a kid. There are people starving for information about racing. I have been blessed with a great career and being able to work along side and ride with many other legends in horse racing. It makes me happy to offer my advice and share my experiences and knowledge whenever I can! Frankie is also a talented musician/song writer and occasional performer at local events and celebrations. The complete series of 365 Days of Racing Terminology is now available free of charge to viewers at http://jockeyworld.org/racing-term-videos.htm. In the second segment

For a final show of 2013, we will feature two guests who have experienced the racing game from all sides. Pete Aiello and Ed Meyer have experience from the racing office, as PR and Marketing men. As horse owners, radio and television hosts, track announcers and handicappers, they both have a real love of the sport. While ESPN will count down their top 50 NFL plays this week, Pete and Ed will give us their top 5 racing events of 2013. We will also be handicapping 3 races - the $200,000 (gr. 2) W.L. McKnight Handicap from Calder; the $100,000 (gr. 3) Mr. Prospector Stakes from Gulfstream Park and the $100,000 (gr. 3) Daytona Stakes from Santa Anita.

As the curtain falls on Hollywood Park, we will have two guests that have an intimate relationship with the track that will close its doors after 75 years Sunday. Daily Racing Form's executive columnist Jay Hovdey who started going to the races at Hollywood Park with his father in 1964, will share his many memories of the great horses he has witnessed run there over the years. Our second guest will be Kentucky Derby winning trainer Doug O'Neil who campaigned the world's greatest claimer - Lava Man, who went on to win the Hollywood Gold Cup three times. He will also update us on plans for his Breeders' Cup winner Goldenscents, who plans a 4-year-old career at the races. Our handicapper will be Billy Johnson, who certainly knows how to pick a winner. As a jockey agent, he currently has the top 2 riders at Mountaineer Park including two-time national champion DeShawn Parker. In a weekend void of any major races, we will be getting the inside track on several races at Moutaineer.

Our first guest is Barbara Murphy founder and chairman of Equilume Ltd. After some thoroughbred industry work with Coolmore USA and Darley Ireland, Barbara did some research in chronobiology and the implications of circadian rhythm on equine reproduction, performance and immunology. Her current interest is in mobile blue light therapy solutions for improved breeding efficiency in the horse. She will explain to us where her interests are today and shed some light on this exciting field of research and how it relates to Equilume. In the second segment John G. Dooley track announcer at Arlington Park and Fair Grounds will be looking at their big Louisiana Championship Day.

Racing at Calder is now live year-round Friday thru Sunday with first post daily at 12:30pm. Who better than track announcer Bobby Neuman to keep us abreast of what has been going on at Calder. He will tell us how he got involved in horse racing leading to his current position of track announcer at Calder and share his thoughts on the national racing scene. In the first segment Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies winner Ria Antonia's owner Ron Paolucci will be our guest. He will share his journey into horse racing and how he got to acquire Ria Antonia and his feelings on Breeders' Cup day when his filly won at odds of 32-1. In the second segment Bobby Neuman will join John in handicapping all the major stakes races at Calder for this Saturday including: the $100,000g Fred W. Hooper Handicap (gr.3), for 3&up; the $100,000g My Charmer Handicap (gr.3T), for 3&up, fillies & mares; and the $100,000g Tropical Turf Handicap (gr.3T), for 3&up.

This week we will be shining the spotlight on two tracks that don't normally get any attention, but will be having big days on Saturday and Sunday - Delta Downs and Zia Park. It will be an all-handicapping show with handicapping contest guru Gary Johnson taking on the races at Delta Downs and Jonathan Horowitz reporting from his home court at Zia Park. Currently the racetrack announcer at Zia Park and Arapahoe Park Jonathan Horowitz will give us a scoop on the inaugural Land of Enchantment Day to be held at Zia Park Racetrack & Casino on Sunday, November 24. Several graded stakes winners from around the country have been nominated to the Land of Enchantment Day which will feature the first running of the $300,000 Zia Park Oaks for 3yo fillies at 1 1/16 miles, the $200,000 Zia Park Derby for 3yo at 1 1/16 miles, the $150,000 Zia Park Distance Championship for older horses at 1 1/8 miles, the $140,000 Eddy County Stakes for 2yo bred in New Mexico at 1 mile, and the $55,000 Zia Park Distaff for fillies and m

Sunday will put Oregon-breds in the spotlight at Portland Meadows. We have featured several state-bred cards on WinningPonies, but have never traveled to Oregon. Jason Beem is our go-to guy at Portland Meadows. He will join John in handicapping some of the state-bred races at Portland Meadows this Sunday: the $15,000g Bill Wineberg Stakes (R), 2yo, colts & geldings; the $15,000g Janet Wineberg Stakes (R), 2yo fillies; the $15,000g Lethal Grande Oregon Sprint Championship (R), 3&up; the $15,000g Oregon Hers Stakes (R), 3yo fillies and the $15,000g Oregon His Stakes (R), 3yo, colts & geldings. In the first segment Kentucky trainer Buff Bradley will let us in on how he got involved with thoroughbred horses and recall for us the highlights of an exciting training career. He will share with us his feelings on Breeders Cup day Saturday when his home-bred Champion Eclipse Award winner Groupie Doll repeated in the Breeders' Cup Fillies and Mares Sprint, and her subsequent sale.

