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CONTENTS DEC. 2015 4
From The Publisher
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The Teaser
Topics that titillate the racing mind.
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Night School 200: Topical Reviews
Complete catalogue of topics from all 200 episodes.
Back to Night School
We take you behind the scenes of the first 200 episodes of our nationalfan education program.
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Clash of the Titans at Los Al
Denis Blake previews the AQHA’s Champion of Champions stakes.
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Meet Our Team: DC Dino Herrera
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Get toknow our Maryland handicapper for the BUZZ report.
Categorical and alphabetical listing of the hundreds of instructors.
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Night School 200: Our Guests
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Night School 200: Our Staff
Biographical sketches of the folks who have brought NS to life.
Galloping Out
JP isn’t clowning around when he explains why a lack of Bozos is a good thing.
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From the Publisher We recently concluded the fifth season of Night School, the racing industry’s national online fan education program, on Dec. 1. And while commemorating that fact in this issue may be a bit self-serving, the Night School program never has been about us – it’s about the horseplayers, present and future. The more we can package the info provided throughout the 200 past episodes, the more good it can do. So many have come along – even in season five – and mentioned they just learned about Night School. Our mission over the winter, while weekly ‘classes’ are not in session, is to make sure the brilliant and selfless contributions made my our hundreds of guest instructors gets maximum usage. Publications like this help shed light on what we’ve done and how to go about finding it for horseplayers. Barring any technological setbacks, expect Night School to return on the first Tuesday in March with our traditional seasonal kickoff. As always, keep track at our website Horseplayernow.com for updates and news about season six. - JP
Horse Player NOW Magazine Copyright 2015 Horse Player NOW All Rights Reseved
Editor, Publisher, Designer Jeremy Plonk Contributing Writers/Analysts Denis Blake Candice Hare Photography Chief Enzina Mastrippolito (Photosbyz) Contributing Photographers Keeneland American Quarter Horse Assoc. Los Alamitos Churchill Downs
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THE TEASER:
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From horses running in reverse Teaser, definition: A male to a Gabe Kaplanhorse used at breeding farms to determine whether esque reunion, a mare is ready to receive a stallion. Also, perhaps the eventually it will all most unfulfilling occupation in the universe. make sense. You Say ‘Tomato…’ What’s the difference if turf horses You’ve got to hand it to Woodbine race clockwise or counterEntertainment Group’s president clockwise? You say tomato…I say and chief executive officer Jim tomato. Lawson. He’s planning to ‘boldly go where no one has gone before!’ The Woodbine top suit figures the Actually, he wants to send adjustment will increase fan and Woodbine horses and jockeys bettor excitement. there. Next season, the track will offer 25 turf Okay. Why didn’t he Turn Turn races going in a say so in the first Right Right clockwise place? Yep, that’ll direction, which do it. Teaser can’t Turn Turn is counter to the tell you how often Right Right conventional horseplayers have counter-clockwise expressed a burning Turn Right desire to see North North American route. American horses race clockwise on turf. In fact, the next time I hear Got it? that request will be the first. To clarify: Next season Woodbine will run 25 turf races in a direction opposite to what they do now. Why? Good question.
According to a story in The Toronto Star, Lawson came up with the idea because the company wants “to promote and increase our turf
racing…the size of the fields are always bigger on the grass and there is a direct correlation to field size and wagering.” Which relates to running turf races in a different direction because…? That’s the kind of imaginative, outof-the-box thinking that has kept Thoroughbred racing prominent on sports pages since Colonial times. Now, if Woodbine would start two races on the turf course simultaneously — one going clockwise and the other counterclockwise — that just might ‘increase fan and bettor excitement.’ The track could offer a twin superfecta wager challenging players to predict the first four finishers in each direction. Another popular bet might simply involve correctly selecting horses capable of finishing the race at all. Welcome Back Neither is on par with Mister Kotter’s return to his Brooklyn high school roots, but jockeys Pat Valenzuela and Chantal Sutherland are on the comeback trail and
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might even share a starting gate sometime in the not-too-distant future. The former already is winning races at Fair Grounds in New Orleans and the latter is training for an imminent return to the saddle at either Los Alamitos or Santa Anita in Southern California. Valenzuela’s ultimate goal is to return to race riding in California. It’s home and the place where he’s most likely to have an owner or trainer engage him on a ‘good’ horse. But, before that happens, Valenzuela must prove himself dependable at a track in another state. Valenzuela had not ridden since early in 2014 when he blew off an appointment with Santa Anita stewards over charges that he failed to fulfill a riding agreement. The disappearing act is something Valenzuela has perfected over the years. Teaser doesn’t know how you could look it up, but I’ll wager my case $20 that no rider in the history of the sport has failed to show up for better mounts in better races than Pat Valenzuela. Gotta hand it to P Val, though, the
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man didn’t merely duck out on 501 shots in the day’s final race; he went MIA for potential equine and human Hall-of-Fame candidates in Grade 1 races several times!
Sutherland, 39. Still, by the time he was Chantal’s age, Valenzuela already had made more comebacks than Brett Farve and George Foreman…combined.
Simultaneously, no rider ever has engineered as many legitimate comebacks as P Val. And there’s good reason for that. He’s one of the most naturally talented jockeys to ever spread-eagle over a Thoroughbred. Horses run for him! And that’s the greatest compliment you can give a jockey.
This will be Sutherland’s second retirement re-boot. She first said ‘adios’ in October 2012 and then returned to the saddle in June 2013. That tour lasted about a year and then she was gone by July 2014. She’s been on the shelf for over a year, but the jock says she’s been thinking about returning to the saddle for at least six months.
