Picks and plays for the $500 Churchill Downs KDBC Qualifier tournament

The Sunday card at Churchill Downs is the focus of a $500 Churchill Downs KDBC Qualifier tournament on TwinSpires.com.

$500 Churchill Downs KDBC Qualifier tournament

The tournament requires players to bet their entire $250 bankroll across at least five races at Churchill Downs (minimum $25 in a given race for it to count toward the five-race total). Players who finish high enough in the standings will earn an entry into the $5,000 Kentucky Derby Betting Challenge (KDBC) tournament next May.

Here are a few bets we recommend playing across the card:

Race 1 wager

• $25 Exacta: 2 with 5

The opening race on the card is a $100,000 maiden claimer for fillies and mares racing 7 1/2 furlongs on dirt. #5 Plaza Cue (7-5) is a clear favorite while dropping in class out of maiden special weights, but her 6-0-4-1 lifetime record suggests she has a tendency to settle for minor awards.

Let’s try to beat Plaza Cue with #2 Executive Suite (7-2), a first-time starter from the Brad Cox barn. Cox wins at a 20% rate with horses debuting in maiden claimers, and Executive Suite has posted a trio of bullet workouts at Ellis Park since the beginning of October, suggesting she has some talent. The presence of hot jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. adds to the appeal.

A cold exacta is the bet we recommend.

Race 6 wagers

• $20 to win on #4 Bestfriend Rocket
• $5 Exacta: 4 with 6
  Total: $25

Race 6 is a $40,000 claimer taking place over 1 1/16 miles on dirt. The conditions should suit #4 Bestfriend Rocket (3-1), a three-year-old facing his elders for the first time.

Bestfriend Rocket has shown flashes of ability. Last winter, he won a $200,000 allowance optional claimer racing 1 1/16 miles at Oaklawn Park. More recently, during the summer at Saratoga, he ran second in a one-mile $75,000 claimer.

Bestfriend Rocket recently ended a three-month layoff with a sixth-place finish in a $125,000 allowance optional claimer at Keeneland, a race won in runaway fashion by Kentucky Derby (G1) alum Chunk of Gold. This $40,000 claimer is shaping up as an easier spot, so a win bet is in order. Also, play an exacta adding longtime allowance competitor #6 Yellow Brick (6-1) for second place.

Good luck!