Money to be made at Breeders’ Cup

The beauty of betting on horse racing is the $100 bankroll player can enjoy wagering as much as the person who comes with $1,000 or more to bet. Your strategy and win goals might differ. But with smart play, profit might be only a horse race away.

Next week the two-day Breeders’ Cup will offer the best chance all year for the smaller player to make a score.

Big fields brimming with talent guarantee long shots will win their share of races, plus finish in the money, leading to big exotic payoffs. Also, the Breeders’ Cup betting menu offers good variety so we don’t have to arm wrestle with whales in the pick six and high five pools. There is money to be made in simple multihorse and in multirace wagers, too.

In next week’s column, I’ll offer my Breeders’ Cup handicapping opinions.

For now, I’d like to suggest some strategy, because when next Friday comes, you better have a game plan and be organized to succeed.

First, you should pick up the Daily Racing Form Advance edition now so you can handicap all the horses in the 14 races. You’ll need a full week to do that.

Next, you must familiarize yourself with the intricate betting menu to best utilize your dollars. For example, there is a 10-cent superfecta in every race. Even modest bettors should budget for a six-horse box that would cost $12 per race. Hit one or two of those and you’ll be on your way.

If you want to play the pick 4, but have limited funds, you’ll need to identify potential singles, and not necessarily the race favorite. I’ll volunteer a horse I like at a good price: Gayego in the Sprint. He could go off at 5-1 odds or higher.

Finally, focus on the host track Santa Anita on Friday and Saturday.

The 14 Breeders’ Cup races, which offer quality and quantity, are more than enough action for any horseplayer.

• BREEDERS’ CUP SEMINARS — There will be three free Breeders’ Cup handicapping seminars next week in Las Vegas.

On Thursday, Richie Saber of Gaming Today, Ralph Siraco of “Race Day Las Vegas” and Vic Viveo, a race and sports book supervisor at Palace Station, will be at the Palace Station race book at 6 p.m. Also on Thursday, Dan Shapiro of Lucky’s, Dave Tuley of the Daily Racing Form and viewfromvegas.com and I will be at the Plaza race book at 6 p.m.

On Friday, Gordon Jones, John Kelly and Patrick McQuiggan will be at the Sam’s Town race book at 6 p.m.

Richard Eng’s horse racing column is published Friday in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. He can be reached at rich_eng@hotmail.com.