In the shadow of a cosmic marvel, there were some star performances on the racetrack this weekend with the final round of major Kentucky Derby preps setting the stage for the 150th Run for the Roses, and Joe Bianca and Jon Green teamed up to break it all down. With two clear favorites emerging in Fierceness and Sierra Leone, who else can we expect to shine on the first Saturday in May?

The boys then discussed Frankie Dettori’s remarkable six straight wins on Saturday at Santa Anita, DJ Stable’s decision to give Hades one more chance to get into the Derby and HIWU’s suspension of top trainer Robertino Diodoro.

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It was a busy weekend of Kentucky Derby preps as we inch closer to the 150th Run for the Roses, and Joe Bianca, Jon Green and Tinky broke it all down this week on Rail Talk.

Showing us his face for the first time, Tinky (Tony Cobitz) appreciated Fierceness’s monster win in the Florida Derby before examining Todd Pletcher’s poor record in the Derby and what it says about owners of 3-year-old colts. Jon then told us what’s next for DJ Stable’s star colt Hades and the three all discussed former Bob Baffert trainee Laurel River’s shocking renaissance in a Dubai World Cup romp.

Don’t miss a moment of the fascinating, no-holds-barred racing conversations taking place only on Rail Talk. Be sure to subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Audible, etc. to help us continue making all of this spicy content. Major shoutout to the sponsors Fasig-Tipton, The Green Group and Taylor Made for making it all possible.

This week on Rail Talk, Joe Bianca and Jon Green welcome the always opinionated and thoughtful owner of Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm, John Sikura. The three tackle the challenges of introducing new stallions to the market, breeding for heartiness and not just speed, and innovative ways to increase interest/purses at the Breeders’ Cup.

Jon Green speaks with Gulfstream Park Handicapper and Paddock Host Samantha Perry about her cross-country journey from Oklahoma quarter horse tracks to the Jersey Shore to South Beach. They also discuss how to handicap races on Gulfstream’s synthetic track and what to look for on Saturday’s Florida Derby card.

Jon asks Samantha how being an exercise rider improved her ability to predict winners and how the recently defunct NowNowNow Stakes launched her career as an interviewer.

This week on Rail Talk, Joe Bianca and Jon Green are back from Ocala and full of takes. First they discuss the disaster befalling the American betting system on Tampa Bay Derby day and how the sport needs to show more to respect its core customer, the average horseplayer. Then they look forward to Saturday’s Louisiana Derby card and touch on the latest racing Twitter beef.

Fresh off his 2,000th career win, the great and always opinionated Kenny McPeek stops by to talk Derby contenders and industry issues, and Andrew Stewart of Arion Pedigrees jumps on at the crack of dawn in New Zealand to talk Sandman’s pedigree and his view on American racing from afar.

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This week on Rail Talk, it’s the illuminating second half of Joe Bianca and Jon Green’s conversation with Tony Cobitz, the artist formerly known as Tinky.

Continuing their discussion on ‘super trainers’ in general and Bob Baffert specifically, Tony also touched on his Twitter debate with Tom Ryan and the appreciation he has for open, respectful debate. The trio then moved on to the recent Mike Repole and Pat Cummings interview, agreeing that the NTA aftercare initiatives are admirable and right while questioning whether the nascent organization will have the discipline and focus necessary to bring about real change.

Don’t miss any of these fascinating conversations found only on Rail Talk. Subscribe to our channels on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Audible or RailTalkMedia.com. Major shoutout to our sponsors Taylor Made, The Green Group and Fasig-Tipton for their unwavering support.

Horse racing Twitter lightning rod Tinky has returned for his third visit to the Rail Talk studio and this time came prepared to reveal his true identity to the audience. The former clocker, advisor, writer, author, consultant, track analyst, mating analyst, legal expert and jock’s agent joined hosts Joe Bianca and Jon Green to review his many years in the Thoroughbred industry before weighing in on the topics of the day.

The trio expounded on the mare cap discussion and Tinky brought a lot of data along to back up his positions. From there they ventured into the very hot topic of super trainers and their effect on the industry.

Alas, there was too much to say and too little time, so the second half of the conversation will be released in a few days to finish the super trainer debate and touch on more pressing industry issues.

Don’t miss any of these fascinating conversations found only on Rail Talk. Subscribe to our channels on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Audible or RailTalkMedia.com. Big love to the sponsors Taylor Made, The Green Group and Fasig-Tipton for their consistent support.

This week on Rail Talk, Joe Bianca and Jon Green confront the ugly and apparently avoidable loss of Congruent on Saturday at Gulfstream, wondering why and how the system failed another horse whose life had as much value as any superstar runner’s.

Joe and Jon then analyzed the latest round of Kentucky Derby preps and welcomed Steve Crist, a Mt. Rushmore-level figure in the worlds of handicapping and turf writing. With Crist, they debated the merits of computer-assisted wagering, how far we’ve come on eliminating ‘juicer’ trainers and what roles synthetic tracks should play in racing’s future. The boys also welcomed back special correspondent Skip Anderson for the latest edition of ‘Tackle or Trade’ in which we learn Jon is a secret scuba king?

Don’t miss any of these unique, fascinating conversations found only on Rail Talk. Subscribe to our channels on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Audible. Big love to the sponsors Taylor Made, The Green Group and Fasig-Tipton for their consistent support.

With the racing industry going through a crucial transitional period, Joe Bianca and Jon Green sat down with The Jockey Club President and COO Jim Gagliano for the latest edition of Rail Talk. The three had an expansive discussion on the most pressing issues facing the business and its biggest stakeholders—owners, breeders, horsemen and horseplayers.

Topics included: the rollout of HISA, what can be done to attract new bettors to the game, what’s the best way to diversify the gene pool of the U.S. Thoroughbred, where are we on rectifying the problem of performance-enhancing drugs and the continued efforts to reduce racing and training fatalities. Joe and Jon also reacted to the satisfying result of the Saudi Cup and looked forward to a superb Fountain of Youth Day card at Gulfstream.

Don’t miss an episode of Rail Talk—be sure to subscribe to the show on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Audible. Thanks as always to our sponsors Fasig-Tipton, Taylor Made and The Green Group for giving us this platform to talk honestly about the past, present and future of racing. We couldn’t do it without them.

The reaction was overwhelming—both positive and negative—to last week’s episode of Rail Talk, where Joe Bianca and Jon Green welcomed polarizing racing Twitter personality Tinky. So naturally, the boys had him back on this week to respond to the vitriol aimed his way, but also for another substantive, illuminating discussion on the hot-button issues in the sport today.

The three tackled the failed proposal of a 140-mare cap for stallions and debated what, if anything, can be done to address the shrinking gene pool of the U.S. Thoroughbred. They then touched on the bloated graded stakes schedule, the Saudi Cup and the overall shortsightedness of breeding to sell instead of breeding to race.

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