With a carryover of more than $1.45 million and a mandatory payout in the Rainbow 6 on Saturday at Gulfstream, horseplayers from all over will be shooting to take home a chunk of the massive pool. The small 20-cent minimum could result in many deep-pocketed players spreading very deep, perhaps creating value on more likely outcomes. So, here is a modest ticket costing $102.40, playing four horses apiece in half of the races and a pair of runners in the three others.

Most of my attention Saturday will be focused on Gulfstream Park and the mandatory payout in the Rainbow 6, but Santa Anita has a few wagering opportunities that I find intriguing. I’m not anticipating the sort of potential return on investment I could possibly achieve at Gulfstream, but there is money to be made at “The Great Race Place” on Saturday.

RACE 2

Download DRF Plus handicapping reports for Saturday’s races, including DRF Bets GamePlan, the Positive ROI Report, and Key Race Report.

DRF Bets GamePlan

Closer looks for Aqueduct, Churchill Downs, Golden Gate, Gulfstream Park, Santa Anita, and Woodbine, and spot plays and live longshots for Aqueduct, Churchill Downs, Gulfstream Park, Hawthorne, Santa Anita, and Woodbine. Picks are chronologically listed, so you can build and plan your wagering day.

Get GamePlan here.

Taking a stand in the Grade 3 Excelsior (race 8) in the pick four may give you a chance to spread in the other legs and find a price.

Race 6

ARCADIA, Calif. – Bettors that appreciate singling non-favorites might like this pick four play Saturday at Santa Anita. I have two singles, neither favored. The 50-cent wager covers the final four races (6-9), and ends with a 12-1 shot in the finale. Cost of the bet is $36.

Evan’s Calling (#2, ML 15-1) takes on a field of 11 in Friday’s eighth race at Lone Star Park, the Grade 3 Texas Mile Stakes. Since Jan. 1, 2014, trainer Brad Cox is winning at a 30 percent clip in route races, for a return on investment of $2.58.

Check out the Positive ROI report as part of DRF Plus.

Sign up for DRF Plus here.

Gouyen (#3, ML 4-1) will return to action in Friday’s fifth race at Santa Anita, an about 6 1/2-furlong optional claimer on the downhill turf course.  It will be her first start since a second-place finish by a nose in a downhill turf sprint March 26 at Santa Anita. The third- and sixth-place finishers from that race came back to win their next starts.

Get the Key Race report as part of DRF Plus.

Sign up for DRF Plus here.

Superfectas may be the most misunderstood wager in horse racing. Seasoned horseplayers often ignore the superfecta pool, even when it means passing up potentially huge payouts. Many people simply do not know how to play the bet, approaching it the same way they do an exacta: pick your favorite horses and box them. However, since you need to pick the top four horses in exact order, boxing a super can be inefficient and expensive. A $1 superfecta box with four horses costs $24, and in the absolute best-case scenario (barring a dead heat), you will have 23 losing wagers.

The Excelsior Stakes is the featured event on a solid Saturday afternoon card at the Big A. I'm going to key the following horses in multiple-race wagers and will play them to win if they meet my odds requirements:

Excelsior Stakes (race 8)

Not much you can do when you’re five-wide all the way and then go six-wide into the stretch unless your horse has a supercharged motor.