Baseball Betting – Bottom Feeding Home Teams

They say that home is where the heart is, but that just hasn’t been the case for a few teams across baseball this year.

There are a lot of strong teams in this week’s "Who’s Not," so watch out for these MLB betting squads that are killing your bankrolls!

Season Standings

1: Milwaukee Brewers (8-16, -$1,135) – And to think that this is an improvement for the Brewers! Milwaukee is simply just drowning in its own pitching miseries at this point, particularly at Miller Park. MLB betting fans are just getting crippled laying chalk with the Brew Crew on a regular basis at home, and until the corner really starts to turn, it’s hard to see how anyone has the ability of backing this team.

2: Houston Astros (9-18, -$952) – Two weeks ago, we said that the Astros may just need to get away from home and hit the road for a bit. Since that point, they’ve gone 2-9 on the road and haven’t improved any at home. This is a team that is only going to get worse, not better, especially once the road out of town starts to open up and guys like 1B Lance Berkman and RHP Roy Oswalt get traded.

3: Cleveland Indians (8-14, -$617) – You have to go back to the middle of April to find the last time that the Indians won a series at home. Since the sweep of the White Sox that ended on April 18th, they are just 4-12 and have dropped $870 for MLB betting aficionados. Pitching has been a tremendous problem over these 16 games, as Cleveland has averaged allowing 6.06 runs per game since the middle of April.

Who’s Not?

1: New York Yankees (2-3, -$392) – Just two weeks ago, we had the Yankees on the top of the season standings for home teams, but we also warned that one bad week can really wreck that. That’s exactly what happened. Three losses as huge favorites at home have come back to destroy New York bettors, and we must keep warning that this is a team that is going to run in huge streaks this year.

2: Tampa Bay Rays (2-3, -$355) – Much like the Yankees, when the Rays get beaten at home, it is really starting to hurt. Even though Tampa Bay is still one of the best overall money teams in baseball, it is quickly becoming one of the worst money home teams. We expect that to change at some point, but it’s fairly clear that the oddsmakers are going to punish you in a big way if you plan on raising the stakes on the Rays at Tropicana Field and they lose.

3: Florida Marlins (1-4, -$310) – Manager Fredi Gonzalez should start to worry about his job. After the whole SS Hanley Ramirez situation, the head man for the Fish can now add the fact that his team has been the subject of a perfect game to his dubious resume. Florida had a woeful offensive series at home against Philly over the weekend, scoring just three total runs in as many games.

UFC Betting – Rusty Rampage Exits 114 A Loss; Liddell The Same At 115?

While most UFC Betting fans were hoping to see some good, old-fashioned hate in the Octagon at UFC 114, it turns out that the two fighters talked the talk but didn’t do much walking.

Quinton “Rampage” Jackson made his return to the UFC after a long layoff filming the Ultimate Fighter and then a Hollywood movie, The A-Team, and didn’t look like he had much rampage in him.

As he walked to the ring, he looked focused, and more importantly to fans, angry. It appears that after months of trash talking between Jackson and “Sugar” Rashad Evans, that the fans would be treated to a battle between two guys who want to knock each other’s heads off. Instead, it turn into a clutching and grabbing after with little fireworks.

Evans’ plan from the get-go was to wear down and confuse Jackson and to be fair, it was the right plan to employ. Jackson couldn’t find the range early on and couldn’t connect on anything in the early going. Furthermore, Evans speed proved to be a huge advantage as Jackson could even find him when he was in his wheelhouse.

Jackson eventually clocked Evans in the third round and stung him, but it was fairly clear that by that point, he didn’t have enough gas left in his tank to finish the job. After the fight, he spoke of ring rust being a factor, which was very clear to everyone watching.

Both fighters wouldn’t mind a rematch but for now, Evans will get a shot at the title and lightweight champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua first.

The question of ring rust will be a common theme leading up to UFC 115 as a lot of pundits are wondering the same thing about Chuck Liddell. The Iceman is always a fan favorite in the Octagon and he’ll headline UFC 115 with Rich Franklin in the main bout, but what kind of shape is Liddell in?

Similarly to Jackson, Liddell hasn’t fought in more than a year. He last stepped into the Octagon on April 18th, 2009, when he took yet another vicious knockout loss.

Overall, Liddell has lost four of his last five bouts with Jackson, Evans and Rua all knocking him out in ferocious fashion. Many people wonder whether the 40-year-old should just call it quits and one more loss to Franklin might actually push him to it.

