The following tweet by Ed DeRosa, Director of Marketing for Bloodstock Research, caught my eye recently. He tweeted:
Who is the greatest handicapper of all time?
Beyer
Crist
Pittsburgh Phil
Ragozin
He asked people to vote and over 600 respondents had made their choice. My reaction? First of all, it’s interesting that DeRosa chose Ragozin as a possibility and not our own boy, Jerry Brown. Overall though, the posed question is absurd. Any person voting is, of course, voting on notoriety and hearsay. In the words of former football coach Jim Mora: “You think you know, but you DON’T know…â€
I used to bet at the track or simulcast restaurants with a gang of friends almost all the time. Those people may have sensed when I had a bad day and lost my shirt. But they also knew when I won three shirts or more. Possible clue: I’d pay for dinner and lap dances afterwards. Nowadays, I bet almost $1 million per year, almost all of it via online channels. Pretty much alone. In my own cyberspace world. Who knows whether I’m a genius or a dummy? No one! No one but me, that is.
The four possibilities DeRosa sights have certain reputations for sure. But the only way to answer DeRosa’s question is to consider the yearly betting printouts from online betting accounts. And that right there eliminates Pittsburgh Phil and Ragozin.
Come on, John. You know Eddie D from the Derby List. He does marketing now.
He knows these sorts of polls are total nonsense.
Seriously, there was once a question going around about who was the best \"finisher,\" and Eddie D got himself into trouble by giving as his answer the name of a famous porn star.
You start with greatest handicappers, and we end up with lap dances and porn stars.
Greatest handicapper is probably plugged into a wall socket.
The best \"handicapper\" of all time is probably some unknown vet on the backstretch of some podunk track.
Narrowed it down to 4:
Nathan Detroit
Mush
Charlie and Paulie (Pope of Greenwich Village fame)
Fat Tony Ciulla
\"They took my thumb Charlie.\"
any guesses as to who that Belmont winner may have been 😜ðŸ˜,
Good Luck,
Joe B
I love Eddie D! Especially when he\'s a guest handicapper on the Churchill show.
Starry Hope was the name of the horse? But ran second that day.
yea he ran at Monmouth,But Charlie bet him to place
Philywheel
P.S. how much more money would we have in our pockets if we bet to place
How can you NOT be the GOAT with a name like Fat Tony Ciulla? Don\'t know the guy but he has my vote :)
Fat Tony was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated on November 5, 1978.
An outstanding article--if you read it you will understand why Fat Tony enjoyed a bit of an edge.
Waking up dead on one of NJ\'s limited-access highways is no way to go through life, son.
This had to be the first simulcast race....Charlie and Paulie were at Monmouth but the film of the race came from Tampa....(check the credits at the end of the film!)....I remember the locales inside the clubhouse since it hasn\'t changed much over the years....shout out to Johnny Cigar, Tommy Oil, Johnny Glue and Uncle Frank!!!