Rewrite wins Belmont's Irish Actress Stakes
NEW YORK: Rewrite earned her fourth stakes win in the last five races, edging Latitude Forty on Wednesday to take the $77,500 Irish Actress Stakes for New York-bred fillies and mares at Belmont Park.
Rewrite prevailed by a nose, improving her overall record to 9-for-16. The 5-year-old ridden by Alan Garcia for trainer Christophe Clement ran the 1 1-16 miles on the firm turf course in 1:40.60.
The 8-5 favorite, Rewrite paid $5.20, $3.40 and $2.60. Latitude Forty returned $4.90 and $3.50. Nedjma paid $4.80 to show.
(c) 2008 the International Herald Tribune
Horse Race Betting - It's in the Blood
Many horse betting fans in this game put their nose up on the concept of breeding and tend to brag that after a race or two, all the breeding stuff goes right out the window but that kind of thinking can prove faulty at times.
Granted, pedigree snobs are out there and what they profess to know is really a lot of theory wrapped about performances, sprinkled in with money sires, but they don't call this game the Sport of Kings for nothing and the everyday horse race betting enthusiast should acquaint himself with some basic bloodlines that win races on a consistent diet.
In America there are many instances that prove that the pedigree on the bottom side projects to success on the track but before we cite those examples, consider what was happening this past weekend in New Zealand.
This is an international sport and horse bettors that just bet with their heads in the sand are missing the big picture so try to expand the horizon and consider the unique history trainer Brian Smith chased at the Sunshine Coast.
He saddled siblings Scattergun, Blood 'n' Bones and Double Or Nothin in listed feature races on the very same day. It's very rare to see this kind of a family but the queen dam Unbeleevable won her only start so there is some perfection in her history.
For the record, Scattergun did the best finishing second, Double Or Nothin was scratched and Bones was out of the money.
In the states, there are a couple of families that immediately come to mind to prove that horse bettors have to look to breeding to get that extra winning edge.
Consider the world-class family that the dam Toussaud has dropped. That mare won several Graded stakes including a Grade 1 on her way to an over $550K career but what she has done in the breeding shed overshadows her days on the track by a long ways.
She has foaled 7 runners and 6 won. The worst of the crew is Chiselling, who took the Grade 1 Secretariat in Chicago and made over $400,000 in only 10 outs.
Two lesser lights she also foaled are Decarchy and Honest Lady. The former earned over $700,000 and the latter won 4 Graded stakes and nearly $900,000.
The two stars, wait a minute, they are all stars, are Belmont Stakes winner and near $2 million earner Empire Maker and near $2 million earner and Arlington Million hero Chestnut House.
Two foals that horse bettors should wait to open like a huge Christmas present are Mesmeric and Gateway, foals of 2004 and 2006 who are waiting to start their racing careers as Toussaud offspring.
If this kind of pedigree watching is boring, so be it. Study by hard working horse bettors produces profits and the other stellar family that has excelled of late is from the dam Better Than Honour.
All 4 of her foals to race have won. Her first foal only lost once in 4 outs, the foal of 2003, Jazil, took the Belmont Stakes on way to an $900,000 bankroll and Rags to Riches upset Curlin in that very same race just last year.
The best may still be yet to come, as Casino Drive is unbeaten in 2 starts and was eyeing a fight against Big Brown but came up sick.
Horse bettors have to remember they are playing against each other and the guys that go the extra furlong as far as research is concerned succeed.
(c) 1994-2008 BetUS
Big Brown circle keeps hooves firmly placed in mouths
A horse lost a race. Now everyone's having a cow.
Trainer Rick Dutrow Jr. found another microphone Tuesday, telling the Associated Press he blames jockey Kent Desormeaux for Big Brown missing out on the Triple Crown.
"I don't want to hurt anyone, especially Kent," Dutrow said. "But I still don't understand what happened. I don't see the horse with a problem, so I have to direct my attention toward the ride. That's all I can come up with."
Desormeaux gave a perfectly fine explanation after the race Saturday, saying, "I had no horse." That's understandable after three races in five weeks and without the customary injection of the steroid Winstrol that had kept the horse rolling previously.
But he couldn't stop himself either. Monday, he told New York's Newsday, "The water failed at Belmont, didn't it? Well, that was it. The track dried out, and they couldn't get any water to it. He couldn't handle the track."
