Jeff Siegel passed away Saturday after a battle with cancer. I could spend a lot of time talking about how good a handicapper he was, and as public handicappers go, he was about as good as it gets. However, this column revolves around one fact: If Jeff hadn’t done a few things for me that he had absolutely zero obligation to do, my career and life both probably turn out much, much differently.

I moved west to California in late-2013 in search of a fresh start. HRTV offered one, and I went to work in their digital media department. This was around the time Jeff Siegel and his on-air partner, Aaron Vercruysse, were actively pitching more in the way of online-only coverage. They saw where media was going before much of the industry did, and after a few months of lobbying, they got the go-ahead to try a few things.

Jeff and I didn’t know each other particularly well, but he took an interest in me. That ultimately led to me producing some of their stuff and hopping on the air when the situation called for it. In a stroke of good fortune, 2014 was the year California Chrome took horse racing by storm and attempted to sweep the Triple Crown at Belmont Park.

Plans were made to do a stream from the Belmont paddock. Jeff could’ve done the stream on his own and gotten a legitimate audience, and everything would’ve worked fine. He insisted on doing it with me.

“Nervous” doesn’t begin to describe my state that day. Jeff, though, gave me every chance to succeed, and we had a really good show. This was the day I ran into Caton Bredar, who was doing hits for HRTV’s on-air coverage, and she asked, with a smile, if I was trying to take someone’s job because I was pretty good.

We did more stuff together after getting back to California, and this was also around the time I started managing HRTV’s social media presence. Jeff’s belief in me got me noticed, allowed me to show I could wear many hats, and while I have no tangible proof of this, I’ve always believed he played a role in helping me get through a very sticky situation in the summer of 2014 where some heavy hitters wanted me fired.

It also made me more valuable when TVG’s parent company acquired HRTV in early-2015. There were legitimate questions about just how many folks would go over to TVG after the acquisition. I’d moved cross-country not long before this and had no idea what my next move would be. In March, though, I got the news I was safe.

If that decision goes the other way, am I still in horse racing? Am I still in the gambling world at all? Furthermore, do I have to move from Los Angeles and jeopardize a romantic relationship that led to a wedding this past summer?

I didn’t have to worry about any of those questions. Jeff told me a few times that people generally make their own luck, but his interest in me gave me chances to show I knew what I was doing. His belief in me helped me believe in myself and make the most of the fresh start I desperately needed.

Most important, though, was this: In an industry with a lot of people who want you to fit in a particular box, he made me feel like I belonged. As a kid trying to make a mark, there’s no better, more comforting feeling than that.

We didn’t work together again after the TVG acquisition. As my career did its best embodiment of the Johnny Cash song “I’ve Been Everywhere,” Jeff continued to do excellent work for The Stronach Group, even through some trying times. They axed Vercruysse in 2018 as part of highly-publicized layoffs, Santa Anita went through a legitimate PR crisis in 2019, and the early-2020’s saw significant restructuring within the parent company.

Through it all, Jeff was a constant. If you saw or read his work, you knew you were getting top-tier content from one of the sharpest minds in the business. Even with my complicated relationship with The Stronach Group in mind (more on that later this week), I always tried to consume as much of his stuff as I could.

The last time I saw Jeff was during a one-day stop at Golden Gate Fields in 2019. We’d seen each other a few months earlier, at Lou Villasenor’s funeral, but this allowed us a better chance to catch up. The two of us (and the talented, classy Jason Blewitt, who was also part of the proceedings) chatted for the better part of an hour before they went on the air, and it was absolutely wonderful.

Jeff Siegel was a fantastic handicapper. He was, however, an even better human being, and horse racing is worse now that he’s no longer with us.

There are a few states that could see legislative movement in 2026. Unfortunately for residents of the country’s two most populous states, they’re not on that list. Here’s how things look.

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Could Minnesota sports betting finally launch?

