As we enter the final days of live racing for the 2022 meeting, here are some free selections to get your bankroll moving in the right direction for closing day on Saturday for the Jeff Ruby Steaks card.

Turfway Park / Thursday

Race#1 – #5 – Good One ( 10-1) = Hails from the Genaro Garcia barn with Thiago Canuto in the irons. – He drops in class and picks up the bug rider who has a bright future. This son of Street Sense has been away for two months and the barn scores 20% coming back well-rested. The price is enough to make the move and I would use it in exotics as well as a straight wager.

Race#2 – #3 – Chrome Savage ( 7-2)= coming off a two-month layoff for trainer Mike Maker shipping up from Tampa Bay. They win 17% off the ship, and win 22% going from maiden special weight to maiden claiming. This daughter of California Chrome has the services of leading rider Gerardo Corrales who is winning hands down at a crisp 25% for the meet.

Race#5 – #9 – Vivid Verse (5-2) = is a horse-for-the-course going 6/7 ITM at TP. – Drops down in class and trainer Cipriano Contreras wins 21% on the all-weather track. Emmanuel Esquivel has the call and should be coming off the pace today.  **** Top wager on the card ****

Race#6 – #2 – Miss Adeline (5-2) = Exits off a solid win for Mike Tomlinson and moves to the next level of class and should be a dangerous player with Joe Rocco Jr. – She is 2/3 ITM at TP, and the barn wins 21% with repeat claiming horses. She is a solid daughter of Big Blue Kitten and should be a major player on the card. **** Top wager on the card ****

Race#9 – #5 – First Royal (9-5) = drops in class for trainer Doug Danner who is winning 24% on the meet. – She shows a quick turn of foot and has the services of his go-to rider Rogelio Miranda. She likes the synthetic surface and should be dangerous on the lead today. You may get a short price, be sure to use it in exotic races. The Danner barn has been hot the past few weeks.

Best of luck, and be sure and check back for free selections for Friday and Jeff Ruby Steaks day on Saturday!

There is nothing like having a shot at the big prize. Usually, a pick 4, 5, or pick-six. -I have been watching pools this winter and sometimes they are definitely worth the shot. But, taking a shot at the big pool comes along with a large ticket cost. – “You can’t win it unless you get in it” as the old saying goes. After further review, maybe there could be another option at keeping your ticket costs in check.

I love the 20-cent base minimum as it allows players to chase the prize pool at a smaller chunk of change. I have seen players who normally wouldn’t touch the bet jump right in and take the plunge.

How about following the ADW idea? – Have a selected group of handicappers who will put together a large ticket and even a few smaller ones. – Now, here comes the fun part. You can elect to take the plunge with various amounts. – You can make it a $10 minimum per entry into the “Big Ticket” and they would receive a piece of the winnings if hit.

You could have your track announcer, on-track handicapper, and a chosen player who plunges the pick-six bet and design a ticket. – Use $2,000 as a base and players could buy in for as many $10 shares as they would like. – Once the pool is covered there will be no more acceptance of wagers for the “Big Ticket.” – This allows bettors to get into the wager at a smaller price and still have a shot at a sweet payoff.

Tracks and OTB’s could make this happen very easily by having the pool tabulated by Tote and for each winning ticket, you would get 1/200th of the pool for each $10 wager. You can wager as much as you want and for players on a smaller budget, you have a shot at the monster payoff for a small piece of your bankroll. – Sound like fun? You bet it is!

Heavy rains in the low 50s in the Northern Kentucky region should have the Tapeta surface tightened up and ready to produce some faster racing at the Florence oval on Wednesday evening.

Turfway Park

Race#1 – #8 – Ola Que Tal = Hails from the hot barn of Paulo Lobo who is of Kentucky Oaks and Breeders’ Cup winning fame with Luan Machado in the irons. Been off for two months and is shooting for three straight coming off the break. Machado has two wins in the past and knows Lobo’s runner well. He ships in from Mountaineer and the barn wins 24% and 52% ITM on this move.

Race#2 – #6 – Wamego = Ian Wilkes trainee with his son-in-law Chris Landeros in the irons. 3rd start off the layoff and takes a big plunge down the class ladder. The barn wins 18% 3rd off and the drop in class should have him right in the mix.

