Tag: Horseplayers

A new chapter for horse racing and sports betting content begins on Thursday, Sept. 1, as FanDuel TV premiers. Beginning Sept. 1, TVG will be rebranded as FanDuel TV, the first network dedicated exclusively to premier horse racing and sports betting content. Racing fans can tune in at 11:00 AM ET for a special feature presentation on the past 23 years of horse racing coverage on TVG as well as a look towards what is ahead on the newly branded FanDuel TV.

FanDuel TV will be live on site from Del Mar this weekend with enhanced coverage as the heralded, undefeated four-year-old Flightline faces five rivals in the $1 million TVG Pacific Classic (G1).

Familiar faces Todd Schrupp, Simon Bray, Christina Blacker, Mike Joyce, Scott Hazelton, Britney Eurton, Gabby Gaudet and Andie Biancone will all be on-site at Del Mar with exclusive interviews, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes insight on the Pacific Classic and the competitive undercard races. The enhanced coverage will include the utilization of drone technology as well as the popular Jockey Cam.

Purchased for $1 million as a yearling, Flightline is undefeated from four starts for trainer John Sadler. As a 3-year-old, he closed out his season with his first Grade 1 win in the Runhappy Malibu Stakes (GI) and made his 4-year-old debut a memorable one with a six-length triumph in the Met Mile (G1) in June. Sadler has won three of the last four editions of the TVG Pacific Classic, most recently in 2021 with Tripoli.

As part of the Breeders' Cup “Win and You're In” Challenge Series, the winner of the TVG Pacific Classic will earn an automatic berth in the Breeders' Cup Classic which will be held on November 5 at Keeneland. The undercard will also include the $300,000 Del Mar Handicap (G2), a Breeders' Cup race for the Breeders' Cup Turf (G1).

In addition to racing from Del Mar, this weekend FanDuel TV will also be featuring racing from Kentucky Downs, Gulfstream Park and more.

FanDuel TV's programming will include a new morning show with former NFL Network star Kay Adams alongside FanDuel's signature sports betting show, More Ways to Win, hosted by former ESPN Sports Center anchor Lisa Kerney, who is back for a fifth season. Kerney and co-host Dave Weaver will debut this season's More Ways to Win with an NFL preview at 10:00 AM ET/7:00 AM PT on September 1, the hour before horse racing kicks off under the FanDuel TV brand.

The post FanDuel TV Premiers Sept. 1; Pacific Classic Highlights Weekend Coverage appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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To horseplayer Dennis Poppe, Kentucky Downs provides all the tools one needs to make money betting horses, short of coming up with the winners in advance.

The all-grass FanDuel Meet at Kentucky Downs, which offers some of the largest purses for horse owners in the world, begins Thursday and continues Saturday, Sunday and Sept. 8, 10, 11 and 14. Post time is 12:25 p.m. Central every day except Sept. 10, when the first race is set for 11:30 a.m. CT.

Why bet Kentucky Downs? Poppe, a veteran handicapper who lives outside Seattle, responds in part with three numbers: $15.40, $2,205 and $43,128. Those were the average winning payouts, respectively, at the track in 2021 for a $2 win bet, the 50-cent Pick 4 and 50-cent Pick 5.

“Not a typo,” Poppe notes of the Pick 5.

Those payouts are the product of full fields (with Kentucky Downs averaging nearly 11 horses a race in recent years when 12 is capacity) and the lowest overall takeout in America. Takeout is the amount of money taken off the top of every dollar bet that goes toward purses for horsemen, taxes and the track's share.

Not only is the 16-percent takeout on win, place and show wagers lower than most tracks, Kentucky Downs also follows Ellis Park as the first tracks in the nation to pay out to the penny rather than rounding down to the nearest dime on a dollar bet. (That's thanks to legislation the Kentucky General Assembly passed in the spring.) Poppe's also a huge fan of the 14-percent takeout on the Pick 4 and Pick 5 bets, which he refers to as “raining bills.”

Said Poppe: “Kentucky Downs rewards players with larger payouts when you handicap the races correctly.”

Of course, that's always the rub, that business about being correct. But the higher payoffs can make up for errant handicapping or bad racing luck in other races.

The average return for a $1 double at Kentucky Downs' 2021 meet was $58.87, $73.15 for the $1 exacta and $235.85 for a 50-cent Pick 3, according to industry data-keeper Equibase. The 50-cent trifecta averaged $430.32.

“With the lowest takeout rates in the country, Kentucky Downs offers horseplayers the best value for their betting dollar of any track in the country,” said Ken Kirchner, Director of Wagering and Simulcasting at Kentucky Downs. “The payouts in the exotics pools are sensational, with 50-cent Pick 4s averaging over $2,200 and Pick 5s at over $43,000.”

“Full fields, top trainers and jockeys, large betting pools and purses over $2.5 million per day are a recipe for success for handicappers everywhere.”

According to an Equibase analysis, Kentucky Downs' Pick 5 betting pools averaged $544,211, the Pick 4 $263,716, exacta $253,126 and trifecta $152,672.

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Comedic Timing found an opening along the rail coming out of the final turn and then prevailed in a stretch duel with Cash Now before going on to a 1½-length victory in Monday's featured $57,500 allowance at Monmouth Park.

The winner was the third on the eight-race card for jockey Angel A. Rodriguez, who only trails Paco Lopez in the Monmouth Park rider standings.

Sent off at odds of 7-1, Comedic Timing also contributed to a Monday Mid-Atlantic Pick 4 that returned $1,910.40 for .50 cents.

