from Horse Player Now

Chicago, IL — Night School, the racing industry’s national online fan education program, presents a long-form video format on the subject of “Trip Handicapping” this Tuesday night (April 16) at 8:30 p.m. (EDT).

The “Trip Handicapping” video includes several keys for evaluating replays from the Horse Player NOW team of handicappers, as well as harness racing expert Tom Kelley’s take on Standardbred trips, and a montage of American Quarter Horse racing clues from the FAQ :60 series of videos.

The 90-minute live chat will include more than 35 minutes of specific race analysis from action around the country. Fans will be able to watch the “Trip Handicapping” via the Night School live chat for free at www.ustrotting.com.

The interactive lesson plan gives students a chance to pose their questions directly to the on-air hosts and guests following the video.

The long-form video “Trip Handicapping” is the season’s second extended video endeavor, following the well-received “Handicapping from A to Z” presentation last month. That video, and all Night School videos, are free to view anytime at www.youtube.com/horseplayernow.

“Trip Handicapping” will take a horse-by-horse evaluation of the roughly run Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds and provides host Joe Kristufek’s takeaways that a trip handicapper should look for moving forward. Co-host Jeremy Plonk offers “Five Secrets from a Chartcaller,” detailing key trip handicapping pointers that aren’t focused on traffic and chaos. Plonk was an Equibase chartcaller in the mid-1990s.

Following the video and Q&A session with the fans, Tuesday’s “Jump Ball” portion of Night School will include a detailed look back at Saturday’s Grade 1 Toyota Blue Grass with Kristufek and Plonk’s trip notes of repute as horseplayers look ahead to the Kentucky Derby.

Presenting title sponsors for Night School are the United States Trotting Association, National Thoroughbred Racing Association, American Quarter Horse Association, Keeneland, and Churchill Downs, Inc.

The Night School Tour traveling troupe of fan educators will have a busy weekend ahead, visiting Hawthorne Race Course on Saturday for the Illinois Derby Day festivities. Caton Bredar, Brian W. Spencer and Tim Brannan will be teaching the onsite fans about better horseplaying.

The 90-minute classes are offered every Tuesday for 40 consecutive weeks through Dec. 3. Topics change weekly, and fans are eligible for prizes and rewards for registering. Registration is optional and free. There is never a charge for taking part in Night School.

This week’s Night School will be followed at 10 p.m. (EDT) by the “After Night School Special,” featuring live racing from Mountaineer Park. The segment will cover the evening’s final race in real time with free, live-streaming video. Fans wishing to take part in the Mountaineer action simply need to remain in the Night School chat after class.

The Night School lessons continue each week with the “Night School Friday Night Live” from Remington Park, featuring expert analysis and live chat for an entire card of action with complimentary live streaming video. The Friday live chats — co-hosted by track announcer Dale Day, morning line maker Jerry Shottenkirk and Horse Player NOW’s Jeremy Plonk — begin at 6:30 p.m. (EDT) and extend through the evening’s final race.

This week’s Night School preview video by Joe Kristufek: http://youtu.be/BN_UDHhDj4Q

This week’s study materials, courtesy of Horse Player NOW: http://www.horseplayernow.com/images/STUDY041613.pdf