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'Lucinating

People gonna be hurting the next couple of days—plantar fasciitis flaring up, high ankle sprains, bad backs—and no, that ain’t from playing no March Madness, alright? Ain’t nobody out here tearing an ACL filling out a bracket. Nope. This right here is from folks damn near dislocating their thumbs trying to hammer in a wager fast as humanly possible ‘cause some horse with a name like a startup company just won a prep race. Y'all 'lucinating. I’m talkin’ full-body injuries from

Lassie

Sometimes folks just need a reminder, like Lassie barking out in the yard. There is a reason why, and sometimes we just need a nudge to pay attention. Sometimes, a full-on verbal cattle prod for their own damn good is needed. And if you’re messing around with horse racing—handicapping, betting, all that—buddy, you’re gonna need all three. ’Cause here’s the deal: we get lazy. We get complacent. We get lackadaisical—yeah, I said it, big word, even for me. We start drifting, ju

AI

Ah, horse racing… one of civilization’s most elegant paradoxes. A sport draped in tradition, steeped in pageantry, and yet—underneath the silk and saddlecloths—driven by the same primitive instinct that built Las Vegas and toppled empires: the irresistible desire to cash a ticket. Now let’s talk about this fashionable phrase everyone keeps whispering—AI. Artificial Intelligence? Please. That’s not what the sport needs. What racing needs is AI: All In. All in on integrity. All

NHC Bound

Las Vegas… The neon cathedral of risk. The one city in America where a bad decision can feel like destiny. Soon, the elevators will hum and the cocktail glasses will clink as horseplayers from every corner of the civilized world descend upon the NHC Championship at the Caesars Sportsbook inside the Horseshoe Las Vegas . They’ll arrive polished. Confident. Armed. Subscribers to Racingwithbruno have walked this floor before. In 2012, a gentleman named Michael Beychok took ho

Daisy Dukes

Ah… there is something wonderfully subversive about logging miles with intent. We've been the Dukes of Hazzard. We’ve left the sun-drenched civility of Carlsbad, California — our winter headquarters — and pointed The Raptor east, toward the bluegrass promise of Kentucky. Two huskies in tow, ears perked, as if they understand this isn’t merely travel… it’s pilgrimage. Albuquerque slipped by in desert hues. Oklahoma City offered wind and wide skies. And now — Hot Springs — tuck

X's and O's

Ah… yes. Now we’re getting somewhere. We need our X's and O's. So here we are again, circling the Derby preps like seasoned jewel thieves casing the room before the lights go out. And thanks to Dery Media at Churchill Downs, we have something that horseplayers swear they crave more than oxygen in the stretch — FREE past performances. For the Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack. For the Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park. For the Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park. FREE. I

Death & Taxes

Alright now, y’all buckle up, ‘cause we’re about to talk about handicapping horses like it’s a family reunion that done got hijacked by Wi-Fi. Back in the day — and by “back in the day” I mean when we were arguing about the ‘99 bias like it was the Zapruder film — handicapping was simple. Not easy. Simple. You had pace. You had speed. You had class. The race still went to the swiftest, just like the Good Lord and The Bible said — well, Ecclesiastes said it, but y’all get the

That Time!

Ah… my friend. Gather close. You see, this isn’t just “that time of year.” No. This is when the air itself sharpens. When fortunes are whispered about in private rooms and lost in public daylight. The Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing is approaching. And with it… opportunity. First, the Derby preps, the Rebel, the Fountain of Youth, the Santa Anita and Florida Derby, last but no least the Arkansas Derby and Blue Grass Stakes, and there’s the pageantry of the Kentucky Derby

The Futures

Boy I swear, every year it’s the same mess. A horse wins one Derby prep and folks hammer the futures pool like they just saw Pegasus flap down outta heaven and autograph the saddle towel. Colt wins the Risen Star Stakes and BOOM — straight to 9-1 in the futures for the Kentucky Derby. Not 19-1. Not “let’s think about this.” Nine to one. Like he just cured a disease on the gallop-out. Paladin didn’t exactly part the Red Sea down there. He struggled to get by Chief Honcho. And

Both Eyes Wide Open

“How’s he look?” That’s my favorite question at the racetrack. I always give ‘em the same answer: “With both eyes.” And buddy, that usually ends the conversation right there. See, ten folks can stand shoulder to shoulder at the rail at Churchill Downs, mint juleps sweatin’ like a sinner in church, and watch the exact same race. One saw brilliance. One saw bias. One saw a bad ride. And one—God love him—thought the chestnut was a bay. But almost none of ‘em actually looked at t

The Hand to the Queen

Ah… John Shirreffs. You see, in a game intoxicated by velocity — by bullet works, by stopwatch hysteria, by the vulgar need to be seen doing something — a true horseman practices something far rarer. Restraint. John Shirreffs first emerged from the California morning haze in the late 1990s, training for Marshall Naify and 505 Farms, sending out horses like Swept Overboard, Manistique, David Copperfield, Hook and Ladder. They arrived fueled by Bertrando, polished in Kentucky b

Derby Road Less Traveled

Well now, listen here, y’all. We are livin’ in a time where common sense done packed up its bags, kissed us on the forehead, and moved to a cabin in the Smoky Mountains. Everything’s performative now. Folks ain’t tryin’ to be smart — they’re tryin’ to look smart. It’s a mad, mad, mad, mad world, and if it ain’t a reality show yet, it’s ‘cause the producers can’t keep up. But thank the good Lord above, there’s still one thing we can count on every spring: the road to the Tri

Jedi Mind Tricks

Ah… obsession. Such an ugly word for something so beautiful when properly justified. “I want a Paynter,” I declared — repeatedly — to my longtime sales mentor, Rudy Delguidice. A man with the patience of a saint and the eye-roll discipline of a monk. “Why do you want a Paynter so badly?” he’d say. That was ten years ago or even more, I was engrossed in my quest for a Paynter. I never quite got the chance to explain my obsession to Rudy, the man, until this week. I tried to

Hit or Get Off The Pot

Ah… Oaklawn today. I don’t merely like the card — I love it. The way one loves a well-executed con, an unopened bottle of something expensive, or the moment right before a secret is revealed. It’s rich. It’s layered. It demands attention, not obedience. This is the kind of card that doesn’t hold your hand or whisper sweet nothings. It asks a simple question: Are you paying attention, or are you just along for the ride? Field size, conditions, intent — it’s all there, hidin

Oaklawn Today

🌟 LADIES AND GENTLEMEN — HANDICAPPERS OF ALL SKILL LEVELS — today at Oaklawn you’re looking at a live, juicy 10-race card that came out of the winter fistfight stronger than ever. After days of canceled cards and icy training days, we have horses whose lungs aren’t frozen solid and workouts that actually mean something. That’s a treat right there. 🐎 THE WORKOUT REPORT YOU CAN’T IGNORE Every handicapper worth his/her morning coffee knows workouts are the pulse of a raceho

Oaklawn's & Ice Age

Oaklawn is back , and we are on it like gas station subs and a bag of chips you didn’t even mean to buy but somehow ate in the parking lot before the engine cooled off. Winter racing salvation has arrived in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and buddy… we needed it. Because let’s be honest, the last few weeks for handicappers have been Slim Pickens in a Slim Pickens movie. There’s only so much Gulfstream a person can take before their brain starts feelin’ like it’s trapped in a beach

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