posted February 22, 2008 at 21:34 in Triple Crown Betting Trends

When betting on horse racing the thing to remember is that no matter who you really think might win, who will win depends on factors so outside of your control, that the only thing you can do is look for prices. That doesn’t always mean that you bet a price horse to win. You can definitely find value on the bottom side of exactas and trifectas. This is especially true when betting horses through BetUS who provides the exact same types of wagers as the major tracks in North America.

With that bit of wisdom imparted, let’s get to this weekend, shall we?

Grade II San Luis Obispo

1 ½ miles on the Turf

Feb. 23rd 2008 - - Santa Anita Park

The rains that have hit SoCal may or may not affect this race. My thinking is that no matter what the groundskeepers do at Santa Anita the turf will be somewhat soft. That means that a horse with some European back-class should do well, right? Not really. The one European invader with terrific back-class is Sudan, but if you look at his record he sort of just lopes along and doesn’t have that quick turn of foot that one needs in order to win American turf races. Success in American turf races on soggy ground usually equates to putting your horse into the race early and hanging on until the end. I like Spring House for that exact reason. Garrett Gomez on his back, soft ground, has won over $400,000 - - he seems solid in this spot. For second place let’s go with Rocket Legs out of the Pletcher barn. This guy will be near the lead as well. He should have every opportunity to steal the race on the front-end and with hall-of-famer Mike Smith calling the shots, a theft is not out of the question. For the third spot, Obrigado has to be considered. He will go off either first or second in this race, after or right before the Bobby Frankel trained Sudan, and is as solid as they come.

1. Spring House

2. Rocket Legs

3. Obrigado

Grade II Fountain of Youth Stakes

1 1/8th miles dirt

Feb. 24th - - Gulfstream Park

Monba, trained by Todd Pletcher and out of Maria’s Mon, will be the favorite. I like Monba, but I don’t think that he is coming into this race expecting to win. Pletcher will start turning the screws on his Kentucky Derby horses some time in March. Monba will put in a good race, but I don’t like him on top. The horse I do like absolutely flopped in his last race, the Bill Mott trained Z Humor. I thought Z Humor would win the Sam F. Davis stakes, but he didn’t. The fact that Mott bring him back so quickly, that race was last week, tells me that he believes Z Humor is sitting on a big one. Most Triple Crown nominees get only three preps. Z Humor will have to get four in order to even be considered for the Derby. Why? Because he’s racing in two Derby preps in back-to-back weeks. Mott must think he’s got a monster on his hands. For second, let’s go with turf to dirt horse, Adriano. Why? Why not! His daddy is named A.P. Indy, he will be a long-shot in this race, and he has every right to improve going from turf to dirt. Third spot should go to Monba, but I’m taking a chance and putting some show money on Cool Coal Man who races for Nick Zito. Cool Coal Man hasn’t figured this whole running around an oval thing out just yet. When he does, he could be a definite player come Derby Day.

1. Z Humor

2. Adriano

3. Cool Coal Man

Horse racing with BetUS Racebook Online Racebook. We've got up to date lines and odds on 85+ racetracks. Join BetUS today to get in on the action.