In 2024, it looked like Minnesota was a given to launch sports betting. 2023’s legislative cycle saw some positive discussions, and the home of the Vikings, Twins, Timberwolves, and Wild seemed like a sure bet (wordplay intended) to legalize.

However, the legislative session was, to put it mildly, a mess. Legislators introduced four separate sports betting bills. As it turns out, those are a lot like quarterbacks in that, if you have more than one, you probably don’t have any. The state’s tribes, racetracks, and charitable gaming entities got involved, and while frantic, last-minute discussions again seemed positive, they weren’t enough to get deals done.

Sen. Jeremy Miller took another crack at it in January, introducing a third version of his Minnesota Sports Betting Act. However, that failed to advance out of committee. Sen. John Marty, a longtime opponent of legalized online sports betting, put forth a bill as well, one that proposed strict regulations (no sportsbook advertising on public property, high tax rates for operators, and a full ban on college sports betting), but that didn’t move forward meaningfully, either.

The divides in the land of 10,000 lakes have proved very, very large. Lawmakers are attempting to bridge gaps with the wide variety of stakeholders, and according to a report from the Indian Gaming Association Mid-Year Conference, agreements may be within sight. That’s no guarantee, but it does at least seem like something has genuine momentum.

Passage during the 2026 legislative session doesn’t mean a launch in the same year. However, that’s possible, and it would come as a significant relief to most Minnesotans. Of the state’s neighbors, only Iowa has retail and online sports betting options. North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin allow retail sports betting at only a handful of locations around those states.

What about Georgia?

The other state awaiting movement towards a launch is Georgia, which requires passage in the form of a constitutional amendment. In that way, it’s similar to Missouri, whose industry will go live in December following Amendment 2’s passage at the ballot box in 2024.

The Georgia House of Representatives was faced with two bills this past March, but brought neither to a vote before the state’s “crossover” deadline. However, the next opportunity for a vote to legalize sports betting in the Peach State is the 2026 election, so the timeline for a potential launch was almost certainly unchanged.

Efforts to put a sports betting measure on the ballot have been ongoing for years. Back in 2024, a pair of bills passed the Senate, but neither received a vote in the House. Differences in how tax revenue would be used proved fatal for those proposals.

Florida’s legalization of sports betting in late-2023 gave some Georgians in the southern part of the state an option. Others can make the trip to North Carolina or Tennessee, but those aren’t short drives (even from the Atlanta area). Fellow neighbors South Carolina and Alabama, meanwhile, do not have legal sports betting industries.

Bad news for big states

California and Texas figure to be gold mines for online sportsbooks. However, both states figure to be years away from going live.

Major sportsbooks like FanDuel and DraftKings are trying to court California’s tribes after conflicts in 2022 helped kill two different sports betting propositions. One would have legalized it at tribal casinos while killing card rooms, while the other would have launched full-scale online sports betting. The country’s biggest state includes an even bigger number of stakeholders, with tribes insistent on protecting their right to certain gambling ventures and sportsbooks facing the need to work with them. In short, think of what’s going on in Minnesota, and multiply it by a power of 10. That makes for a huge roadblock, and it wouldn’t surprise me if we don’t see sports betting in California until at least 2030.

Texas, meanwhile, has its own unique conundrum. Several high-ranking GOP officials, including Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, are opposed to the expansion of gambling in the Lone Star State. While Gov. Greg Abbott has said he’s not opposed to the state offering sports betting options, without widespread support from the majority party in the state legislature, any bills are doomed to fail. Furthermore, legislative sessions occur every two years, with the next one coming in 2027.

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That’s not really the case with Missouri sports betting, which will go live this December after years of several failed attempts. I’ve covered that beat extensively for Catena Media and Raketech, and parts of the story are strange (bordering on ridiculous).

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The good news, for bettors and the industry at large, is that the industry will finally go live in a few months. Voters narrowly approved a ballot initiative last November, and when I say “narrowly,” I’m not blowing smoke. In an election with more than 2.9 million ballots, “yes” won by fewer than 5,000 votes.

