For the eighth year in a row, America’s Best Racing is challenging some of the brightest minds in horse betting to come up with their top three picks for key races every weekend leading up to the 2024 Triple Crown and then continuing through the 2024 Breeders’ Cup World Championships. The handicappers face off in what we like to call the “Big-Race Showdown.”

The players’ picks will be posted here and a running bankroll will be kept to track their success all year long. Bankrolls will be tabulated on the basis of $2 exacta and $2 trifecta box bets of each player’s top three selections. We will also be keeping track of which player correctly selects the most winners.

Your players for the 2024 Big Race Showdown season are Edison Hatter (In The Money Media Podcast Host & Track Announcer), Thomas Kearney (Track Announcer, Shenandoah Downs), Ashley Mailloux (freelance racing analyst), Jessica Paquette (Racecaller for Parx Racing, Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation), John Piassek (Communications Manager, Maryland Horse Breeders Association),  Roberto Rodriguez (El Potro Roberto, DRF en Espanol), Mike Somich (VSiN Host; The Magic Mike Show – The Racing Dudes), Darwin Vizcaya (Handicapper and Host), Rowan Ward (Chartcaller at Hawthorne Race Track and a Freelance Writer), and Alexa Zepp (Handicapper, DRF).

This week’s Big-Race Showdown races are: the $1 million Curlin Florida Derby Presented by Hill ‘n’ Dale Farms at Xalapa Saturday at Gulfstream Park and the $1.5 million Arkansas Derby Saturday at Oaklawn Park, both 200-point qualifying races for the 150th Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve May 4. 

NBC Sports will showcase the Florida Derby during a one-hour show Saturday evening as part of their Road to the Kentucky Derby series. The show will air on CNBC and stream live on Peacock from 6 p.m.-7 p.m. ET. The Arkansas Derby will be televised live on Fox Sports on the NYRA-produced “America’s Day at the Races,” which will follow the Dubai World Cup broadcast and feature races from Oaklawn Park and Aqueduct.