tom law

They say there is no such thing as a sure thing. One thing we are sure of, is that another historic meet at Saratoga, comes to a conclusion over Labor Day. And with that closing comes the shuttering of the office door at the Saratoga Special and our annual “end of the meet” interview with Tom Law. The President of the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters publishes the widely read publication with two other Eclipse Award winners – the Clancy brothers Joe and Sean. Tom will share his reflections on their favorite stories they gleaned from their early morning rounds on the backstretch and winner’s circle jubilations. It was a season that may have crowned a 3-year-old champion and saw Jackie’s Warrior sadly see his named added to the chapter of Saratoga lore titled, “Graveyard of Champions.” The show’s not over yet folks! Great quality racing opportunities abound through Labor Day at the Spa and Tom will join John to go over the top selections of the remaining stakes.

Who are we to break with tradition? Tom Law will make his annual rite of summer by appearing on Winning Ponies. It’s opening week of the long-awaited race meet at historic Saratoga! No team does a better job at creating the feel of a day under the ancient elms than Tom and the Clancy brothers – Joe and Sean. And no publication intimately tells stories about the people, their horses, the day’s racing amid the atmosphere of Saratoga than the “Saratoga Special.” Joining us immediately after the opening day of racing, Tom will discuss the on-going production and coverage planned for the meet. Known to make a wager on the speed of a steed, he will join John to look at the fields for the Grade 3 Forbidden Apple; Grade 3 Sanford and Grade 1 Diana Stakes featuring the undefeated Bleeker Street. Ron Flatter will be joining us to recall he life of the legendary broadcaster, gambler and horseplayer Hank “The Hammer” Goldberg I remembered in his special, pop-up episode of the Ron Flatter Racing Pod. Guests include former ESPN anchor Kenny Mayne, producers Steve Nagler and Kris Kugler and TV director Bob Fishman. Hank Goldberg was a bombastic and witty sports talk radio and television personality in Miami who became nationally known for handicapping horse races and N.F.L. games on ESPN, died on the 4th of July his 82nd birthday, at his home in Las Vegas. As a former resident of Las Vegas himself, Flatter has more than four decades of sports journalism experience spanning four networks on two continents, longtime national broadcaster and writer Ron Flatter came to Horse Racing Nation in 2020, and is now the managing editor with his move to Louisville in the spring of 2021. With horse racing part of his duties at nearly every stop of his career, Flatter has covered nearly every Triple Crown and Breeders’ Cup since 2007, missing only the 2020 races because of the pandemic. He has also covered multiple runnings of the Pegasus World Cup, the Arlington Million and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in addition to assignments at the Dubai World Cup, British Champion Stakes and the Melbourne Cup.

We have a plethora of Stakes races from Pimlico on both Friday and Saturday to handicap, so come on over and pull down your E-Z Win Forms, listen to the broadcast/podcast guests and dial up your Bet-U-S account and enjoy the action. The Grade 1 $1.5 million Preakness Stakes on Saturday is the focal point of the weekend. The 14 race card starts at 10:30 a.m. and in addition to the Preakness the afternoon offers three Grade 3 stakes, with the Preakness followed by the Grade1 UAE President’s Cup for Arabians. While Epicenter will be the center of attention at the betting windows, legitimate contenders will enter the starting gate including the D. Wayne Lukas-trained Kentucky Oaks winner Secret Oath. Whoever you land on, your wagering opportunities expand over the two day racing fest with the popular Black-Eyed Susan/Preakness Double. Friday showcases three Grade 3 races supporting the Grade 2 $250,000 Black-Eyed Susan. With thirteen 3-year-old fillies entered, there should be odds to your liking. They will be looking for a chink in the armor of Adore Manner, who is a Bob Baffert transfer that was most recently seen running a game 2nd in the Grade 2 Santa Anita Oaks. We are bringing in two award-winning racing writers to help unravel this ball of racing yarn – Tom Law and Bob “Railbird” Roberts. Tom Law Tom Law is the Managing Editor of ST Publishing, Inc., the award-winning publishing company that produces The Saratoga Special and Steeplechase Times. He joined the team of Sean and Joe Clancy in early 2013. Law, a native of Saratoga Springs, is currently the President of the National Turf Writers And Broadcasters, which he served as president of from 2006 to 2012. The former longtime managing editor for Thoroughbred Times, Law was recognized in 2011 with the Eclipse Award in the Multimedia/Internet category for coverage of the 2011 Breeders’ Cup. Bob “Railbird” Roberts a native Clevelander who grew up in Willowick, an eastern suburb. He knew he wanted to be a sportswriter when his father took him to an Indians game and he asked who those guys were typing on a counter top behind home plate in the upper deck of old Municipal Stadium. “They’re sportswriters,” said his dad, “that's their job.” Roberts began his career at the Mentor Morning Monitor before heading over to The News Herald where he was named sports editor in 1970 at the age of 22. Roberts was hired by The Cleveland Press in 1973 and returned to The News Herald when The Press folded in1982. The Cleveland Plain Dealer hired Bob in 1985 and he remained there for over 20 years before accepting a buyout in 2006. Roberts is a multiple award winning writer who has covered racing for the Cleveland Press and Plain Dealer for over 40 years. His duties included his daily selections. Roberts covered every Kentucky Derby from Secretariat to Barbaro and is an avid handicapping contest participant.

