Every Sunday Noel Michaels will provide free full-card picks for a one racecard in North America. A veteran handicapper and tournament-play pioneer, Michaels also writes a weekly “Weekend Winners” blog for America’s Best Racing with a focus on key stakes races at marquee tracks. This feature will be straight-forward: full-card picks for one Sunday slate of races of his choosing.
Author: News
Racing Hall of Fame Class 2026 Celebrated, Remembered
With the relatively recent deaths of two of this year’s Racing Hall of Fame contemporary selections, trainers John Shirreffs and Christophe Clement, the 2026 induction ceremony Aug. 7 proved to be an emotional day in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
Semifinalists Announced for 2025 Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award
The Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award has selected six semifinalists in the competition that annually recognizes excellence in Thoroughbred sport literature. These titles, published in 2025, include three nonfiction historical studies from racing’s earliest years, a fictional pre-Civil War saga of racing and race in Mississippi, a deeply reported investigation of recent high-profile racing drug violations and the evolution of federal horse safety regulation, and a coffee table tome that profiles nearly 100 American racetracks, past and present.
Big-Race Showdown: Expert Picks for Whitney and Fourstardave Stakes
For the 10th 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 2026 Triple Crown and then continuing through the 2026 Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Keeneland. The handicappers face off in what we like to call the “Big-Race Showdown.”
