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Star Politics, Racing TV Analyst Steve Kornacki Joins Writers’ Room

A mainstay political analyst on television for going on a decade now, Steve Kornacki has gained superstardom for his election coverage, particularly during the interminable night of and week following the 2020 presidential election. But Kornacki is also a passionate horse racing fan and handicapper, and last year became part of NBC's industry-leading national racing coverage. Tuesday, he sat down with Joe Bianca and Bill Finley on the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland as the Green Group Guest of the Week to discuss his racing roots, how he survived Election Week of 2020, who he's eyeing for this year's GI Kentucky Derby and more.

“How do I play [the horses]? Probably unwisely and too aggressively,” Kornacki said. “But I just enjoy the challenge. I liken it to trying to put together a puzzle with a thousand pieces. If you can ever get the combination just right, there's this feeling of satisfaction, a real rush that comes with that. So I'm always chasing that kind of rush. We did three of the final [Derby] prep races, the Wood, the Blue Grass and the Santa Anita Derby, on NBC a couple of weeks ago and they asked me–I think they were trying to spare me the embarrassment–if I wanted to pick them on the air. I said, 'Sure, I'll go ahead and take some shots,' and I went 0-for-3, but I knew that was a distinct possibility. And there was a part of me, when I went for some prices, that said maybe I should go with a safer pick like Mo Donegal in the Wood. But that's how I approach it. I'm always more interested in 8-1 than 2-1.”

Asked about his approach to his acclaimed election coverage and how it compares to his new gig analyzing racing, Kornacki said, “The comparison would be in the run-up to the election and the run-up to whatever race we're covering, you're looking for potential angles that can provide some insight and context. For instance, in 2020, we were very mindful that the polls systematically failed in 2016. They had undercounted [Donald] Trump support. They had overestimated Democratic support. So in the month leading up to the election, we were always trying to adjust the polling averages and say, 'If the same error applies in 2020 that applied in 2016, here's what the numbers look like now.' Suddenly you went from [Joe] Biden blowouts to these razor-thin Biden margins, and it turns out that is pretty much exactly what happened on Election Night. That's why it stretched into Election Week. That's the kind of context we're trying to provide. Now I'm looking at this Kentucky Derby field and asking myself what I can contribute on race day and in the run-up to it? Which prep races have had the best track record [with Derby runners], which horses have the best final furlong times, Beyer Speed Figures? I think a big one in the Derby is in this [qualifying] points era, being at or near the front of the pack at every point of call has been huge and a total departure from what it was before. So I look for those kinds of angles, whether it's politics or horse racing.”

Elsewhere on the show, which is also sponsored by Coolmore, the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders' Association, XBTV, West Point Thoroughbreds and Legacy Bloodstock, Bianca and Finley discussed what the closure of harness track Pompano Park could portend for racing, the exciting and growing new technology being used to detect potential breakdowns before they happen and a big upcoming weekend for older fillies and mares. 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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Letters to the Editor: John Chambers

Thanks for covering the closure of Pompano Park and the warnings to other racetracks. I am one of the few today that enjoys watching and betting on both Thoroughbred and harness racing. I am from the Philadelphia area and grew up spending many a summer weekend going to both Delaware Park and Brandywine Raceway.

For years, both breeds were popular here, but over the years we lost both major harness tracks, Brandywine and Liberty Bell Park. Even two of our primer Thoroughbred tracks, Garden State Park and Atlantic City Race Course, are now history. But so far we still have both breeds racing locally at Parx, Delaware Park and Harrah's Philadelphia. So far even though all the tracks have casinos the operators have given racing reasonable dates and promotion.

However, all of the operators seem to give the most attention to the casino side of the business. If you enter the casino, you most likely don't even know horse racing could be going on. Casino gambling will in most cases will always be more profitable to the operating companies. The speed of the betting and the fact it operates 24/7 in most states simply by its volume will always generate more revenue than live racing that only operates several hours and not every day, and in many cases, not year round.

Racing now also has less revenue due to many people staying home and betting off track. So as in the case of Pompano Park where the casino generates the most money and the land it built on is more valuable for redevelopment than use for racing. It is hard to justify operating a racetrack unless it can produce consistently good betting and the operator feels that there is good crossover betting on both racing and casino operations.

