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 $1.5 million Longines Kentucky Oaks, the marquee dirt race for 3-year-old fillies on Friday, May 2, at Churchill Downs; and the $5 million Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve, the first jewel of U.S. Thoroughbred racing's Triple Crown on Saturday, May 2, at Churchill. 

NBC Sports has exclusive broadcast rights to Derby 152, and the $5 million race anchors what will be 12 ½ hours of total horse racing coverage via the network’s channels on Kentucky Oaks and Derby day. Friday features a five-hour program starting on NBCSN from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. ET and then moving to NBC from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m., with the Kentucky Oaks set to run at 8:40 p.m. On Saturday, coverage of Kentucky Derby day begins from noon to 2:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN and then switches to NBC from 2:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., with the Kentucky Derby scheduled to run at 6:57 p.m. All 12 ½ hours of coverage will also be streamed on Peacock. All races at Churchill Downs aside from the Kentucky Derby will also be shown live on FanDuel TV.