A wide-open Belmont Stakes

Horseracing Betting Lines

06/01/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Not since 2006 have the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winners both failed to show up for the Belmont Stakes. That year the race was won by Jazil, a horse with just one win in seven career starts. This year, 12 colts and geldings are expected to enter the third leg of the Triple Crown and four of them have only recorded a single triumph.

Without Super Saver and Lookin At Lucky in the starting gate, Kentucky Derby runnerup Ice Box is expected to be the morning line favorite. The Nick Zito- trained colt exploded onto the scene with a nose victory over Pleasant Prince in the Florida Derby on March 20, and then might have been best in the Run for the Roses despite the second-place finish.

Two other three-year-olds that will take money at the betting windows are Fly Down, winner of the Dwyer Stakes at Belmont Park, and Preakness runnerup First Dude. The other nine horses will look to spring the upset the way Summer Bird (11-1) and Da' Tara (38-1) did the last two years.

In the first of two articles featuring the 142nd running of the Belmont Stakes, I'll take a look at six expected longshots and try to make a case for each one, beginning with Spangled Star.

Trained by Richard Dutrow, who lost the Belmont (and the Triple Crown) with Big Brown in 2008, Spangled Star needed six races just to break his maiden. That win came on January 2 at Laurel by 4 1/4-lengths. His next start, and first for Dutrow, was in an entry level allowance/optional claimer on February 24. Spangled Star ran third at 7-2.

Dutrow then sent the chestnut colt into the Grade III Withers Stakes at Aqueduct against stablemate, D' Funnybone. Neither horse won the race as Afleet Again came from off the pace to reel in Ibboyee. Spangled Star got up for third at 28-1

Back in 2002, Sarava won the Belmont at odds of 70-1. Spangled Star won't be that high this Saturday but a victory will be considered even more of an upset since Sarava at least was a stakes winner heading into the race.

Dave in Dixie is another outsider that shouldn't even be entered. He hasn't won a race since last August and his last two attempts were a sixth-place finish in the San Felipe and a fifth-place effort, beaten 16 lengths, in the Illinois Derby. The race at Hawthorne was also his lone trek on traditional dirt so there is a good chance he prefers synthetics.

On the other hand, he did have viable excuses in both races as the two winners, Sidney's Candy and American Lion, won on the lead through slow internal fractions. Dave in Dixie is a horse that needs a very fast pace in front of him since he comes from way back.

The John Sadler trainee is also a horse that runs much better when fresh. That's important since this will be his first start since April 3 - the longest layoff of any of the 12 three-year-olds. If the Belmont pace is very fast, there's a small chance he could fill out the trifecta.

Uptowncharlybrown has not been able to put it all together after back-to-back wins in his first two starts. He ran a lackluster third to Rule and Schoolyard Dreams in the Sam F. Davis, and then finished fifth in the Tampa Bay Derby.

After the unfortunate death of trainer Alan Seewald prior to the Lexington Stakes, longtime assistant Linda White took over bringing in Garrett Gomez to ride. The son of Limehouse failed to grip the Polytrack surface early on, dropping back to next-to-last in the 1 1/16-mile event. However, the colt persevered and closed stoutly to finish third, beaten less than two lengths.

Kiaran McLaughlin is now in charge and he's been working his new three-year- old at Belmont Park in tandem with Trappe Shot.

Uptowncharlybrown should take to the Belmont surface and the distance should also suit. Nevertheless his ability to get the job done against top-flight three-year-olds is a major question mark.

Drosselmeyer is another colt that has had plenty of opportunities to shine. Unfortunately, something has always gone wrong in the end. His connections have now sought a change in jockeys as Mike Smith takes over for Kent Desormeaux, who rode the horse his last five starts.

Purchased for $600,000 as a yearling, the son of Distorted Humor won his first ever start on true dirt, breaking his maiden by six lengths as the 4-5 favorite. He won his next outing at nine furlongs and was then made the 2-1 favorite in the Risen Star Stakes.

Jumping up and winning a graded stakes race was not to be as Drosselmeyer hung like a chandelier in the fourth spot, losing by 1 3/4-lengths to Discreetly Mine. The Bill Mott-trainee was then let go at 9-2 in the Louisiana Derby and once again failed to fire late, finishing third to Mission Impazible by a full length.