From the start, Larry Collmus had a one-track mind. A race announcer, he would be. As a kid, he would watch the horses run at Timonium, then rush home to Ellicott City and re-create what he'd seen and heard. Some people sing in the shower, said Sally LaHart, Collmus' sister. Larry would call races in there. In high school, Collmus amused his friends by recollecting races that had been run the day before. Larry will tell us how he got the horse racing bug and how he became the voice that called the Breeders' cup races this year. In the second segment Joe Nevills will talk about this past week's Breeders' Cup races and the record-breaking sales at Fastig-Tipton and Keeneland.

This week's show will be All Things Breeders' Cup. We are lucky to have top handicappers from coast to coast giving overviews of the championship events and picking their favorite plays over the two days at Santa Anita. NTRA's Director of Communications and Media Relations Eric Wing will be our first guest, followed by award-winning writer and frequent contributor to ESPN Gary West; and 9 times qualifier for the National Handicapping Championship (NHC) and AGameofSkill's creator Rich Nilsen. They will each give us their insights on most of the main Breeders Cup' events with special focus on the Ladies' Classic on Friday's card and the Classic on Saturday.

Our 1st guest Eclipse-Award winning writer and former jockey Eddie Donnally will discuss his new book Ride The White Horse: A Checkered Jockey's Story of Racing, Rage and Redemption. Donnally rode for 19-years in over 10,000 races from coast to coast and his life was a roller coaster ride that included drug addiction, involvement with the notorious Whitey Bulger and the Winter Hill Gang, a miraculous jail cell conversion that led to his current position as a hospice chaplain. Our 2nd guest is Dan Kenny, a bloodstock agent and writer who has been covering the recent successful Fasig-Tipton Sale. Lexington-based Kenny will also handicap the Gr. 2 $200,000 Fayette Stakes at Keeneland. Also on the program will be Daily Racing Form writer John McDulin who will join John to handicap Belmont's Turnback The Alarm Stakes, the $200,000 Jean Lafitte from Delta Downs and the Gr. 3 $100,000 Autumn Miss Stakes at Santa Anita.

Jim Gluckson of the Breeders Cup will be our 1st guest. Senior Communications Consultant at Breeders' Cup Ltd., he currently is the owner at Jim Gluckson Communications. He will talk about all the happenings for this year's Breeders' Cup to be held at Santa Anita in a 2 days extravaganza this November 1st and 2nd. In the second segment Evan Hammonds who is a writer/handicapper with the Blood-Horse will talk about his background, connection to the sport, and Breeders' Cup preps that impressed him. He will join our host in handicapping the following races: Friday's Grade 3 $150,000 Pin Oak Valley View at Keeneland ; Saturday's Grade 2 $250,000 Raven Run also at Keeneland; the $150,000 Laurel Maryland Million Classic at Laurel and the $250,000 Empire Classic Hcp at Belmont Park.

Sue Finley from Thoroughbred Daily News will tell us about her journey in thoroughbred racing from Belmont Park to her current employment with the Thoroughbred Daily News. Along the way she was First Vice President of the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, a national organization dedicated to the humane retirement of former racehorses. In the second segment DRF's John McDulin will be our guest handicapper. We will review the recent Breeders' Cup Win and You're In races and the impact they will have on the big day at Santa Anita. We will also handicap the Grade 1 $400,000 Queen Elizabeth II at Keeneland; the Grade 3 Knickerbocker at Belmont and Ohio's two top state races the $100,000 Distaff and Endurance from Thistledown.

As Keeneland Communications Associate, Amy Owens assists Keeneland’s Communications Department with a variety of projects related to races and sales. She has assisted in managing Keeneland’s race track press box since 2006, and has served as editor of the track’s race-day program wrap for the past six years. She will tell us what her typical day at Keeneland is like. In the second segment who better to address Fallstars Allstars weekend at Keeneland than veteran handicapper Mike Battaglia? Mike will analyse all of these races which have an impact on the upcoming Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita and his insight will be invaluable in getting your picks to the winner's circle. He will focus on the following races: - the $750,000g (gr. IT) Shadwell Turf Mile; the $400,000g (gr. I) Dixiana Breeders' Futurity; the $400,000g (gr. IT) First Lady Stakes; the $200,000g (gr. II) Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes; and the 150,000g (gr. IIIT) Woodford Presented by Keeneland Select.

