Tag: Horseplayers

FanDuel Group, the premier online gaming company in North America, announced today its intent to launch FanDuel TV which will include a broadly distributed linear cable television network, and its new OTT platform to be known as FanDuel+. Both FanDuel TV and FanDuel+ will go live in September of this year and become the first linear/digital network dedicated to sports wagering content and delivering more live sports programming than any other network in America.

As part of the launch, FanDuel TV is excited to welcome Kay Adams who will headline the network with a live daily morning show five days per week. Adams, who previously served as a host of Good Morning Football on the NFL Network will host the show from FanDuel TV's Los Angeles studios each day at 11:00 am EDT. As part of the launch, the company announced that FanDuel+ will be free to download for existing FanDuel customers with accounts on any of its sportsbook, casino, horse racing or daily fantasy platforms.

“FanDuel TV is the first network designed from the ground up to be watched by viewers with their phone in hand,” said Mike Raffensperger, Chief Commercial Officer, FanDuel. “We intend for FanDuel TV to sit at the intersection of live sports and interactive content and believe Kay is the best example of an on-air talent who can bring fans closer to the narratives of the games they care about most. Our goal is to provide fans compelling programming to watch and wager on in tandem with our mobile app.”

Kay Adams Headlines New Morning Show
Adams will host her own hour long show Monday through Friday, welcoming guests and a wide range of personalities from across sports and entertainment. She looks forward to continuing her well-established track record of entertaining and informing sports fans in the morning! Daily viewers can expect the same “Hey Kay Adams” energy as always, and the daily studio show will also be available on YouTube and other social media platforms.

Pat McAfee and the Squad at PMI to Produce Original Content
FanDuel TV is excited that one of the hottest and most influential people in sports media Pat McAfee and his team at PMI Network will also be joining the party! McAfee's PMI Network will be producing fresh new content as part of the network's weekly block of programming. Details regarding new PMI Network content will be shared by Pat on The Pat McAfee Show when it's ready for primetime!

Programming from Bill Simmons' The Ringer Network
As part of the launch of FanDuel TV, the company has reached a programming agreement with The Ringer providing FanDuel TV content from one of the industry's most listened to and followed sports and pop-culture podcasts and digital networks. Details on specific content from The Ringer, which Bill Simmons founded in 2016, will be disclosed in the future.

More Ways to Win with Lisa Kerney
In addition, FanDuel's signature sports betting show More Ways to Win will continue to be hosted by former ESPN SportsCenter anchor Lisa Kerney bringing sports betting analysis and insight of the major sports leagues to viewers each week. More Ways to Win has been a cornerstone of FanDuel's programming with Kerney covering a variety of sports content focused on the sports wagerer in her high energy style. A FanDuel brand ambassador, Kerney has appeared recently in the company's baseball ads and hosted the company's FanFest event, which was streamed live from Los Angeles to more than 300,000 viewers during the week of Super Bowl LVI.

“Having proven on-air talent, live content from the most influential name in sports media in Pat McAfee and the industry's best team covering horse racing today demonstrates that FanDuel TV will be a dynamic network from day one,” said Amy Howe, Chief Executive Officer, FanDuel Group.

New Live Sports Programming
FanDuel TV intends to become the new home of international basketball in the U.S. As part of a licensing agreement with Sportradar, FanDuel TV and FanDuel+ will air more than 3,000 hours of live sports including international basketball league action from the National Basketball League (NBL) Australia's professional league, the Chinese Basketball League, as well as the French and German pro leagues.

Stable of Horse Racing Experts
FanDuel TV will emerge from predecessor TVG Network, a channel synonymous with delivering racing excellence for the past quarter century. In keeping with its proud TVG lineage as the unquestioned home of horse racing, FanDuel TV will feature a stacked lineup of unparalleled coverage from respected experts including Christina Blacker, Britney Eurton, Gabby Gaudet, Mike Joyce, Todd Schrupp and the rest of TVG's award-winning on-air talent roster. FanDuel TV's programming schedule will be underpinned with the best live coverage from the top tracks including Gulfstream, Del Mar, Keeneland, Pimlico, Santa Anita and many more. FanDuel TV will also deliver unmatched coverage of the Breeders' Cup World Championships this November, hosted at Keeneland in Lexington, Kentucky.

