ITM Players' Newsletter - July 18th, 2025
🔥HOT🔥Racing from Shore to Shore!
What a weekend we have in store from shore to shore!
On the east coast, the behemoth Journalism makes his return from stout defeat in the Belmont Stakes this Saturday at Monmouth Park for the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational. And then 3,000 (-ish) miles due west is where my old Del Mar will host its opening weekend of racing for the 2025 meet. It’s a good thing I have two eyes so I can watch both, but I will have to figure out how to get them to stare in opposite directions. That’s my weekend project.
Our team at ITM has plenty for you coming into this hot summer of fun. JK and I took a look at the Pick 6 sequence for opening day at Del Mar, and JK also took a look on his own of the Saturday Pick 5 at Saratoga (with thanks to Hotel Brookmere for their meet-long sponsorship!). Our contributors have you covered for pretty much every major racing circuit in action this weekend with Dean Keppler on the Del Mar beat, Nick Tammaro covering Saratoga, Eric Solomon covering Monmouth & much more! On the Plus side, we also have Nick Tammaro’s Notebook for the Saratoga meet along with the first of Frank Scatoni’s Del Mar diaries, which will offer plenty of Del Mar-centric content including stories, picks and more! And that’s just added to all the exclusive content always heading the way of the Plus side, which you can access with one simple subscription!
ALSO
Since this newsletter is hitting your inboxes earlier than usual (with GREAT! thanks, TREMENDOUS! thanks, to the wonderful man who helps assemble this whole thing), I want to remind all of you that ENTRIES REMAIN OPEN FOR THIS WEEK’S ITM HORSEPLAYERS TOUR CONTEST! You only have to pay $20 to enter for a shot at a 2025 BCBC Seat and all proceeds go to the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance and Therapeutic Horses of Saratoga.
But be quick! Entries close TODAY at 4:31 P.M. (EDT).
ENTER HERE
A big thank you as always to all of you who continue to show up every week for the Horseplayers Tour contests! We love that we’ve built an opportunity for horseplayers to flex their handicapping wit while also giving you all an opportunity to reach for some of the highest prizes in all of horse racing handicapping. AND we get to do all of this while supporting the very athletes who make our whole game possible. It’s truly a wonderful thing.
Before I bounce from the keyboard, two additional shout outs I want to hurl your way. My gracious friends across the pond over on At The Races again have asked for my words of wisdom (their words! not mine ☺️), so I have a horse-by-horse analysis for the 2025 Haskell Invitational posted over at Sky Sports Racing. And also please give our harness racing guys some love with this week’s Harness Players’ Podcast — our young gang took a look at some eliminations for a Grade 1 harness race taking place next week out near Pittsburgh, PA and they always seem to have a lot of fun in their discussions.
MYWAYP,
PTF
Subscribe to ITM Plus for exclusive picks, written analysis, and shows from your favorite ITM contributors! Exclusive content this weekend includes:
Notes from this week’s ITM content
Nick Tammaro’s Saratoga Notebook
Podcast for Sunday Del Mar Racing
Frank Scatoni’s Del Mar Diary
and more!
Make sure to save and follow the ITM blog for daily picks from your favorite tracks and more racing coverage:
Del Mar /// Saratoga /// Prairie Meadows /// Monmouth Park /// Colonial Downs
Players’ Podcast - Del Mar Opening Day Special
PTF and JK are back with you with thoughts on a LOADED Opening Day card that introduces an exciting new (for DMR) wager, the $3 Late Pick Three with a player-friendly 15% takeout. The guys will go over the races of the Pick 6 in this segment.
In the show’s second segment, Andrew Brown joins in for a deeper look at the Oceanside Stakes where Iron Man Cal makes his return to the races (Andrew is one of the partners in the horse) They also talk about the LRF Cares Charity Challenge, a great opportunity to qualify for the NHC and support thoroughbred aftercare in the process. You can also feed into that one for small money with games on Horsetourneys.com.
