2023 Eclipse Winners and What We Can Learn From a Poker Player

We’ve got you covered with plenty of fun horse racing-related items in this newsletter. Eclipse Award winners, a hilarious mobster from the 1950s that bets on horses, and plenty more…

Also, wishing all of our readers the best of luck if you’re playing the Pegasus World Cup card tomorrow!

2023 Eclipse Winners

Cody’s Wish was honored as Horse of the Year at the 53rd annual Eclipse Awards, held last night, Jan. 25 at The Breakers Palm Beach in Palm Beach, Florida, culminating a career that saw the Godolphin homebred become one of the most popular racehorses of this century, based in large part through his association with the late Cody Dorman.

You can see the full list of winners here or feel free to rewatch the event on the NTRA YouTube.

Ever Heard of the Philadelphia Gangster Testify on Horse Racing?

In the aftermath of World War II, the public started hearing more about organized crime and its corrosive influence on communities across America. Business and political leaders demanded action. A freshman U.S. senator from Tennessee, Estes Kefauver, seized the opportunity. In 1950 and 1951, he chaired a Senate committee charged with investigating organized crime and exposing its corruption in public institutions (including gambling). The Kefauver Committee held hearings in 14 cities across the country, including one in the courtroom of this building. The Kefauver hearings confirmed the existence of a national crime syndicate and revealed lax enforcement.s.

The television broadcast of the committee's hearings attracted huge public interest and educated a broad audience about the issues of municipal corruption and organized crime. An estimated 30 million people in the United States tuned in to watch the live proceedings in March 1951 and at the time 72 percent of the population was familiar with the committee's work. This is a short clip of our favorite moment from it.

Replay of the Month!

Yesterday’s 5th race at Gulfstream Park featured one heck of a run from the #1 Skinny Cosmo. We won’t try and spoil it for you if you haven’t seen it, but it is well worth 2 minutes of your time.

What Can We Learn from a Professional Poker Player?

Annie Duke, a former World Series of Poker champion turned business consultant, draws on examples from business, sports, politics, and (of course) poker to share tools anyone can use to embrace uncertainty and make better decisions (yes, even when it comes to playing horses).

You can find a summary of her book here.

Or you can watch her Talks at Google if you’re more of a listener.

Brooks Koepka Loves His Horses!

LIV Golf rebel Brooks Koepka is putting his major cash influx to good use by investing in a racehorse that just romped in a feature at Cheltenham.

The 33-year-old is an investor in a horse named 'Givemefive', which recently raced at Warwick and won by some 18 lengths. The horse is potentially in line for a triumphant appearance at Cheltenham, competing at the Triumph Hurdle or the Boodles handicap race.

Read the full story here or watch below from Brook’s Twitter.

Flightline’s Full Brother Olivier at Oaklawn Sunday, Jan 28th

The racing world will be watching Oaklawn Park with great interest on Jan. 28, when Olivier, the full brother of 2022 Horse of the Year Flightline, is scheduled to make his career debut in the fifth race, a six-furlong, $115,000 maiden special weight race.

Or, maybe they won’t. Trainer Rodolphe Brisset said he is currently 50/50 on running this weekend after Olivier’s training schedule was greatly impacted by the winter weather that caused the Hot Springs, Ark., track to cancel racing Jan. 19-21 and close for training. “We spent 10, 12 days in the barn jogging,” Brisset said. “It’s not the best way you want to come up to a race.” Full article here.

Singapore’s Turf Club Faces Closure

The curtain is about to come down on more than 180 years of horse racing history in Singapore, with the final race scheduled for October. The Southeast Asian nation’s sole horse racing track has fallen victim to the tiny island’s need for land, with its entire 120 hectares (297 acres) to be handed back to the government in 2027 for redevelopment into public and private housing.

Singapore’s horse racing community remains shocked, confused, and frustrated. Read the full article here.