“TVG has been the undisputed leader in the horse racing space for the past 20 years and the launch of FanDuel TV creates an exciting new platform for the next 20 years,” added Raffensperger. “FanDuel TV and FanDuel+ will accelerate the renaissance racing is enjoying and repackage the sport for a new generation of mobile enabled fans, while also bringing new leagues and sports to the U.S. market. We plan to offer more live sports than any network in America.”

FanDuel TV will be broadly distributed on linear television through its relationships with the industry's leading cable and satellite distributors including Comcast Xfinity, Spectrum, Verizon FIOS, DirectTV, DISH, Cox Communications, FuboTV, YouTubeTV, and Hulu. FanDuel+ will also be widely available on direct-to-consumer OTT platforms including Roku, Apple TV, and Amazon Fire. For more information on FanDuel TV programming and news, follow @FanDuelTV on Twitter and Instagram.

The post TVG Network To Be Rebranded As FanDuel TV appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Instead of “It's post time!” alerting race fans that the horses have reached the starting gate, thousands of viewers of the FanDuel Meet at Kentucky Downs instead might hear “¡Llegó el Momento de la Partida!”

Kentucky Downs for the first time will offer race calls and handicapping analysis in Spanish through a partnership with Daily Racing Form's DRF en Español. The seven-day meet runs Sept. 1, 3, 4 ,8, 10, 11 and 14.

A full broadcast in Spanish will be available each day on YouTube.com/DRFenEspanol and DRF.com/Espanol. Meet-long content on DRF en Español and DRF en Español social media will include editorial content, handicapping shows, interviews and training reports. Veteran turf journalist and broadcaster Roberto Rodriguez, director of DRF en Español, will head the coverage.

People of Hispanic heritage form the fastest-growing and second-largest segment of the United States, comprising nearly 20 percent of the population, according to the 2020 census.

Daily Racing Form launched DRF en Español in August 2020 to serve the Spanish-language audience. The venture expanded by teaming with Keeneland and the Breeders' Cup in the fall of 2021, with DRF en Español creating a new fan base that has grown each month. According to DRF en Español, its audience is younger and more mobile-friendly than the regular DRF.com target.

“We're excited about tapping into this fast-growing market,” said Ted Nicholson, Kentucky Downs' vice president for racing. “Spanish is the native language of so many of our racing participants, and we know our Hispanic jockeys and trainers have huge followings. Betting horses is a sport based on information. Anything we can do to make more information available to more people is a good thing. Roberto is a titan in Spanish-speaking turf journalism and with DRF en Español has an important platform to help us better connect with our Hispanic horse-racing fans.”

DRF en Español's coverage includes Al Dia, a daily handicapping show; La Referencia, a comprehensive premium handicapping product with free download; La Reference Xpress, a two-page downloadable handicapping product with selections; and a daily e-newsletter with race recaps, upcoming shows and handicapping products.

Among those looking forward to the Spanish-language broadcasts and handicapping content is Churchill Downs-based trainer Juan Cano, who believes it will spark additional betting. Though he learned English after coming to America from Guatemala, Cano says he enjoys watching racing broadcasts in his native tongue, such as simulcasting from Chile.

“They're talking in Español while the horses are running – it's way different,” he said. “It's exciting. I speak English, but a lot of people who speak Spanish don't. People in Chile might now start watching the races from Kentucky Downs. A lot of people are going to start looking at the races. Like my family, my daddy (in Guatemala). He looks at the races but he doesn't understand what they're saying. Having it in Spanish will be good.”

The post Kentucky Downs To Provide Spanish Broadcast, Racing Content appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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The final race on Tuesday's card at Presque Isle Downs in Erie, Pa., was cancelled after a series of events that led to jockeys opting not to ride.

Todd Mostoller, executive director of the Pennsylvania Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association, said he was told one of the pony people was informed by a Pennsylvania State Horse Racing Commission employee before the final race that he was not properly licensed and could not escort horses to the post for that race.

In an apparent show of support the other pony people said they wouldn't work the race, either, leading jockeys to decide whether to ride without being ponied to the gate or sit the last race out. They opted not to ride.

“He ponied the first seven races,” Mostoller said of the pony person. “I don't understand how it was OK for him to work the first seven races but not the last one. They couldn't have had him come in after the last race and tell him to renew his license?”

Mostoller said the HBPA will ask Presque Isle Downs director of racing Matt Enniss to  divide the $14,000 purse nine ways, so that each owner receives about $1,500.

The race was a $7,500 maiden claiming event, with three of the nine starters shipping in from out of state.

