S8E3: This Breeders’ Cup episode includes gifts

Not quite a thousand stars, but that is the aim from Del Mar for the latest Breeders’ Cup episode of the Ron Flatter Racing Pod.

FanDuel TV’s Mike Joyce leads off to discuss what he has learned this week hosting breakfast shows during training for the 14 Breeders’ Cup races. He offers some analysis of finer points for the championship tests.

A cavalcade of trainers comes next with D. Wayne Lukas discussing Seize the Grey in the Dirt Mile, assistant Justin Atkins outlines the reasons dirt stayer Next was aimed for the Classic and not the Turf, Brad Cox looks back on the career of Idiomatic and forward to his four horses who will race Friday and Saturday, and Todd Pletcher gets into specifics about Fierceness in his bid to win the $7 million Classic.

Australia sports and entertainment reporter Brad Blanks, who is based in New York, offers his viewpoint as a horseplayer and man about town on this week’s social and racing scene.

Paddock Prince handicapper David Levitch has an emphasis on the Classic and says which two horses he is leaning toward in his betting.

Co-host John Cherwa helps distill the feedback on last week’s column about potential future sites for the Breeders’ Cup.

The Ron Flatter Racing Pod via Horse Racing Nation is available via free subscription from Apple, Firefox, iHeart and Spotify as well as HorseRacingNation.com.

Check out this episode!

S8E2: Breeders’ Cup hard-core handicappers pop-up

For the eighth year in a row, the Breeders’ Cup is featured on a hard-core handicappers episode of the Ron Flatter Racing Pod.

The show is anchored from the press box at Del Mar, where cool weather is forecast for the championship cards Friday and Saturday. Each of the 14 races will be analyzed in depth by a panel of three expert handicappers.

Mark Midland and Ed DeRosa provide their expertise from Horse Racing Nation’s home in Louisville, Ky. DraftKings sportsbook director Johnny Avello offers his tips from the office of DK Horse in Las Vegas.

The panel will take turns offering individual views on the five races Friday and nine Saturday with a discussion between them when the debate warrants. They also will have tips on each of the championships as well as a summation of their best bets at the end of the episode.

The Ron Flatter Racing Pod via Horse Racing Nation is available via free subscription from Apple, Google and Spotify as well as HorseRacingNation.com.

Check out this episode!

S8E1: Breeders’ Cup & was it something I wrote?

Breeders’ Cup handicapping, a controversial column and even the presidential election are the topics on this week’s seventh-anniversary episode of the Ron Flatter Racing Pod.

Steve Kornacki from NBC Sports and NBC News is not only providing  analysis from his big board for the championships next week, but he also discusses his day job that has him absorbed in the Nov. 4 election. Battleground states and battleground horse races get the once over, especially his thoughts about Thorpedo Anna vs. Idiomatic in the Distaff.

Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen offers insights about his five Breeders’ Cup entrants, including Turf Sprint standout Cogburn and how he will do against leading Europe contender Bradsell.

Super Screener creator Mike Shutty not only handicaps Saturday’s Mother Goose Stakes at Aqueduct, he has some angles he will be pursuing next Friday and Saturday when the two big days will unfold at Del Mar.

Feedback is about the column last Friday calling out over-the-line criticism of jockey Luan Machado’s finish line mistake last week at Keeneland and the idea that it could be the start of a more troublesome trend that has mushroomed in sports gambling.

The Ron Flatter Racing Pod via Horse Racing Nation is available via free subscription from Apple, Firefox, iHeart and Spotify as well as HorseRacingNation.com.

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S7E56: Perfect attendance at Breeders’ Cup + The Everest

Breeders’ Cup renewals past and future and the richest turf race in the world are the main topics this week on the Ron Flatter Racing Pod.

TV’s Amy Zimmerman and photographer Skip Dickstein are among the very few people who have been to every Breeders’ Cup since the championships began in 1984. They reminisce about the inaugural running at Hollywood Park and some of their experiences since, including how their streaks were not interrupted by COVID in 2020.

The Everest, a Group 1 sprint worth US$13 million, will be run late night Friday into Saturday morning U.S. time at Royal Randwick in Sydney. Bella Nipotina is one of the top contenders in the race. She is owned by partners led by her breeder Michael Christian. Also a media personality and Australian-rules football executive, he discusses the race and why it has been able to prosper using the template established by the Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1).

Horse Racing Nation handicapper Ed DeRosa takes an early snapshot of next month’s Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar and also handicaps weekend graded stakes at Keeneland and Woodbine.

Listener and reader feedback is focused on last week’s column about why City Of Troy will not win the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

The Ron Flatter Racing Pod via Horse Racing Nation is available via free subscription from Apple, Firefox, iHeart and Spotify as well as HorseRacingNation.com.

Check out this episode!

S7E55: Breeders’ Cup and an excused absence

The Breeders’ Cup is only three weeks away, and it is the focus of this week’s Ron Flatter Racing Pod.

With City Of Troy, Forever Young, Ushba Tesoro and Derma Sotogake being flown to Del Mar to challenge the top U.S. horses in the $7 million Breeders’ Cup Classic, how might they fare? NBC Sports’ Nick Luck checks in from England to offer a scouting report on those horses as well as other international contenders for the other championship races Nov. 1 and 2.

She Feels Pretty got to the Breeders’ Cup last year. This weekend she is the morning-line favorite for the Grade 1, $750,000 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup on the turf at Keeneland. Her trainer Cherie DeVaux offers her thoughts about the race and her possibilities to race at Del Mar next month.

With weekend racing in his sights, Horse Racing Nation handicapper Ed DeRosa offers his tips for the QEII Cup as well as the Sands Point (G2) at Belmont at the Big A and the Breeders’ Classic for West Virginia-bred 2-year-old fillies at Charles Town.

Listener feedback about Mike Repole’s latest call for racing reform will be sampled with guest co-host Louie Rabaut.

The Ron Flatter Racing Pod via Horse Racing Nation is available via free subscription from Apple, Firefox, iHeart and Spotify as well as HorseRacingNation.com.

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S7E54: Racing’s answer to championship week

The last 15 U.S. qualifiers for the Breeders’ Cup will be run before the weekend is over, and they are the focus this week as the Ron Flatter Racing Pod originates from Keeneland.

Track executive and hall-of-fame horseplayer Jim Goodman offers a snapshot of Grade 1 races including the Breeders’ Futurity, the Turf Mile and the Spinster. He also offers an overarching view of the win-and-you’re-in races at Keeneland, Belmont at Aqueduct and Santa Anita.

Trainer Gustavo Delgado, who won the Kentucky Derby last year with Mage, discusses Ferocious, the morning-line favorite for the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity on Saturday at Keeneland.

Paddock Prince handicapper David Levitch will have tips on part of the big menu this weekend, including three graded stakes at Keeneland and two at the Belmont at Aqueduct meet.

John Cherwa joins in to field listener and reader feedback about last week’s small fields for big races.

The Ron Flatter Racing Pod via Horse Racing Nation is available via free subscription from Apple, Firefox, iHeart and Spotify as well as HorseRacingNation.com.

Check out this episode!