May, 2022 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Additional 35,000 H-2B Visas Available For Second Half Of FY-2022

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) commends the decision announced by the Departments of Homeland Security (DHS) and Labor (DOL) to make an additional 35,000 H-2B vias available for the second half of FY-2022.

“We thank DHS, DOL, and the Administration for recognizing the critical need for additional H-2B visas to fill positions not being filled by US workers,” said NTRA President & CEO Tom Rooney. “This announcement will help provide immediate relief for tracks and horse trainers going into the summer racing season. While the release of additional H-2B visas is good news for the industry, the NTRA will continue to advocate for more comprehensive immigration reform in the future.”

The supplemental H-2B visa allocation is for U.S. employers seeking to employ additional workers on or after April 1, 2022 through September 30, 2022. This announcement makes 23,500 visas available to returning workers who received an H-2B visa or were otherwise granted H-2B status during one of the last three fiscal years.

The remaining 11,500 visas are reserved for nationals of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Haiti, regardless of whether they are returning workers.

The semiannual cap of 33,000 visas for the second half of FY 2022 was reached on Feb. 25, 2022. Employers can begin petitioning on Wednesday, May 18. More information can be found here.

The H-2B visa guest worker program is a nonimmigrant visa program used by many industries that need temporary non-agricultural help when domestic workers are unavailable. For the horse racing industry, trainers rely heavily on the H-2B program to fill various backside positions.

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Brian Finch Appointed New Chair of Epsom Downs Racecourse

Brian Finch will succeed Julia Budd as Chair of Epsom Downs Racecourse beginning on June 5, The Jockey Club announced on Tuesday. Budd's term will end after G1 Cazoo Derby weekend. Exposed to racing through visits to Borrowdale Racecourse in Zimbabwe as a child, Finch has owned racehorses for over 25 years in various countries. Finch joined the Epsom Racecourse Committee in 2021. Currently retired, he is also a member of the Racecourse Committee at Sandown Park Racecourse and a Trustee of the National Horseracing Museum.

Finch said, “I am delighted and hugely honoured to succeed Julia at Epsom Downs, a racecourse that will soon host the 243rd running of the iconic Derby.

“I very much look forward to working with the Jockey Club team to build on the great work of my immediate and past predecessors ensuring that the Derby and Epsom Downs racecourse continue to remain part of the national social fabric.”

Sandy Dudgeon, Senior Steward of The Jockey Club, said, “I am delighted that Brian has agreed to become Chair of Epsom Downs Racecourse following this year's historic Derby.

“His experience both inside the racing industry and beyond, coupled with his huge enthusiasm for the sport and Epsom Downs will be a huge asset as our stewardship of this iconic racing venue and its most famous race enters a new and exciting chapter.

“I must also thank Julia for her dedication, time, and wise counsel in her time as chair. Her guidance in navigating the unprecedented challenges of the last two years has been invaluable and this year's Derby and its place in the Platinum Jubilee Celebrations will be a fitting way to end her term. She does so with my best wishes and the sincerest thanks of all at The Jockey Club.”

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Candidates Selected For TfRI/LSC Student Exchange

Camille Mamier and Jodi Matthews were selected to participate in the Together for Racing International/Lexington Sister Cities Student exchange programme. Mamier will represent the AFASEC from France. She currently works for Deauville-based trainer Stephane Cerulis and will spend her summer placement in Newmarket. Matthews, who represents the British Racing School, will head to Kentucky for the Breeders' Cup later this year and then to Florida to further her experience. Matthews is employed by trainer Ed Bethell.

Anna Powell, Development Director for TfRI, said “We were thrilled with the interest and the number of strong applications we received, especially from France. We are looking forward to facilitating these exchanges, collaborating with Lexington Sister Cities and the racing schools. The exchange programme is a great way to retain our young and talented staff by giving them new opportunities to share best practices, to learn from other racing jurisdictions and bring back what they have learned to their respective racing nations.”

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Poker Play: Playing Suited Cards

Being suited is always important in Texas hold’em because it can bring you best benefits on many levels. Cards are following more that just one purpose and that is always a good think. If you have QK of the same color or even 10-9 or any other suited consecutive connectors you should play them every time you can get a good pot out this hand. As always, late position is suitable for this kind of strategy too. There is a difference in value between a consecutive hand like QK simple and QK suited. Let’s just consider the fact that suited connectors are hands that are not played often in Texas hold’em. They are only played when the situation is just right.

When you are focusing on playing suited connectors you have to keep in mind that many times you will get a card that is consecutive to the ones you have but it is not in the same suit as they are. This means that many times you will be playing many more marginal hands that you expected or planned too. If you only keep the suited plan, then you just drop whatever hand doesn’t follow the pattern.

If you intend to go for a flush then if you only play the suited connectors you will have a straight flash so that is going to be a much more power flush than the normal one. And also, playing suited gets you more often to flush draws that to straight draws and a flush has more power than a straight in Texas hold’em.

A reason to play only the suit connectors is the fact that when you start playing the off suit connectors you can stumble upon many many problems. For example, you will be simply playing in more pots, playing more hands, and statistically you have more chances to lose. You will almost all the time go for straight draws and if someone has one, and they might, you will loose to a flush. You will find yourself making more difficult decisions and have more chances to be wrong. You can also lose to a better straight. There are many cards that can beat your hand even if you manage to make the hand. This is why you should always try and ply only the suited connectors.

When you decide and play that suited connector you are holding check always the cards displayed on the flop. If there is even the slightest change that someone else might take your decision, then go along with it only if you have high connectors, especially connectors from the high end of the suit like A, K, Q.