That initiative came after years of legislative failures. While it’s often lazy to point the finger of blame at one person or group for bills not advancing, we can do that in Missouri, as former Sen. Denny Hoskins and his allies stonewalled a number of pieces of legislation in that chamber. Back in 2023, that even meant killing his own bill, which was altered in the state’s House of Representatives to include sports betting language.

Hoskins’s belief was that Missouri sports betting legislation should be coupled with video lottery terminals, or VLT’s. This was not a philosophy shared by many of his colleagues, who repeatedly expressed frustration at the failure of sports betting legislation to get meaningful movement.

Finally, a coalition, Winning for Missouri Education, came forward in 2024 with a petition to get sports betting on that year’s ballot. Predictably, Hoskins, who was finishing out his term, was no fan of the proposal, citing the 10% tax rate. However, the petition garnered more than enough signatures to make the ballot, and, as mentioned, the legislation will become law.

Hoskins, though, got one final jab in. After being term-limited, he moved to a new position as Missouri’s Secretary of State, where he ruled against an application for emergency rules by proponents of the sports betting bill. The industry had hoped to launch prior to the NFL and college football seasons, but as a result of this decision, that was pushed back to December.

(Quick note: In all honesty, that was probably the correct decision. Sports betting almost certainly shouldn’t fall under anything pertaining to emergencies. However, given who was involved, there was no way that decision wasn’t going to look petty.)

Because of the late launch, Missouri sports bettors, in theory, will miss most of football season. They’ll also, in theory, miss the start of college basketball, NBA, and the NHL. I say “in theory” because Missouri’s delay in entering the sports betting game means many residents of the Show-Me State have likely been betting in neighboring areas for years. In particular, Kansas City natives can hop over to Kansas, while those in St. Louis are a stone’s throw away from Illinois. Missouri also borders Iowa, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Arkansas, all states with online sports betting (Nebraska, meanwhile, has legal retail options, but nothing online). That also says nothing of offshore sportsbooks, which thrive in areas without legal, regulated options (and acting like they don’t is naive, at best).

There is likely still room for operators and those who do business with them to be optimistic. Missouri isn’t a small state, and it boasts plenty of pro and college teams across football, basketball, baseball, and hockey. In that respect, it compares reasonably well to North Carolina, which launched online sports betting in March of 2024.

Unlike North Carolina, though, the timing here isn’t great. The Tar Heel State’s industry opened its virtual doors just before the ACC and NCAA college basketball tournaments, in an area where college basketball is a religion. As mentioned, Missouri’s launch had the potential to make an impact if timed before the start of the most popular gambling sport in the country, but Hoskins’s ruling dashed those hopes.

Furthermore, North Carolina’s borders are far friendlier, from an industry standpoint. South Carolina has not legalized sports betting, and Virginia prohibits betting on in-state college teams. In an odd twist, this may have meant that, after years of North Carolina residents crossing state lines to place legal bets, some Virginians came the other way to bet on their favorite college squads.

North Carolina’s industry reported more than $657 million in handle in March of 2024, when the industry was live for just a few weeks. I don’t expect those kinds of numbers in Missouri, though they’re certainly possible. What I’d be interested more in, however, are numbers from neighboring states once Missouri sports betting goes live. It’s very possible Illinois, Kansas, Iowa, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Arkansas take a hit, as travelers from the Show-Me State can now bet from home.

In addition, I expect Missouri to follow the path of other states and re-examine the tax rate. That 10% rate will be one of the lowest in the country, and upping the tax is an easy way for a government to pad its bank balance. Ohio sports betting, for example, also launched with a 10% tax rate on New Year’s Day in 2023. That went from 10% to 20% later that year, and Gov. Mike DeWine proposed a hike all the way up to 40% in early-2025. However, that was rejected by state lawmakers during this year’s budget process.

