Best Horse Racing Bets for Saturday, November 13, 2021

The three tracks I visited—Aqueduct Racetrack, Charles Town Races, and Churchill Downs—for my Saturday picks each featured a single stakes race, so we’ve got plenty of competition to examine for our choices.

You’ll find that while I found plenty of underdogs to tout, there were some embarrassingly obvious winners among the favorites, as well.

What would you do if you encountered a horse that had won her last eight races? Why, you would bet on her, of course.

But before you do that, check my math with a quick scan of the race-cards at our best horseracing sites.

Good luck!

Let’s start out on the main track with race seven, a 6-1/2-furlong allowance optional claiming run for fillies and mares three years old and upward. I’m buying a winning ticket on the 9/5 morning-line favorite, Breakfastatbonnies, ridden by Luis Saez.

This three-year-old filly finished in the money all three of her career starts, winning two. She’s got the best stats in this seven-horse field.

Danny Gargan, who has been in the top 100 in either wins or earnings every year since 2016, trains Breakfastatbonnies for owners Jonathan Thorne and R.A. Hill Stable.

Race eight is a six-furlong allowance run on the main track for three-year-olds and upward. If the morning-line is to be believed, the winner of this race will be the 2/5 Happy Medium, who I’ll admit has some impressive speed figures for his two career starts.

The thing is, for this race I like the 8/1 underdog, American Monarch, with Junior Alvarado in the irons.

This three-year-old ridgling moneyed only one of his three career starts—his initial maiden attempt—then went on to finish fourth in the 2020 Summer Stakes (Grade I) at Woodbine and sixth in the 2020 Pilgrim Stakes (Grade II) at Belmont Park.

Hall of Famer and fifty-year veteran of the racing game William I. Mott trains American Monarch for owner-breeder Mike G. Rutherford. Mott put Junior Alvarado aboard for American Monarch’s maiden victory as well as his Pilgrim Stakes run.

We move to the turf course for race nine—the Artie Schiller Stakes, a $150,000 purse, one-mile grass run for three-year-olds and upward. My money’s on the 9/2 underdog Field Pass, piloted by Javier Castellano.

This four-year-old colt has a better record than the grass and MTO favorites: 13 money finishes in 22 career starts, seven of those wins.

He’s been campaigned very aggressively at the stakes level—six of his seven wins have been in stakes races, including the most recent, the Ontario Derby (Grade III) last November at Woodbine and the Baltimore/Washington International Turf Cup Stakes (Grade III) at Pimlico in this past July.

Incidentally, he hasn’t posted a speed figure under three digits for his past 13 races.

Breeders’ Cup veteran Michael J. Maker trains Field Pass for Three Diamonds Farm.

We’re on the main track for race five, a 6-1/2-furlong starter allowance run for three-year-olds and upward. I agree with the morning line that this race belongs to the 9/5 favorite, Fire Down Below, ridden by Darius Thorpe.

This five-year-old gelding moneyed 12 of his 22 career starts, winning ten of them.

Fire Down Below is trained by owner Amy Albright, who has tapped Thorpe to saddle Fire Down Below for his last two victories.

Race six is a seven-furlong allowance run for West Virginia-bred three-year-olds and upward. I like the second-favored (at 5/2) Officer Appeal, with top jockey Arnaldo Bocachica aboard.

Ranked highly among his fellow trainers for the past two years, Anthony Farrior trains Officer Appeal for owner Rafael Orellanes.

Race seven is the My Sister Pearl Stakes, a $75,000 purse, 1-1/8 miles main track run for West Virginia-bred fillies and mares three years old and upward. This is officially the no-brainer pick of the week, perhaps for the year.

I’m betting all two of my dollars on the 3/5 morning-line favorite, Star of Night, with Arnaldo Bocachica in the irons.

While there is no dearth of solid competitors in this ten-horse field, this four-year-old filly will be hard to beat: Twelve money finishes in twelve career starts, ten of which were wins. Are you with me so far?

Her two most recent victories were the Sadie Hawkins Stakes (Black Type) in August and the West Virginia Cavada Breeders’ Classic Stakes (Black Type) in October, both at Charles Town. She’s currently on an eight-race winning streak.

Jeff C. Runco trains Star of Night for Huntertown Farm LLC. Runco has put Bocachica in the irons for all twelve of Star of Night’s pro races.

We’re on the main track for race three, a one-mile allowance optional claiming run for three-year-olds and upward. In this short field of five, I have to go with the 5/2 underdog, Title Ready, ridden by Brian Joseph Hernandez, Jr.

This six-year-old has a record comparable to that of the morning-line favorite, but unlike Rushie, Title Ready has won a race this year. For the record, Title Ready moneyed 15 of his 26 career starts, winning five, including the Louisiana Stakes (Grade III) in February at Fair Grounds.

Dallas Stewart trains Title Ready for owner-breeder Charles Fipke. Stewart tapped Hernandez to saddle Title Ready for the Louisiana Stakes victory.

Race seven is a 5-1/2-furlong allowance optional claiming run on the main track for fillies and mares three years old and upward. While all the top entries in this seven-horse race have had some success at the stakes level, I like the 2/1 morning-line favorite here, Miss T Too, piloted by top jockey Joel Rosario.

William Mott trains Miss T Too for owner-breeder Stoneway Farm.

Race ten is the Dream Supreme Stakes, a $300,000 purse, six-furlong main track run for fillies and mares three years old and upward.

I really wanted to back the 9/2 underdog, Frank’s Rockette, but upon closer inspection of her record, I have to stick with the morning-line’s recommendation and bet on the 7/5 favorite, Bell’s the One, with veteran jockey Corey J. Lanerie aboard.

This five-year-old mare is the standout in this ten-horse field, with 16 money finishes in 21 career starts, ten of those wins, including the Honorable Miss Handicap (Grade II) at Saratoga in July and the Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes (Grade II) at Keeneland in October.

Neil L. Pessin—who’s having one of the best years in his more than three decades in the racing business—trains Bell’s the One for Lothenbach Stables, Inc.