DerbyJackpot’s Best Bets of the Weekend for Nov. 15-16
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Del Mar photo by Eclipse Sportswire
America’s Best Racing and DerbyJackpot team up to provide horseplayers with their best bets of the weekend in a regular feature blog that will run on Fridays.
Each week, one of our crack handicappers - Jose Contreras, Dan Tordjman, Victoria Garofalo or Cory Moelis – will provide at least one “Best Bet” of the weekend, ideal for a win bet.
The post also will include some combination of additional bets for the weekend.
For some posts, our handicappers 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.
Our handicappers also will look for strong exacta plays for the weekend or occasionally try to spot a nice opportunity to bet a trifecta or superfecta.
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This Weekend’s Bets
Saturday
Best Bet (Win Bet/ Monkey Bet)
Del Mar, Race 4, 5 p.m. ET
#11 Wicked Finace: Although he's breaking from an outside post, Wicked Finance has made a few big moves in his past few races. If he can sit back and time his move right, he should be able to catch these horses from the back of the pack. He's proven on this turf course and should go off a very fair price.
Del Mar, Race 7, 6:30 p.m. ET
Exacta Box (Gonzo Bet)
#4 Island Freedom: Always expected to be a good horse, he was an expensive purchase as a 2-year-old. Now four, Island Freedom has won both his starts at short prices and has shown the talent that his buyers expected. Bred for the turf as a son of Unbridled's Song, he won an impressive turf debut last out and should improve here as a lightly raced horse. He'll have his toughest class test here, but if he can keep improving he's eligible to grab a piece at a nice price.
#9 Presenceofagenius: Switching trainers to Jerry Hollendorfer, he should be poised here. Hollendorfer is one of the best trainers in the country and Presenceofagenius has always had talent to work with. Now in the hands of Hollendorfer, I expect him to improve and run a career-best race that should have him in the picture at the finish line.
#12 Ice Cream Truck: After finally breaking his maiden, he continued to show so much improvement that his connections entered him in several graded stakes. Over his head in those, Ice Cream Truck gets a much-appreciated class-relief try here. He will need to be sent early from an outside post, but if he can get near the lead and not be caught too wide around the turn, he has the versatility to stalk and pounce here.
Sunday
Best Bet (Win Bet/ Monkey Bet)
Churchill Downs, Race 9, 4:36 p.m. ET
#1 Julie's Jewelry: She made sharp improvement after switching trainers two starts back and looks to be the speed of the speed coming into this one. She will have to go faster than she has before to ensure the lead but from the No. 1 post, but I expect her to be hard ridden early to do just that. If she can get the lead, she should be tough to catch.
Longshot Bet (Granny Bet)
Churchill Downs, Race 8, 4:07 p.m. ET
#10 Reachfortheclouds: This horse would have been a much shorter price had it not been for two clunkers in her two most recent races. However, both races had excuses. In the first, she was just too far back to close at a distance that was too short for her. She usually shows better speed, so one can assume that she was out of her comfort zone there. In the next, she got a wet track and again was unable to get the early position she needs to run her best. She gets the cozy outside post here and should be able to garner a comfortable trip from there. That should give her every opportunity to run back to her career best.