UFC 115 will be hosted at General Motors Place in Vancouver, British Columbia on June 12th, 2010. Expect a raucous crowd as it was the fastest sellout in UFC history (30 minutes).

NBA Finals Betting Action – Boston Celtics vs Los Angeles Lakers

The NBA Finals are going to get underway on Thursday night in Tinseltown! Check out our five questions that will help decide the winner of NBA Finals betting action!

NBA Finals Odds

Boston Celtics +155
Los Angeles Lakers -190

1. Can the Lakers adapt to a defensive game? It’s been awhile since Los Angeles has had to face off with a team that plays defense first and tries to score points second. However, the Lakers were one of the top defensive teams in the Western Conference as well, so we expect them to be able to either play a different style or to




2. Will it be "The Truth" or "Kobe Time?" Kobe Time. F Paul Pierce had his say in NBA Finals betting action two years ago when these two teams played for all of the marbles, but now, it is Bryant that really looks to be the man on a mission. He has scored 30+ points in four straight games and has averaged 29.4 points per game in the playoffs. Bryant is capable of going off for a triple-double on any given night regardless of who is guarding him, and even though Pierce has similar capabilities, Bryant is simply the best player in the NBA in the clutch and won’t be stopped.
3. Is Andrew Bynum ready to go? Unfortunately for LA, Bynum has been fighting this knee injury that just refuses to heal itself since the end of the Utah series. He had three games against the Suns in which he scored four points or less and didn’t score more than 13 in any game of the six in the Western Conference Finals. Don’t look for anything to change, especially once the bigs for the Celtics start to pound on him on the inside.
4. Can the Celtics keep their composure in the face of adversity? If they can’t, this series will be short. C Kendrick Perkins is one technical foul away from being suspended for a game in this series, and F Rasheed Wallace is always capable of being a walking time bomb. The Lakers are going to thrive off of that lack of composure if it shows as it did in the fifth game of the Orlando series, and if that’s the case, LA is going to win its second straight championship.




5. Bottom Line: Who will win the NBA Championship? Even though the Celtics have made a habit out of trying to prove all of the naysayers wrong, this challenge against Los Angeles isn’t against a prima donna team like the Magic or Cavs. Boston is going to get smacked in the face by the Lakers, and the end result is going to be a frustrated team going back home with a 2-0 series deficit. Just as the Magic found out last year, winning three games against the Lakers, even on your own home court, is a task that is a lot easier said than done. Don’t expect this one to take very long. At most, Lakers in 6.

NBA Finals Series Betting – Bryant, Lakers Will Exact Revenge

The NBA Finals are set. The two teams who have combined to win 32 of the NBA’s 62 championships will square off for the 2010 title.

Boston Celtics vs. Los Angeles Lakers

2010 NBA Finals

Begins Thursday, June 3rd in Los Angeles – 9:10 PM ET
Staples Center – Los Angeles, CA
TV for the entire series: ABC
NBA Finals Series Betting: Lakers -190

What The Celtics Must Do To Win

Coach Doc Rivers’ club has proven to be better than the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Orlando Magic, two flawed teams who felt very full of themselves heading into the playoffs but got rattled and disjointed by Boston’s consistent defense and superior point-guard play. The Celtics’ opponent in the Finals, the defending-champion Los Angeles Lakers, might not have a great point guard (Derek Fisher), but the Lake Show certainly doesn’t figure to be shaken or cowed by the Celtics’ physical style of play. Boston must obviously play a punishing brand of ball in order to cancel out the length and size of the Lakers inside, but the Celtics need to bring more to the table than that. They need Rajon Rondo to be no worse than the second-best player in this series (with Kobe Bryant being the best player on the court). If Rondo isn’t getting to the rim and creating easy baskets for himself or his teammates, it’s hard to see how the Celtics will score enough to win. If the Lakers put Ron Artest on Rondo, Boston must find ways to pass the ball and beat the Lakers’ defensive rotations. A lot of tough challenges await the East champions.

