Bovada

The final Grade 1 stakes race in the US for older horses running on dirt this year goes this holiday Friday at Churchill Downs with the running of the $500,000 Clark Handicap. Eight have been entered to run 1 1/8 miles on the Churchill dirt, including a couple names that will sound familiar from both the 2017 and 2018 Triple Crown trail.

It's starting to snow in Toronto and that's always an indication the throughbred racing season at Woodbine is winding down. But there is still some betting to be made on stakes races before the season ends, including Sunday's $225,0000 Coronation Futurity. It's the top race of the year at Woodbine for two-year-olds and a likely preview of some of the horses we'll see in next year's Queen's Plate.

Named for the late actor and frequent Del Mar Race Track attendee, the (G3) Bob Hope Stakes is open to two-year-old horses running seven furlongs on the Del Mar dirt course. The race offers a total purse of $100,000 and has drawn closely matched field of seven colts and one gelding that are expected to go to the gate on Saturday afternoon.

Seven three-year-old colts are expected to go to the gate on Saturday afternoon at Churchill Downs for the running of the $100,000 (G3) Commonwealth Turf Stakes. On paper a very competitive race, the Commonwealth Turf features a couple horses trying to stamp themselves as legitimate graded-stakes runners, while several others are trying to graduate from lower-level competition. They'll race 1 1/16 miles on the Churchill grass.

Turf racing is the main focus at Aqueduct Race Track on Saturday, with a card that includes the $150,000 Artie Schiller Stakes, to be run at one mile on the inner turf course. The race has drawn 10 starters, with two additional entries if bad weather forces the race to be run on the main track. With a closely matched field, the Artie Schiller presents excellent betting opportunities.

With the running of the 2018 Breeders' Cup Juvenile this past Saturday, the road to qualifying for one of the 20 spots in the starting gate for the 2019 Kentucky Derby is now in full swing. Juvenile champ Game Winner sits on top of the qualifying leaderboard and is already setting himself apart as a serious Derby contender and a very enticing future bet consideration.

Racing for a total purse of $4 million, the Breeders' Cup Turf always draws top horses shipping over from Europe and the 2018 World Championships are no exception. Since 1984, European horses have won 21 of the 33 races and this year they look to have several of the top choices again. They'll be running 1 1/2 miles on the Churchill Downs turf course.

The big race for female horses at the 2018 Breeders' Cup World Championships, the Distaff is for fillies and mares age three and older racing 1 1/8 miles on the Churchill Downs dirt for a purse of $2 million. While older mares often have the advantage in the Distaff, this year's race features a number of very fast three-year-old fillies.

One of the most popular of the Breeders' Cup World Championships races, the Mile is open to horses age three and older, racing on the Churchill Downs turf for a total purse of $2 million. Over the years the mile has produced more back-to-back winners than any other Breeders' Cup race, but for 2018 the defending champ won't be running and the field is wide open.