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Afternoon at the track, late night on the ice in Vegas!
Las Vegas - Time for the last race in the Triple Crown series, the Belmont Stakes. As always, we turn to our horse guy, Martin Calia, for another winning day. The Floor is yours Martin...
We find ourselves in Saratoga Springs,NY, for the third jewel of the Triple Crown races, The Belmont Stakes. Since Belmont Park is still under renovation, the race will again be run at Saratoga Race Track. Usually run at a mile and a half, the race will be run at a mile and a quarter. That’s the same distance as the Kentucky Derby. The race returns to Belmont Park next year and will return to the usual distance of a mile and a half . If you read America's Line ( if not you should be ), Ben always makes references to trends . So, I’ll take a page out of his playbook and hit on some trends. The last two years, the race has been run at Saratoga and the track played to speed horses on or just sitting off the lead. The track didn’t play well to horses that were closers. In the two races, the times were also fast. In 2024, Dornoch ran the mile and a quarter in 2:01 flat. Last year Sovereignty ran in 2:00 minutes! Both horses were within a length of the pace setter throughout the race. Another trend since the track opened on Wednesday, especially in the long races at a mile and an eighth, speed has dominated and times have been exceptionally fast. Therefore, I’m going to play toward the track bias and pick a horse that I feel will be close enough early to either sit just off the pace setter or sit behind the leader on the rail. My pick will be #8 Emerging Market. This lightly raced colt trained by Chad Brown entered the Kentucky Derby after winning the Louisiana Derby in only his second lifetime start. So to say he was up against it in the Kentucky Derby is an understatement. He didn’t get the best of trips and found himself too close to a fast pace and faded to finish 10th. He also threw a shoe which didn’t help his trip. Hopefully he learned a ton from that race and moves forward today. Market has been working steady at the Saratoga training track and his last work of four furlongs in 48.2 shows he is ready for a big effort. He also has the services of top jock Flavien Prat.
So the bet is a Benjamin ($100) across the board (win-place-show) on #8 Emerging Market and a $10 exacta wheel #8 with all. I’ll also bet a $1 trifecta and $1 superfecta with #8 on top of the 2-3-4-6-7-9. Good luck
Lacing up the skates and expecting the ice to be titled in favor of the Golden Knights at home in Vegas, but Carolina's numbers are scary. The Hurricanes are working on a 6-0 PERFECTO on the Stanley Cup road, while the Knights have been solid at home (6-2), but not perfect. Even though they lost game three, still like the way Vegas bounced back after a losing a challenge. They fell behind 3-2, pulled their goalie, then knotted the game at 3-3 to force OT. And if you have not seen the show they put on in Vegas before the game, tune in, you'll love it. So, gimme a tiny little tickle on VGK in game three.
ECKstats
Las Vegas - Back on the NHL board for a look at the opening Stanley Cup game tonight in the 'what have you done lately' category. The Golden Knights (52-30-18) are hosting the Hurricanes (66-24-7). Carolina has won eight of the last 10 and has gone Over four times and Under six times. Vegas has won eight of the last 10 and has gone Over five times and Under four times with one push.
These teams have met four times this season. On October 20, the Golden Knights (-$110) posted a 4-1 victory in Las Vegas. The Over/Under total was 6.0 goals and went low. On October 28, the Golden Knights (+$130) posted a 6-3 victory in Carolina. The Over/Under total was 6.0 goals and went high.
In the opening game of the Stanley Cup on June 2, the Golden Knights (+$135) posted a 5-4 victory in Carolina. The Over/Under total was 5.5 goals and went high. In the second game of the Stanley Cup on June 4, the Hurricanes (-$170) posted a 4-3 victory in Carolina. The Over/Under total was 5.5 goals and went high.
