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.

Santa Anita Park, Race 5, post time 6:15 p.m. ET

#4 Sapphire Kid (3-1): This is a relatively inexperienced first-level allowance bunch. Of the six horses, four of them have only one win. One horse has two wins, and the other, Sapphire Kid, has six wins. She fits through the optional claiming tag of $40,000.

Sapphire Kid won two in a row earlier in the year, including a win at this level on Feb. 7. She’s coming off a sixth-place finish in the Irish O’Brien Stakes, where she was caught wide most of the way and didn’t have much punch. Although this is a 1 ⅛-mile race, and she’s done her best work in sprints, she has shown some ability going longer. On Feb. 17, 2020, she led almost all the way in a similar spot before getting caught late. After that race, she went on the sidelines until January, but has been in strong form since coming back. In a race without much other speed, she could find herself on the lead, and her class and an easy pace might carry the day.

Strategy on a $10 budget

$4 to win on 4

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

Strategy on a $25 budget

$9 to win on 4

$4 exacta key box, 4 with 1, 2 ($16 total)

Strategy on a $50 budget

$18 to win on 4

$8 exacta key box, 4 with 1, 2 ($32 total)

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Santa Anita Park, Race 7, $100,000 Santa Barbara Stakes, post time 7:19 p.m. ET

#7 Go Big Blue Nation (4-1): Umberto Rispoli is one of the top grass jockeys in the entire country. This year, he’s won a remarkable 26% of his grass races.

He’ll look to add another graded stakes to his résumé here, in the Grade 3 Santa Barbara Stakes. Go Big Blue Nation is coming off a monster race in a second-level allowance, where she closed to win by half a length despite getting stuck behind a slow pace. Rispoli gets the mount for the first time, taking over for Alexis Centeno. She’s put in strong rallies in each of her last few, and should be able to handle today’s 1 ½-mile distance.

Strategy on a $10 budget

$5 to win on 7

$5 exacta, 7 with 3

Strategy on a $25 budget

$5 to win on 7

$4 exacta, 7 with 2, 3 ($8 total)

$2 trifecta, 7 with 2, 3 with 2, 3, 4, 5 ($12 total)

Strategy on a $50 budget

$10 to win on 7

$8 exacta, 7 with 2, 3 ($16 total)

$4 trifecta, 7 with 2, 3 with 2, 3, 4, 5 ($24 total)