Joe Bianca | Horse Racing Free Tips

NYRA, Fox Sports TV Analyst Andy Serling Talks Saratoga On Writers’ Room

With the first week of the 2022 Saratoga meet in the books, NYRA and Fox Sports TV analyst Andy Serling joined the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland Tuesday as the Green Group Guest of the Week to talk about how Saratoga somehow continues to exceed its sky-high expectations, what track trends handicappers should look out for the rest of the summer, whether or not the sport needs fewer stakes races and more.

“I'll be honest, I came into this meet concerned [about a drop in business], and I think rightfully so, because our numbers were so spectacular last year when you're up 13% like we were,” Serling said when asked to explain Saratoga's continued growth. “I was shocked how much we were up [opening week]. Saratoga, even as we expanded, always sort of stayed the August place to be. It was a little quieter when the meet started and the last week, especially when you're into September, can get quieter. I'm wondering now if it's starting to matter less and less. This weekend was incredible, huge crowds, the handle numbers were great, the racing was also terrific. We averaged almost 10.5 horses per race on the inner turf. We were up about three-quarters of a horse over last year. So all the stars aligned, the racing was great, and the love for Saratoga keeps growing and growing. And maybe it's that once somebody comes to Saratoga, they never stop coming back. And over the years that's just going to build and build and build.”

The conversation turned to the increasingly redundant racing calendar and the abundance of short fields seen in stakes races.

“It's 100% a problem. To suggest otherwise is to continue, as we love to do in racing, to keep our heads in the sand,” he said. “It's not just a problem in America, but it's a bigger problem in America. The purses shouldn't matter in these big races, because there's so much intrinsic value for stallions and broodmares. But there are too many races. We were trying to fill the Mother Goose, and it pains me to think of that as a race that will go by the wayside, because the winners of that race are a veritable who's who of the greatest horses that have ever raced in that division. But something has to give. I'm not blaming any of these tracks, but there's an Iowa Oaks, there's this Oaks, there's that Oaks. There are races everywhere and it's just giving people too many options. Whether it's the graded stakes committee, the boards, the racing offices, something has to be done, because there are just too many big races with small fields.”

Elsewhere on the show, which is also sponsored by Coolmore, Lane's End, the Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders, XBTV, West Point Thoroughbreds and Legacy Bloodstock, the writers previewed a big weekend of racing, remembered the great Kitten's Joy and called for more meaningful sanctions for Paco Lopez's reckless riding. Click here to watch the show; click here for the audio-only version or find it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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Stanley Cup Champion Erik Johnson Joins Writers’ Room

As far back as he can remember, and that includes 15 long years and over 900 career games in the NHL, defenseman Erik Johnson of the Colorado Avalanche has been chasing the ultimate dream of winning the Stanley Cup. A week and a half ago, Johnson, who also owns ERJ Racing over in our corner of the world, realized that dream, as his Avalanche took out the two-time defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning in six games in the Stanley Cup Final. Still glowing from that triumph, Johnson joined the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland Tuesday as the Green Group Guest of the Week to describe the whirlwind he and his teammates have been on since last Sunday night, his plans to take the Stanley Cup to Del Mar for Pacific Classic day, his thoughts on the vastly improved safety of California racing and more.

Asked to compare his Cup victory to potentially reaching the mountaintop in racing, winning a race like the Kentucky Derby with ERJ, Johnson didn't mince words, saying, “I've never won the Derby, but I imagine this feels 1,000 times better. Because when you're an owner in the Derby, you're a spectator and you have no impact on what happens. When you're part of a team that wins the Stanley Cup, and you're actually out there doing it with your teammates, and it's something that you've put your whole life into since you were a kid, you can't top this feeling. It's just amazing, and I'm lucky because not a lot of people get to experience this. I've played with a lot of great players who never won.”

Southern California racing, mired in so many negative headlines during the rash of breakdowns at Santa Anita in 2019, has made–unfortunately–smaller headlines for a drastically improved safety record in the two years since. Johnson, who primarily races in California, was asked about the work California racing has done to correct such a dire problem.

“I think they've done a great job,” he said. “No matter what, you're not going to escape the negativity. There's always going to be someone that's upset. But seeing the statistics that have come out recently, there probably was a need for some reform and the leadership has done a really good job throughout the state. I think what's really helped is those pre-race checks. Every horse gets checked out, and I'm sure it makes some owners upset because some of their horses won't run after you've paid 30, 60 days worth of bills getting your horse ready to run, then they pull it out. But for the betterment and longevity of the game, those are things that needed to happen and steps that needed to be taken. So overall I think [California officials] should be commended. They've done awesome, and the game is now in a much better place than it was just a couple of years ago.”

