When it comes to the top the names from the first half of the year there are these nine and everyone else: Beholder, California Chrome, Exaggerator, Flintshire, Frosted, Melatonin, Nyquist, Songbird, and Tepin. Depending on their paths in the second half of the year, any could be in prime striking distance for Horse of the Year honors with the Breeders' Cup Classic potentially being the deciding race.

Vance Hanson mentions discusses Beholder and Nyquist's fist half campaign while Ed DeRosa touches on Tepin and California Chrome. Who will meet and when and where? Will Songbird challenge the top in her division? Stay tuned!

TURF TALK: Half-year in review and looking ahead to the rest of 2016

Plenty of resources can tell you about the horses running in the Belmont Stakes or even who will win, but how to bet on the 3rd jewel of the Triple Crown is a separate challenge. Let the experts at TwinSpires.com, the official wagering platform of the Kentucky Derby, help you out.

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Ed DeRosa called the Travers Stakes day card on Saturday, August 26, at Saratoga Race Course, the best non-Breeders' Cup card in the history of the American Turf, and beyond a highly competitive Midsummer Derby is a graded stakes slate featuring many of the top superstars in training.

The graded stakes action kicks off with the Personal Ensign Stakes, the first of six Grade 1s on the card and featuring champion Songbird against multiple Grade 1 winner Forever Unbridled. The action continues with the Ballerina Stakes before moving onto the all-Grade 1 Pick 4 of the Jerkens for three-year-olds going 7 furlongs, the Forego for older sprinters going 7 furlongs, the Sword Dancer at 1 1/2 miles, and the Travers.

Ed DeRosa and Scott Shapiro discuss each race as well as their wagering strategy for clobbering the Pick 4.

For Brisnet.com handicapping information, CLICK HERE.

How To Bet the All-Grade 1 Pick 4 on Travers Stakes day 2017

This year's Travers Stakes drew a dozen three-year-olds with seemingly something for everyone: all three classic winners are in, as are the winners of the major prep races for this race. Where will the public's money go, and more importantly where should your money go? Ed DeRosa of Brisnet.com and Danny Zucker of Predicteform.com help answer that question.

The pair go through the field with analysis of each runner as well as some wagering strategies.

For a full slate of Brisnet.com's handicapping reports, CLICK HERE.

How To Bet the Travers Stakes w/ Brisnet & Predicteform

The premiere summer meetings--Saratoga Race Course & Del Mar Thoroughbred Club--have teamed to present a cross country Pick 4 on Saturday, August 19, linking two of the most prestigious races in the U.S. with a pair of graded stakes on turf.

The $1-million Pacific Classic at Del Mar is the anchor leg of the Pick 4 that begins with the Lake Placid Stakes at Saratoga and includes the Grade 1 Alabama Stakes also at Saratoga and the Del Mar Handicap for turf males.

Ed DeRosa of TwinSpires.com and Scott Shapiro of Brisnet.com's Daily Selections full-card analysis with best bets, will discuss the sequence, including key opinions and wagering strategy. To read Scott's write-up, including ticket construction, visit the TwinSpires.com blog.

For Del Mar handicapping reports, CLICK HERE.

For Saratoga handicapping reports, CLICK HERE.

How to bet the Cross-Country Pick 4 Pacific Classic-Alabama Stakes

Ed DeRosa and the teams at Brisnet.com & TwinSpires.com shift their focus for a bit from Big Event handicapping to big race meeting handicapping with the dawn of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club and Saratoga Race Course meetings this week.

Scott Shapiro is Ed's first guest, and the pair discuss the meetings in general as well as the opening day card at Del Mar.

For great deals on Brisnet.com handicapping information for summer racing, CLICK HERE.

For Scott's Daily Selections full-card analysis with best bets for every day of the Del Mar meeting, CLICK HERE.

How To Bet Summer Racing episode 1: Del Mar opening day

With guaranteed pools in all Pick 5s and Pick 4s on the 13-race Queen's Plate card Sunday, July 2, at Woodbine, wagering on Canada's biggest day of racing is so much more than just the Queen's Plate, though that is a great handicapping puzzle as well with 13 horses going 1 1/4 miles on the synethetic Tapeta surface.

Discussing Woodbine handicapping and this card in particular with Ed DeRosa is Emily Gullikson of OptixEQ. The pair dive into the Queen's Plate most in-depth but also touch on other races throughout the day.

For Woodbine handicapping materials from Brisnet.com, CLICK HERE.

For FREE Brisnet.com Ultimate Past Performances on the Queen's Plate race, CLICK HERE.

TURF TALK: Half-year in review and looking ahead to the rest of 2016

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