2020 Kentucky Derby Betting Strategy

 Four months late is 10 times better than no Kentucky Derby at all. The grandstands at Churchill Downs will remain empty this Saturday, but the races go on. The coronavirus pandemic may have put a kink in this year's Triple Crown racing series for the best three-year old Thoroughbreds but the Crown Jewel is up for grabs among 18 worthy contenders.

You could say that this year's 'Run for The Roses' offers one strong favorite and 17 contenders giving chase. 

Tiz the Law has already won the Belmont Stakes, which was the first Triple Crown event this year. In the midst of a four-race winning streak, this New York-bred three-year old was opened as a 3/5 favorite to win the second leg this Saturday.

Even though he will be breaking from the far outside No. 17 post, the oddsmakers are more than confident he is the horse to beat. Jockey Manny Franco is once again on board after guiding Tiz the Law to each of those first four victories. 

Picking the favorite to win will be a very popular betting strategy for the 2020 Kentucky Derby. However, the return on any bet will be minimal. 

You need to develop of betting strategy that can maximize your overall return on investment. This is a two-step process that involves bets at both your favorite online sportsbook and racebook.

The first step is to find a few high-value contenders to go along with Tiz the Law. I am putting Thousand Words at 15/1 high on my list. He will break from the preferred No. 10 post with jockey Florent Geroux. The mastermind behind this three-year old Kentucky-bred colt is famed trainer Bob Baffert. 

Another contender with excellent value in his longer odds is Money Moves at 30/1. Trained by Todd Pletcher, he will also break from a favorable post at No. 6 with jockey Javier Castellano getting the ride.

We are going to use these three entries in three different bets. The first is a Tiz the Law and Thousand Words exacta through the actual racebook. You can place this bet straight-up since the favorite is winning this race.

Shifting to your top online sportsbook, we are going to look for some favorable head-to-head matchup odds for Thousand Words and Money Moves.

Turning to BetOnline as my preferred online book to bet the Kentucky Derby, I am going with Thousand Words at +200 against Honor A. P. as a heavy -260 favorite.

Another high value matchup bet is Money Moves as a -130 favorite against Storm the Court as an even-money +100 underdog.

Anything can happen when you send 18 thundering three-year old Thoroughbreds down a dirt track over a distance of 1 1/4 miles. The opens the door to a small hedge bet in case things do not go as planned. 

In this case, I am going to take The Field at +105 plus-money odds against the favorite, Tiz the Law at -135 odds.

For my full preview of Saturday's Kentucky Derby, you can click through to Scores & Stats using the following link 2020 Kentucky Derby Picks, Odds & Preview.

I turned to BetOnline as my top online book to bet the Kentucky Derby. 

NFL Week 1 Top 10 Picks

 As the calendar turns the page to September this upcoming week, the countdown is on to the start of the 2020 NFL regular season. The defending Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs kick things off on Thursday, Sept. 10 with a home game against the Houston Texans.

Sunday's Week 1 slate features nine head-to-head division matchups. There is a pair of games on Monday night to cap off some excellent opportunities to beat the book right out of the gate. 

As an early preview for all the betting action at America's Bookie, I put together my Top 10 bets for Week 1. It was previously posted at the highly popular sports betting site Scores & Stats under the title link below.

NFL Week 1 Picks - Dave's Top Ten Best Bets

Betting That Cam is the Man in New England

 With NFL training camps underway at all 32 teams, anticipation for the upcoming season is running high. One of the biggest offseason storylines in the league was the departure of Tom Brady as the starting quarterback in New England.

After leading the Patriots to six Super Bowl titles over the span of nearly two decades, Brady has headed south to Tampa Bay to lead the Buccaneers' offense this season. Change of scenery in the NFL is a regular part of the landscape. It will definitely be different to see a NFL legend under center for the Bucs instead of the Patriots but those are the kind of changes that keep things interesting.

A subplot during the offseason was Carolina moving in a different direction as well. Cam Newton missed most of last season due to injury. This opened the door for Teddy Bridgewater as the team's new starting quarterback. Cam found a new home in New England as a potential replacement for Brady.

Newton has been plagued with shoulder and leg injuries the past few seasons. In typical Bill Belichick fashion, he is not even guaranteed to be the team's starter on opening day against Miami. However, as long as he remains healthy and productive, the job should be his.

Anyone looking to bet on Cam's performance this season can find a list of betting props at HRWager. As part of my weekly NFL coverage for the popular sports betting site, Scores & Stats, I have released a few 'best bet' plays in the recent post 

Cam Newton NFL Props Predictions at HRWager

Saratoga's Saturday Race Card Highlights

Last Saturday, Kentucky Derby favorite Tiz the Law stole the show at Saratoga Race Course by winning the Grade 1 Travers Stakes. This New York-bred three-year old's next stop is Churchill Downs in preparation for the next leg of the 2020 Triple Crown racing series.

The son of Constitution has already won the 2020 Belmont Stakes on June 20. This year's Kentucky Derby will be run on Saturday, Sept. 5.

This Saturday's race card at Saratoga features the Grade 1 Alabama Stakes for a few top three-year old fillies. Headlining the field is Swiss Skydiver. Trained by Ken McPeek, she is one of the top contenders to win this year's Kentucky Oaks on Derby Day. 

