For the eighth 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 2024 Triple Crown and then continuing through the 2024 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 2024 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 (Communications Manager, Maryland Horse Breeders Association),  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). Roberto Rodriguez leads all experts with 18 winners from 48 contest races year-to-date, with Edison Hatter next with 17 wins. Darwin Vizcaya owns the best exacta total with $634.02, more than $100 better than Hatter's total of $510.20. Vizcaya also has, by far, the highest total the trifecta category with $1,112.48; John Piassek is a distant second at $577.30.

This week’s Big-Race Showdown races are: the $2 million FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, a 1 1/16-mile dirt race for 2-year-olds Nov. 1 at Del Mar;  the $2 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff, a 1 1/8-mile dirt race for fillies and mares Nov. 2 at Del Mar; and the $7 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic, a 1 1/4-mile dirt race Nov. 2 at Del Mar that serves as the marquee race of the World Championships.

NBC Sports will as usual provide live coverage of the Breeders’ Cup, with 12 of the 14 races televised on either NBC or USA Network and all of them streamed on Peacock. Four of the five Future Stars Friday races, including the FanDuel Juvenile, will air on USA Network, and then four of nine races will also air on USA Network during Championship Saturday. Four of the remaining five Saturday races – the Longines Classic, the Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf, the Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff, and the Prevagen Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint – will be broadcast live on NBC, with post time for the Classic set for 5:41 p.m ET.