Welcome to the 2020 Stay Lucky season with presenting sponsor Breeders' Cup! We have several exciting new prizes plus a smoother, faster app for the new season!

If you’re reading this, chances are you’ve downloaded the app and are ready to start picking winners. If you have not yet downloaded Stay Lucky, what are you waiting for?

Get the iOS version of the app here.

The Android version of the app on Google Play can be downloaded here.

Stay Lucky offers participants the opportunity to win great prizes by stringing together winners in Thoroughbred races. Unbroken streaks of five, seven, nine, 14, 17 and 20 reward the players with a prize or choice of prizes. Terms and conditions apply.

The object is simple: pick winners from North American graded stakes races that draw at least seven entrants. Races will be scored in real time but streaks will be updated only once daily to make sure they are scored in the correct order.

Pick as many races each weekend as you like, but be sure to play at least one race every weekend or your streak will be reset.

This weekend’s Stay Lucky slate is headlined by the opening of Santa Anita Park's fall meet, which was delayed by a week due to wildfires in the region. The weekend's slate features seven Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series “Win and You’re In” races. 

Friday, Sept. 25

Eddie D Stakes (6:43 p.m. ET): With four runners between 5-2 and 4-1 on the morning line, this looks like a fairly wide-open race, although I would argue Wildman Jack (#1) deserves to be less than 2-1 and should be pretty tough here. I’m sitting on a streak of zero, so I’ll go ahead and fire away on him here.

Saturday, Sept. 26

Noble Damsel Stakes (4:42 p.m. ET): Chad Brown has four runners entered and its tough to distinguish between the group, but I give a slight edge to Blowout (#4) because of her success on this turf course. I would not feel confident making a Stay Lucky play in this race.

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Ack Ack Handicap (4:53 p.m. ET): I view the most likely favorites for this race as vulnerable, so this is not an ideal Stay Lucky spot, but I’ll be keeping a close eye on the odds for American Anthem (#4). If he’s a bit overlooked coming off a poor start on grass and a better-than-it-looked third in the Grade 1 Runhappy Carter Handicap, I’ll play him to win.

Rodeo Drive Stakes (6:30 p.m. ET): There are several strong contenders in here with success on the grass at Santa Anita that are capable of a top-level effort. I give a very slight edge to Bodhicitta (#3), who has won three times and finished second once in four starts this year. The 1 ¼-mile distance is the key question with Bodhicitta, but the talent is there.

American Pharoah Stakes (7 p.m. ET): I expect Bob Baffert’s Runhappy Del Mar Futurity runner-up Spielberg (#5) and John Shirreffs’ regally-bred Waspirant (#8) to take a lot of money here, but I’m looking for a price with Notable Exception (#4) coming off a debut win on the synthetic surface at Arlington. I expect that race to be vastly undervalued because the speed figures came up light, but I think he could take a big step forward making the switch to dirt.

John Henry Turf Championship Stakes (7:30 p.m. ET): This race might be a little tougher than I thought at first glance, but it’s definitely United’s (#3) race to lose. He’s two heads and a neck away from a six-race winning streak and has been exceptionally consistent during that stretch.

Sunday, Sept. 27

Remington Park Oaks (5:24 p.m. ET): Envoutante (#4) got her doors blown off in her last two races, but those races came when facing Grade 1 competition and she gets significant class relief here. You could make a case for her as a Stay Lucky play, but since I plan to bet against what looks to me to be a vulnerable favorite I’ll pass on the race. For betting purposes, I’m going to try Seattle Slang (#2) coming off a nice win for Steve Asmussen, who has won this race four times including the last two years.

Oklahoma Derby (8:12 p.m. ET): I thought Mo Mosa (#8) looked terrific in his return from a layoff of more than 3 ½ months and he has a bit more upside than a few of the others in this race. I wouldn’t make him a top play, but I’ll swing away at the end of the weekend if I have a streak of two or less.

Canadian Derby (11:55 p.m. ET): I’ve said this before and it’s worth repeating, I usually steer clear of circuits that I don’t know very well and Century Mile in Edmonton, Alberta, certainly qualifies. On paper, it looks like a coin-flip race between Maskwecis (#7) and Mongolian Wind (#11). I lean toward the latter but the outside post position really scares me. I’d pass unless I was sitting on a streak of zero or one.

Mike's Top Stay Lucky Pick

(24 winners from 50 top plays in 2020)

1. United (John Henry Turf Championship Stakes)