Keeneland Changes its Superfecta Wager

 Thursday Strategy Session (4/2/2026)

The Keeneland Spring meet opens on Friday, April 3rd. A big change on the wagering menu will be the Superfecta. It has been changed to a 50 CENT base wager.

For Superfecta players this is a huge change. Not only will this impact their bankroll, but it is likely to sharpen their focus on race selection and handicapping in general. No longer will they be able to incorporate certain angles into their race play.

At 50 CENTs a Boxed group of four horses comes at a cost of $12.00. Compare that to a 10 CENT Superfecta Box which comes in at $2.40. Quite a difference.

We are not sure what impact this rise in price of the Superfecta will do to the overall wagering pool, one thing is certain, many Superfecta players will shy away from numerous combinations.

Here are a few wagering structures that you may wish to consider keeping your bankroll tight.

Our Favorite Play without the ALL in the fourth position.

A  /  B, C  /  b,c, D, E, F  /  b,c,d,e,f.    cost: $12.00

in this structure you are certain of the winner.

Two Top Horses could Win

A, B  /  a,b, C  /  a,b,c, D  /  a,b,c,d, E.  cost: $8.00

You've handicapped the Ist and 2nd Horse

A  /  B  /  C, D, E  /  c,d,e, F.   cost:  $4.50.

utilizing this structure, you may wish to put additional horses in that fourth position. Each additional fourth place horse will cost you an additional $1.50. For example, in a twelve horse field in which you hit the ALL button it will cost you a total of $13.50.

The Keeneland meet always has great fields and juicy payouts. Good luck in all your handicapping efforts. Should you play the Superfecta be mindful of your bankroll and select the best races on the day.  

Kentucky Derby 146 Wagering Strategies

 Thursday Strategy Session

KD 146 Wagering Strategy

Despite the lack of fans in this most unusual year, the 2020 Kentucky Derby promises to be a fantastic race to wager and watch. How do we approach it on a "blue collar budget". No need to go crazy like our sports betting brethren, firing a buck ($100), a nickel ($500), or a dime ($1000) at will. Let's go into it modestly, making intelligent picks with a budget of only sixty bucks total. Consider a full spectrum wager strategy for that magnificent 14th race on the card.

Many professional handicapper's have nearly anointed Tiz the Law as the eventual winner. Yes, he is the best of this year's three year-old crop. And should win if he runs his race. Consequently, he should be the key horse in most exotic wagers. Keep in mind he will be seeking his fifth straight win against stiff competition. It is wise to HEDGE a little as you develop your tickets.

Exacta

Set the ticket up with Tiz as the key and then throw in a mid-priced, mid-pack runner, a couple of solid challengers, and a couple of long shot closers. It might look like this.

Tz // A,  B,  C,  D, E

Don't forget to reverse it, putting the others on to and Tiz in the second position. The first-rate handicapper Jerry Jackowitz (jerryjpowerpage.com) has long advised this and has done very well. Both of the above plays will cost $5.00 each.

Trifecta

The trifecta will be a 50 CENT base wager. There are several different ways to construct your tickets given your handicapping prowess. Here are our suggestions:

Tz //  A, B, //  A, B C, D, E, F, G, H

This straightaway wager will cost you a cool $7.00. In addition budget for four Trifecta Box wagers which will cost you $3.00 each for a total of $12.00. Set up a couple of boxes with Tiz the Law and maybe a long shot closer box and one that allows for a stumble by the overwhelming favorite. Have fun with this wager.

Superfecta

Regular readers of this blog know this is our favorite wager and we will do a straight away wager listing those three horses we feel will finish one, two , three, and cost $1.50.

Tz //  A // B  // ALL

Our Lambrakis method ticket might look like this:

Tz  //  A, B  //  A, B, C, D, E  //  A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H

Note that we will use all the horses in our Notable Nine  blog post. This wager will come in at a cost of $4.80.

We will also throw down our much used wager, the 10 CENT Superfecta Box, including Tiz while looking at a few different angles. They might be:

Best Workouts among the entrants. This is somewhat subjective. We will try to determine which have gave a good account of themselves on the track in the past thirty days leading up to KD 146.

Trainer / Jockey combo. This merely represents the win percentage win these trainers and jockey's team up. We just have to determine which horses have a chance. Here is the way the top percentages look by program number.:

18--15--16--9--17--5--1

Top Speed Number given Last Three races:  17--16--18--2

Dollars won per Race:  17--18--4--16. Just divide the horses overall winnings by the number of races he has run.

