Welcome to Noel Michaels’ Weekend Winners, the place to go for weekend best bets and spot plays from veteran handicapper and tournament-play pioneer Noel Michaels. Check back every week for a couple of highlighted selections designed to help you cash a few bets and make some money. Noel’s selections have been featured just about everywhere horse racing picks can be found, including in print in the Daily Racing Form, The HorsePlayer Magazine and American Turf Monthly, online at DRF.com, Twinspires.com and USRacing.com, from the paddock on-track at Arlington International Racecourse, and on the air on HRTV, TVG, NYC OTB Extra, NYRA’s Talking Horses, and on broadcast TV on WAVE-3 Louisville, ABC KOLO-8 in Reno, Nevada, and channel 72 Long Island Cablevision.

Six Beginner Betting Tools

1. Start simple with an easy guide for how to bet on horse racing.
2. Not sure what that word means? Horse racing terminology is a language of its own. Allow us translate for you
3. What the heck is a speed figure? This beginner’s guide to speed figures has everything you need to know.
4. Betting on horse racing can be intimidating. Team ABR put together some Dos and Don’ts for the new fan getting started betting on racing.
5. We all make mistakes when it comes to betting on horse racing, here are eight lessons learned from experience.
6. Figure out how much each bet will cost in advance with our Gambling Calculator, presented by NYRA Bets.

Saturday, March 1

Gulfstream Park, Race 12, $150,000 Honey Fox Stakes, post time 5:07 p.m. ET

A full field of 12 fillies and mares has been assembled for this Grade 3 test going one mile on the grass and it has the look of a wide-open race for betting purposes. A key deciding factor in this race could be the pace with #8 In Our Time likely to get out front and attempt to go all the way. There’s not a lot of speed entered to stand in her way of accomplishing that goal, with perhaps only #2 See You Around staying on In Our Time’s heels throughout. See You Around was able to catch In Our Time at the distance of 1 1/16 miles in December’s Tropical Park Oaks, but at this race’s one-mile distance, the advantage goes to In Our Time. There are several stalkers and closers in the field who will have a chance to threaten late if they’re able to show up with their best effort. When you are picking among the stalkers/closers, you should look for a horse capable of firing their best shot at this one-mile distance, because some of these challengers seem like they would ideally prefer a bit more real estate. #4 Poolside With Slim is an interesting candidate. She ran well in three outings during the second half of 2024 for trainer Rusty Arnold including a one-mile win at Keeneland in October’s Grade 2 Bank of America Valley View Stakes with Saturday’s rider Frankie Dettori in the saddle.

The Play: Bet on #8 In Our Time (7-2) to win and play her in exacta and trifecta boxes with #2 See You Around (6-1) and #4 Poolside With Slim (8-1).

Gulfstream Park, Race 13, $415,000 Coolmore Fountain of Youth Stakes, post time 5:44 p.m. ET

The Grade 2 Fountain of Youth Stakes has attracted a field of eight 3-year-olds ready to go 1 1/16 miles at Gulfstream Park with hopes of taking the next step on the road to the 2025 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve. Trainer Todd Pletcher has yet to make a major dent with a horse on the road to this year’s Kentucky Derby but that could all change very in a hurry with #6 River Thames, a horse that did not race as a 2-year-old but has quickly taken strides in two races to date as a 3-year-old with a pair of Gulfstream wins by a combined margin of 11 ¼ lengths. He handled the stretchout to a mile last time and should have no problems with this first assignment around two turns if he’s good enough. His speed figures indicate that he fits well vs. this bunch, and he has certainly made a strong impression so far. Pletcher actually has two shots in this race as he is also the trainer of #1 Gate to Wire who exits a win on this track in the $155,000 Swale Stakes going seven furlongs in his career dirt debut. Gate to Wire earned a strong speed figure and looked like a horse that may indeed be able to extend to this longer distance. One horse that is already proven at this 1 1/16-mile two-turn distance is #3 Burnham Square, who has exploded since adding blinkers two races ago and earned back-to-back wins since then, including the Grade 3 Holy Bull Stakes last out. He’s an obvious contender again in the Fountain of Youth and you have to like the pace versatility he’s shown at this distance with good efforts pressing, stalking, and coming from far back off the pace.

The Play: Bet #6 River Thames (2-1) to win and box him in exactas and trifectas with #1 Gate to Wire (6-1) and #3 Burnham Square (5-2).