horse racing odds

The winter thoroughbred horse racing meet at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Arkansas kicks off this weekend, and Friday's nine-race card features the $150,000 Smarty Jones Stakes. Open to three-year-old horses racing one mile on the Oaklawn dirt track, the race has drawn a solid field of nine entries. On paper the race offers excellent betting value with no overwhelming favorite going to the gate.

When you bet horse racing through an online racebook account, you get the chance to bet on dozens of different tracks and hundreds of races from around North America, as well as the UK and Australia, depending on the racebook. What you also get is the chance to increase your return on your wagering investment with cash back rebates and other promotions above and beyond your winnings.

The race to qualify for the 2019 Kentucky Derby picks up steam again this weekend with the running of the $250,000 (G2) Remsen Stakes at Aqueduct, which will award Derby qualifying points to the top four finishers in a 10-4-2-1 scale. In an interesting handicapping angle, several of the colts in the field will be making a switch from turf-to-dirt racing surface.

A full field of fourteen two-year-old colts are ready to go to the gate at Churchill Downs on Saturday for the running of the (G2) $200,000 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes. In addition to the purse money, the horses and their connections will be trying to secure points to qualify for a return trip to Churchill on the first Saturday of May for the 2019 Kentucky Derby.

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.

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.