In The Money Telegraph
Sunday, July 12, 2026 · By ITM Staff
Help Us Sell Out the LRF Cares Contest
We’ve got one big goal this week, and we’d love your help hitting it. ITM is officially promoting the 7th Annual LRF Cares Horseplayer Contest, and we want to pack the field. On Saturday, July 18, Little Red Feather Racing and its 501(c)(3), LRF Cares, team with the NHC and the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club for a $250 Pick & Pray on HorsePlayers.com, played over all of Del Mar’s races, with every dollar going to Thoroughbred aftercare.
Here’s the beautiful part: the contest awards one 2027 National Horseplayers Championship seat for every 40 entries, with two guaranteed — so the more players we get in, the more seats we send to the NHC. Filling it up is a win for everybody.
And you don’t have to buy in cold: HorsePlayers.com is running $14 Pick & Pray feeders all week that let you win your way into the contest for short money — a great cause and a genuine value on the same ticket.
This is one we care about at ITM. If you’ve been meaning to dip a toe into the contest world, this is the week — and the cause — to do it. Let’s fill it up.
Around the Sport
Saturday at the Spa. In a tight Bowling Green (G2), Ole Crazy Bone got loose on a soft lead and held off a fast-finishing Fort George by a nose for trainer Mike Maker and Flavien Prat — who nearly gave it back by easing up a stride too soon. Earlier on the card, Movin’ On Up rallied to take the Caress (G2).
Indiana Derby. Brad Cox and Irad Ortiz Jr. teamed to win the Grade 3 Indiana Derby at Horseshoe Indianapolis with the Gun Runner colt Leading Change, who edged Our Moneyman.
Opening-day fallout. The New York Gaming Commission handed Paco Lopez a 30-day suspension for the four-horse Wild Applause spill on July 3, and Javier Castellano — hurt in that incident — is expected to be sidelined about three weeks.
Playing & Watching
Monmouth. Eric Solomon closes the week with an eight-race, turf-heavy Sunday card (first post 12:50 p.m. ET), featuring the $75,000 Irish War Cry Handicap — the New Jersey-bred turf mile that was pushed out of the July 4 heat and finally runs today. Solomon tops it with Gold Trust, and flags that registration is open for next Saturday’s $1,000 Haskell Handicapping Challenge as Haskell Week arrives. Read →
Walk the Shed. JK sits down with Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen for a wide-ranging visit from the Saratoga shedrow — starting with Booked’s impressive Sanford (G3) score and where the promising son of Yaupon goes next, then rolling into Cowboys talk, travel, and Keeneland sales stories. Presented by Keeneland Sales. ▶ Watch →
And Every Friday: The ITM Tour
Beyond LRF Cares, the In the Money HorsePlayers Tour runs its own $20 feeder every Friday — a path to the ITM Tour Playoffs, a BCBC-Qualifier seat for every 10 entries, and proceeds to Breeders’ Cup Charities. Last week a player turned a $20 feeder into a $10,000 seat in the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge. HorsePlayers.com →
ITM Plus
Nick’s Notebook Is Here for Saratoga
Churchill Downs morning-line maker Nick Tammaro brings his Saratoga notebook to ITM Plus — detailed written analysis and a play of the day, every day of the meet, alongside exclusive podcasts and premium selections right through to the Breeders’ Cup.
More all week at inthemoneypodcast.com, with daily previews on the ITM YouTube channel and premium tips on ITM Plus.
