Dan’s Double of the week, featuring handicapping analysis from America's Best Racing's New York correspondent Dan Tordjman, is brought to you by Horseplayers.com, the official online qualifying site of the Breeders' Cup Betting Challenge (BCBC) and National Horseplayers Championship (NHC). Horseplayers.com offers low-cost feeders every day and BCBC and NHC qualifiers every weekend, and it’s the only site where you can qualify for the $1 million BCBC. It’s free to sign up – click here to get information about registering and how to enter contests.

When it comes to making money when handicapping races and betting on horse racing, it’s all about picking winners. Tordjman – DanonymousMan to those who follow him on Twitter – is one of the brightest young minds in the game.

Each Week, Tordjman will provide readers with his two best bets of the weekend and strategies for how to bet them. Tordjman will keep track of his return on investment (ROI) throughout the year and, as a bonus, he will also provide picks for a selection of the key races on the Triple Crown trail and the road to the Breeders’ Cup. Dan was able to manage a positive ROI for his plays in 2016 but was in the red for 2017. How will he do in 2018? To find out and to play along, come back every week and be sure to follow Tordjman on Twitter.

Friday, May 12

Belmont Park, Race 6, $90,000 allowance, 3-year-olds and up

#7 Mr. Buff: The big thing to look out for this time of year is horses who have run well at Belmont Park, coming back to Belmont Park for their seasonal debut. Some of these horses may be shipping in from other jurisdictions but many of them are coming in off of races at New York’s winter track, Aqueduct. Mr. Buff ran five times over the winter at Aqueduct and every race fit the same profile –  he got to the lead and tired late. But if you look at some of his races prior to those (such as ones at Belmont), he’s done pretty well. He’s won twice at Belmont and he’s been in the money in three of four races. He’s also the main speed here. I think there’s a good chance that Mr. Buff gets loose and he may be tough to catch.

$10 Budget

$5 win and place on #7 Mr. Buff ($10)

$25 Budget

$8 win, place and show on #7 Mr. Buff ($24)

$50 Budget

$15 win, place and show on #7 Mr. Buff ($45)

Saturday, May 12

Belmont Park, Race 7, $80,000 allowance optional claiming, 3-year-olds and up foaled in New York

#5 Samadi Sky: This is a similar angle to Mr. Buff in that Samadi Sky ran one of his best races at Belmont. He lost by just a length against similar company last October, which is also one of his last races on turf. He gets back to the turf on Saturday and he’s also stretching out with the kind of speed that indicates he’ll be on or near the lead. He might very well be overlooked in the betting but think he could be dangerous.

$10 Budget

$2 win, place and show on #5 Samadi Sky ($6)

$1 exacta 2,5 with 2,5,12 ($4)

$25 Budget

$4 win, place and show on #5 Samadi Sky ($12)

$1 exacta box 2,5,6,12 ($12)

$50 Budget

$6 win, place and show on #5 Samadi Sky ($18)

$1 exacta box 2,5,6,12 ($12)

$1 trifecta 2,5 with 2,5,12 with 2,3,5,6,7,9,12 ($20)

2018 ROI: -$719.45