For the ninth 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 2025 Triple Crown and then continuing through the 2025 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 2025 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 (Assistant Racing Secretary, Yonkers Raceway),  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, America's Best Racing). 

This week’s Big-Race Showdown races are: the $1 million Pacific Classic Stakes on Saturday at Del Mar and the the $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes on Sunday at Saratoga Race Course. Both races are Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series “Win and You’re In” qualifiers for the $7 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic Nov. 1 at Del Mar, offering the winner an expenses-paid berth in the race.

The Pacific Classic will be broadcast live on FanDuel TV along with all other races from the seaside Southern California track and action from tracks such as Gulfstream Park and Woodbine.

Saratoga’s meet ends on Labor Day Monday, Sept. 1, and the final six days of racing starting Wednesday, Aug. 27, will be broadcast on NYRA’s “Saratoga Live” show. The show will air on various FOX channels during the six-day run, including a one-hour nationwide show Sunday on FOX featuring the Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes at 1:45 p.m. ET.