Barry Meadow Retiring!!!

[The Judge]

e-mial just received I took out a small part about refunds etc.

TR Publishing, 3457 Via Zara Ct., Fallbrook, CA 92028
trpublishing.com (805) 712-5060

After 23 years of publishing the daily Master Win Ratings, I am retiring effective immediately.

I appreciate the opportunity to have provided this service to you over these years. Your correspondence and comments have helped me to sharpen my own handicapping, and have helped contribute to the accuracy and value of the ratings.

I have always done the ratings myself. No assistants, no farming out the work. Which has made for some interesting times during some rare mid-meet trips to faraway places. Thanks to the Internet (which didn’t exist when we started with the mailed, weekly ratings), I’ve watched Golden Gate replays from a hotel room in Monaco, deciphered a German-language keyboard at an Internet café in Austria so I could e-mail the ratings, and downloaded past performances on a cruise ship in Honduras.

Using the ratings as my key handicapping element, I’ve also bet many millions of dollars during this time—through the windows, legal rebate shops, betting exchanges, offshore racebooks, and bookmakers. And from this I am retiring as well.

Partly I am retiring for health reasons, to withdraw from the daily stresses of long hours, deadline pressures, and millimeter $8,000 photos. These pressures, I reluctantly admit, have taken some toll on my body. My doctors tell me that I’ll be better off not to be spending late nights reviewing the final turn of a Hollywood Park turf race several times to see exactly who was wide (and how wide), or agonizing over whether a horse should be a 14 or a 15, or pounding my desk when I’ve just lost a photo at Santa Anita.

I’ll still be involved in horse racing, though not on a daily basis any more. I’m working on a new book, The Skeptical Handicapper, which will include much computer research about what really works in this game. I’ll continue my regular column for American Turf Monthly. And I remain an advisor to HANA, the horseplayers’ advocacy group.

So I won’t exactly be fading into the sunset, but I will have more time to enjoy the sunsets. I’ll be living full-time in Fallbrook, and those of you who’ve visited me here know how beautiful and peaceful it is.

I thank you for your support over the years, and wish you well. And as I signed off each day’s ratings on the telephone, “Good luck at the races.”


Barry Meadow

[RaceBookJoe]

Best wishes to Barry Meadow !!! rbj

[Stillriledup]

Barry, enjoy your retirement, this is a stressful game, its hard on the body no doubt, glad to see you're making the right decision at the right time.

And, the good news is that the game isnt going anywhere, so, somewhere down the line, you can always come back if things change.

Enjoy the retirement and good luck going forward!

[maddog42]

Congrats on your retirement. Money Secrets at the racetrack is THE book on money mangement. I even read your Blackjack/Nevada book "Blackjack Autumn"
Loved it.
Thanks Barry

[LottaKash]

Gosh, it was 24 years ago, in 1987, when I first received my copy of Barry Meadows' book titled; "Professional Harness Betting"....Yikes !, where has the time gone to ?....It was quite a book, with Barry sharing his innermost thoughts and experiences at the Harness.....The book was chock full of truths and dispelled myths, and about winning at the game, and his charts and matrices concerning the construction of all sorts and types of wagers was groundbreaking at the time, and I believe is still timeless today, as well (the math).....He followed up, the following year, I believe, in his book, which most of us "old saltys" still recall and perhaps cherish to this day, "Money Secrets at the Racetrack"....

Barry was always accessible to the people he vended to, as I recall having a conversation a time or two, by simply phoning him at his residence's number, that he supplied with his book....He was most gracious and oh so patient with me, and gave me all the time and support that I needed. (I doubt he would remember me tho)

In fact he gave this invitation at his book's end: TR Publishing, 527 So, Sonya St., Anaheim, CA 92802

"Or call me. My number is ###-###-####. . I always enjoy discussing harness racing with people from all over, and find it a constant learning experience."

" Whether you decide to become a professional harness bettor, or just use the concepts in this book to become more successful, I wish you the best of luck at this fascinating game."
-------------------------------------------------------------------

So from me to you Barry, I wish you well in your "newer lifestyle"....Thanks for the memories, your honesty, sincerity, and most of all, your willingness to share your knowledge and love for this game with others who may share the same love for the game as yourself....

You are, and were very relevant to many of us "in the game", THANKS A BUNCH........

best,

[thaskalos]

Just as kids in playgrounds throughout the country dream of being professional baseball and basketball players...many of us gamblers also foster the dream of living the life of a professional gambler; earning our living by our wits...and bowing our heads to no man.

Barry Meadow showed us that it's possible...and also had the integrity to spell out the many difficulties along the way.

For that, he has earned our undying gratitude...and a spot right at the top of the list of "true" gambling authorities.

The consummate professional!

[proximity]

i was fortunate enough to meet mr meadow and his wife jeanne last year at penn national when they were in town to visit a mutual friend frank cotolo. they even sat at my table for the latter half of the card and graciously answered my questions about racing, blackjack autumn, and the gambling lifestyle. i remember being most impressed that barry could actually understand all of frank's jokes!!

thanks for everything barry and looking forward to the skeptical handicapper book!!

[judd]

why retire? it get boring

[DJofSD]

Best of luck to you Barry on all of your future endevours.

BTW, lots of great golf courses in San Diego County. If you don't play, consider taking up the game for both the exercise and the challenge.

[BlueShoe]

Originally Posted by judd

why retire? it get boring

Retired Horseplayer? Thats an oxymoron. Retire from publishing and the daily business grind perhaps. While a break from the racing wars does all of us good every now and then, we always come back and jump right back in again. Having been around horse players for more than half a century, have a hunch that Barry will soon be more active than he had planned. Those photo finishes and the rush of winning are hard wired into us, and are much more exciting than, lets say, making two birdies on your last round of golf.

[dansan]

once racing gets in your blood not even a transfusion will help

[Robert Goren]

Beating the races just got a little easier now that Barry's money is not the pools. I wish him well in his retirement.

[DJofSD]

Originally Posted by BlueShoe

Those photo finishes and the rush of winning are hard wired into us, and are much more exciting than, lets say, making two birdies on your last round of golf.

Oh, I wouldn't be so sure.

After the round I had on Sunday, being able to play a couple of holes just as well as a scratch golfer and getting a better score than my brother on some others, I'd say it comes close. Put a little money on the line and it probably is the same. Just saying

[ezpace]

BEST for ya always Barry

[classhandicapper]

Best of luck.

I have to say though, I don't understand why so many horse players feel compelled to play the game as though it has to be "all" or "nothing" when "all" is obviously a very time consuming and stressful lifestyle.

It's possible the play the game profitably on a more casual basis IF you stick to single type of race, single type of play, single meet etc...

There is nothing stopping people from concentrating exclusively on trainer patterns on a particular circuit, or horses coming off biased tracks, or only graded stakes races, or only races for 2YOs, or only first time turf horses, or only hidden class drop downs etc...

IMO that kind of specialization actually makes it easier to become profitable while also lowering the time commitment. You may not be able to make a living that way, but if you still love the game it gives you a chance to continue playing it without all the downsides.