With 11 Win and You're In Breeders' Cup races on tap this weekend we will feature one of the games top authorities on the sport in Steven Crist. John and Steve will discuss the past, present and future of the Breeders' Cup and some of the great races that will take place on Saturday. 11 Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” Stakes which are: - From Belmont Park the $1,000,000g (gr. I) Jockey Club Gold Cup Invitational; the $600,000g (gr. IT) Flower Bowl Invitational; the $600,000g (gr. IT) Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational; the $400,000g (gr. I) Beldame Invitational; the $400,000g (gr. II) Kelso Handicap and the $400,000g (gr. I) Vosburgh Invitational. From Santa Anita the $250,000g (gr. I) Awesome Again Stakes; the $250,000g (gr. I) Chandelier Stakes; the $250,000g (gr. I) FrontRunner Stakes; the $250,000g (gr. IT) Rodeo Drive Stakes and the $250,000g (gr. I) Zenyatta Stakes. Our first guest will Hall of Fame Jockey Pat Day. We will review his career in racing, discuss some of his greatest races, favorite hor

From an internship in the NYRA press department while a cum laude graduate of New York University with Bachelor's Degrees in French and Journalism, Sue Finley has spent her entire career in horse racing. She spent her childhood commuting to Belmont Park from her home in Weston, Connecticut. While still a senior at NYU she accepted a full-time position at NYRA in her final term. Her career took her from Senior Media Coordinator at NYRA to a researcher for ABC's Wide World of Sports, to Director of Administration and Publicity at one of ABC's properties, the American Championship Racing Series, to Co-Publisher of the Thoroughbred Daily News(TDN). She will tell us about her wide reaching career in horse racing and what got her involved in the first place. In the second segment a familiar guest on this show, News Editor of the Blood-Horse, Tom LaMarra who is familiar with the horses from the Philadelphia area will be handicapping two $1,000,000 races from Parx - the Grade 1 Cotillion stakes and the Grade 2 Pennsy

This week we will be finding out What's Up at the Downs? - Kentucky Downs, that is. First guest is Corey Johnsen the GM who has seen this quaint track on the border of Kentucky and Tennesee grow in leaps and bounds with unprecedented handle and purses this year. Following Corey, award winning writer and handicapper Gary West will discuss the PDJF fundraiser that took place Tuesday with five Hall of Fame Jockeys. Then Gary and John will handicap several of the Saturday Stakes on the European-style turf course including the Grade 3 Kentucky Turf Cup, the Kentucky Turf Mile, the Juvenile and the Juvenile Fillies.

With the world's most prominent horse sale starting on Monday, we could not have landed a more timely guest for insights into the Keeneland September Sale than Sid Fernando. He is currently president of Werk Thoroughbred Consultants, Inc. (WTC),and eMatings.com owner of eNicks. A former bloodstock editor and columnist at Daily Racing Form, Sid is an internationally known pedigree writer whose articles have appeared in leading thoroughbred racing and breeding publications around the world, including Owner-Breeder, Racing Post, North American Trainer, The Thoroughbred Times, Thoroughbred Daily News, Turf Diario, and Pacemaker. He will tell us about his journey and what brought him to where he is today. He will also give us an insight into what goes on at the Keeneland sales. Longtime handicapping partners John Engelhardt and Ed Meyer will team up again in this week's handicapping portion of the show. The Regular Guys as they were known to their viewers and listeners, John and Ed will look back at the summer hig

Craig Milkowski is the chief figure maker for TimeformUS. He is the founder of PaceFigures.com, where he developed an innovative approach to calculating ratings for thoroughbred horse races. His methods earned a loyal following for well over a decade at his website, which in turn spurred the move to TimeformUS. Craig served for 23 years in the United States Air Force, retiring in 2008 from Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), Belgium, where he was a network administrator. He will tell us how he got into horse racing handicapping and explain his approach to calculating figures. In the second segment, a frequent guest on this show Byron King will review with the host Will Take Charge's upset in the Travers and Game On Dude's slam dunk in the Pacific Classic. They will 'cap the Gr. 1 $500,000 Woodward; Gr. 1 $500,000 Forego and Gr. 2 $250,000 Bernard Baruch from Saratoga and then go out west and look at the Gr. 1 $300,000 Del Mar Debutante. Lots of top racing all weekend with the close of Saratoga,

This week, with all the great racing we are putting on a new version of The Man Show. We will be going Coast to Coast with Jay PrivMAN covering the West and Dan IllMAN 'capping the best in the East. From Del Mar we will look at the Gr. 2 $200,000 Del Mar Handicap; the Gr. 1 $1,000,000 Pacific Classic and the Gr. 2 $250,000 Pat O'Brien Stakes. Under the ancient Elms at Saratoga we will cover The Midsummer Derby, Gr. 1 $1,000,000 Travers Stakes; the Gr. 1 $600,000 Personal Ensign Invitational: the Gr.1 $500,000 Kings Bishop and the Gr. 1 $500,000 Test. And again Winning Ponies is organizing another handicapping contest, on the Travers Stakes.