Wednesday’s Best Bets and Quick Picks: How to bet Churchill’s $8,018 Super High 5 carryover

Handicapper J. Keeler Johnson shares best bets and quick picks for Wednesday, June 10 at Churchill Downs and Assiniboia Downs, including a ticket for Churchill’s $8,018 Super High 5 carryover.

Today’s special offers from TwinSpires include:

• New Players $200 Sign-Up Bonus: Open your TwinSpires.com account using the offer code BET200 to start earning a $200 bonus.
• 25% Double Down at Assiniboia Downs: Hit two double wagers at Assiniboia Downs to receive a 25% boost on all winning double wagers (up to $25 for the day) on Tuesdays and Wednesdays until June 24.
• $1,500 Late Pick 5 Hit It & Split It at Horseshoe Indianapolis: Hit the Late Pick 5 at Horseshoe Indianapolis to split a $1,500 prize pool each racing Wednesday in June.
• $250,000 Minimum Guarantee Jackpot 8: Play the Jackpot 8 at Churchill Downs on TwinSpires for a chance to win a guaranteed payout of $250,000 for any single winner of the entire Jackpot 8.

Today’s TwinSpires tournaments include:

• $64 Churchill Downs Bet and Set Feeder to 6/14 Churchill Downs NHC Qualifier
• $40 Churchill Downs Challenge
• $100 Churchill Downs Challenge
• $120 Churchill Downs Feeder to 6/13 Churchill Downs SFBC Qualifier
• $40 Penn National Challenge
• $64 Penn National Feeder to 6/12 Churchill Downs SFBC Bonus Feeder

Best Bets and Quick Picks

Churchill Downs: Race 2: Maiden Special Weight (5 1/2 furlongs on dirt, 1:14 p.m. ET)

Unraced two-year-old #7 Bon Voyage (6-5) has the pedigree to win from an early age. Six of his half-siblings broke their maidens at age two, including three who won first-time out and two who scored stakes wins as juveniles.

Bon Voyage is trained by Mike Maker (a respectable 13% winner with first-time starters), and he’s slated to be ridden by five-time Eclipse Award-winning jockey Irad Ortiz Jr., a 27% winner at Churchill Downs this meet. Let’s place a large win bet on Bon Voyage.

Selections

• #7 Bon Voyage (6-5)
• #2 Icebreak (9-2)
• #4 Lookin At Joel (10-1)

Wagers

• $50 to win on #7 Bon Voyage

Churchill Downs: Race 4: Maiden Special Weight (5 1/2 furlongs on dirt, 2:13 p.m. ET)

#6 Voyager (5-2), an unraced two-year-old daughter of Triple Crown winner Justify, enters off a fast series of workouts for Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse. On May 31, she breezed a bullet five furlongs at Churchill Downs in :59 1/5.

Justify sires a solid 14% winners from first-time starters, and Irad Ortiz Jr. is named to ride Voyager, so let’s bet the bay filly to win and key her over fellow first-time starter #2 Banana Frost (2-1) in a small exacta.

Selections

• #6 Voyager (5-2)
• #2 Banana Frost (2-1)
• #8 Devilish Delight (8-1)

Wagers

• $24 to win on #6 Voyager
• $6 Exacta: 6 with 2
  Total: $30

Assiniboia Downs: Race 3: Maiden Special Weight (5 1/2 furlongs on dirt, 9:25 p.m. ET)

The fastest horse in this field from a Brisnet Speed rating perspective is #4 American Witt (9-5). He earned a 77 when finishing second in the 5 1/2-furlong My Dandy Division of the Clarence Scharbauer Jr. Texas Stallion S. at Sam Houston.

The par-winning Brisnet Speed rating for Wednesday’s conditions at Assiniboia is only 71, so American Witt should find the competition easier while taking his talents to Canada. A win bet is in order, along with a trifecta using #5 Preachers Secret (5-2) and #3 Judge Oliver (3-1) underneath.

Selections

• #4 American Witt (9-5)
• #5 Preachers Secret (5-2)
• #3 Judge Oliver (3-1)

Wagers

• $20 to win on #4 American Witt
• $10 Trifecta: 4 with 3,5 with 3,5 ($20)
  Total: $40

Carryover Watch

Churchill Downs: Race 1: $8,018 Super High 5 carryover (12:45 p.m. ET)

This week’s racing action at Churchill Downs gets underway on Wednesday with an $8,018 carryover up for grabs in the $1 Super High 5.

The prize pool is available to chase right off the bat in Race 1, a $12,500 maiden claimer for fillies and mares dashing 6 1/2 furlongs on dirt. Seven horses have entered, so there are only 2,520 possible Super High 5 outcomes to analyze. Nevertheless, it’s a tricky race to handicap because many of the entrants bring uninspiring form to the table.

Wager

• $1 Super High 5: 3,5 with 3,5 with 1,4,7 with ALL with ALL ($36)

We like the chances of #5 Kyler (7-2), who has a clearer path to improving than most. She’s competed three times in $30,000 maiden claimers on Tapeta and turf, finishing seventh, eighth, and eighth. Her pedigree suggests she could improve while switching to dirt, and take note, trainer Christopher Davis wins at a lofty 27% rate with horses dropping multiple levels down the class ladder. Throw in the fact she’ll be ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr., and there’s a lot to like about Kyler.

#3 Relevate (7-5) is the other key contender. She’s shown flashes of ability against tougher company, most notably finishing third in a pair of maiden special weights at Aqueduct. Relevate is the fastest horse in this field from a Brisnet Speed rating standpoint and should appreciate dropping down the class ladder in her second start for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen.

Horses we’ll use underneath include #1 Lexi’s Melody (8-1), #4 Berlinwin (6-1), and #7 Let ‘er Sizzle (3-1).

Should a scratch from Race 1 reduce the field to fewer than seven starters, Super High 5 wagering will be canceled, and the carryover will instead be offered in Race 2, assuming it goes off with at least seven starters.

Race 2 is the above-mentioned maiden special weight in which we rank #7 Bon Voyage (6-5) as the horse to beat. We recommend keying Bon Voyage on top of the Super High 5.

Good luck!