For now, though, the 10% clip means that operators will be eager to do business in Missouri. That means more sportsbook promos for new customers. If you’re in Missouri and haven’t signed up yet, I’d advise holding out and waiting until the official “go-live” date. Chances are you’ll get rewarded with bonuses from several different operators.

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Here, we'll take a look at whether or not the industry has implemented these ideas, as well as if the ideas still apply in 2025. There's a lot to go through, so let's get to it. 2025 notes will be in parentheses and bolded.

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1) Promote from within to account for many resignations across racing that would undoubtedly take place following the announcement of my appointment. (Hardcore gamblers think I’m a suit, and suits think I’m a hardcore gambler. Yep, this would still happen.)

2) Any remaining spots would be filled by passionate young men and women who want to make a difference in the game. Their jobs will be to come up with innovative ideas and how to implement them for the sport’s long-term survival. (Resumes of those who have interned with The Saratoga Special move to the top of the pile.)

3) No idea is a bad idea, except for the Breeders’ Cup Derby, which is the worst idea in the history of the sport. (Unfortunately, “kill Northern California horse racing” has lapped this.)

4) If we’re still short on people, we’re cloning Tom Durkin like Dolly the Sheep as many times as needed. (Still a good course of action.)

5) The horse comes first. We’re breeding to race, not racing to breed, and as such, breeders need to get with the program. (Not just breeders; owners need to prioritize certain traits accordingly, too.)

6) All, ahem, “breeze” portions of 2-year-old sales are eliminated. You want to gallop horses on the track? That’s fine. The days of an ability to “breeze” an eighth of a mile as a 2-year-old being more important, in some circles, than that horse going nine or 10 furlongs as a 4-year-old or 5-year-old are over. (We’ve made some progress, as a few sales have minimized the importance of workouts. We’ve still got a long way to go, though.)

7) Racing needs its stars to run for as long as possible. To promote this, any male horse retired to breed as a 4-year-old may only be bred to 50 mares. If stallion owners want to jack up stud fees to compensate for the restriction, that’s fine. We’ll let the market determine if it works. (Loggins, who did not race beyond October of his 2-year-old year, was bred to 137 mares in 2024 as a 4-year-old. This is bonkers.)

8) We’re commissioning a long-term study on race-day medications by an impartial, unbiased group of equine scientists and medical professionals. (Still a good idea, but good luck finding ANYONE who can be seen as unbiased by those on all sides of any argument in this day and age.)

9) Whatever that study says, we’re going with, and all jurisdictions will follow the same rules. (The lack of uniformity remains a major issue.)

10) If you’re a horseman and your horse needs Lasix or another medication to treat a legitimate issue, your horse goes on a list maintained by the neutral party and gets re-evaluated every three months. (If only there was an organization dedicated to integrity and safety out there that could make meaningful strides on reforming this in ways that help everyone…oh, wait.)

11) If your horse needs Lasix or another medication because you think it’s a performance-enhancer, you can go train somewhere else. (See #10.)

12) Our medication policies have punishments with teeth. (Teeth aren’t the problem. It’s the fact that some trainers get chomped while others get away with merely being gummed.)

13) Violations get grouped into “minor” and “major” infractions. Minor infractions (think overages by a few picograms or nanograms) are met by increasing fines, with the fifth violation and those beyond that being met with 30-day suspensions. (Phil Serpe is not a juicer.)

14) Major infractions are met by suspensions of 60 days, six months, and one year, followed by a lifetime ban for the fourth. (There remains no excuse for trainers with rap sheets longer than my resume to continue being allowed to run at tracks across the country. Also, Phil Serpe is not a juicer.)

15) A national board of vets and horsemen get to decide which substances fit into which categories, and the standards apply to all tracks as part of the NTRA’s safety accreditation program. (See #8.)

16) The safety accreditation program also contains regulations pertaining to fouls and disqualifications, which will be drafted on the advice of jockeys, trainers, and stewards. (How is a universal set of rules and regulations for stewards not under HISA’s jurisdiction, and isn’t this the easiest win they could possibly chalk up?)

