By Horse Player NOW’s Joe Kristufek
During the course of the last few months, I’ve been “shipping” all over the country, educating horse racing enthusiasts at the America’s Best Racing fan hub tent. From Arlington to Pimlico to Belmont to Monmouth to Saratoga to Del Mar to Santa Anita to Keeneland, and soon back to Santa Anita for the Breeders’ Cup, the Night School Tour has demanded quite a bit of preparation, and travel.
My team and I ship well. The performances at each location met my personal expectations, but the constant grind can wear you down.
Tonight on Night School, the racing industry's national online fan education program, we tackle the handicapping quandary of "shippers" as noted trainer Kellyn Gorder joins the interactive live chat. The 90-minute program gets under way at 8:30 p.m. ET and also features a video interview with respected Mid-Atlantic trainer Ben Perkins Jr. on the subject.
"Handicapping Shippers" will be the 38th of 40 Night School sessions during the 2012 season, which runs through mid-November. The lesson plan includes topical videos, downloadable study materials and the chance for fans to interact with the experts during the live Q&A chat. The panelists will discuss the challenges of moving horses from one track to another, what a horseplayer can do to evaluate the transition, and more. Horse Player NOW analyst Brian W. Spencer joins me on video to discuss shipping angles, and Caton Bredar and Jill Byrne co-host the live chat session.
Set a reminder and join FREE horse racing Night School fan education here.
Remember, if you can’t make Night School live, you can always go back and read the archive. Accessed under the “competed events” tab, there are over a hundred sessions at your finger tips, serving as a virtual horse racing fan education library.
Gorder opened a public stable five years ago and is enjoying a career year in 2012 behind horses like Super Derby winner Bourbon Courage. Prior to becoming a public trainer, he worked for 505 Farm and WinStar Farm, and he helped develop the young careers of horses such as Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver and Breeders' Cup Classic champion Drosselmeyer. His Midwestern-based stable is noted for shipping around the region and finding winning spots.
We’ll ask Gorder how he keeps track of his stable and manipulates condition books from all over the Midwest to find the best possible spot for his horses, and the challenges of shipping process.
On the handicapping side, we will discuss angles used in evaluating shippers, whether it’s every day racing, or stakes.
As chat participants, you have the opportunity to participate and ask your OWN questions as well!
This week's Night School will be followed by another "After Night School Special," featuring live racing from Mountaineer Park, beginning at 10:00 p.m. ET. The segment will cover the evening's final race in real time with free, live-streaming video and complimentary Daily Racing Form past performances.
This week, the Night School curriculum also includes a special Thursday night live chat that will preview the upcoming Churchill Downs Fall Meet. Churchill opens it stand on Sunday, and the meet-preview, Big Event chat will begin Thursday at 8:30 p.m. ET. Note that next Tuesday's Night School will feature an extensive Breeders' Cup Preview, including analysis from several top-flight handicappers of racing's championship days.
Presenting title sponsors for Night School are the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, American Quarter Horse Association, Keeneland, Churchill Downs, Inc. and Daily Racing Form.
This week's Night School preview video with Joe Kristufek and Jeremy Plonk:
This week's study materials, courtesy of Horse Player NOW and Daily Racing Form, are here:
