By Greg Riessland
Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Greg Riessland and I am a dark artist who loves horse racing. I enjoy drawing horses as well and being able to combine my love of art and racing has been a great blessing. I specialize in handicapping based off of looks and replays, and my being an artist is one reason that drew me into this process.
This all really started during the oddball 2020 Kentucky Derby, run in September rather than the traditional first Saturday in May. I was weighing my bets between Authentic and Tiz the Law. Tiz the Law was fresh off of a big win coming into the Derby (a romp in the Travers), but when he won the Belmont in his prior start, he lugged in. Authentic won a close Haskell, coming out victorious by just a nose, but had a massive gallop out. He is also out of a Mr. Greeley mare, and that bottom pedigree goes the distance.
During the post parade, I noticed Tiz the Law looked different. Empty in his eyes and sweaty. Whereas Authentic walked around like he was the man. He had a strong color to his coat, too. It was like everything clicked that day; Authentic won and I decided to lean into this angle of handicapping. There were many difficult learning curves, but things steadily improved over the next year. I got into replays, primarily looking at the gallop out and how the horse appears in the flesh from the previous race.
When it comes to looking at the coats of horses in replays, you can see a difference from the replay to their appearance on race day. An example of someone who improved on looks is Yo Yo Candy, winner of the Sanford (G3) last month. He appeared to have a greater sheen to his coat and pulled off the upset at huge odds of 48-1.
A negative example is Cody’s Wish, a horse who we all love. He was lackluster in appearance pre-race on Whitney Day, not appearing as shiny copper as he did on Met Mile Day when he romped. He settled for an uncharacteristic third in the Whitney, finishing 10 lengths behind runaway winner White Abarrio. Even Muth lost luster ahead of the Best Pal (G2) compared to his appearance when he broke his maiden. He was humbled by his better-looking stablemate Prince of Monaco.
In the realm of handicapping on looks, I prefer utilizing the post parade. I do look at the horses in the paddock, but you get better light on the track. There are some outliers though who looked amazing even before the post parade. Some examples include Derma Sotogake before he captured the UAE Derby (G2) and Mostahdaf at Royal Ascot. What I look for is a shiny coat that stands out and looks in best health. You can see differences in textures to smoothness. Another way to describe it is through my artist point of view. If I were to paint this horse, would I use muddy colors or greater contrast?
Of course, looking at a horse’s behavior is helpful, too. Are they burning too much energy or do they walk around like they own the place? Other minor details would be foam from the mouth or neck sweat, which most of the time is usually fine and a positive mark. But there are times when this can be a negative. I have never seen great performances from horses with too much shoulder sweat or excessive leg sweat. Horses with slight neck sweat, mouth foam, or sweat on their chest will show a great deal of speed at times or will be close to the pace. Always remember this lather is usually fine, but if it is in the bloodline, do be cautious if the horse is not known for doing this and seems uncharacteristic of their appearances on race day.
I really don’t get too hung up on the horse’s body shape, especially when the races are long and they have the pedigree. For example, horses by Kingman. Kingmans fool a great deal of people since they are not as lengthy. Despite this, they are out of dams with stamina in the bloodline, such as mares by Galileo and Fastnet Rock; they can handle two miles if classy enough. Body frame and size can be important though, if a young horse hasn’t stepped forward in growth.
Overall visual handicapping is a great tool to uncover some hidden gems, even if they are from key races. Some of my favorite hits have been Gold Trip, Age of Kings, Mostahdaf, Rebels Romance, Angel of Empire, Gold Phoenix, Wish I Win, Songline, Russian Emperor, Justin Palace, and Pyledriver, to name a few.
I hope this piece helps inspire people to take an extra look in the paddock and post parade. Find that favorite who looks average and can be a toss, seek out that diamond in the rough who can blow up the board.
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You can find Greg and his picks + art on Twitter, @BlooyGar
