For the ninth 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 2025 Triple Crown and then continuing through the 2025 Breeders’ Cup World Championships. 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 2025 Big Race Showdown season are Edison Hatter (In The Money Media Podcast Host & Track Announcer), Thomas Kearney (Track Announcer, Shenandoah Downs), Ashley Mailloux (freelance racing analyst), Jessica Paquette (Racecaller for Parx Racing, Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation), John Piassek (Assistant Racing Secretary, Yonkers Raceway),  Roberto Rodriguez (El Potro Roberto, DRF en Espanol), Mike Somich (VSiN Host; The Magic Mike Show – The Racing Dudes), Darwin Vizcaya (Handicapper and Host), Rowan Ward (Chartcaller at Hawthorne Race Track and a Freelance writer), and Alexa Zepp (Handicapper, DRF). 

This week’s Big-Race Showdown races are: the $300,000 George E. Mitchell Black-Eyed Susan Stakes, a 1 1/8-mile race for 3-year-old fillies Friday, May 16, at Pimlico; and the $2 million Preakness Stakes, a 1 3/16-mile race for 3-year-olds Saturday, May 17, also at Pimlico.  

NBC Sports holds exclusive broadcast rights for the Preakness. The network will present 5 ½ hours of coverage on-site at Pimlico, starting from 2 p.m. – 4 p.m. ET on CNBC and then moving to NBC from 4 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. ET. Post time for the Preakness is set for 7:01 p.m. ET. All races during this timeframe will also stream live on Peacock.

All undercard races at Pimlico on Preakness day plus the entire card Friday, May 16, highlighted by the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes will air on FanDuel TV. Three races from the Friday card, including the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes, will stream on Peacock.