Making Money Betting R Free Roll in Sugar Swirl

R Free Roll streaked to a 3 3/4-length win in the U Can Do It Handicap in July at Calder Race Course and figures to be tough on Saturday in the Sugar Swirl Stakes at Gulfstream Park. (Coady Photography)
There will be a number of graded stakes contested at Gulfstream Park this winter, and the championship meet’s graded stakes action gets started on Saturday afternoon with the Grade 3 Sugar Swirl Stakes. 
The Sugar Swirl has a purse of $100,000 and will be contested at 6 furlongs (three-quarters of a mile) on the main track.
With a field of only six horses, it might appear that betting options would be few and far between in this race. However, if you are willing to look beyond the typical straight bets (straight bets, namely win/place/show, are wagers on a single horse in a given race) and venture into exotic betting (exotic bets are wagers that feature multiple races or multiple horses within a single race), you will see that the Sugar Swirl is every bit as much of a money-making opportunity as a race with many more betting options. 
I believe R Free Roll, who has blazing early speed, is a very likely winner of the Sugar Swirl. 
R FREE ROLL WINNING U CAN DO IT HANDICAP IN JULY AT CALDER

Coady Photography
Kirk Ziadie, who wins nearly 30% of his races, trains R Free Roll. Additionally, R Free Roll will be ridden by Edgard Zayas, who controlled the South Florida circuit from a jockey perspective this summer. R Free Roll has also won 50% of her 10 races at the 6-furlong distance of the Sugar Swirl.
Since I believe R Free Roll will win the Sugar Swirl as the favorite, it will be necessary to pick out a couple of horses to finish in second and third behind R Free Roll in order to get involved in exotic wagers, such as exactas and trifectas, on Saturday:
#2 Merry Meadow: This filly most recently won the Sky Beauty Stakes at Gulfstream Park West, and she is the only filly coming into the Sugar Swirl off a victory. Javier Castellano, the leading jockey at the 2013-2014 Gulfstream Park championship meet, will ride Merry Meadow on Saturday. She has also finished in the top three in 21 of her 24 career races, including in 10 of her 11 career races at the Sugar Swirl distance of 6 furlongs.
#6 Ol Donyo: This filly also most recently raced in the Sky Beauty at Gulfstream Park West, where she finished third behind Merry Meadow after going extremely wide coming out of the turn. Prior to the Sky Beauty, Ol Donyo won two straight races, and this filly has shown an affinity for Gulfstream Park. She has finished in the top three in 5 of 6 career races at Gulfstream. One of the best jockeys in the country, Joel Rosario, will be riding Ol Donyo for the first time on Saturday, which can certainly be viewed as a positive. 
Strategies:
As mentioned above, I think R Free Roll will win the Sugar Swirl. Let’s play her on top of Merry Meadow and Ol Donyo in exactas and trifectas and hope to make a little money at Gulfstream on Saturday!
Strategy A: $10 exacta 4 with 2,6 = $20
Strategy B: $10 trifecta 4 with 2,6 with 2,6 = $20
$100,000 Sugar Swirl StakesGulfstream Park, Saturday, Race 3, 1:33 p.m. ET6 furlongs, dirt, fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and older

PP

Horse

Jockey

Weight

Trainer

1

Risky Rachel

Joe Bravo

117

George Weaver

2

Merry Meadow

Javier Castellano

121

Mark Hennig

3

Wildcat Lily

Paco Lopez

117

Everton Alex Harris

4

R Free Roll

Edgard Zayas

123

Kirk Ziadie

5

Centrique

Edgar Prado

117

Marty Wolfson

6

Ol Donyo

Joel Rosario

119

Marty Wolfson