What The Lakers Must Do To Win

Coach Phil Jackson has one matchup problem in this series, Boston guard Rajon Rondo. If the Celtics’ floor maestro can penetrate at will and scramble the shape of the Lakers’ defense, Los Angeles will have problems, even though its length might be able to bother Rondo near the rim. If Rondo uses fakes and changes of pace to get Laker defenders off the floor, the size of the reigning champs will be negated. It’s up to L.A. to stay at home whenever Rondo uses a pump fake or shot fake, but if the best team in the Western Conference wants to really prevent Rondo from being a factor, Jackson might want to consider putting Ron Artest on Rondo and using his defensive stopper against a point guard. That might not be a traditional move, but then again, when one realizes that Rondo is now the best player on the Celtics – which was certainly not the case in the 2008 NBA Finals – L.A. needs to do whatever it can to stop Boston’s brilliant playmaker. If the Lakers contain Rondo, they’ll win the series convincingly.

Outlook & Pick

The thought here is that Phil Jackson will indeed put Artest on Rondo, and that the Lakers – motivated by the memory of their 39-point loss in Game 6 of the 2008 Finals – will play with more hunger than the Celtics. Kobe Bryant has won four titles in a legendary career, and now that he has a second shot at beating Boston in the Finals, it would be foolish to pick against the Black Mamba this time around. The Celtics – if they were really as good as the 2008 team that won it all – would have disposed of Orlando in four straight games. Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce aren’t as consistent as they were two years ago, and the Celtics also lack the proliferation of long-distance shooters they possessed in 2008 (James Posey and Eddie House). Boston will have a much tougher time scoring in this series. Even if the Lakers are shut down, they still have Kobe in the final seconds, which is better than anything the Celtics can offer. The Lakers will win the first two games at home and continue on their path to the NBA championship.

NBA Finals Series Betting Pick: Lakers in five games

Stanley Cup Free Picks – Flyers To Even Series Against Blackhawks

Michael Leighton will continue to start in net for the Philadelphia Flyers despite allowing five-goals in the opening game of Stanley Cup Finals betting. To say that this series opened up with a war is an understatement. Unfortunately, losing in a thrilling opener that saw eleven goals is actually worse than getting blown out.

We always refer to seeds when talking about playoff betting. Very few people doubted that Chicago wouldn’t be one of the teams in the Stanley Cup Finals, but almost everyone doubted Philadelphia’s pedigree. They finished seventh overall in the Eastern Conference alone.

This wasn’t just a bad loss for Philadelphia because it put them on the ropes on the road. The Flyers notched five goals in the game, pushed Chicago to the brink and played physical hockey. If anything, they served notice to the Blackhawks that they’re not going to make this an easy championship run for them.

Now Chicago knows they’re in for a dog fight the rest of the way, and they won’t take Philadelphia lightly. Had this been a blowout win for Chicago, the argument would exist that they could walk in to Game 2 on Monday a little light on their feet. That won’t be the case in Game 2. They’ll be ready.

That doesn’t mean I’m backing off of Philadelphia. Neither should you.

Philadelphia Flyer (41-35-6) vs. Chicago Blackhawks (52-22-8)
Monday, May 31st — United Center — 8:00pm EST
NHL Betting Lines:
PHI – Michael Leighton +1.5 -175 +160 O 6 -105
CHI – Antti Niemi -1.5 +155 -190 U 6 -115

No team is more prepared to bounce back from brutal performances than the Flyers. They erased a three-game deficit against Boston to get to the Eastern Conference Championship, and held off a pesky Montreal Canadiens team to advance this far. They know what it takes to overcome the hockey betting odds, no matter who insurmountable they may seem.

The biggest question mark for the Flyers is Michael Leighton, who will get another start despite allowing five-goals on just 20 shots. He was pulled in the second period and replaced by former starter Brian Boucher, who allowed one-goal on 12 shots.

Still, goal tenders don’t get as rattled as pitchers do (unless you’re Curtis Joseph). They have jedi mind powers, and erasing bad games is part of their job. Leighton gave up a five-goal game to give the Canadiens a breath of life in the Eastern Conference Championship, and bounced back the next game with a shutout win. Don’t count him out just yet.

The biggest problem for Chicago will be containing the speed of Daniel Briere, who haunted Chicago with four-points (1 goal, 3 assists) in the first two periods of the game. They’ll also have to contend with Chris Pronger, who absolutely bullied Byfuglien and the top-line earning him top honors at the end of the night. Pronger is the biggest x-factor in this series, and he’s making his presence known. It’s only a matter of time before he puts some pucks behind Niemi.

Game planning has a lot to do with Philadelphia’s success, and they haven’t faced a team as fast, talented and punchy as Chicago. Wins over New Jersey and Boston proved they have the toughness, while a decisive 4-1 series victory over Montreal proved that they can handle speed aptly.

