Welcome to Noel Michaels’ Weekend Winners, the place to go for weekend best bets and spot plays from veteran handicapper and tournament-play pioneer Noel Michaels. Check back every week for a couple of highlighted selections designed to help you cash a few bets and make some money.
Irish Racing Yearbook 2024 Now Available
Irish Racing Yearbook 2024, an annual chronicle of horse racing in Ireland, the achievements of Irish people on foreign soil while covering the entire spectrum of the sport of racing and thoroughbred industry in the form of interviews, profiles, analysis and more, is now available for purchase.
The collection is a collaboration of the best writers and photographers with the leading protagonists in all spheres from breeding to sales, from point-to-point tracks to the racecourse.
The cover story is written by Donn McClean, providing insight from three-time Gold Cup winner Paul Townend, who outlines what it means to be Willie Mullins' retained jockey.
Also featured, the rise of Honeysuckle in NH racing is analysed, as is the continuing, evolving Frankel phenomenon. There is also an acknowledgement of the remarkable achievements of the likes of Wesley Joyce in returning to the saddle from injury and Liam Burke riding a bumper winner a few days after his 66th birthday.
The analysis extends to the horses to follow in the 2024 flat season as well as a crunching of the numbers with regard to the bloodstock sales and stallions, as well as what we might expect from next year's freshman sires and those that will be getting their stud careers under way.
The Irish Racing Yearbook also provides GO RACING vouchers, provided in conjunction with the racecourses of Ireland, offering free admission to more than 90 race days throughout the year, at a total value of €2500. That constitutes just more than 70 times the price of purchase of €35.
The post Irish Racing Yearbook 2024 Now Available appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.
Annual Sponsor-A-Family Program Highlights Holiday Season for NY Backstretch Community
Of all the events, activities, programs, and services that the New York Race Track Chaplaincy provides to the backstretch communities at Aqueduct, Belmont Park, and Saratoga Race Course, the Christmas Sponsor-A-Family program closes out the year in a very special way that touches the hearts of donors and families alike.
Months of preparation culminate with the distribution of food, clothing, toys, and gifts for approximately 250 families just before Christmas each year. (This year, the distribution will take place at the new Chaplaincy Center at Belmont Park on Tuesday, December 19, 2023.)
“It is almost impossible to describe the joy and gratitude these recipients feel each year,” said Karen Chavez, the general manager of the New York Race Track Chaplaincy. “Virtually all of the recipients are spending the holidays thousands of miles away from their place or birth and their original home and the donations to this program help them enjoy the holidays in a way that they could not otherwise afford.”
Chavez often hears directly from donors and how it “puts them in the Christmas spirit and helps them enjoy the holiday season a lot more.”
“They are all very glad to pitch in and we are eternally grateful for their humanitarian spirit,” she said.
In the Saratoga area, Stephen Sullivan, the owner of the Olde Bryan Inn restaurant in Saratoga Springs, provides a delicious dinner free of charge to recipients of the gifts which makes for a very special evening.
West Point Thoroughbreds and The Jockey Club Safety Net Foundation also serve as sponsors of the Sponsor-A-Family Program.
A year ago, the program was able to find sponsorship for every one of the families in need and Chavez said the Chaplaincy is striving to match that achievement in 2023.
Chaplaincy Photo
“It has been a challenging year in many ways, and we would love to bless all these families again this year,” she said.
Online donations for this program can be made on the Chaplaincy website at www.rtcany.org.
To donate by check, please make checks payable to the NY Race Track Chaplaincy and mail to:
NY Race Track Chaplaincy, PO Box 37191, Elmont, NY 11003.
The chaplaincy ministers to the needs of the backstretch community at the NYRA racetracks (Aqueduct Racetrack, Belmont Park, and Saratoga Race Course) as well as surrounding farms through a wide variety of programs. They include enrichment programs for children, teen mentoring, women's enrichment, social service, and recreational programs, as well as educational opportunities, and non-denominational religious services.
The post Annual Sponsor-A-Family Program Highlights Holiday Season for NY Backstretch Community appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.
Tropical Turf Pick 3, Rainbow 6 Top Gulfstream’s Championship Betting Menu
The Championship Meet at Gulfstream Park begins Friday, Dec. 1 with a new turf course and a new wager.
Along with win, place, show, exacta, trifecta, superfecta, Super Hi 5, Bet 3, 4, and 5 wagers and the 20-cent Rainbow 6, Gulfstream will also introduce the Tropical Turf Pick 3.
The new wager, a $3 minimum and a low 15-percent takeout, will be available every Saturday and Sunday and cover the last three turf races scheduled on the program. Races taken off the turf will be run on Gulfstream's Tapeta surface. Saturday's Tropical Turf Pick 3 will be comprised of Races 1, 8 and 11.
The first stakes races scheduled on the turf course will be Dec. 9 when 2-year-olds go 7 ½ furlongs in the $100,000 Pulpit and $100,000 What A While.
The Championship Meet begins Friday with a $125,000 jackpot pool guarantee in the 20-cent Rainbow 6 and a mandatory payout the following day.
Gulfstream's first Saturday of the Championship Meet will include the finals of the FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes – the $300,000 In Reality and $300,000 My Dear Girl. Highlights of the meet include Pegasus World Cup Day Jan. 27, Holy Bull Day Feb. 3, Fountain of Youth Day March 2, and Florida Derby Day March 30.
For more information go to GulfstreamPark.com, PegasusWorldCup.com, https://1stbet.com, and xpressbet.com.
| Bet Type | Takeout Rates | Bet Minimums | |||
| Win, Place Show | 17% | $1.00 | |||
| Exacta | 20% | $1.00 | |||
| Daily Double | 20% | $1.00 | |||
| Trifecta | 26% | $0.50 | |||
| Superfecta | 26% | $0.10 | |||
| Bet 3 | 20% | $0.50 | |||
| Pick 4 | 20% | $0.50 | |||
| Pick 5 | 15% | $0.50 | |||
| Rainbow 6 | 20% | $0.20 | |||
| Super Hi-5 | 18% | $1.00 | |||
| Turf Pick 3 | 15% | $3.00 | |||
The post Tropical Turf Pick 3, Rainbow 6 Top Gulfstream’s Championship Betting Menu appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