Race#5 – #1 – Giant Nova =  2nd time off the layoff for Eric Reed and sports a bullet work for his go-to rider Sonny Leon. He made a big run last out finishing a tough second and gets 2nd time Lasix today. Look for a sharp effort today. – Best play on the card.

Race#6 – #2 – Common Bond = Eric Reed trainee who made a big late run going 10f. Sonny Leon stays aboard and has two bullet works over Reed’s Mercury Training Center surface. Been off for two months and the barn wins 19% with layoff runners.

Race#8 – #1 – Strikes Back = 2nd start and gets Lasix and blinkers this start. Drops in class and draws the rail under Rafael Bejarano who has the call for Mike McCarthy. Dangerous connections.

Just like George Jones sang years ago. – The song means more today than it ever did. I thought about the song and country music; who was gonna be the next big artist to step up. – Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of super talented musicians out there, but who was going to pay the price to echo in our hearts forever?

Horse Racing is in the same boat. – Many tracks, OTB’s, and racinos are feeling the pinch. – They can’t find people to fill all of the needed jobs out there. The clerks, program sales folks, outriders, pony people, trainers, valets, managers, and behind the scene heroes who make the game go round. -Racing cannot find enough people to fill jobs with a bevy of good-paying positions going unfilled. Why?

The government assistance for COVID is over. I ed by two fast food shops looking for breakfast and a sign on the order board posts they are closed due to staffing. They will open at 12:00 pm. – Racing cannot get enough qualified people to ranks to be gainfully employed keeping the torch blazing for the next generation.

This is not only a racing question but where is everyone at? standing in line for an interview? How about being at the bottom of the stack of qualified workers? – It is everywhere, and finding good help is a tough job in itself. Pay has gone up, and jobs that used to be earmarked for high school kids are now allowing adults to raise a family and have a life now.

I work at two race tracks and the most difficult task is trying to find quality people to work at a square wage. – The ranks have dried up and finding new people is more than a tough task. Where did they go? Programs of help have dried up and what are the people doing for money? – Scratching my head it took me back to a conversation this past Saturday night.

” If we are having trouble finding good people to work. Who is gonna fill the shoes of the 50-somethings who are working weekends, holidays, and nights? – In the old days, this was not a problem, and at any time you could rattle off a list of names of folks who wanted to work. Not anymore. – Where did they go?”

As we sat in a temporary pod while construction is building a new state-of-the-art facility. Three inches of rain pounded the glass making it hard to see the races. – “Ed, when we retire, can you see anyone sitting here on a Saturday night in these conditions doing these jobs?” – The answer was easy. No. It will be tougher to answer the bell.

Not to say we are the last of the tried and true, but this past year has me wondering. – During the pandemic there were folks who were displaced, laid off, and were kept on the list to be called back. Not much of the above happened. – Dropping back was necessary in the beginning as business was slow. But now, the game is ramping up for a new run and staffing is the key issue. Finding good people is no easy trick.

It seems the retired ranks are carrying the weight. They came up in a tough generation and even though retired, are still the first folks you call for work. – Maybe a peer working environment could work? – The pay has gone up. – Hours and even working from home for certain jobs are a part of the landscape. – It’s getting tough out there for sure. People interested in racing could help bring back the love of the game. – More communication and actually listening to your greatest assets can go miles and miles in building for the future. Managers are ready to take a new approach.

Until then, we’ll scrap and hunt for someone we hope will work out. – If there was ever a time to get in the game of racing it is now. There are new ideas being brought to the table and racing is more than catching up with the times. – It’s not your grandpa’s game anymore, and it’s not even as you . This is a brand new day as the fog is lifting and the sun shines once again. – Hope to see you at the race soon!

Today most of the country is under sleet, ice, and some heavy snow. Sound fun? Only if you’re a polar bear.

For those of us in racing, days of cancellations are days with no pay. – Nobody likes the cancellations for a day of marquee racing or claiming events. It sucks to call the races anytime.

