S7E27: Champion horseplayer identifies 5 best Kentucky Derby horses

Some early handicapping tips for Kentucky Derby 2024, an insider’s look at one of the contenders in the race and some handicapping for this weekend’s Preakness 2024 qualifiers are front and center on this week’s Ron Flatter Racing Pod.

National Horseplayers Championship winner Mike Gillum checks in from Indianapolis with his five horses whom he counts among the most likely winners of the Derby. Here is a hint. Two of them are not obvious choices. In other words, long shots.

Trainer Whit Beckman talks about Honor Marie, his first Derby horse in his name. He also remembers when he was an assistant on the teams that Todd Pletcher and Chad Brown led to past Derby accomplishments as Super Saver’s 2010 win and Good Magic’s 2018 runner-up result. He also discusses who may ride Honor Marie on May 4 at Churchill Downs.

Mark Midland is in the handicappers rotation to offer his tips on the Federico Tesio at Laurel Park, a Pick 3 that starts with the Bathhouse Row at Oaklawn and the Illinois Derby at Hawthorne. The three stakes are win-and-you’re-ins for the Preakness.

John Cherwa joins Ron to dissect the court ruling in favor of Churchill Downs Inc. in the Zedan Racing Stables’ lawsuit that failed for now to get Arkansas Derby (G1) winner Muth and trainer Bob Baffert into next month’s Kentucky Derby.

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. This week’s episode is sponsored by Xpressbet.

For information on Sunday’s Illinois Derby day handicapping contest, go to xpressbet.com/tournaments.

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S7E26: Last Kentucky Derby prep, Apple Blossom & the eclipse

The Grade 1, $1.25 million Apple Blossom Handicap at Oaklawn and the last Kentucky Derby 2024 points prep at Keeneland are the focus of this week’s Ron Flatter Racing Pod.

Track announcer Matt Dinerman will offer his insight on Saturday’s Apple Blossom as well as his first season calling races in Arkansas and his new assignment this summer as the voice of Monmouth Park.

Trainer Joe Orseno, who won the Preakness with Red Bullet in 2000, may be on the verge of a return to the Triple Crown series with Hades, who races Saturday in the Lexington Stakes (G3).

Horse Racing Nation’s Ed DeRosa handicaps graded stakes at Oaklawn and Keeneland, a 2007 racetrack interview with the late O.J. Simpson is replayed, and Ron will be joined by John Cherwa to sample feedback from listeners and readers.

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. This week’s episode is sponsored by Xpressbet.

For information on Saturday’s Keeneland Grade 1 Gamble, go to xpressbet.com/tournaments.

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S7E25: Jack Frost nipping at your Kentucky Derby preps

The last three major preps of the season will fill the field for Kentucky Derby 2024. This week’s Ron Flatter Racing Pod comes from Keeneland, site of this weekend’s Grade 1 Blue Grass Stakes.

Jockey Tyler Gaffalione will discuss Sierra Leone, who is one of the top contenders not only in the Blue Grass but also for the Derby.

Stanley Cup champion and horseplayer Eddie Olczyk takes the long view of betting this Derby season as well as his strategy for playing handicapping contests like the National Horseplayers Championship, where we caught up with him last month in Las Vegas.

Super Screener creator Mike Shutty offers tips for the Blue Grass, the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct and the Santa Anita Derby, the races that will send top finishers to Churchill Downs in just four weeks. He also goes in depth on four stakes that offer the best betting opportunities on the Saturday card at Keeneland.

Co-host John Cherwa of the Los Angeles Times also weighs in with insight on the Amr Zedan lawsuit seeking to get Bob Baffert back into this year’s Derby and his first-hand impressions of the Florida Derby, where Fierceness won by 13 1/2 lengths to become the prohibitive favorite for the Kentucky Derby.

As a bonus, former Horse Racing Nation turf writer Matt Stahl checks in from his current beat, the Alabama Crimson Tide, as he reports from the NCAA Men’s Final Four in Phoenix.

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. This week’s episode is sponsored by Xpressbet.

For information on Saturday’s Santa Anita Derby Challenge, go to https://www.xpressbet.com/sap-1500-4-6-2024?utm_source=hrn&utm_medium=digital&utm_campaign=saderbychallenge

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S7E24: Kentucky Derby preps, and is it flu or the flu?

Kentucky Derby 2024 win-and-you’re-in preps at Gulfstream Park and Oaklawn and the state of the game are the subjects of the Ron Flatter Racing Pod.

Jockey Flavien Prat, who won last week’s Grade 2 Louisiana Derby on Catching Freedom, talks about that ride and his assignment this weekend in the $1.5 million Arkansas Derby (G1) on Timberlake.

National Thoroughbred Racing Association CEO Tom Rooney answers questions about issues in the sport, including trainer Bob Baffert’s suspension from the Kentucky Derby, the progress and challenges of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority and an upcoming documentary that will shed a harsh light on the game.

