Horse Racing Odds - Belmont remains a rider's race
- Who: Thoroughbreds – Summer Bird, Mine That Bird
- What: Horse Racing Results – The Belmont Stakes odds
- Where: Belmont Park
- When: Saturday, June 6th
Once again, as far as horse racing betting goes, The Belmont Stakes has proven to be a rider’s race and a thrill at the racebook. It’s rare for jockeys to ride in mile-and-a-half races on dirt, and if they’re not familiar with the massive Belmont Park oval, their problems are compounded.
Jockey Kent Desormeaux was roundly criticized for his ride aboard Real Quiet in the 1998 Belmont Stakes. Real Quiet (dubbed by his trainer Bob Baffert as “The Fish”) was attempting to become the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978. However, after what many racetrack observers and online betting players felt was a premature 3-wide move on the final turn - which led to a 4-length lead with a quarter of a mile to go - Real Quiet was nailed at the wire by Victory Gallop. The Belmont nightmares for Desormeaux continued last year when favored Big Brown, also shooting for Triple Crown immortality, was pulled up by Desormeaux for reasons which still remain unclear.
Saturday was a different story, however, as Desormeaux stayed patient aboard Summer Bird, and drove his mount to victory with a powerful stretch run. Jockey Calvin Borel, aboard favorite Mine That Bird, perhaps got his mount moving too soon. Unlike the Derby and Preakness, when Mine That Bird closed with a late rush, in the Belmont Stakes the little gelding moved to the lead approaching the quarter pole, and weakened in the final 1/16th to finish third. Perhaps it was Borel, or perhaps the horse was a bit too fresh, and wouldn’t rate as kindly as he did in his previous two races. We’ll probably never know for sure.
Also over the weekend, there was a fascinating example at Emerald Downs of the truism “pace makes the race.” Race 6 was a $50k stakes race for sprinters going 6 ½ furlongs. In this compact 5-horse field, there was a pair of horses (in posts 4 and 5) that you could label as need-the-lead types. The best closer of the bunch was coming off a 4-month freshening, but had been training brilliantly. Sure enough, the two speedsters went out in suicidal fractions of :21.20 and 43.20. One of them was the $.30-1 favorite. The obvious pick was #2-Gadget Queen, who blew past the front-runners in mid-stretch to win going away by three lengths. Despite taking the late betting action, she still paid $14.60 to win. Opportunities such as this occur frequently...we just have to be astute enough to recognize them, and take advantage. These are the horse racing betting results we’re all looking for.
Pete Mitchell has been handicapping horses since his teenage years. He has been a professional horse player for many years, and came to BetOnline.com’s attention through multiple referrals from industry insiders/sportsbook owners. Pete is revered for his horse handicapping opinion and industry experts acknowledge his impressive career winning record. Thoughts or questions? Email Comments@BetOnline.com.
