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, DRF). 

Through the first half of the season, Roberto Rodriguez and Jessica Paquette share the lead by winner with eight from 22 contest races. Alexa Zepp's exacta total of $251.70 narrowly leads a tightly grouped leaderboard in that category, while Rowan Ward leads the panel of experts with $148.28 in trifecta earnings.

This week’s Big-Race Showdown races are: the $1 million Stephen Foster Stakes, a Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series “Win and You’re In” automatic qualifier for the Longines Classic; and the $500,000 Fasig-Tipton Fleur de Lis Stakes, a Win and You’re In prep for the Longines Distaff. Both of these races along with the rest of a stacked Saturday card at Churchill will be broadcast live on FanDuel TV. That network is the go-to outlet for races at Churchill Downs.