Long Shot Closers.  Look at the card and see which closers you deem have an excellent chance and throw in a mid-pack off the pace type into your box. This is what we call our Giacomo Play, named after the famed 2005 Kentucky Derby winner. Should the pace collapse it could be the closers and off the pace types that pick up the pieces.

Super High-Five (pentafecta)

If it is on the KD-146 menu, let's play it. After all it is the Derby. We will roll it like this:

Tz  //  A  //  B //  C, D  //  C, D, E, F, G, H

At a cost of $10, this could offer a fantastic pay-out if it cashes.

While this year's Kentucky Derby may not have the substantial handle that normal years have with 150,000 fans under the Twin Spires, it should have some juicy pay outs. Best of Luck to you and may the odds be with you.

Let's Play Two At Belmont

Today we look at two fine races at Belmont Park.  The nice thing about Belmont is you can really stretch your bankroll, preserve it and come out a winner.  It is one of the few tracks that offer a $1.00 (USD) Win/Show, Win/Place, and Place/Show wager.  The payout is half the amount you would earn on a standard $2.00 (USD) wager.  It's very nice when you budget a specific amount per race and then spread it over a few horses you think have a chance of being in the money.

Belmont Park Race 8 {1 1/16 mile~Turf~3 year old Up~NY~Allowance}
This is a very nice Turf contest with a talented field of ten going to the gate.  There are also three "also eligible" that will go should there be any defections from the race.  Overall, Quiet On The Tee (Dominguez / Clement) looks like the best racer in here.  He is coming off a layoff with three sound workouts.  He has the top distance record of 80% in the money and sports the third highest speed number at the distance.  Jockey, Ramon Dominguez and trainer, Christophe Clement are a winning combination.  Relatively Ready (Prado / Donk) could challenge with the highest speed number at the distance, a three race progression, and two hearty workouts.  The rest of the field seems to be of equal capability.  Flowersonyourback (Lezcano / Wright) will be moving up in distance with a decent last out speed number, a five race progression, and two strong workouts.  Eire's Run (A. Garcia / Rice) looks well spotted with the highest last out speed number and one firey workout.  Should be an interesting race.  Let's play the first of our double-header at Belmont Park.

$1 WIN / SHOW:  #7 Quiet On The Tee
$1 PLACE / SHOW:  #1 Rlatively Ready
$2 SHOW:  #10 Flowersonyourback
10 CENT Superfecta:  #7 Quiet On The Tee / #1 Relatively Ready / #10 Flowersonyourback / #2 Eire's Run.

Belmont Park Race 9 {Dwyer~G2~1 1/8 mile~3 year old~Stakes}
What a fabulous stakes race.  Entrants include several that were on the Kentucky Derby trail this year that will make this a highly competitive race.  Winstar Farm's, Drosselmeyer (Desormeaux / Mott) has the edge with the highest speed number at the distance and three awesome workouts.  His last out speed number also tops the field.  Fly Down (Lezcano / Zito) should be a great challenger with the second highest speed number at the distance and three tremendous workouts.  He is the only one in the field to race over "Big Sandy".  Remand (J. Velazquez / Terranova) will be moving up in distance and appears to be ready to fire.  This fella sports the third highest last out speed number and the best workout tab with four superb, peaking workouts.  Remand could pull the upset.  Two others that will be in the mix battling it out for a piece of the purse will be Carnivore (Dominguez / Delozier) and Turf Melody (Maragh / Motion).  Carnivore posted the fourth highest last out speed number and two hearty workouts.  Turf Melody has the second highest overall speed number and has posted two robust workouts.  Let's play the second of our Belmont Park double-header.

$1 WIN / SHOW:  #2 Drosselmeyer
$1 PLACE / SHOW:  #7 Fly Down
$2 SHOW:  #5 Remand
10 CENT Superfecta:  #2 Drosselmeyer / #7 Fly Down / #5 Remand / #1 Carnivore, #3 Turf Melody.
















Friday's Results
Belmont Park R7.  Our first pick, Academy Run, finished 4th.  Our second pick, Xodo, finished 2nd for place money of $4.30 and show money of $2.70.  Our third pick, Soldier Field, finished 5th.  Superfecta went 3-4-2-5.
Churchill Downs R9.  Our first pick, Belo Sorte, won (1st) for show money of $2.40.  Our second pick, Versailles Road, finished 4th.  Superfecta went 8-4-5-2.
Bankroll trickles down to $50.50.