Joe Kristufek has become the Where's Waldo of thoroughbred racing on television. ;There he is - under the Twin Spires of Churchill Downs. Wait! I see him in the paddock among a group of fun-loving owners. Hold on! That's Joe getting his picture taken in the winner's circle with the partners in Brilliant Racing. Naw, I just saw him interviewing a winning jockey at The Fair Grounds. You never know where Joe will show. Well, we know where Joe will be on Thursday evening - on Winningponies. As a man who has been the oddsmaker at North America's most unique boutique meet, Joe will bring his unique insights to Saturday's most lucrative program at the all-turf Kentucky Downs. Two, yes two $1 million races will be held with the G 2, 1 & 1/2 mile Calumet Turf Cup and the G 3 6 furlong Fanduel Turf Sprint (is there a richer Grade 3 in North America?). Featured on the 'undercard' are the G 3, $750,000 Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf; G 2, $600,000 Franklin-Simpson and the G 3, $600,000 The Mint Ladies Sprint. It ain't over till its over, and yes, the 2021 meet at Saratoga is over. It was a summer that left indelible impressions on the track and among the human competitors. As has become an annual tradition, we bring on Tom Law of the Saratoga Special to open and close the book on a record-setting year. Part of the team with Joe and Sean Clancy, that trio puts out amazingly colorful stories as fresh as that day's doughnuts sprinkled with the photographic talents of Tod Marks.

For horseplayers, it's like Christmas in July. This is opening week of Saratoga and Del Mar and at Monmouth Park the $1,000,000 Gr.1 TVG Haskell. In the Haskell, two millionaires Mandaloun and Hot Rod Charlie have a score to settle as they finished 2nd and 3rd in the Kentucky Derby, separated by only1/2 a length. To examine the stakes-filled card at Monmouth we are bringing it a well-recognized figure on TVG Matt Carothers. Matt admits to learning the skill of handicapping at the foot of the master; his own father. Considered a top Pick-Six player. I'm all about trying to hit a home run, stated Carothers, who hails from Minnesota. As a price player, you're going to have many more losing days than winning ones, so you have to make the good days count. The pick 6 has become so watered down that the pick 5 is my favorite play. The takeout is generally lower and you have that chance to win big. The best sequence for me is when I find a price I can single. That gives me the ability to spread a bit in the other races, and if I'm right and get lucky in one or two of the other legs, I can potentially make a lot of money; We'll discuss Matt's style of handicapping for the TVG audience during the pandemic year and a career that has taken him from Minnesota to California and now to the heart of horse country Lexington, Kentucky. In what has become an annual tradition, Tom Law. the Managing Editor of ST Publishing, Inc., the award-winning publishing company that produces The Saratoga Special will be joining us. Tom, a native of Saratoga Springs, is currently the President of the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters, which he served as president of from 2006 to 2012. To anyone who attends the races at the Spa, there is something special about grabbing a copy of The Saratoga Special. Tom and his partners, Joe and Sean Clancy, had to stop the presses last year due to New York's Covid restrictions. The town and track will be in full swing in 2021 and the team at The Saratoga Special will begin their season-long series of sixteen-hour days.

