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.

Friday, Nov. 26

Churchill Downs, Race 4, post time 2:27 p.m. ET

#3 Strong Silent: This lightly-raced filly has the most early speed of anyone in this non-winners of three allowance race at one mile. She broke her maiden impressively at Ellis Park in August and then won a first-level allowance race here in September despite consistent pace pressure. In her last start, the Lexus Raven Run Stakes at Keeneland, she was pressed on a fast pace and backed up. Now she drops in class and shouldn't have as much front-end pressure to deal with. If she can get to the lead and the rail by the first quarter-mile mark, she'll be in great shape.

Strategy on a $10 Budget

$6 to win on 3

$4 exacta, 3 with 2

Strategy on a $25 Budget

$11 to win on 3

$7 exacta, 3 with 2, 4 ($14 total)

Strategy on a $50 Budget

$20 to win on 3

$11 exacta, 3 with 2, 4 ($22 total)

$2 trifecta, 3 with 2, 4 with 2, 4, 6 ($8 total)

Churchill Downs, Race 10, post time 5:27 p.m. ET

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#9 Injunction: Only two of the 12 horses in this first-level allowance field have never lost against winners. One of them is Injunction, who broke his maiden last out by 9 1/2 lengths in impressive fashion at Keeneland. He got involved in a three-way speed duel early on but dismissed his rivals and moved clear around the turn. He finished ahead of the other pacesetters by 13 1/2 lengths and 20 3/4 lengths, respectively. He ran a 102 Equibase Speed Figure and a 92 Brisnet figure; both marks are career highs. This will be a tougher field than he faced last time, but he's been improving with every race and goes in his second start off a brief layoff, so the extra competition shouldn't be too much of a problem. I'm expecting a big performance out of him. 

Strategy on a $10 Budget

$4 to win on 9

$1 exacta box, 9, 10, 12 ($6 total)

Strategy on a $25 Budget

$8 to win on 9

$2 exacta box, 9, 10, 12 ($12 total)

50-cent trifecta, 9 with 10, 12 with 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12 ($5 total)

Strategy on a $50 Budget

$16 to win on 9

$4 exacta box, 9, 10, 12 ($24 total)

$1 trifecta, 9 with 10, 12 with 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12 ($10 total)