2011 Belmont Stakes Betting: Take Nehro Over Animal Kingdom, Shackleford

2011 Belmont Stakes betting is hitting high gear as the final race of the Triple Crown will be run this Saturday at Belmont Park, and even though we won’t have a winner of the Triple Crown, we should still get an exciting 143rd running of the Belmont Stakes, the longest of the races at 1.5 miles. While everyone is falling over themselves to wager on Animal Kingdom and Shackleford, the winner will be a horse that had a brilliant run at the Kentucky Derby, and sat out the Preakness.

Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom (+200) should be running for the Crown now, but he came up just short in the Preakness Stakes against Shackleford (+450), who is probably the fastest horse out of the gates, which he proved at Churchill Downs and Pimlico. Mucho Macho Man (+600) will be in the mix after a third-place run in the Derby, and a sixth-place run in the Preakness, but his run at Pimlico was compromised by a lost shoe, the second time that has happened to Mucho Macho Man. He has new shoes that shouldn’t come off now, so look for this horse to push the lead group.

The longshots to watch for online horse betting players are Master of Hounds (+1200) and Santiva (+1500), and Master of Hounds is a horse from Ireland, where they bred horses for endurance rather than speed, so that should help for the Preakness. Santiva has been up and down when it comes to his most recent races, and he’s run against some pretty talented fields, so it all depends which Santiva decides to show up on Saturday. Both horses have been off since the Derby, so they’ll be rested.

But the horse to wager on is Nehro (+400), who would be the guy who sneaks into the ring out of nowhere to draw a comparison to WWE Monday Night Raw. Nehro finished second in the Derby, his third consecutive runner-up finish in a race, and along with Animal Kingdom, he made a late run to surge past the field. His handlers held him out of the Preakness in hopes that he’ll be 100% for the Belmont, and it appears as though he is in good shape heading into the final Triple Crown race. He was getting stronger as the Derby wore on, which is excellent when discussing the 1.5-mile Belmont, and he’ll hope to do it again. A saying goes in sports, if you put yourself in position to win enough times, eventually you’ll win, and Nehro has done that plenty in recent months. Get a little value and go with Nehro in your online sportsbook.

NHL Finals Betting Analysis: Canucks vs.Bruins

Sports Betting Overview

Game four of the Stanley Cup finals will be one of the most fiercely played games of the series. Considering how tight the games have been to this point, saying game four will be the most fierce is saying a lot. As the 2011 Belmont betting gets closer, the Vancouver Canucks are proving that they are just a little bit better and a little bit luckier in each game against the Boston Bruins. The NHL highlights show that Vancouver goaltender Roberto Luongo is ready to get the playoff monkey off his back with a Stanley Cup victory. Both Luongo and Boston goalie Tim Thomas have played extremely well in the finals. But it has been Luongo that has had the bounces go his way.

The pay per head Boston Bruins fans need to keep their heads up, because their team is not out of this series quite yet. There is a strong chance that this series could be a “homer” series where the home team wins every game. While that would create an exciting seven-game series, it would also mean that the Bruins lose the Cup. Boston needs to win one game on the road, but game four will not need to be that game. The Bruins have played the entire playoffs like this. Games that they should win, they are losing. The Bruins are keeping the scores close against the Canucks and, at some point, that will translate into wins. There is also a very strong chance that the Bruins will come out of games three and four tied in this series, and that could change everything.

Vancouver Canucks

The Canucks have everything going for them. They are out-skating the Bruins, the puck is bouncing Vancouver’s way and Roberto Luongo is playing his best goal of the season. But the one big difference between the two teams in this series are those lucky bounces. Was the Vancouver Canucks player offsides in the only goal in game one? Do the Canucks have an advantage at home because they know the boards better than any team in the league? Whatever the real answers to those questions are, the fact is that the Canucks are seeing all of the lucky bounces come their way. Momentum is a funny thing, and when the only thing between you and your opponent is momentum then it can be a dangerous thing. The Canucks need to keep flying around the ice and forcing the Bruins to make mistakes. If the Canucks ever stop skating, the momentum will change.

Boston Bruins

The Bruins have lost both games of this series by one goal, and both of those goals were strange to watch. But Boston’s game plan will not change. The Bruins will continue to hammer the Canucks and keep looking for chances to get shots on Luongo. Goalie Tim Thomas will continue to be an anchor in the Boston net, and the Boston defense will continue to keep players out from in front of Thomas. All Boston needs is that one good bounce of the puck to get back in this series and shift things in their favor.

The Bottom Line

The Canucks looked like they were living on borrowed time in game two. The heart-breaker for the Bruins was that quick overtime goal. But the Bruins need to pick themselves up and remember that they held the lead in that game going into the third period. Boston needs to get better at closing out games in this series or game four could be the last Stanley Cup finals game of 2011.

Gambling Advisor blog Pick: Boston Bruins