For the 10th 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 2026 Triple Crown and then continuing through the 2026 Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Keeneland. 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 2026 Big Race Showdown season are Thomas Kearney (Track Announcer, Shenandoah Downs), Ashley Mailloux (Freelance Racing Analyst), Noel Michaels (Racing Analyst, Tournament Handicapper), Jessica Paquette (Racecaller for Parx Racing, Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation), John Piassek (Assistant Racing Secretary, Yonkers Raceway),  Roberto Rodriguez (El Potro Roberto, DRF en Espanol), Darwin Vizcaya (Handicapper and Host), and Rowan Ward (Chartcaller at Hawthorne Race Track and a Freelance writer).

This week’s Big-Race Showdown races are: the $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes, which features Japanese superstar Forever Young and will be held on Friday's grand re-opening of Belmont Park; the $1 million Cotillion Stakes Saturday at Parx Racing; and the $1 million Pennsylvania Derby Saturday at Parx Racing. The 1 1/4-mile Jockey Club Gold Cup is a “Win and You’re In” Challenge Series qualifying race  for the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic. The Grade 1 Cotillion Stakes is a 1 1/16-mile dirt race restricted to 3-year-old fillies, while the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby is a 1 1/8-mile dirt race for 3-year-olds.

The Jockey Club Gold Cup plus other races on the card will be televised live nationwide on FOX during NYRA’s “America’s Day at the Races” show, which airs on FOX Sports on Friday from 1 p.m.-3 p.m. ET on FS2, 3 p.m.-4:30 p.m. on FOX, 4:30 p.m.-6 p.m. on FS2, and 6 p.m.-7 p.m. on FS1. The Jockey Club Gold Cup will be telecast on FOX. The Cotillion Stakes and Pennsylvania Derby will be televised live on FanDuel TV.