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 is: the $500,000 Virginia Derby Saturday at Colonial Downs, a qualifying race for the 2026 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve with points distributed to the top five finishers on a 50-25-15-10-5 scale.

The Virginia Derby will be run Saturday at Colonial Downs as part of a four-day meet from Thursday to Sunday, and the 105-point Kentucky Derby prep plus other action from the Virginia track will be broadcast live on FanDuel TV as part of their comprehensive schedule that also includes live racing from tracks such as Santa Anita Park, Gulfstream Park, Turfway Park, and Fair Grounds.