I love the fact that after Franko Lyons returns after being suspended for boozing he can't stop talking on Thursday about how banged up he was from the parties after opening day at Del Mar the night before, " I woke up and was scared I was going to die...and then I was scared I wasn't going to die" LOL.. Kudos to him.


I think Chrisitina Oliveres (sp?) has been a huge addition to TVG. She really knows her stuff, is on a first name basis with all the connections, and is very easy on the eyes. I think they stole her from HRTV didn't they? They need to grab the blonde with the accent too. I see them all the time in person at Santa Anita and they are both stunning.

on friday, i think it was one of Lyons' first days back.
Todd, frank, and simon where on set when o got off work and turned on tvg.

these three guys had me in stitches, it was better than letterman. they are very amusing and had me laughing out loud.
they did a piece on trainers and cell phones, and then got back live and frank and simon hhad cell phoned one another live on camera, i was rolling on the floor, verfunny, and then todd breaks into his impression of the colored guy (forgot name)
screaming when Giacomo won the derby as they are capping the San diego, and they showed a repaly of his derby win. it was a good comedy show, they are funny, its comedy with some racing thrown in.

I don't know why they have remotes with an entire crew. All you new is one reporter. The network is way too tilted toward SoCal racing. But the biggest problem is the hosts believe THEY are the show when in fact most people would rather there were no talking heads at all.

well thats true at times but not at other times.

sunday morning, mr. B and the other guy will put you to sleep.
but on a good saturday afternoon, i prefer to listen to frank and simon cap, they have good insight.

but whta gets about frank is according to him EVERY horse in the post parade LOOKS GREAT !

hard not to be when your based in la and you are at those tracks everyday and are closer to all those connections, what would you expect? the hosts are a big part of the show and i disagree maybe some of you serious cappers could care less but i say more people enjoy the entertainment then no sound at all. they are there for a reason and thats to give you info , the works etc, f thats the case more people should do like mermaid and just watch your video feeds on the puter and i know a bunch f people watch and listen and just dont admit it cause they just think its not cool to admit it

I enjoy most of the presenters on TVG. I don't like to go to the track alone; I like to have people to talk over the horses, to point out things I may have missed, to argue about the merits of our picks. The TVG guys take the place of friends at the races for me. I am a frequent e-mailer ("Ann in Lexington"), even won a DVD of "Dreamer" from them for a quiz answer. The only one I can't stand is Mr B - something about the rhythm and timbre of his voice annoys me no end.

That is awesome that you still use "colored."

Just because they are based in L.A. shouldn't be relevant. When there's a big card out there, ok maybe then a remote is warranted. But virtually every day is ridiculous and a waste of money. Racing is a national sport and there's plenty of people that couldn't care less about a 4 or 5 horse field at Hollywood. There's no need to show "stretch runs only" and the only time a race should be on tape delay is when there's two racing going off simultaneously; not because they can't stop talking. And why the need to post picks? They never track their results so posting them is useless. Caruthers is the one guy worth listening to because he's the only one who does his homework. Lyons is too busy getting drunk.

your right ann , its lke i said if youve watched tvg for 5 years they are like old friends after awhile

i agree with your statement about the stretch runs, that does bother me the most, if we are following a certain track show us the whole race to see the trip your horse got if he was beaten etc. one thing i wish tvg would do would be show the pedigrees of all the horses like hrtv does ,dam,sire they only do at certain tracks and not sure why, hrtv shows all

I agree with you about Mr B. He is definitely my least favorite.

An afternoon or evening of watching racing should be about racing, not commentators. The best announcers or commentators in sports are the ones who interject their opinions and insights when needed, not to excess. John Madden has always been the best football commentator I ever saw because he always leaves you wanting more, not less, from him.
When I occasionally watch it I find it incredulous that anyone can watch that channel without muting it, its that bad. Everything they do is to excess and there are just too many of them. It seems as if not only are they trying to outshine each other, but they are also trying to outshine the races you are watching.
Good commentators would simply keep viewers updated on possible biases they see at tracks, and perhaps helpful tidbits like who is first time gelded or first time lasix. To talk nonstop is extremely annoying, and usually counterproductive. I've also heard them speak about how a horse looks in the post parade. This is fine but often useless if you don't know how the horse NORMALLY looks. To just say he or she seems sweated up is not real helpful when delivered as a negative if the horse is usually hot in the paddock or post parade. By the same token, if they say a horse who looks calm and collected(delivered as a postive) its not always great if the horse is usally showing more life.
The best way to help educated and non eduacted viewers alike is to simply give an overview of each race and perhaps how the track has been playing. They beat things to death and often in a theatric manner that overshadows the race. As far as selections go, why be forced to make selections on every race all day? Any sharp player is going to pass races or have races that they deem as just too hard to analyze in their opinion. Opinions on races mean a lot more when only delivered if you feel that you actually have one, instead of just throwing darts and looking for kudos when one happens to land ok.

I don't have TVG anymore, but I did enjoy it when I had it. You have to take it for what it is. Shrupp was a clown, but he was also fairly knowledgeable at times. I liked Caruthers a little bit, although he never seemed to pick many winners, at least when I watched. One thing I did like is that if you emailed them, they would actually read your questions & comments on the air! That happenned to me several times, as well as winning a couple small prizes over the years. I do miss it...

"Frank did you single this race,or spread"-somebody on the set

"Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..... .... nnnooo.......don't ask me difficult questions the day after opening day..."-Frank L

The best announcers are the ones that do the HK races, those people are dead on usually and you don't ever have to see their face.

There is one guy who always is astonished at who they pick for the "best turned-out horse" in the post parade.

Pretty good analysis from them, though.

The best person that there ever was on tv doing a show and this was before tvg was Caton Bredar when she was down in Florida.That lady knew her stuff and also understood what the bettor wanted.The fact that tvg is based out of La. is irrelevant.Many people bet through them and i'm sure are not happy when there is 7 minutes to post at one of the southern california tracks or for that matter Los Alamitos and they stay with the horses cantering around the track instead of going to a race that's going off.Unless it's a big day someplace else they will never show a southern california track on tape delay,and that's wrong.