SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -

 

            Capital Region handicappers and racing analysts Mark Cusano, Andrea DeLong and John Pricci will be featured in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame’s annual Countdown to the Triple Crown program at 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 26.

          

            The popular program in the Museum’s Hall of Fame Gallery includes video highlights from important prep races and audience-driven discussions with the panel. Admission is free and each person attending will receive a complimentary issue of the Triple Crown past performances issue published by Daily Racing Form, and a complimentary copy of the Thoroughbred Times’ Triple Crown Preview issue.

 

            The 134^th running of the Kentucky Derby will take place on Saturday, May 3. The 133^nd Preakness is scheduled for Saturday, May 17. The final leg of the Triple Crown series, the 140^th Belmont Stakes, will be run on Saturday, June 7.

 

            Cusano, the leading public handicapper at Saratoga six times, has produced and co-hosted the weekly program “Down the Stretch” on the Capital OTB television network since 1992. He handicaps the Saratoga race meet for the Gazette Newspapers and is the racing analyst for WGY radio.

DeLong is a host and handicapper on the Capital OTB TV programming. She has been involved with horses for over 20 years, was an exercise rider and amateur jockey and worked as an assistant trainer for Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas. In 2000, DeLong formed Apres le Soleil Films, which has handled several racing projects.

 

            Pricci has been a racing journalist since 1970 and his work has appeared in newspapers and magazines, as well as on radio, television and the Internet. He was the Thoroughbred columnist for Newsday for 18 years.  The award-winning writer is the executive editor of HorseRaceInsider.com

 

            Mike Kane, the Museum’s communications officer, will be the host of the program.