In The Paddock With Frankel, Pig Prognosticator

Frankel, showing a glimpse in his eye of the genius to come, as a piglet.
Frankel, showing a glimpse in his eye of the genius to come, as a piglet. (PHOTO: Heather Haagenson)

“In the Paddock” this week with us is Frankel. Frankel is a wonder of horse racing handicapping who successfully picked the first two legs of the Triple Crown. His videos were posted prior to each race via Facebook by farm manager Heather Haagenson.  His selections were picked via treats on randomly placed placards or under cups and resulted in the following selections:

Derby: American Pharoah, Bolo, Firing Line

Preakness: American Pharoah, Danzig Moon, Tale of Verve

Does he see a Crown in our future on Saturday at Belmont? You’ll have to click the link below and find out!

We spent a few minutes with Scott Rake, Frankel’s owner. While Rake has produced several Minnesota champions, his prognosticating pig may be his greatest achievement to date!

MWPR: How did you end up getting Frankel?

RAKE: Where did I find Frankel? A Mexican border town selling chicklets. I asked him if he had experience handicapping. He said oink.

MWPR: What techniques does he use to pick races?

RAKE: I think he studies Thoroughgraph charts and past performances or it’s possible he’s just randomly knocking over cups. Bottom line it’s effective.

MWPR: How is his relationship with the horses at the farm and do you think they help him along at all?

RAKE: The thoroughbreds treat Frankel like a small, fat and slow thoroughbred. It’s good for the others self-esteem. They all know Frankel is the slowest horse (actually pig) on the farm.

MWPR: If he picks all 3 legs correctly, what’s next for him?

RAKE: If he successfully picks the Belmont winner he would like a booth to sell picks at Canterbury Park but preferably not to close to the Famous Dave’s stand. They make him nervous.

Video of Frankel Picking the Belmont: Crown or No Crown?