Elsewhere on the show, which is also sponsored by Coolmore, Lane's End, the Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders, XBTV, West Point Thoroughbreds and Legacy Bloodstock, the writers reacted to a weekend full of huge performances on the racetrack and Terence Collier's letter to the editor criticizing Bill Finley's argument for fewer stakes races. Click here to watch the show; click here for the audio-only version or find it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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Donegal Racing CEO Jerry Crawford Talks Belmont Score On Writers’ Room

The winner's circle after Saturday's GI Belmont S. surely rivaled any in Triple Crown history in terms of population after Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo) crossed the wire three lengths to the good. In addition to Mike Repole and his substantial crew of family and friends, the celebration contained the massive partnership of Donegal Racing, which brings all of its investors along for the ride with every horse it purchases. Tuesday, the CEO of Donegal, Jerry Crawford, sat down with Joe Bianca and Bill Finley of the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland as the Green Group Guest of the Week to discuss the experience of sharing the Belmont triumph with so many people, how he uses algorithms to shop the sales, Donegal's new initiative to give their winning jockeys future stallion shares and more.

“When we had about 350 people at the Kentucky Derby, I had about had enough of the phone calls saying, 'Hey Jerry, can we get two double beds in our hotel room instead of one king bed?'” Crawford joked. “But I wouldn't trade it for anything. We had over 200 people at the Belmont, I think Mike had 80-something. He's been giving me a hard time, saying he never thought he'd be partners with somebody who brought more people to the races than he did. But the key thing about everybody owning part of every horse is that nobody ever gets disappointed–if we have a big horse in any year, nobody gets left out or feels like they bought the wrong horse.”

Asked about the background of the algorithm that guides him to buy particular sale horses, Crawford said the formula–and Donegal itself–was borne out of frustrations in trying to handicap, not win, the Kentucky Derby.

“About 2003 or so, my son Connor and I were talking about why we always get our asses kicked betting the Derby,” he said. “It seemed like one longshot after another would come along and we would be out of it. So we decided to try and find an algorithm that would help us pick a Derby winner. This is way before Donegal. What we discovered is that we couldn't find an algorithm to pick a winner, we were only able to pick horses that could not win under our algorithm. So I said to my very patient wife Linda, 'I'm going to take $250,000 to Lexington to the [Keeneland September] yearling sale and buy a horse that fits our algorithm', and she was cool with it. This was in 2008, when the stock market crashed, and when the stock market crashes, people stop buying boats and diamonds and racehorses and the rest. I ended up buying eight horses for $405,000 because of the market. One of those horses was eventual stakes winner Paddy O'Prado, who finished third in the Derby and fit our algorithm to a tee. So we proceeded from there. I did worry flying home from that sale that there was going to be hell to pay when I told my wife I bought eight horses, not one, but we got through that, and it's been good since.”

Crawford and Donegal had a unique experience this spring, winning the Belmont and also having a deep connection to the Derby winner. Keen Ice scored the most significant victory of the Donegal partnership's lifetime when upsetting Triple Crown winner American Pharoah in the 2015 GI Travers S. Retired to stud for 2018, the multimillionaire son of Curlin has had mixed early results, but will forever be the sire of a Derby champion after 80-1 Rich Strike upset the Run for the Roses. Crawford was asked if he felt pride in that, even as Mo Donegal ran fifth with a tough trip that day.

“You use the right word, we were very, very proud to have been the people who picked out Keen Ice at the yearling sale,” he said. “Fortunately we weren't second [with Mo Donegal], so I'm glad [Rich Strike] won because it certainly flatters Keen Ice, who was a very special horse. It was a stunning victory when he beat American Pharoah up at Saratoga. I always stop to thank the Zayats in any conversation like this, because they were true sportspeople in running American Pharoah that day. They didn't have to do that. But by being sporting and putting the horse in the race, it gave us a chance for one of the biggest days in the history of horse racing.”

Elsewhere on the show, which is also sponsored by Coolmore, the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, XBTV, West Point Thoroughbreds and Legacy Bloodstock, the writers reacted to all the action from Belmont weekend and analyzed the implications of the Texas Racing Commission killing its simulcasting signals as a way to avoid the purview of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act. Click here to watch the show; click here for the audio-only version or find it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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Handicapper, Sam Houston Racecaller Nick Tammaro Joins Bettor Things

Nick Tammaro has been known in public handicapping and tournament circles for nearly a decade now, having proven his sharp opinion on the New York Racing Association's Talking Horses pre-race handicapping show and in contest spots as prominent as the Breeders' Cup Betting Challenge. But Tammaro took on what he calls the “biggest professional challenge” of his life earlier this year at his hometown track, Sam Houston Race Park, when he started his first job as a full-time racecaller.

Tammaro just wrapped up his first Thoroughbred meet as the announcer at the player-friendly track and took a break before calling quarter horses Friday night to join the third episode of Bettor Things with Joe Bianca, TDN's handicapping-focused one-on-one conversation podcast. Bianca and Tammaro had an engaging, funny and illuminating 40-minute discussion that touched on a wide variety of topics: the debate over the Triple Crown's spacing, sports betting, fixed-odds wagering, how to keep your mind focused during the chaos of a major handicapping tournament, their shared schadenfreude for James Harden's playoff failures, what the racing and handicapping landscape will look like in 10-15 years and much more. Then, in his future bets segment, Bianca gave out bets for the French Open, two each on the men's and women's sides.

Click here to watch the show; click here for the audio-only version or find it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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