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 race are: the $500,000, Grade 1 Jaipur Stakes Presented by Resolute Racing, a turf sprint on Saturday at Saratoga Race Course; and the $2 million Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets, the final jewel of the 2024 Triple Crown, also to be held Saturday at historic Saratoga Race Course

The 156^th Belmont Stakes on Saturday, June 8, is the highlight of a four-day Belmont Stakes Racing Festival held at “the Spa” from Thursday, June 6, through Sunday, June 9, with four or more stakes races held each day. FOX Sports is the go-to network for the entire extravaganza, with an “America’s Day at the Races” show set for each day on FS1 or FS2 plus national network coverage of the Belmont Stakes and three undercard races on FOX. The network will have two shows running simultaneously Saturday afternoon: the national broadcast on FOX that encompasses racing along with the festivities and fashion at Saratoga, plus an “America’s Day at the Races” show on FS1 geared toward the serious horseplayer.