Wednesday, June 3, 2015

The Ponies, Belmont Coverage, Epsom Derby

The Chincoteague High School Ponies baseball team did something great this year - they played their entire schedule and were undefeated.  They were named the Region 41 Baseball Champions.  Yesterday, the team started in the Play-Offs - and they defeated the Middlesex Chargers by a score of 8 to 4 in the East Regional Division.  Way to go, young men!!  I'll definitely be yelling, "Go Ponies!"
   NBC has announced their coverage of the Belmont Stakes weekend.  On Friday, the NBC Sports Network will have a program beginning  at 3:30 EDT - I'm not sure if there will be live racing coverage from Belmont Park, or if it will be looking at (a) previous Triple Crown winners or (b) the 13 colts that have won both the Derby and the Preakness, but not the Belmont, since Affirmed last won the Triple Crown  in 1978.  There are two interesting stakes race at Belmont on Friday - the New York Stakes, for fillies and mares age 4 and up, which is 1 1/4 miles on the inner turf track; and the Belmont Gold Cup Invitational Stakes being run for horses four and up, covering 2 miles on the turf.  The girls' race has 8 entries, while the 2 mile race has 11 contestants.
    On Saturday, there will be 10 graded stakes races at Belmont, including the Belmont Stakes.  There are two Invitational races, plus the Acorn Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at a one mile distance - the female portion of the Triple Crown races.  NBC Sports Network will begin coverage at 2:30 EDT; then NBC will take over coverage from 4:30 until 7 p.m. (EDT); with NBC Sports Network providing another 30 minutes of coverage after the race, from 7 until 7:30.  All of the other stakes races look intriguing…  I just hope for zero injuries.
   The draw for Belmont post positions will take place today.  I'll write about them tomorrow, but it looks like a ten horse field.  American Pharoah is the betting favorite, and, if he wins the Belmont on Saturday, will be the 12th Triple Crown winner in America.
   At 4:30 p.m., Greenwich Mean Time, the Epsom Derby will be run in England.  There are 15 entries, and the last betting odds I saw ran from 3 to 2, to 250 to 1….  Wow.   Here are the runners, listed alphabetically, with their odds behind their names:  Best of Times 66 to 1; Carbon Dating  250 to 1; Elm Park  7 to 1; Epicuris  25 to 1; Giovanni Canaletto  7 to 1; Golden Horn  3 to 2; Hans Holbein  12 to 1; Jack Hobbs  11 to 2; Killimanjaro  20 to 1; Moheet  40 to 1;  Rocky Rider  100 to 1;  Rogue Runner  100 to 1; Storm the Stars  25 to 1;  Success Days  16 to 1; and Zawraq  6 to 1.
    Happy betting!

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