Dealing with a team that boasts such a complete arsenal like Chicago takes a slight adjustment period. That was Game 1. In Game 2, the Flyers will come through as an underdog pick.

Furious Stanley Cup Free Pick – Philadelphia PL and ML (OVER)

ATP French Open Betting– Quarterfinals Taking Shape as Federer, Soderling, Berdych and Youzhny Pass

Paris, France – Roger Federer and Robin Soderling have set up a re-match of their 2009 French Open final in the quarterfinals on Tuesday and many tennis betting fans are wondering whether this time the outcome will be different.

Sodman has been in fine fettle in Paris, crushing most of his opposition in reaching the final eight – save for Marin Cilic who managed to take a decent amount of games off the Swede.

On paper, Federer owns Soderling, having beaten him 12 times in ATP level play, which includes all four encounters on 2009, three of which were at Grand Slam level – the French Open final, the Wimbledon R16 and the US Open quarters. Importantly, Federer dropped only one of ten sets played.

Nevertheless, Sodman looms a dangerous stumbling block for the defending champion, Federer. Soderling does have a recent win over Federer, unfortunately it came at an exhibition event in Abu Dhabi and doesn’t register on their ATP score sheet.

It however stands as their most recent encounter and therefore might have definitive implications for their upcoming clash. Soderling should have a self-belief heretofore unknown going into this clash. Could be the groundwork for an upset indeed.

Elsewhere, Tomas Berdych dismissed Andy Murray in the last 16 on Sunday. Berdych has been quietly going about his business, gaining hardly any serious attention. That is until now.

In reaching the quarterfinals and taking out Isner and Murray in the preceding two rounds Berdych has quietly snuck up on everyone.

Standing in his way of a berth in the semis, and a potential clash against the winner of Federer vs. Soderling in the semis is Mikhail Youzhny – another somewhat surprising quarterfinalist, come to that.

Youzhny received a free pass into the quarters when Jo-Wilfried Tsonga retired with a leg injury, calling it quits after losing the first set of their last 16 encounter.

Youzhny leads the series against Berdych 6-4 lifetime. However, on clay they are level 1-1. Indeed, their clash is attention-worthy because theoretically, both have an equal chance to advance.

Follow the French Open quarterfinals and onwards at BETUS Sportsbook where you will find the latest and best tennis betting odds and lines on every single match.

UFC Odds – Middleweight Must-Win – Bisping vs. Miller at UFC 114

Michael “The Count” Bisping meets Dan Miller in the second last fight of UFC 114. The UFC odds are that the winner of this fight will enter the Middleweight title picture while the loser will have some work to do in order to become a contender. Both fighters are coming off losses to some of the Middleweight elite and have something to prove.

UFC 114: Rampage vs. Evans

When: May 29, 2010

Where: MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada

How: Per-Per-View (Spike TV 9PM ET/6PM PT, PPV – 10PM ET/7PM PT)

Michael Bisping (17-3): -200

Dan Miller (11-3-0 1 NC): +160

Michael Bisping and Dan Miller meet in Las Vegas on Saturday night with the winner taking a step up on the Middleweight ladder. England’s hope and The Ultimate Fighter Season 3 winner Michel Bisping brings his terrific stand up game into this fight against Brazilian jiu-jitsu Black Belt Dan Miller.

Michael Bisping is a somewhat typical English MMA practitioner. One only has to look at the last two UFC pay-per-views to understand what this means. Dan Hardy showed a lot of heart against GSP but his ground game was totally inferior and the same goes for Paul Daley’s fight against Josh Koscheck. Bisping is said to have a decent ground game but nowhere near the quality of many North American fighters.

Where Bisping will dominate this fight is in the standup. His footwork and his speed make him one of the more feared strikers in the middleweight division. That said, Bisping has not demonstrated the consistent knockout power that one would hope for such a seemingly one dimensional fighter.

Take down defense and keeping this fight standing will be key for “The Count” He’s been in the Octagon with some of the best but he hasn’t faced someone with the ground game of Dan Miller in a very long time.

Dan Miller could really make a name for himself with a win on Saturday. He is a relative unknown who himself has been in the Octagon with two of the UFC’s best in his last two fights. Consecutive losses to Demian Maia and Chael Sonnen have forced Miller down the pecking order in the Middleweight division but a win against Bisping could erase what has been a poor streak for Miller.

