Spot Plays for Pacific Classic Day at Del Mar
Saturday is the biggest card of the Del Mar summer meeting and is anchored by the $1 million Pacific Classic (G1), which will offer a serious clash of the generations over 1 1/4 miles.
Wagering
Vance Hanson
Vance Hanson has been a contributing writer and editor for BRISnet.com, TwinSpires.com and KentuckyDerby.com since 2008. Prior to joining the Churchill Downs Inc. family, he served as a publicity assistant at Canterbury Park and as a handicapper/writer for Daily Racing Form.
Saratoga: Recent trends in Week 8 Saturday stakes
The eighth and final Saturday of the 2023 Saratoga season features three graded stakes, two of which are relatively new additions to the Spa calendar.
Analysis
York: Spot Plays for Day 1 of 2023 Ebor Festival
Six two-year-olds were declared for the Acomb (G3), five three-year-olds for the Great Voltigeur (G2), and only three are set to take on Paddington in the Juddmonte International (G1).
Wagering
Best trainers never to have won the Kentucky Derby
The Kentucky Derby is America's signature race, but victory in it unfortunately eluded (or has) some of the finest and most accomplished horsemen in history.
Features
Saratoga: Recent trends in Week 7 Saturday stakes
The biggest Saturday of the Saratoga season this week features five Grade 1 stakes, led by the $1.25 million Travers (G1).
Analysis
First-Crop Sires: Mitole striking early with fillies
There was arguably no finer champion male sprinter in the 2010s than Mitole, who capped the decade with a tremendous campaign in 2019 that included four Grade 1 wins from six furlongs to one mile.
Pedigree
Saratoga: Recent trends in Week 6 Saturday stakes
Three-year-old fillies will be in the spotlight for the sixth Saturday of the Saratoga meet on Aug. 19. The time-honored $600,000 Alabama (G1) over 1 1/4 miles on the main track is the feature.
Analysis
Saratoga: Recent trends in Week 5 Saturday stakes
The fifth Saturday of the 2023 Saratoga meet has as its features the Fourstardave H. (G1), a one-mile grass test for older horses, and the time-honored Saratoga Special (G2) for two-year-olds.
Wagering
Saratoga: Recent trends in Week 4 Saturday stakes
There are four graded stakes scheduled for the fourth Saturday of the Saratoga meet, but we'll focus this week's trends piece on just two: the $1 million Whitney (G1) and the $500,000 Test (G1).
Wagering
Saratoga: Recent trends in Week 2 Saturday stakes
The second Saturday of the Saratoga meet features two graded stakes: the $500,000 Coaching Club American Oaks (G1) and the $200,000 Caress.
Wagering
Newmarket: Spot plays for July Festival on Saturday
It's been a good week to stand against heavy favorites at the Newmarket July Festival, and the hope is this anti-favorite trend continues into the third and final day of the fixture on Saturday.
Wagering
Newmarket: Spot Plays for July Festival on Thursday
It lacks the prestige of some of England's other major fixtures, but this week's three-day July Festival at Newmarket, which runs from Thursday through Saturday, will have plenty of interest.
Wagering
Saratoga: Recent trends in Week 1 Saturday stakes
There will be at least two graded stakes scheduled on each Saturday of the Saratoga meet, of which there will be eight beginning July 15.
Features
How to play the July 8 Cross Country Pick 5
Saturday's Cross Country Pick 5 takes in two competitive graded stakes at Belmont Park and three of the meet features at Horseshoe Indianapolis.
TwinSpires
Hanson: England gets its Triple Crown right, why can't we?
The drumbeats and clamoring for changes in spacing between the three Triple Crown events has gotten noticeably louder in recent weeks, the result of a disturbing trend this year in which there was little continuity in field composition.
Triple Crown
2023 Royal Ascot: Selections for Friday
Several of the strongest favorites of the week will be in action on Day 4 of the Royal Ascot meet on Friday, but they might not all be slam dunks.
Royal Ascot
2023 Royal Ascot: Selections for Thursday
Day 3 of Royal Ascot on Thursday includes the meet centerpiece, the 2 1/2-mile Gold Cup (G1), but we start the Group action off with a pair of races which feature a couple of short-priced favorites.
Royal Ascot
Remembering Queen Elizabeth II's Royal Ascot winners
A ubiquitous presence at the Royal meeting until the last few years of her life, Elizabeth II enjoyed a fair amount of success at the fixture.
Royal Ascot
Hanson: Reviewing my 12 years of handicapping Royal Ascot
The 2023 Royal Ascot meeting will be my 13th at offering selections on Thursday and Friday of the five-day fixture, which runs from June 20-24.
Royal Ascot
Meet the Contenders Study Guide of Belmont Stakes 2023
Meet the contenders of the Belmont Stakes with star ratings and pro/cons.
Belmont Stakes
Historical trends against National Treasure winning second classic in Belmont
The expected field for the $1.5 million Belmont S. (G1) on June 10 will include the winner of the Preakness (G1), but not the Kentucky Derby winner (G1) who ran in and lost the Preakness. This will be only the eighth such occurrence in the Belmont since 1953.
Triple Crown
Made for Hollywood: Secretariat and the 1973 Belmont Stakes
Among the fortunate 67,000-plus paid attendees at Belmont Park for Secretariat’s epic triumph was longtime Lexington, Ky., resident and industry contributor Rab Hagin.
Triple Crown
Hanson: Longshot play for the 2023 Epsom Derby
To give you an idea how contentious this group of 14 is, I wouldn't be utterly shocked to see any one of 10 or so reach the famed winner's enclosure.
International
The case for being an occasional higher roller
Not everyone has the temperament to be a high roller, but on select occasions during the year it might help your bottom line to simply be a higher roller.
Wagering
Hanson: 2023 Preakness Day Spot Plays
As was the case for our Friday spot plays at Pimlico, we're leaning heavily on grass races for our action bets on Saturday's Preakness card. The 13-race Thoroughbred portion of the program begins at 10:30 a.m. ET.
Preakness Stakes
Hanson: 2023 Black-Eyed Susan Day Spot Plays
The relative quality of the offerings vary at Pimlico on Friday and Saturday, but Preakness weekend should nonetheless prove a highly popular product for bettors across the country.
Wagering
Later developers increasingly the ones to fear in American classics
It was only five years ago that we were still talking about the “Curse of Apollo,” whereby horses unraced at age two were perceived to be at a serious disadvantage in the Kentucky Derby (G1).
Kentucky Derby
Handicapping the first Pick 4 on Kentucky Derby Day
The first Pick 4 offering on the Kentucky Derby Day program runs from races 2 through 5, encompassing two overnight events and two graded stakes.
Kentucky Derby
Hanson: 2023 Kentucky Derby Day undercard dirt spot plays
Kentucky Derby Day at Churchill Downs kicks off at 10:30 a.m. ET on Saturday and concludes some 10 hours and 14 races later.
Kentucky Derby
Hanson: How I will bet the 2023 Kentucky Derby
A busy day of developments on Thursday resulted in three defections from the main body of the Kentucky Derby (G1) field, and now all three also-eligibles have made the race.
Kentucky Derby