Jon Stettin’s Blog
The G1 American Pharoah There are a few reasons to take a look at the Grade 1 American Pharoah Stakes at Santa Anita on Saturday. First, the race is part of the late pick 4 and 5 sequence. Second, the...
What A Difference a Ride Makes It’s always been surprising to me how many horsemen think that the rider of a racehorse doesn’t make that much of a difference. You’ll hear things like you have to have the horse, which...
They Aren’t Machines I have both written and said this before: A bettor looks at the past performances and watches the races and assumes a horse will do what they did last time; a handicapper looks for the reasons they...
Derby Differences Pari mutual wagering is all about having an edge on the other players in the pool. If you do not understand that, your approach to the game is likely flawed. We play against each other, not the racetrack....
A Bad Rule As if our industry didn’t have enough issues, we now learn the race timing issue is far worse than we even suspected. If the times of the races are off, even slightly, that throws off several other...
Bounce or No Bounce Last Saturday at Saratoga, we saw two impressive performances from the likely Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks favorites. Gamine dominated the 7 Furlong Grade 1 Test Stakes, and Tiz the Law annihilated the field in the...
It is no secret I am not a fan of smaller minimum amounts for wagers on horse races. I’m of the opinion the 50-cent minimum hurts the pick 4 payouts, the 20-cent jackpot pick 6 killed the “real pick 6”...
There have always been intangibles in the Sport of Kings. Today there are more than ever before. There has been a lot of social media chatter lately about rides and rider intentions. This is certainly an intangible. We all get...