17) These regulations will apply across the board. The inquiry, “what is a foul that merits disqualification?,” is no longer a trick question. Every rider and steward at every track in the country now plays by and officiates the same rules, and bettors know for sure when a DQ could likely occur. (See #16.)

18) The same rules apply to all races regardless of status. We’re not making exceptions in Grade 1 events just because more eyes are on us. (See #16.)

19) If a track chooses not to comply with rules pertaining to overages and disqualifications, not only will it not earn safety accreditation, but it sacrifices graded status for all of its stakes races as well. (Still an idea worth pursuing, but it involves the buy-in of a lot of people benefiting from the status quo.)

20) Optics matter. (Plan to read an entire column in this space about how horse racing continues to royally butcher this basic tenet.)

21) Any trainer found to have directly sent a thoroughbred from a track to the slaughter pipeline gets booted from the game. No exceptions. (Hi, Burton Sipp, how’re you doing?)

22) No organization whose stated goal is to end horse racing gets to help make decisions within the sport. (Thankfully, PETA seems to have taken a few steps back at Santa Anita, which has rebounded from a terrible 2019 to become one of the safest horse racing venues in the country.)

23) If organizations outlined in step 22 have strategies to hit racing hard, we hit back harder. The days of the sport being a punching bag for well-coordinated attack campaigns are done. (This requires a LOT of buy-in from people who agree PETA is terrible but can’t agree on what to order for lunch.)

24) It is made clear horses on racetracks get far better care than cats and dogs at shelters run by one group that euthanizes thousands of them on a yearly basis. (See #23.)

25) It is also made clear that the head of a prominent organization striving for the extinction of horses had no problem profiting off of animals when he was putting the end products of them on pizzas sold at his restaurants. (His name is Patrick Battuello.)

26) We’re reopening the hill at Santa Anita. (Hey, we got one right!!!)

27) We’re reopening Hialeah Park, by any means necessary. (This may come to fruition, but it might require Stronach successfully killing Gulfstream Park, and nobody should want that.)

28) We’re issuing moratoriums on the extension of meets at Saratoga and Del Mar. Boutique meets are boutique meets for a reason. (Saratoga hosting the Belmont has turned out as well as a “Plan B” possibly could, but this year’s early start in July sure seemed to wear people out.)

29) Tracks will work together to coordinate post times whenever it is feasible to do so. Instead of fighting each other for the same gambling dollars, we’re creating more opportunities for churn. (In a word…BAHAHAHAHA.)

30) “Post time” means “post time.” Barring emergency situations (waiting for ambulances, technical/starting gate malfunctions, etc.), every effort must be made to run races at their listed times. (Gulfstream Park tried valiantly to do this for a season or two, but since then…see #29.)

31) Penalties for post time violations will be mandatory donations to thoroughbred aftercare foundations. If you want to set up a day where you intentionally drag to set up donations for PR purposes, that’s just fine. (Still a great idea worth pursuing, and I’ll even let a suit steal it and take credit for it.)

32) Fans that go to the track will receive vouchers at the gate. Grandstand admission is good for a $5 voucher. Clubhouse admission is good for a $10 voucher. (Free churn!!!)

33) These vouchers are good for wagering only and cannot be cashed out. If a few first-time track-goers make money with their first bets, we’re convincing them to bet their winnings back, stay involved in the sport, and, most importantly to the future of the game, come back with their friends. (Retention marketing is something horse racing’s really struggled with, so why not try this?)

34) We’re optimizing the betting experience to make it easier for new players to understand what’s going on. If racing is marketed as the original fantasy sport, with a new draft taking place every 30 minutes, how much easier is that to understand than a set of past performances that, to a racing neophyte, may as well be Egyptian hieroglyphics? (StableDuel kind of, sort of, tried to do this, but the inability to run games for NYRA and CDI tracks kneecapped them and significantly limited what they were able to achieve.)