Sutherland can’t claim similarly natural gifts. However, she does rank as one of the most popular female jockeys ever. She enjoyed a prosperous career in her native Canada at Woodbine et al, but her most notable riding successes, including three Grade 1 tallies for Hall-of-Fame trainer Bob Baffert, came aboard Game On Dude in Southern California. Both riders are familiar with the art of the rebound, but Valenzuela may have perfected the process. To be fair, Valenzuela, 52, has a chronological edge over
It’s easy to understand why retired jockeys miss the saddle. At heart, they’re professional athletes and have a requisite yearn to compete. Few endeavors are likely to adequately feed that beast. Plus, paychecks for finishing first in the afternoon ain’t too shabby. Now, if someone will just convince Rosie Napravnik that motherhood ain’t all it’s cracked up to be, then we’ll have something.
– THE TEASER
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This month we take a trip Back to Night School – and we do mean all the way back. With the Dec. 1 Season Five finale completed, the national online fan education program now has reached a historic 200 episodes milestone. We celebrate the history of the program on the pages to come and give you some behind-thescenes insight to its being.
February 21, 2011 marked the official launch of the Night School program, the horse racing industry’s first national online venture of its kind. What made Night School special – and the reason why it has lasted now some five seasons and 200plus lessons – was its humble independence and ability to attract cooperation.
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Nightschool.com or an offshoot of that name does not exist for a reason. When program creators Jeremy Plonk and Joe Kristufek devised a strategy for the fledgling concept, one key element was to avoid any confrontation among the racing industry. Herding the cats, as they say, can be tough in any field. But in horse racing, there’s a competitive nature between companies who often should be working together. What’s in it for me? What are you making out of this at my expense? Those often are the first hurdles to scale in doing business with horse racing’s many factions. Early support for the concept came from Keeneland’s visionary president at the time, Nick Nicholson. He pledged to support the program with sponsorship dollars, seeing its worth and future. But as important as the financial commitment, Nicholson offered to
lend his and his company’s name to the pitch. “Tell everyone that Keeneland is behind it,” he suggested. Immediately, interest piqued in places where doors prior had seemed unfortunately closed. Trey Buck, racing director for the American Quarter Horse Association, also saw the vision. The AQHA already had a fan education program in the works and saw a trailblazing opportunity to land cross-over appeal in the Thoroughbred marketplace. The long-time supporters of Horse Player NOW jumped into the Night School concept and soon would be followed by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association. Once the NTRA’s Keith Chamblin caught the fever and concept, he
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and Buck became instrumental factors in helping Night School build a syndicated lineup of websites. Instead of butting heads with the ‘who gets what’ that often bogs down deals in horse racing, Horse Player NOW decided to offer the Night School live chats to any NTRA and AQHA member’s website in the spirit of cooperation. Consider it a perk of membership, we reasoned and offered. Those organization leaders agreed. Chamblin, Buck, Plonk and Kristufek soon combined contacts and confirmations and a syndicated website list of more than 40 industry websites were on board – including all of the big hitters. Other sponsors soon joined and the program had the kind of support it needed to become a season-long reality.
We’ve never charged a single student one penny to attend Night School. And, here we are, five seasons later, and still going strong. That’s because the operation is run like a business – true to its sales goals, budget and ability to produce quality programming within its means. Too many pie-in-the-sky initiatives start fast and flounder because there is no business structure behind them. Just like betting the races, it’s amazing how different you play the game when there’s real money on the line and real winners and losers. Night School debuted as a live chat format in 2011 utilizing the Cover It Live software employed by many of the world’s top news and sports agencies online. The interactive capabilities of Cover It Live were discovered by Plonk while following a conference basketball tournament in 2010.
Did You Know?: Night School premiered as a six-lesson pilot on the Arlington Park and Horse Player NOW websites in 2010, a season before going national. The first pilot topic? ‘Approaching a Day at the Races’ with Jeremy Plonk, Joe Kristufek & Arlington’s Dave Zenner.
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Plonk immediately became fascinated with the ability to converse with the beat reporter sitting courtside during the game and began to conceive ways to incorporate the format to horse racing, a pastime where mentorship used to only include a relative or friend taking you to the track. The utilization of the live chat subscription morphed into the industry’s first-ever live racing chats, which exploded the Horse Player NOW name with many top racing brand names and websites. In addition to the live chats, Night School streamed recorded audio and video interview clips into the weekly programs the first two seasons to supplement the learning experience. Most were gathered in the field while attending major events on the racing calendar and banked for future class use. By season three, we experimented with an eightlesson bonus format of live radio simulcasts with SiriusXM’s “At the
Races with Steve Byk.” The popularity of those eight shows in 2013 drove the interest for more live radio lessons, which allowed guest horsemen and experts an easier chance to share their knowledge in an interview setting rather than typing into the live chat. By 2014, the SiriusXM simulcasts grew to 24 of the 40 weekly lessons and remained that way for the 2015 schedule as well. Night School also has included some full-length video feature lessons, including a popular minidocumentary shot at the home of handicapping legend Andy Beyer, which aired in 2012; an in-depth visual handicapping onsite video hosted by Caton Bredar and others; as well as an 80th birthday tribute to Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas in 2015.
