Horse Racing This Weekend: Key Races, Top Horses & Best Bets [Dec. 19, 2025]
Racing at Fair Grounds (Photo by Hodges Photography)
December 20th, 2025
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Jason Beem Horse Racing Podcast
Jason is joined by Kellie Reilly for our weekly International Radar segment. Jason also discusses Colonial Downs' 2026 schedule and racing this weekend from Gulfstream and Remington Park.
RELATED: Thursday Thoughts with Jason Beem for Dec. 18, 2025
Kentucky Derby 2026 Updates
Top horses and best bets for horse racing this weekend
Click to jump to each race listed!
Best Bets for the 2025 Remington Springfield Mile
Read the full analysis here: Tipsheet: 2025 Springboard Mile Stakes
A full field of 12 juveniles will travel eight panels on the Remington Park main oval in Saturday’s $300,000 Springboard Mile S. The 2026 Road to the Kentucky Derby challenge series contest will reward the top five across the wire with qualifying points on a 10-5-3-2-1 basis. Who is your best bet?
Springboard Mile Stakes Picks
- #1 Arctic Beast
- #2 Time for Music
- #3 Essential Time
- #7 Spice Runner
Springboard Mile Stakes Wagers
Top Horses for the 2025 Remington Springfield Mile
Read the full analysis here: Meet the Contenders: 2025 Remington Springboard Mile
#1 Arctic Beast
Pro: Has been running fast against NY-bred sprinters and might be talented enough.
Con: Stretching out a quarter mile while rising in class will be testing.
#2 Time for Music
Pro: Faced better in Kentucky; earned silver in Churchill allowance.
Con: Looks a bit less logical than stablemate Spice Runner.
#3 Essential Time
Pro: Graduated in Clever Trevor S., and the return to dirt should be helpful.
Con: Perhaps best of the locals, but will that be enough?
#7 Spice Runner
Pro: Iroquois (G3) winner owns the back class; troubled trips last two.
Con: Two-turn form not on par with his one-turn form; odds will be short.
Baby max wins the Leonatus Stakes at Turfway Park. (Photo by Coady Media)
Pick 4 of the Week: Turfway Park Sunday
Three of the four stakes races carded on the fine Turfway Park Sunday card will be in my Pick 4 of the Week.
Race 7 Wager
- 50-cent 2,3,4,7 with 2,3,5,12 with 3 with 1,4,5,7,10 ($40)
Best Bets for the 2025 Gun Runner Stakes
Read the full analysis here: Tipsheet: 2025 Gun Runner Stakes
A well-matched field of eight juvenile prospects will travel 1 1/16 miles over the Fair Grounds main surface in Saturday’s $100,000 Gun Runner S. The 2026 Road to the Kentucky Derby challenge series event will reward the top five finishers with qualifying points on a 10-5-3-2-1 structure. What is your best bet
Gun Runner Stakes Picks
- #1 Mesquite
- #3 Liberty National
- #5 Crown the Buckeye
Gun Runner Stakes Wagers
Top Horses for the 2025 Gun Runner Stakes
Read the full analysis here: Meet the Contenders: 2025 Gun Runner Stakes
#1 Mesquite ****
Pro: Rallied from far back to win as odds-on choice; remains with upside for hot barn.
Con: Has shown no positional speed whatsoever in either start.
#3 Liberty National *****
Pro: Dazzling two-turn debut after being a non-factor at Keeneland; top threat.
Con: Three-week turnaround potentially too soon for a return.
#5 Crown the Buckeye ***
Pro: Dominating winner in a pair of Ohio-bred stakes; worth trying vs. open company.
Con: Class hike is no small thing and might fit better sprinting at this level.
Willy D’s wins the Michael G Schaefer Memorial at Horseshoe Indiana. (Photo by Coady Media / Credit to Ashleigh Schlitt)
Pick 3 of the Week: Oaklawn Park Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025
I will take aim at the closing three-race sequence on Saturday at Oaklawn Park for the Pick 3 of the Week.
