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).

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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 sharpest horseplayers around.

Each week, Tordjman will provide readers with his two best bets of the weekend and strategies for how to bet them. Good luck!

Saturday, June 6

Laurel Park, Race 1, post time 12:40 p.m. ET

#6 Case Dismissed: We’re going to take a swing at the good old early Daily Double at Laurel Park on Saturday. This is not only my favorite track, it’s also the track we’ve traditionally had the most success with on Dan’s Double. I’m hoping our selection in the first goes off at a bit of a price, considering five other horses in this race are coming off of a victory last out – Case Dismissed hasn’t won since December. However, following that victory she was claimed by Mario Serey and has run pretty well at this level for the new barn. Serey has won with 25% of his starters this year and he’ll occasionally connect at Laurel with just this kind of runner. Bottom-level claimers are not generally known for their great closing kick but this horse does possess the ability to close if the pace up front is honest. I will be hedging with the rail-drawn Fender Baby (#1) who appears to be the main speed. Just in case that one sneaks away early from this group, I’ll be using on her on my tickets.

Strategy on a $10 Budget 

$2 win, place, show on #6 Case Dismissed ($6)

$2 exacta box: 1,6 ($4)

Strategy on a $25 Budget 

$4 win, place, show on #6 Case Dismissed ($12)

$4 exacta: 6 with 1 ($4)

$2 exacta: 1 with 6 ($2)

$5 double: 6 with 1 ($5)

$2 double: 1 with 1 ($2)

Strategy on a $50 Budget

$8 win, place, show on #6 Case Dismissed ($24)

$8 exacta: 6 with 1 ($8)

$4 exacta: 1 with 6 ($4)

$10 double: 6 with 1 ($10)

$4 double: 1 with 1 ($4)

Laurel Park, Race 2, post time 1:10 p.m. ET

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#1 Instinctive: In the second half of the double, we’re going to go with a very hot hand at Laurel. No one has been riding better than jockey Jevian Toledo (as of this writing, he’s won with 29% of his mounts early in the meet) and he gets back on a horse with whom he’s previously had success. It was last August when Instinctive broke her maiden (won for the first time) with Toledo aboard. His strategy that day was simply to get to the lead and hang on, which he accomplished. The filly ran another nice race in her first try against winners where she was beaten just a couple of lengths in a field that was much deeper than this one. She hasn’t been close in her last two starts but those were over the dirt, so you can put a line through those races. I think Instinctive could get the jump on them from her rail draw and when you factor in the class relief she’s going to get, I think she makes a for a pretty formidable play on Saturday.

Strategy on a $10 Budget 

$2 win, place, show on #1 Instinctive ($6)

$2 exacta box: 1,6 ($4)

Strategy on a $25 Budget

$2 win, place, show on #1 Instinctive ($6)

$4 exacta: 1 with 6 ($4)

$2 exacta: 6 with 1 ($2)

$1 trifecta: 1,6 with 1,4,6,8 with 1,4,6,8 ($12)

Strategy on a $50 Budget

$5 win, place, show on #1 Instinctive ($15)

$10 exacta: 1 with 6 ($10)

$6 exacta: 6 with 1 ($4)

$1 trifecta: 1,6 with 1,4,6,8 with 1,4,6,8 ($12)

$.50 trifecta key box: 1 with 4,6,8 ($9)

Last Week’s Earnings: $0

2020 Earnings: $1,762.40