35) We’re setting national standards for takeout and breakage. No track will institute rates of greater than 18% on win-place-show bets or 20% on exotics. (Some on social media will still say this is too high, but it’s a substantial improvement over most tracks.)

36) Tracks will be encouraged to find new wagers to try. Not all of them will work (hi, Horse Racing Roulette!), but some will (the low-takeout Stronach 5 is good, clean fun, for instance). We’re going to take chances, make mistakes, and get messy. (Bring back the Jockey 7 at Kentucky Downs, while we’re at it.)

37) Transparency is key. The more people trust our product, the more they’ll trust betting on it. (See #29.)

38) Partnerships in owning horses are fun. Not knowing how much of each horse is owned by which stakeholder is grating. Those numbers get published. (This one was a bit selfish, as I think it may genuinely influence Eclipse Awards some years, but I can’t say I’m surprised at the lack of transparency here. One note: Sol Kumin did get in touch with me many years ago and clarified how much of horses he usually owns, and I appreciated that.)

39) Reasons for trainer changes get published (Runhappy’s page would have been positively fascinating). (Even better would be the pages of horses coming from the barns of Jason Servis and Jorge Navarro.)

40) Replays of each race run around the country are made available at the end of each racing day to all fans, without restrictions. (An amendment: Put a warning in front of videos with races that have breakdowns. Don’t worry about certain groups finding replays of those races. They’ll do that with or without this measure.)

41) Equibase data is made available to any individuals who want to use it, for a small annual fee. This prevents a repeat of the Handycapper saga and allows passionate fans another way to explore the sport. (My goodness, the Handycapper story was mind-numbingly dumb.)

42) Corporations are not individuals. (Sorry to any big company that wants Equibase data.)

43) We will market the sport with both respect for the customer and enthusiasm that, as of now, is usually only reserved for big days. (Huge swing and a miss here.)

44) Those big days will market horses and the humans around them above all else. Music and fashion can play secondary roles, but all marketing materials will have at least one horse in them. (See #43.)

45) Horse emojis do not count as horses within those marketing materials. (See #43.)

46) If and when a horse breaks down, we will be honest, forthright, and not hold back details. (As a sport, we’ve gotten better at this, though some of that came as a result of the horrible 2023 Saratoga meet.)

47) If there are problems with breakdowns, we will find solutions, not scapegoats. (Jerry Hollendorfer on line one…)

48) We will effectively police ourselves so that government officials with lobbyists in their ears have as little reason as possible to attack the business. (HISA and HIWU have tried; they’re not all bad, and I’ll defend several things they’ve done, but a few recent whiffs have been awful.)

49) We will foster environments where healthy debate, constructive criticism, and hearty competition are welcome and encouraged. Racing is, above all else, a pari-mutuel game where bettors compete with one another for money in the pools. (The words “healthy,” “constructive,” and “hearty” don’t exactly fit large swaths of horse racing Twitter, huh?)

50) We will not foster environments where those who degrade certain parts of the population can spread their beliefs to others, nor ones where those opinions are valued more than those of people who have spent years in the business. (I fear we’re polarized beyond repair.)

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In early-2024, I was approached by 8Count Media, which worked with Hong Kong on a new North American simulcast feed. They were looking for a U.S. handicapper to submit picks and analysis, as well as record 45-second videos previewing each race.

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My lack of a presence on the feed this year was a budgetary decision, not one based on performance, and I hold no bitterness. Working in that capacity paid a lot of bills leading up to my wedding this past June, and the folks I worked with (Zac Reynolds, Mitchell Lamb, and the people at 8Count Media) treated me with kindness and respect. Furthermore, by doing my part for Hong Kong and hopping on the simulcast feed at Pleasanton on Breeders’ Cup Saturday in 2024, I became, based on my research, the first horse racing handicapper to appear on two official simulcast feeds, for tracks on two different continents, on the same day. That’s a cool legacy to have.

Before we go much further, a more few bits of information are relevant:

• They approached me, not the other way around.

• I submitted picks and recorded videos roughly 48 hours in advance.

