AT THE POST LIVE KICKS OFF 2018 SARATOGA RACING MEET

By Marina Bui —-

AT THE POST LIVE
KICKS OFF 2018 SARATOGA RACING MEET
WITH NICK ZITO, SOL KUMIN & MANUEL FRANCO
ON ESPN SPORTS RADIO
& LIVE ON-LOCATION IN DOWNTOWN SARATOGA SPRINGS

Thursday, July 19 at the Parting Glass Pub from 8-9 p.m. ET
Presented by NYRA Bets

Saratoga Springs, NY (July 18, 2018) – Acclaimed radio program, At The Post Live, returns Thursday, July 19 at 8:00 p.m. with nationally televised NYRA horse racing personality, host Andy Serling. The destination live event programming, where racing and sports personalities, experts, stars and analysts come together around the annual American sports pilgrimage that is summer racing in historic Saratoga Spring, will feature Hall-of-Fame trainer Nick Zito, 2018 Triple Crown-winning owner Sol Kumin, and rising star jockey Manuel Franco, who is coming off a strong Belmont meet with 48 winners, on its opening show of the 2018 season.

At The Post Live, presented by NYRA Bets and participating partners, Capital OTB and the Daily Racing Form, airs weekly with encore replay broadcasts, throughout the racing season. The show is produced before a live on-location, standing-room-only audience at the Parting Glass Pub in downtown Saratoga Springs, and can be heard throughout the New York capital region on ESPN Radio 104.5 FM “The Team” and livestreamed on www.1045theteam.com.

Fans of the program are able to access additional cross-platform content with each week’s show on the NYRA podcast, “Across the Board.”

Nick Zito is a Hall of Fame trainer who won his first Triple Crown race when Strike the Gold captured the Kentucky Derby in 1991. It was the beginning of an eventual career sweep of all three of the Triple Crown races for the Brooklyn-born trainer. Zito won his second Derby in 1994 with Go for Gin, and two years later, he scored a victory in the Preakness Stakes with Louis Quatorze. Finally, after six second-place finishes, he won the first of his two Belmonts in 2004 when he saddled Birdstone to deny Smarty Jones the Triple Crown. Four years later, Zito won his second Belmont Stakes with Da’ Tara. Zito has trained three Eclipse winners: Storm Song (1996 Champion 2-Year-Old Filly); Bird Town (2003 Champion 3-Year-Old Filly); and War Pass (2007 Champion 2-Year-Old Colt). He has won Breeders’ Cup races with Storm Song and War Pass, as well as the 2005 and 2008 editions of the Whitney Handicap with Commentator, who also won the Massachusetts Handicap in 2008. Other significant horses trained by Zito include Bellamy Road, Jackson Bend, Thirty Six Red, Albert the Great, Unbridled’s Song, Halory Hunter, The Cliff’s Edge and The Groom is Red.

Sol Kumin is a thoroughbred owner with stakes in notable champions including 2016 Preakness winner Exaggerator, and 2017 American Champion Female Turf Horse Lady Eli. This past March, Kumin bought stakes in two Kentucky Derby contenders, Audible and Justify. Kumin-owned My Boy Jack, also qualified for the Derby by winning the Lexington Stakes, giving him three runners in the 2018 Derby. Justify would go on to win the race, with Audible finishing third and My Boy Jack fifth. This culminated a successful two days for Kumin after another of his horses, Monomoy Girl, won the Kentucky Oaks in the same weekend. Justify then won the Preakness and Belmont Stakes, cementing his place in racing history as only the 13th Triple Crown winner. Monomoy Girl is expected to be favored in Sunday’s Grade 1 CCA Oaks at Saratoga.

Manuel Franco is a multiple graded stakes winning jockey on the NYRA circuit. A native of Puerto Rico, Franco earned his first career graded stakes victory in 2015 with Coffee Clique in the Grade 3 Dr. James Penny Memorial Handicap. He won his first Grade 1 on October 1, 2016 with Joking in the Vosburgh Stakes, and followed with his second a week later with Yellow Agate in the Frizette Stakes at the Belmont Fall meet. Other notable horses ridden by Franco include Far From Over and Sunny Ridge, respective winners of the 2015 and 2016 Withers Stakes.

ABOUT AT THE POST LIVE
At The Post Live is produced by Camden Entertainment and is promoted in partnership with ESPN Radio, presenting partner NYRA Bets and participating partners, Capital OTB and the Daily Racing Form. Proud community partners of the show include the Saratoga Hospital Foundation, Special Olympics New York, Belmont Child Care Association, Brave Will Foundation and the Parting Glass Pub. Fans can follow @atthepostlive on twitter and be a part of the conversation using #AtThePostLive.