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, America's Best Racing). 

This week’s Big-Race Showdown races are: the $1 million, Grade 1 Whitney Stakes Saturday at Saratoga Race Course, a “Win and You’re In” Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series qualifier for the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic; and the Clement Hirsch Stakes Presented by Oak Tree Racing Association on Saturday at Del Mar, a Challenge Series race offering an expenses-paid berth in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff. 

The Whitney will be broadcast nationwide on FOX during a three-hour “Saratoga Saturday” show. Live racing from Del Mar will be broadcast on FanDuel Racing.  America’s Best Racing also will host a can’t-miss livestream for the Whitney. ABR presents “Whitney Day LIVE!” Saturday from the track, hosted by our Dan Tordjman and Alexa Zepp and featuring many special guests. “Whitney Day LIVE!” has a start time of 3:30 p.m. ET and will stream on ABR’s Facebook, X, and YouTube channels.