Horse Racing This Weekend: Key Races, Top Horses & Best Bets [Sept. 27-28]

Jump to each section below for easy access to everything you need for horse racing this weekend!

Get ready for horse racing this weekend

Discover everything you need to know about horse racing this weekend, including top horses, best bets, tournaments, key races, and many great promotional bonus offers you just can't say no to. 

Come back to find more weekly horse races and promotional offers every weekend.

Weekend Windup

Top horses and best bets for horse racing this weekend

Click to jump to each race listed!

Best Bets for the 2025 Goodwood Stakes

Read the full analysis here: Betting With, and Against, First Mission in the Goodwood Stakes

Multiple Grade 2 hero #4 First Mission (8-5) is the morning-line choice for Saturday’s $300,000 Goodwood S. (G1) at Santa Anita. The Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) ‘Win and You’re In’ tilt attracted a strong field of seven in total, but the Godolphin homebred is the one to beat in the 1 1/8-mile dirt event. However, if your not settled on the favorite, here are some best bets for the 2025 Goodwood Stakes.

First Mission – With

• $10 trifecta 4 with 7 with 5,6 ($20)
• $3 trifecta key 4 with 5,6,7 ($18)
• $2 superfecta key 4 with 5,6,7 ($12)

First Mission – Against

• $10 trifecta 7 with 4 with 5,6 ($20)
• $3 trifecta key 7 with 4,5,6 ($18)
• $1 trifecta 5,7 with 4,5,6,7 with 4,5,6,7 ($12)

Top Horses for the 2025 Goodwood Stakes

#7 Full Serrano (2-1) will be the main threat to the favorite in his local bow for conditioner John Sadler. The South American import asserted himself with a trio of fine performances in the states last campaign, and the son of Full Mast made short work of an overmatched allowance field at Del Mar to commence his 2025 season. The six-year-old has recorded a pair of solid morning drills in the interim, and he will be forcing the action from the outside slot beneath Juan Hernandez. 

#5 Nevada Beach (12-1) is my preferred choice. The Los Alamitos Derby victor will face considerably more difficult foes in the test, and he has also never run with his elders. Still, the lightly raced son of Omaha Beach has a ton of ability and wouldn’t be in the race if he wasn’t training in a positive manner. The $260,000 yearling purchase will have no trouble enduring the nine furlongs, and he could sit a nice voyage off of the expected swift early splits with Mike Smith in the stirrups. I feel that the sophomore has an especially bright future. 

#6 Express Train (20-1) had a good prep for Saturday when a rallying third in the Pat O’Brien S. (G2) at Del Mar most recently, and the eight-year-old has won or placed in 13 of 16 career performances on the oval, as well. I’m not fond of his chances of winning, but the son of Union Rags could be a key exotics piece at a healthy price under Hector Berrios. 

Best Bets for the 2025 Santa Anita Sprint Championship

Read the full analysis here: How to bet the Santa Anita Sprint Championship

A Breeders’ Cup berth is on the line when a fleet field of eight will go postward in the $200,000 Santa Anita Sprint Championship (G2) on Sunday. The ‘Win and You’re In’ dash attracted some of the top one-turn horses in the Golden State and could be an enticing betting endeavor. 

Sprint Championship Wagers

• $12 win and place #8 Imagination ($24)
• $1 superfecta 2,8 with 1,2,8 with 1,2,8 with all ($20)

Top Horses for the 2025 Santa Anita Sprint Championship

#8 Imagination gets an ideal post for this particular race and comes in with a long string of morning moves in anticipation of his first appearance since January. The Into Mischief four-year-old has done some of his best work on the local oval with his biggest win to date, as well as earning placings in the 2024 Santa Anita Derby (G1) and Malibu S. (G1), too. 

#2 Straight No Chaser is the one to beat for Dan Blacker. The lightly raced six-year-old can be explosive on his best day, evidenced by his fantastic, 6 1/4-length romp in this dash in 2024, and he is also capable of running big while fresh, as he also showed in the tilt last campaign. The Speightser Kentucky-bred is training in swift fashion as of late and will be sent from the break under regular pilot John Velazquez. 

#1 Dr. Venkman is not a pure six-furlong horse, but the Mark Glatt charge is consistently very good at various distances and will likely be in the running for a share in the lane from the rail. The recent Pat O’Brien S. (G2) star owns a pair of graded seconds from as many tries on the Santa Anita main strip in his lifetime, and his latest sharp half-mile drill on the surface hints that he is coming up to another big effort on this occasion. Umberto Rispoli will have this one saving ground leading up to the top of the lane, and he might get an ideal voyage in the process.  

TwinSpires Jury

James Scully and Darin Zoccali discuss the upcoming weekend at Churchill Downs and Santa Anita, including the Lukas Classic, Ack Ack, and Goodwood Stakes.

Best Bets for the 2025 Gio Ponti Stakes

Read the full analysis here: How to bet the Gio Ponti Stakes

A well-matched field of eight sophomores will run one mile on the Aqueduct green in Sunday’s $150,000 Gio Ponti S. A case can be made for the majority of the runners in the field, so I will dabble with a few of the contenders in the deep cast. 

Gio Ponti Wagers

• $1 trifecta 5,6 with 1,2,4,5,6 with 1,2,4,5,6 ($24)
• 20-cent superfecta 5,6 with 1,2,4,5,6 with 1,2,4,5,6 with all ($24)

Top Horses for the Gio Pointi Stakes

#5 Candytown comes off a dominant allowance victory at Saratoga last time out and has to be given a good chance while making his third run off the shelf. By Speightstown, the chestnut displayed both tactical speed and a sharp closing kick most recently, and he figures to endure a similar type of voyage on Sunday, as well. The colt will likely lie close throughout and get the jump on the deeper closing sorts at the top of the lane with Edgard Zayas in the silks. 

#6 Capitol Hill has faced some strong foes in his last pair of assignments and will improve with the measure of class relief in this endeavor for conditioner Bill Mott. The bay son of Into Mischief ran arguably his best race to date when a fast-closing second in the Manila S. (G3) three back when finishing behind only the excellent Zulu Kingdom at this distance. Junior Alvarado will have this one making one run in the lane. 

#4 Griffin’s Wharf showed a nice turn of foot when second to subsequent Saranac S. victor Stars and Strides in an allowance race at The Spa, while making his first grassy appearance most recently. The Constitution chestnut has displayed improvement this campaign and comes in fresh for a dangerous layoff conditioner, so another step forward is surely not out of the question. If the Kentucky-bred can be in range at the top of the lane, then he could make noise at a good number beneath Ricardo Santana, Jr. 

#1 Church and State never runs a bad one and has intrigue while making his initial run in the States. 

#2 Magic Pathway, has performed well in five of his six career tries on the lawn and proved last time that he belongs with black-type runners. The pair are both logical inclusions for the verticals. 

Promotional Bonus Offers