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.

Lone Star Park, Race 9, $100,000 Speightstown Sprint Stakes, post time 7:00 p.m. ET

#6 It Makes Sense: A field of nine sprinters will race six furlongs on dirt in this one. It Makes Sense most recently won at Lone Star, taking an allowance optional claiming race by two lengths in impressive style. He got a great trip rating off the lead and drew off to a sharp two-length score. The runner-up in that race, Emerald Forest, came back to win next out at Louisiana Downs as the odds-on choice. He also beat two of his rivals here, Red N Wild (#3) and Empire of Gold (#2), in that spot. He looks like he's in prime form right now, having improved with each start this year, and will be able to work out another great stalking trip. 

Strategy on a $10 Budget

$5 to win on 6

$5 exacta box, 4, 6

Strategy on a $25 Budget

$10 to win on 6

$10 exacta, 6 with 4

$5 exacta, 4 with 6

Strategy on a $50 Budget

$25 to win on 6

$15 exacta, 6 with 4

$10 exacta, 4 with 6

Lone Star Park, Race 12, $400,000 Steve Sexton Mile Stakes, post time 8:35 p.m. ET

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#8 Shaaz: This 4-year-old colt cost a pretty penny at auction, going for $1,100,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Mid-Atlantic sale in 2020. He didn't debut until Dec. 26 at Santa Anita Park, and won by a half-length with an impressive Brisnet figure of 104. After a second-place finish in his next race he stretched out to two turns for his third career start last out, and cruised to victory by 2 3/4 lengths in gate-to-wire fashion. He gets a new rider for this occasion, Florent Geroux, and makes his first start for the Sean McCarthy barn. Although he's lightly-raced, he's demonstrated dangerous early speed and looks fast enough to clear from the lead and the rail, even from post position eight. At a 2-1 on the morning line, no one is likely to get rich betting him, but he's the most likely winner of this race and should turn in a dominant performance.

Strategy on a $10 Budget

$4 to win on 8

$3 exacta, 8 with 5, 9 ($6 total)

Strategy on a $25 Budget

$9 to win on 8

$5 exacta, 8 with 5, 9 ($10 total)

$1 trifecta, 8 with 5, 9 with 1, 5, 7, 9 ($6 total)

Strategy on a $50 Budget

$18 to win on 8

$10 exacta, 8 with 5, 9 ($20 total)

$2 trifecta, 8 with 5, 9 with 1, 5, 7, 9 ($12 total)

Year-To-Date Statistics

41 starts: 7 wins, 7 seconds, 6 thirds

$10 Budget Plays: $420 bet, $339.20 returned

$25 Budget Plays: $1,024 bet, $972.95 returned

$50 Budget Plays: $2,050 bet, $1,928.14 returned