CALIFORNIA — By Chris Lomon   Spotlight Race: $60,000 Maiden Special Weight (Turf)   Date: Sunday, May 25 (Race 10, 8:38 p.m. ET )   What to do with a $20 Bet: First bet – $5 win and $5 show on #3 Just a Kiss (10-1 opening line) Second bet – $5 win...

FLORIDA — By Chris Lomon   Spotlight Race:  $94,000 Maiden Special Weight, 1 1/16 miles on the turf   Date: Sunday, January 19 (Race 10, 4:50 pm ET )   What to do with a $20 Bet : $1 exacta box: #2 Emtinaan, #3 Zenith, # 4 Drop the Hammer, #5 Inesperee, #7...

CALIFORNIA — By Chris Lomon   Spotlight Race: Del Mar- $75,000 Maiden Special Weight, 1 1/8 miles on the turf   Date: Sunday, August 11 (Race 10, 9:28 p.m. ET )   What to do with a $20 Bet:  $20 place on #4 Dealers Special   The Reason:  The speed figures...

SANTA ANITA PARK — By Chris Lomon Spotlight race: $65,000 turf race for 4-year-old and 5-year-old maidens   Date: Sunday, January 7th (Race 9)   Why to watch: A wide-open affair with a number of contenders and a few intriguing longshot possibilities.   Who to...

CHURCHILL DOWNS — By Jessica Paquette How do you handicap a maiden claiming race? This can be one of the trickier kinds of races to evaluate because it can be a combination of inexperience and horses who, at this point, may not have lived up to lofty expectations. A maiden race...

KENTUCKY — By Jessica Paquette Handicapping “maiden” races can pose some unique challenges. Many of the contenders are so lightly raced that their body of work does not give too much insight and the maidens with the most experience, well, that can sometimes tell you...