Welcome to Noel Michaels’ Weekend Winners, the place to go for weekend best bets and spot plays from veteran handicapper and tournament-play pioneer Noel Michaels. Check back every week for a couple of highlighted selections designed to help you cash a few bets and make some money. Noel's selections have been featured just about everywhere horse racing picks can be found, including in print in the Daily Racing Form, The HorsePlayer Magazine and American Turf Monthly, online at DRF.com, Twinspires.com and USRacing.com, from the paddock on-track at Arlington International Racecourse, and on the air on HRTV, TVG, NYC OTB Extra, NYRA's Talking Horses, and on broadcast TV on WAVE-3 Louisville, ABC KOLO-8 in Reno, Nevada, and channel 72 Long Island Cablevision.

Six Beginner Betting Tools

1. Start simple with an easy guide for how to bet on horse racing.
2. Not sure what that word means? Horse racing terminology is a language of its own. Allow us translate for you
3. What the heck is a speed figure? This beginner’s guide to speed figures has everything you need to know.
4. Betting on horse racing can be intimidating. Team ABR put together some Dos and Don’ts for the new fan getting started betting on racing.
5. We all make mistakes when it comes to betting on horse racing, here are eight lessons learned from experience.
6. Figure out how much each bet will cost in advance with our Gambling Calculator, presented by NYRA Bets.

We’ve reached the final weekend of 2025 and hopefully you’ve had a great year. We have one last Saturday of racing and wagering left, so let’s make some more money and go out with a bang. This column had success at Fair Grounds last week so let’s go back to the Big Easy once again for this weekend’s winners. Fair Grounds will host a pair of turf stakes races on its Saturday card, so that’s where we’ll focus our attention. Good luck this Saturday, and all the best to you in 2026!

Saturday, Dec. 27

Fair Grounds, Race 5, $100,000 Woodchopper Stakes, post time 3:45 p.m. ET

The Woodchopper is a $100,000 stakes race for 3-year-olds that has drawn a field of seven set to race 1 1/16 miles on the grass. Based on very good morning-line odds of 8-1, I’m willing to give one final chance to #5 Flying Mohawk in this reasonable spot despite his flop last time in the Grade 3 Commonwealth Turf Stakes at Churchill Downs. Perhaps he needed that race, which was his first outing back from a six-month layoff since last being seen in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve. The fact is that Flying Mohawk showed enough ability in other races earlier this year including a second in the Grade 2 Jeff Ruby Steaks, and a win on turf at this course and distance in a high-priced allowance optional claiming race back in January gives him hope for a positive turnaround. On paper, this race suffers from a serious lack of pace and that presents tactical opportunities in the race for trainer Michael Stidham who has two horses entered, #3 Juris Doctor and #6 Montador. While neither of those horses are true frontrunners, both may have enough tactical speed to be asked to carve out the fractions in this race, if necessary, while the other stalks comfortably behind. It should be noted that Montador won with that sort of a trip two races ago in a Churchill Downs allowance race, and Juris Doctor won his maiden race two races ago in a paceless turf event at Laurel Park.

The Play: Bet on #5 Flying Mohawk (8-1) to win and play him in exacta and trifecta boxes along with #3 Juris Doctor (3-1) and #6 Montador (2-1).

Fair Grounds, Race 9, $100,000 Pago Hop Stakes, post time 5:45 p.m. ET

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A solid field of nine 3-year-old fillies has been assembled for the $100,000 Pago Hop Stakes going 1 1/16 miles on the turf as Saturday’s featured race at Fair Grounds. The horse in the race with the most upside is #9 Bracelet trained by Brad Cox, who has run well in both recent outings since being switched to the grass. Bracelet won her turf debut at this distance at Keeneland off a seven-month layoff two races ago and then Cox tried her in the Grade 2 Mrs. Revere Stakes at Churchill Downs last time when she was not embarrassed in a fourth-place finish by a margin of only 1 ¼ lengths behind the likes of one of the top 3-year-old fillies in the division, Lush Lips. She comes into this race with good form, strong speed figures, and a useful up-close stalking running style. She will be very tough to beat. Unlike in the Woodchopper Stakes earlier in the card, there seems to be an overabundance of pace entered in this race. That should present an opportunity for a longshot closer like #3 Cheetah Lady to make a dent and get up for a spot in the money at a price. There are some things to like about Cheetah Lady in this race anyway. She won an allowance race this summer at Kentucky Downs and she exits a solid win at this course and distance in her last race. Finally, don’t overlook #6 Unmerited Favor in this race with Jose Ortiz aboard. She finished fifth last time in an exceptionally tough spot against Fionn and Laurelin in Aqueduct’s Grade 3 Jockey Club Oaks but had won two turf races from off the pace before that at Kentucky Downs and Keeneland.

The Play: Bet on #9 Bracelet (3-1) to win and play her in exacta and trifecta boxes along with #3 Cheetah Lady (8-1), and #6 Unmerited Favor (6-1).