Welcome to Noel Michaels’ Weekend Winners, the place to go for weekend best bets and spot plays from veteran handicapper and tournament-play pioneer Noel Michaels. Check back every week for a couple of highlighted selections designed to help you cash a few bets and make some money.

Noel's selections have been featured just about everywhere horse racing picks can be found, including in print in the Daily Racing Form, The HorsePlayer Magazine and American Turf Monthly, online at DRF.com, Twinspires.com and USRacing.com, from the paddock on-track at Arlington International Racecourse, and on the air on HRTV, TVG, NYC OTB Extra, NYRA's SatuTalking Horses, and on broadcast TV on WAVE-3 Louisville, ABC KOLO-8 in Reno, Nevada, and channel 72 Long Island Cablevision.

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Six Beginner Betting Tools

1. Start simple with an easy guide for how to bet on horse racing.
2. Not sure what that word means? Horse racing terminology is a language of its own. Allow us translate for you
3. What the heck is a speed figure? This beginner’s guide to speed figures has everything you need to know.
4. Betting on horse racing can be intimidating. Team ABR put together some Dos and Don’ts for the new fan getting started betting on racing.
5. We all make mistakes when it comes to betting on horse racing, here are eight lessons learned from experience.
6. Figure out how much each bet will cost in advance with our Gambling Calculator, presented by NYRA Bets.

Saturday, June 29

One of the biggest days of the year at Churchill Downs happens this Saturday with the Grade 1, $1 million Stephen Foster Stakes headlining a 12-race program that includes a total of six stakes races with three graded stakes. In this case, even the non-graded stakes are also excellent betting races, and those are the ones we will focus on today for this weekend’s winners. Let’s take a closer look at a pair of undercard stakes races on Saturday’s card at Churchill, starting with the American Derby on the grass in Race 9 and then the Kelly’s Landing Stakes for sprinters on the dirt in Race 10. If we can profit on these races, we will fatten up our bankrolls and be able to take a big swing at hitting the Stephen Foster, which goes as Race 11. Good luck at Churchill Downs and enjoy your weekend.

Churchill Downs, Race 9, $250,000 American Derby, 4:58 p.m. ET

The American Derby has drawn a field of eight 3-year-olds ready to race 1 1/16 miles on the grass. When looking over the past performances for this field, the first thing that jumps off the page at you is the complete lack of pace in the race. Many in this field are closers and they may not benefit from much pace to chase, meaning the front-runners will have an advantage. The question is, however, who even are the front-runners? One horse that could be the early leader is #1 Green Light, who pressed the pace in his maiden win here at Churchill last time out on his way to a 10-length victory. This is a big leap up in class but the speed figure of Green Light’s win stacks up well against this company and the ability to race on or close to the pace gives him a big chance versus this field to lead all the way. The other potential pacesetter in this race who might actually get the lead is #7 First World War, who hasn’t shown much early speed in the last two races but who actually has more than sufficient tactical speed to make the lead in this race if he goes for it. Either way, First World War has proven enough in Grade 3 wins in two of his last three races to be considered the horse to beat in today’s race. Look for Green Light and First World War to get out front in this race, in either order, slow down the pace, get away with theft up front, and have enough left in the stretch to hold off the closers.

The Play: Bet to win on #7 First World War (4-1) and play him in an exacta box with #1 Green Light (3-1).

Churchill Downs, Race 10, $250,000 Kelly’s Landing Stakes, post time 5:31 p.m. ET

The Kelly’s Landing Stakes has drawn an intriguing and high-quality field of eight sprinters set to go 6 ½ furlongs for a purse of $250,000. Most of the horses in the field are familiar with each other and many of them seem to take turns beating each other, so the question is, whose day will it be Saturday? These horses seem to all boast pretty similar recent form, but only one of them, #6 Closethegame Sugar, can say they exit a win over perhaps the country’s best sprinter of the first half of 2024. Closethegame Sugar won the $260,000 Aristides Stakes last time out when he beat 0.35-1 favorite Skelly by a length. Skelly had won this year’s King Cotton Stakes, Grade 3 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap, and the Lake Hamilton Stakes at Oaklawn Park, all with giant speed figures. If Closthegame Sugar runs that kind of effort again against this field, the result is very likely to be another win. Irad Ortiz Jr. is back for the mount. It’s hard to handicap a Churchill Downs sprint stakes and go any further without mentioning #8 Bango, and while it may be tempting to overlook this horse based on sub-par recent form, it's probably unwise to count him out. Bango is an 11-time winner of more than $1.2 million in purses at Churchill Downs. He finished fourth last time when needing a race after a six-month layoff, but he will benefit from that outing and be a lot tougher today in this second start off the long break. Actually, any of the horses in this field could hit the board on their best days, but the other horse in today’s race that has the best chance of hitting the trifecta looks like #5 Hoist the Gold, who finally gets some class relief after losing in four straight Group or Grade 1 races. Hoist the Gold went wire-to-wire to win last fall’s Grade 2 Cigar Mile Handicap and appears to be at his best at distances between six furlongs and one mile. He had tough assignments going longer against world-class competition, but this 6 ½-furlong spot against realistic competition could offer him the perfect opportunity for a rebound.

The Play:  Bet #6 Closethegame Sugar (7-2) to win and box him in exactas and trifectas along with #5 Hoist the Gold (3-1) and #8 Bango (6-1).