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).

This week’s Big-Race Showdown race are: the $300,000 George E. Mitchell Black-Eyed Susan Stakes for 3-year-old fillies Friday, May 17, and the 149^th Preakness Stakes on Saturday, May 18, both at Pimlico. The 1 3/16-mile Preakness Stakes is the middle jewel of U.S. Thoroughbred racing's Triple Crown and had its purse boosted to $2 million for 2024.

On Friday, May 17, a 90-minute show from Pimlico will be streamed live on Peacock starting at 4:30 p.m. ET, highlighted by the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes. Coverage of the Preakness undercard on May 18 runs from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET on CNBC, and then the broadcast goes nationwide on NBC from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. ET. Post time for Preakness 149 is set for 7:01 p.m. ET, and the entire six-hour show will also be streamed live on Peacock.