Who are you watching among Midatlantic trainers ?

[CapperLou]

He always did well in Florida and was highly respected here. When he decided to try some in New York--I agree--he was probably over his head considering his stock.

Now then, New Jersey is a horse of another color where Plesa is concerned; I would think. I'm going to keep a close eye on him at MTH--I will not be too shocked if he does well at this meet.

All the best,

CapperLou

P.S. Thanks for all the info in this thread--have learned a lot about the PHA trainers and the shipper specialists etc.

Originally Posted by Valuist

Larry Jones may open a few eyes today at Pimlico. He's got three live horses in the stakes: Wildcat Bettie B, Gasia and Josh's Madelyn.

Wildcat Bettie B was a pretty easy winner of the Miss Preakness.

Just caught the post-race interview with Larry -- Jim Nabors in a cowboy hat.

Someone mentioned the Houghtons. I'm starting to get dizzy from this stuff, so the reference might be in this thread or it might be in the female trainer thread.

Well Bernie just went on my Watch List. In the 13th at PIM today, he saddled WHAT A WARRIOR, who won by neck at nearly 18/1 over the Small-trained 6/5 fave. WAW is a 3YO gelded son of CROWD PLEASER out of a LORD GAYLORD mare and his feet hit the ground for the first time in Maryland. This was Houghton's 4th Maiden Turf winner in 6 tries, with one 2nd. That's a pretty good job of picking your spots. WAW ran 2nd last out, beaten 1/2 length by the even-money fave from JayeffB/Goldberg/Bravo at ATL, an effort which the bettors' dismissed/ignored today.

Another thing about Houghton's 4 wins: Santagata rode 1 of them, the only sprint winner. The other 3 were all Santagata OFF.

Houghton has been running about 75% of the time at PHA, but lately has been splitting his time between PHA and DEL. I checked the condition book at those tracks and turf racing begins at both next weekend. If TBH shows up in the entries in a Maiden Turfer, he will get my attention. Watch out for those funky 7 1/2 furlong turf races at PHA; they start about 2 jumps from the turn.

[wonatthewire1]

Have a tough time catching this one's winners...his runners that "look" in form to me don't run and those that look terrible on paper do well > when I figure it out, that will be reversed! Another guy who is in a similar vein (at least with me) is Ed Coletti, I'll catch a couple of good long-shots then nothing for 6-7 months until the streak happens again.

Betancourt has had a good first half of the year and it looks like Ron Dandy is sticking with Philly this year rather than heading back to Boston for the summer.

A couple of trainers that I've had good luck with in the past but they've gone really cold: Riviezzo, Andrea Gonzalez, and Randy Allen.

In prior summers, I've had success with Pam Shavelson who seems to point to the summer meet. Watch it if she ships to DEL or MTH, the horse is well meant.

[Tom]

This is one of the best threads in awhile...thanks, guys!

[cash2]

geesh bathless, i keep thinking i'm done with with this thread and you just keep showing up. i mentioned the houghtons but it was in reference to ronnie the dad who i thought was a great guy to claim from. had good stock but never really cranked them up. i could be mistaken but i do believe that ron houghton actually did win a grade 1 turf event maybe 25 years ago. bernie could be a whole different ballgame. thanks i'll keep an eye on him. as i said that farm has always had potential runners.

interesting aside... the houghtons don't run many claimers at del anymore. a few years ago ronnie houghton came up to mike pino and said "so, gonna take everything i've got?" shows you why the fields at del are so small. all these guys living on their day rates don't want want to lose their barn to the sharks.

great thread, but only a matter of time till the troll showed up. coca cola and bush's beans? gimme a shasta and vankamp's, just as good and half the price. good to know that the guys living under the bridge are going first class.

Originally Posted by cash2

interesting aside... the houghtons don't run many claimers at del anymore. a few years ago ronnie houghton came up to mike pino and said "so, gonna take everything i've got?" shows you why the fields at del are so small. all these guys living on their day rates don't want want to lose their barn to the sharks.

There's a good side to it. A friend made a bad claim a while back and wanted out, but nobody at MTH would touch the filly. Put her in a van and took her to DEL. Van was empty for the ride back. Haven't heard of the filly since.

[RaceIsClosed]

The Mid-Atlantic game is ruled by trainers, and to some extent, the jocks. Delaware is the worst, though a lot of NYRA trainers have set up shop there and do well. Some of them even run at Pha now.

Generally, there is a crew of "A" and "B" trainers who are threats to win at a price as long as one of their "betters" isn't also in the race. Each trainer tends to carve out a niche that doesn't conflict with the others, and most of the "B" trainers win only when the "A" trainers aren't present, or if the "A" trainer wants to yank a 3-5 shot and let one of the "B" guys win at 20-1.

If you follow trainers, you'll also do much better in the Mid-Atlantic if you tie it to pace handicapping rather than speed figures, as these horses rarely run their best, and tend to do so only when it's financially justified (i.e., nice purse or long odds).

[hurrikane]

I agree RIC. trainers have been running the mid atlantic since I started. I'm getting that feeling about Texas too.

Anyone playing texas trainers?

[cash2]

posted by race is closed

most of the "B" trainers win only when the "A" trainers aren't present, or if the "A" trainer wants to yank a 3-5 shot and let one of the "B" guys win at 20-1.

this was posted about delaware park. and a specific example of the of the latter part of this statement would be...???

Here's a guy who would win maybe one race a year. The fact that he was the trainer of a horse made the handicapping process just a little easier -- just mark a big X through the horse.

But from his last 4 starters at PHA, Victor has 2 wins and 2 seconds, 3 of them at odds of 10/1 or higher.

What's going on? Did Victor get religion or something?