By Jarrod Horak The Road to the Kentucky Derby rolls through Santa Anita Park with the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby, a $500,000 event for three-year-olds going 1 1/8 miles on the main track. This is one of the most important West Coast prep races, and I’ve been tracking all the Derby points races closely—producing […]
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By Jarrod Horak The Grade 2 Fair Grounds Oaks is one of the most important final stepping-stone races on the road to the Kentucky Oaks. Run at 1 1/16 miles at Fair Grounds Race Course on Louisiana Derby Day, the race brings together a competitive group of three-year-old fillies chasing valuable Kentucky Oaks qualifying points. […]
By Jarrod Horak The Road to the Kentucky Oaks continues on Sunday at Santa Anita Park with the Grade 3 Santa Ysabel Stakes. This $100,000 event for three-year-old fillies covers one mile and one-sixteenth on the main track and serves as an important Kentucky Oaks qualifying race. For this race, I’m using data from the […]
The Road to the Kentucky Derby runs straight through New York this Saturday as the Gotham Stakes Aqueduct picks take center stage at Aqueduct Racetrack in South Ozone Park. With Derby qualifying points on the line and a competitive undercard featuring the Busher Stakes and Stymie Stakes, this is one of the most important winter […]
By Jarrod Horak This post and companion video features In-depth Santa Anita Pick 6 carryover analysis for Feb 20. Race-by-race betting strategy, singles, pace insights and a budget ticket from Today’s Racing Digest. The Pick 6 carryover amount is $34,288 and the sequence begins with the fourth race. On a card that looks fairly logical […]
Horse racing is packed with “rules” that get repeated so often they sound true — even when they’re not. This Handicapping 101 guide breaks down several common misconceptions and replaces them with practical, bettable ways to think about pace, figures, maidens, jockey moves, and more. Why Myths Stick Around Handicapping has evolved through decades of […]
One of the biggest mistakes new handicappers make is trying to be too smart. They buy into the idea that you must dissect every split, every pace fraction, every microscopic weight shift, and every theoretical projection just to make a bet. Meanwhile, they miss something simple that shows up on the first line of the […]
By Jarrod Horak The $100,000 Las Virgenes Stakes is for 3-year-old fillies traveling one mile on the main track at Santa Anita Park on Feb. 8. It goes as the eighth race and this is a Kentucky Oaks 2026 points race. Las Virgenes Stakes field: 1 – Meaning (7-2) 2 – Explora (3-5) 3 – […]
By Jarrod Horak The Grade 3, $100,000 Robert Lewis Stakes is for 3-year-olds traveling one mile on the main track. It goes as the eighth race at Santa Anita Park on Saturday, Feb. 7 and it is a Kentucky Derby 2026 points race. Robert Lewis Stakes field: 1 – Desert Gate (6-5)2 – Plutarch (4-1)3 […]
By Jarrod Horak The Grade 3, $1 million Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn on Feb. 6 is for 3-year-olds traveling 1 1/16 miles on the main track and the scheduled post time is 5:40 PM ET, and this is a Kentucky Derby 2026 points race. Southwest Stakes field (race 11): 1 – Reclamation (30-1) 2 – […]