Tuesday’s Best Bets and Quick Picks: 9-2 shot with a 54% winning angle

Handicapper J. Keeler Johnson shares best bets and quick picks for Tuesday, Oct. 1 at Presque Isle Downs and Horseshoe Indianapolis, including a 9-2 shot with a 54% winning angle.

Today’s special offers from TwinSpires include:

• 10x Points at Your Most Wagered Track: Receive 10x reward points on all wagers, excluding show bets, at your most wagered track each Tuesday in October.

Best Bets and Quick Picks

Presque Isle Downs: Race 3: Maiden Special Weight (one mile on Tapeta, 3:54 p.m. ET)

This field hasn’t come up especially tough on paper. Morning-line favorite #4 Vino Couragio (9-5) has already lost three times over this track, distance, and class level.

Let’s try backing first-time starter #2 Risen Sun (6-1) from the hot barn of Nolan Ramsey, who has gone 4-for-10 (40%) at Presque Isle this meet. Risen Sun is bred top and bottom to thrive racing at a mile, and a lengthy work tab should have him fit to tackle this distance under Presque Isle’s runaway leading jockey Antonio Gallardo.

Selections

• #2 Risen Sun (6-1)
• #4 Vino Couragio (9-5)
• #3 Lake Cumberland (2-1)

Wagers

• $20 to win on #2 Risen Sun

Horseshoe Indianapolis: Race 6: Maiden Special Weight (one mile on turf, 4:45 p.m. ET)

#10 Beach Wedding (3-1) ran well in her debut sprinting 6 1/2 furlongs over the Kentucky Downs turf course, rallying to finish third with a 77 Brisnet Speed rating substantially higher than the par winning number (67) for Tuesday’s conditions at Horseshoe Indianapolis.

Facing easier competition at Horseshoe Indianapolis ought to send Beach Wedding to the winner’s circle for the hot jockey/trainer duo of Luan Machado and Brendan Walsh, 31% winners teaming up together over the last two months. Her stablemate #1 Hi Barbie (2-1) can complete the exacta.

Selections

• #10 Beach Wedding (3-1)
• #1 Hi Barbie (2-1)
• #9 Party Queen (6-1)

Wagers

• $25 to win on #10 Beach Wedding
• $5 Exacta: 10 with 1
  Total: $30

Horseshoe Indianapolis: Race 7: Maiden Special Weight (one mile on dirt, 5:16 p.m. ET)

Since 2023, trainer Brad Cox has compiled a stellar 13-7-2-2 record debuting juveniles in dirt routes at Horseshoe Indianapolis. That works out to a 54% win rate and an 85% in-the-money rate.

This bodes well for Cox’s unraced juvenile #3 Blameitonbourbon (9-2). The son of Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Authentic has posted a quartet of five-furlong workouts at Turfway Park in recent weeks and is slated to be ridden by jockey Fernando De La Cruz, a 28% winner teaming up with Cox over the last two months.

We’ll give Blameitonbourbon the edge over his Cox-trained stablemate #5 Truth Bomb (3-1), another first-time starter with an encouraging work tab.

Selections

• #3 Blameitonbourbon (9-2)
• #5 Truth Bomb (3-1)
• #4 Reignite (5-1)

Wagers

• $25 to win on #3 Blameitonbourbon
• $5 Exacta: 3 with 5
  Total: $30

Good luck!