Horse Racing Odds - Older horses to take the spotlight this weekend

• Who: Thoroughbreds – Seventh Street, Einstein, and others
• What: Horse Racing Handicapping – The Ogden Phipps Handicap, The Stephen Foster Handicap
• Where: Belmont Park, Churchill Downs
• When: Saturday, June 13th

With the 2009 Triple Crown in the books, this weekend of horse racing odds belongs to the older runners, and there’s plenty of quality in this bunch. A three-pronged entry of Godolphin/Darley fillies will line up to face Seattle Smooth in The Ogden Phipps Handicap on Saturday at Belmont Park. Later in the day, Einstein, currently the top older horse in training, will face a talented group of graded stakes winners in The Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs.

Seventh Street looks like the strongest part of the Godolphin/Darley entry. Unfortunately, with multiple Grade 1 winner Music Note included in the coupling, the online betting odds are sure to plummet. Music Note’s final important workout for this, her 2009 debut, was a bit disappointing. It would come as no great surprise to see her labor a bit. The third part of the entry, Sea Chanter, is a multiple stakes winner on the lawn, bet has yet to win on dirt. Seventh Street appears quite capable of controlling this race on the front end, and will be hard to deny at odds of 2-5 or thereabouts. I’ll try to beat Seattle Smooth for the second spot in the exacta with D. Wayne Lukas trainee Color Me Up, who is in the best form of her career. A 1-4 exacta might pay around $10, which would be a bargain given the price on the favored entry.

The Stephen Foster is loaded for betting at the racebook. There’s quality speed in #5-Researcher and #8-Finallymadeit. There’s a pair of dangerous closers in #2-Macho Again and #4-Arson Squad. #3-Einstein and #6-Bullsbay figure to launch their bids from mid-pack. Then there’s the mystery horse…#7-Asiatic Boy, who is making his North American debut after racking up more than $3 million in earnings campaigning around the world.

Einstein is bidding to become the first horse to win three consecutive Grade 1’s on three different surfaces: Pro-Ride (The Santa Anita Handicap), grass (The Turf Classic) and now dirt. He was second in this race last year to the mighty Curlin, and won his other two starts on the Churchill Downs main oval. He should enjoy a perfect, ground-saving trip just behind the early leaders, and when he gets hooked in a good stretch battle, he usually comes out on top. I’ll bet him to win at odds of 3-2 or better. If you get involved in exactas or trifectas, you’d better use all but #1-Alphabet Magic on your tickets...he’s the only horse in the field that appears to be overmatched.

Those are my horse racing betting tips for the weekend. Happy gambling!

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?