By Greg Gangle — WEG Communications
TORONTO — If you’re a racing fan, handicapper or just interested in what goes on behind the scenes on the Woodbine Entertainment Group (WEG) circuit, then you surely need a Twitter account.
In 2012, it was reported by Twitter that 140 million people use the site and over the past few months, several drivers and trainers on the WEG circuit have signed up to Twitter and made a conscious effort to do their part and enlighten racing fans and handicappers about their prospects each evening.
“A lot of drivers frequently get asked about their drives on a particular horse or on all their drives on a given race card, so for me, if I’m telling one person my opinion, Twitter is a great tool to tell the world for the better of the sport,” offered driver Anthony MacDonald. “Don’t get me wrong, anything can happen in a horse race, but we are trying to offer some incentive of what our thoughts are going behind the gate so the handicappers can take into perspective our thoughts and hopefully use it to their advantage.”
Billy Davis Jr., who has notched 61 wins on the WEG circuit and 208 victories overall this season, has been a consistent force leading the social media charge by offering his opinions on every drive he is listed on.
By tweeting on a consistent basis, and also tagging his tweets to include his fellow drivers and trainers, Davis Jr. has also been instrumental to the following of other horsemen on social media.
“I started tweeting a few years ago (2010) when Mark MacDonald began tweeting,” Davis Jr. recalled. “I wanted to do the same as what he was doing and provide a little input on the horses I’m driving.”
Davis Jr., admits that he wasn’t sure how his efforts would be received in the racing and handicapping communities.
“I stopped tweeting for about a month or two and someone approached me one night at Georgian [Downs] and asked me why I stopped because he really enjoyed what I was tweeting,” Davis Jr. said. “So, I started doing it again and more people consistently started to follow me and I was getting terrific feedback, so I kept on it.”
From a handicapper’s perspective, the deluge of digital discussions has been very well received.
“In a competitive harness race, a horse that flies off the wings at 5-2 and gets an easy lead could be 4-5 fair odds at the quarter,” said handicapper Dean Towers, who operates the horse racing blog Pull The Pocket and tweets under the same name. “Conversely, if the same horse goes to 8th off the gate he could be upwards of 10-1 fair odds in a slow pace. If Billy Davis Jr. or Jody Jamieson, for example, say that they are planning to ‘leave’ with a horse, it’s a handicapping nugget that is going to help me. For me, driver intent is a big part of handicapping.”
Towers also noted that technology has changed so much in the past decades that handicappers should use every piece of information to their liking.
“In the 1980’s, sitting in the grandstand you could get clues from score outs and warm ups,” recalled Towers. “If you are not live at the track now via simulcast, you are sometimes left wondering about driver and trainer strategy. At times, maybe three or four horses leave inside of them and they change strategy, and that’s racing, but knowing they like the horse and may want to take a shot is something players, I think, can use.”
Towers also uses a horse’s atypical performance to his advantage.
“Mainly if something happened out of the ordinary last race, such as sickness, lameness or equipment issues or the horse has been off an extra week or two; getting some details that you can’t read in the program is always helpful,” he said.
WEG’s track announcer Ken Middleton has been proactive since 2010 on Twitter, having sent out more than 8,000 tweets, and offers his bird’s eye view each night.
“One of racing’s biggest challenges has always been educating neophytes about handicapping and reading the program, and I feel Twitter is a great way for the all of us to simplify things,” Middleton said. “You get insight from trainers, drivers, grooms, owners, commentators, media people and announcers. You can’t give people enough information.
“Inundate the public with lots of information (stats, interviews, press releases, the ability to watch replays, historical information, Twitter, etc.) and let them decide what they want to use to help them in the art of handicapping or simply following the sport.”
Communication is a two-way street and Davis Jr. welcomes feedback from racing fans and enjoys engaging with them.
“I get messages all the time from racing fans and handicappers about a particular horse I’m driving,” he said. “They often ask questions or just want my input and I’m glad to relay the information to them. It’s a great way to get everyone involved. Drivers realize that it’s helping the business a bit more.”
Middleton is also open to a bit of online banter with the betting public.
“It’s nice to create dialogue with people in order to get ideas, opinions and feedback from our fan base,” he said. “It gives them a chance to share their opinions or ask questions, as well.”
Middleton believes that all racing fans and handicappers should join the Twitterverse to further their education and increase their chances of winning at the races.
“If I was a fan betting on the races, I would be trying to follow as many people as possible to get their opinions and insight,” said Middleton. “There are so many things the trainers and drivers are sharing – reasons for poor races, rationale behind shoeing or equipment changes, reaction from bad trips or bad drives in previous races or any other information that you can’t read in the program. I love the transparency and the effort put forth by a number of the trainers and drivers.”
While a single tweet is limited to 140 characters, there’s always room for more racing fans to catch up with the sport’s most insightful personalities.
It offers more than just a birds-eye view.
WEG’s Twitter Roster
Drivers:
Billy Davis Jr. – @BillyDavisRacin
Phil Hudon – @Whodon99
Jonathan Drury – @JDruryRacing
Jody Jamieson – @JodyJamRacing
James MacDonald – @JamesOMac26
Anthony MacDonald – @HorseRacingAMac
Doug McNair – @DMcNair12
Scott Young – @YoungieAnswers
Scott Zeron – @ScottZeron
Trainers:
Carmen Auciello – @CarmenAuciello
Blair Burgess – @Desibesi
Casie Coleman – @FastLane111
Danny Girard – @DannyGirard1
Corey Johnson – @SeaJay09
Blake MacIntosh – @BlakeMacRacing
Robert McIntosh – @BobMcIntosh52