The site, www.horseraceplace.com is brand new, something I started to both document my own journey the last 10 years from "hey horse racing is fun" to "I want to have an online community of others that enjoy it like I do: whether it's just a day at GP or other tracks, playing games around picking horses/handicapping races, or ownership.

The best part of horse racing is the way it creates inspiring and enjoyable human stories that bring people together

It is my outlet for my writing and energy, after 30 years in another industry, one where I did and still do a lot of writing and reporting. And so to use an expression likely heard around stables everywhere, I really “stepped in it” in a great way last Friday. Here’s what happened.

I arrived at Gulfstream Park just in time for the first race. It is freaking hot out, even more than usual for this time of year. I can’t wait to escape the heat and head up one floor to Ten Palms, the finest restaurant in Hallandale Beach, Florida, which happens to have a stunning, country club-like view of all the racing action. But as long as I’m on my way there, might as well catch race 1 up close.

As the horses come down the stretch in front of me, I hear lots of screaming to my right. I mean a lot of screaming. Screams of joy. Just then I hear GP announcer Pete Aiello, one of best in the business, say, "you've heard of Cody's Wish," this is the Florida version. Here’s the finish of the race on this video I found on X (Twitter). You’ll hear what I heard, and its a beautiful sound!

Winner’s Circle, meet Mila!

Then I put 2 and 2 together and it adds up to 5...the post position number of first-timer Mila's Wish, who stormed down the stretch and held on for a debut win. The small crowd entering the winner's circle is carrying a precious young girl, and I know what's going on. This is a Make-A-Wish Foundation dream come true!

I stop and ask the family just leaving the winner's circle if they mind telling me the story. They graciously agreed, and that video interview, moments after the race and winner’s circle picture, is the most inspiring thing I've seen this year.

Mila’s Wish: A Michael Yates-trained star is born

Like Mila, the horse named for her continues forward. An inspiring child, a spirited racehorse, and a another great day at the races. All part of what horse racing and HorseRacePlace are about. We’re looking forward to bringing more of this side of the sport to our audience.

My family and I have been involved with MyRacehorse for a couple of years, long enough to have formed some strong opinions about its pros and cons. The pros are obvious: you technically “own” shares of a horse. But the ownership sizes are so small, there’s not a financial aspect to it, other than the money that goes out. Case in point: Seize the Grey’s fractional owners who paid $127 dollars to buy 1/50 of 1% (0.02%) of the horse, the lowest unit offered by MyRacehorse, won $158 of the total $2 million Preakness purse. Of course, that’s in addition to the horse’s previous earnings on the way to this big win. Note, however, that’s about as good as it gets. That’s a 1-100 outcome, at best. MyRacehorse now has a Kentucky Derby winner (Authentic and its more than 4,000 owners in 2020) and a Preakness winner under its belt.

My own experience with MyRacehorse: fun, but left me wanting more

I own a very, very, very small portion of about 7 horses through MyRacehorse. The information flow and website are great, and owners get to learn how the business works. I know I learned a lot, because I wanted to. Owners also get to see the other side of major stakes winning horses. The injuries, the performances that cause a horse to be sent back for more training, the long wait in anticipation of a 2-year old racing…or maybe not until age 3 or even 4. You really get to see it all.

The only reason I didn’t buy a “micro share” of Seize the Grey when it was offered is because I decided if I was going to spend $100 here, $150 there to “get into the game” as a newbie, I wanted to maximize the chance I’d get to see my horses run live. So I only went in on the ones aiming at racing in Florida and New York, as we get to Saratoga each summer.

So I’ve had a chance to see my horses run up close, and even attended a really nice event with hundreds of other owners in Ocala, Florida last year, to get a behind the scenes look. The picture of me in the About section of this site is with one of horses we have a tiny little piece of.

So, MyRacehorse is a great, innovative, forward-thinking idea. And I suspect the folks who run that organization are doing well with it, and I hope they are. I know it has taught me a lot. But one reason I started HorseRacePace.com is to see what the next step in horse ownership is. Between $127 for a “fraction of a fraction of a fraction of the action” via crowdfunding, and spending 5-6 figures most folks don’t have lying around to devote to entertainment, there has to be something else.

Before each race involving one of their horses, MyRacehorse offers a lottery for those who want to go into the walking circle prior to their horse’s race. I’m not a newcomer to that experience, so having lost every lottery so far is not a biggie to me. But it does sort of sum up the other side of crowdfunding, the limitations. According to the article I cited above, 512 applied for ownership privileges. From the picture above, looks like maybe 1 in 20 “won” that lottery.

Bottom line: MyRacehorse is a terrific way to get the flavor of thorougbred ownership, even if it is not really true ownership. Sort of in the way that owning 1 share of Tesla stock doesn’t get you in the “room where it happens” with Elon Musk.”

