KENTUCKY — By Ed DeRosa   I love top X lists (top 5, top 10, top pi, it doesn’t matter), but this is the time of year I eschew countdowns in favor of what I call buckets. Put another way, anyone can tell you that Santa Anita Derby winner Journalism is a top contender and...

NEW ORLEANS — By Ed DeRosa   Good Cheer and East Avenue have a lot in common beyond both racing on Saturday at Fair Grounds: both are three-year-old Godolphin homebreds who figure to go favored in their respective Kentucky Oaks and Derby points races.   Most...

CALIFORNIA — By Chris Lomon   Spotlight Race: $100,000 “Sweet Life Stakes”, 6 ½ furlongs on the Downhill turf for 3-year-old fillies   Date:  Sunday, February 9 (Race 9, 5:00 pm ET )   What to do with a $20 bet : $5 exacta box: #3 Schilflied with #5...

CALIFORNIA — By Chris Lomon   Spotlight Race:  $23,000 main track race for Four Year Olds And Upward Who Have Never Won Three Races.   Date:  Sunday, January 26 (Race 9, 7:07 pm ET ) 6 ½ furlongs on the main track.   What to do with a $20 Bet : $10 win on #10...

LOUISIANA — By Ed DeRosa   The all-stakes pick 4 on Saturday at Fair Grounds is that magical combination of offering something for the horse racing fan in all of us as well as the hardened horseplayer.  The sequence begins and ends with points races for both the Kentucky...

CALIFORNIA — By Ed DeRosa   The downhill turf course at Santa Anita Park is one of the more unique race configurations in North America with its big sweeping turn going downhill before crossing over the main track for a blitz toward the finish.   It is that course...

OHIO — By Ed DeRosa   When it comes to plotting a strategy to win money betting the stakes double on Thursday at Mahoning Valley Race Course, figuring out who can run well at decent odds is more important than picking the winner.   A pair of stakes–the Bobbie Bricker...

NEW YORK — By Ed DeRosa   The last big day of racing in New York this year is Saturday at Aqueduct where a quartet of graded stakes takes place headlined by the $500,000 Cigar Mile Handicap.   The Remsen and Demoiselle Stakes for two-year-old males and fillies,...

KENTUCKY — By Ed DeRosa     It may be Black Friday, but there is no two-for-one special on the Brad Cox trainees in the Grade 2 Clark Stakes at Churchill Downs.   That’s OK, though. We’re not looking for a sale because we like the horse who figures to be the...

TORONTO — By Chris Lomon   Spotlight Races for Sunday November 17th   Ashbridges Bay Stakes Race 10, 5:18 pm ET   What to do with a $20 Bet in the Ashbridges Bay: $10 win and $10 place on #6 War Painter   The Reason: This Kevin Attard trainee could come up...