The 140th Belmont Stakes, the last leg of the 2008 race for the Triple Crown will take place June 7th at historic Belmont Park on Long Island, NY.  Belmont Park has a long and storied history in Horse Racing, apart from being the make or break track for any Triple Crown hopeful it is also the longest leg of the 3 pronged journey to greatness.  Secretariat’s amazing 31-length victory in the 1973 Belmont Stakes established the world record for a mile and a half at 2:24. With his win in the Belmont, he became the ninth horse to capture the Triple Crown.
Heres the quick stats on Belmont Park:

Main Course: 1 1/2 Miles
Last Turn to Finish on Main Track: 1,097 feet
Widener Turf Course: 1 5/16 Miles
Inner Turf Course: 1 3/16 Miles
Attendance Capacity: 85,000 – 90,000
Total Seating Capacity: 32,941

Some more interesting facts on Belmont Park is the frequency with which prior winners sire future winners,
a total of eleven Belmont Stakes winners have sired at least one other Belmont winner.

Man o’ War heads the list of Belmont champion sires. Not only did he win the race himself in 1920, but three of his subsequent sires won it as well: American Flag in 1925, Crusader in 1926 and War Admiral in 1937, who went on to win the Triple Crown.

Commando won the 1901 running, then sired Peter Pan, the 1907 champ and the Colin, the 1908 winner.
1930 champion Gallant Fox sired both Omaha (1935) and Granville (1936).

Count Fleet won the 1943 edition, and then sired back-to-back Belmont winners with Counterpoint (1951) and One Count (1952).

1977 Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew sired a Call To The Derby Post favorite in Swale, who won both the Derby and the Belmont in 1984, as well as A.P. Indy, who won the Belmont in 1992. 1999 Belmont winner Lemon Drop Kid is also a descendant of the Slew.

The following horses have sired one Belmont winner each: Duke of Magenta of 1878 sired Eric (1889); Spendthrift of 1879 sired Hastings (1896); Hastings then followed his again by siring Masterman, the 1902 winner. The Finn of 1915 sired Zev (1923); Sword Dancer of 1959 sired Damascus (1967); last but not least, Triple Crown winner Secretariat of 1973 sired Risen Star, the 1988 winner.

This year Big Brown is looking to break the drought of Triple Crown winners with 2 convincing wins at the Kentucky Derby and Preakness only Belmont stands in his way of glory.  GamblersPalace.com is happy to offer sportsbook odds on this years Belmont Stakes winner:

Big Brown -310 (risk $310 to win $100)
Casino Drive +340 (risk $100 to win $340)
Denis of Cork +900 (risk $100 to win $900)
Tale of Ekati +1800 (risk $100 to win $1800)
BehindattheBar +2200 (risk $100 to win $2200)
Anak Nakal +3500 (risk $100 to win $3500)
Macho Again +3500 (risk $100 to win $3500)
Readys Echo +3500 (risk $100 to win $3500)
Icebad Crane +4400 (risk $100 to win $4400)
Mine Lane +4400 (risk $100 to win $4400)
Spark Candle +4400 (risk $100 to win $4400)
Tomcito +4400 (risk $100 to win $4400)

My Pick:  Well obviously Big Brown is an overwhelming favorite at -340 and I don’t expect that to change much and hes worth betting on in the racebook but -340 in the sportsbook on a horse is ludacris! your better off laying down 10 $10 bets on all the long shots and then in the racebook do a couple boxed trifectas with Big Brown and some long shots.  Big Brown will most likely win but the long shot bets are waaay too juicy to pass on.

UPDATED June 4th:

NEWS FLASH FOLKS!!! Casino Drive is looking good in the practice runs and has the Bookies rethinking their numbers, his odds are moving down across the board to a mere +300 at some shops while he is still available at GP for a sweet +340.  Better get it before it comes down, Casino Drive is looking like the only threat to Big Brown’s Triple Crown aspirations.

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Saturday, May 24th at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada theres going to be a rumble and the fight card that will make even the most novice of UFC fans standup and take notice.

The headlining fight of the night will be a Light Weight title fight between the newly envigored B.J. “The Prodigy” Penn who in the last year has been tearing through the light weight division eventually beating Joe Stevenson to claim the top spot in the division and take claim to the title belt which was left without an owner due to the suspension and subsequent stripping of title of Sean “The Muscle Shark” Sherk for allegedly taking steriods, a claim the Sherk disputes to this day, but honestly if you looked at him before he got busted he was the poster boy for 5 foot nothin, 100 pound nothin, napolean complex, anger management problem, duche bag juicer.  Add fuel to the fire is the utter hatered these 2 have for each other and to hype the fight even more they have resorted to trash talking even though its pretty weak you can tell in interviews that it obviously inflames Sherks roid rage.  Sherk is looking to take back what he constantly claims is his belt and they he was wronging accused so he is definantly motivated while Penn remains calm and collected in a zen like state of confidense, at the moment Penn is the favorite at -240 but I would expect to see that line move down.  Penn and Sherk will not be the only bout worth watching, up and comer Keith Jardine has been scraping his way to the top of the Light Heavyweight division and will face the Brazilian menace Wanderlei Silva and Lyoto Machida vs Tito Ortiz.  Below are the current odds offered as well as my picks.