As mentioned, Dan Miller is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu Black Belt who holds seven submission victories in his fifteen fight career. He has a decent standup game but his got outslugged by Demian Maia whose striking is a notch or two below Bisping’s. Miller’s best chance in this fight is to take the match to the ground and utilize his superior grappling. Miller is one tough dude and his hardiness will be tested against a proven UFC talent.

Michael Bisping has arguably the most to lose in this fight. As the number one representative of the Wolfslair MMA Academy in England, a win would be a boon for English MMA and for the gym that he calls home. His experience against Wanderlei Silva and Dan Henderson should benefit Bisping in this fight. Fighting the best should have made Bisping the better fighter. Look for Bisping to use his superior footwork and outslug Miller on the way to a unanimous decision victory.

UFC 114 Pick: Michael Bisping -200

UFC Betting 114 – Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight Bouts of Interest

The UFC 114 Main Card spans the weight divisions and includes an intriguing Light Heavyweight fight between Antonio Rogiero Nogueira and a very tough Jason Brilz and undefeated Todd Duffee and once defeated Mike Russow. Although most of the UFC betting 114 will be done on the higher profile fights at UFC 114, take a look at some other fights on the Main Card and lay some dough down!

UFC 114: Rampage vs. Evan

When: May 29, 2010
Where: MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada
How: Per-Per-View (Spike TV 9PM ET/6PM PT, PPV – 10PM ET/7PM PT)

Todd Duffee (6-0-0): -450
Mike Russow (12-1-0 1NC): +375

All of the talk in this fight is about Todd Duffee power but we haven seen much of his ground game. He has six KO , three of which came in under 20 seconds and owns a UFC record – seven second knockout win over Tim Hague. We know that this guy can strike.

Mike Russow is a big man who uses his size, mauls his opponents and eventually submits them. Eight of Russow twelve wins have come by way of submission. Russow is a Chicago cop and has not been in the Octagon for ten months.

This looks like Duffee fight to lose. Russow will try to take this fight to the ground and will likely get punched in the face while trying. If, and that a big if Russow can take Duffee down, I think that Duffee could surprise us with his ground game. Training with Frank Mir and Xtreme Couture should pay off.

Winning Pick: Todd Duffee -450

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (18-3-0): -550
Jason “Hitman” Brilz (18-2-1): +375

UFC has blessed us with a pretty decent Light Heavyweight fight to watch before Rashad vs. Rampage. Watching a Nogueira brother is always a treat. This time Little Nog is matched up against a guy that actually has a better MMA record – Jason Brilz, a bruising boxer with something to prove in the Light Heavyweight division.

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira has had only one fight in the UFC – a Knockout of the Night victory over Luis Cane. Well known around the world, Nogueira is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu Black Belt that trains with the best and attracts the best to train with him and his brother. His technique both on the ground and on his feet is top quality and because of the years in the gym there is little that Little Nog hasn seen.

Jason Brilz replaces Forrest Griffin in this fight and is definitely a step below him. His bread and butter is his striking although he does have a high school and collegiate wrestling background.  He definitely a tough kid but he has yet to face anyone close to the caliber of a Nogueira brother.

Look for Nogueira to do whatever he wants in this fight. He is a far superior and experienced fighter who should overwhelm Brilz and teach him a valuable lesson about MMA.

UFC Free Pick: Antonio Rogerio Nogueira -550

NBA Picks – Can the Suns Hold Court as Slight NBA Betting Favorites in Game 6 on Saturday?

Oh, lordy, lordy, they had it! The Phoenix Suns were oh so close to forcing overtime in Game 5 of the Western Conference Playoffs.

As huge over +300 underdogs in the NBA sportsbook to beat the L.A. Lakers, the Suns let a last second air ball by Kobe Bryant fall into the hands of the on-rushing Ron Artest. Artest made the miracle shot and, whammo!

The Suns lose.

Now, Phoenix will try and regroup for Game 6 on their home court on Saturday night.

The Suns are slight basketball betting favorites to beat the Lakers.

Will they do it and force a Game 7? Or, will the heart breaking loss to the Lakers in Game 5 prove too much for them to handle?

Los Angeles Lakers vs. Phoenix Suns

• Where: U.S. Airways Center, Phoenix, AZ
• When: May 29th, 2010 at 8:30 pm EST
• TV: TNT

NBA Betting Spread

Los Angeles Lakers +1 ½ -110

Phoenix Suns -1 ½ -110

The betting trends are heavily in favor of the Phoenix Suns for this game.