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Meanwhile, the program has continued to maintain its humble independence and cooperation. The number of syndicate sites continues to boast nearly every major North American racing outpost on the internet, and more than 500 guest appearances have made the lessons a true representation from all corners of the industry. Executives, jockeys, trainers, owners, breeders, bloodstock agents, television personalities, celebrities and most importantly – hundreds of noted horseplayers – all have leant their expertise as guest instructors. We’ll share each and every one in the pages to come. Many have asked, “Why Tuesday nights?” The reason goes back to that same spirit of cooperation in the initial planning. Asking racetracks to put a program on their websites at a time when live racing is going on would be in
direct competition with their wagering. That said, Monday and Tuesday evening provided the least amount of overlap with live racing. Season one of Night School, you may recall, actually took place on Monday nights. After that first autumn of missing Monday Night Football opening halves, we decided in season two to change to Tuesdays. The program has run continuously on Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. ET ever since. It’s become part of the weekly horse racing fabric. And with the societal change to on-demand audio and video, DVRs, podcasts and the like, over the years the number of Night School attendees has flipped from a once-larger live audience to a more convenience-based audience that prefers to access the free archives and take part at their own leisure.
Did You Know?: The identity of the Night School ‘Dean’ was kept secret until the 100th episode, when Jerry Shottenkirk was revealed. It provided a fun back-and-forth between classmates and hosts trying to pin down the program’s moderator.
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Night School’s success and impact has drawn the attention of potential business suitors, perhaps the greatest form of flattery. A major racing media outlet attempted to purchase it outright, while a high-profile organization inquired about rebranding and relocating the program. Each time, the decision was to keep Night School as is, because it felt right at the time and has proven correct over time. It’s that same humble independence and cooperation that launched the program that continues to sustain its success. Replicating that elsewhere seems a longshot. The Night School brand also has branched out with dozens of on-track appearances at some of the
sport’s most important events. We’ve appeared at the Triple Crown, Breeders’ Cup, Queen’s Plate, Hambletonian and more. Del Mar and Saratoga summers aren’t a bad travel log, much less Haskell Day at Monmouth. But the interest from smaller tracks also has been a surprising boost to the program. Whether it be an appearance at Presque Isle or Indiana Downs, Mountaineer or Mohawk, it’s been a great blessing to get out and meet the fans and horseplayers who make the game go.
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By planes, trains and automobiles, we’ve made our way‌including a 2,700-mile Plonk family roadtrip back to his racing roots at Remington Park for the 2013 Oklahoma Derby. The Maryland Jockey Club honored Horse Player NOW with
the Preakness Special Award of Merit for its efforts serving racing both online and on-track with programs like Night School and its on-track tour. The 2013 award followed an amazing list of recipients that we were humbled to join, including Jim McKay, Dr. Dean Richardson and Joe Hirsch.
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OUR GUESTS More than 500 guest appearances have been made in Night School since our debut. Whether visiting via live chat, radio interview or on video, we’ve been blessed to have the best of the best take part. Some guests have made multiple appearances over the years as experts on a particular subject or across varying topics of application. The participation of the guest instructors has been both flattering and phenomenal and critical to the program’s success. Barring an occasional time conflict, our rate of securing guests has been more than 99 percent all-time with truly only a handful of offers to appear refused. The want and interest in sharing this great handicapping pursuit has been on full display by the literally hundreds of guest instructors willing to take part.
Horseplayers and handicappers comprise the biggest sector of Night School guest instructors, and for good reason. The goal of the program has been to increase consumer confidence in the wagering experience. Occasionally we’ll tackle industry subject matters that invite racing officials, marketers and media members in for perspective. But the gist of the 40-week lineup each season consists of 35 or more lessons aimed at improving the handicapping and wagering experience. Hawthorne racing analyst Jim Miller and NTRA president Alex Waldrop were our first guests in program history as we launched Feb. 21, 2011 with the topic “21st Century Handicapping.” They joined co-hosts Jeremy Plonk, Joe Kristufek, Caton Bredar and Jill Byrne.
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Guest instructors in the live chat or via radio and video who have made the most appearances in the first five seasons include Bob Neumeier of NBC Sports and Horse Player NOW and Ed DeRosa of BRIS and Twin Spires. Below we count them all down by groupings. Agents Ron Anderson John DeSantis Doug Salvatore
Walter Blum, Jr. Doug Bredar Penny Fitch-Heyes Steve Leving
