Become a Winner Claiming Thoroughbred Race Horses: Handicap Like a Pro, Claim Like a Pro,
A Guide for the Beginner or the Pro

By Marino Specogna

Make money in thoroughbred racing now. No more putting out money with no return. Marino Specogna outlines the steps to become a consistent winner as an owner, and a handicapper. Learn to never claim a losing horse, and learn how to find that special claimer that will continually take you to the winner's circle. Training and Jockey secrets are exposed allowing the beginner or pro handicapper to pick consistent winners. This is a complete Thoroughbred horse guide to, claiming winners and claiming unknown superstars, outlining breeding and handicapping basics, and most importantly, finding the right trainer for you.

Ever wonder what a proper feed program is for a horse? How about the type of steroid program to turn an average horse into a winning athlete? Or, why do the same people continually end up in the winners' circle? Learn these secrets and more. Learn from the Author who claimed a $10,000 filly, then four months later ran her in a $225,000 Breeders Cup race, and, in a five month span, made over $150,000!!! Learn the secrets to consistently claim winners. If you want to keep losing money, do not buy the book, if you want to become a winner, and stay at the top, you will keep this book with you at all times. Learn how to find your winner today!

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Feb 1, 2005
• ISBN: 9780595789696

Marino Specogna

Marino Specogna is a convicted stock manipulator receiving the longest trading ban and ban from acting as an officer or director of a public company in history at the time. He is referred to as egregious, a notorious scoundrel, the term never used before to describe a convicted manipulator.

Book preview

Sport of Kings

The Sport of Kings, Thoroughbred horse racing has come to be symbolized by this age-old phrase.

The phrase conjures up images of people with great wealth owning thoroughbred racehorses. The Encyclopedia Britannica accredits the phrase, the sport of kings, to the fact that ownership of horses was the privilege of kings and nobility in England in the early years of thoroughbred racing. It has been widely documented that a form of thoroughbred horse racing was established in the early 1600’s. Racing has evolved to the present day form of ownership where any individual can own thoroughbreds and any person suitable to be licensed by a racing authority can own thoroughbred racehorses in North America.

If you have had the opportunity to attend live racing, you will attest that the atmosphere of a major race is tremendous. The excitement can be felt in the air. There is some limelight if you are an owner participating and you will be swept into a swirl of emotions. The whole event is a breathtaking experience and can be exhilarating and exciting

It can be hard to imagine an audience of 20,000 to over 100,000 people mingling around adding energy to create the buzz of a top-racing event. Suffice it to say, the feeling is unforgettable. The hum at the start of the race becomes a full-fledged roar as the horse or horses near the finish line.

I remember, as I was growing up, every first week in May, NBC, CBS or ABC, would telecast the legendary Kentucky Derby for three year olds. The Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes, the remaining two of the three races of the Triple Crown, would be telecast over the following few weeks. I would see Seattle Slew and Affirmed win back to back Triple Crowns in 1977 and 1978, respectively, and not witness it happen again since then. Watching those races always had me wondering how a person becomes involved in thoroughbred horse ownership; what is the process; how does one find a winning horse; can anyone participate in the event, and how great it would be to be at that event or a similar event?

In 1996, I was watching the Kentucky Derby on television, when a beautiful, exceptionally athletic, and aggressive gray horse strutted its way to the starting gate. Half jokingly, I bet my wife the belligerent gray horse would win with an attitude like the one it was displaying. The horse seemed to want to get the race over with. I also stated that it would be fantastic to become involved in thoroughbred racing, and if I were able to one day, we would be at the Kentucky Derby racing a horse. She scoffed and told me I was crazy. Sure enough, I was right about the gray horse as Silver Charm came storming home to win, and a few months later, I started on the road to becoming a thoroughbred horse owner.

I slowly became involved in thoroughbred horse ownership and took a few years to understand thoroughbreds and the sport of kings, but I eventually became successful at claiming winning horses. I was not able to make it to the Kentucky Derby as an owner, but I did have the opportunity. I gained a lot of knowledge from very good horsemen, and experience, and I am convinced that you can be successful in thoroughbred horseracing if you assemble a good trainer, with reliable stable hands, and above all, find the right horse, and you can do it with any amount of money.

In the following chapters, an informative, detailed guide on some important aspects of ownership will be offered. Information will be provided on the racing industry, how racing works, horse information, breeding, theories of breeding, conformation traits, claiming winning horses, attributes of winning horses, problems to avoid, handicapping, medications and feeding programs, selecting a trainer, and specific information on how to find a winning horse. There will be insight into every facet of thoroughbred horse racing ownership. Many hard won bits of information on basic training that were observed will be documented. Most importantly, steps to take to find a trainer willing to work with new owners will be outlined.

