Noel Michaels
Noel Michaels has been involved in virtually every aspect of Thoroughbred racing throughout the last two decades. A graduate of the Racetrack Industry Program at the University of Arizona, Noel worked at Delaware Park in the early 1990's before becoming the youngest full time handicapper ever to be hired in the 100-year history of the Daily Racing Form in 1993 at the age of 23. He went on to enjoy a 12-year association with "America’s Turf Authority" where he also held the positions of sports and gaming reporter and Internet editor before departing the Form in 2005 to become the house handicapper and director of player development for Nassau County Off-Track Betting in New York. Along the way, Noel has compiled several experiences and accomplishments that have made him uniquely stand out in the field of public handicapping. He spent 10 years tutoring in the fine arts of horse training and horse betting at and around the barn of barn of Hall of Fame trainer P. G. Johnson, and was involved in the improbable 2002 Breeders' Cup Classic upset by Volponi, who Johnson owned, trained, and bred.

In the horse racing industry, Noel is most widely known as the racing media's most prominent authority in the field of handicapping contests and tournaments. He was involved in the creation of the DRF/NTRA National Handicapping Championship in 2000 and has reported on every renewal of the NHC since the event’s inception. His first book, Handicapping Contest Handbook, a Horseplayer's Guide to Handicapping Tournaments (DRF Press 2003, 2006) has since made his name virtually synonymous with the national handicapping tournament scene. Noel has since also published another book, a horseracing-themed comic crime novel entitled Fix Six (Xlibris Publishing 2008).

Noel is not only known for his work in print, which also has included columns and articles for a long list of racing periodicals including American Turf Monthly and The Horseplayer Magazine, he is also known for his many television credits and for his countless appearances as a public speaker and seminar host. Noel was one of the original hosts of the "Blinkers Off" show on the TVG Network, and also spent five years hosting the "Daily Racing Form News Desk", which aired on HRTV and on The Racing Network (defunct). Noel was the former Sunday co-host of NYRA's "Talkin' Horses" show, and the dark-day co-host of New York City OTB's old "Racing Action" program alongside Dave Johnson and Matt Carothers. He was also a frequent guest at Harvey Pack's revered Saratoga Siro's Seminars for a dozen years, and a speaker at the last two Horseplayer Expos in Las Vegas.