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| Critiquing the 'Horseplayers' |
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Ray Cotolo
February 2, 2014 |
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The Esquire Network recently premiered the show Horseplayers, a reality show that covers the
lives and actions of thoroughbred gamblers. The series premier featured Peter Rotondo Sr. and Jr.,
John Conte and Christian Helmers. The Rotondos and Conte were stationed at Aqueduct for the 2012
Cigar Mile, while Christian Helmers was competing in the 2012 Breeders' Cup Betting Challenge.
Understanding how to gamble on the horses, I noted a few methods the horseplayers used, whether I
agreed or disagreed with them.
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In a promo for the show titled "Starting Gate," Peter Rotondo Jr. defined handicapping as, "the art
of picking the winners, or the losers." This receives my stamp of disapproval, as the point of
handicapping is to find value. That value comes from your list of contenders when handicapping. If
one contender is not at a price you find suitable for your investment, then he is not the bet. If
it came down to picking winners, that bet will, most of the time, go towards the favorite. While
favorites do win 33% of pari-mutual contests, it isn't a profitable method of gambling. The wiser
half of the Rotondo name, Peter Rotondo Sr., stated in the same promo that the, "one thing you have
to do is bet horses with value." Although redundant with my previous argument, he gets the Cotolo
stamp of handicapping approval.
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Another featured gambler, John Conte, was discussing his methods of handcapping, mentioning that the
most important element of past performances is a horse's class. This is undoubtedly incorrect.
Behind every move in class is a reason, whether or not a horse outclasses a field or is outclassed,
albeit, he was talking about playing on thoroughbred horses. These handicapping methods do not work
across the board, as harness racing is a trip game, while thoroughbred racing is less in comparison.
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As for their gambling methods, an indirect message was sent through the show. It was that the only
way to profit in horse racing is to bet large sums of money, including $60 three horse exacta boxes
and thousands to win on horses. These incredible amounts make the minimum $2 bet lost in their
shadow. While big bettors are important to the economics of pari-mutuals, the small bettors are too.
It is as if it is a microcosm of capitalism.
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It didn't take long for Esquire to bend reality, with a faulty fact in the presented odds on
Groupie Doll in the 2012 Cigar Mile. The show had listed Groupie Doll to be at odds of 20-1, far
off of the 4/5 price she went off. Members of the racing industry caught this, annoyed that the
show did not list Groupie Doll as the favorite.
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Overall, being a follower of standardbred racing, I am not as in love with the show as I possibly
could be. On the other hand, the thoroughbred side of me didn't love or hate the show. One of the
magical things of the track is the characters like the ones displayed on Horseplayers. In
the end, it is just judging a book by its cover.
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I am just waiting for them to go to the Hambletonian.
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| Ray Cotolo, long time follower of the harness racing industry,
is a presenter on North American Harness
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Copyright © 2013-2014 SRN Mediaworks Productions in association with Ray Cotolo