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Sketchy Jockeys, Pegasus World Cup, Computer Players and more
We're giving you the latest run down in the horse racing industry.
GiddyUp Digest
January 24, 2023
Pegasus World Cup Caps January Racing
The month of January is coming to a close but not before we wrap things up with Pegasus World Cup this weekend at Gulfstream Park. The Pegasus itself features 14 runners with the morning line favorite being the Brad Cox-trained, Cyberknife.
Cyberknife “definitely is facing a very good group of horses,” said Cox, who won the Pegasus two years ago with Knicks Go. “I think as long as he can get involved early, we should be okay. I think this distance and configuration could be just right for his style.”
Meanwhile, a quarantine has been imposed on Barn 21 on the Gulfstream backstretch after a horse tested positive on Saturday for the equine herpesvirus. But the quarantine did not appear to be affecting shipping plans for out-of-town trainers.Horse herpes is always a sore spot to report on so we'll just leave it at that.
Our thoughts are with Daniel Quintero
A moment of silence was held at Tampa Bay Downs recently after a very unfortunate accident that claimed the life of 19-year-old, Daniel Quintero. Quintero was an exercise rider on the course and after having an incident involving another horse, he was pronounced dead on the scene according to sheriff's spokesperson Marco Villarreal. Both horses were unharmed in the accident. Our thoughts are with him and his family, may he rest in peace.
Bettors are Claiming Foul on Parx Rider
Many bettors on Twitter have a lot to say about Parx, whether it's the new announcer or the high takeout, you can find all kinds of drama. This particular instance was rather interesting in our opinion. Take a look at the 1 horse being ridden by Angel Castillo.Is there something fishy going on?This isn't the first time Mr. Castillo has been in trouble for riding violations either.Our hot take: Friends don't let friends Parx. Just skip Monday and Tuesday racing all together to avoid these problems.
Insights from a Computer Player
Computer nerds. They're trying to dominate our beloved sport, but how do they do it?
Dr. William T Ziemba is a distinguished academic and investment practitioner. Leveraging his academic research, he has been a futures and equity trader and hedge fund and investment manager since 1983. He's also authored numerous books, some about horse racing which you can find on Amazon. In a recent podcast interview with Marshall Gramm and In The Money Media, you can hear all about his betting insights and strategies he employs to take full advantage of parimutuel pools and rebates.This was a great interview into an otherwise typically unheard part of the betting market.
If you just so happen to be a nerd yourself *pushes up glasses* take a look at this tutorial which dives into the intricacies of how you can build a model yourself. Or at least we think that's what the article is about, we understood roughly ten words.
Gambling Blindly? Patrick Biancone Gets It
In the 1980s Patrick Biancone trained one of the most powerful strings in Europe. As head trainer to leading owner Daniel Wildenstein he enjoyed multiple big- race successes, notably landing back-to-back editions of the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe with Sagace and All Along in 1983 and 1984.
In a recent interview with ThoroughbredRacing.com - he put into words what we've all been thinking for a long, long time. When asked if he could change one thing in racing he gave a superb answer:
Globally the way the world of racing is organized and how international it is, I don’t think there are any measurable changes to make. In America, I would say there should be more unified rules. In Europe, the basic rules are the same and I think the States should be like that.
Another thing, people say more money is bet in Japan and Hong Kong because they are Japanese or Chinese. It’s not true. They bet more because they have more information. If the horse gallops or is on the walker or stays in its stall, the information is available.
But here people bet on horses without knowing if they have trained every day or not. We need to inform people more. We have one person who does a morning line, which is very subjective. If they knew everything about racing they would be very rich and not a morning-line maker.
We have handicappers who go on TV, and they are good, but now with my daughter on TV, there is a bit of change because she knows about horses, which is different from most of the handicappers. She can look at a horse and say she doesn’t think it can perform today because he looked better the last time it ran. She talks about the athletes and that is a plus. In other sports, everything is there, in racing there is nothing. You are asking people to gamble blindly.
Australian Racing Documentary
Racing Victoria is the official governing body of Victorian Thoroughbred Racing. They are a public company established in 2001 that seeks to develop, encourage, promote and manage the conduct of thoroughbred racing by encouraging broad participation and sustainably growing the industry’s economic and social value.Recently they put out a documentary on Youtube that explores the initiatives and world-leading safety standards that RV has established in recent years to help protect the welfare of all racehorses – before, during, and after racing.Great way to kill an hour while you're at work!