Cane Pace kicks off Triple Crown series

Horseracing Betting Lines

09/02/2010 - Freehold, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pacing's Triple Crown gets started on Labor Day with the running of the $300,000 Cane Pace at Freehold Raceway. Eight three-year-old pacers have been entered for the one-mile stakes.

The Triple Crown will continue with the Little Brown Jug on Thursday, September 23 at the Delaware County Fairgrounds in Ohio and the Messenger Pace at Yonkers Raceway on Saturday, November 6.

Meadowlands Pace winner One More Laugh will start from the inside post for the Cane Pace. The gelding will be driven by Tim Tetrick for co-owner and trainer Ray Schnittker.

Along with the Meadowlands Pace, One More Laugh also claimed the Art Rooney Pace this year at Yonkers. He was second last time out to Rock N Roll Heaven in the $500,000 Battle of the Brandywine at Harrah's Chester. Rock N Roll Heaven was second in the Meadowlands Pace.

This year One More Laugh has won four of 10 starts for $924,614. In his career the pacer has earned more than $1.5 million with 13 wins in 22 starts.

Breaking from post two will be Delmarvalous and driver Brian Sears. Sears won the 2007 Cane Pace with Always A Virgin.

Trained by co-owner George Teague, Jr., Delmarvalous won the $500,000 Delvin Miller Adios earlier this year and he was fifth in the $500,000 Battle of the Brandywine. He has won two of 11 races in 2010 for $443,070.

Teague also has I'm Gorgeous in the race. The three-year-old will be driven by Andy Miller from post four.

Last week I'm Gorgeous went wire-to-wire to win the Cane Pace elimination in 1:50 4/5 to equal the track record. The colt won three of 12 races this year with $315,446 in earnings. He won the $200,000 Battle of the Brandywine Consolation at Harrah's Chester on August 22.

Here is the complete field for the race in post position order: One More Laugh, Tim Tetrick; Delmarvalous, Brian Sears; Urgent Action, David Miller; I'm Gorgeous, Andy Miller; Rockin Image, Yannick Gingras; Valentino, George Brennan; Woodstock, Ron Pierce and Bg's Folly, Daniel Dube.

Post-time for the Cane Pace is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. (et) on Monday.

There have been 10 Pacing Triple Crown winners with No Pan Intended the last to do sweep in 2003. Vintage Master, driven by Daniel Dube, won last year's Cane Pace.

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To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts Visa needs.

Horse Betting

(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).

The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.

"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."

Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.

"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."

When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:

CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.

DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.

PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.

You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.

"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."

Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.

(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)

Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."

But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."

Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."

Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."

All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.

In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.

"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."

To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.