Welcome to Noel Michaels’ Weekend Winners, the place to go for weekend greatest bets and spot performs from veteran handicapper and tournament-play pioneer Noel Michaels. Test again each week for a few highlighted picks designed that will help you money a couple of bets and make some cash.
Noel’s picks have been featured nearly in all places horse racing picks might be discovered, together with in print within the Day by day Racing Type, The HorsePlayer Journal and American Turf Month-to-month, on-line at DRF.com, Twinspires.com and USRacing.com, from the paddock on-track at Arlington Worldwide Racecourse, and on the air on HRTV, TVG, NYC OTB Additional, NYRA’s SatuTalking Horses, and on broadcast TV on WAVE-3 Louisville, ABC KOLO-8 in Reno, Nevada, and channel 72 Lengthy Island Cablevision.
Six Newbie Betting Instruments
- Begin easy with an straightforward information for methods to guess on horse racing.
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- What the heck is a velocity determine? This newbie’s information to hurry figures has the whole lot it is advisable to know.
- Betting on horse racing might be intimidating. Crew ABR put collectively some Dos and Don’ts for the brand new fan getting began betting on racing.
- All of us make errors in relation to betting on horse racing, listed below are eight classes realized from expertise.
Santa Anita Park will probably be one among horse racing’s epicenters this weekend as a bunch of a number of vital stakes races that can even function key prep races for subsequent month’s Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Del Mar. The ten-race Santa Anita program on Saturday will embody three Breeders’ Cup Problem Sequence “Win and You’re In” races that can ship their winners and different high finishers onward to numerous Breeders’ Cup races on Nov. 1-2. For this weekend’s winners, let’s take a better have a look at handicapping Santa Anita’s trio of key Saturday stakes races – the Grade 2 Oak Leaf Stakes Offered by Oak Tree, the Grade 2 Rodeo Drive Stakes, and the Grade 1 American Pharoah Stakes Offered by DK Horse. We are able to make some cash and construct up our Breeders’ Cup bankrolls by choosing some winners. Better of luck and luxuriate in a fantastic day of racing and wagering this Saturday.
Santa Anita Park, Race 3, $200,000 Oak Leaf Stakes Offered by Oak Tree, publish time 5 p.m. ET
The Oak Leaf Stakes has drawn a discipline of eight 2-year-old fillies set to run 1 1/16 miles in a prep for the NetJets Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. The race would be the first foray round two turns for seven of the eight horses within the race, and half of the sphere all come from the barn of coach Bob Baffert. The horse that greatest handles the added distance is prone to be the winner. All eyes will probably be on Baffert’s #4 Nooni, a $1.8 million 2-year-old buy who started her profession like gangbusters with a robust Santa Anita maiden win at first asking adopted by a win within the Grade 3 Sorrento Stakes at Del Mar. She then flopped with none obvious excuses final time when fifth within the FanDuel Racing Del Mar Debutante, nonetheless, and this race will probably be a check whether or not or not she will rebound and if she will deal with the added distance. These are too many “ifs” at low odds if you’re betting this race, and whereas Nooni ought to be revered within the exactas and trifectas, there ought to be different higher choices to guess to win. Baffert received the Del Mar Debutante along with his “different” horse, #3 Tenma, who grinded away from off the tempo to rise up and win by a nostril at seven furlongs. She lacks a few of the velocity and pizzaz of Nooni, however she might show to be a better option Saturday in her first try at going a distance. To spherical out the remainder of the exotics on this race, one other of Baffert’s entrants, #8 Non Compliant, exits a promising maiden win at six furlongs in her profession debut and received like a horse that might deal with extra distance. Jockey Juan Hernandez is off Nooni to trip Non Compliant on Saturday.
The Play: Wager on #3 Tenma (5-2) to win and play her in exacta and trifecta containers with #4 Nooni (3-1) and #8 Non Compliant (2-1).
Santa Anita Park, Race 8, $200,000 Rodeo Drive Stakes, publish time 7:30 p.m. ET
The Rodeo Drive has attracted a discipline of seven fillies and mares going 1 ¼ miles on the grass in a prep for subsequent month’s Maker’s Mark Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf. The horse to beat could also be #4 Iscreamuscream, a 3-year-old who comes into this race with a 4-for-4 profession file together with a win final time within the Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks Offered by Keeneland Gross sales, which was the longest race of her profession so far at 1 1/8 miles. She’ll add one other furlong on this race and will probably be going through older horses, lots of whom have extra expertise at longer distances, and subsequently she is probably not the most effective win guess. As a substitute, the decide within the Rodeo Drive is #2 Sundown Glory, a filly that exhibits a optimistic profession upward trajectory this 12 months with three straight wins, together with a $100,000 stakes victory at Del Mar final time going 1 3/8 miles. That effort earned her a spot in at this time’s race, and all indications are that she’ll be prepared. The opposite most important contender ought to be #7 Aspen Grove, who was a Grade 1 winner as a 3-year-old final 12 months and had been aggressive in opposition to firm much like what’s entered on this race earlier in 2024. She exits a 1 3/8-mile win at Saratoga final time the place she beat next-out Kentucky Downs winner Avenue Niel and #3 Be Your Greatest, whose declare to fame was an in depth second place end at this course and distance final winter within the Grade 1 American Oaks.
The Play: Wager #2 Sundown Glory (5-2) to win and use her in exacta and trifecta containers with #4 Iscreamuscream (8-5) and #7 Aspen Grove (4-1).
Santa Anita Park, Race 9, $300,000 American Pharoah Stakes introduced by DK Horse, publish time 8:00 p.m. ET
The American Pharoah Stakes is a Grade 1 race for 2-year-olds set to run 1 1/16 miles in a prep race for subsequent month’s FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Offered by TAA. The seven-horse discipline incorporates three horses skilled by Bob Baffert, and one or all of these runners ought to be amongst the principal contenders primarily based on latest runnings of the race, which Baffert has received 5 of the final six years. The decide is Baffert’s #7 Getaway Automobile, who appeared like SoCal’s greatest juvenile earlier this summer season after crushing maidens after which repeating with a 5 ½-length win within the Grade 3 Greatest Pal Stakes. Final day trip, Getaway Automobile set a swift tempo early within the seven-furlong, Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity solely to empty out within the stretch and end fourth behind stablemate Gaming, however on Saturday the directions will probably be to harness the horse’s velocity far more successfully. Blinkers are eliminated, and the horse has turned-in two latest dynamite exercises with out them in preparation for a rebound effort on this race. Baffert’s #3 Citizen Bull is one other high contender within the American Pharoah, as is #1 McKinzie Road skilled by Tim Yakteen, after the pair completed third and second, respectively within the Del Mar Futurity. McKinzie Road, particularly, appears harmful primarily based on his runner-up end, crushed lower than two lengths by Gaming after getting shuffled again a few positions earlier within the race.
The Play: Wager #7 Getaway Automobile (2-1) to win and use him in an exacta field with #1 McKinzie Road (9-5). Add-in #3 Citizen Bull (5-2) for trifecta containers.