ITM Players' Newsletter - June 27th, 2025
Summer's on! Summer racing is right around the corner 😎
Another simple newsletter this week, since I am still overseas — but this time in Ireland, scouting all the lovely Irish things to see! And maybe a Guinness or two. Just two, maybe.
Our usual Players’ Podcast highlights action from Churchill Downs, including the $1-million Stephen Foster Stakes, and our friends at TwinSpires.com will run the $3,000 Stephen Foster Betting Challenge that same day with all sorts of great prizes ranging from cash to KDBC and BCBC seats! Good luck to everyone participating in those contests.
And thank you, again, to everyone who continues to support the ITM Horseplayers Tour contests over on Horseplayers.com. This week’s contest gets underway fairly shortly (around 3 p.m. EDT), so make sure you check out our Tourney Newsletter that went out this morning along with the contest page if you want to quickly hop in — the top four finishers every week earn a berth (up to three total per person, one per week) in the ITM Horseplayers Tour Playoffs, where you can play for a chance at a $10,000 BCBC entry. All profits from these contests every week also go to thoroughbred aftercare, so you can also play to support a good cause.
My friends on the harness side also return since the Standardbred stakes season is gathering steam. That sport’s marquee race, the Hambletonian, is just under a month away, and now is the time all of the horses to know for those races are priming and tightening. So if catching what’s happening in harness racing currently sounds intriguing to you, now is a great time to start with those stakes at The Meadowlands this Saturday!
The clock also ticks closer to the start of some of our favorite meetings of the year… Saratoga and Del Mar are just around the corner.
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
Laurel Park Stakes Podcast
and more!
Make sure to save and follow the ITM blog for daily picks from your favorite tracks and more racing coverage:
Los Alamitos Thoroughbreds /// Laurel Park /// Prairie Meadows /// Royal Ascot /// Monmouth Park /// Horseshoe Indianapolis
Players’ Podcast - 2025 Stephen Foster Stakes Day + Woodbine & Monmouth
Another Players’ Podcast with wall-to-wall coverage of the major happenings in horse racing this Saturday (June 28). Mikee P opens the show alongside Jackson Muniz for a breakdown of the Late Pick 4 at Woodbine, and then Nick Tammaro is joined by Jonathon Kinchen to analyze the stakes action on Stephen Foster Day at Churchill Downs.
Mikee P wraps the show with a look at the Late Pick 4 from Monmouth Park with ITM’s Monmouth handicapper Eric Solomon.
Harness Players’ Podcast - 6/26/25 | Saturday Meadowlands Stakes
Ray Cotolo is joined by ITM’s Mikee P along with horseman and gambler Thomas Svensen to look at stakes action at The Meadowlands for Saturday (June 28), which feature many horses potentially in competition on 2025 Meadowlands Pace night as well as on Hambletonian Day this year. Stakes discussed include the $114,500 Six Pack, the two divisions for the $193,000 Dave Brower Memorial, the $164,000 Crawford Farms Trot and the $116,500 Perfect Sting, the last of which features reigning U.S. Horse of the Year Twin B Joe Fresh as she makes the third start of her 5-year-old season fresh from a victory in the 2025 Roses are Red Stakes at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
Celebrate Canada Day this Saturday (June 28) with Woodbine, featuring five graded stakes on the card! First-race post time is at 1:05 p.m. (EDT), and don’t forget about the $100,000 guaranteed Early Pick 5, which begins in Race 2.
Join in on the thrilling late-night thoroughbred action at Assiniboia Downs, now with an increased guarantee on the Pick 4! Catch racing from the gem of Manitoba on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from May through early October with first-race post time at 7:30 p.m. (CDT).
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 horseplayers.com, where all proceeds will be donated to thoroughbred aftercare through its LRF Cares charity, a 501(c)(3) organization.
Every Friday, enter the ITM Horseplayers Tour contest over on Horseplayers.com to play for a shot at a 2025 BCBC Seat! Entries always cost $20 and all proceeds go to benefit Thoroughbred Aftercare. Keep an eye out every Friday morning too for our ITM Horseplayers Tour Newsletter for information on each week’s contest.
This weekend is the $3,000 Stephen Foster Betting Challenge over on TwinSpires.com! Best of luck to those who have qualified through the many feeder tournaments offered before this weekend! But if you’re still looking to enter, the buy in is $3,000 — $2,000 for your bankroll and $1,000 into the prize pool. Cash prizes are available to the top performers along with a choice of either a 2026 KDBC seat or a 2025 BCBC seat, per the contest’s specifications. Sign up on TwinSpires.com!
