Unlocking Winners

Handicapping strategies and picks for top Thoroughbred races

TimeformUS Weekend Stakes Plays - The Travers and the Pacific Classic

The Grade 1 Travers Saratoga / August 23 / Race 12 / 5:45 EDT by TimeformUS Analyst Mike Beer Get started with FREE TimeformUS PPs for the Travers The 145th Travers Stakes, a Grade 1 for 3yos contested over 1 1/4 miles and carrying a purse of $1.25 million, has drawn an excellent field of 10. The contenders seem to be coming from three different directions, so let's break them down into three groups... Read More

TimeformUS Weekend Stakes Plays - The Alabama and the Arlington Million

The Grade 1 Alabama Saratoga / August 16 / Race 10 / 6:20 EDT by TimeformUS Analyst Mike Beer Get started with FREE TimeformUS PPs for the Alabama With Untapable once again absent for a major race in the division she so clearly dominates right now, Stopchargingmaria (#8, 2-1) , an under-appreciated performer, will get a chance to take down a second Grade 1 prize at this Saratoga meet. Stopchargingmaria... Read More

TimeformUS Weekend Stakes Plays - Grade 2s at the Spa: The Fourstardave & the Saratoga Special

The Grade 2 Fourstardave Handicap Saratoga / August 9 / Race 10 / 6:10 EDT by TimeformUS Analyst Mike Beer Get started on FREE TimeformUS PPs for the FourStarDave With two-time defending champ Wise Dan sitting this one out, a talented field of six turf milers will get a chance to pick up some Grade 2 hardware at Saratoga on Saturday. Four of the six entered are already graded stakes winners over turf... Read More

TimeformUS Weekend Stakes Plays - The Whitney and the Clement Hirsch

The Grade 1 Clement L. Hirsch Stakes by TimeformUS Analyst Justin Finch Saratoga / August 2 / Race 8 / 5:30 PDT: Get started on FREE TimeformUS PPs for the Clement Hirsch The Grade 1, $300,000 Clement Hirsch has seven fillies and mares entered to run a mile and 1/16 on Polytrack. However, at time of writing, trainer John Sadler is sounding as if he will scratch Legacy, and he is leaving open the possibility... Read More

TimeformUS Weekend Stakes Plays - Jim Dandy and the Haskell

The Grade 2 Jim Dandy by TimeformUS Analyst Mike Beer Saratoga / July 26 / Race 10 / 6:01 EDT: Get started on FREE TimeformUS PPs for the Jim Dandy With a pair of entrants cross-entered into Friday's Curlin stakes, and the participation of another on the fence, the field for Saturday's Jim Dandy is very much in flux as of this writing. Were Kid Cruz to run here, we would give him a very long look.... Read More

Wednesday at Saratoga: A baby race & the A.P. Indy Curse

by Doug Salvatore A fascinating statistic will be put to the test in the opening leg of the $27,469 Pick 6 on Wednesday at Saratoga Race Course where 8-to-5 morning line favorite Girlabouttown will try to end the “A.P. Indy curse” by becoming the first progeny of her now-pensioned super sire to win a race at six furlongs or less on the main track at either Saratoga or Del Mar. That’s right. No horse... Read More

TimeformUS Weekend Stakes Plays - The Diana at Saratoga and the San Clemente at Del Mar

The Grade 1 Diana by TimeformUS Analyst Mike Beer Saratoga / July 19 / Race 10 / 5:46 EDT: Get started on FREE TimeformUS PPs for the Diana Saturday's running of the Grade 1 Diana drew a field of 10 fillies and mares and could hardly have come up a stronger race. Each one of the 10 entered is already a graded stakes winner, half of them at the Grade 1 level. Both Somali Lemonade and Discreet Marq are... Read More

Del Mar Opening Day Pick 4: Beat the TwinSpires.com Caveman!

by Ed DeRosa Del Mar Thoroughbred Club opens today and with it TwinSpires.com’s $42,000 Beat the Caveman Challenge . Our caveman will play the late Pick 4 at either Del Mar or Saratoga Race Course Wednesday (Saratoga), Thursday (Del Mar), Friday (Del Mar), Saturday (Saratoga), Sunday (Del Mar), and Monday (Saratoga) this summer. He will use four horses in each race—something Steve Crist would call... Read More

The Pizza Man Key Ingredient To Arlington Million Preview Day All-Stakes Pick 4

by Ed DeRosa I promise that the headline is the only The Pizza Man pun in this blog. Besides, how could I top that one? OK, seriously, I'm done. Anyway, there are three Pick 4 sequences on Arlington Million Preview Day on Saturday at Arlington International Racecourse, and TwinSpires.com is offering a 10% winner’s bonus (up to $500 per sequence) on all of them, but we’ll focus on the all-stakes mid... Read More

TimeformUS Weekend Stakes Analysis of the G1 Delaware Handicap and G2 Bowling Green Handicap

The Grade 1 Delaware Handicap by TimeformUS Analyst Mike Beer Delaware Park/July 12 /Race 9/4:51 EDT: The Grade 1 Delaware Handicap has managed to attract its share of top fillies and mares in recent years, with champions Royal Delta, Blind Luck, and Havre de Grace taking part in the past three runnings, and the quality racemare Life at Ten winning the race in 2010. The problem hasn't been attracting... Read More

TimeformUS's Horse-by-Horse Previews of the G1 Belmont Oaks and G1 Belmont Derby

The Grade 1 Belmont Oaks by TimeformUS Analyst Mike Beer Belmont Park/July 5 /Race 9/5:45 EDT: Get started on TimeformUS PPs for the G1 Belmont Oaks The Belmont Oaks, one of two 3yo turf races repurposed and repositioned from the Fall calendar, has attracted an interesting field of 11 fillies, and of the five graded stakes races to be run at Belmont Park on Saturday, we found it to be the toughest... Read More

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