If racing is to continue longterm, we need cheerleaders like Gabe [Prewitt] at Pompano who did his best to pull in as many bettors as possible to play their races. We as players also have to do our part and attend the live racing on track as often as possible.

See you at my local tracks.

John Chambers, Lansdowne, PA

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Letters To the Editor: Paul Farash

Bill Finley's column on the closing of Pompano Park used it as a textbook example of decoupling. And he warned of the possibility of such decoupling not being exclusive to the world of harness racing or other pari-mutuel wagering establishments; that Thoroughbred racing venues are just as vulnerable. Well there was evidence of such, for all to see, in Chicago in 2021.

Last June, I became aware of the potentially permanent closing of Arlington Park at the end of its 2021 season. As a 40-year fan of horse racing and having never been to Arlington, it became a priority to experience 'AP' before they closed the doors this past September.

The style, grace and beauty of Arlington was on full display for the two racing days I spent there in August. And to come to the understanding that Churchill Downs, Inc. was the organization responsible for its ultimate disappearance from the Thoroughbred Racing landscape became something I–still–cannot comprehend. Of all the corporate entities to shutter what can arguably be described as one of North American racing's crown jewel venues, for CDI to be the one to pull the plug on AP proves once and for all that a) Thoroughbred racing is NOT immune from decoupling; and b) anyone will do it should legislation permit.

I'm disillusioned very much by the fact that the Thoroughbred industry has just stood by and watched this take place, without so much as a whimper. And to think that it has occurred as a result of the desires of CDI–an organization one would think would have Thoroughbred Racing's best interests at heart–leads me to wonder how much the industry, in general, is willing to fight for its survival.

The closing of Pompano last night was a sad story in its own right. But the closing of Arlington Park last September was, in this fan's opinion, an indelible stain on CDI's reputation as an industry leader and an example of how decoupling is already running rampant.

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The Week in Review: Harness Track’s Closing a Cautionary Tale For All of Racing

Covering the first ever night of racing at Pompano Park, which took place Feb. 4, 1964, Earl Straight of the Fort Lauderdale News had this to say: “Harness racing has arrived in Broward County and it is going to be with us for a long, long time.”

He wasn't stepping out on a limb. With almost no competition for the gambling dollar, all forms of horse racing were thriving back then and there was no reason to believe that Pompano would be an exception. It was supposed to be to harness racing what Gulfstream and Hialeah were to Thoroughbred racing, the wintertime capital of the sport. And, for a time, it was. A record was set in 1980 when a crowd of 18,451 packed the stands as Pompano pushed its way past dog racing and jai alai to become the favorite nighttime outlet for South Florida gamblers craving action.

Straight didn't exactly get it wrong. Pompano lasted for 58 years, but it's highly unlikely that back in 1964 he could have envisioned how harness racing in Florida would limp to the finish line in 2022. At a place like Pompano, racing hasn't mattered for years. It became all about the casino and when a bill was passed in May of 2021 that decoupled casino gaming and pari-mutuel betting at Pompano, the track's fate was sealed. Shortly thereafter, the owner, Caesars Entertainment, announced that racing would cease at the end of the 2022 meet. The last night of racing was Sunday.

“I wouldn't call it depression to talk about the ending of racing at Pompano, it's more like a funeral,” harness legend and Hall of Famer Wally Hennessey, who has stabled at Pompano every year since 1986, told harnesslink.com. “That's the way I feel. And that you can't control it.”

So, what does this have to do with Thoroughbred racing? Plenty. If it can happen to Pompano Park it can happen to any racetrack running any breed. The threat of decoupling is real and it's not going to go away. It is a huge and ominous threat.

Most every casino company that owns a racetrack doesn't want to be in the horse racing business, and most don't bother to hide their disdain for the sport. But existing laws in most states still require a casino to hold pari-mutuel racing in order to maintain their casino license.

That's not exactly the case in Florida. First, we saw Churchill Downs Inc. find a loophole in the law that allowed them to replace racing at Calder/Gulfstream Park West with a jai alai operation and still keep their casino. The other casino companies in the state kept lobbying for decoupling and last spring they won the battle and the war. A bill was passed that no longer required non-Thoroughbred pari-mutuel operations in the state to conduct racing in order to have a casino.

