2025 Kentucky Oaks trophy presentation
Godolphin USA's Michael Banahan accepts the Kentucky Oaks trophy at Churchill Downs and discusses how Good Cheer became the "perfect filly" for the race.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Los Angeles Times
2 days ago
- Los Angeles Times
Belmont Stakes live updates, start time, betting odds and results
Sovereignty trains at Saratoga Race Course in New York on Friday ahead of the 157th running of the Belmont Stakes. Why Baeza might be the best bet in the Belmont Stakes Baeza works out at Churchill Downs in April. The favorite for Saturday's Belmont Stakes may not be who you think it might be. Based on early betting information connected to a double matching the winner of Friday's Acorn with Saturday's Belmont Stakes, it appears that handicappers believe Baeza to be the best bet on the race. The Acorn was won by long shot La Cara, knocking off undefeated in seven starts Good Cheer. It set up some very good prices for those who can complete the double. They are called 'will pays' and often give a good indication where betting on the second half will land. If you have a Good Cheer-Baeza ticket, you could win $135 for the $5 bet. Second is with Journalism paying $163.75 for the combo and Sovereignty pays $165. The real money is a La Cara-Uncaged double which pays $4,052.50. Here's a look at all the 'will pays.' 1 — Hill Road $758.75 2 — Sovereignty $165.00 3 — Rodriguez $305.00 4 — Uncaged $4,052.50 5 — Crudo $851.25 6 — Baeza $135.00 7 — Journalism $163.75 8 — Heart of Honor $2,005.00 What time does the Belmont Stakes start? What TV channel is it on? Sovereignty, second from right, comes off the track after training at Saratoga Race Course on Friday. For the third time in five weeks, you may have awoken only to wonder where and what time you can watch a leg of horse racing's Triple Crown. Well, the time is about the same, 7:04 p.m. EDT, which you should round to 7:05 p.m by the time the gates open. But, as for watching, it's an entirely different television network. NBC is on the sidelines and Fox has the main broadcast. Before we get too far into it, let's do a little time conversion to help you wherever you are in the U.S. If you are out of the country, you're on your own. The race should start at about 4:04 p.m. PDT in Los Angeles. You can make it 5:04 p.m. if you are in the Mountain Time Zone, such as Denver. Going farther east, you can count on the race to start about 6:04 p.m. in Chicago, which used to have a signature race track in Arlington until Churchill Downs decided it was more valuable to close it and sell the land. Getting all the way back to East Coast, that's where you'll have the local start of 7:04 p.m. EDT. Now racing is known as a sport that whenever it has a chance to make a decision to benefit the sport, it always does the wrong thing. In this case, does it really make sense to have the first two legs of the Triple Crown on NBC and the final leg on Fox? Well, things changed when Fox bought 25% of NYRABets, the advance deposit wagering arm of the New York Racing Assn. With that, of course, comes the fact that Fox would get the most important leg of the Triple Crown if the same horse wins the first two legs. Such is not the case this year. Coverage will start at 10:30 a.m. EDT. It will be on FS1. At 2:30 p.m. EDT, it switches to Fox, where it will stay until 7:30 p.m. EDT. During various parts of that time, there will also be duplicate coverage on FS1. While there is some continuity with the NBC stations across the country, the same does not hold forth with Fox stations. If you are in L.A., look for FOX on Channel 11. In New York, try Channel 5. Heading west, it's Channel 32 in Chicago and 31 in Denver. There will be a familiar voice calling the races at Saratoga Race Course, this year's home of the Belmont Stakes. Frank Mirahmadi, the voice of Santa Anita and Saratoga, has a week away from Arcadia to call the Belmont Stakes weekend. Unlike NBC, which likes to supplant the local race caller with Larry Collmus, Fox allows Mirahmadi to call the races both live and on television. Collmus recently replaced legendary Trevor Denman as the voice of Del Mar, meaning that Southern California has the two most important race callers in the country. As for pre-race festivities, the highlight is the singing of a chopped-up version of New York, New York, made famous by Frank Sinatra. Tough assignment when you are basically doing a cover of a song so iconic that it will likely never be duplicated.
