The Triple Crown season is over and a clear and dominant leader has been established in the 3-year-old division. That part is not strange, the strange thing about this year is that the divisional leader is neither the Derby winner or the Preakness winner, nor is it the Belmont winner.  The best 3-year-old is horseracing’s uncrowned champion, Maximum Security.

With no clear dominant horse emerging throughout the 2019 Kentucky Derby prep season, and the three Triple Crown events each being won by three different horses, the spring’s biggest winner was a horse that “officially” won none of the Triple Crown races…

JOHN DASILVA PREVIEWS THE BELMONT STAKES

For National Race MastersWednesday, June 5

After just missing in the Preakness with longshot Owendale I am ready to get it all back and more in the Belmont Stakes.

Let’s take a look at the ten 2019 candidates that drew posts Tuesday night for the 151st Belmont Stakes on Saturday.

From the rail out:

JOEVIA (30-1) – Trainer Gregory Sacco is not a household name among the conditioner’s roster for this year’s Belmont. But it is worth noting that he has won 2 of the 7 runners he has gotten into graded stakes competition. The son of Shanghai…

TWO TRENDS TO HELP YOU BEAT THE BELMONT STAKES FAVORITE

Notwithstanding the victory in 2018 of Triple Crown winner Justify, the Belmont Stakes has truly is one of the great unheralded graveyards for favorites in all of horseracing. For this reason, it is worth taking a few shots this year to try to beat the likely favorite heading into the Belmont Stakes, War of Will.  This article will focus on a couple of Belmont Stakes trends involving running style and time between races to try to narrow down the contenders and help you come up with the winner.

The main knock against…

Belmont Stakes PreviewNRM StaffWednesday, May 29

BELMONT STAKES IS THE ULTIMATE ADVENTURE…AND REWARD FOR BETTORS

A week from Saturday at Belmont Park nine aspirational 3-year olds who will be looking for a triumph in their first Triple Crown race while Preakness champ War Of Will, the only one to have participated in the first two legs of the Crown, will be looking for his second triumph.

While traditionalists have long, and deservedly so, called the Belmont Stakes The Test of the Champion, we add that it is the Ultimate Adventure and Reward for Bettors.

The Adventure is in the myriad of handicapping angles that…

This year's running of the Preakness Stakes is wide-open and lacks a clear-cut favorite. It might not be flashy, but it will be a great betting race on a great betting card at Pimlico. The 2019 Preakness should feature an evenly-matched 12-horse field that will not include either the actual Kentucky Derby winner, Maximum Security, or the DQ beneficiary who inherited the victory, Country House. The race seems primed for a better-priced winner this year, and should offer good value in the exotics if you can come up with the right horse.

Many of the horses in contention to win this…

To Those Who Say The Maximum Security DQ Was Correct – You Are RIGHT!To Those Who Say The Maximum Security DQ Was Incorrect – You Are RIGHT!Jim HurleyMonday, May 6

Both opposing positions are correct. How about that for taking a stand?

As you read my tongue wagging below, let me state for the record that regardless of the outcome, I had already discarded my losing Derby tickets. I had no, as they say, dog in the fight. Little could be done to salvage my Kentucky Derby wagering venture.

First let me state that there are two things which stood out during the…

LOVE THE ATTENTION TO RACING - REASONS COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER

John DaSilva<Monday, May 6

The 145th running of the Kentucky Derby no doubt will go down in history as the most memorable running of the Derby. While Maximum Security was very impressive when he finished first by 1 ¾ lengths over Country House, the actions after the race will go down in history as controversial and memorable.

First of all, Maximum Security was the best horse in the race. While handicapping the race and looking at the conditions heading into the day. Maximum Security just stood out as the horse to beat.…

The favorite has won the Kentucky Derby six years in a row, and that streak will be on the line when a full field of 20 3-year-olds takes to the track at Churchill Downs for the 145th Run for the Roses on Saturday, May 4.  This season, however, the real question will not be can the favorite win again? But rather, who will be the favorite at post time? Who deserves to be? The picture definitely did not get any clearer this week when morning line favorite Omaha…

Hank Goldberg – National Race MastersFriday, April 25

If you have only recently become a horse player, what I am going to talk about today might not be part of your method file. However, that does not mean that you should skip reading about this now abandoned but once locked-in-granite handicapping foundational blueprint players of a certain era once stood upon.

If you are a player who goes back more than a dozen or so years you will remember when less than a trio of 3-year old Derby preps was gospel and have clearly watched it crumble block by block since.

Now, since…

Triple Crown season is here again in the sport of Thoroughbred racing, and everyone who calls themselves a racing fan can't wait for the First Saturday in May.  While it's true that all horseplayers look forward to Kentucky Derby day, I think it's fair to say that few people wait for this day with quite as much anticipation as I do, probably because few handicappers have had the kind of success I have enjoyed in the Run for the Roses over the course of the past two decades as a public handicapper.  It's no secret there are always tons of…