• I did not control when videos played on the feed, nor did I have any control of any part of the feed, at all, whatsoever, during the racing programs.

To say that my presence didn’t go over well initially would be putting it mildly. Here are just a few tweets that got sent (and yes, I kept receipts):

I understand some of the pushback. Hong Kong players are some of the sharpest, most devoted handicappers on the planet, and they know what they like. If someone said they weren’t a fan of the presentation, that’s their right. Having said that…a hostile takeover? Really? Some people on Twitter/X have way too much time on their hands, and I won’t hold my breath waiting for an apology from him, his “community,” or any associated burner accounts he runs.

I’d like to think I shut a few people up by proving reasonably competent. That last month or so near the end of the 2023-2024 season was one of the best stretches of my career. I hit at a 32% clip with top picks at that point, and while 2024-2025 had a “right horses, wrong order” flavor all season long, I was at least in the mid-20%’s range, which isn’t bad for a circuit as tough as Hong Kong.

I’ll still be looking at cards and playing when I can (though the whole “unemployed” thing really limits one’s bankroll), and you should, too, even though the timing is a genuine hurdle. You need to make an effort to stay up late or wake up early, but if you’re in the U.S. and longing for horse racing’s glory days, you’re going to love what Hong Kong offers. It’s a night-and-day difference from the North American product, with full fields of horses that run every two to three weeks for nine months of the year. In addition, the handicap system they use makes all the sense in the world, and the Hong Kong Jockey Club offers a mountain of free data through its website, including free PP’s, race replays, and weather/track condition information. Everything is player-friendly and transparent, which makes one wonder why we don’t do things certain ways stateside.

When horses run as frequently as they do in Hong Kong, it becomes fun to follow them and get to “know” them, to an extent (it’s easy when the male horses are geldings and there’s no breeding industry to worry about!). The circuit’s top end features horses like Ka Ying Rising, who’s probably the best turf sprinter on the planet, and Voyage Bubble, who won Hong Kong’s Triple Crown this past season.

You may recognize some jockeys in the colony, too. Hugh Bowman is best known as the regular pilot of Australian superstar Winx, and he’s active in Hong Kong, but in the standings, he’s finished well behind Zac Purton, who’s dominated Hong Kong over the last several seasons. If you haven’t seen Purton ride at Sha Tin or Happy Valley, picture peak Ramon Dominguez, with exceptional timing and a sixth sense for where to place his horses and where the wire is, and you’re not far off.

Astute horse racing content creators have noticed how much fun it is to follow the circuit, and there are some fun people and brands to follow if you want to get up to speed on the product. I’m admittedly biased (they’re friends of mine and I host a show on the same platform), but Josh Rodriguez and Matt Carlson host a weekly podcast/YouTube show called, “You’ve Gotta Be Sha Tin-ing Me!,” on the On the Wrong Lead network. I’ve suggested a sister show called, “Happy Valley, Joy Joy,” but they’ve yet to take me up on it (I guess they’re not “Ren and Stimpy” fans). Andrew Brown and Alex Evers co-host a fun show targeting a U.S. audience every week, too.

In addition, Horse Racing Nation’s Keith Bush exclusively plays Hong Kong, and he’s dedicated a lot of time to building a handicapping model targeting the circuit. I won’t pretend to have a brain that can understand some of it (I’m an English/history guy, not a math/science guy), and he was intensely critical of my presence on the feed, but he’s incredibly sharp when it comes to compiling and interpreting data. If you’re configured to digest what he’s putting out there, he’s as good as it gets.

With a few scattered exceptions, the HKJC runs at Sha Tin on weekends and Happy Valley during the week. Sha Tin is a bigger course, and it also features an all-weather dirt track (some ADW’s may label it as synthetic, but that’s incorrect). Happy Valley, meanwhile, is a “country” track with a short stretch that tends to lead to a lot of bunched-up finishes. If you pride yourself on being a “trip” handicapper, and you’ve got the time to invest in watching replays, that’s a track where you can find angles to exploit.

