The Ron Flatter Racing Pod

Handicapping of Kentucky Derby 2025 qualifiers this weekend and a tribute to the late San Diego columnist Bryce Miller take center stage on the Ron Flatter Racing Pod. Del Mar president Joe Harper offers a tribute to Miller, whose turf writing took him from the seaside track to Triple Crown races to Breeders' Cups. Colleagues reminisce about a newspaper career that took Miller from his native Iowa...

On the track, off the track and at the window. They are the three stages for this week's Ron Flatter Racing Pod. The biggest preps for Kentucky Derby 2025 begin Saturday. Reigning champion jockey Flavien Prat has the ride on John Hancock, the undefeated colt who is the morning-line favorite for the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby. Prat discusses that race and his assignment on Eclipse Award winner Sierra...

A new Kentucky Derby 2025 prep, how racing is reacting to tariffs and decoupling and the National Horseplayers Championship are the subjects in the spotlight on the Ron Flatter Racing Pod. Colonial Downs hosts this weekend's $500,000 Virginia Derby, a qualifier for the run for the roses May 3. Churchill Downs Inc. vice president of racing Gary Palmisano Jr. talks about the race, the ongoing rise o...

Seizing on the momentum of eye-catching events the Grade 1 Saudi Cup and the Four Nations hockey tournament, is the timing right for the World Riding Championship of Thoroughbred Racing? The concept catches the spotlight this week on the Ron Flatter Racing Pod. Leon Nichols and Calvin Davis, the founders of the Project to Preserve African-American Turf History, return to the podcast in their roles...

At least three more spots in the Churchill Downs gate are likely to be decided this weekend with important Kentucky Derby 2025 points races at Gulfstream Park, Aqueduct and Santa Anita. They get the spotlight on this week's Ron Flatter Racing Pod. Racetrack personality Eddie the Hat Wilson checks in from Los Angeles to talk about Barnes's return to the Derby trail for trainer Bob Baffert in the Gr...

It may have been postponed a day, but the Grade 2, $1.25 million Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn should be worth the wait. With a full field of 14 horses, the virtual win-and-you're-in qualifier for Kentucky Derby 2025 is the focus this week of the Ron Flatter Racing Pod. Trainer Lonnie Briley, who never has had a graded-stakes victory, is on the doorstep of that and his first Derby horse with three-time...

The first of the virtual win-and-you're-in qualifiers for Kentucky Derby 2025 arrives Saturday with the Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds in New Orleans. That is where the spotlight is focused for this week's Ron Flatter Racing Pod. Trainer Brendan Walsh discusses morning-line favorite East Avenue, who carried two open-lengths victories into the Breeders' Cup Juvenile. That was where a stu...

With less than three months before the run for the roses, a mock draft for Kentucky Derby 2025 brings together seven handicapping minds for this week's Ron Flatter Racing Pod. Horse Racing Nation hard-core handicapper and fair-odds author Ed DeRosa will be joined by Chip Gehrke, the Doctor Derby curator of weekly division rankings. Five other media horseplayers take part, including Sara Elbadwi fr...

Kentucky Derby 2025 points preps at Aqueduct, Gulfstream Park and Santa Anita have the floor this week on the Ron Flatter Racing Pod. From California, longtime horse owner and public handicapper Jon Lindo offers his thoughts about north-state racing coming to an end, decoupling proposals in Florida and Virginia and small fields for stakes this weekend at Santa Anita. He also previews the Robert B....

The Pegasus World Cup Invitational and the multimillion-dollar stakes card that supports it Saturday at Gulfstream Park are front and center this week on the Ron Flatter Racing Pod. XBTV racing analyst Zoe Cadman will be in Florida this weekend. She provides snapshots of the Grade 1, $3 million feature, including thoughts about post-time favorite Locked being drawn wide for the 1 1/8-mile race. Sh...

The immediate present on the road to Kentucky Derby 2025 and the long-term future of horse racing are front and center this week on the Ron Flatter Racing Pod. FanDuel TV's Andie Biancone discusses the Grade 3 Lecomte Stakes, a next-level points prep for the Derby. She offers her prediction about the pace of the race and her top pick to win. She also gets into the recent trend of Fair Grounds stak...

Inside of four months before Kentucky Derby 2025, what are the dos and don'ts of futures betting on America's biggest race? A panel with plenty of experience making and taking those wagers is front and center this week on the Ron Flatter Racing Pod. Michael Beychok won the 2012 National Horseplayers Championship, and Jody McDonald is a host on Infinity Sports Network, WFAN in New York and WIP in P...

