BELMONT: Pop the cork! We’re celebrating Andrew Champagne’s return to the Pink Sheet

Pink Sheet horse racing expert Andrew Champagne. (Photo provided)

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — “Allow me to reintroduce myself.”

No, Jay-Z is not a guest handicapper, but we have equally exciting news for those looking to make Belmont big bucks. After a summer hiatus due to a contractual conflict with another employer, horse racing expert Andrew Champagne triumphantly returns to headline the Pink Sheet handicapping roster, with some “unfinished business.”

“It’s good to be back,” Champagne said.

“I’ve been associated with The Saratogian Pink Sheet since my first day as a full-timer, which was 12 years ago. After I moved, I was fortunate enough to keep that relationship going,” Champagne continued.

“It’s always a highlight for me to be able to do this and to be able to be a part of something like this and hopefully some people make a whole bunch of money,” Champagne noted.

He expanded on his enthusiasm to return and why he’s thrilled to be associated with the Pink Sheet.

“First and foremost, I have unfinished business given the way last year went down. So, I’m very excited to be able to go up against some really sharp people who are incredibly passionate about what they do,” Champagne remarked.

“That’s ultimately one of the biggest things the Pink Sheet has going for it is the fact that you have a lot of passionate people putting together a product that people can enjoy as they walk to the race or they enjoy the rest of The Saratogian as a daily reader. It’s something that is becoming a lot more rare in the thoroughbred industry,” Champagne noted.

“So, the biggest thing I can say is if you want passionate coverage by smart people who care and wanna help you make money, pick up a Pink Sheet. That’s something that I’ve always been incredibly proud to be associated with. It’s something that I’m excited to be associated with again this year, both with the Belmont Stakes racing festival and with the general meet that starts again in July,” Champagne added regarding why people should pick up a Pink Sheet before traversing to the track.

Champagne provided his thoughts on what it means to have Saratoga host the Belmont.

“It’s cool. They say necessity’s the mother of invention, right? With Belmont getting renovated and Aqueduct not able to house the kinds of crowds that the Belmont day usually draws, the only way they were gonna be able to do that was to go up to Saratoga,” Champagne noted on the Capital Region’s passion for horse racing.

“I don’t wanna say it’s perfect, it’s not. The Belmont getting shortened is less than ideal. Please do not get me started on the Met Mile being run out of the Wilson Chute. I don’t think that’s in any way ideal, but from the standpoint of the town, from the standpoint of how we know Saratoga supports horse racing and is going to come out in droves for these four days of racing, that’s gonna be cool and it’s gonna be an atmosphere that we haven’t seen before because the Belmont’s never been up here before,” Champagne explained.

While there won’t be a Triple Crown winner this year, Champagne noted there won’t be any shortage of star power or lack of wagering opportunities.

“The general gist with regard to the Belmont, yes, there’s a lot of star power that’s going to be there for the Belmont Stakes. You’ll have Mystik Dan, you’ll have Seize the Grey, assuming that both of those horses wind up committing to the Belmont, you’ll also have Sierra Leone, [who] is gonna be a very popular horse in the Belmont, not just for his accomplishments on the track but because Chad Brown’s a Mechanicville guy,” Champagne noted.

“It’s not just the Belmont though, that’s one of the things that I wanna stress to people. It’s a four-day racing festival with a bunch of graded stakes races and a bunch of the best horses and training that are going to be shipped up to Saratoga. There are going to be a lot of betting opportunities, not just the Belmont, all four days,” Champagne explained on the premiere quality of horses.

“The key to being a successful bettor is in a lot of ways similar to the ways you play horse races the other 364 days of the year. Pick your spots, find ways in which you can make money if you’re right and that’s something that there’s going to be a lot of opportunities for given some of the races and some of the big fields that we’re likely to see in a couple of weeks,” Champagne added.

Champagne additionally commented on how the difference in track distances between Belmont and Saratoga may shape the field.

“The biggest difference, of course, is gonna be the distance. You’re going to have a race that was traditionally run at a mile and a half, run at a mile and a quarter,” Champagne said.

“There are some trainers that are very enthusiastic about this change. I don’t know if D. Wayne Lukas would have sent Seize the Grey up for the Belmont if the Belmont was still a mile and a half. That’s going to wind up being his fifth race in less than three months. So, if he winds up coming up here because the mile-and-a-quarter selling distance, that’s a big deal. You’re going to wind up seeing I think a different kind of horse running in the Belmont Stakes this year and next year because yes, a mile and a quarter’s a testing distance,” Champagne explained.

“Horses have not been bred to go a mile and a half for a very long time. They call it the test of a champion for a reason. Not a lot of horses can get that distance. This is a little bit more manageable for horses and I think you’re going to see certain connections a bit more enthusiastic to go in the race. Long term, I don’t know if that’s a good idea.

“I think the Belmont is supposed to be hard and I don’t mind the mile-and-a-half distance but you’re going to wind up seeing, I think, a bigger field for this year’s Belmont than you may have otherwise seen in some past years where it’s been a mile and a half,” Champagne added.