Players’ Podcast - California Racing Update Ahead of Del Mar
PTF is back with Gary Fenton, Chairman of the Thoroughbred Owners of California. They start their far-ranging conversation with details about the upcoming LRF Cares Charity Challenge, which you can feed into and play in via our friends at Horsetourneys. The contest is August 2 and seats will be awarded to the NHC with a portion of the proceeds going to thoroughbred aftercare.
Players’ Podcast - 7/19 – Haskell, Adelphi Saratoga Saturday, Del Mar Saturday
Huge Saturday Players Podcast this weekend with the Haskell at Monmouth Park. PTF and JK dive headfirst into stakes action for 2025 Haskell Invitational Day at Monmouth Park! The 2025 Haskell became even more exciting with Journalism, the 2025 Preakness winner and fan favorite, who was foiled in the 2025 Kentucky Derby & 2025 Belmont Stakes, heading into the starting gate. Mikee P grabs inthemoneypodcast.com NYRA analyst Nick Tammaro for the Pick 6 at Saratoga sponsored by Adelphi Racing Club. PTF and JK come back to finish off the show with Opening Saturday at Del Mar.
Harness Players’ Podcast - 7/19/25 | Adios Pace Eliminations
Ray Cotolo is joined by handicappers Edison Hatter and Kevin Plowcha to take a look at the two eliminations for the 2025 Adios Pace at The Meadows on Saturday (July 19), which also are the first two legs of a 50-cent Pick 4 sequence. The three also look at the last two races of the Pick 4 sequence in the first part of the show.
Saturday (July 19) at Monmouth Park is the $1-Million Haskell Invitational! Celebrate the greatest day of racing at the Jersey Shore with a first-race post time of 12 p.m. (EDT) and collect a FREE Haskell hat while supplies last.
Don’t forget to play for your shot at a 2025 BCBC Seat in our weekly ITM Horseplayers Tour contests over on Horseplayers.com. Top 4 finishers every week earn a spot into the playoffs while an entry in the Friday contest earns you a spot into a regular $189 Feeder tournament on the following Saturday.
ENTRIES FOR THIS WEEK’S CONTEST CLOSE AT 4:31 P.M. (EDT) TODAY.
ENTER HERE!
Woodbine hosts the 70th Woodbine Oaks this Sunday (July 20)! Head to Woodbine for the precursor event to the greatest race in Canada, the 166th King’s Plate.
Mark your calendars for a special NHC qualifying opportunity on Saturday, Aug. 2. Little Red Feather Racing sponsors an NHC qualifying tournament, to be hosted on horsetourneys.com, where all proceeds will be donated to thoroughbred aftercare through its LRF Cares charity, a 501(c)(3) organization.
Saratoga Saturday Pick 5 w/ Jonathon Kinchen - PRESENTED BY HOTEL BROOKMERE - July 19th, 2025
July 19th Pick 5 Analysis including the Caress, Coaching Club American Oaks, and Vanderbilt.
On the Lead - The Ratings System – An Innovative Twist on Race Conditions
Brought to you by The Jockey Club.
Shannon Kelly and PTF are back with a look at a fascinating new Jockey Club initiative — the creation of a new category of races for horsemen and owners: Ratings Races. Kyle McDoniel and Chance Moquette of Equibase join for an in-depth discussion about the hows, whys, and benefits of this new project that aims to create better options for connections and more interesting races for bettors.
The Owner’s Box - Episode 169 – Larry Collmus and Del Mar
Billy and Michelle are back to discuss Del Mar with the track’s new race caller, legend Larry Collmus!
And the Contest Winner was… - Episode 5 – Greg Lewis
John Gaspar returns with another episode of his interview series with different prominent tournament horseplayers. This week Gaspar talks with veteran contest player Greg Lewis to talk about his recent contest performance this past weekend.