Sired by Daredevil, her odds to win the Alabama among seven total entries are 4/5 as the morning line favorite. McPeek will also run Envoutante at 8/1 opening odds. Trainer Bob Baffert's Crystal Ball will break from the No. 3 post as a 5/1 second-favorite.

As part of my weekly horse racing coverage for the popular sports betting site Scores & Stats, my complete preview of this race as well as the Saratoga Derby for three-year old turf racers is listed below.

Saturday’s Horse Racing “Best Bet” Events

Belmont Stakes Winner Highlights Saturday's Field for The Travers Stakes

The coronavirus pandemic has caused a complete reshuffling of this year's Triple Crown racing series for the 'best of the best' in three-year old Thoroughbreds. Led by the Kentucky Derby as the Crown Jewel of that series, this year's "Run for the Roses" at Churchill Downs was pushed back to Saturday, Sept. 5. The second leg is the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Track. This race will be run the following month on Oct. 3. To further complicate matters, the Belmont Stakes has already been run on June 20 at Belmont Park. This race was the toughest test of the three at 1 1/2 miles in length. Quite a few colts won the first two legs of this competition only to see their Triple Crown dreams end in this race. The2020 Belmont Stakes was shortened to 1 1/8 miles with quite a few of the best Three-year old contenders passing on this initial leg. That opened the door for Tiz the Law to get the win and a shot at Triple Crown glory. This New York-bred colt is a solid Kentucky Derby contender with previous victories in the Grade 3 Holy Bull and the Grade 1 Florida Derby earlier this year at Gulfstream. Trainer Barclay Tagg decided to run him in this Saturday's Grade 1 Travers Stakes at Saratoga Race Course. This is the final major prep race ahead of the 2020 Kentucky Derby. Tiz the Law has been opened as a 1/1 favorite on the morning line. However, the son of Constitution will face some stiff competition to take a four-race winning streak into Churchill Downs. I covered the field for the Travers in this week's horse racing betting report for Scores & Stats LINK:Belmont Stakes Winner Tiz the Law Highlights Saturday’s Travers Stakes. https://www.scoresandstats.com/gambling-news/belmont-stakes-winner-tiz-the-law-highlights-saturdays-travers-stakes/511410/

Coast to Coast Horse Betting Action Kicks Off The Month of August

The 2020 Triple Crown series has been turned upside down as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The Crown Jewel of this three-race run is the Kentucky Derby which is traditionally run the first Saturday in May. That race had to be pushed back to September 5. The Preakness Stakes will be run on Saturday, Oct. 5 and the Belmont Stakes already took place on June 20.

In preparation for this year's Kentucky Derby, certain races run after early May become part of the prep race schedule. Two examples were July's Haskell Stakes at Monmouth Park in New Jersey and the Travers Stakes at Saratoga Race Course on Aug. 8. In between those two races are smaller prep events like this Saturday's Shared Belief Stakes at Del Mar Racetrack in Southern California.

This ungraded event has two strong Kentucky Derby contenders in the field. The first is trainer John Shirreffs' Honor A.P. This three-year old colt is coming off an impressive victory in this year's Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby. He is listed second on BetOnline's Kentucky Derby futures at +500. Tiz the Law still tops that list at +200 after winning this year's Belmont Stakes.

The other colt to watch in Saturday's Shared Belief is trainer Bob Baffert's Uncle Chuck. Sired by Uncle Mo, this three-year old won the Grade 3 Los Alamitos Derby his last time out. His futures odds to win the Kentucky Derby at BetOnline are tired for third with Art Collector at +800.

The main event at Del Mar on Saturday's card is the Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes. Back on the East Coast, the Grade 1 Whitney Stakes highlight's Saturday's race card at Saratoga. I covered both of these races in this week's horse betting report for Scores & Stats.

Kick Off August With Coast-to-Coast Grade 1 Horse Races This Saturday

Which NFL Team Wins The Most & Fewest Games this Season?

Every NFL fan and bettor continues to hope and pray there will be a 2020 NFL season. The escalating coronavirus pandemic poses its own set of difficult challenges. Finding common ground between the NFL team owners and the NFLPA to get it done is no longer a slam dunk.

Glaring through that dark shadow of obstacles in playing a regular 16-game schedule (starting the second weekend in September) is that huge ray of hope the NFL can figure everything out in a very limited time frame. Online sportsbooks such as MyBookie are counting on it. They have filled their NFL betting board with a full lineup of futures and prop bet options for the 2020 season.

One that stands out from all the rest is a pair of props covering wins and losses. Based on the full 16 games, the first prop covers odds for teams winning the most games. The other posts odds for teams winning the least.

At the top of the list for a number of futures and props is the reigning Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs. Backed by veteran head coach Andy Reid and the richest quarterback in the league, Patrick Mahomes, it is easy to see why they are favored to repeat as world champs. The Chiefs also top the betting list to win the most games in the regular season among the NFL's 32 teams.

At the other end of the spectrum is the Jacksonville Jaguars. They hold the dubious honor of being the top contender to land the first overall pick in next year's NFL Draft with the fewest wins.

There are plenty of good reasons to go chalk in each of these props. Yet, there is some solid value in betting a few teams a bit further down the list. Using the posted odds at MyBookie, I released my value plays in the following post BETTING 2020 NFL REGULAR SEASON SPECIAL WIN/LOSS SEASON PROPS ONLINE.