Churchill Downs: How to bet the $2,508 Super High 5 carryover

If you want to win a share of the $2,508 Super High 5 carryover up for grabs on Sunday at Churchill Downs, you’ll have to decipher a pretty challenging race.

The carryover is available in Race 9, a $75,000 maiden claimer for three-year-olds and up sprinting six furlongs over the main track. A large field of 11 has been entered, and separating the contenders isn’t easy. Many of the runners are lightly raced, and most are dropping in class, so it’s hard to predict who will run well.

Since we have to take a stand somewhere, we’ll throw our support behind #2 The Judge and Jury (5-1). After competing over the synthetic Tapeta track at Turfway Park during the winter, The Judge and Jury relished switching to dirt for a six-furlong maiden special weight at Keeneland last month. After leading for the first five furlongs, The Judge and Jury weakened late to finish fifth.

This effort produced an 85 Brisnet Speed rating, the highest figure in Sunday’s field. Dropping into the maiden claiming ranks might be all The Judge and Jury needs to deliver a winning effort under jockey Edgar Morales, who has gone 2-for-10 (20%) teaming up with trainer John Ennis over the last two months.

Who else should we include? #3 Blow Torch (9-2) is a logical choice after tracking fast fractions in a six-furlong maiden special weight at Churchill Downs two weeks ago. #5 Smarty John (5-1) could certainly be in the mix after finishing a close second in a $50,000 maiden claimer at Churchill Downs earlier this month. And don’t forget about #7 Acehigh Royal (6-1), who finished second in his debut sprinting 5 1/2 furlongs against maiden special weight company at Oaklawn Park.

Unfortunately, that doesn’t begin to exhaust the list of potential contenders—you can make a case for pretty much anyone to finish in the top five. So we’ll get a little creative in our ticket structure. After keying The Judge and Jury on top, we’ll box Blow Torch, Smarty John, and Acehigh Royal in the second and third positions. We’ll also use them for either fourth place or fifth place (depending on the ticket) and hit the “ALL” button for the remaining slot, giving us options for catching a longshot in the top five.

• $1 Super High 5: 2 with 3,5,7 with 3,5,7 with 3,5,7 with ALL ($42)
• $1 Super High 5: 2 with 3,5,7 with 3,5,7 with ALL with 3,5,7 ($42)
  Total: $84

Good luck!