From Kentucky Derby 2025 points preps to other weekend stakes to Fair Grounds moving forward after the New Orleans terror attack. All these topics are discussed this week on the Ron Flatter Racing Pod. New Orleans-based trainer Neil Pessin discusses the racing community's reaction to the Bourbon Street tragedy and his thoughts about Fair Grounds proceeding with its New Year's Day program. Trainer...

From Thorpedo Anna's charismatic campaign to Mystik Dan's unlikely Kentucky Derby victory to Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert's return to Churchill Downs. The racing year 2024 is reviewed by a media panel on this episode of the Ron Flatter Racing Pod. Racing analyst Caton Bredar of FanDuel TV, track announcer Jessica Paquette of Parx Racing and turf writer John Cherwa of the Los Angeles Times go o...

The eighth annual holiday episode of the Ron Flatter Racing Pod celebrates Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and even Festivus with three racetrack announcers. Larry Collmus, the longtime voice of the Triple Crown and Breeders' Cup on NBC, checks in on the heels of his assignment as the autumn announcer at Del Mar as well as his year-round appearances as a racing analyst on FanDuel TV. Paul Allen not o...

A football star-turned-horse owner, a trainer having a renaissance in Kentucky Derby preps, a Pick 5 on Saturday at Gulfstream Park and the botched pronunciation of a horse are topics on the table for this week's Ron Flatter Racing Pod. Former Pro Bowl quarterback Jake Delhomme talks about his love of the game, and that would be Thoroughbred racing. He discusses a little football and his 12 years...

Four Grade 1 winners. Five millionaires. One big race. This weekend's Grade 2, $500,000 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct is punching above the weight of a December race, and it is the feature of the Ron Flatter Racing Pod. Fox Sports and New York Racing Association racing analyst Richard Migliore will discuss the build-up to the race and how it came up so big. He also will talk about the other graded stakes...

The long Thanksgiving holiday brings the traditional changing of the Thoroughbred seasons in Kentucky, and that is the focus of this week's Ron Flatter Racing Pod from Churchill Downs. TV analyst Kaitlin Free provides insight into the Clark Stakes and the Kentucky Jockey Club as well as her overarching thoughts on the fall meet that ends this weekend. She also offers some handicapping thoughts abo...

In the second of two episodes featuring politicians who are friends of racing, California Horse Racing Board vice chairman Oscar Gonzales is the guest this week on the Ron Flatter Racing Pod. As the leading proponent to protect racing in Northern California, Gonzales has helped in the launch of the Golden State Racing meet this fall at Pleasanton, the track that is filling the void after the closi...

Who are some of the movers and shakers in racing whose names might be known to fans and horseplayers, but their work might have been taken for granted? Two politicians who are friends of racing are featured this week and next on the Ron Flatter Racing Pod. Retiring Kentucky state senate floor majority leader Damon Thayer, a Republican from Georgetown, has been considered on both sides of the aisle...

The annual Breeders' Cup hangover episode featuring a stream-of-consciousness or unconsciousness review of the 14 championships comes to pass this week on the Ron Flatter Racing Pod. Co-host John Cherwa of the Los Angeles Times joins Flatter to go over each race in the hours after Breeders' Cup wrapped up at Del Mar. Of course this is done over a couple glasses of wine, perhaps explaining how many...

Not quite a thousand stars, but that is the aim from Del Mar for the latest Breeders' Cup episode of the Ron Flatter Racing Pod. FanDuel TV's Mike Joyce leads off to discuss what he has learned this week hosting breakfast shows during training for the 14 Breeders' Cup races. He offers some analysis of finer points for the championship tests. A cavalcade of trainers comes next with D. Wayne Lukas d...

For the eighth year in a row, the Breeders' Cup is featured on a hard-core handicappers episode of the Ron Flatter Racing Pod. The show is anchored from the press box at Del Mar, where cool weather is forecast for the championship cards Friday and Saturday. Each of the 14 races will be analyzed in depth by a panel of three expert handicappers. Mark Midland and Ed DeRosa provide their expertise fro...

Breeders' Cup handicapping, a controversial column and even the presidential election are the topics on this week's seventh-anniversary episode of the Ron Flatter Racing Pod. Steve Kornacki from NBC Sports and NBC News is not only providing   analysis from his big board for the championships next week, but he also discusses his day job that has him absorbed in the Nov. 4 election. Battleground sta...

Breeders' Cup renewals past and future and the richest turf race in the world are the main topics this week on the Ron Flatter Racing Pod. TV's Amy Zimmerman and photographer Skip Dickstein are among the very few people who have been to every Breeders' Cup since the championships began in 1984. They reminisce about the inaugural running at Hollywood Park and some of their experiences since, includ...