Race 8 Wager
- $1 Pick 3: 4,7 with all with 4 ($20)
TwinSpires Jury
James Scully, Darin Zoccali, and Ashley Anderson share their selections for the Gun Runner and Untapable Stakes at Fair Grounds, as well as the Remington Springboard Mile.
Best Bets for the 2025 Tenacious Stakes
Read the full analysis here: How to bet the Tenacious Stakes
A total of eight boys will go postward in the $100,000 Tenacious S. at Fair Grounds on Saturday. The contest seems top-heavy to me, with the trio of morning-line choices seemingly a cut above the rest of the contenders in the cast, and I will center my wagers around the three.
Tenacious Wagers
- $20 exacta 2 with 7 ($20)
- $3 superfecta 2 with 1,7 with 1,7 with all ($15)
- $1 superfecta 2 with 1,7 with all with 1,7 ($5)
Top Horses for the Tenacious Stakes
#2 Just a Touch (7-5) owns five stakes placings in his lifetime, two at the Grade-1 level, and will look to break through with his initial black-type tally in this tilt. By Justify, the colt has run four good ones since returning off the long layoff in 2025 and owns a two-for-two mark at Fair Grounds in advance of his return to this locale. The four-year-old bay is in a bit of a tricky spot with speed to both his inside and outside, but the Kentucky-bred has the versatility to adapt to any scenario with Luis Saez in the irons.
#7 Not This Boy (2-1) has missed by a head and a nose in his two previous stakes tries and rates an obvious chance in this spot. Not This Time gelding has won or placed in each of his eight career runs to date and has trained forwardly in advance of his first run since September. The Kentucky-bred four-year-old has the advantage of drawing outside of his two main foes and might capitalize on it with Jose Ortiz taking the reins.
#1 Komorebino Omoide (4-1) checked in second in both the Louisiana (G3) and Mineshaft (G3) on the surface earlier this year and will be a major player with something resembling those performances. The five-year-old chestnut was a smart runner-up in the Thanksgiving Classic S. at six furlongs on this oval off the layoff and will appreciate the stretch out in distance on his occasion. He is quick enough from the gate to be up top early on, and I expect him to be sent to gain the edge from the break with his helpful draw on the fence. Paco Lopez has been riding well at the meeting and will be in the silks atop the five-year-old once again.
Ayra Stark wins at Keeneland. (Photo by Coady Media)
Exotics Plays for the Florence Stakes
A full cast of 12 fillies and mares will travel 1 1/4 miles on the Tapeta in Saturday’s $125,000 Florence S. at Turfway Park. The ever-challenging handicapping assignment lacks a clear standout and looks like the perfect race to spread with multiple contenders.
Florence Exotics
- $3 exacta key box 10 with 2,3,6 ($18)
- 50-cent trifecta 10 with 2,3,6 with all ($15)
- 20-cent superfecta 10 with 2,3,6 with 2,3,6 with all ($10.80)
Sharp Swinger wins at Churchill Downs. (Photo by Coady Media)
How to bet the Silks Overnight Stakes
Nine sophomores will speed six panels over the Oaklawn Park dirt in Friday’s competitive $135,000 Silks Overnight S. #6 Amorosa (4-1) is the lone prior stakes winner in the field, and while his two previous black-type tallies have come over Iowa-bred foes, I still like the talented three-year-old in this spot.
Silks Wagers
Dresden Row wins the HPibet Autumn Stake at Woodbine. (Photo by Michael Burns)
How to bet the Prairie Bayou Stakes
A full field of 12 will go one-mile on the Tapeta in Sunday’s $250,000 Prairie Bayou S. at Turfway Park, one of four black-type races on the fine card. I feel that Canadian invader #5 Dresden Row (4-1) will love the cutback in distance in his second appearance at this venue and will run them down in the lane. Trained by Lorne Richards, the multiple graded stakes winner was last seen driving home a fantastic winner of the Autumn S. (G3) at Woodbine and will be especially tough to beat with a repeat of that performance.
Prairie Bayou Wagers
- $7 exacta 5 with 2,3,12 ($21)
- $2 trifecta key 5 with 2,3,12 ($12)
- 10-cent superfecta 5 with 2,3,12 with 2,3,12 with all ($5.40)
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