Steve Davidowitz

Blood-Horse Staff — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 18:00:00 GMT

Steve Davidowitz has been a professional handicapper, reporter, editor, consultant, and columnist for more than three decades. He is the author of the “The Best and Worst of Thoroughbred Racing” and the best-selling “Betting Thoroughbreds,” which sold more than 150,000 copies. That book has been expanded into an updated version, “Betting Thoroughbreds for the 21st Century,” which provides insights into synthetic track handicapping; track biases at more than 20 tracks; profiles of nearly three dozen high percentage trainers, and a variety of advanced exotic wagering strategies.

A highly touted baseball star at Rutgers University who lost a potential pitching career due to a freak boating mishap, Davidowitz has a wide-ranging background that includes solo travel to Cuba as a teenager; scuba diving in the Caribbean; playing folk guitar in the clubs of New Orleans, and photographic magazine covers and exhibitions of his work. As a single parent, Steve also raised his son, Brad, now a corporate program analyst in Minneapolis who is married with two children.

Davidowitz says he "began to major in horse-racing studies at Rutgers University, Garden State Park Division," when a New Brunswick, New Jersey, bookmaker gave him a copy of the 1959 “American Racing Manual.” Some 40 years later, Davidowitz would help Daily Racing Form bring the prestigious annual back to print as the ARM's editor from 2000-2003.

An active horseplayer who managed a successful Pick-Six syndicate for 15 years , Steve has contributed articles to The New York Times and been a featured columnist and/or racing editor for Turf and Sport Digest magazine, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Oakland Tribune, Philadelphia Journal, The Racing Times, the St. Petersburg Times, and the Houston Post, among other publications.

Today, Davidowitz writes regular handicapping columns for DRF Simulcast Weekly and DRF.com; trackmaster.com and other outlets on the Internet. He also has been actively developing www.GradeOneRacing.com a Web site that will feature high class handicapping information and an assortment of lucrative handicapping contests. In addition to his horse-race writings and commentaries, Davidowitz is the co-author of “They Can’t Hide Us Anymore,” the autobiography of singer/songwriter Richie Havens, the performer-humanitarian who was first on stage at the famous Woodstock Festival in 1969. Steve now lives in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Thank you for your questions. The podcast will be taped on Thursday, March 4.

Talkin' Horses : The Best and Worst of Thoroughbred Racing, The Daily Racing Form

Steve Davidowitz