Animal Activists / Horse Rescues Erin Crady Bo Derek Anna Ford Kim Zito
Sue Finley
Announcers Kurt Becker Dale Day Dave Johnson Frank Mirahmadi Dave Rodman
Ed Burgart Tom Durkin Mark Johnson Sam McKee Don Stevens
Larry Collmus Peter Galassi Ed Meyer Bobby Neuman Ken Warkentin
Bloodstock Tony Cobitz
Sid Fernando
Kelly Reilly
David Miller
Steve Peery
Donald Harris Mike Welsch
Billy Pettingill Gary Young
Chart Callers Keith Feustle Chuck Scaravilli Clockers Bruno DeJulio Toby Turrell
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Handicappers / Horseplayers Jimmy ‘The Hat’ Allard Johnny Avello Alan Benewitz Matt Bernier Michael Beychok Denis Blake Tim Bojarski Simon Bray Dave Brower Jerry Brown Gibson Carothers Matt Carothers Roger Cettina Martha Claussen Steven Crist Mike Cusortelli James Dickson John Doyle Brad Free Len Friedman Gabby Gaudett Katie Gensler Christian Hellmers Angela Hermann Marcus Hersh Kurt Hoover Dick Jerardi Joanne Jones Rene Kierans Jonathon Kinchen Michael Kipness Chris Kotulak Chris Larmey Johnny Love Peter Lurie Duke Matties Jim Mazur Marty McGee Barry Meadow Seth Merrow Brian Nadeau Jeff Nahill Les Onaka Mark Patterson Rich Perloff Jeff Platt Liz Price Gabe Prewitt Andy Serling Jerry Shottenkirk Nick Tammaro Terry Turrell Aaron Vercruysse Chris Wade Maggie Wolfendale Maury Wolff Darrin Zoccali
Mike Battaglia Andy Beyer Jason Blewitt Caton Bredar Jill Byrne Frank Carulli Mark Cramer Pete Denk Richard Eng Ross Gallo Scott Hazelton John Hernandez Dan Illman Tom Kelley Byron King Joe Kristufek Dawn Lupul Paul Matties Rachel McLaughlin Jim Miller Bob Neumeier Jen Perkins Jeremy Plonk James Scully Jeff Siegel Brian W. Spencer Jon White Michelle Yu
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Jockeys / Drivers / Exercise Riders Jerry Bailey Millie Ball-Yakteen Calvin Borel Joe Bravo Donna Brothers Zoe Cadman G.R. Carter, Jr. Kent Desormeaux Brian Hernandez Cody Jensen Julien Leparoux Richard Migliore Corey Nakatani Sheldon Russell Chantal Sutherland John Velazquez
Tony Black Shaun Bridgmohan John Campbell Malcolm Franklin Corey Lanerie Marcus Miller Mike Smith
Marketing / Public Relations Professionals Chris Barr Jeremy Clemons Pat Cummings Jonathan Fowler Ed De Rosa Mike Gathagan Justin Horowitz Merv Huber Matt Jukich Lucky Kalanges Will Mayer Walker McBride Mandy Minger Jim Mulvihill Rhonda Norby George Ortuzar Molly Jo Rosen Peter Rotondo Dave Siegel Dan Silver John Siscos Mike Tanner Jeff True Jason Wilson Eric Wing Dave Zenner Erich Zimny Officials/Executives George Berry John Asher Ron Couturier Tom Chuckas Alan Foreman Moira Fanning Peter Koch Ken Kirchner Mark Midland Dan Metzger Tim Ritvo Jamie Richardson Alex Waldrop Tom Thornbury Mike Ziegler
Keith Chamblin Bob Elliston C.J. Johnsen David Longinotti Doug Reed Jeff Tebow Scott Wells
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Owners / Racing Managers Patricia Chapman Terry Finley Maggi Moss Ron Paolucci Ken Ramsey Satish Sanan Ed Stanko Elliott Walden
Barry Irwin Mike Pegram Denis Savard
Television / Radio Personalities Steve Byk Bob Costas Jeannine Edwards Josh Elliott Hank Goldberg Tom Hammond Nick Luck Ron Magers Eddie Olcyzk Mike Penna
Tom Dawson Jude Feld Tom Leach Randy Moss Kenny Rice
Trainers Tom Amoss Richard Budge Wayne Catalano Ron Ellis Steve Hobby D. Wayne Lukas Kiaran McLaughlin Michelle Nihei Woodberry Payne Tom Proctor John Sadler Linda Toscano
Monty Arrossa Ron Burke Chris Block Kellyn Gorder Paul Jones Richard Mandella Graham Motion Larry Rivelli Ben Perkins, Jr. Kathy Ritvo Dallas Stewart Ian Wilkes
Bob Baffert Mark Casse Bret Calhoun Amanda Hadley Charlie LoPresti Kenny McPeek Bill Mott Doug O’Neill Todd Pletcher Dale Romans Michael Stidham Nick Zito
Turf Writers Jerry Bossert Jean Chodzinski David Grening Tom Lamarra Jennie Rees
T.J. Burkett Bill Finley Steve Haskin John Pricci Gary West
Sean Clancy Pete Fornatale Alicia Wincze-Hughes Jay Privman Brian Zipse
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We’ve been fortunate to associate ourselves with folks as talented as they are passionate about horse racing. And it shows every week. Here’s a look at the people behind the program at its various stages. Caton Bredar: One of the most respected and recognized television racing analysts of her time, Caton Bredar joined the Horse Player NOW team in January 2011 just prior to the launch of Night School. She’s been a co-host all five seasons both in the live chat and on the radio streams. Caton’s video work with the Night School program has been extremely helpful in areas such as visual handicapping, lending her expertise as a horsewoman. She also has been an instrumental member of the Night School Tour traveling troupe at racetracks across North America. The granddaughter of Hall of Fame jockey Teddy Atkinson and wife of respected former racing official and current jockey agent Doug Bredar, Caton has been the face of television racing networks TVG and HRTV. She also served as reporter for ESPN during its coverage of the Breeders’ Cup and much more. Steve Byk: Host of the racing industry’s premier daily radio news program “At the Races with Steve Byk,” the popular SiriusXM personality matched forces with Night School for the first time in 2013. A fixture to co-hosting Night School programs the past three seasons, Byk helps book guests each week with his wide array of industry contacts and relationships. Byk, a Thoroughbred racehorse owner through his Dee Tee Stables, launched the online forum Derbytrial.com in 2003, joined SiriusXM in 2005 and has owned and hosted “At the Races with Steve Byk” since ’07. He’s also a member of the NTRA’s Horseplayers’ Coalition Advisory Panel.