New York Post
3 days ago
- New York Post
2025 Acorn Stakes: Can anybody upset Good Cheer on Friday at Saratoga?
Gambling content 21+. The New York Post may receive an affiliate commission if you sign up through our links. Read our editorial standards for more information. The 2025 Belmont Stakes may be about two horses, but Friday's headliner at Saratoga, the Grade 1 Acorn Stakes, is about one. No. 2 Good Cheer, the winner of the 2025 Kentucky Oaks, is 7-for-7 in her career, and all seven of her wins have come by at least two lengths. A win on Friday afternoon would put her in lofty company, and the oddsmakers believe that it's more likely than not that she comes through. Good Cheer was installed as a hefty 1-2 favorite on the morning line, putting her a couple of tiers above the rest of this seven-horse field. You can expect a ton of horizontal wagers on Friday to have Good Cheer singled to close their ticket, and you will see plenty of punters tie her to Journalism or Sovereignty in the Acorn/Belmont Stakes Double. That presents the classic dilemma for handicappers: Do you just join the masses and throw Good Cheer in all of your horizontal wagers and try to find value other ways, or do you try to take her on, knowing that you're going to get a good price on whoever you think has the best chance of handing Brad Cox's runner her first defeat? What's so interesting about Good Cheer and her dominance is that she's not putting up monster numbers. If you're someone who is using speed figures in your handicapping homework, you'll be left a little perplexed because this horse is doing nothing wrong, yet hasn't had that eye-popping number yet. That may sound like a knock, but it's really a testament to just how good this horse has been. She's shown up to each race and has been the best runner on the track seven times out of seven. To beat a horse like Good Cheer, you'll need two things to happen. One, she needs to be off her game, and two, you need the race to break your way. Saratoga will host the 2025 Belmont Stakes for the second year in a row. Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images But even for most horses in this field, that likely won't be enough. There are a couple of entrants that do have a chance to pull the upset, should things follow their preferred script. 2025 Acorn Stakes long shots No. 3 La Cara (10-1) La Cara set a lively pace in the Kentucky Oaks, but Mark Casse's contender faded down the stretch and ultimately had to settle for ninth, miles behind Good Cheer. Sounds ominous, right? Well, sure. But, there is some context needed for that result. Mother Nature was up to no good during Kentucky Derby Weekend, and that seemed to play a factor in how La Cara performed. This doesn't seem to be a horse who wants to run in muddy conditions. There is some precipitation in the forecast for Saratoga this weekend, but if there are clear skies, this horse has the speed figures you'd need to get out in front and stay there. Get the lowdown on the Best USA Sports Betting Sites and Apps No. 5 Bless the Broken (10-1) In a lot of ways, what Bless the Broken does on Friday depends on La Cara. If the No. 3 horse sets a blistering pace, like she did at the Kentucky Oaks, Bless the Broken has every chance to do exactly what she did at Churchill Downs that day. She sat back and waited for the opportunity to kick it into high gear, passing plenty of tiring horses down the stretch. Given the pace setup in this field, there is a decent chance that we saw that race script again on Friday. La Cara, No. 4 Shred the Gnar, No. 6 Look Forward, and No. 1 Scottish Lassie all could vie for the front, turning the first four furlongs into a scrum, which would hopefully tucker them out. The bad news for Bless the Broken is that it will also play right into Good Cheer's hands, but maybe you get her on an off day, and this long shot can fire. At the very least, she's one to use in exotics on Friday. Why Trust New York Post Betting Michael Leboff is a long-suffering Islanders fan, but a long-profiting sports bettor with 10 years of experience in the gambling industry. He loves using game theory to help punters win bracket pools, find long shots, and learn how to beat the market in mainstream and niche sports.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Yahoo
Journalism, Sovereignty to meet again in Belmont Stakes
Preakness winner Journalism trains on in preparation for the 157th Belmont Stakes at Saratoga Race Course (AL BELLO) Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty and Preakness winner Journalism renew their rivalry Saturday in the Belmont Stakes, the final leg of US racing's Triple Crown being held this year at Saratoga Race Course. Sovereignty out-dueled Journalism in the final straight to give the Godolphin stable a first Kentucky Derby victory in May, but was held out of the Preakness -- won by Journalism in a gritty performance at Pimlico, where he was bottled up on the turn for home but bulled through under jockey Umberto Rispoli to reel in Gosger and claim a sensational win. Advertisement Despite coming back on less rest -- and as the only horse in the Belmont field this year to contest all three Triple Crown races -- Journalism was installed as the early 8-5 favorite after drawing the seventh post for the $2 million race -- which will be run at 1 1/4 miles rather than the traditional 1 1/2 as Saratoga hosts for a second straight year because of ongoing renovations at Belmont Park. Sovereignty drew the second post and was priced at 2-1, but Rispoli said he wouldn't be counting on a two-horse race in a quality field of eight. "Obviously we are the two that won the first two legs (of the Triple Crown) and people want to see a rematch, but I think Baeza will be there as well," Rispoli said. Baeza, trained by John Shirreffs and ridden by Flavien Prat, finished third in the Kentucky Derby and skipped the Preakness. Advertisement Rodriguez, trained by Bob Baffert, is expected to set the early pace and will have Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith, a three-time Belmont winner, in the irons. The colt missed both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness with a hoof injury. "We don't need to disrespect any other horse in this field," Rispoli said. "If they are here, there's a reason." Journalism trainer Mike McCarthy said the colt appears unfazed by the busy schedule. "Good horses just do things that much easier," McCarthy said. "He seems like his energy is back whee it was five weeks ago leading up to the Kentucky Derby. Advertisement "He's giving us a lot of good signals," McCarthy added. Trainer Bill Mott said Sovereignty, who will again be ridden by Junior Alvarado, has continued to progress since the Derby. - An interesting race - "He's improved, as many of these horses have," Mott said. "This entire group, if yu look at their form and the way they've developed over the course of this year, I think they've made steady progress. "It should be an interesting race on Saturday." The decision of Sovereignty's connections to skip the Preakness reignited debate over the traditional scheduling of the Triple Crown races, and whether they should be spaced further apart. Advertisement Since Justify won the Triple Crown in 2018 four of seven Kentucky Derby winners have skipped the Preakness. Michael Banahan, Godolphin USA's director of bloodstock, told the Lexington Herald-Leader that he thought the host racetracks were probably best placed to decide "if and how they need to evolve" "There have been probably plenty of debates about it, but we were pretty confident that it was the right thing to do for our horse and with the spacing of his races so far he's responded very well with that." bb/sev
