Rail Talk Podcast

This week on Rail Talk! Joe Bianca and Jon Green welcome Belmont and Travers-winning trainer Jena Antonucci for an excellent, wide-ranging conversation covering what she wants to accomplish with her candidacy for President of the NYTHA Board, impressions of the new Belmont Park, how her life has changed since Arcangelo’s championship season in 2023, the industry’s challenges with aftercare and much more.The boys also discuss the incoming freshman sire class for 2027, particularly the aggressive pricing on many of the newbies, including champion 2-year-old Ted Noffey, who was retired after his lone start as a 3-year-old over the weekend. They also highlight a breakout performance from a horse to watch in the older male division next year, and pick the recipients of their hat giveaway sweepstakes from last week.Don’t miss any Rail Talk content! Be sure you’re subscribed to the show on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Audible or wherever you get your pods. As always, huge thanks to our sponsors, CAPTRUST, Fasig-Tipton, The Green Group, Epic Insurance and Taylor Made for their support.

This week on Rail Talk! It’s Breeders’ Cup week, and Joe Bianca and Jon Green are joined by NYRA/FOX analyst Megan Burgess to break down all 14 championship races. Who are the vulnerable favorites on Future Stars Friday? Which Euros should you trust and which should you fade? What to do about a star-studded Classic?Plus, friend of the show and owner of Politano Racing Jim Politano stops by to put together a late Pick 5 ticket for Saturday with Joe.Don’t miss any Rail Talk content! Make sure you’re subscribed to the show on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Audible or wherever you get your pods. Thanks to our all-star sponsors Fasig-Tipton, Taylor Made, The Green Group, Epic Insurance and CAPTRUST for their support! Enjoy the Breeders’ Cup!

This week on Rail Talk! Joe Bianca and Jon Green examine all 255 pre-entries—well, not really but almost—of the Breeders’ Cup! Where are the vulnerable favorites? What horses should you lean on for the juvenile races? How is Jon feeling about having an odds-on favorite in the Distaff?Plus the boys react to the news of Irad Ortiz Jr. breaking his ankle at Keeneland, Early Voting passing away from colic complications and the shadows at Belmont causing issues.Don’t miss any Rail Talk content! Subscribe to the show on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Audible or wherever you get your pods. Thanks as always to our sponsors The Green Group, CAPTRUST, Epic Insurance, Taylor Made and Fasig-Tipton for their support.

This week on Rail Talk! It’s the home stretch to the Breeders’ Cup, and Joe Bianca and Jon Green are back to break down all the storylines. What do the boys make of the decision to skip the Juvenile with U.S.S. Valor? That evolves into a discussion on when to sell and when to race fillies and mares, off the heels of Nitrogen and Counting Stars pointing for 2027 campaigns off of huge seasons.Joe and Jon also welcome the incisive Jonathan Stettin, preeminent horseplayer and editor of the popular Past the Wire website, for a wide-ranging conversation on HISA, Churchill Downs, racing’s failures in marketing itself and potential fixes to consistent handle declines. They also react to The Jockey Club’s latest Report of Mares Bred, as the foal crop falls once again.Huge welcome to new sponsor CAPTRUST, a leading investment advisory fiduciary services firm well versed in the Thoroughbred business! They’re an excellent addition to our all-star sponsor lineup of Fasig-Tipton, Taylor Made, The Green Group and Epic Insurance! Don’t forget to subscribe to the show on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Audible or wherever you get your pods!

This week on Rail Talk! It was an incredibly exciting week for the home teams, as champions Nitrogen and Super Corredora scored emphatic victories to punch their tickets to the Breeders’ Cup Distaff. Joe Bianca reacts to last year’s 2-year-old champion filly ‘Super C’ returning to form in a big way off a long layoff, and Jon Green gives his take on Nitrogen’s score in the Beldame and the calculus behind DJ Stable’s announcement that the mega-star will be brought back to race as a 5-year-old.Plus, it’s possibly the most loaded racing week of the year, with a total of 34 graded stakes on tap, highlighted by two huge cards at Belmont and opening weekend at Keeneland, and Joe and Jon break it all down. The boys also welcome Keeneland Director of Communications Gabby Gaudet for her postmortem on a record-setting September Sale, plus thoughts on the upcoming fall meet, the Breeders’ Cup returning to Lexington and much more.Don’t miss any Rail Talk content! Be sure you’re subscribed to the show on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Audible or wherever you get your pods. Thanks as always to our all-star sponsor lineup, Fasig-Tipton, The Green Group, Epic Insurance and Taylor Made for their support.