In the Northern Kentucky region, “Ma Nature” can be a wicked gal. – Turfway Park has a Tapeta surface and the track is always fast. –  But, if the wind chill hits 10 degrees with those 30 mph winds. It can get pretty nasty for human and equine athletes alike. Numb fingers, toes, and faces while the wind tears you apart like a Ginsu knife. Talk about earning your daily pay. Plain and simple, it’s just not safe and better to call the races for safety.

There are many factors horsemen face. A long trek from southern Kentucky, medications four hours prior to the race, and hauling a small crew in the back of a trailer make for a long day at the office. Only to find out once you pull into the track that the races have been canceled. – There are texts, calls, and emails for those on the road and anything to save the connections time and work. – But you sometimes miss folks that have made the long trek for nothing.

Some tracks cancel for conditions of the track. – Take Oaklawn Park; when it is 8 degrees one day and 40 the next. – When snow or ice hits these parts of the country, they are not equipped to handle the conditions. – So, you just try and communicate with trainers and owners and allow them to save precious time shipping with the hope of keeping costs in check.

So, when you’re mad your favorite oval isn’t going to run. , the connections and all involved aren’t making any money either. – It’s safety first, and before you’ll know it you’ll be rooting for your favorite oval soon enough. Just put on your fuzzy pj’s and binge-watch the past few Breeders’ Cup days. You’ll be in top order in no time flat.

May your winners be many and your photos few!

It was a cold Sunday at Turfway Park and my buddy was hell-bent on taking down the final pick-four no matter what. – He had drawn up a ticket and made his wager. He was flipping between a bevy of gridiron glory and red-hot racing action. He quietly waited until the wager began and then focused on his big wager.

He bet a total of $150 and had a single in the third leg. – Gutsy move to say the least, and if he had a single there should have been no reason to go so deep in the water.

The first leg paid a solid $8.80 to win and looked like a good start. (3-1) is not a bad beginning, but, you’ll have to nail down a sweet double-digit price. – The 2nd leg, his two short prices ran 1-2 with the $2.90 – 1 shot winning to pay $7.80. Not bad if you had $10 to win on him, but for a P-4 it was not much. – Leg three was his single and he ran like a scalded dog paying $4.00 to win. He got the single, but there was no real price to offset the chalk. Even if he nailed the wager in the final leg he was looking at a small payoff. He loved the chalk but tossed in two prices as well. – The final leg crossed the wire with the favorite drawing clear to pay $3.40 to win.

Now, when we spoke on the phone he was dejected. He put up $150 to have a 50-cent return of $58.00 – We spoke for a while and he couldn’t figure where he went wrong. – Now, I’m not the Professor of Ponies but I’ll hang in there until he arrives for class.

“If you liked a single and he had to win for you to score. Why not just bet the entire amount to win on him? He paid even money and your $150 win bet would have yielded $300.” -You make a $150 profit and don’t worry about the other three legs. – He agreed.

In trying to win a wager he lost track of what really matters. – Turning a profit. – I think he had a few winners coming in and wanted to take down a wager where it normally pays pretty well. I can’t say it was the worst bet I’ve ever seen, but it was one where you win but you lose. Nothing like a $100 loss while having the winning ticket to re-adjust your sails. – He said he’ll start looking at the ticket to see if the payout is worth the wager, and I think he’ll move forward with the right plan.

He had his bet in his and called me today. – “Anything running on MLK Day today? – Yes, there is a fun card at Santa Anita with five races on the turf from nine races.” – He’s ready to do battle with a fresh perspective. – Best of luck!

Watching the college championship in my recliner. Had my faded Alabama t-shirt on, and all was well with the world at kickoff. – Now, even though football was holding my attention, I was stuck on horse racing. The game set my thinking in motion of how Bama beat Georgia and how tough it would be to beat a powerhouse twice in the same season. – About three hours later the truth was told, but my thoughts about racing were still going in circles.

Even though the favorite won the football game, how often do favorites win at the races? I’ve heard it a million times over the years, but have you? – Public betting favorites win approximately 33% of all races and finish second 53% of the time. Second choices win approximately 21% of all races and finish second 42% of the time. So the top two choices win 54% of the races and finish second 74% of the time. You might even want to consider the fact that third choices win approximately 14% of all races run over the course of a year.