“I don't understand it,” said Mostoller. “It was an extremely poor decision and we've asked for this corrective action to be taken. We're doing the best we can to make the best of a bad situation. It's pretty unbelievable to me a decision like that was made.”

Efforts to reach the Pennsylvania State Horse Racing Commission were unsuccessful at time of writing.

The post No Pony People, No Jockeys, No Race: Presque Isle Downs Cancels Tuesday Finale appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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After two years off the calendar because of the pandemic, the Korea Cup and Korea Sprint finally return for their respective fifth editions at Seoul Racecourse on Saturday, Sept. 3 (US Date/Time). Boasting International Group 3 status for the first time, the races feature a typically diverse set of runners from around Asia and beyond competing for purses in each race of 1 Billion Korean Won (approximately US$750,000).

Japan-trained horses have won every edition of the Korea Cup (1 1/8 miles) that they have contested and this year, Sekifu is the one who gets the opportunity to maintain that record. A 3-year-old, he has a slightly different profile to previous winners London Town and Chrysolite, but he won the Hyogo Junior Grand Prix as a juvenile and is already well-travelled having spent the early part of the year overseas, running a close second to Pinehurst in the Saudi Derby at Riyadh before an unsuccessful tilt at the UAE Derby at Meydan. On his return to Japan, Sekifu ran second in the Unicorn Stakes at Tokyo, and he has solid chances in the Cup.

Jane Chapple-Hyam has been a firm supporter of the Korea Cup since its inception, with her Solar Deity running in the inaugural edition and Ambassadorial third in 2019. This year, the Newmarket-based trainer brings Intellogent who has racked up almost US$1Million in prize money in a career that has been mostly spent in France but has included trips to Saudi Arabia and the USA. Since being transferred to Abington Place this Spring, Intellogent has been running in the big Heritage Handicaps and scored a superb second in the Royal Hunt Cup at Royal Ascot in June.

The final international entrant in the Cup is Hong Kong's Kings Shield. Frankie Lor, newly crowned as Hong Kong's Champion Trainer, also knows what it takes to be successful on the sand at Seoul, having brought Glorious Artist over for a creditable fourth– a neck behind Chapple-Hyam's Ambassadorial – in 2019.

For the locals, 2019 winner Moonhak Chief returns, but most eyes will be on Raon The Fighter, a winner of ten from twelve so far and currently the hottest property in Korea racing. 2021 Grand Prix Stakes winner Haengbok Wangja is also set to start, as is last year's Korea Derby winner Winner's Man. Dolkong, winner of the 2019 Curlin Handicap at Meydan, also appears on the list but is a doubt having not raced since the tail end of that year. He has though successfully navigated a series of barrier trials in recent months.

Japanese horses have won the Sprint on two occasions, with Graceful Leap in 2017 and Moanin a year later. This year Raptus, a dirt specialist with nine wins from twenty-one, is the representative from Japan. Most of those have been at seven furlongs but that was true too for Moanin and he can't be ruled out.

Hong Kong's Korea Sprint challenger is Computer Patch. Jimmy Ting's sprinter may not have won for some time, but he spends his time racing alongside the best at Sha Tin and ran an excellent second to Wellington in the Group 1 Chairman's Sprint Prize in April. Hong Kong won the inaugural Korea Sprint with Super Jockey in 2016 and Sha Tin based gallopers have consistently out-performed expectations in Seoul, including when the unheralded Fight Hero went down by just a Head in a memorable duel with Moanin in 2018.

Mick Appleby brings three-year-old sprinter Annaf from the UK. He had a luckless run in the Steward's Cup at Glorious Goodwood but has held his own in other big sprint handicaps and his wins have come on the all-weather. He may well relish the conditions in Seoul.

The Korea Sprint grew out of a race held in 2015 called the Asia Challenge Cup, which was won by Singapore's El Padrino. Singapore is represented this year by Celavi. An all-weather specialist, she is a winner of eight from eighteen at Kranji and her on pace style could be well suited .

The local Korean sprinting division is strong and in Eoma Eoma, the visitors will find a worthy adversary. Morfhis is also a multiple Group winner while Black Musk is one of the up-and-coming stars of the division. Busan-trained Blue Chipper won the Korea Sprint in 2019 and went on to run third in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile at Santa Anita two months later.

The Korea Sprint has a post time of 2:35am ET / 11:35pm PT with the Korea Cup following an hour later at 3:35am ET / 12:35am PT local Seoul time.

The post Korea Cup, Korea Sprint Return After Two-Year Hiatus, Boast International Group 3 Status appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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