Night School’s Fall Semester Sounds Off Tonight

Night School, the racing industry’s national online fan education program since 2011, makes its return to the airways with the Sept. 2 start of its 14-week fall semester. The free program is offered online each Tuesday, beginning at 8:30 p.m. ET and runs 40 consecutive weeks through Dec. 2. More than 40 websites in the Thoroughbred, American Quarter Horse and Standardbred industries simultaneously offer the Night School lessons.

The fall semester represents weeks 27-40 of the fourth season of Night School and will be formatted similarly to the 2014 spring semester. Each week’s lesson will be taught with a specific theme in mind and the instructors can be heard via audio streaming from any Night School site or on SiriusXM satellite radio (SiriusXM simulcasts begin Sept. 9, online audio streaming only for Sept. 2).

Night School founder Jeremy Plonk and original cast member Caton Bredar will join weekly with Steve Byk of “At the Races with Steve Byk” from 8:30-10 p.m. ET during Night School’s traditional timeslot. Each week, top guests in the world of handicapping and horse racing will be featured. The radio stream is linked within the Night School lesson’s chat box, or can be found on the dial at Sirius 220, XM206 beginning Sept. 9. Casey Ghee once again will engineer the audio streaming portion of the program.

Tonight’s lesson will feature “Trip Handicapping” and includes special guest instructors Keith Feustle, Equibase chartcaller and Maryland Jockey Club oddsmaker; Saratoga-based handicapper Nick Tammaro; and Martha Claussen of the AQHA’s Racing Aces fan education program.

Free archives of all lessons, current and past, remain available for views by racing fans and horseplayers at any time. Therefore, if you can’t make class each week during the 90-minute live session, you can still take part and reap the benefits. Title sponsors for 2014 include charter members National Thoroughbred Racing Association and American Quarter Horse Association, as well as Keeneland Select, The Stronach Group, Twinspires, BRIS, Bet America, Mountaineer Park and Woodbine Entertainment.

Night School is free and voluntary with no registration necessary. Simply visit any of the Night School syndicate websites weekly at 8:30 pm ET to take in the live lesson, or access the archives at any of those same sites at your leisure. The program does offer a voluntary registration both live or in the archives. Attendees who register in at least half (20) of the season’s lessons are eligible to win prizes that include merchandise, NHC Tour memberships, handicapping contests, free handicapping products, etc. Fans who enjoy playing the races can participate alongside the Night School experts in two additional ways. The Night School Woodbine Wednesdays live chats feature the live races on the program each Wednesday at Woodbine. And, Night School Friday Night Live at Remington Park is a weekly Friday live chat during the full card from Oklahoma City. Both offerings present free live video streaming, free BRISNET.com past performances, real-time expert advice and fan camaraderie.

2014 FALL SEMESTER TOPIC SCHEDULE

*-denotes live chat lessons with no radio component.