The Belmont Stakes and Cotto vs. Foreman boxing are among the highlights for sports handicappers Saturday. Great sportsbook Bodog previews these events.
Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver? Not here. Preakness Stakes winner Lookin At Lucky? Also absent. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 2010 Belmont Stakes, which might as well be a claiming race in the eyes of the general public. Indeed, the third race of the Triple Crown is not getting much publicity because of its perceived weak field, but this is when you, the bettor, can really capitalize on that fact. And of course Bodog has all the Belmont Stakes odds and props you will need.
And just because the winners of the two biggest races of the year aren't here (only third time since 1970), it doesn't mean that a horse can't make a name for itself at the longest race of the Triple Crown at 1½ miles. Last year, Summer Bird entered the Belmont just a maiden winner but won here as well as taking the Travers and the Jockey Club Gold Cup, before being named champion 3-year-old.
"It's a dramatically different race and it impacts the attendance but it won't impact the handle in a large way," said Todd Pletcher, who trains Super Saver and Belmont entrant Interactif. "You can see by the 12 entries it's still a big race and a race a lot of people will want to win. There is no substitute for a horse running for the Triple Crown. That becomes one of sports' biggest events, not horse racing's biggest events."
Ice Box, who finished second in the Kentucky Derby and who probably would have won if that race had been just a shade longer, is the favorite ahead of Preakness runner-up First Dude. Ice Box is the only Grade 1 stakes winner in the race, having taken the Florida Derby. He is currently at 3/1 on Bodog's horse racing odds. Ice Box is trained by Nick Zito, who has won this race twice in the past five years (2004 with Birdstone and 2008 with Da 'Tara). And Fly Down, who crushed the field in the Dwyer last month and is currently 9/2 to win the Belmont, is also a Zito horse. Zito has saddled 22 horses in the Belmont in his career and has had only one favorite at post time: Strike the Gold, who finished second at 2-1 in 1991.
Don't rule out the fact that both Ice Box (fourth-place finish here as a 2-year-old) and Fly Down (in the Dwyer) have run on this track being a factor. Bodog offers a head-to-head matchup between those two, with Ice Box a -140 favorite and Fly Down at +110.
Look for First Dude to set the early pace and be out front, much as he did at the Preakness. There may not be a horse the quality of Lookin At Lucky to catch him in the Belmont as Lucky did in Baltimore.
"We're definitely going to be on, or close to, the lead," trainer Dale Romans said. I don't think there's anyone in there that wants to sacrifice themselves and get out of their game and go chase him."
Now to the squared circle.
New Yankee Stadium will have a special electricity in the air this Saturday when it plays host to WBA boxing betting lines for the first time.
Tough, respected Miguel Cotto, trying his hand at a new weight class, will battle Yuri Foreman for the WBA junior middleweight title. Cotto, a -205 favorite, has faced some major challenges of late. The rough, tough Puerto Rican (34-2) defeated "Sugar" Shane Mosley in 2007 but was knocked out by Antonio Margarito in his next fight. Cotto bounced back to defeat Joshua Clottey by decision but took a heavy beating against Manny Pacquiao after that.
His opponent, Yuri Foreman, is undefeated (28-0) but remains the underdog at +165. Some experts don't believe Foreman, who has just eight knockout wins, has the power to seriously threaten Cotto.
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