Horse Racing Betting – Just Making Sense Of It
What exactly did we all learn about last weekend stakes that online sports betting site players should be able to use to turn a profit?
The first thing we learned is that they all are pretty much destined to lose. Even the greatest horse of all time excepting Man o’ War, Secretariat, lost 5 times.
Violence did what he had to do in the Fountain of Youth; he was just not good enough last Saturday. He tracked the logical pace setter Majestic Hussar, put that runner away before the stretch, opened up a length and a half but could not hold off the very promising Orb, trained by Shug McGaughey.
Violence is now 3 and 1 for his online betting career but he was nearly 7 lengths clear of the show horse and should come back to fight another day.
Orb sat third to last early behind a very lively pace as Hussar went :23.11, :45.45 and got the three quarters in 1:08.85. That’s flying.
Orb finished the mile and a sixteenth in 1:42.24, earned a career best 97 Beyer and pretty much punched his ticket to the Kentucky Derby if he can stay healthy.
Orb’s rider had this to say after the victory, Johnny Velazquez: “There was a lot of speed and I was actually able to get right where I wanted to be. I had to ride him pretty hard from the half-mile pole to the quarter pole to keep position and I hoped it wouldn’t take anything out of him for the stretch.”
It didn’t.
The trainer’s view of the race, McGaughey: “Violence kept going a bit but I still thought we had him. When he made the lead, he did the same thing he did in the allowance race, pulling himself up a bit. But that’s just being young.”
The next logical step would be the Florida Derby on March 30 but Orb takes his breakfast at a very patient stable and the handlers will let the horse tell them where to go next.
Orb’s dam won over $200,000 and his lone half bro to win Cause of Freedom won going a mile and three eighths on grass so Orb has a right to get the classic distance.
In the Risen Star on Saturday I’ve Struck a Nerve proved anything happens in this game as he took a page out of George Bush’s notebook as he flashed ‘shock and awe’ upsetting the Fair Grounds stakes at $272.40.
And he wasn’t even the longest shot on the board. The favorite Normandy Invasion had a horrible trip. He broke a bit on the slow side, bobbled, lugged up and was rank, raced 5 wide and still finished fifth.
I’ve Struck a Nerve finished the mile and a sixteenth in 1:44.52 and that time was faster than the winning time of older horse Mark Valeski in the Mineshaft Handicap two races earlier. He earned a Beyer figure of 95.
I’ve Struck a Nerve’s trainer, Keith Desormeaux, older brother of rider Kent, knew his runner would be a big number but he had faith in his charge’s style.
Desormeaux: “ Every time this horse has gone a distance he’s had some kind of trouble. Owner Matt Bryan and I have talked about it several times. We just wanted a clear trip at a distance and if he got beat 14 lengths again, we’d have quit trying, but we had trouble every trip and James (Graham) rode him perfectly.
The $1 million Louisiana Derby will likely be next for this horse betting runner and if all goes well, Kentucky will be calling.
Stay tuned.
