America's Best Racing

Welcome to Noel Michaels’ Weekend Winners, the place to go for weekend best bets and spot plays from veteran handicapper and tournament-play pioneer Noel Michaels. Check back every week for a couple of highlighted selections designed to help you cash a few bets and make some money.

The $600,000, Grade 1 Belmont Oaks Stakes for 3-year-old fillies going 1 1/8 miles on the turf drew a competitive field of 10 on the Saturday July 4 card at Saratoga, which will be the final time the race will be run at “the Spa” before it returns to Belmont Park in 2027. Eight of the 10 fillies are stakes winners, including six graded/group stakes winners.

Last weekend, there were several stakes-rich racecards across North America, most prominently at Churchill Downs on June 27. Results from those six stakes under the Twin Spires brought significant changes to earnings leaderboards in several divisions, as tabulated by Equibase.

The $500,000 Suburban Stakes Presented by Subourbon Life July 4 at Saratoga Race Course drew a terrific field that includes the top-two finishers from last year’s edition plus seven other stakes winners.

Re...

Saratoga Springs, N.Y., has long been a summer playground for sports fans: the upstate New York town is home to Saratoga Race Course, one of the most storied racetracks in the world, and it’s been mecca for horse racing fans for hundreds of years.