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.

Sept. 19-20

Pennsylvania racing has its moment in the spotlight this weekend with both Presque Isle Downs and Parx Racing hosting their biggest days on the 2025 calendar this Friday and Saturday, respectively. Presque Isle will host a 10-race card including four stakes on Friday, Sept. 19, and Parx will host a 15-race program that includes seven stakes on Saturday, Sept. 20. Some of the weekend’s most notable races will be Friday’s Presque Isle Mile Stakes and Grade 2 Presque Isle Downs Masters Stakes and Saturday’s Grade 1 Cotillion Stakes and Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby from Parx.

For the second straight year, Pennsylvania’s premier races will be connected in a pair of two-day, two-track wagers – the Pennsylvania Pick 4 and Keystone Daily Double. The Pennsylvania Pick 4 combines all four aforementioned races and begins on Friday with a 50-cent minimum and a 15% takeout. Also beginning on Friday evening, the $1 minimum Keystone Daily Double will connect Friday’s Presque Isle Masters with Saturday’s Pennsylvania Derby and also will feature a 15% takeout.

For this weekend winners blog, let’s take a closer look at all four of the races involved in the Pennsylvania Pick 4 and Keystone Daily Double, with picks for each race individually and tips for which horses can be included in the multi-race wagers beginning on Friday. Enjoy watching and wagering on Presque Isle Downs and Parx this weekend. Best of luck.

FRIDAY

Presque Isle Downs, Race 8, $150,000 Presque Isle Mile Stakes, 8:09 p.m. ET

Note: start of two-day, 50-cent Pennsylvania Pick 4

Encino winning John Battaglia Memorial Stakes. (Eclipse Sportswire)

The Presque Isle Mile has drawn a competitive full 12-horse field (with one also-eligible entrant) ready to race on the all-weather main track. The name of the race is a bit of a misnomer since this race is actually run at the distance of 1 1/16 miles. The horses to beat will be the ones most adept at both this race’s distance and the surface, and there seem to be two standouts in the field. #10 Encino is a deserving favorite on the morning-line odds because of success so far in his career on Turfway Park’s all-weather surface, including a win in the $142,000 John Battaglia Memorial Stakes last year and a close second in this year’s Grade 3 TwinSpires Kentucky Cup Classic. Most of his recent races were on turf or dirt, but he seems best on all-weather surfaces and that’s why he shows up in this spot looking like one tough customer. The main threat will be #7 Grounded, the Presque Isle Downs local hero in the field with 14 career wins and 18 career exacta finishes on this track. He’s won all three races in his current form cycle including the $98,000 Avery Whisman Memorial Stakes last time out. He has wire-to-wire ability but is versatile and doesn’t need a clear lead in order to win.

The Play: Bet on #10 Encino (5-2) to win and play him in an exacta box with #7 Grounded (6-1). Both Encino and Grounded should be on your tickets in the first leg of the Pennsylvania Pick 4.

Presque Isle Downs, Race 9, $300,000 Presque Isle Downs Masters Stakes, 8:36 p.m. ET

Note: start of two-day, $1 Keystone Double

The Grade 2 Presque Isle Downs Masters is the track’s premier race. It has drawn a full field of 12 all-weather surface filly and mare sprinters, plus one also-eligible entrant, ready to go 6 ½ furlongs for a purse of $300,000. The Masters will be the second leg of the Pennsylvania Pick 4 and the first leg of the two-day Keystone Double as well as being a good betting race in its own right. #6 Pandora’s Gift just missed winning this race last year when second by a neck and is back again in search of revenge. She has not had any other chances since on an all-weather surface after being imported to the U. S. from Europe, but she clearly seems to prefer all-weather tracks based on her career record of four wins and two seconds in six all-weather starts to date. More recently, Pandora’s Gift has held her own in three graded stakes sprinting on turf, but the grass is only her second-favorite surface. #3 Elysian Field exits a Grade 3 victory in Woodbine’s all-weather Seaway Stakes in which she beat some of this race’s other top contenders. After specializing in longer races, the Seaway win was a significant show of sprint success for Elysian Field, who was able to cut back and win at seven furlongs. #9 Stormcast was one of the horses beaten by Elysian Field last time out, but that race was her first start back from a nine-month layoff and she probably needed the race. Before that, she was already a seven-furlong Grade 3 stakes winner in Woodbine’s 2024 Bessarabian Stakes, which makes her as a major contender here in her second start off the layoff.

