Horse Racing PPH Betting -- California Chrome's Challengers Dwindling
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WagerHome.com PPH customers have heard this song before. In fact, since the last Triple Crown winner - Affirmed in 1978 - no less than twelve horses have previously won the first two legs of racing Holy Trinity, and so anyone who doesn't get too overly excited about the prospect of California Chrome making history can be excused.
The interesting thing about the Belmont (which takes place on June 7) is that it is always going to be virgin territory for any horse that enters; no one will have gone a mile and a half, and it is especially taxing for those who competed in the Preakness just three weeks prior. In fact, the connections of Ring Weekend, which did not run badly at Pimlico, finishing fifth, considered it too daunting a task for their charge, surmising that there are going to be plenty of opportunities in the summer and fall, with no need to risk this distance with so little preparation time.
There has been a call on the part of some horse racing bettors to alter the racing schedule so as to make it less of a strain on the thoroughbreds and allow for the best to compete in each of the "jewels," but to do that would be messing with history a bit, wouldn't it? After all, even though the Triple Crown races have not always been in this order, or conducted according to this schedule, everything has been constant since 1931.
WagerHome.com customers should have little doubt that California Chrome (which is priced at -115 in the PPH horse racing odds) has demonstrated enough ability to win this third leg and make it complete. But the others who have succeeded in the Derby and Preakness since '78 (some, like I'll Have Another, did not race in the Belmont) have been tripped up by a bad ride, or bad luck, or the distance. On top of that, there were a number of horses who skipped the Preakness, which requires a turnaround of just two weeks, to take aim squarely at the Belmont and, as it turns out, California Chrome.
One of them is Commanding Curve, who tantalized Belmont bettors with his finish in the Kentucky Derby, closing ground on Chrome with every step and inviting a lot of projection as to what might happen over an additional quarter-mile.
Of course, there is no guarantee that Curve, which went off at 37-1 in the horse racing odds at Churchill Downs, is going to get a trip like that again. But Terry Finley, one of the owners, firmly believes he is the type of horse that is bred to get better when the races get longer. Indeed, the grandsire, A.P. Indy, won the 1992 Belmont on his way to being named Horse of the Year. If you want to go back further, he's got both Seattle Slew and Secretariat, a couple of Triple Crown winners, in his pedigree, not to mention Alydar, which finished third in all three Triple Crown races to Affirmed in '78, and Northern Dancer, who won the Derby and Preakness in 1964. A.P. Indy and Seattle Slew are in California Chrome's pedigree too, as are super-sire Northern Dancer and the ubiquitous Mr. Prospector.
Perhaps WagerHome.com PPH bettors can say that attrition on the part of the field could make this journey a bit easier for Chrome. Aside from the absence of Ring Weekend, there is a leg fracture on the part of Intense Holiday that will keep him out. And the owners of Social Inclusion, the third-place finisher in the Preakness, are reportedly on the fence about their horse's participation. Danza, who was third in the Kentucky Derby and skipped the Preakness, is also out, as Todd Pletcher was not satisfied with the colt's most recent workout over the Belmont track. The Arkansas Derby winner will take some time off.
Preakness runner-up Ride on Curlin is still scheduled to go, although there is a jockey change. John Velasquez now gets the mount, as Joel Rosario will be aboard Tonalist, the winner of the Peter Pan Stakes. Wicked Strong, who had to start #20 in the Derby and finished fourth, was another horse who skipped Pimlico to focus on the Belmont. And in the opinion of many horse racing PPH bettors, he might offer the stiffest challenge of all.
Most of the contenders will be well-rested; more so than California Chrome. Is that the thing that will make the critical difference? Or have we yet to see the best this colt, purchased by his current owners for $8000, has to offer?
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