Rail Talk Podcast

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.

Make sure to subscribe to Rail Talk on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify so you don’t miss any new episodes. The growth of the show has been really exciting to see, so major thanks to our viewers/listeners and sponsors Fasig-Tipton, The Green Group and Taylor Made for fueling this fire.

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.

Stay in the loop and make sure you don’t miss any Rail Talk content—subscribe to our channels on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Audible. Thanks a million to our sponsors Fasig-Tipton, The Green Group and Taylor Made for their steadfast support.

Surprise! It’s a bonus episode of Rail Talk, our second of the week. Only one thing could spur Joe Bianca and Jon Green to return to their mics so quickly—a guest spot by the mysterious and brilliant Tinky. If you’re not familiar, @Tinky47flat has taken horse racing Twitter by storm in recent months with eloquent, funny and insightful posts taking to task some of the biggest names in the game.

Clearly well versed in the history of racing, Tinky had heretofore never been seen or heard from outside of his Twitter posts. But he took Joe and Jon up on their invitation to lend his voice to their open and honest discussions on Rail Talk, and the results were magic. The three instantly clicked and talked frankly about many of racing’s biggest hot-button issues, including Bob Baffert, The Jockey Club, HISA and ‘commissioner’ Mike Repole.

You don’t want to miss this illuminating and fascinating episode, or any episode of Rail Talk for that matter. Be sure to subscribe on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Audible so you don’t miss surprise drops like this. Thanks for tuning in, and major shoutout to the sponsors Fasig-Tipton, Taylor Made and The Green Group for their support in facilitating these conversations.

This week on Rail Talk, Joe Bianca and Jon Green react to a soggy but star-studded Saturday at Fair Grounds, where progeny of Gun Runner—including impressive Derby contender Sierra Leone—took center stage, as they so often do. They also said farewell to his brilliant daughter Echo Zulu and debated whether or not her career is Hall of Fame-worthy before touching on the issues being caused by the proliferation of computer-assisted wagering.

Joe and Jon then welcomed in Ocala Stud general manager David O’Farrell to discuss how the family business has managed to stand out in a crowded stallion landscape, the safety improvements at 2-year-old sales and more.

Don’t miss an episode of Rail Talk, be sure to subscribe on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Audible. Thanks to our sponsors Fasig-Tipton, The Green Group and Taylor Made for their continued love and support. It’s an exciting week at Taylor Made, as they’re approaching what would have been Daddy Joe’s 100th Birthday this coming Friday. To honor him, they’ve introduced Servant Leader Awards, designed to recognize employees driven to serve their team, clients, community, and horses with unwavering dedication while wearing a smile. Winners will be announced Friday!

This week on Rail Talk! Joe Bianca and Jon Green, who toughed it out through a case of COVID, discuss two major trainer suspensions and whether or not they were justified before Jon lets it fly on the decisions of certain Eclipse Award voters.Original guest Ren Carothers also stops by to talk about a big weekend of racing at Tampa, a loaded renewal of the Risen Star and how she reacts when someone calls her Mary Poppins, then the boys are joined by special correspondent Skip Anderson for a Valentine’s Day-themed round of Tackle or Trade.Don’t miss any juicy Rail Talk content, be sure to subscribe to us over on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Audible, etc. As always, thanks for tuning in and mega shoutout to our industry-leading sponsors Fasig-Tipton, The Green Group and Taylor Made for their continued support.

The road to the 150th Kentucky Derby kicked off in earnest this past weekend, and it started with a BANG as Jon and Len Green’s DJ Stable captured the Grade III Holy Bull Stakes with Hades, upsetting Mike Repole’s heavily-favored 2-year-old champion Fierceness in the process. So naturally this week on Rail Talk, Jon and co-host Joe Bianca talked all about that euphoric experience and welcomed in Hades’s trainer Joe Orseno to map out the next few months leading up to the Derby.Of course it wasn’t just Hades who set the racing world on fire this week—Bob Baffert trainee Nysos dominated the Grade III Bob Lewis Stakes and looks like clearly the best 3-year-old in America. Will it take away from the Derby not having banned Baffert’s top runners in the gate? And what does that mean for the other two legs of the Triple Crown?All that, plus special correspondent Skip Anderson stops by to play a Super Bowl-themed edition of Tackle or Trade on this week’s episode of Rail Talk.Don’t miss a morsel of Rail Talk goodness—be sure to subscribe to the show on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Audible and at RailTalkMedia.com. Thanks to you, and thanks to the sponsors, Fasig-Tipton, The Green Group, Taylor Made, Arion Pedigrees and Black Dog Bloodstock for giving us the strength we need to proceed, strength we need to believe.