Newsday reported, though, that the track got all the water it normally gets, even if the spectators' bathrooms didn't.
Big Brown's co-owner has similarly distinguished himself with his comments.
Big Brown has declined to comment. He sounds like the smartest one in the bunch.
(c) 2008 - San Jose Mercury News
Horse Race Betting - The Four Pack
The superfecta was once thought of as a sports betting 'sucker bet' but with all the information available for horse betting faithful and with all the competition, the best players now sometimes look to this off track betting wager to make the big score.
The 'super' is just an extended trifecta and demands accuracy in picking the 4th finisher in a race.
The wager also has made friends among the little guys since the 10-cent super was introduced.
The lure of the 'super' is the hope that a large payoff may be available because of a huge overlay. It takes confidence to key runners but it can be more cost efficient than boxing runners.
One way to attempt to hit this bet is consider it as a win bet, plus a few. With this kind of thinking one would key one horse to win and then have a number of runners underneath to fill out the 2nd, third and fourth slots.
Keying one horse on top with 4 others for a dollar amounts to $24. Adding another horse and it will cost $60 for 5 horses.
Now it can get expensive. Key one runner with 6 horses and you are up to $120 for a dollar bet and go one step further to 7 horses and the gambler must come up with $210.
Still, the key is a good way to go as a horse bettor can isolate his top pick and not give all the horses in a bet the same chance theoretically by making them all equal when boxing.
If boxing the 'super', you better be close to an ATM. A 4-horse dollar box cost $24, a 5-horse buck box cost $120 and a 6-horse box goes for $360.
Wheels also are costly. A $1 dollar wheel in a 7-horse field cost $120, an 8-horse field goes for $210 and a 10-horse field wager would need $504 to make the bet come true.
One need go no further than the Belmont Stakes for horse bettors to see the value of the 'super' if one can isolate the correct horse.
With the debacle put in by Big Brown, Da' Tara was allowed to lope along on the lead on his way to a $79 win mutuel. Even with the second choice running second and the third and fourth finishers dead heating, the 2-dollar 'super' paid an astronomical price of over $48,000 with Anak Nakal in the third spot and over $47,000 with Ready's Echo accounting for the show price.
The Belmont Stakes payoff was no isolated incident either as far as a life changer is concerned. In the 5th race just last Saturday, the third choice in the race was 2nd but was beaten by a 20-1 shot with the longest shot on the board running third, followed by a 12-1 item.
The 'super' came back $39,177.50 for a dollar.
Horse bettors should look to this type of bet if they have an inkling that the favorite is a false chalk or can allow for several live longshots to follow a logical horse to the wire.
(c) 1994-2008 BetUS
Belmont Stakes Betting - Belmont lock, or Trojan Horse?
This is not a typical situation for horseplayers or online off track betting fans. Then again, for those interested in Triple Crown betting, Big Brown is not your typical horse.
It's been 30 years since Affirmed last completed the Triple Crown of thoroughbred racing by winning the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes. Big Brown already has the first two jewels of that crown in his collection, and he's priced at -300 horse racing odds to complete the set this Saturday.
We've been here before - 11 times, to be precise. That's how many horses have won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness since 1978, only to lose the Belmont. Some fantastic horses have failed at this point, horses like Real Quiet (1998) and Smarty Jones (2004). Their failures don't have a direct impact on what will happen Saturday at Belmont Park in the beautiful New York suburb of Elmont. But they do point to the difficulty of actually winning the coveted Triple Crown.
The length of this Saturday's event has a lot to do with that drought. The Belmont is a much longer race than most horses are used to; it started back in 1876 as a race over a mile and five furlongs. A furlong is an eighth of a mile. The Belmont went through some different configurations over the next 50 years, but has been run over 12 furlongs since 1926. That's a mile and a half.
Modern races are sprints by comparison. The Kentucky Derby is already a test for most horses at 10 furlongs, and the Preakness is raced over nine furlongs. Big Brown's stamina has never been proven to horseplayers. He easily won the Florida Derby in March over 1-1/8 miles, then won the first two legs of the Triple Crown. Those are the only stakes races on his profile.