The Play: Bet on #6 Pandora’s Gift (5-1) to win and play her in exacta and trifecta boxes with #3 Elysian Field (6-1) and #9 Stormcast (7-2). Pandora’s Gift, Elysian Field, and Stormcast also all belong in your Pennsylvania Pick 4 and Keystone Daily Doubles.

SATURDAY

Parx Racing, Race 13, $1 million Cotillion Stakes, 5:15 p.m. ET

La Cara winning Acorn Stakes. (Eclipse Sportswire)

The Grade 1 Cotillion Stakes has drawn a stand-out eight-horse field of 3-year-old fillies set to run 1 1/16 miles on the dirt main track at Parx, and many of the principals in the division will be competing Saturday afternoon. There are multiple fillies in this race with tactical speed but they’ll all be chasing speedster #2 La Cara, who should have the lead and will be a threat to go all the way at this distance based on wire-to-wire wins already this year including the Grade 1 Central Bank Ashland Stakes at Keeneland and the Grade 1 DK Horse Acorn Stakes at Saratoga. When #1 Scottish Lassie is at her best, she’s as good or better than anyone and that was on display last time when she crushed the field by 15 ½ lengths in Saratoga’s Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks Invitational Stakes. She won’t be beat if she duplicates that effort but that’s no sure thing because her career record has plenty misses to go along with a couple notable hits. #7 Good Cheer was a perfect 7-for-7 until two races ago but then lost back-to-back outings at Saratoga and didn’t look good in either race. Instead of betting her at low odds, why not take a chance on a potential up-and-comer in this field such as #3 Clicquot or #4 Indy Bay? Both of those fillies are exiting graded stakes wins and could take the next step forward. The slight preference goes to Clicquot, who gets Irad Ortiz Jr., and unlike Indy Bay already owns a win at this distance.

The Play: Bet on #2 La Cara (7-2) to win and play her in exacta and trifecta boxes with #1 Scottish Lassie (9-5) and #3 Clicquot (8-1). At very least, La Cara and Scottish Lassie should be used in Leg 3 of the Pennsylvania Pick 4, but players with a bigger budget can also put Clicquot, #4 Indy Bay (8-1) and #7 Good Cheer (5-2) on your tickets.

Parx Racing, Race 14, $1 million Pennsylvania Derby, 6 p.m. ET

The Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby has drawn a 10-horse field of 3-year-olds ready to go 1 1/8 miles on the Parx main track for a purse of $1 million. The race features an evenly matched field with several major contenders but really the race has the look of the long overdue Grade 1 coming out party for #8 Baeza, who distinguished himself in third-place finishes in both the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve and the Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets. In six races so far this year, only Sovereignty, Journalism, and Rodriguez were able to beat him; there’s no shame in that. None of those rivals showed up for this race and Saturday finally looks like Baeza’s day. Another horse that has been knocking on the door is #9 Gosger, who finished second behind Journalism in both the Preakness Stakes and the Grade 1 NYRA Bets Haskell Stakes. A fast pace seems very likely in this race and Gosger will be finishing fast after getting a cozy stalking trip. Which version of #3 Magnitude will we see on Saturday? He earned big speed figures in wire-to-wire wins in the Grade 2 Fasig-Tipton Risen Star Stakes and the $250,000 Iowa Derby but then was nowhere to be found at the finish last time in Saratoga’s Grade 1 DraftKings Travers Stakes. If we see good Magnitude instead of bad Magnitude, we could be looking at an upset.

The Play: Bet on #8 Baeza (2-1) to win and play him in exacta and trifecta boxes with #3 Magnitude (6-1) and #9 Gosger (4-1). The Pennsylvania Derby will be the final leg of both the Pennsylvania Pick 4 and Keystone Daily Double, Baeza stands as a possible single if you went deep on your tickets in the other races and you don’t have a big bankroll. Otherwise, you can also include Magnitude and Gosger.