Joe Bianca | Horse Racing Free Tips

TDN Launches ‘Bettor Things With Joe Bianca’ Handicapping Podcast

This week, the TDN is adding a new show to its expanding podcast lineup by introducing 'Bettor Things with Joe Bianca', which will be the publication's first podcast focused solely on handicapping and betting. The show will feature in-depth one-on-one conversations with the host of TDN's popular Writers' Room podcast and some of the brightest wagering minds in the handicapping world. The interviews will delve into strategies for playing the horses as well as sports betting, but also branch out into more general life topics to learn what makes the guests tick and who they are as people.

In the first episode, which is now available on YouTube, Bianca welcomes David Aragona, who is the morning-line maker for the New York Racing Association, a highly-regarded handicapper for Timeform US and Daily Racing Form and a podcast host himself for Timeform US. Over a cocktail or two, Bianca and Aragona discussed their origin stories for becoming horseplayers, their shared frustrations in trying to get friends their age to pick up the game, what they've learned over the years that can help produce positive returns on investment, how they see the future of racing evolving and much more. In addition to YouTube, the Bettor Things video shows are available on the TDN homepage, and audio versions will be posted to the TDN podcast feed on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

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Beem Talks Racecalling, Anxiety, on Writers’ Room

Jason Beem was just 23 years old when he had his first panic attack, but remembers it in excruciating detail to this day. “I was in law school at Gonzaga University. I was in constitutional law class and I didn't know what it was and walked out of class and freaked out in the hallway.” That episode was the beginning of over a decade-and-a-half struggle with anxiety and depression that caused him to leave racing for a period, and be hospitalized several times. The popular racecaller and podcast host talks openly about mental health on the TDN Writers' Room podcast, presented by Keeneland, with hosts Joe Bianca, Bill Finley and Jon Green, as the Green Group Guest of the Week.

He said that at times, the depression was so bad that he would have to lie down on an air mattress in the announcer's booth at River Downs because the effort to stay upright was too overwhelming. “My second year at River Downs, I really struggled,” he said. “And that was like the first time I had ever had a real depression and I didn't know what it was. I was in line at Chipotle one day, just crying and I didn't know why. And so I hadn't done a lot of therapy up until then, and so I started doing that and kind of learned what I was dealing with and also that it wasn't uncommon. I think that for me was one of the biggest helps early on was realizing that mental health issues are things that a lot of people struggle with.”

Currently the announcer at Tampa Bay Downs, he talks about being out of racing for a year and half and working as an Uber driver when BetAmerica saw his “Beemie Awards” on Twitter and reached out to see if he was interested in doing something with them. “I said I would love to do a daily podcast,” he recalled. “And that was that was literally like Christmas and we were up and going two weeks later. It really kind of came together pretty fast and, you know, just kind of took the model from what a lot of podcasts were doing; 20 minutes of chat, 25 minutes of interview and then you were out. And we've been really fortunate.”

In other segments on the show, which is also sponsored by Coolmore, the Pennsylvania Thoroughbred Horse Breeders, West Point Thoroughbreds, Legacy Bloodstock and XBTV, the writers discuss the news of the week, including: the ongoing story of California veterinarian Jeff Blea, the 2021 handle figures and how much of that could be from computer bettors, and the continuing legal battles between Bob Baffert and Churchill Downs.

Watch the video version of the podcast here.

Listen to the audio version here, or on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

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Wesley Ward Joins Writers’ Room Breeders’ Cup Preview Show

The TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland produced its third annual comprehensive Breeders' Cup preview show Wednesday, analyzing and handicapping all 14 World Championships races in depth, and welcomed trainer Wesley Ward later as the Green Group Guest of the Week to discuss his five combined Breeders' Cup starters in the GI Turf Sprint and GII Juvenile Turf Sprint and future goals for his barn.

Asked whether he's happy with the niche he's carved out for himself as mainly an elite 2-year-old and turf sprint trainer or if he has bigger goals to win Classic races, Ward said with a laugh, “I'm glad I'm good at something. I'm fortunate that I have a good number of owners who are backing me with these types of horses. But obviously, I'd like to get into different categories and Classic distances. I had my first [Kentucky] Derby starter this year [Like the King]; ultimately he was a grass horse, but it sure was a lot of fun getting over there and I would like to get back with a really good chance.”

Elsewhere on the Breeders' Cup preview extravaganza, which is also sponsored by Coolmore, XBTV, West Point Thoroughbreds, Lane's End, the New York Thoroughbred Breeding and Development Fund and Legacy Bloodstock, Joe Bianca, Bill Finley and Jon Green gave out longshots to watch this weekend, explained which favorites they think are vulnerable and broke down all the pace scenarios in a potential Breeders' Cup Classic for the ages. Click here to watch the podcast; click here for the audio-only version or find it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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Eric Gustavson Joins the TDN Writers’ Room

Following the tragic loss of Coolmore's cornerstone stallion Galileo, champion sire Into Mischief has suddenly found himself at center stage as the top stallion in the world in just about every category. On this week's TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland, the crew sat down with Eric Gustavson of Spendthrift Farm, a new sponsor of the show, to talk about their rise of success with the son of Harlan's Holiday.

“For us to have Into Mischief is the classic case of how a rising tide lifts all boats,” said Gustavson, who joined in as the Green Group Guest of the Week. “He's our rising tide and he brings so much attention to the farm. He's so powerful and dominant in so many categories as a stallion and it's mind blowing that you could ever have one like this. That he is considered one of the all-time greats, if not the best in the world, is really humbling.”

Gustavson, who serves on the Board of the Directors for Breeders' Cup, also spoke out on racing's urgent need for change.

“The industry is so fractious…with the issues of lack of uniformity in medications and things like that,” he said. “The industry cannot grow unless these things start to change. We need to have innovation. We need to have inclusion. We need to have uniformity to the point where we're not dysfunctional and referring to a weak regulatory system. These are the kinds of things that I would like to help change because we're just stuck. There is a lot of talk about the pros and cons of the government coming in and being involved with control over the drug issues. A lot of people are against it, but my feelings are that we have to do something and if this is the only way to do it, then so be it. Let's have the uniformity and have some kind of oversight that has some teeth.”

Elsewhere on Wednesday's podcast, which welcomed the Minnesota Thoroughbred Association 2021 Yearling Sale in joining additional sponsors West Point Thoroughbreds and Legacy Bloodstock, the writers recapped another great week of racing at Saratoga, discussed the recent controversy with trainer Marcus Vitali and looked forward to this weekend's racing at the Spa and beyond.

Click here to watch the podcast on YouTube.

Click here for the audio-only version.

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