As I noted in another post today, I am about to venture into the next level. It is not a giant leap, but it does occur to me that for those who like the idea of owning a “fraction of a fraction of a fraction of the action” across several horses, might really love the next step up, whereby roughly the same money gets you in the door with a smaller number of horses at one time, but you are truly in the door, rather than essentially watching the action from miles away. I’ll explore this more as my own journey continues.

How was your Derby day? Mine was the best ever.

And not because I had the second place horse on a bet to show…alongside a lot of losing bets. Because the wagering to me is part of the excitement, not THE excitement.

Everyone is different in that regard, and that’s one reason I started this community. Those who sign up (for free) hope to get something out of it. What that something is will be varied. Or, as TV character Ted Lasso famously said, “all people…are different people.”

One fun fact about the Derby last Saturday. By the time they opened the starting gate, there were so many longshots in the 20 horse field, a $2 win bet on every horse had a strong chance of paying off. $40 of win bets.

Derby Day made me think of just how great horse racing can be at bringing people together. Not only friends and family, but total strangers too. My wife and I, joined by the few friends that made it to the very end of a long day, watched the Kentucky Derby on the huge screen at GP from the reserved seats. Felt just a bit like being there, except that our crowd was down to a couple of thousand at the track, versus the 100,000+ at Churchill Downs.

My only issue with Derby Day? Why can’t we have days like that more often? There was a time when thoroughbred racing, along with baseball, were America’s major sports. Then came the rise of the NFL, NBA and NHL, and more recently, soccer and even E-sports. And I’m just waiting for professional Pickle Ball to emerge along with golf, tennis and of course, bowling.

Sports are big part of our lives, for a wide range of reasons, depending on who you are. Here’s to rallying more around the sports of kings AND queens, and making a day at the races more than just something people say “I did once and it was fun.”

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Yes, it was my 60th birthday party at Ten Palms restaurant at Gulfstream Park, my “happy place” and a big part of what prompted me to start this “fans of racing fun” site. One candle for every 10 years. That’s a lot less intimidating to the honoree than 60 freaking candles, enough to create a fire hazard!

1980s Canadian pop band Men Without Hats, meet Men With Hats! No safety dances here, as all dancing involving these fellas is a clear and present danger. Gulfstream “Birthday” Guy in the middle, surrounded by many of his shorter friends and relatives.

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Here’s a great list. We could have written most of this…but we didn’t. Click the link below and see how many you say “YES” to.

15 reasons to love horse racing

Horse racing is different things to different people. We try to help you on your journey, whatever it is.

Gulfstream Guy, Founder of HorseRacePlace.com

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Many ways to “win” here

• Learn more about the sport and to enhance your next day at the races

• Understand race handicapping and betting (because casinos are boring, right?!)

• Navigate the complex maze toward participating in racehorse ownership

• Be part of a community that wants to devote more leisure time to this iconic sport

About Us

“Gulfstream Guy” is a semi-retired investment researcher, writer and educator…who decided along with his wife and 3 kids that he needed a hobby! 10 years ago, he wandered into Gulfstream Park (GP) to check out the scene, and he was hooked. GP became his “happy place.”

But at 6’4” and nearly 60 years old, he was not going to be a jockey! So instead, he started HorseRacePlace.com to help others experience the same type of joy-filled, relaxing, entertaining journey he has.

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Ask a question, make a comment, support our efforts with a free subscription.

To learn more about the tech platform that powers this publication, visit Substack.com.

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Part of my passion for the sport of horse racing goes back to an old expression I use in many aspects of life: I truly respect and admire people who do things I could never, ever do…like, ever (Taylor Swift reference there).

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I learned about PDJF in a way most don’t. I met one of their beneficiaries. He was not only a disabled jockey, but after his accident decades ago, as he learned more about PDJF, he figured out that all was not right there. So he took the initiative to help fix what was not right. That’s ancient history now, and PDJF.org’s work is remarkable. Here’s their “who we are” from their website, a link to which is shown below.

The Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund (PDJF) is an independent charitable organization that provides financial assistance to jockeys who have suffered catastrophic on-track injuries.

Here is a link to their site. We hope you will find as much meaning out of getting to know the work of PDJF as we have!

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The Rules

(note: I tried very hard to find some links that were not loaded with “offers” and “pitches.” It wasn’t easy!!

This site page is for information and learning, so anyone who wants can enjoy this part of the sport however they wish.)

Betting on Horse Racing For Dummies Cheat Sheet (nothing personal, it's their well-known brand name applied to wagering)

From Washington Post (hey, didn't they break the story on Watergate in the 1970s?)

Good info about mares and fillies, from a filly from Philly (say that 10x fast!)