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Jill Byrne: A frequent co-host of Night School during its first two seasons, Byrne remains one of the program’s most sought-after guest instructors. Racing analyst, online editor and handicapper for Churchill Downs since 2008, she gained national prominence as an analyst for TVG prior. An accomplished horsewoman, she was exercise rider for 1997 Horse of the Year Favorite Trick and champion 2-year-old filly Contess Diana, both trained by her former husband, Patrick Byrne. She also galloped horses for her father, Peter Howe, and served as his assistant trainer. Casey Ghee: Audio engineer for “At the Races with Steve Byk,” Casey began producing Night School programs with our move to radio in 2013 and continued on in seasons four and five. He is the owner of Uptown Mixing Labs, a Florida-based audio production studio that also provides engineering for National Public Radio. He’s the “voice of the party” having voiced and produced hundreds of commercials for the South Florida club scene. Joe Kristufek: Co-founder of the Night School program and co-host for the 2011-’13 seasons, Kristufek has been a leader in fan education initiatives throughout the racing industry. The longtime simulcast paddock host and morning line maker has worked for tracks like Arlington, Hawthorne, Rockingham Park, Hoosier Park, Indiana Downs, Kentucky Downs and most recently Churchill Downs. Kristufek also has been a Chicago-area public handicapper with the Daily Herald for more than a decade and a contributor to America’s Best Racing. While with Horse Player NOW, Kristufek made a great contribution to the video production of Night School as well as the Night School Tour events.
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Jeremy Plonk: Owner and founder of Horse Player NOW, Plonk co-founded Night School along with Joe Krustufek in 2010 and launched the program nationally a year later. Plonk spent 10 years as a featured columnist at ESPN.com and was editor of The HorsePlayer Magazine from 2004-’08 before taking on his own business ventures. His vast racetrack experiences include television analyst, Equibase chart caller, OTB mutuels management and turf writer. Plonk has been the lead statistician for NBC Sports horse racing coverage since 2003 and held the same role for ESPN. He has been a statistical consultant for Keeneland, Del Mar and Oaklawn Park. An award-winning sports writer who covered college football and basketball before moving to a career in racing in 1994, he has interviewed Heisman Trophy winners, Hall of Fame coaches/players and heavyweight boxing champions while credentialed by the NCAA, Major League Baseball and National Basketball Association. Jerry Shottenkirk: “The Dean” of Night School, Shottenkirk has moderated every season of the program since its inception. As moderator, he filters and approves all interactions between the students and instructors and keeps the flow of the live chat consistent and smooth. That production includes all commercial messaging, but more importantly a social interaction with the students that makes Night School personable. Shottenkirk has worked over four decades as an award-winning turf writer and handicapper, entering the industry in 1978. The former Daily Racing Form turf writer moved to Remington Park in Oklahoma City in 1988 and was the beat reporter for The Daily Oklahoman for more than two decades. He serves as official AQHA line maker and handicapper at Remington Park and joined Horse Player NOW in 2010. Additional Night School video production thanks to Dan Kristufek, Tim Brannan, Melanie Wignall and Candice Hare.
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Where We Have Taught Arlington Park Belmont Park Colonial Downs Del Mar Fair Grounds Gulfstream Park Hawthorne Indiana Downs Keeneland Kentucky Downs Laurel Park Meadowlands Mohawk Raceway Monmouth Park Mountaineer Park Parx Pimlico Prairie Meadows Presque Isle Downs Remington Park Santa Anita Saratoga Woodbine
Past Tour Fan Educators Tim Brannan Jill Byrne Caton Bredar Pete Denk James Dickson Katie Gensler Brandi Goode Tom Kelley Dan Kristufek Joe Kristufek Brian Nadeau Jeff Nahill Dan Perdziak Jeremy Plonk Jerry Shottenkirk Brian W. Spencer Erin Thompson Terry Turrell Katherine Wheeler
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Night School would not be possible if not for great sponsor support over the years. AQHA Arlington Park Bet America Breeders’ Cup BRIS Churchill Downs, Inc. Daily Racing Form Hawthorne HRTV Keeneland Keeneland Select Meadowlands Midwest Thorougbreds Monmouth Park Mountaineer NTRA Remington Park Rivelli Racing Stable Santa Anita The Stronach Group Trakus Twinspires USTA University of Arizona RTIP West Point Thoroughbreds Woodbine Entertainment
A special salute to the companies whose entities have backed the program all 5 seasons:
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Season 1 Review
2011
1 – 21st Century Handicapping 2 – Class Handicapping 3 – Pace Handicapping 4 – Trip Handicapping 5 – Track Bias 6 – Workouts 7 – Synthetic Surfaces 8 – Physicality/Visuals 9 – Trainer Intent 10 – Jockey Handicapping 11 – Kentucky Derby Seminar 12 – Win & Exacta Wagering 13 – Trifecta & Superfecta Wagers 14 – Ownership 15 – Multi-Race Wagers 16 – Breaking Into the Industry 17 – Pick Six Wagering 18 – AQHA Racing / Trials 19 – Turf Handicapping 20 – Boutique Meets
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– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Handicapping 2-Year-Olds Approaching a Day at Races European Handicapping Money Management Handicapping Tournaments On-Track Experience Racehorse Retirement Pedigrees Sales/Auctions Conditions & Class Racing Office/Jockey Agents Handicapping Maidens Speed Figures Morning Line Other People’s Picks Racing Media Winter Racing AQHA Handicapping Using Technology Announcers/Chart Callers
Did You Know?: Horse Player NOW and Night School offer more than 200 free videos on our Youtube channel (Youtube.com/horseplayernow). We have had more than a quarter-million views on Youtube and have been seen an additional, estimated 1.5 million times within our Cover It Live chat modules live and via the archives.
