Former DRF writer, handicapper Jim Kachulis dead at 74

Jim Kachulis, a former Daily Racing Form writer and prominent Thoroughbred racing handicapper for decades, passed away on Friday, Aug. 7, at his home in Cliffside Park, N.J. He was 74.

Kachulis grew up in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and attended St. John's University before landing his first newspaper job covering sports for The News World in New York in the early 1970s. He went on to turn a profound passion for horse racing into a professional career of over four decades, working at several racetracks and for a number of racing publications, including FIGS Form and The Racing Times.

Before joining DRF in 1999, Kachulis served as the track handicapper and linemaker for Gulfstream Park in the early 1990s. He later moved to Monmouth Park and The Meadowlands racetracks, beginning in the early 1994. He hosted or appeared as a guest handicapper on countless seminars on behalf of all of his employers, including DRF, where he worked for nine years, making selections and writing analyses, stories, and Closer Looks.

Jim’s legacy is firmly intertwined with the sport he loved and with the thousands of racing fans he helped guide through the complexities of handicapping through the years, most notably his insights into the effects of pace and race shape. He will be remembered not only for his quick wit and sharp eye for past performances but also for his warm presence and unwavering professionalism, and his enduring contributions to the Thoroughbred handicapping community, in New Jersey, and across the nation.

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