Handicapping advice will be put forward where an individual handicapper can look for certain glaring horse problems that can help in making better bets. Guidelines and suggestions will be provided on how to avoid pitfalls and mistakes of a new owner. As well, every owner not making money in racing, will find out how to make money and become a winner by reading the information provided. Very important qualities of a winning racehorse will be outlined.

The information and insight offered can be added to your experiences or, if you are new to the sport of kings, it can at least prepare you for thoroughbred ownership and allow you to be successful. From experience, you do not have to be well heeled to be an owner. You can be just as successful and participate in these major headline events if you assemble a good trainer with reliable stable hands and most importantly, if you have the right horse.

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1997 Breeder’s Cup at Hollywood Park

How To Become Involved

The early years of thoroughbred horse racing were limited to owners who consisted of kings and nobility. Present day racing does have its fair share of wealthy owners, however, in reality, the majority of thoroughbred racehorse owners today are average people racing at the lower level racetracks.

Many owners who are able to participate in events like the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes, the Belmont Stakes and other glamorous horse racing events would probably be among the top income earners worldwide. These well-heeled owners would probably have a net worth in the tens of millions of dollars.

A big fact in horse racing is that people who have access to large amounts of money are at an advantage. They have the means to be involved with a top trainer who in turn has a very competent crew of stable hands. These owners also have the ability to purchase high quality breeding, usually through public auction or privately. Having lots of money does not assure success in horseracing. It does however afford the luxury of buying the best breeding and hiring the best trainer.

Does this mean if you are not in this well-heeled group, you are not able to compete in thoroughbred racing? Are you destined to fail? My experience tells me the answer to these two questions is no, and I will show you how.

If you are lucky enough to have disposable income to invest, you could probably participate in the glamour events if you follow certain aspects of horse ownership found in this book. This does not mean that your horse will be a winner of these events, but you could participate. You can however, ensure that you will have a winning horse, racing at other levels, that will see more money going into your pocket rather than leaving it.

When you do participate in a major event like the Kentucky Derby, or any big money purse race, participating should be a cause for celebration. Having a horse run in a major race is a validation that the thoroughbred horse you own is one of the top in its class. There can be only one winner, but if the horse has the attributes of a winner and has been properly prepared, anything could happen on that particular race day.

Lifeblood Of The Industry

The majority of owners in North America, including well-heeled owners, are owners who can be termed the lifeblood of the industry. Without these people involved, racing probably would not exist. Some of these people are die-hards directly involved in the thoroughbred horse industry in some aspect. These die-hards usually can be found toiling it out at every racetrack across North America. They can include horse breeders, or even a track employee who is fortunate enough to obtain a training license; even well heeled owners are unwilling participants of this group. This group is non-discriminating and includes owners with deep pockets with a number of horses down to the one horse owner. This group includes owners with limited knowledge on thoroughbreds to the most knowledgeable.

The lifeblood of the industry fuels the thoroughbred horse race industry. This majority of owners can be delusional, conning themselves, or deceiving someone else to pay for their delusional quest. This group can consist of owners who are being deceived or abused financially. Owners in this group have been led to believe their horse is a classier horse than it is, or the individual owner believes the horse to be classier than it truly is. They are the owners that are destined to fail for a large number of factors that will be outlined as you read this book.

Many times these owners have fallen in love with their horse, and may not be listening to the advice of their trainer. If you become involved in horse racing and you select a horse that wins a race for you, you probably will fall in love with it also. Just remember your downfall as an owner happens the moment you fall in love with your animal. This is unprofessional and will drop you into this life-blood of the industry group of owners.

These owners are best characterized as the owner whose horse finishes in fourth to ninth in any race they enter a horse. They are the lifeblood as they continuously pay the right to finish out of the money in every race they are involved in. Of course, they will be lucky on the odd occasion, but end up remaining in this group of owners destined to continually lose financially.

The cost of training a horse can be very expensive. A horse that continues to finish out of the money does not allow you as the owner to receive the funds to offset the costs. The additional costs of ownership also begin to add up. These additional costs include the farrier costs, veterinary costs, and a vast array of other incidental costs that ultimately add to the ownership of thoroughbred racehorses. If no top five finishes are achieved, none of the purse money makes its