Drosselmeyer sat out of the first two legs of the Triple Crown and prepped for the Belmont Stakes by running in the Dwyer on May 8. Sent off as the 7-10 favorite in the seven-horse race, the underachieving colt broke a couple of steps slow and trailed by four lengths right off the bat. He then switched from the rail to the four-path into the stretch and had zero answers for Fly Down, who cruised to a six-length win. One of these days Drosselmeyer will put it all together, but not this Saturday.

Stay Put is one of four horses in the race with three lifetime victories. (Ice Box, Fly Down and Interactif are the others.) He's also the only one of the four without a stakes victory. The son of Broken Vow is coming off a win on Derby Day in an allowance/optional claimer over the slop at Churchill Downs, but like Drosselmeyer, he couldn't get the job done in both the Risen Star and Louisiana Derby, finishing fifth in the two Grade II events.

Stay Put needs a very fast pace in front of him and it's doubtful he'll get it on Saturday. He's also one of only two horses in the race that has failed to earn a Beyer figure over 90. The other is the longshot, Spangled Star.

Stately Victor caught lightning in a bottle at 40-1 in the Blue Grass Stakes and followed that effort up with a decent eighth-place finish in the Derby. Still, based on his running line in the Run for the Roses, he should have finished even higher.

Of the four horses that were in the back-of-the-pack early on, he ended up six lengths behind Ice Box, four in back of Make Music for Me and 1 3/4-lengths behind Lookin At Lucky.

It's true he made a much earlier move than that troika, but tiring at 1 1/4- miles will not help his chances at 1 1/2-miles. Remember, he's yet to win a race on conventional dirt as his two lifetime victories came on grass and over Polytrack.

Of these six longshots, only Drosselmeyer should be in the single-digit range. The betting public might also side with Uptowncharlybrown since he's never been higher than 4-1. Still, it's hard to back any one of these half-dozen colts as they seem up against it in the final leg of the Triple Crown.

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Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

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Mens NCAA Basketball Tournament odds  
As of February 9, MySportsbook.com has released its coveted 2007 Mens NCAA Basketball Tournament betting odds. “March Madness betting ” only a month away, the top ranked Florida Gators are favorite at 7-2 to win it all. The defending champs have not disappointed at all this season and currently have a 22-2 record and are undefeated (9-0) in SEC play. The Gators’ thrive off of their extremely balanced, experienced and versatile attack. All five starters started in last seasons National Championship game. What is most impressive with this group is their balance; the five starters all average between 10.7 and 13.6 PPG. The Gators have been on an absolute roll having won 15 straight by an average of 16.4 PPG.

Right behind the Gators are the 5th ranked UNC Tar Heels at 9-2. The Heels (21-3, 7-2) are absolutely loaded with top notch talent and are as deep as any team in the country. A concern for the Tar Heels might be inexperience. Of their top four scorers/ minute earners, three are freshmen and the other is a sophomore. The rest of the regular season, the Tar Heels play only one team that is currently ranked (Duke). Their remaining opponents do combine for an impressive 107-58 record though.

Other teams that the MySportsbook.com members seem to believe will win it all include the west coasts’ top team #2 UCLA (6-1), #3 OSU behind man-child Greg Oden (8-1), and #4 Wisconsin (10-1) behind their defense which has given up 70+ points only three times all season.

Below is a list of some of the favorites to win the 2007 Men’s NCAA Basketball Championship lines. For the full list of teams and March Madness odds be sure to log onto MySportsbook.com. If you want to use your credit card to bet on college hoops or any other event, MySportsbook.com has the highest credit card acceptance rate in the industry.

Arizona 20-1

Butler 20-1

Duke 30-1

Florida 7-2

Georgetown 30-1

Indiana 35-1

Kansas 15-1

Marquette 25-1

Maryland 40-1

Memphis 50-1

Nevada 50-1

UNC 9-2

OSU 8-1

Oregon 30-1

Pittsburgh 15-1

Texas 30-1

Texas A&M 18-1

UCLA 6-1

Wisconsin 10-1

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