The Mid-Atlantic Pick 4 combines two races from Monmouth Park and two from Colonial Downs.

Trained by Pompeyo Gomez, Comedic Timing covered the mile over a firm turf course in 1:34.76 in earning his second career win from 11 starts. Favorite Artie's Angel was another 1½ lengths back in third.

The Mid-Atlantic Pick 4 sequence started with Beau Brown ($10.40) in Monmouth Park's fifth race and was followed by Witty Banter ($22.00) in Colonial's seventh race, Comedic Timing ($17.20) in Monmouth Park's seventh race and By the Sey Shore ($11.40) in the eighth race from Colonial Downs. By the Sey Shore finished second but was place first because of interference by Vocalize, who crossed the finish line first.

Racing resumes at Monmouth Park on Friday, Sept. 2. First race post time that day is 2 p.m.

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Rising from novelty to niche to national leader, Kentucky Downs begins its 31st race meet Thursday, Sept. 1, at the all-grass track hard on the Tennessee border, 20 minutes south of Bowling Green, Ky., and a half-hour north of Nashville.

The FanDuel Meet at Kentucky Downs runs Sept. 1, 3, 4, 8, 10, 11 and 14, the most dates since the track also ran seven in 2003. Post time for the first race is 12:25 p.m. Central (1:25 p.m. Eastern) every day except for the 11:30 a.m. CT/12:30 p.m. ET start for the Saturday Sept. 10's showcase card.

“We look for the race meet to be largely more of the same,” said Ted Nicholson, Kentucky Downs' vice president for racing. “In the case of Kentucky Downs, that's become a very good thing: record purses, full fields, low takeout, the best jockeys and trainers in the country and the best extended turf racing outside of Europe.

“Still, we do have new features: a Spanish-language broadcast and web content in partnership with Daily Racing Form, two new barns and wifi throughout the facility. And we're always working to enhance our video product.”

For horse and sports enthusiasts, as well as those seeking an outdoor entertainment option, Kentucky Downs' slice-of-Americana atmosphere offers unique experiences from the free admission in front of the Mint Gaming Hall and tailgating at the top of the stretch to the ticketed open-air Finish Line Pavilion.

Reserved seating in the Finish Line Pavilion remains available for online purchase every day but Sept. 10, which is sold out. Tickets are sold in tables of eight or groups of four at kentuckydowns.ticketspice.com/tickets. New this year: Individual tickets will be sold both online and at the track on race day as inventory permits.

The jockeys and trainers expected to compete at Kentucky Downs are a Who's Who of horse racing, including at least seven Eclipse Award-winners, nine winners of Triple Crown races and 13 winners of Breeders' Cup races. Those include past meet leaders Tyler Gaffalione, Florent Geroux and Julien Leparoux, who will ride all seven days at the meet, while New York-based stars Joel Rosario, Jose Ortiz and Irad Ortiz will ride after Saratoga closes on Labor Day.

“It's gotten more and more popular every year — more people going, not just running,” said trainer Rusty Arnold, whose 26 career wins at Kentucky Downs rank fifth all-time. “I love the place. It's just unique. I grew up in Kentucky. I like the atmosphere. It's a little more relaxed; it's not stuffy. I kind of compare it to tailgating before a football game.”

At 1 5/16-miles, Kentucky Downs' kidney-shaped course matches Belmont Park's Widener Turf Course as the largest grass track in North America. Kentucky Downs, however, has dips and rises and an expansive far turn that starts as right-handed before sweeping to the left and ultimately taking the horses into the long dog-legged stretch.

The track opened in 1990 as Dueling Grounds, a steeplechase course literally dropped down in a field. After several ownership changes and years of struggle – including shutting down in the mid-1990s — the track gained stability and championed a game-changer by instituting historical horse racing in 2011. Kentucky Downs' growth has skyrocketed under the ownership group headed by Ron Winchell and Marc Falcone, who bought the track in 2019 and rebranded its historical horse racing operation as The Mint Gaming Hall at Kentucky Downs.

Horses this meet will compete for more than $18 million, including purse supplements for registered Kentucky-breds from the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund (KTDF). Maiden races for Kentucky-breds will go for $150,000, highest in the world, with allowance races $160,000 and $170,000.

“To a small guy who might only have one or two horses in training, that makes his year if he can win one of those races,” said trainer Tommy Drury.

Said jockey Rafael Bejarano: “Even if you finish second or third, the purse of the races are so high, they're huge. It's one of the best meets in the United States. Everybody gets excited.”

There will be 17 stakes races worth more than $10 million, including eight graded stakes. Three races will be worth $1 million: The Grade 2 Kentucky Turf Cup at 1 1/2 miles and Grade 2 FanDuel Turf Sprint at six furlongs, both on Sept. 10, and the Grade 3 WinStar Mint Million at a mile that headlines the Sept. 3 card.

The Turf Cup and Turf Sprint are Breeders' Cup “Win and You're In” Challenge Series races, with their winners receiving a fees-paid spot in the corresponding races in the Breeders' Cup World Championships Nov. 5 at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington. NBC Sports will broadcast both races.

Three other stakes set for Sept. 10 will see their purse rise to $1 million if a Grade 1 winner competes in the race. They are the $750,000 Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf (G3) at a mile, $600,000 The Mint Ladies Sprint (G3) at 6 1/2 furlongs and $600,000 Franklin-Simpson (G2) for 3-year-olds at 6 1/2 furlongs.

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