It is, of course, significant that the state's two Thoroughbred tracks, Gulfstream and Tampa Bay Downs, were not permitted to decouple. But neither track was a threat to do so. Tampa Bay Downs doesn't have a casino and Gulfstream's casino is not a big moneymaker. Plus, Gulfstream remains one of the most successful tracks in the sport and not at all a candidate to close down. But you can be certain that racino operators outside of Florida have watched the Pompano saga unfold. Caesars Entertainment has provided a how-to book when it comes to getting out of any obligation to hold racing and it's a blueprint others will no doubt try to follow. What state will be next?

The irony of the Pompano story is that from a handle perspective, the track has never done better. Track announcer and director of racing Gabe Prewitt wasn't going to let Pompano go away without a fight. Mainly through social medai channels, he began a relentless promotion of the racing product at Pompano. He created the #sendItInArmy, imploring harness fans to bet on Pompano. According to Harness Racing Update, from the track's inception in 1964 through 2014, there were just three instances of Pompano having a race card handle over $1 million. In 2021, handle exceeded $1 million 21 times and a record $1.7 million was bet on the closing-night card in 2021.

Pompano pulled out all stops Sunday, ending with a 19-race card and guaranteed pools on its Pick-4 bets. Hennessey was listed to drive in 14 races. At 65, remarkably, he is the leading driver at the track, entering the night with 100 wins on the season.

Sunday was the last ever night of harness racing at Pompano Park, but the casino forges ahead. It's not going anywhere and, in time, harness racing will be forgotten at a track that was once among the jewels of the sport.

What a shame.

Prat Off To Fast Start at Keeneland

In a Mar. 6 column, I questioned why Flavien Prat would want to leave Southern California, where he was the dominant rider in the colony. The thinking was that the competition was so stiff in New York and at Keeneland that Prat would descend to fourth or fifth in the standings at his new tracks behind stars like the Ortiz brothers, Luis Saez and Joel Rosario.

Seven days into the Keeneland meet, I can see that I got this one wrong. Prat will never dominate the standings in Kentucky and in New York like he did in California, but he's made it clear that he's not going to take a backseat to anyone. With nine winners from 37 mounts (24%) at the Keeneland meet, he is one behind meet leader Tyler Gaffalione and tied with Irad Ortiz, Jr. for second. He has three graded stakes wins at the meet, including the GI Madison S. and the GI Toyota Blue Grass S. aboard top GI Kentucky Derby contender Zandon (Upstart).

He's won three races for Brad Cox, two for Chad Brown and one for Todd Pletcher. One of the keys to whether or not Prat flourishes in New York will be how often he is given mounts by Brown. Brown has started 29 horses at Keeneland and nine have been ridden by Prat.

There are more race dates in New York than there are in California and the purses are considerably higher. Those are among the reasons he decided to come east. He also believes it will put him in a better position to win an Eclipse Award. He took a big chance leaving his comfort zone in California, but, so far, it looks like a good move.

A Huge Day at Keeneland

According to Equibase, wagering on U.S. races has increased by 1.09% on the year and dropped by 2.37% in March. It looks like it's going to be a year where handle is relatively stable, which is a bit of discouraging news after handle increased by 11.9% and topped $12 billion for the first time since 2009.

Yet, the premier tracks keep churning out big numbers. On Saturday, Keeneland set new records for handle in the Pick 4 and Pick 5. The Pick 4 handled $1,357,298 and $1,539,098 was bet on the Pick 5. The previous marks were set on days when the Blue Grass topped the card. And all-sources wagering for the 11-race card totaled $27,304,001, the second-highest single-day handle in Keeneland history. The record single-day handle of $28,137,728 was set during last Saturday's Blue Grass Day.

Yes, Keeneland is supposed to do those kinds of numbers on a Blue Grass Day, but not on any other day of the meet. It just goes to show you that when you combine good racing, big fields, innovative bets like the All Turf Pick 3 and reasonable takeouts the customers will respond.

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