Light Weight Title Match

B.J. “The Prodigy” Penn  -240 (risk $240 to win $100)
Sean “Muscle Shark” Sherk +180 (risk $100 to win $180)

My Pick:  First of all both these guys need to get better nick names, I mean c’mon its like they aren’t even trying.  Ok both guys are comfortable going to the ground but its more of a necessity for Sherk being that he stands at a napoleanish 5′6″ and just doesn’t have the reach to counter Penn’s striking.  I think that Sherk may be a little stronger than Penn and B.J. will need to compensate for it by avoiding lockups with the muscle shark and focus more on staying on his feet and try to throw a barrage of kicks and knees to damage Sherk.  I don’t like the line this high and time and time again we have seen betting lines overly aggresive that seem to scare away action.  The +185 on Sherk is tasty because he could very well win, with or without steriods.  The wise bet is to take the Shark but I’ll be rooting for Penn.

Light Heavyweights

Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva -180 (risk $180 to win $100)
Keith “The Dean of Mean” Jardine +140 (risk $100 to win $140)

My Pick:  Jardine is surprising alot of people with his recent wins including an astounding KO of the Iceman Chuck Liddell and I say surprising because his entry into the UFC was anything but spectacular.  Jardine was a big underdog in that fight and he shocked the crowd, now hes cemented himself in UFC history and is looking to make a run at the highly sought after Light Heavyweight title.  The guy that every eventually has to face in this division is Wanderlei Silva who has a striking resembalance to a gorrila and hes about the same size.  I don’t think Jardine is ready for this type of fighter who will utilize jui-jitsu to take Jardine down to the ground and fold him into a human pretzel and theres nothing Jardine can do about it except try to make Silva standup and fight him which I’m sure Silva will oblige him but not for long and he shouldn’t risk a lucky kick to the kidneys or something.  The play is definantly Silva and at -180 it is relatively cheap, I would jump on it now before it hits -200.

Light Heavyweights

Lyoto Machida -225 (risk $225 to win $100)
Tito “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” Ortiz +175 (risk $100 to win $175)

My Pick:  Both fighters need this win to make a statement, Lyoto needs it to cement his place in the UFC and Tito needs it to hush the critics who say his heart isn’t in it anymore and that he should probably retire.  Ortiz seems to thrive when hes the under dog and regardless of his current profile in the UFC he is not to be underestimated.  Lyoto is the favorite based on the perception that he has no weaknesses which is complete garbage and Joe Rogan should stick a sock in his mouth for saying it, granted Lyoto is a powerful young force to be reckoned with and his standup stiking is subperb.  If he can stay on his feet hes got a good chance to beat Tito, but if it goes to the ground then I think Tito’s wrestling could be the great decider.  Take Tito plus the money I think Lyoto is favored too much based on popular perception rather than skill and this line will move down, jump on it before it does!

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How sweet is it that the defending champions the San Antonio Spurs are down 2 games to none to the New Orleans Hornets, a team that was so disregarded in the beginning of the season that betting $100 on them to win the championship would win you an astounding $6100!  Little did they bookmakers realize that the Hornets would be fielding the would be MVP (Chris Paul) in addition to having two first names… UNSTOPPABLE! I mean did you watch game 2?  There was a whole lotta head scratching going on on Gregg Poppovich’s bench and for the first time in 3 years the Spurs are not shoe ins for the championship.  There is a great quote from ESPN’s J.A. Adande,

“It’s the Spurs who have to answer the questions now. Why haven’t they found a way to counter what the Hornets are doing? Why do they keep falling out of the game in the third quarter? Actually, they might not want to know the answer to that one, like a woman trying on a dress that’s one size below realistic and asking if it makes her look fat.” LMAO!!! 

That was great, could not have been put any clearer. The younger and some would say hungrier Hornets seem to be having their way with the Spurs like a puerto rican hooker in the NY Jets locker room and theres nothing they can do about it.  So in case it wasn’t made clear I think the Hornets win the series in 6.  Chris Paul and is team of unlikelys will no doubt be facing the Lakers of scummy Los Angeles.  Anyone who has been a loyal reader of my blog will know that I am a staunch Laker hater and this leads to my next prediction. Lakers will LOSE to the Hornets!!! and talent will have nothing to do with it, it will all be the attitude of the Lakers team who really like to get high on themselves and that will ultimately be their downfall.  They get waaay too cocky in LA and they will get caught slippin and the feel good team of the year, THE NEW ORLEANS HORNETS (that name just doesn’t flow right) will whip them and possibly force another tantrum from Kobe Bryant which would make for more great blogging material in the summer when Baseball just doesn’t cut it.  So theres the pick, hate or love it, theres something to be said for the underdog raising up against popular belief and reinvigorating sports fans with shock and awe and make the NBA’s slogan, “I Love This Game” ring true.

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