Sportsbook & Gambling Information

RICHARD ENG: Go with value pick in packed Preakness


Giacomo's 50-1 upset win in the Kentucky Derby left me -- like a dry martini -- shaken, but not stirred.

I was called a dummy a few times, a reference to my new book "Betting on Horse Racing for Dummies."

Why's that? Because my first two picks in the Derby, Bellamy Road and Bandini, not only ran poorly but also were injured and are now out of training. And I dismissed the chances of the Santa Anita Derby horses, including Giacomo.

Saturday's $1 million Preakness presents an all new handicapping puzzle. A maximum 14-horse field shows that a lot of trainers are as suspect of Giacomo as the morning line maker at Pimlico, who made him the 6-1 fourth choice. The betting favorite is Afleet Alex at 5-2.

Will Giacomo become the seventh horse in the past nine years to win the Derby and Preakness and try for the Triple Crown in the Belmont Stakes? The trainers from the Derby are telling you no.

These trainers were so unimpressed by Giacomo that half of the Derby field, 10 horses, is back in the Preakness. In most years only six or seven horses would move on.

Of those 10, the only one I'll toss out is Going Wild from post 14.

As for the four newcomers to the Triple Crown trail, I'm not high on their chances, either.

So, that leaves me nine horses.

I still think you can throw a blanket over this group and a different horse will have his head in front each time. So I'm going for price. Even if Afleet Alex or Giacomo is a half-length better than the others, why accept low odds in such a contentious field.

Without Spanish Chestnut to serve as a rabbit, the Preakness pace should be normal. Remember, too, that jockeys are human. They overreact. The jockeys who burned up their mounts sitting close to a fast pace in the Derby are likely to be more patient Saturday.

I like Greeley's Galaxy to upset the Preakness at 15-1 odds. If he runs back to his superb Illinois Derby win, it'll give David Flores and Warren Stute their first Triple Crown win.

• ENG'S PICKS -- Greeley's Galaxy, Closing Argument, High Fly, Noble Causeway