This week on Rail Talk! Joe Bianca and Jon Green are back at their mics after a week away, and the talk of the town is the opening of the brand new Belmont Park. Joe spent the weekend at the new $500-million facility, and reports back with his full review of his experience, and what it means for New York racing to have a modern racetrack ushering in a new era for the sport in the Empire State.The boys also discuss an eventful racing weekend, highlighted by global superstar Forever Young’s victory in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, the Pennsylvania Derby and Cotillion at Parx, and look forward to a big weekend to come, which features champion Nitrogen running in the Beldame at the new Belmont and champion Super Corredora returning in the Zenyatta at Santa Anita. The brilliant NYRA handicapper and TV analyst Andy Serling also stops by for an excellent conversation about the Belmont, past, present and future, the reimagined Triple Crown, his opinion on the state of HISA and much more.Don’t miss any Rail Talk content! Be sure you’re subscribed to the show on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Audible or wherever you get your pods. As always, huge thanks to our sponsors Fasig-Tipton, Epic Insurance, The Green Group and Taylor Made for making it all possible.

This week on Rail Talk! We have reached 150 episodes! And to celebrate, Joe Bianca and Jon Green welcome a trio of guests that love the show, and we love them right back.First, co-owner of superstar Cy Fair Reagan Swinbank stops by to talk about his filly’s race at Kentucky Downs, the ride she’s taken them on and how he got started in the game. Then, horse racing advisor and advocate Damon Thayer gives us an update on the potential for a new racetrack in Florida, and finally, impressive young bloodstock agent Colin Brennan discusses the 2-year-old sales, his new pinhooking syndicate and much more.Joe and Jon also give their take on the news that NYRA is considering shortening the distance of the Belmont Stakes, U S S Valor’s rise to the top of the 2-year-old division and Manny Franco capping off a Saratoga meet for the ages.Thank you so much to all our wonderful viewers and listeners for helping us reach this milestone. If you haven’t yet, please subscribe to the show on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Audible or wherever you get your pods. And as always, we couldn’t do it without our elite lineup of sponsors Fasig-Tipton, Taylor Made, The Green Group and Epic Insurance, so thank you all for your partnership. Here’s to 150 more!

This week on Rail Talk! Joe Bianca and Jon Green react to a star-studded Travers Day, where Manny Franco, having the Saratoga meet of his life, guided upsetter Leading Change to Midsummer Derby glory with a picture-perfect ride. Will this open more doors for Franco to get elite-level mounts outside of New York? And does Golden Tempo’s third-place finish give Englishman, who put on another tour de force in the H. Allen Jerkens, a shot at champion 3-year-old male?The boys also react to jaw-dropping performances from Fully Subscribed and Naomis, and discuss Churchill Downs Inc. asking the FTC to look into the recent security failures at HISA. Plus, Daily Racing Form’s expert handicapper David Aragona stops by to give us angles to look for closing week at the Spa, his thoughts on the new Belmont, Marshall Gramm and much more.Don’t miss any Rail Talk content—be sure to subscribe to the show on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Audible or wherever you get your pods. Big thanks to our sponsors Fasig-Tipton, Taylor Made, The Green Group and Epic Insurance for their support. See you next week for episode 150!!

This week on Rail Talk! Joe Bianca and Jon Green react to Counting Stars’s surprising defeat in the Alabama, Knightsbridge’s powerhouse performance in the Pacific Classic and more. What’s next for West Point Thoroughbreds’ star flag bearer, and where does the 3-year-old filly championship chase stand now? And will Godolphin, likely holding the best pair of older dirt males in the country, pit them against each other in the Breeders’ Cup Classic?Excellent FOX Sports TV host and handicapper Samantha Perry then stops by to preview a star-studded Travers Day with the boys. The three then hammer out a group Pick 6 ticket for an excellent sequence that features six stakes, five of them Grade I’s, closing with an intriguing renewal of the ‘Midsummer Derby’. Joe and Jon also put a bow on the Marshall Gramm story as the professor accepts a provisional suspension from HISA while the fraud charges against him play out.Don’t miss any Rail Talk content—be sure you’re subscribed to the show on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Audible or wherever you get your pods. Major shoutout to our sponsors Taylor Made, Epic Insurance, The Green Group and Fasig-Tipton for their support.

This week on Rail Talk! It’s an absolutely jam-packed show, as Joe Bianca and Jon Green react to the news of industry staple Marshall Gramm being named as the person who improperly accessed confidential veterinary data via the HISA portal. Joe and Jon also bring on HISA CEO to talk about the charges Gramm is facing, and answer questions about how HISA is ensuring this kind of leak doesn’t happen again, the controversial appointment of Bob Baffert to HISA’s horsemen’s advisory board and much more.The boys also look forward to Counting Stars going for an unprecedented Saratoga Grade I triple in the Alabama, and welcome Woodbine TV host/handicapper Jeff Bratt to talk King’s plate, Woodbine’s new turf course, working hand in hand with the Ontario government and much more.Don’t miss any Rail Talk content—nowhere else in the industry are these kinds of candid and illuminating conversations happening on a weekly basis. Be sure to subscribe to the show on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Audible or wherever you get your pods. As always, huge thanks to our sponsors Epic Insurance, The Green Group, Fasig-Tipton and Taylor Made for their steadfast support.