Hong Kong isn’t easy, and I know that first-hand having handicapped one full field after another. Few things in the sport, however, are more rewarding than being right in that setting. If you’re looking for it, you won’t find a better opportunity than what Hong Kong offers.

Before we go much further, though, here’s an important part of this: This Substack will be FREE for the next few weeks. I’m going to be working on my cadence of content, and I can’t charge for it when I’m still feeling things out. When a paywall rolls out (likely in early-October), it won’t be for much. It’s likely a $5 bill every 30 days will be all I’ll ask, and if that changes, I’ll be fully transparent about it. If you want to pledge to subscribe, such options are available on the subscription screen. I greatly appreciate that, but it’s in no way a requirement to access content for the next few weeks.

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If you’ve stumbled upon this Substack, chances are you’re familiar with my work in the horse racing, sports betting, and/or online casino industries. If that’s the case, welcome. Look around, subscribe to my email list, let me know some stuff you’d like to see, and we’ll work out the kinks as we go. If you’d like to advertise or sponsor something, let me know, because I’d love to work with you.

On the off chance you don’t know me, or have only vaguely heard of me, allow me to give a brief introduction. My name is Andrew Champagne, and I’ve been a storyteller since the time I could walk. The desire to do that professionally has led to stints at some networks and publications you might have heard of (TVG Network, The Daily Racing Form, and a few affiliate marketing platforms in the gambling space), and I’ve been one of the most active freelance writers and voices in the horse racing game for quite a while.

I came back from my wedding and honeymoon to find my full-time job changing from the Senior Editor of several gambling websites to…well, finding a full-time job. In the midst of that, the annual Saratoga horse racing season was in full swing. I’d missed the first four days, given public handicappers at publications covering the meet a 40-race head start, and my world had been flipped upside-down.

That meet ended on Labor Day, and with the dust settling, it’s time to take stock. Writers write, and I intend to use this space to reach an audience that, for whatever reason, seems to get me even though I’m in a very, very strange place. As simply as I can put it: Some hardcore gamblers think I’m a suit lobbying for an industry job, that I don’t bet enough, and that I’m pompous with a massive ego. Some suits in the industry think I’m a hardcore gambler whose content doesn’t have enough flash, pomp, and circumstance to be attractive and appeal to the audience they want.

See the chasm I’m in? When put there, the things that can happen are wide-ranging and sort of weird, and I’m leaning in with an assortment of content that’s bound and determined to find someone who would enjoy consuming it.

You’re going to get a mix of journalism, storytelling, and pontificating that I’ve been told makes me fun to be around at a racetrack or a casino. You’re going to get insights on horse racing and sports betting news. You’re going to get stories about history, from legends of horse racing (on track and off) to some pretty ridiculous things that have happened to me or around me. I may do horse racing and sports picks, but honestly, if I’m putting that stuff behind a paywall, I’d need to make sure it was something substantial and worthy of an investment. In addition, I’m now part of the team at Wizard Sports Picks, and that’s probably a better place for most of that stuff to live.

Yes, you’re also going to read about Lord Miles at 59-1 in the 2023 Wood Memorial. I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t mention that from time to time, and if you had any reaction to that, from smiling to face-palming, my mission has been accomplished.

Here’s the key thing, though: I’m actively looking for a full-time gig. The good news is my skill set, which includes communications, marketing, and content strategy stuff, makes me a fit for a whole bunch of things. The bad news is that there may be a chance this stuff goes with me to wherever I wind up if my landing spot is in horse racing or sports betting. If that happens, we’ll cross that bridge when we get there, and anybody who’s a paying member at that point will be taken care of.

For now, look around and see what’s here. I’m still trying to figure my way around, but for now, if you’d like to ask me something or voice an opinion, use the “contact” function on my website. I’m an easy guy to find, I read everything that comes through, and I appreciate your support as I navigate my way to whatever’s next.