rich ruda

Hall of fame Jockey Pat Day is the President of the Race Track Chaplaincy who rely on volunteers and donations to support its good work providing a variety of needs and support for backstretch workers. In the year of the Covid-19 pandemic it surely produced new challenges in the work they do and Pat will update us on their current status. We will then ask Pat to look back at some of his Breeders’ Cup triumphs. Pat Day was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1991. This Saturday at Mahoning Valley they will present the $500,000 Best of Ohio final series. It is a day that usually produces the most state champions in every division. Rich Ruda for years has served as the on-air handicapper and does double duty as a member of the racing office in the mornings and works as a racing official during live racing. Rich will join John to break down the “Best of the Buckeyes on a Blue Moon Halloween Day at Mahoning Valley for a Spooktacular card of stakes.

Monmouth Park in Oceanport, New Jersey was the site of one of racing’s most surprising results last week when 1-20 shot and the horse that crossed the finish line first in the Kentucky, Maximum Security was upset by King for a Day. Over it’s 149 year history the oceanside track has seen many greats capturing the prestigious United Nations Stakes over their turf course such as Round Table, Manila, English Channel, Dr, Fager, Halo and Lure. The United Nations will head up a card with 4-stakes – 3 of them graded. John will be joined by Brian Skirka who is the Marketing Manager at Monmouth Park Racetrack to analyze the stakes. Veteran handicapper Rich Ruda will make his annual appearance on winningponies, which can mean only it’s Ohio Derby Day at JACK Thistledown! The Ohio Derby has attracted better fields each year and won its listing back as a graded stakes race. The $500,000 Derby will be supported by two $75,000 stakes – the George Lewis Memorial and J. William Petro.

Donna Barton Brothers will be our first guest. Born in a family of riders, Donna retired from the saddle as the second leading female jockey in the country by money earned. Donna will talk horses and wines... She will discuss with John the upcoming Breeders' Cup, the Fall Stars weekend, Starlight and StarLadies Racing, and she will also talk about Scout & Cellar Wines for whom she has become a consultant. She has an interesting story on how she got there.. Rich Ruda is the house handicapper at Thistledown and they will be hosting this year's Best of Ohio. It is Ohio's version of the Breeders' Cup with all divisional races carrying a $150,000 purse. Early entries show plenty of full fields, giving us plenty of wagering opportunities with great odds. This year could be a changing of the guard as there are plenty of fresh up and comers ready to match strides with past state champions.

With a little over a week left until the Run for the Roses we brought back two guest handicappers to sort out the deep field of talent taking shape for the Derby... Cleveland rocks! And things will be rocking again as Thistledown opens its doors this week. Joining us is Rich Ruda who hosts the on-air handicapping show and pays plenty of attention to the national racing. Rich will give us an overview of the upcoming season and he and John will weigh in on their observations of the Kentucky Derby field that is slowly coming together as one of the deepest group assembled in recent memory. Daily Racing Form's breeding columnist Joe Nevills will analyze the Kentucky Derby field from a pedigree perspective. Who can get the distance and who can't? Always a factor in the first - and perhaps the only time - the field of twenty will go the mile and quarter distance.

The NTRA is a broad-based coalition of more than 100 horse racing interests and thousands of individual stakeholders consisting of horse players, racetrack operators, owners, breeders, trainers, and affiliated horse racing associations. The organization has 17 full-time employees based in Lexington, regional sales representatives spread strategically across the country, and a horse industry advocacy team based in Washington, D.C. President and CEO Alex Waldrop will tell us about its mission. Handicapper Rich Ruda is a lifelong horse player, who has been the on-air handicapper for Thistledown for 11 years. Saturday is Ohio Derby Day, at $500,000 it is the state’s richest graded stakes race in North America that day. Thistledown’s frequent and current leading trainer, Jeff Radosevich has nominated four to the Ohio Derby. On the under-card 2 stakes races for Ohio-breds - the George Lewis Memorial S. and the J. William Petro Memorial H. He and John will analyze all three races.

The widely popular website The Paulick Report is celebrating it's 8th anniversary this June. The site has a new look and founder Ray Paulick will be with us to discuss its growth in readership and address important stories and issues in the world of racing. The richest race in the Buckeye State - the $500,000 Ohio Derby takes place on Saturday and popular track handicapper Rich Ruda will join the show to look at the Derby and other significant races on the undercard. He will also join John to analyze the top two races at Santa Anita - the $500,000 Grade 1 Gold Cup and the $300,000 Grade 1 Triple Bend Stakes.

With the major Breeders' Cup preps in the rear view mirror, we'll visit with an up and coming jockey who will ride in her first Breeders' Cup race and handicap a state-bred version of the Breeders' Cup, Ohio-breds' divisional showdown in the Best of Ohio. Jockey Sophie Doyle upset champion Judy the Beauty with her well timed ride aboard Fioretti in the Grade 2 Thoroughbred Club of America at Keeneland - a Win and You're In Filly & Mare Sprint Division race. Sophie hails from a racing family in England and is the sister of James Doyle who rides for Godolphin in Europe. Sophie was the leading female apprentice in England and has an interesting story to tell about growing up in a riding family and her transition to the American style of riding. Rich Ruda, the house handicapper at Thistledown that will host The Best of Ohio series on Saturday, will join John in 'capping this state-bred program which will feature 5 divisional championship races.

Our first guest will be Mike Penna, the President of the Horse Racing Radio Network (HRRN). HRRN broadcasts more than 100 major thoroughbred stakes races including the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, Belmont Stakes and Breeders' Cup. This week we will feature the Battle of the Buckeyes (and we don't mean THE Ohio State). John Engelhardt will be hosting The Best of Ohio championship series live on Saturday afternoon from North America's newest thoroughbred track - Belterra Park. The card features a Pick-5 of $150,000 stakes races. In the second segment, Rich Ruda will join in to help handicap these races. Rich's home base is Thistledown so he is close to the horses and horsemen up there. The Best of Ohio will be featured in every Daily Racing Form sold nationally on Saturday.