Welcome to The Tampa Bay Downs Handicapper!

My name is John J. Barile (a.k.a. Johnny B.). I had been handicapping Tampa casually since the seventies (when my folks retired to Pasco County). Back then, I was living and working in New York and I had a hell of a time trying to stay on top of things from afar. In fact, the best you could do was to subscribe to the Eastern Edition of the Form’s Result Charts on microfilm and hope your NY edition of the paper had the Tampa PP’s now and again. But all that’s changed since I put my (police department retirement) papers in and technology has broken down the geographical barriers in racing.

I started The Tampa Bay Downs Handicapper in 2007, the day after I retired. My goal during the first two seasons was to set the hook deeply into the mouths of potential customers, so I gave away my selections for free. The 2nd meeting saw 50,000 visits to the website, so it was time to become a subscriber only service. Three meetings have passed since then and traffic doubled in both successive meetings. I’m now, officially, the source for all things Tampa Bay Downs.

I handicap Tampa and only Tampa. During the racing season, I’m handicapping every day and during the off-season I’m working almost every day to prepare for the upcoming season. My kids are grown up and are on their own and my wife, Bernadine Koch, still spends a lot of time up north, so there is nothing to keep me from staying focused on the work at hand.

My Trainer Profiles are the only ones in the business that provide analysis and stats across multiple angles simultaneously and you’ll find that the Win and ITM % for each of the featured trainers run high. Please get acquainted with my site and all that it has to offer. As you peruse the site, I think you’ll find that I’ve been working hard to provide you with the best handicapping tools money can buy.

You’ll also find that I have an eclectic handicapping style that combines pace and speed figures, trainer angles, trips, track biases and pure statistics.

For the last four seasons, 33% of my structured wagers were winners and my handicapping selections were read by hundreds of regular Tampa players. I’ve been a regular contributor to the Up In Class and Pace Advantage forums for several years and I recently did a number of seminars at several NY metro area OTB facilities and I’m presently lining up another series in 2012. If you’re interested in sponsoring a seminar, don’t hesitate to contact me. Travel is not a problem. When I’m not doing the foregoing, I’ll be trackside (in the grandstand, near the wire). So stop by and introduce yourself. And thanks for making the Tampa Bay Downs Handicapper the most visited site on the web exclusively dedicated to handicapping Tampa.

In 2010, I finished 3rd in the Up In Class Forum Saratoga Handicapping Contest with a 30% profit for the season and in 2011 ended that contest with an Honorable Mention. Now I’m through playing games and I’m gearing up for my next assault on Tampa.

“The Tampa Bay Downs Handicapper” was featured in the January 2011 Tampa Bay Downs magazine (click here to view).

You’ll also find references to some of my work in the new 2011-2012 Tampa Bay Downs Bettor’s Guide by Peter Mallett.

My next handicapping seminar will be at Portland Meadows on Friday, March 30th…hope to see you there!

Good luck and good racing!

Johnny B.