Meanwhile, Casino Drive (the second favorite at +350) has just one stakes race under his saddle: last month's Peter Pan, also over nine furlongs. But Casino Drive also has the pedigree that suggests there is a lot more stamina where that came from. His dam (his mother), Mineshaft, gave birth to the last two Belmont winners, Jazil and Rags to Riches. That bloodline, plus the fact that Casino Drive already has a victory at the Belmont track, makes him a better fit for Saturday's race than Big Brown.
The difference between Big Brown and the other 11 horses who didn't complete the Triple Crown? Sheer talent. Big Brown completely mowed down the opposition is his three stakes races, and the field at Belmont isn't nearly as competitive as the one that showed up for the Kentucky Derby. At -300 on the Triple Crown odds, it's as if the rest of the top thoroughbreds have already conceded the race.
(c) 1994-2008 BetUS
Belmont Betting Easy Money = Big Brown
If you have seen Kentucky Derby winner and Preakness stakes winner Big Brown run, bettors can't be anything but elated to look forward to the betting Big Brown at Belmont Stakes June 7th. Big Brown is trying to become the 12th horse in history to win the Triple Crown. The young legend in the making Big Brown is a chalky 1-3 odds-on favorite for Belmont betting at Bodoglife.com.
Watching Big Brown run makes gamblers feel secure when placing their wagers on the athletic Colt to win every time out the gate.
Bettors might be somewhat concerned with the recent hoof injury to the stocky Richard Dutrow Jr. trained Big Brown, but not enough to miss betting the stud to win the Belmont. Bettors should not worry to much having seen the way Big Brown has seemed to get better and better with each race. A hoof injury might be the best thing to happen to horse betting players. Highly touted horse Casino Drive is at short 7-2 belmont betting odds.
With the injury to Big Brown, and the alleged stiffer field at the Belmont stakes the odds are just right at 1-3 belmont odds to have some value on the perfect stud's betting ticket. Big Brown doesn't have a perfect Tomlinson Distance Rating at an above-average 373, but Big Brown does have a perfect record racing, 5 races, 5 effortless wins. Outstanding jockey Kent Desormeaux is right in tune with his speed horse to the point that all he has to do is pick his spots and fly. Big Brown is a horse to watch for the ages, and a profitable one to laugh to the bank with for horse gamblers.
(c) 2008 Sports Odds
Kentucky Derby Calls to Mind Memories of Seattle Slew, Grandpa
Big Brown's the Favorite, but I'll Be Looking for a Gray
By Lucinda Gunnin, published May 03, 2008
I was eight when I watched Seattle Slew win the Triple Crown in 1977. Slew remains the only Triple Crown winner to retire undefeated and he stated that legacy in the 102nd Kentucky Derby.
As a little girl, the only time I watched horse racing was six weeks a year, starting with the first Saturday in May. My grandfather loved the horses, though he was never a betting man. Grandma would later advised me to always bet on the grey. Grandpa just wanted to watch them run.
Sitting next to my grandfather in his green recliner is one of my fondest early memories. At the time, I thought growing up to be a jockey or the first woman to play major league baseball would be the best thing ever. My heart broke when my grandfather told me that I was too big to be a jockey and again years later when I realized I stunk at baseball.
But the love of the horses, starting on my grandfather's knee has never left me.
In 1990, when I graduated from college, I rushed how from the ceremony to watch the Kentucky Derby. Last year, I considered driving to Louisville to see the Queen of England and the Kentucky Derby, fulfilling two lifelong dreams at once. Instead, I stayed home and watched from home where the multitude of cameras insured that I didn't miss a thing.
As far as Derby winners go, Seattle Slew is not the best known maybe because Affirmed followed suit a year later. Since then, it has been thirty years since the Kentucky Derby winner went on to in both the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes. Maybe this year will be the one...
And, of course, people know the name of Barbaro because of his tragic demise and of Citation, but how many of them know the names of Billy Shoemaker and the other jockeys and trainers that take a thoroughbred from foal to the Run for the Roses in just three years.
Generally speaking, horses aren't even broken to a saddle until they are a year old. Racing thoroughbreds are broken and start racing when they are two. The year they are three is the only time they are eligible to run in the World Series of horse racing, the Kentucky Derby and the Triple Crown.
(c) 2008 Associated Content, Inc.
|