Richard Eng covers the Horse Racing industry. Handicapping for Dummies is one of the many handicapping books he wrote. He also is a writer for Las Vegas Review Journal and the Daily Racing Form. While Rich reports on the racing scene from coast to coast, his forte over the past decade has been the California competition. So far on the Triple Crown trail it appears that “The West Coast, is the Best Coast,” with winners Medina Spirit and Rombauer in the record books (kind of). We will ask Rich if the current trend is expected to continue in the 1 ½ mile Belmont Stakes. Only Santa Anita offers two graded stakes races on Saturday and we’ll see who Rich and John favor in those events. The first is the Grade 2, $200,000 Santa Maria, a race that could launch Ce Ce to millionaire status. Michael McCarthy, fresh off of his Preakness win, will send her to post over the Santa Anita main track where she flourishes. In the Grade 3, $100,000 Honeymoon at 1 1/8 miles on the turf, the big question appears to be – who can go the distance? The Irish-bred Going Global did just so when winning the Grade 3 Providencia here in April. Eyes will also be on the lightly raced Madone, who has won 4 of 5 starts on grass at a mile while taking the Grade 3 Senorita at Santa Anita. Tom Law is the Managing Editor of ST Publishing, Inc., the award-winning publishing company that produces The Saratoga Special and Steeplechase Times. He is expected to assist in marketing, sales, and editorial efforts at a satellite office in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. in early 2013. Law, a native of Saratoga Springs, is currently the president of the National Turf Writers And Broadcasters, which he served as president of from 2006 to 2012. The former longtime managing editor for Thoroughbred Times, Law was recognized in 2011 with the Eclipse Award in the Multimedia/Internet category for coverage of the 2011 Breeders’ Cup. He is a two-time winner of the Bill Leggett Breeders’ Cup Writing Award and the winner of the Red Smith Kentucky Derby Writing Award. Along with Joe and Sean Clancy, Tom helps operate the popular racing website thisishorseracing.com Tom Law is now President of the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters. As a respected journalist we thought Tom would be the perfect person to weigh in on all that has happened in the world of racing in the past three weeks, from the Derby, its post-race storm for Bob Baffert through Rombauer’s impressive upset win in the Preakness Stakes. Tom and the Clancy brothers are already gearing up for the summer season at the Spa and he will update us on “The Return (in print) of the popular Saratoga Special!”

Our 1st guest is Wendy Davis who is currently the President of the Turf Publicists of America. She also serves on a number of national equine boards and committees including the Racing Officials Accreditation Program as an executive board member, the National Animal Interest Alliance and the American Quarter Horse Association’s Youth Committee. Tom Law will join John for a Pegasus World Cup preview. There will be 7 graded stakes races offered at Gulfstream Park on Saturday headed by the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational. That race has been a game of musical stalls over the past months with potential entrants being withdrawn to start careers as stallions or to opt for other races around the world. 12 will race 1 1/8 miles, which may provide a challenge to some of the favorites parked on the outside for that short run to the first turn. The duo will also handicap the G1, $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational and G2 $200,000 Inside Information at 7 furlongs.

On a day where Belmont Park is presenting a stakes laden card featuring NY-breds we thought we’d reach out to the President of the National Turf Writers Tom Law is who is born and bred upstate New Yorker. Tom Law and Joe Clancy started producing content for the NYTB this summer, so timing is good to talk about the Showcase Day at Belmont. Tom and John will discuss Tom’s latest ventures and handicap the two baby races carrying $150,000 purses – the Maid of the Mist for fillies and the Sleepy Hollow for colts and geldings. The $175,000 Empire Classic for older horses will round out the day. Destin Heath was the cover boy on Blood-Horse last week featuring his hard-working daily duties as the trainer for WinStar farm at their facility in Lexington. Destin has served many roles in racing including working for Tom Drury, who will have Art Collector in the BC Mile. He will share his story of his early days in the industry and ascent to his current position at WinStar.

Award winning writer Tom LaMarra is the “go to guy” for racing coverage during the big day for Charles Town on Classic Day. He covers the Mid-Atlantic region and has been doing his homework on the horses in the major races on Friday to give you a kick start on the weekend's racing. Tom will join John to look at the live horses and longshots in the Gr.2, $600,000 Charles Town; Gr. 3, $200,000 Charles Town Oaks and $150,000 Dance to Bristol Stakes. Saratoga native Tom Law, a major part of the team that produces the Saratoga Special, will join us to speak about the Saratoga summer and the strange trip it has been without the annual crowds of enthusiastic racegoers. Tom likes to wager a bob or two at the races and he will discuss the match-ups in the Gr. 1, $500,000 Sword Dancer on the greensward; Gr. 1, $300,000 Forego and Grade 2,. $150,000 Amsterdam Stakes.

