S9E16: Kentucky Derby 2026 mock draft

With a little more than three months before the run for the roses, a mock draft for Kentucky Derby 2026 brings together seven handicapping minds for this week’s Ron Flatter Racing Pod.

Horse Racing Nation hard-core handicapper and fair-odds author Ed DeRosa will be joined by Chip Gehrke, the Doctor Derby curator of weekly division rankings who won last year’s draft by picking Sovereignty in the second round.

Five others take part, including Churchill Downs analyst and Turfway Park host Kaitlin Benson, 2012 National Horseplayers Championship winner Michael Beychok, Betting on Horse Racing for Dummies author Richard Eng from Las Vegas, sports-gambling host and former NFL quarterback Shaun King and Fox Sports and New York Racing Association TV analyst Maggie Wolfendale-Morley.

The draft will last four rounds to determine who will be best positioned to have the winner among their four horses who could be in the May 3 running of the Derby. This episode was recorded Monday, before Ted Noffey came off the Triple Crown trail because of bone bruising.

A video version of the draft is available on the Horse Racing Nation YouTube page.

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

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S9E15 Pegasus flies again

The Pegasus World Cup Invitational has evolved from a bold experiment to a decade-long fixture on the South Florida racing scene. The 10th running Saturday is the focus of this week’s Ron Flatter Racing Pod.

FanDuel TV’s Christina Blacker checks in from Gulfstream Park to set the scene for the Grade 1, $3 million race that serves as both a punctuation mark on the preceding season and a springboard to the coming year.

Hall of Fame jockey John Velázquez rides Captain Cook in the Pegasus from post 9. He talks about the statistical perception that it is difficult to win a 1 1/8-mile race from an outside draw on Gulfstream’s main track.

Handicapper Mark Midland has tips for the Pegasus card as he offers his best bets for this weekend.

Co-hosts John Cherwa of the Los Angeles Times and Keith Nelson of Fairmount Park join in the weekly host chat, and there will be a recap of the 2025 Eclipse Awards presented this week at The Breakers in Palm Beach, Fla.

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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S9E14: Old school meets new school

The creator of a new-media source for racing news and an old-school horseplayer who created a counterintuitive way of betting are featured this week on the Ron Flatter Racing Pod.

Carlos Morales, the creator of Agentes 305, talks about the growth of his social-media platform and how it has become a go-to place for behind-the-scenes interviews in English and Spanish. He discusses his start as a radio personality in his native Venezuela and his move to the United States to advance his career in horse racing.

Matt Miller, the 2021 Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge, wrote the book A Bettor Way of Thinking. He talks about his strategies for betting on races and in handicapping tournaments. One step he takes is avoiding past performances. He also discusses why he and his fellow Chicagoland players have been so successful in high-profile tournaments.

Co-hosts John Cherwa of the Los Angeles Times and Keith Nelson of Fairmount Park share anecdotes about what is trending on social media, an e-game that might be all too real and the perils of waking up at odd hours in the winter.

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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S9E13: The best horse-racing movies

From “A Day at the Races” to “Let It Ride” to “Seabiscuit,” racing movies have had an important corner of the film world. The best of them and some bad ones are the subject of this week’s Ron Flatter Racing Pod.

Allen Johnson, who has been the film writer for 25 years at the San Francisco Chronicle, and Richard Migliore, the New York Racing Association TV analyst and lifelong movie buff, compare their thoughts and criticisms.

Eleven movies were selected for their review, including:

“A Day at the Races”

“Boots Malone”

“Casey’s Shadow”

“Easy Money”

“Let It Ride”

“National Velvet”

“Phar Lap”

“Racetrack”

“Saratoga”

“Seabiscuit”

“Secretariat”

Some films get more attention than others, and where they disagree may be a surprise. They also discuss some movies not provided on the list.

Co-hosts John Cherwa of the Los Angeles Times and Keith Nelson of Fairmount Park also weigh in with their thoughts about racing films. 

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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S9E12: Hot and other takes on Eclipse Awards

Discussion and debate about the 2025 Eclipse Awards are featured on the first 2026 episode of the Ron Flatter Racing Pod.

Sara Elbadwi of Fox Sports and the New York Racing Association, Steve Kornacki of NBC News and Sports, Jessica Paquette from Parx and two-time Eclipse Award-winning writer John Scheinman from Baltimore get together in a panel discussion going in-depth on every championship category.

Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winner Sovereignty may be the leading candidate for horse of the year, but did Breeders’ Cup Classic victor Forever Young do enough in his one U.S. appearance to change voters’ minds? The panel talks about that possibility and the potential backlash against connections for holding Sovereignty out of the Preakness Stakes.

There are plenty of clashing opinions and even a discussion about contentious abstentions from the votes for the steeplechase horse and apprentice jockey.

Co-hosts John Cherwa of the Los Angeles Times and Keith Nelson of Fairmount Park also weigh in with their overarching views of the Eclipse Awards, including ideas on how they ought to be changed. 

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!