Players looking to create betting value in the 2016 Preakness May 21 at Pimlico face a familiar dilemma in horse racing: create value underneath the heavy favorite or decide whether the heavy favorite is beatable for the top spot.
On Thursday at Churchill Downs, the Kentucky Derby week festivities will begin with the $100,000 Kentucky Juvenile Stakes. The five-furlong contest has drawn a field of nine two-year-olds.
Likely a top three betting choice in the Kentucky Derby, Santa Anita Derby winner Exaggerator is a bit of a puzzling case as handicappers begin the process of sorting out contenders in the weeks leading up to the big race.
On Saturday at Los Alamitos, the featured race is the $100,000 Los Angeles Stakes. Scheduled to be run at five and a half furlongs, the Grade 3 race has drawn a field of six colts and geldings.
Some of the nation's elite turf sprinters will line up April 9 at Keeneland to contest the Grade 2, $200,000 Shakertown Stakes as a field of 12 is set to go five and a half furlongs.
On Saturday at Keeneland, the featured race is the $1 million Blue Grass Stakes. Restricted to three-year-olds, the Grade 1 event will be contested at a mile and an eighth on the main track and offers points towards a spot in the Kentucky Derby (G1).
On Saturday at Turfway Park, the featured race is the $500,000 Spiral Stakes. Restricted to three-year-olds, the Grade 3 event offers points towards a start in the Kentucky Derby (G1) and will be run at a mile and an eighth on the synthetic main track.
As the richest race in the world, the $10 million Dubai World Cup has provided plenty of theater - and riches - for American horses over the years, and should do so again as notable older horses California Chrome, Frosted and Mshawish clash March 26 at Meydan.
On Saturday at Sunland Park, the featured race is the $415,000 Sunland Park Festival of Racing Stakes. Scheduled to be run at a mile and an eighth, the stakes race has drawn a field of twelve three-year-old colts and geldings.