Talking Horses

[Exotic1]

What the .... .

Congrats to David Arogona (TFUS) who picked Heldatgunpoint (#7) in the last. He also picked Lady Chocolotta #5 in the 5th. Serling had the exacta box in the 5th, $116.

That duo of Serling and Arogona are highly impressive. Putting their final selections aside, they touch on almost every horse discussing their final numbers, pace, trips, breeding, connections.. Presentation is the key, articulating a coherent approach that you can agree or disagree with.

[johnhannibalsmith]

David Aragona has gotten so good as a television analyst. His handicapping has always been solid and fun to hear about on Talking Horses, but the overall presentation and comfort on camera getting into nuanced specifics without being prodded is peak lately. He's a real asset.

[Robert Fischer]

We got lucky with Serling.

Horseracing didn't deserve this guy. Here's a guy who is actually competent, and beyond competence has real expertise within his circle of competence. And he has a rational understanding of things in general. He's also very consistent and reliable. He's not correct about everything (nobody is in a game of probabilities like this), but he always does the work and supports his thinking with rational reasoning.

Usually a guy like that would get sucked into a better place than this game. We don't appreciate those qualities. We like anyone who is on the broadcast and we see as an authority. We like guys who lie or twist the truth and proclaim outrageous records of success. We can't discern quality like that. We're a lowest-common-denominator type of crowd.

The other guys are fine.

Aragona is competent. He's got a good style (what is it 'hipster' or something like that?) and he's young, and he tries to be intellectual. This is all good for the game. He seems to work hard.

Stabile is fairly competent. He's got a likeable personality, and he seems to genuinely love the game.

who's the other guy that's on there sometimes? (my memory SUCKS right now and i put in my due dilligence w/ google but came up empty)
-this guy is also competent, and he's friendly when acting as a co-host w/ Serling.

and Mirahmadi is rarely on, but he is competent and has good chemistry with serling

[Flashbackdiner]

Does anyone keep records of these analysts predictions? Usually in a 9 or 10 race card even the " experts" have a hard time coming up with 2 winners. Not saying that their information is not valuable because it is. There are basic fundamental angles that some always seem to throw out and consistently get beat by.

[the little guy]

Didn't take long! Second post too!

[cj]

Originally Posted by the little guy

Didn't take long! Second post too!

Thought he'd wait at least six so as not to be obvious.

[Suff]

Flashback Diner is a local hangout for racetrackers. Directly across from Gulfstream entrance.

I watch Talking Horse's because I saw Andy bet and play horses before he was a public handicapper.

[Suff]

And last week Andy told his Ruffian story while Aragona had a good Ruffian story and I enjoyed both..

[Suff]

But he wore a striped tie with a plaid shirt that day so I had to look away.

[PaceAdvantage]

Originally Posted by cj

Thought he'd wait at least six so as not to be obvious.

I obviously missed something here...

[cj]

Originally Posted by PaceAdvantage

I obviously missed something here...

Not really, I'm not good at "guess that retread", just figured it was somebody that has been banned before that lives to give Andy a hard time.

[aaron]

If you watch the show, the presentation is always excellent. I listen to the information more than the picks. If all you are interested in is the picks, then just go to the NYRA website. These guys do their homework and the chatter is much more interesting than the picks. When I have opinions on a race,I don't listen to anyones picks, but there are races where I am a little foggy and every now and then, they make the race seem clear.

[Lemon Drop Husker]

Best product in the business. There really isn't even a close 2nd.



Wish other tracks would put in an inkling of the time, effort, and professionalism that they do at NYRA.

[the little guy]

I appreciate the kind words. We've always had two goals....make it informative ( telling people things that are not necessarily obvious ) and entertaining. We all take racing very seriously, but it's still a game and theoretically entertaining. Hopefully the show can add to that.

When I first came to NYRA in 2008 and was given free rein from Charlie Hayward to make changes on Talking Horses as well as the pre-race prattles, I said that within a year all the other tracks would copy our use of replays and trainer stats. Nobody can ever accuse me of occasionally being overly optimistic, but things did eventually change at some tracks over the next decade, so there is that.

I believe that there is a great shared love of racing by many of us here. That doesn't mean we don't understand the myriad of issues that it faces, but ultimately I think anyone would like to try to affect any positive change that is possible for them. No one person can fix everything, but by focusing on what you can do as an individual, it's important to at least do whatever you can within your purview.

[Afleet]

Originally Posted by the little guy

I appreciate the kind words. We've always had two goals....make it informative ( telling people things that are not necessarily obvious ) and entertaining. We all take racing very seriously, but it's still a game and theoretically entertaining. Hopefully the show can add to that.

When I first came to NYRA in 2008 and was given free rein from Charlie Hayward to make changes on Talking Horses as well as the pre-race prattles, I said that within a year all the other tracks would copy our use of replays and trainer stats. Nobody can ever accuse me of occasionally being overly optimistic, but things did eventually change at some tracks over the next decade, so there is that.

I believe that there is a great shared love of racing by many of us here. That doesn't mean we don't understand the myriad of issues that it faces, but ultimately I think anyone would like to try to affect any positive change that is possible for them. No one person can fix everything, but by focusing on what you can do as an individual, it's important to at least do whatever you can within your purview.

keep up the good work; hope you will be going over the two day pick 6 on Belmont weekend