I had a social media strategy leading up to Saratoga loosely planned out. A few days before the meet, you’d get something here laying out the general content plan for the summer, when things would get posted, and a few other quick thoughts before I dove into the opening day past performances.

And then Joe Boyle, the sports editor of The Saratogian, called me and sent everything askew in the best possible way.

The paper’s parent company recently acquired another publication based in New York, he told me. And they wanted to run my stuff.

That publication…is the New York Daily News.

I’m not joking when I say my immediate reaction was, “Joe, I could kiss you.” It’s at that moment Joe was very, very grateful there was 3,000 miles of distance between the two of us.

When I was a kid, the News’s sports section was the best horse racing section in the city. It was anchored by daily selections and analysis from Russ Harris, who is, for my money, the best to ever do it. It also featured the Battle of Saratoga, where three handicappers would throw good-natured barbs at one another for a few paragraphs before giving their best bankroll plays of the day.

Sound familiar, like maybe the content you read on this site each day of the Saratoga meet? Literally everything I do is modeled off of what I read (or, more accurately, devoured) in that publication as a kid learning the game. In its print and digital formats, its content is read by hundreds of thousands of people per day.

This paper, and the people who produced content for it, shaped me as a writer in ways I couldn’t comprehend at that time. The stuff I do is a throwback to those days, and I hope it reaches people like it reached me.

To be able to have my stuff in the space Harris once occupied is an incredible honor and privilege. I’m thankful for the staffs at both papers for bringing everything together. In addition, I’m blessed to have a full-time employer, Catena Media, that allows me to do everything I do for Saratoga on top of my full-time job.

Racing-wise, the last 10 months have been pretty good for me. I just wrapped up an annual stint doing seminars at the Alameda County Fair. I started a new podcast on the On the Wrong Lead network with my friend Josh Rodriguez. There’s some other stuff for Saratoga you’ll read about below that I’m pretty excited about…and you may have heard about Lord Miles at 59-1 in the Wood Memorial.

However, being told that my stuff was going into the New York Daily News? That’s nothing I ever expected, and it’s some of the best freelance-related news I’ve ever gotten.

I’m sure I’ll stop levitating at some point, but for now, leave me be, okay?

The content, and when it’s coming

If you’re a longtime reader of mine, you know the drill. If you’re not, here’s how this’ll work.

My selections and analysis will be up about 36 hours before that day’s first post. This is to mitigate any conflicts with regard to deadlines and different time zones. For example, Thursday’s opening day stuff will be live on Tuesday night, and those will include the first of 40 bankroll sections, wherein I’ll try to turn a profit after starting with $1,000 in mythical money.

Friday’s content goes live on Wednesday night, with the exception of that day’s bankroll blurb, which I’ll post after the previous day’s bet has concluded (if I could post in advance, I’d never lose…). Saturday’s content goes up on Thursday, Sunday’s goes up on Friday, and we go on that timeline until Labor Day.

In addition to the content on my site, I’ve got some other stuff in the works, too. I’ll be working with Paulick Report on a video chronicling a select 2-year-old race at Saratoga each week, and I’m also going to be doing periodic spots on FOX Sports 980 and 95.9 in Albany with Jeff Levack and Tom Goslowski.

I’ll be linking to all of this stuff on social media. In addition to following me on Twitter at @AndrewChampagne (where most of my traffic comes from), I’m also on Instagram (@142winners) and Threads (@142winners).

It’s busy, but it’s always busy, and it’s always worth it. Saratoga’s a special place for so many reasons, and to be able to do what I do every summer is a blessing. Last year, my content on this site, with no paid promotion and only powered by my social media and occasional mentions in The Pink Sheet, got to more than 30,000 hits for the first time. That’s a big number, and it shows that I’ve got some pretty amazing readers who think I’m doing something right.

To those who make it so much fun to do this every summer: Thank you. Thank you VERY much. Now, let’s get to picking some winners!