handicapping

Who do you like? TDN's Senior Racing Editor Steve Sherack makes his picks for Breeders' Cup Saturday at Del Mar. Race 4: GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint--#10 Scylla (10-1) Scylla ran a very good second going two turns in Del Mar's GI Clement L. Hirsch, then returned to Bill Mott's Saratoga base and cut back to this distance with another solid second-place finish in the GI Ballerina just three weeks later. She's been freshened since, is drawn nicely on the outside and is more than capable of running...

Who do you like? TDN's Senior Racing Editor Steve Sherack makes his picks for Breeders' Cup Friday at Del Mar. Race 7: GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies--#4 La Cara (12-1) Pocahontas winner La Cara continues to improve with experience for trainer Mark Casse, and if her pedigree is any indicator (she's bred on the same Street Sense x Bernardini cross as Maxfield), another move forward could be coming in this two-turn debut. Her versatile running style adds to her appeal. Will also be using the maiden of two starts Snowyte,...

TDN's Senior Racing Editor Steve Sherack handicaps Saturday's GIII Iroquois Stakes and GIII Pocahontas Stakes at Churchill Downs. GIII Pocahontas (Race 8) - Pretty Sure (#6) broke her maiden like a filly with a future, making a sustained four-wide rally on the far turn en route to a dominating come-from-behind debut score for Brendan Walsh going six furlongs at Ellis Park Aug. 25. She obviously lacks seasoning and faces a very tough group in this deep renewal of the Pocahontas--headed by deserving favorite Kimchi Cat (#13)--for just her second career...

TDN's Senior Racing Editor Steve Sherack handicaps Saturday's five Grade I races at Saratoga, headed by the 155th renewal of the Travers. GI Sword Dancer (Race 9) - Can't envision a scenario where the Sword Dancer doesn't go through either of the Godolphin/Charlie Appleby runners Measured Time (GB) (#2) or Silver Knott (GB) (#4), who both enter off impressive graded wins over the Saratoga lawn. Silver Knott is already proven at this 1 1/2-mile trip and has never been in better form, and we still may not have seen the...

This past weekend, my husband and I brought five of his old high school friends to their first Kentucky Derby. The group grew up together in Baltimore and while some of them have been to the infield at the Preakness, the Derby was their first authentic race-day experience. They flew in from various parts of the East Coast. One is an engineer, two are wealth managers, one works in investment banking and another is in business consulting. They are all hard-working, fun, intelligent 26 and 27 year olds. In short,...

TDN's Senior Racing Editor Steve Sherack provides analysis for Saturday's trio of GI Kentucky Derby prep races. GI Toyota Blue Grass S. - In a race billed as a showdown between the re-opposing GII Remsen S. one-two Dornoch (Good Magic) and Sierra Leone (Gun Runner), don't look past likely third choice Just a Touch (Justify). The highly regarded bay ran to the hype with a powerful debut score for trainer Brad Cox over the promising $1.7-million KEESEP graduate Gun Party (Curlin) (he returned with another very good second-place finish Mar....

This year's 25th renewal of the National Horseplayers' Championship (NHC) presented by Caesars Entertainment, Horseshoe Las Vegas and Racetrack Television Network (RTN) will include a new wrinkle. The 'Silver Sunday' contest will take place Sunday, Mar. 17 and will replace the Sunday Consolation Contest, where only entries that did not make the semi-final round would compete in a 10-race contest for prize money. The 'Silver Sunday' contest will instead be open to all individuals competing in the tournament with no fee to enter. Individuals will receive no more than one...

TDN's Senior Racing Editor Steve Sherack provides his analysis for Saturday's quartet of GI Kentucky Derby prep races. GIII Holy Bull S. - Last year's jaw-dropping GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner and 'TDN Rising Star' Fierceness (City of Light) finds a perfect landing spot to launch his sophomore season versus seven overmatched rivals. Not worth trying to beat him here, even if he's closer to 1-9 than his 3-5 morning-line quote. I can't see him defeating the recently crowned 2023 champion 2-year-old, but how about Domestic Product (Practical Joke) to...

Horseshoe Indianapolis hosted the fourth annual Grayson Grass Challenge throughout the month of August to benefit Grayson-Jockey Club Equine Research and made a $9.6k donation as a result. "We just completed our fourth year hosting this event and the handicappers involved raised a record amount for Grayson," said Eric Halstrom, Vice President and General Manager of Racing. "Grayson came to us a few years ago about partnering on a promotion and this special contest emerged as a result. We are elated to donate a total of $9,674.60 to Grayson this...

It was back in 2004 that Brent Sumja made a career decision. He was among the leading trainers in Northern California, but wasn't following his true passion. That was playing the horses. So he disbanded his stable and set out to be a professional handicapper. It went well. He played the races regularly and also focused on the handicapping tournaments. In 2014, Sumja won five tournaments in a four-month span from May to September to clinch the title of 2013 Daily Racing Form NHC Tour Champion and the first prize...

TDN's Senior Racing Editor Steve Sherack reveals a pair of selections for the first Saturday of the Saratoga meeting. Race 1, Msw, $136k, 2yo, 5 1/2f, post time: 1:10 p.m. ET There's every chance that National Treasure (Quality Road)'s half-brother and rail-drawn 4-5 morning-line favorite Pirate (Omaha Beach) turns out to be a complete monster, but I'll be taking a shot against him with fellow firster Special Element (Copper Bullet). There's plenty of precocity in Special Element's pedigree. His freshman sire Copper Bullet, winner of the 2017 GII Saratoga Special...

It's opening week of Saratoga and NYRA handicapper and TV analyst Andy Serling joined this week's TDN Writers' Room podcast to discuss all the upcoming action.