| ONCEUPONATIMEIN | Phrase that, when preceded by the first parts of the four theme entries, creates the name of the entertainment in the parenthesis |
| FANGOON | Alternative name of the Ent Treebeard in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, from the Elvish language of Sindarin (7) |
| OTOLOGIST | First in the ENT department? I wish I could see the point (9) |
| ORL | Alternate abbr. for the ENT specialty |
| JOHNGRISHAMNOVEL | What the first word of each of seven answers in this puzzle is, when preceded by "The" |
| MIAMI | The last word of each of the four theme entries is a member of a professional sports team from this city |
| HORSERACE | What the puzzle's title refers to; the first parts of the starred entries, in clue order, give the order of the top three finishers |
| STORM | Each of the first names in the four theme entries will be an Atlantic one of these in 2020 |
| SEQUENCE | When preceded by [the circled letters], progression starting with 0 and 1 |
| LAMENTATIONS | Book of the Old Testament preceded by the Book of Jeremiah dealing with the destruction of Jerusalem (12) |
| HARLENE | Woman's name that becomes a more common woman's name when preceded by a C |
| MEN | The start of the four theme entries, collectively |
| NUMBERS | Four different Spanish ones begin each of the four theme entries |
| ELEMENT | Each of the four theme entries ends in an astrological one of these |
| INSIDEVOICE | Good title for this crossword, considering what each of the four theme entries conceals (2 wds.) |
| TWOD | Popular cinematic format each of the four theme entries was filmed in, as their initials suggest |
| SAMUELDE | First parts of the name of "father of New France" |
| JACKSTOOPEN | Dealer's call, or what might work with the first parts of the starred entries |
| ROMANS | Book of the New Testament preceded by the Acts of the Apostles (6) |
| TILDE | Squiggle seen on an "N" in each of the four theme entries |