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Season 2 Review
2012
1 – Countdown to the Crown 2 – Newbie Tuesdays March 3 – Class Handicapping 4 – Pace & Track Bias 5 – Speed Figures 6 – Newbie Tuesdays April 7 – Trip Handicapping 8 – Handicapping Races A to Z 9 – Physicality & Visuals 10 – Newbie Tuesdays May 11 – Kentucky Derby Seminar 12 – Money Management 13 – Intra-Race Wagering 14 – Preakness seminar 15 – Multi-Race Wagering 16 – Pick Six Wagering 17 – Newbie Tuesdays June 18 – Belmont Stakes seminar 19 – Trainers 20 – Jockeys
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– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Horse Ownership/Retirement Newbie Tuesdays July Handicapping Tournaments Boutique Meets Workouts Handicapping 2YOs/Maidens Newbie Tuesdays August Turf Handicapping Why I Love This Game AQHA Handicapping Newbie Tuesdays August Racing’s Town Hall Meeting Careers in Racing Synthetic Surfaces Newbie Tuesdays September Understanding Pools & Odds Other People’s Picks Handicapping Shippers Breeders’ Cup Seminar Fan’s Choice: Stars of Racing
Did You Know?: 16 Kentucky Derby winners have appeared in Night School live chats, videos or radio sessions – Mike Pegram, Elliott Walden of WinStar Farm, Barry Irwin of Team Valor and Patricia Chapman of Someday Farm (owners); D. Wayne Lukas, Bob Baffert, Graham Motion, Doug O’Neill, Todd Pletcher and Nick Zito (trainers); Gary Stevens, Mike Smith, Jerry Bailey, Calvin Borel, Kent Desormeaux and John Velazquez (jockeys).
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Season 3 Review
2013
1 – Intro to Night School 2 – Countdown to the Crown 3 – Handicapping Races A to Z 4 – Wagering Theories/$ Mgt. 5 – Class & Conditions 6 – Handicapping Theories 7 – Trip Handicapping 8 – Online (ADW) Wagering 9 – Kentucky Derby Seminar 10 – Psychology of a Horseplayer 11 – Preakness Seminar 12 – Jockeys, Agents, Drivers 13 – Clockers & Workouts 14 – Belmont Stakes Seminar 15 – Speed Figures 16 – Newbie Handicapping 17 – Newbie Wagering 18 – Betting the Toteboard 19 – Developing Young Horses 20 – Boutique Meets
21 – Haskell/Hambletonian Preview 22 – Trainers 23 – Evaluating Imports 24 – Turf Handcapping 25 – Handicapping Stakes Races 26 – AQHA Handicapping 27 – Physicality/Visuals 28 – Small Circuit Handicapping 29 – Harness Handicapping 30 – Pedigree, Sales, Ownership 31 – Why I Love This Game 32 – Horses for Courses 33 – Breeders’ Crown Seminar 34 – Stars of the Game 35 – Breeders’ Cup Seminar 36 – AQHA Challenge Seminar 37 – Handicapping Tournaments 38 – Racing’s Town Hall Meeting 39 – Year in Review 40 – Fan’s Choice: Swinging for Big Hit
Did You Know?: More than 100,000 comments/questions have been submitted by Night Schoolers during the live programs alone. That adds up to 1 every 10.8 seconds throughout the program’s history.
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Season 4 Review
2014
1 – Opening Night 2014 2 – Preparing For Day at Races 3 – Key Past Performance Ingredients 4 – Speed Figures 5 – Turf & Synthetic Handicapping 6 – Psychology of the Horseplayer 7 – Money Management 8 – Clockers & Workouts 9 – Kentucky Derby Seminar 10 – Cultivating Newbies 11 – Preakness Seminar 12 – Trainers 13 – Jockeys 14 – Belmont Stakes Seminar 15 – Live Racing: Newbie Tuesday 16 – Live Racing: Money Mgt. 17 – Live Racing: Class/Conditions 18 – Live Racing: Pace Analysis 19 – Live Racing: Numbers & Stats 20 – Live Racing: H’capping Angles
21 – Live Racing: Marking PPs 22 – Live Racing: Pedigrees 23 – Live Racing: TV Analysts 24 – Live Racing: Visuals 25 – Live Racing: Toteboard Clues 26 – Live Racing: Race Watching 27 – Trip Handicapping 28 – Sheets Handicapping 29 – Pedigrees 30 – Evaluating Layoff Horses 31 – Handicapping Stakes Races 32 – Racing’s Town Hall Meeting 33 – AQHA Challenge Seminar 34 – Identifying Key Races 35 – Breeders’ Cup Seminar 36 – Election Night Polling 37 – Handicapping Tournaments 38 – Dealing w/ Slumps, Bad Beats 39 – Online (ADW) Wagering 40 – Fan’s Choice: Public ‘Cappers
Did You Know?: Night School divided into 3 semesters for the first time in 2014, and included a live racing/handicapping summer season in conjunction with Mountaineer Casino Racetrack and Resort. Topics were put into focus each week in the live racing environment, while utilizing free video streaming and BRIS past performances as learning tools.