Now, according to PredictEm.com, these numbers would drive people to bet the favorite more than they would usually tell you. – I’m not saying I won’t bet the chalk, but looking at the numbers it is hard to toss them out. – I guess Georgia is looking better and better after the game is over.

Additional percentage facts to consider are that public favorites in 6-horse fields win approximately 40% of the time at an average win price of just over even money, while public favorites in 12-horse fields win approximately 27% of their races at an average win price of almost 2-1. Basically, public favorites in larger fields win a lower percentage of the time but pay better.

Ok, I’m starting to . But how much does a jockey play into your winning wagers? – Jockeys who win at a clip of less than 10% are poor investments. Those that win at a clip of 10-15% are a little better. Jockeys who win at a clip of 15-20% are worth a second look, but jockeys who win at a clip of 20% or better can be like money in the bank in the right situation. Jockeys who win a high percentage of the races they ride in not only have their choice of the best mounts, they also generally have skill sets that are much better than their fellow riders.

Ok, the clouds are parting and the sun is shining through. But, how do the riders do with particular trainers? – If you see a 24% jockey riding one of the top three choices for a 15% trainer the horse probably has a decent chance, but what you’re really looking for is one of these top jockeys on a horse trained by someone with a 20% clip or better. These trainers win at a 20% clip for numerous reasons; brains, talent, the ability to attract the best jockeys, medication, and numerous other factors; but they win consistently more races than their competition.

Long story short. The better overall percentage riders win and do well with trainers who have a higher win and ITM percentage. – If only I would have worn my Georgia t-shirt and rooted for the chalk it would have been a winning night. Oh well, there’s always next year…

Everyone has a list, and it grows by the day. For me, I try and what I’d like to get rid of to be a better gambler, but it would make more sense to write them down to keep close at hand.

Stop trying to win it all in one day. – I have been a hog at times and find myself going all-in when a medium-size wager would do just fine. As my Dad has said; “The pigs get fatter and the hogs get slaughtered.”- Now, I don’t know if Hallmark is going to make a card with these words, but they are as good as gold. Try and keep your head up especially when playing with house money. This is the time to ratchet up a bit and take a little bigger shot with the track’s money. Just don’t go all-in on an impulse play because you think you’re walking around lucky.

Quit listening to every single tout, talking head, or person in line. Stick to your knitting and play who you like. In the long run, it will be more profitable and you’ll thank yourself later. – I’ve been the victim of my own stupidity many times. The game is much more enjoyable to do your own homework and find your plays.

If you are in doubt and want to play another track you are not familiar with. – You are in the right place. Winning Ponies is proven over the years to be the handicapping tool to take your game to the next level. It does not tell you to only play the #1, but it reveals who fits into the race and why. – Most sheets just give you a few numbers and think the work is finished. Winning Ponies digs deep and shows you the E-Z Win Form facts that will allow you to eliminate runners that just don’t fit. If it sounds easy, well it is. The Winning Ponies E-Z Win Forms can be used by a player who is trying their hand for the first time or the hardcore gambler making the big play.

It is color-coded to highlight important handicapping methods and will make you a better handicapper in a matter of minutes. The more you use the E-Z Win Forms you’ll be taking your game to the next level and beyond. – When you see free handicapping selections provided, be sure and the economical handicapping information that is leading the pack. Think of the free selections as an appetizer, and the E-Z Win Forms as a fine buffet of winners.

Most data providers charge you the same price for one race or the entire card. Winning Ponies only charges for the races you will be using. Pretty good bonus if you are starting the day late or want to focus on the marquee races later in the card.

I’ve been writing and working with Winning Ponies since 2008. I haven’t seen anything that comes close to providing handicappers with solid data to take your game to the next level. – Why wait? You’re already here so you might as well jump on in. No better time than now for building your bankroll and making your day a winner. – Trust me, I’ve been playing for a long time and I’m very happy with the results.

Winning Ponies offers up free daily selections, blogs, stories, and the WP Internet Show bringing you the very best guests in Thoroughbred racing. You can catch it live at 8pm on Thursday evenings, or go back and listen at your leisure on the podcast. Then you can your Winning Ponies E-Z Win Forms to make your day more profitable. – What are you waiting for? It’s almost post-time! – Best of luck from your friends at Winning Ponies! – May your winners be many and your photos be few…