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), NoelMichaels (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 $750,000 Fourstardave Stakes, a one mile on Grade 1 turf race on Saturday at Saratoga that serves as a “Win and You’re In” steppingstone to the FanDuel Breeders' Cup Mile presented by Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund; and the $1 million Whitney Stakes, also on Saturday at Saratoga and a Grade 1 “Win and You’re In” qualifier for the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic at the same 1 1/4-mile distance.

America’s Best Racing presents “Whitney Day LIVE!” Saturday, Aug. 8, on-site from Saratoga during a jam-packed racecard anchored by the prestigious Whitney. The livestream presented with NYRA Bets runs from 4:30 p.m.-7 p.m. ET providing handicapping analysis, lifestyle features, and much more. “Whitney Day LIVE!” is hosted by ABR’s Alexa Zepp along with Jackson Muniz, Ren Carothers, Matthew DeSantis, and Kaylie Shapiro. It will be streamed on ABR’s Facebook, X, and YouTube channels.

On TV, NYRA’s “Saratoga Live” this week includes a two-hour nationwide bloc Saturday on FOX featuring the Whitney Stakes and Fourstardave Stakes.