Betting the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on a $20 Budget

Carpe Diem in the Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland. (Photo by Eclipse Sportswire)
The $2-million Sentient Jet Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita on Saturday afternoon will feature some of the world’s best 2-year-olds competing on the main track at 1 1/16 miles. 
The Breeders’ Cup Juvenile drew runners from all over the world, including horses who made their most recent starts in California, Illinois, Kentucky, New Jersey, and New York as well as foreign runners representing Canada and Ireland.  Not only will the runners be competing for prize money and prestige, the winner also could position himself for the 2014 Eclipse Award as champion 2-year-old male.
There is plenty at stake in the Juvenile, let’s take a look at some of the top contenders:
#1 Calculator: The good news is that Calculator has finished second in two consecutive Grade 1 (the best of the best) stakes races.  The bad news is that Calculator has never finished better than those two aforementioned second-place finishes, and therefore he is still a maiden (a horse who has never won a race). That being said, Calculator has been training well for this race and given that he is based in California, he has a bit of a home-field advantage in the Juvenile.
#4 The Great War: This colt is one of the international competitors in this race, having made all seven of his prior starts in either Ireland or England. The Great War will be making a homecoming of sorts in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. He was bred Kentucky and sold for $1-million at auction at the Keeneland September yearling sale in 2013. In addition to his worldwide travels, The Great War faces a few more obstacles in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile — he will be racing a quarter-mile farther than he has ever raced before and also will be racing for the first time on a dirt surface.
#9 Carpe Diem: Carpe Diem is another colt who was very expensive at auction. He sold for $1.6-million earlier this year at the OBS March sale of selected 2-year-olds in training. This colt has done everything right and is undefeated in two starts, having captured a victory at Saratoga in September before winning the Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland in October. In the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, Carpe Diem will need to keep his undefeated record intact by winning at another different racetrack, but top-notch human connections Todd Pletcher (trainer) and John Velazquez (jockey) will give this colt the best chance possible to do so.
#12 Daredevil: In addition to Carpe Diem, trainer Todd Pletcher also has entered this colt, who will be ridden by 2013 Eclipse Award-winning jockey Javier Castellano. Like Carpe Diem, Daredevil is undefeated with two victories in his two starts, both of which came at Belmont Park in New York. In the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, Daredevil will need to ship across the country and beat the best of his generation in order to remain undefeated. It should also be noted that both of Daredevil’s wins came on “off tracks” (a track that has some degree of moisture in it after taking on precipitation) and he probably will need to win on a dry surface in California on Saturday.
Betting Strategies
Strategy A:  $5 exacta box 1,9
$5 win/place on #1 Calculator
Strategy B:  $10 exacta box 1,9