This week’s show will be the tales of two Tom’s – both of them award-winning writers and avid handicappers. First out of the gate will be Tom LaMarra, who covers the Mid-Atlantic region, but hails from New Jersey and will be focusing on Monmouth Park on a day they feature five graded stakes races. The card is highlighted by the $1,000,000 Grade 1 TVG Haskell and horses searching to punch their ticket for the Kentucky Derby and the prestigious Grade 1 $300,000 United Nations. Tom Law will be our second guest. He is a key part of the team that produces the sensational coverage in the “Saratoga Special.” He will tell us about this “Special” meet that has many twists and turns in this bizarre year we are living through. He will weigh in on the schedule of the stakes due to the “Kentucky Derby Shuffle” and the effect of restrictions on the jockey colony. Tom will also tell us how a spectator-free meet is impacting the local community and the distribution of the “Saratoga Special.”

There are so many subjects we need to touch on in these tumultuous times in racing. We'll be speaking to two popular Winningponies guests to touch on as many as we can. Tom Law will be our first interview. As he works closely with hunter/jumper experts, Sean and Joe Clancy on thisishorseracing.com, we will see if current restrictions will spill over to effect the world of Steeplechase Racing. Brian Zipse founder of Horse Racing Nation will weigh in on all of the pertinent topics of the day, including the recent trainer indictments and the shuffling of the Triple Crown Series. There is still some quality racing out there, Brian and John will look at Oaklawn Park's two graded stakes that will take place on Saturday. The Grade 1 $600,000 Apple Blossom Handicap and the Grade 3 $300,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap.

This will be Joe Nevills' first interview on WinningPonies since becoming a Eclipse Award winner for Feature/Commentary Writing. “It’s just one of those things you dream of doing, like hitting a Grand Slam to win Game 7 of the World Series,” Nevills said about winning an Eclipse Award. In “Biting The Dust: A Long Goodbye to Mount Pleasant Meadows,” Nevills tells the story of the demise of a small mixed-breed track in central Michigan through the eyes of trainer Nate Funnell, jockey Lee Gates, track announcer and marketing director Scott Csernyik, and through his own personal recollections of a place where he learned and enjoyed horse racing beginning with his family at age four. Tom Law will join us as we enter 2020 to review The Best Of the decade. It could be horses, jockeys, races, trainers or trends in racing. We will see where the conversation takes us, just two guys talking horses.

In upstate New York you can sense the anticipation and magic in the air under the Ancient Elms as Saratoga gets ready to open its gates on their 40-day meet. On the backstretch there is a cast of colorful characters and pillars of racing. No one catches these images in photos and word better than the staff at the legendary 'Saratoga Special.' Tom Law is one of the key players on this team that brings news as fresh as an early morning doughnut to the fans at Saratoga every day. Tom will paint the portrait of this year's meet and give his insight to several of the weeks graded stakes races. Indiana Downs celebrates their greatest evening of the season on Saturday with a program with 6 stakes races. The 500,000-dollar Indiana Derby G1 and 200,000-dollar Indiana Oaks G3 have attracted class fields and will highlight the card. Nancy Ury-Holthus brings a wealth of experience in handicapping and will join John to analyze the top races of the evening.

Amy Gregory, Director of Communications at Keeneland, is one of the busiest publicists in the game of thoroughbred racing. She and her talented team will be providing previews and post-race coverage of 5 graded stakes at the historic track this Saturday highlighted by the $1 million Toyota Blue Grass Stakes and the $500,000 Central Bank Ashland Stakes. Amy is also the President of the Turf Publicists of America. That 67-year-old organization has changed with the times and Amy will tell us about key projects they have expanded and are currently working on. Tom Law is the Managing Editor of ST Publishing, Inc., the award-winning publishing company that produces The Saratoga Special and Steeplechase Times. Tom will join John to handicap the major Derby and Oaks points races this Saturday. They will be challenged by the Toyota Blue Grass and Central Bank Stakes at Keeneland; the Santa Anita Derby and Oaks at Santa Anita and the Wood Memorial and Gazelle from Aqueduct.

It is Labor Day weekend and the Stakes will be smoking all over the country! We are putting two great racing personalities to work on helping us find angles and winners in Kentucky and New York. Respected author and on-site handicapper Gary West will take us through opening day at Kentucky Downs that features the unique All-Stakes Pick-4 with only a 14% takeout. It starts with the $250,000 One Dreamer followed by the $750,000 Tourist Mile, then on to the $400,000 Kentucky Downs Juvenile and it closes out with the $400,000 Juvenile Fillies. Tom Law of the Saratoga Special got the meet off to a start on Winningponies and he will close it out with a review of the summer at the Spa. Races on tap for Saturday are: the “Win and You’re In” Gr. 1 $350,000 Spinaway; the Gr. 1 $750,000 Woodward; the Gr. 3 $300,000 Saranac and the Gr. 2 $250,000 Glens Falls. Be sure to download Sunday’s “Saratoga Special” as “Racing’s Regular Guy” John Engelhardt!