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Season 5 Review
2015
1 – First Things To Look At 2 – Jockey Angles 3 – Trainer Angles / Form Cycles 4 – Trainer Stats 5 – Pace Handicapping 6 – Psychology of the Horseplayer 7 – Small Bankroll Betting 8 – Large Bankroll Betting 9 – Kentucky Derby Seminar 10 – When To Bet More … Less 11 – Preakness Seminar 12 – Track Bias 13 – Racing From the Outside 14 – Belmont Stakes Seminar 15 – Live Racing: The Basics 16 – Live Racing: Bet Types 17 – Live Racing: Race Shapes 18 – Live Racing: Jockey/Trainer 19 – Live Racing: Fitting Conditions 20 – Live Racing: Public ‘Cappers
21 – Live Racing: Notes/Bet-Backs 22 – Live Racing: Marking PPs 23 – Live Racing: Budgets 24 – Live Racing: Visuals 25 – Live Racing: Toteboard Clues 26 – Live Racing: Applying Bias 27 – D. Wayne Lukas at 80 28 – Speed Figures/Sheets Angles 29 – Timing, Fractions, Run-Ups 30 – Trip Handicapping 31 – Posts, Ground Loss, Rail Pos. 32 – Discipline Techniques 33 – Determining What Is Value 34 – Handicapping Tournaments 35 – Breeders’ Cup Seminar 36 – Election Night Polling 37 – Racing’s Town Hall Meeting 38 – Workouts 39 – Small Circuit Handicapping 40 – Fan’s Choice: Future Wagers
Did You Know?: Horse Player NOW’s online fan interactions in 2015 totaled more than 20 million user engagement minutes as tracked by Cover It Live software. That comes out to a staggering 333,333 hours teaching the game directly from us to you.
Clash of the Titans at Los Alamitos
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Champion of Champions should more than live up to its name this year By Denis Blake In this age of instant gratification and over promotion, sporting events are often hyped to the extreme—it seems like we have a “fight of the century” every year or two and college football somehow manages to have a “game of the decade” a few times each season. But there is one sporting event that truly does live up to its rather boastful name and indeed has for more than 40 years: the Champion of Champions at Los Alamitos. For this year’s running of the Grade 1, $600,000 event at 440 yards, the name might even be a little understated, as with a stellar field set to enter the gate it could be called the Super Champion of Champions.
First, a little history about this race for those who might not follow American Quarter Horse racing closely. The first Champion of Champions was held in 1972, and in only eight years the original $50,000 purse had quadrupled to $200,000 and the early list of winners already included legends like Mr Jet Moore, Charger Bar, Easy Date and Dash For Cash, who won the race in 1976 and ’77. The race’s stature continued to grow through the 1980s as First Down Dash ended his brilliant career with a triumph in the 1987 edition, and in the early 1990s Refrigerator became the only three-time winner of the event. Tailor Fit made history as the only horse to win the quarter-mile dash in two decades with victories in 1999 and 2001, with the latter
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coming for a purse 10 times the original offering. In recent years, Apollitical Jess smashed the track record with a :20.939 clocking in 2010, and in 2012 the ageless Rylees Boy scored an upset as a 7-year-old, the oldest horse to ever win the race.
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2015 running, which looks to be one for the ages.
The qualifying format awards berths for wins in the premier older horse stakes at Los Alamitos in addition to spots awarded through Grade 1 races in other states, including the Remington Park Championship in Oklahoma City, All American Derby at New Mexico’s Last year’s Ruidoso Downs running ended and Bank of The qualifying format awards berths America up being cancelled, with Challenge for wins in the premier older horse Los Alamitos Championship, stakes at Los Alamitos in addition owner Dr. Ed which this year to spots awarded through Grade 1 Allred citing was held at Lone races in other states ... concerns about Star Park in clenbuterol. That Texas. medication, a bronchodilator that has a legitimate use to treat horses The final berths, including those with breathing difficulties, can also that reverted due to the have a performance-enhancing connections of a horse declining effect when used outside of the because of injury, retirement or label instructions. other racing plans, came through the Z. Wayne Griffin Directors Trial held November 15 at Los Alamitos. Los Alamitos now conducts hair testing for clenbuterol and other medications in major stakes and While the final field is not quite set random overnight races. In 2016, as of a press time, we can take a clenbuterol will be tested for closer look at the top contenders, through hair testing in AQHA’s including those with a big chance Bank of America Racing Challenge to lock up world champion honors races, very similar to Los Alamitos’ with a win, something that has program. With that out of the way, been done 27 times in the 42-year we can turn our attention to the history of this race.