Paddock Prince handicapper David Levitch analyzes this weekend’s Florida Derby card and the Arkansas Derby.

John Cherwa and Ron also go over listener and reader feedback.

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. This week’s episode is sponsored by Xpressbet.

For information on Saturday’s Florida Derby Challenge handicapping tournament, go to https://www.xpressbet.com/gsp-1500-3-30-24.

Remember the commemorative bourbon for the 150th Kentucky Derby that was mentioned on the pod last month? We promised we would say when it was coming out. Here it is: https://store.darkartswhiskey.com/products/isaac-murphy-kentucky-derby

 

 

 

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S7E23: Betting from the Bayou

On the road in New Orleans, the first major preps for Kentucky Derby 2024 are in the spotlight on the Ron Flatter Racing Pod.

At Fair Grounds, two-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Brad Cox discusses his Derby campaign, including his running of Catching Freedom in Saturday’s Grade 2, $1 million Louisiana Derby. He also discusses Timberlake’s upcoming move into the Arkansas Derby (G1) next weekend. Finally, Cox has morning-line favorite Tarifa going Saturday in the Fair Grounds Oaks (G2), a points prep for Kentucky Oaks (G1).

Fair Grounds track announcer John G. Dooley offer his insights about the trends during the winter meet that will come to a close this weekend. He also has an early preview of the Horseshoe Indianapolis opening day April 8, when a total eclipse of the sun will pass over the track during the program.

Handicapper Mark Midland has tips for Saturday’s Bayou-Bluegrass Pick 5, which takes in the Louisiana Derby, Fair Grounds Oaks and New Orleans Classic (G2) at Fair Grounds and the Jeff Ruby Steaks (G3) and Bourbonette Oaks at Turfway Park.

John Cherwa and Ron discuss the California Horse Racing Board meeting Thursday, when a 26-day north-state meet was approved to help fill the void with the closing of Golden Gate Fields in less than three months.

The Ron Flatter Racing Pod via Horse Racing Nation is available via free subscription from Apple, Firefox, Google, iHeart and Spotify as well as HorseRacingNation.com. This week’s episode is sponsored by Xpressbet.

For information on Saturday’s $500 Santa Anita-Xpressbet handicapping tournament, go to xpressbet.com/tournaments.

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S7E22: The tote crash then and the NHC now

The annual visit to Las Vegas for the National Horseplayers Championship is on the Ron Flatter Racing Pod.

Two-time NHC Tour winner Kevin Costello, former NHC champions Scott Harrison and Paul Matties and economics professor and horse owner Marshall Gramm take part in the annual horseplayers roundtable. They discuss last weekend’s tote breakdown that impacted the Tampa Bay Derby, the latest trends and concerns with computer-assisted wagering and why it is that Chicago players have done so well in the NHC.

Horse Racing Nation handicapper Ed DeRosa is taking part in his first NHC as a competitor. He not only discusses that, he also has tips for the Grade 3 Whitmore at Oaklawn and two other Saturday stakes at Laurel Park and Turfway Park.

Listener and reader feedback is focused on last week’s column about the rebuilding of Belmont Park.

The Ron Flatter Racing Pod via Horse Racing Nation is available via free subscription from Apple, Firefox, Google, iHeart and Spotify as well as HorseRacingNation.com. This week’s episode is sponsored by 1/ST Bet and Xpressbet.

For information on Saturday’s Exacta-Thon at Tampa Bay Downs and to get a free entry, go to the Promos page at either 1st.com/bet or xpressbet.com.

Accommodations for Horse Racing Nation coverage of the National Horseplayers Championship were provided and paid for by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association.

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S7E21: Kornacki is back; so are D’Amato and Shutty

From Super Tuesday to top 10 sports events to Tampa Bay Downs. Less than two months until Kentucky Derby 2024, the Ron Flatter Racing Pod covers a lot of ground this week.

MSNBC political analyst and NBC Sports racing handicapper Steve Kornacki talks about similarities between covering this week’s primary elections and the Derby trail. He also has some thoughts about Saturday’s Tampa Bay Derby (G2).

Can Adare Manor be toppled in the Beholder Mile (G1) at Santa Anita? Trainer Phil D’Amato talks about his two challengers Desert Dawn and Turnerloose. He also offers updates on a few more horses in his stable, including Kentucky Derby candidate Stronghold.

Super Screener creator Mike Shutty handicaps the Tampa Bay Derby as well as two other Saturday stakes races at Gulfstream Park and Santa Anita.

Co-host John Cherwa joins Ron to talk about the top 10 sports events each has covered or attended, and they have tributes to the late Larry Lederman and Chris Mortensen.

The Ron Flatter Racing Pod via Horse Racing Nation is available via free subscription from Apple, Firefox, Google, iHeart and Spotify as well as HorseRacingNation.com. This week’s episode is sponsored by 1/ST Bet and Xpressbet.

For information on and to register for Saturday’s ExactaThon, use one of these links and click Promos:

www.1st.com/bet

www.xpressbet.com

Check out this episode!