Best Horse Racing Bets Today | Keeneland

A week away from the 2025 Kentucky Derby, let’s pad our bankroll before the festivities at Churchill Downs get going. Friday is the finale of the spring meeting at Keeneland and there are opportunities to win some all important Derby money. Topping the card will be the $350,000 for older turf females going 1 1/2-miles. Forever After All and Immensitude will renew their rivalry as both ran in The Very One Stakes at Gulfstream Park in their most recent start.

Other races I will be featuring here include a trio of high-priced allowance races on both dirt and turf. Unmatched Wisdom looks like a strong favorite in the day’s ninth race, but the lightly raced stakes winner has been away since running fifth in last September’s Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby for trainer Chad Brown. Without further ado, let's get to my analysis, top picks, and suggested wagers for closing day at Keeneland.

Head over to TwinSpires to wager on our selection of horse racing bets. New users at TwinSpire can claim a $200 Sign-Up Bonus, today!

Race #5 Allowance $130,000 One Mile Turf- 2:34pm EST

Having dead-heated for the win in the $250,000 Virginia Oaks last summer, Deep Satin is listed as the morning line favorite in this contentious field of fillies and mares on the Keeneland turf course.

Trained by Cherie DeVaux, Deep Satin was extremely consistent in her first four starts which all came last season. Now 4, she will look to build upon a record of two wins and two good seconds. In her only previous race at Keeneland, she rallied for second against maidens in her career debut. Away since a victory in her stakes debut, the daughter of American Pharoah will need to come back with her running shoes on facing this deep field.

Two other strong opponents in this one mile affair are Sweet Rebecca and Buttercream Babe. The former races for top turf trainer Chad Brown. Also an American Pharoah filly, she won her first two starts last year including the Memories of Silver Stakes at Aqueduct. Meanwhile, Buttercream Babe has run well in a number of stakes races on the grass. Perhaps her best effort came when beaten only a half-length in the Grade 2 Hall of Fame Stakes against the boys at Saratoga.

First to draw in if there is a scratch, is the English-bred Miwa. She will be making her first start in the United States and since joining the Todd Pletcher barn. Very competitive in French allowance races last season, she will also get Lasix for the first time on Friday. I will be happy to see at least one scratch here. Miwa is my top pick, if she gets in.

My Plays

• $5 Exacta Box - Miwi, Buttercream Babe, and Deep Satin = $30

• $5 Exacta Box - Miwi, Buttercream Babe, and Sweet Rebecca = $30

Visit TwinSpires and Get $200 Sign-Up Bonus

Race #6 Allowance $120,000 About 7-Furlongs Dirt- 3:05pm EST

Sam’s Treasure for trainer Wesley Ward looks like the likely favorite in a field of nine 4-year-old fillies on the about 7-furlong Beard course on Friday at Keeneland.

After breaking her maiden impressively at Saratoga in her second career start, the Munnings filly ran several strong races in defeat on the main track. One of those efforts was a runner-up effort at Keeneland in her seasonal debut last year. In a race without too much early speed, she should be forwardly placed from the start.

One to watch here is the New York shipper Tiarella. A daughter of Nyquist, she was a game second in her career debut last year before fading out of the picture as a maiden in the Ruthless Stakes next out. She has made only three career starts, with the third coming last month after a long layoff. That afternoon she romped over fellow maidens at Aqueduct. She looks like a pace factor here as well. 

Others to consider here include the experienced Zadorsky, who has finished in the money in 10-of-13 career starts, as well as recent maiden winner Tiz Silver and the Grade 1 placed Central Avenue. I am going to give a slight edge to Tiarella, hoping she can go right to the front from her rail draw. She is my top pick.

My Play

• $5 Exacta Part Wheel - Tiarella and Tiz Silver over Tiarella, Tiz Silver, Sam’s Treasure, Central Avenue, and Zadorsky  = $40

Claim $200 Sign-Up Offer at TwinSpires

Race #8 Bewitch Stakes (Grade 3) $350,000 1 1/2 Miles Turf- 4:07pm EST

A graded stakes winner at the distance two starts back, Forever After All looks like a deserving favorite when she takes on eight other turf females in the Grade 3 Bewitch Stakes on closing day at Keeneland. 

Having been second in three straight similar races, including a nose miss in the Grade 3 Dowager Stakes at Keeneland last fall, the long-winded daughter of Connect broke through with a strong late rush to just get up in the Grade 3 La Prevoyante Stakes at Gulfstream Park in January. Last out the late runner was the victim of a paceless race when beaten less than two lengths in The Very One Stakes.

One mare that finished ahead of Forever After All last time was Immensitude. A French-bred, she has failed to win in six starts since coming to America, but the Group 3 winner in France has been right there consistently. It would seem only a matter of time before she wins one of these.

Others to consider in the Bewitch include Eternal Silence, who was Group 1 placed in Ireland and is trying the distance the first time for trainer Christophe Clement and long shot possibility Sand and Sea, who could control the early pace which is likely to be leisurely. Picking up Flavien Prat for the assignment, I will give the edge to Immensitude. She is the top pick.

My Plays 

• $10 Exacta Part Wheel - Immensitude over Forever After All, Eternal Silence, and Sand and Sea = $30

• $5 Exacta Part Wheel - Forever After All, Eternal Silence, and Sand and Sea over Immensitude = $15

Register at TwinSpires for $200 Bonus

Race #9 Allowance $140,000 1 1/8-Miles Dirt- 4:38pm EST

A stakes winner at Saratoga to remain unbeaten through his first three starts before finishing off the board in two starts against Grade 1 company, Unmatched Wisdom returns on Friday as the headliner in this 9-furlong allowance race.

The Chad Brown-trainee looked like a real up and comer when winning his first three starts including the Curlin Stakes, but his upward mobility was somewhat derailed after finishing seventh in the Travers Stakes and fifth in the Pennsylvania Derby. Getting a real class break in his return to the races, he should be a heavy favorite in this one.

If the favorite is to be beaten on Friday, the sharp Will Take It would be a good horse to consider. The 4-year-old son of Tapit seems to be putting things together of late for trainer Dallas Stewart. Having shown flashes of talent earlier in his career, he has started off 2025 with three solid efforts at Fair Grounds. 

After a failed stakes debut last time, Bourbon Resolve is another not without hope here. Before finishing eighth in the Grade 3 Fred Hooper last time, the son of Hard Spun had won two of his previous four in allowance company. Because of his class, I cannot look past Unmatched Wisdom as a likely winner in his return. He  is my top pick.

My Play

• $5 Trifecta Part Wheel - Unmatched Wisdom over Will Take It, Bourbon Resolve, Black Powder, and Rambo Approved  = $60

Grab $200 Sign-Up Bonus at TwinSpires