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The probable morning line favorite is Moonist, a win machine who has captured 20 of 29 starts, all at Los Alamitos. This will be the 4-yearold gelding’s toughest test to date and he occasionally does make costly mistakes coming out of the gate, but he is the #1 ranked horse in the AQHA RacingHorseplayernow.com National Poll for good reason. A win would be a signature moment in his already epic career and make Moonist (pic below) a lock for the world champion title. already proved to be heads above the West Coast’s sophomore crop and this late in the year age should not be a major factor, as American Pharoah proved by defeating his elders in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
As impressive as Moonist’s record is, he can’t match the win percentage of Heza Dasha Fire (right), who has tasted defeat just once in 11 career starts, racing only at the Orange County oval. This will be the 3-year-old’s first start against older horses, but he
Sixteen 3-year-olds have won the Champion of Champions, and a victory by Heza Dasha Fire is likely to propel him to world champion honors over Moonist. Louisiana-bred Dashin Brown Streak will be making his first career start at Los Alamitos, but the well-traveled gelding had two powerful wins at Remington Park. His regular rider is 10-time AQHA
Champion Jockey G.R. Carter Jr., who has announced his retirement at the end of this year and would love to go out with a win in one of the sport’s most prestigious races. The 4-year-old Quirky has dominated the distaff ranks at Los Alamitos this season with four stakes wins in as many starts. She figures to be overlooked here despite that success, though it should be noted she scored easily in her last start against male horses in the Grade 1 Southern California Derby in 2014 and fillies and mares have won this race 12 times in the past. Far Niente has 2 wins in 6 outs this year, though one of those came against Moonist when that foe broke slow in the Vessels Maturity. The wildcard is Daytona B, whose connections were still on the fence about whether to send the Texasbred son of First Down Dash to California as of press time. The gelding destroyed the field in the Bank of America Challenge Championship, and a repeat of that effort would put him in the mix. Among those who advanced from the Z. Wayne Griffin Trial, Rock
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G1 * $600,000 * 440 Yards Dec. 12, 2015 at Los Alamitos Favorites 18 of 42. Ages of winners: 3-year-old 16 4-year-old 16 5-year-old 5 6-year-old 4 7-year-old 1 Sex of winners: 3YO colt/gelding 9 3YO filly 7 Older mare 5 Older stallion 4 Older gelding 17 You, winner of the G1 All American Gold Cup this summer at Ruidoso, and Seperate Interest, a veteran with nearly $500,000 in earnings making his last start before retiring to stud, appear to have the best chances to make an impact. You can find more info on the AQHA Racing website, including analysis from the Wrangler Racing Aces, at aqha.com/racing. Denis Blake is one of the AQHA’s Wrangler Racing Aces and is also editor of American Racehorse and The Horsemen’s Journal magazines.
CONGRATULATIONS TO LIAM’S MAP – 2015 BREEDERS’ CUP DIRT MILE WINNER ST. ELIAS STABLES & WEST POINT THOROUGHBREDS, OWNERS [Cite your source here.]
From the fans and horseplayers in Night School!
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MEET OUR TEAM: DC DINO HERRERA
Editor’s Note: We continue a season-long series spotlighting the members of the Horse Player NOW staff by introducing you to DC Dino Herrera. Some folks use retirement to pick up a new hobby. DC Dino Herrera instead turned to an old hobby and made it a new venture upon retirement – handicapping the horses. Herrera joined the Horse Player NOW BUZZ team in 2014 after a long career in the engineering sector. He covers the Maryland racing circuit year-round for the report, just one of the many locales around the country in which he has called home. An occasional contest player when he has time, Herrera has been a Top 55 finisher at the DRF/NTRA National Handicapping Championship, and in 2015 has enjoyed much success in online tournaments. He finished in the Top 10 of the Xpressbet Dime-aDay contest for Saratoga after
leading most of the summer, and on Nov. 21 he took down the top prize in the Horsetourneys.com $25,000 contest. The New Mexico native has been a horseplayer since his youth, cutting his teeth at the local tracks, such as Santa Fe Downs, the Downs at Albuquerque and Ruidoso Downs.
A proud graduate of New Mexico State University with a degree in civil engineering, his career took him across the country and he picked up the regional racing in places like California and Maryland (for 12 years) along the way. Dino’s affinity for Maryland racing shows as he cites veteran sprint star Ben’s Cat as his favorite horse (along with Summer Front, who helped him land a big score). Young Maryland-based conditioner Dylan Smith, who took over the stable of the late Richard W. Small upon his passing, is Herrera’s favorite trainer after getting to know her. But it’s his New Mexico roots where he leans for his favorite jockey, Garrett Gomez. Herrera was a fan of Louie Gomez, Garrett’s father, and has followed the family for decades. Dino’s favorite race is the 1987 Travers Stakes, won by Java Gold,
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who defeated a field that included Alysheba, Bet Twice, Polish Navy, Gulch and Cryptoclearance. In addition to some extra time to handicap in his retirement, Herrera also has taken advantage of family time. He and his wife, Maryfrances, attended their first Kentucky Derby in 2015, adding to the eight trips they’ve made to the Preakness. Ventures to Gulfstream, Santa Anita, Keeneland and Saratoga in recent seasons also highlight the travel ledger. Their children, Clarissa and A.J., have been successful in the sports world. Clarissa was public relations manager for the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury. A.J. was a Division I soccer player at the University of Maryland and a member of the United States Under-18 national team. He now coaches high school soccer in New Mexico. You can follow Dino on Twitter @DCDNO
Night School’s most impressive quality may not be what you think. Sure, we’re proud to cultivate horseplayers and grow their interest and consumer confidence in the game. And, 200 episodes over 5 years is nothing at which to sneeze. But the coolest part about what we have done is that the 2-way street we’ve created has all but eliminated internet bozos. If you’ve read any message board, forum, chat or comments section at the bottom of any website – from the most reputable to most flammable – you know that the internet is a magnet for bozos. We used to call it beer muscles when someone roostered-up to show how tough they were. Now it’s done behind 2 thumbs or a keyboard online. The namecalling, chest-pounding and allaround nastiness that infiltrates just about every website online rarely creeps into ours. Why? Hard to say.
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But having a 2-way conversation with live folks on the other end of the barbs likely has something to do with it. Thousands of you out there probably think I am a total jackass; you just don’t line up to tell someone that when they’re listening and responding. What we’ve tried to do with Night School wasn’t for the end result of keeping away bozos. Our promise to put trusted and true hosts and guests forward is because that’s the only way I’ll do business. Honesty and Trust – No Other Promises. There may be 3 times as many frauds in racing as trusted folks. I gather you already know that given the lack of bozos in Night School. I applaud all those who have helped build that trust … and also you for recognizing it. - JP
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