America’s Best Racing and handicapper (and avid gambler) Monique Vág team up to provide horseplayers with their best bets of the weekend in a regular feature blog that will run on Fridays.

For some posts, Vág will try to identify a longshot play of the weekend, a nice opportunity to swing for the fences on a win bet or to take a shot with a show bet. She also will look for strong exacta plays for the weekend or occasionally try to spot a nice opportunity for other wagers.

This Weekend’s Bets

Saturday, Nov. 11

Best Bet

Del Mar, Race 5, $100,000 Bob Hope Stakes, 5:30 p.m. ET

#3 Run Away: This colt has won four of five career starts with a win in the graded stakes ranks already. Today he meets a relatively soft field for a graded stakes race and I think looms as the one to beat. He doesn’t need to be forwardly placed which is nice because often successful sprinters do, however I think he’ll be positioned very close to the pace and should be angled outside to have clear running room in deep stretch.

Longshot Play

Aqueduct, Race 6, 2:47 p.m. ET

#8 Home Run Maker: It’s nice to see this colt with one career start already under his belt and it helps that it was a super competitive one at Saratoga. Although he didn’t fare so well in that effort, it’s tough to judge because it seemed like this colt was pretty adamant on wanting the front end and unfortunately found himself in a speed duel. His workouts have been consistent recently and I anticipate he’s ready for another crack at breaking his maiden.

Longshot Play

Gulfstream Park West, Race 9, $75,000 Juvenile Fillies Turf Stakes, 4:06 p.m. ET

#1 Sunshine Treasure: It’s tough to gauge this filly’s potential because she only has one career start and that was against maiden company, however she did look good winning while showing some discipline and rating ability. The rail is a great place to draw as it’s been a successful post historically, winning at 18 percent clip and often aiding in ground saving trips. She’s worth a closer look at 10-1 on the morning line.

Sunday, Nov. 12

Longshot Play

Woodbine, Race 8, $175,000 Autumn Stakes, 4:38 p.m. ET

#3 Dragon Bay: There’s not much that separates this field and I’ll give this gelding the edge today because I think the odds are more favorable to back than the short-priced outside horse. This seems to be his ideal racing distance and he has shown some serious ability over the synthetic track in the past. Connections thought highly enough to try his luck in the Woodbine Mile as well as ship him to Keeneland recently to race in a bigger allowance. I think that speaks for his potential talent.