Horse racing odds - Presious Passion strikes again

Horse racing odds: Presious Passion an underestimated force

• WHO: Thoroughbreds Furthest Land, Spice Route, Presious Passion, Nans Joy
• WHAT: The Tampa Bay, The Mac Diarmida, The Bayou Handicap
• WHERE: Tampa Bay Downs, Gulfstream Park, Fair Grounds
• WHEN: Saturday, Feb. 21

If you read Friday’s article, you’ll know I focused on Saturday’s grass stakes races at Tampa Bay Downs, Gulfstream Park and Fair Grounds. I made selections in The Tampa Bay, The Mac Diarmida and the Bayou Handicap. I passed on two of my picks, Furthest Land and Nans Joy, because both failed to meet my minimum odds requirement. Both horses lost. Fortunately, the odds were right (like always) on Presious Passion, and he brought home the bacon.

Presious Passion is every horse player’s ultimate dream horse. He never gets bet and he wins time after time at overlaid odds. Go to the archives…check out my August 15 article and you’ll see what I mean.

Last Saturday, Presious Passion delivered one of the gamest performances I’ve ever witnessed in horse racing, capturing The Mac Diarmida at Gulfstream Park at odds of 4.50-1. He got hooked in a speed duel early in this 1 3/8th-mile marathon, blazed the first half-mile in :46 flat and opened up a 7-length lead on the backstretch; yet when fast-closing Quasicobra drew even with him at the top of the lane, Presious Passion dug in and wouldn’t let him by.

He won by a half-length, and covered the final furlong in a blazing :11 2/5. Wow! Presious Passion paid $11.00 to win, but we missed the exacta when favored Spice Route checked in third after a troubled trip.

On Sunday, in the counterpart to The Mac Diarmida for fillies and mares, named for the great race mare The Very One, I suffered through one of the worst beats of my career. I loved a filly trained by Bill Mott named Dress Rehearsal. She had defeated older horses in a 1 7/16th-mile marathon in Ireland last June as a 3YO, and had won her prep race for this event handily. In that stakes race at Limerick, the horse that ran second was a 3-time listed stakes winner. The chart comment for that race spoke volumes… “Led, repelled three challenges inside final 3/16’s, driving”.

This high-priced filly by the one of the world’s top grass sires, Galileo, was set for a monster effort. She possessed a ton of natural speed, which I felt would be a great asset breaking from Post 2 in a field of 13. She could grab a good position on or near the lead, save ground, and take advantage of what figured to be a paceless event. Her post-time odds of 6-1 seemed like a gift. I made a large bet on Dress Rehearsal to win and place, and wheeled her in the late double for varying amounts.

Unfortunately, in a ride strangely reminiscent of his botch-job in the Belmont Stakes aboard Big Brown, jockey Kent Desormeaux took her off the dawdling pace, had to steady leaving the first turn, and never got her clear until it was way too late. The winner set fractions that a $5,000 claimer wouldn’t have found taxing and had plenty left to hold off Dress Rehearsal’s late charge. She paid $6.60 to place, so I managed to eke out a modest profit on the race. To add insult to injury, the winner of the 10th Race (the second half of the late daily double) paid $27.80.

Let’s hope for better horse racing results this week!  

If you bet on horses, stay tuned to the Betting Edge for Pete Mitchell’s twice-weekly columns.

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.