In his regular gambling blog, John Piassek presents his top picks for the upcoming weekend in horse racing, offering betting options at different budget levels. Piassek’s Plays 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.

Piassek has contributed to the horse racing sites The Racing Biz and Danonymous Racing and worked at Tioga Downs, Monmouth Park, and Saratoga Race Course. He joined America’s Best Racing in January 2021.

Saturday, Apr. 2

Turfway Park, Race 7, $200,000 Latonia Stakes, post time 3:43 p.m. ET

#6 The Mary Rose: This Arkansas-bred mare ships here for her first start at Turfway. She's been very impressive at her home base of Oaklawn Park over the past few months, with a pair of allowance-optional claiming wins. Last out, she rated off the pace on the inside and had nowhere to go most of the way. As they entered the stretch, she finally got clear and powered away to a sharp 5 1/2-length win, matching her career-top Brisnet figure with a 96. She also ran a 96 in a 7 3/4-length win at Oaklawn on New Year's Eve. She tried to set the pace in the Houston Ladies Classic Stakes two starts back and faded. However, while this is a tougher field than the ones she beat at Oaklawn, it's not as tough a spot as the one at Sam Houston and she doesn't need to be on the lead to contend. She'll very likely get a great trip rating just off the leaders on the outside and be in a prime spot to make her move.

Strategy on a $10 Budget

$6 to win on 6

$4 exacta: 6 with 7

Strategy on a $25 Budget

$13 to win on 6

$6 exacta: 6 with 2, 7 ($12 total)

Strategy on a $50 Budget

$26 to win on 6

$12 exacta: 6 with 2, 7 ($24 total)

Turfway Park, Race 8, $200,000 Rushaway Stakes, post time 4:13 p.m. ET

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#4 Win for the Money: Four of the 12 3-year-olds in the main body of this race have won a race around two turns at the Turfway meet. Slim Slow Slider is taking a very big step up in class; Goldeneye had a promising race two starts back but he stopped badly in the John Battaglia Memorial Stakes; and Erase won the Leonatus Stakes two races back in gate-to-wire style but tired in the Battaglia after setting the pace. He drew the extreme outside post here and runs the risk of having a tough trip.

When you take these three out of the picture, Win for the Money looks like the most promising one. He sat the trip and got up to win a first-level allowance-optional claiming race last out, running a figure of 84 for the third consecutive race. He has some of the best late-pace figures in the race, suggesting that if he gets the right trip he'll be in a prime spot to make a winning move at a decent price. 

Strategy on a $10 Budget

$4 to win on 4

$3 exacta: 4 with 1, 5 ($6 total)

Strategy on a $25 Budget

$7 to win on 4

$4 exacta: 4 with 1, 5 ($8 total)

$1 trifecta: 4 with 1, 5 with 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9 ($10 total)

Strategy on a $50 Budget

$14 to win on 4

$8 exacta: 4 with 1, 5 ($16 total)

$2 trifecta: 4 with 1, 5 with 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9 ($10 total)

Year-To-Date Statistics

25 starts: 7 wins, 4 seconds, 6 thirds

$10 Budget Plays: $250 bet, $339.20 returned

$25 Budget Plays: $625 bet, $972.95 returned

$50 Budget Plays: $1,250 bet, $1,928.14 returned