Santa Anita: Siegel steps down as morning-line maker

Jeff Siegel has officially stepped down as Santa Anita’s morning line maker because of health concerns, but the longtime dean of California handicappers said he’s on the mend and tracking toward an expected return to his other roles at Santa Anita.

“I had a very serious illness and have been getting treatment. I’ve had to take care of that first and foremost,” Siegel said Thursday by phone. “But I’m feeling good. I hope to come back as soon as possible and continue with my other duties for Santa Anita and (1/ST TV).”

Siegel, 74, has been sidelined since providing the morning line for the Feb. 28 program at Santa Anita. For the following day’s card on March 1, which was Santa Anita Handicap day, Horse Racing Nation was enlisted to set the morning lines. Horse Racing Nation continued to provide the early odds for the remainder of the winter meet and also will do so at the spring meet, which opens Friday and ends June 15.

“Horse Racing Nation is excited to continue providing the morning lines for Santa Anita,” said Mark Midland, CEO of Horse Racing Nation. “The last couple years we’ve been focusing on using machine learning and automation to build better lines to help horseplayers. We’re thrilled we were tapped to do the lines at the great race place.”

Horse Racing Nation also sets the morning lines at Colonial Downs in Virginia and Louisiana Downs. Its odds-making process includes a combination of machine learning and a team of experts who follow with any necessary adjustments. Company officials noted that given the proliferation of complex algorithms that are now employed by the most sophisticated bettors, “the public is best served using similar tools to project post-time odds.

"In today's environment of shifting odds, it is more important than ever to have good lines for horseplayers to depend on," Midland said.

Horse Racing Nation’s morning lines also are able to update in real time after scratches and surface changes. At the winter meet, Horse Racing Nation reported its morning lines successfully identified the post-time favorite in 72 percent of all races. That’s well above what company officials reported is the industry average of 64 percent.