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The Tools

Daily Racing Form (the "classic")

Horse Racing Nation (like us, "all about the fans")

1/ST BET (Gulfstream Guy's "weapon of choice" - based at Gulfstream Park)

Fanduel Racing (outstanding, comprehensive, formerly TVG)

Stable Duel (like daily fantasy sports games, but for horse racing)

NYRAbets.com (New York Racing Association's wagering site)

Twinspires (named for Churchill Downs' iconic towers)

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We welcome any suggestions to add to this list!

In my years attending the races, when I bring friends and family who are not intimately familiar with the sport tend to gravitate around one thing: the name of the horses competing that day. We hear things like:

“Hey that horse has my first name in his name, I’ll bet on him!”

"That one reminds me of my (parent, cousin, sibling, life partner, whatever), I’ll put a win bet on that one!”

“I’m surprised they got away with using that name for the #3 horse, but its edgy…put $5 to win on 3!

Let’s be clear about this: horse race names, and the fun we can have with them, is one big part of the enjoyment of the sport! So at HorseRacePlace.com, we are “leaning into” that heavily.

Coming soon: Gulfstream Guy’s “alternative horse race picks” - driven entirely by a not-so-systematic formula, where the only handicapping factor is the name of the horse. Sounds crazy, right? Not when you realize how difficult it is to consistently win money at the track!

We also hope to have some community banter around this subject, so join us and get ready to join the name-game with us.

For now, here’s a link to a creative post from someone who created their own

Horse Name Hall of Fame.

Horse racing ABCs

10 facts to know

Horse Racing: the American Experience

Horse racing facts

What do people do for “entertainment?” Go out to eat, attend ballgames and concerts, take vacations or day trips, buy a boat or a nice car, a motorcycle, or a touring bike. They join golf and tennis clubs, and play pickleball.

And for some, there’s no better form of entertainment than spending days at the racetrack, outdoors, soaking in the energy, enjoying the pace of the day, analyzing the races before they happen, and throwing a few bucks on some horses. And depending on where you watch the races from, the food and drink is quite nice!

As many industry pros have told us, the best way to enjoy the horse racing industry is to see it as a form of entertainment…period. We never forget that, and we hope you won’t, either.

For some people, the most thrilling part is betting on the races to "up the ante" on their entertainment. While sports betting has spiked in popularity in recent years, especially in the US as it has been legalized in many states, betting on horse racing goes back a long way. Those from the New York area and others will remember the old "Off Track Betting" (OTB) stores, filled with people yelling at TV screens and throwing losing tickets all over the place.
For those whose fantasy is to go back to that time, don't worry, you can still do that! However, for many, analyzing a race to try to pick winning horses and bet on the outcome is, called "handicapping" and "wagering." This section includes a series of posts from us and others about how this all works, and how to find your groove as a horse player.

Importantly, HorseRacePlace.com is NOT primarily about sports betting. It is part of the sport, and when done responsibly, it can be a lot of fun. But our site is not where to go to “gamble” with more than fun-money.

There are PLENTY of sites aimed at attracting and profit from sports gamblers. Not here.

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Gulfstream Guy, our site's founder, refers to his own wagering style as "big hat, no cattle." He handicaps and bets on races several days a week, at Gulfstream Park and elsewhere. But other than the pure joy of winning, his only goal is to see how long he can make $100 last. Typically that takes several weeks...then he refills his account with another $100.

In other words, while we'll offer up plenty of perspective on how to have fun with horse handicapping and wagering. Gulfstream Guy spent more than 3 decades in professional investment management, so analyzing numbers, identifying trends and managing risk to pursue gains is in his DNA. But this is not professional money management, it is a fun side hobby for Gulfstream Guy. The goal of this site when it comes to handicapping and wagering: keep it that way.

If your goal is to turn gambling into a serious hobby or even a career, this is not the place to do it.

What we WILL do here (on handicapping and wagering)

• Link to services that offer mobile betting and ways to customize handicapping strategies, so folks can have fun responsibly

• Link to some handicapping services we believe are credible and helpful

• Provide Gulfstream Guy’s "just for fun" racing picks, as a social activity

The reason horse racing is known as the “Sport of Kings” is that those people were the only ones who could ever afford to own them…because they owned just about everything! That has changed, and race horse ownership is booming. That has a lot to do with the efforts of many businesses to “expand the tent” and find innovative ways for aspiring owners to get involved. Whether your initial budget is 3 figures, 4 figures, 5 figures or 6 figures, there’s a match for you, if that’s your goal.

IMPORTANT: our objective is not to convince you to be part of a horse racing partnership. The tool (and app) we are developing is a facilitator, time-saver, and knowledge cap-filler, so that anyone with the slightest bit of interest in race horse ownership can save all of the time Gulfstream Guy spent over the years trying to figure out what his path would be. We assess a wide range of partnerships, provide you with the information and the contacts, and from there, its “all you.”

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