Steve Kisslinger
Where it started
Horse racing has been part of Steve’s life for as long as he can remember — and even before that.
According to family stories, his father began taking him to Arlington Park when he was still a baby, sitting him along the rail to watch the horses race by. The family lived only a few minutes from the track, so racing quickly became a familiar part of his childhood.
Those early visits created a connection with the sport that would stay with him for decades.
A life long passion
Learning the game
As Steve grew older, simply watching the races was no longer enough. He wanted to understand why horses won, how races developed, and what clues could be found before the starting gate opened.
In the early 1970s, he began reading handicapping books and studying the game more seriously. Before he was old enough to drive, he would ride his bike about twenty minutes each way just to buy a copy of the Daily Racing Form.
That curiosity gradually turned horse racing from entertainment into a lifelong study.
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Chasing the Edge
For Steve, one of the greatest challenges in horse racing has always been trying to see the race before it happens.
What does he enjoy most about handicapping?
“Being right. Predicting the future.”
Over the years, that challenge has taught him patience, discipline, and the importance of continuing to learn.
As Steve puts it:
“It’s an art and a science.”
One of his most memorable experiences was seeing Secretariat at Arlington Park with his family — a moment that remains deeply connected to his lifelong passion for the sport.
From form the data
Steve has watched handicapping change dramatically over the years.
It began with printed racing forms, books, handwritten notes, and hours spent studying past performances. Then the internet opened the door to digital information, larger datasets, and access to the histories of hundreds and thousands of horses.
The tools became more powerful, but the objective remained the same: gather the right information, understand the race, and make a better prediction.
The next evolution
Today, Steve is exploring the next stage of that evolution: artificial intelligence.
He is using AI to help develop his own handicapping system — one built around the way he believes races should be analyzed.
For Steve, AI is not a replacement for experience or judgment. It is another tool for organizing information, testing ideas, and refining the handicapping process.
After decades in the game, he is still learning, still adapting, and still chasing the same challenge that fascinated him from the beginning: understanding the race before it happens.