that's hilarious, but honestly I wouldn't do any of those things to any of those guys Read more

This is a good question. It seems to me that cross-subsidies from slot machines have to be helpful to the horse industry. I also think horse racing in the US would benefit from many fewer races, much larger numbers of horses per race, and a reduced track take out. The vig on horse betting is just so large that it… Read more

The thing that first attracted me to horse racing was the logical, speed figure based approach of Andrew Beyer. I was a freshman at Harvard, and he had dropped out of Harvard. Luckily I didn't have enough early success betting the ponies to follow his lead! Read more

No question gates matter, but #16 versus #17 can't logically matter much. I'm not into voodoo correlations. I'm also not into my horse going six wide around the first turn! Read more

My guess is that successful sports agents are some of the luckiest people on the planet...the ones who make it get paid a ton of money and ( I would guess) don't add that much value most of the time. Read more

Great question. It does seem strange that one guy sets the morning line and it gets so much attention. I've studied morning lines. Sometimes they don't even roughly add up to the right total odds, if you know what I mean. Given the pari-mutuel system, by race time the odds have to add up so that they are equal to… Read more

I think the skill in poker is less about calculating odds and more about bluffing, betting effectively and aggressively, not playing too many hands, etc. Read more

The great thing about horse racing is that everybody has a different view, and when you pick wrong, it's easy to forget, but when you get one right, you can talk about it forever. Read more

I used to hang out with Todd Schrup there... Read more

then yes for sure. I've been obsessed with betting horses since Canterbury Downs opened outside the Twin Cities when I was in high school Read more

yes Read more

I'll have my full Kentucky Derby Picks up before the race at the www.freakonomics.com at the blog. Read more

If the online site will give you rebates, that seems like a pretty good reason to me. Read more

I'm not really very informed about this. There's no question that horse racing is a business. There is no question that horses get injured. It's not really in anybody's best interest to hurt the horses, but protecting them also isn't the only priority. I did a study for the Jockey Club a few years back where we… Read more

Chitu, Wicked Strong, Vincerimos, Candy Boy. Read more

I actually wouldn't be surprised if horses with dumb names are better bets in the Derby because a lot of dumb money is there just betting names...If you name your horse "Kentucky Derby Winner" my guess is that if you make it to the Derby you have odds way lower than you deserve at post time Read more

someone would have to tell me what a bronie is first... Read more