In The Money Telegraph
Friday, July 17, 2026 · By ITM Staff
Summer Christmas is here. Del Mar opens today, our feeder is going west with it, and there are deadlines all over the board. Let’s go.
Del Mar Is Back — and So Is the ITM Tour
The seaside meet begins this afternoon, and we’re marking the occasion: this week’s In the Money HorsePlayers Tour feeder is all Del Mar, played over the last eight races on the opening day card. The Saratoga-only format has been a hit, but a card like this one was worth the trip west.
It’s $20 to play on HorsePlayers.com, and it pays two ways. One entry in every 10 earns a spot in Saturday’s BCBC Qualifier — win that and you’ve got a $10,000 seat in the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge. And finish in the top four and you’re into the ITM Tour Playoffs, a standalone contest right before the Breeders’ Cup where another $10,000 BCBC seat is awarded at no cost to players. All proceeds go to Breeders’ Cup Charities.
The format is a Pick & Pray: a $2 win/place selection on one horse in each contest race, payout caps of 20-1 to win and 10-1 to place, and you can fire up to three entries. Get your picks in before the first contest race goes — once it closes, everything locks.
PTF and Matt Bernier go through the late Pick 5 portion race by race — it kicks off with Race 6 at 7:30 p.m. ET and features the Oceanside Stakes, opened up this year after historically being restricted. Matt’s coming off a week where his top pick returned $55.
▶ Watch the Del Mar opening day preview →
Enter today’s ITM Tour feeder →
Playing Opening Day
The card. Dean Keppler has all 10 races as Del Mar’s 87th summer season gets underway (first post 2:00 p.m. PT / 5:00 p.m. ET, the first of 31 live dates), with 4-Detain (IRE) in Race 6 his best bet — the same race that launches the meet’s new $3 All-Turf Pick 3. Read →
The sequence. On The Gallop Out, Ryan Anderson and Jackson Muniz go through the full opening day program — top picks, value plays, and how to attack it. ▶ Watch →
The scene. On The Owner’s Box, Del Mar’s Erin Bailey walks through what’s new at the seaside meet — the events, the food, and everything around the racing that makes opening weekend what it is. ▶ Watch →
The barn. PTF toured Little Red Feather’s opening-weekend stakes runners with managing partner Gary Fenton — a good companion piece to tomorrow’s LRF Cares contest. Listen →
Deadline Today: The Haskell Handicapping Challenge
This is the one with a clock on it. Monmouth’s $1,000 Haskell Handicapping Challenge goes tomorrow with seven-plus BCBC seats, two NHC seats, and cash on the line, and the more players who sign up, the more BCBC seats Monmouth will try to add. If you’re playing through TVG/4NJBets, you must be signed up by 3 p.m. ET today. Through Xpressbet or TwinSpires, you have until noon tomorrow. And if you’ll be at Monmouth on Haskell day, you have to play through TVG.
Sign up for the Haskell Challenge →
Tomorrow: Let’s Fill Up the LRF Cares Contest
Last call for the one we’ve been pushing all week. The 7th Annual LRF Cares Horseplayer Contest runs tomorrow — a $250 Pick & Pray on HorsePlayers.com over all of Del Mar’s races, awarding one 2027 NHC seat for every 40 entries (two guaranteed), with every dollar going to Thoroughbred aftercare. The more players in, the more seats awarded and the more raised for retired racehorses. You can also still win your way in cheap through the $14 feeders. If you’ve been meaning to get involved, today’s the day.
Also Today
A carryover at Colonial. Nobody solved Thursday’s Pick 5, so there’s roughly $25,000 sitting on top of today’s sequence, which begins in Race 4. Michael Domabyl has the card, with Sheilahs Warcloud (Race 4), Lomax (Race 6), and Cheddar (Race 8) as his spot plays. Read →
Haskell Week begins. Monmouth kicks it off today with a salute to Book ’Em Danno, who Eric Solomon notes is the richest New Jersey-bred of all time. Eric has the full card. Read →
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 weekend at inthemoneypodcast.com, with daily previews on the ITM YouTube channel and premium tips on ITM Plus.
