In The Money Telegraph
Thursday, September 3, 2026 · By ITM Staff
King of the Turf, Round Two — Today at Kentucky Downs
The road to the belt runs through Kentucky Downs again this afternoon. The second King of the Turf Handicapping Challenge qualifier — a $300 contest, presented by Race Lens — goes today, a feeder into Saturday’s $2,500 grand finale, whose winner is crowned King of the Turf: National Turf Handicapping Champion and takes home the championship belt. One note: with the day’s card reshaped around some brutal heat, the contest is official only if at least five races are run.
About that heat — Kentucky Downs pushed Thursday’s card up to a noon ET first post and trimmed it to seven races to beat temperatures that touched 104 degrees this week. You can play the contest through ITM’s preferred partner, TwinSpires, and full contest details are at themintkentuckydowns.com.
To get sharp for it, PTF sat down with Ben Kudla for a look at the meet’s most reliable betting angles using Equibase’s Race Lens — the trainers who point for Kentucky Downs and consistently outrun their odds. Watch that below.
And for today’s heat-adjusted card specifically, PTF and JK returned with best bets — PTF on Gettleman in the opener, JK on the Mike Maker runner Demolition Duke in the finale. Watch below.
The HISA Story Develops
Disclosure, as ever on this story: Marshall Gramm is a friend and ITM contributor, and Ten Strike Racing was the company’s first commercial sponsor. We’ve tried to keep the reporting even-handed.
The story we reported on Tuesday — Churchill Downs asking the FTC to investigate HISA — has drawn a response, and it’s worth putting both sides on the table. HISA said it has been in communication with the FTC about the issues raised in Churchill’s letter and welcomes the commission’s ongoing oversight and review of its actions and systems. The authority also said it has since fixed the portal vulnerability at the center of the Gramm matter, and attributed the delayed disclosure of the Fair Hill–connected banned-substance positive to changes in its suspension process that give trainers time to dispute a finding.
It’s also fair to note the history between the two parties. Churchill and HISA have been at odds financially: in April, a federal judge in Kentucky ruled that HISA’s earlier purse-weighted fee methodology was “arbitrary and capricious” and unlawful — a win for Churchill, though a narrow one, since HISA had already moved to a different fee formula and the ruling left prior orders intact. HISA, for its part, had accused Churchill of declining to pay millions in dues. None of that resolves the substance of the questions in the FTC letter, but readers weighing it are entitled to the fuller picture.
As for the case that helped put all of this in motion, the Gramm hearings remain on the September calendar. For the background, PTF’s reporting is on the site: the case, the follow-up, and what horseplayers lost.
Thursday’s Cards
Kentucky Downs. Ray Cotolo has spot plays for the heat-shortened Day 3 card. Cotolo’s plays →
Colonial Downs. The heat pushed Colonial to a 9 a.m. ET start, with three steeplechase races before the flat card begins. Michael Domabyl has closing-week spot plays. Domabyl’s card →
Del Mar. Dean Keppler makes Heroic Dose his best bet in Race 8. Keppler’s card →
ITM Plus
Closing Week, and the Belt on the Line
Saratoga winds down, Kentucky Downs builds to the King of the Turf finale, and the Breeders’ Cup is coming into view at Keeneland. ITM Plus members get daily written selections, the members’ bet share, exclusive shows, and full coverage the rest of the way.
More all week at inthemoneypodcast.com and on the ITM YouTube channel, with premium coverage on ITM Plus.
