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, Jan. 6

Best Bet

Gulfstream Park, Race 3, Limehouse Stakes, 1:05 p.m. ET

#3 Piven: He ships in from Woodbine ad I think the consistency he’s shown is a positive sign. He’s been no less than half a length back in any of his races under a mile. It’s difficult to read into his past performances as those were on the all-weather surface and this will be a move to dirt. Judging from his workouts though, it looks like he’s found a particular affinity for the Gulfstream Park dirt surface.

Best Bet

Gulfstream Park, Race 7, Kitten’s Joy Stakes, 3:05 p.m. ET

#1 Flameaway: He had been entered to race on the turf twice before his most recent start but had two races taken off that surface and moved to dirt because of rain. Surprisingly, he didn’t scratch in either race, but it’s the move to try his first ever grass  start in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf at Del Mar that really caught my eye. He finished eighth but just over three lengths back at a mile. I think this is a great distance for him as anything over a mile is probably just a little long. I expect this colt to be flying down the stretch.

Longshot Play

Gulfstream Park, Race 10, Mucho Macho Man Stakes, 4:37 p.m. ET

#5 Santiamen: The 8-1 odds are a very generous morning-line price on any undefeated runner. I’m not concerned with the move today from sprinting to routing as I do believe pedigree-wise he’s solid and ability-wise he could definitely contend with the much shorter prices in here. The jockey change to Irad Ortiz Jr. is a huge positive for me, and I think he’s worthy of a closer look in a wide-open field.

Longshot Play

Santa Anita Park, Race 9, 7:42 p.m. ET

#8 C.C. Zipp: She has won on this downhill turf course in the past, which is definitely something I love to see as it’s often very tricky to navigate. There doesn’t seem to be much speed entered, so I anticipate her to be forwardly placed and settled in comfortably on or near the front end. She’s best-suited to sprinting and racing on turf. I wouldn’t be surprised to see strong early positioning and a clean trip up front win it for her today.