• The Los Angeles Lakers are 5 and 1 ATS in their last 6 games following a win.
• The Los Angeles Lakers are 4 and 13 ATS in their last 17 games playing on only 1 day of rest.
• The Phoenix Suns are 8 and 2 ATS in their last 10 games versus a team with a winning straight-up record.
• The Phoenix Suns are 4 and 1 ATS in their last 5 playoff games as a favorite of a ½ to 4 ½ points.

This game is going to come down to whether or not the Suns are mentally prepared. After the heart breaking loss to the Lakes in Game 5 it’s a legitimate question to ask whether or not the Suns are ready to take on L.A. again in Game 6.

Forget stats. It’s been proven that these two teams are going to fight each other tooth and nail no matter what the other team does. The Suns zone defense worked again but the Lakers adjusted and were better at dumping the ball into the middle. They also made more jump shots.

Each team has done what its needed to do in order to win. So, stats just don’t mean as much in this game as they did in the 5 previous games. What do matter are two things.

First, the Suns are saying everything right. Steve Nash is saying that “everything is OK.” In regards to Game 5, coach Alvin Gentry is saying that the Suns “didn’t quite finish the game” and that he “has no complaints”.

Second, the Lakers looked physically tired at the end of Game 5. To me, that’s a huge sign that L.A. might be slowing down. If that’s the case, I expect them to play less than spectacular on Saturday night. In fact, I’m not sure the Lakers will be able to find enough energy to stay close to Phoenix.

L.A. is a veteran team that understands they’ve got 2 chances to beat Phoenix. I’m not saying they’re not going to try. I’m just saying that they’re not going to freak out if the Suns blow them out of the arena on Saturday.

Phoenix has shown the ability to get over losses before in this series. They should do it again on Saturday night and force a Game 7. Backing the Phoenix Suns is the basketball bet to make in the NBA sportsbook.

NBA Betting Pick: Phoenix Suns -1 ½

Kentucky Derby Betting Props – Paddy O’Prado vs Stately Victor

Overwhelmed by trying to sort through the 20 horses in the 2010 Kentucky Derby betting field? Don’t be! Here at BetOnline Sportsbook, you can engage in one of many horse racing betting matchups that just concern two horses and their order of finish against each other. Right now, we’re taking a look at the battle between Paddy O’Prado and Stately Victor.

Kentucky Derby Betting Odds
Paddy O’Prado -140
Stately Victor +110

A pair of turf bred horses that are taking their aim at the dirt track at Churchill Downs are matched against each other here. Stately Victor has only run one race in his life on the dirt, a win at the Blue Grass Stakes.

The good news for Stately Victor is that he has had a ton of experience racing at distances. He has run seven races at 1 1/16 miles or greater, three of which were at a mile and an eighth. He has had a mixed bag of results in those races, though, which could be bad news for him on the biggest stage in horse racing.

This isn’t a particularly great pedigree, nor is it an impressive jockey/trainer combination for Stately Victor. Jockey Alan Garcia made his Kentucky Derby debut last year on Regal Ransom, finishing eighth. Trainer Michael Maker is a complete unknown on the circuit who has never trained a horse that has run in the Fastest Two Minutes in Sports.

Paddy O’Prado is a loveable grey horse that just looks like he has the heart of a champion. Many horse racing experts feel as though he has the best breeding in the bunch for the long distances of this race, as he is a pure Irish bred turf horse. Trainer Dale Romans feels as though his colt can run with the big boys on the dirt, as was the case in the Blue Grass when he finished second in a great showing.

Jockey Kent Desormeaux has been in horse racing for many years and knows what it takes to reach the winners circle here at Churchill Downs. He is a multiple time Triple Crown race winner and is one of the few jockeys riding that can say that they have won at all three Triple Crown venues.

The first thing that we’ll point at is that Stately Victor did take care of Paddy O’Prado at the Blue Grass as a 20/1 longshot. However, there is probably a reason that he had odds like that in the race and was lucky to recover from a bump early on. However, his kick at the end of the Blue Grass resembled that of Mine That Bird last year in the Kentucky Derby.

Many thought that Mine That Bird was a flash in the pan. We also think the same about Stately Victor.

Paddy O’Prado is a bit of an unknown commodity, but we’ll back the grey colt and hope that the luck of the Irish puts him in front of a horse that has already taken him out once in his career.

My Kentucky Derby Betting Prediction: Paddy O’Prado -140 >> Join to Bet Now

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