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).

After 53 races this year to date, Rodriguez leads all of the experts with 21 winners (39.6%) with Mailloux second with 19 correct selections (35.8%). Ward leads all experts with $751.16 in exacta earnings, a $41.24 advantage over Vizcaya with $709.92. Michaels holds a significant lead by trifecta earnings with $932.28, which is $241.60 more than Piassek in second with $690.68.

This week’s Big-Race Showdown races are: the $2 million FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, a 1 1/16-mile dirt race for 2-year-olds  that anchors the Oct. 30 Future Stars Friday card of the 2026 Breeders’ Cup World Championships; the $2 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff at 1 1/8 miles for fillies and mares, the signature dirt race for female racehorses in North America on the Oct. 31 Breeders’ Cup Saturday card;  and the $7 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic, the 1 1/4-mile marquee race of the World Championships Saturday at Keeneland Race Course and the richest dirt race in North America.

The Juvenile will be televised during a show from 1 p.m.-6 p.m. ET on USA Network, and the race will also be broadcast on FanDuel TV and  streamed on Peacock. Both the Distaff and the Classic will be part of a national broadcast on NBC from 3:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m. ET, Both race also will be televised on FanDuel TV and streamed on Peacock.