Talk Derby to me! will be the theme of our Kentucky Derby/Oaks show and we've landed a multiple award-winning turf writer and one of the most respected handicappers on the national racing scene. John is on the backstretch of Churchill Downs this week and there he caught up with Tom Law of the Saratoga Special who is covering the Derby for the Irish Times. Tom should have plenty of information on trainer Aiden O'Brien and his smashing 3-year-old Mendelssohn, recent winner of the UAE Derby by 18 1/2 lengths! Dan Illman will take a break from his duties as the point man at the Daily Racing Form to join the conversation. He should shine plenty of light on the East Coast invaders coming to Louisville for the big two-day event that is loaded with plenty of stakes action. Dan will also tell us about featured coverage at DRF.com over the two days by their many writers and reporters.

They say There is nothing better for the inside of a man, than the outside of a horse. Linda Dyer heads a unique program for the Thoroughbred Retirement Fund at the Blackburn Correctional Institution where she teaches inmates how to care for thoroughbred horses and potentially become skilled enough to get employment after their release. Hard to believe how quickly we are closing in on the Kentucky Derby and Oaks. The points system is increasing and positions in the starting gate are slowly being filled. One way to stay on top of the action is through Thisishorseracing.com. Each Saturday they provide a feature on their site called the Saturday Special that keeps track of all the post times and story lines behind the big races of the day. Tom Law, one of the major contributors to the site, will join John to discuss the $400,000 San Felipe Stakes (G2); the $300,000 Gotham Stakes (G3); the $350,000 Tampa Bay Derby (G2) and for the ladies the $200,000 Honeybee Stakes (G3).

Two past Presidents of the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters will join the show two discuss the outcomes and impact of this year's Breeders' Cup World Championships at Del Mar. Jay Privman was manning the microphone at trackside throughout the two-day event. He had an up close view of the action and insightful questions for the winning connections after each race. Jay covers the Southern California racing circuit plus such national events as the Triple Crown and Breeders' Cup. Tom Law hosted a handicapping seminar at the legendary Parting Glass in Saratoga covering all of the races. We will see how his picks panned out and get his reaction to some of the surprise outcome over the two-day card. Tom is the Managing Editor of ST Publishing, Inc., the award-winning publishing company that produces The Saratoga Special and Steeplechase Times.

We've assembled a trio of popular handicappers to cover the two days of the Breeders' Cup. All will give their Classic picks and then hand pick their selected favorite races over the two days of talent laden thoroughbreds competing in the Breeders' Cup at Del Mar. Our Stable of Stars includes Daily Racing Form's Dan Illman, Thisishorseracing.com's Tom Law and our Las Vegas connection Rich Eng. Dan Illman is the DRF.com's handicapping editor and host of the DRF News Desk. Illman's “Spa Babies” and “Keeneland Babies” columns are featured on DRF.com during the Saratoga and Keeneland meets. Award winning writer and handicapper Tom Law helps operate the popular racing website thisishorseracing.com and is the managing editor of ST Publishing. Rich Eng covers the horseracing industry. Handicapping for Dummies is one of the many handicapping books he wrote. He also is a writer for DRF. As always we will have a FREE contest for cash and merchandise prizes. Details are forthcoming.

The Racing Museum and Hall of Fame will be unveiling its exhibition of 50 images shot by legendary equine photographer Tony Leonard. Entitled Racing's Greatest and America's Oldest—Selections from the Tony Leonard Collection, the photographs focus on Saratoga scenes and Hall of Fame members captured by Leonard who died at age 89 in 2012. Bobby Shiflet was the main player in bringing the show to Saratoga, where it will be on display for a year. Bobby and John will share Leonard's work, their experiences of the artist and the importance of his documenting of the racing of his era. It is time for racing to return under the ancient Elms of Saratoga and no publication covers the racing and behind-the-scenes stories better than the Saratoga Special. Tom Law with brothers Sean and Joe head up a talented team that scour the backstretch for all of the latest news. Tom will paint the picture of the upcoming meet and with John will handicap the graded stakes races on Friday and Saturday.