Games for Money

The 131st Kentucky Oaks runs on Friday, and the 130th Kentucky Derby goes off this Saturday.
Naturally, Bellamy Road is the favorite at the Derby, what with a blistering Beyer number of 120 in the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct last April. Nick Zito is the trainer and of course he’s no slouch. Bandini is picked as everyone’s #2, and not in a bad way. Zito actually has five - yes FIVE horses he’s trained in this year. I’m not sure if that’s a record or not but if you look at them -

#16 Belamy Road - favorite opening 5-2
#2 Hero - 50-1
#3 Sun King - 15-1
#4 Noble Causeway - 12-1
#11 High Fly - 8-1

Todd Pletcher, another trainer, has two in this year (Bandini @ 5-1 and Coin Silver @ 20-1), and the Royal Pain himself, Bob Baffert, only has one: the #1 horse, Sort It Out, firing at 50-1.

High Fly is definitely one to look out for. Dangerously undercosted at 8-1, this horse could make for some interesting exotics (though obviously not as interesting as the 2002 Derby when War Emblem and Pround Citizen ran 1-2 and came in at 20-1 and 23-1 respectively. That made for a fantastic $1,300.80 exacta).

My play? Well, it’s still two days to post, but offhand I’m thinking an exacta box with 16, 15, and 12. That’s $12 for a $2 exacta. The #12, Alfeet Alex, is a closer, and the Derby doesn’t favor closers but damn that horse bolted at the Arkansas Derby. The other option is to possibly wheel 16, & 12 over 16, 15, 12, and 11. That’s also $12 in exactas, the losing prop there is if 15 wins rather than comes in second. I’ll have to check the form when it’s posted.

In the Oaks? Sis City. no contest.

brother9 wrote this on May 5th, 2005 and filed it under Gambling, Horseracing, Sportsbooks |