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By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') Twitter: @J_Keelerman I must admit, one of my favorite races to handicap each year is the $500,000 Alabama Stakes (G1) at Saratoga. The 1 1/4-mile distance is unique among major dirt races for 3-year-old fillies, making the Alabama a fascinating test of both speed and stamina. Of course, picking ...

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') Twitter: @J_Keelerman The extended 2019-20 Road to the Kentucky Derby continues its path through uncharted waters with the running of Saratoga's historic $1 million Travers (G1) on Saturday. The 1 1/4-mile ''Midsummer Derby'' has attracted a strong field as usual, with heralded Kentucky ...

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') Twitter: @J_Keelerman Although Saratoga figures to attract most of the attention this week thanks to its stakes-packed Saturday card, I would be remiss for failing to highlight the excellent day of racing Del Mar has assembled for the same afternoon. Eleven races are on the agenda, and there's something ...

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') Twitter: @J_Keelerman While it's always tempting to search for longshots in major stakes races, sometimes the favorites are simply too formidable to play against. Such cases don't require you to take the opposite approach and sink your entire wagering budget into short-priced favorites—the risk vs. ...

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') Twitter: @J_Keelerman The Road to the Kentucky Derby continues in a big way this week with a pair of important prep races. The Peter Pan Stakes (G3) on July 16 at Saratoga will award 50 qualification points to the winner, while the July 18 Haskell Stakes (G1) at Monmouth Park will double the stakes with ...

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') Twitter: @J_Keelerman Could an ordinary allowance race wind up producing the winners of two Road to the Kentucky Derby prep races this week? It might seem unlikely, but this is horse racing, and stranger things have happened. With less than two months remaining until the Run for the Roses, the prep race ...

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') Twitter: @J_Keelerman There are plenty of horses to consider betting in the $500,000 Metropolitan Handicap (G1) on Independence Day at Belmont Park. That's pretty much standard for the ''Met Mile,'' which has long ranked as one of the most prestigious and productive races on the North American racing ...

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') Twitter: @J_Keelerman The Road to the Kentucky Derby continues on Saturday with the $500,000 Ohio Derby (G3) at Thistledown, a 1 1/8-mile test awarding 20 qualification points to the winner. The Kentucky Derby points are a nice prize, but the Ohio Derby's main draw is its substantial monetary value. At a ...

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') Twitter: @J_Keelerman A few short weeks ago, the $1 million Belmont Stakes was shaping up to be an intriguing battle between Grade 1 winners Tiz the Law, Nadal, and Charlatan, the three early favorites for the Kentucky Derby. With its shortened 1 1/8-mile distance and newfound status as the first leg of ...

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') Twitter: @J_Keelerman It isn't often that an ungraded stakes race on a Thursday looms among the most intriguing betting opportunities of a given week, but this general rule will be thrown to the wind when Belmont Park hosts the $80,000 Flat Out Stakes on Thursday, June 11. Held over 1 3/8 miles on the ...