Concert Tour Favored in the 2021 Arkansas Derby

 The final major prep race for this year's Kentucky Derby on Saturday, May 1 at Churchill Downs will take place this Saturday at Oaklawn Park with the running of the $1 million Grade 1 Arkansas Derby.

The limited field has six contenders listed as entered. Leading the way is Concert Tour as a 3-5 favorite on the morning line breaking out of the No. 5 gate. Trained by Bob Baffert and ridden by jockey Joel Rosario, this Kentucky-bred colt is already one of the favorites to win at Churchill less than a month from now.

Coming off a victory in the Grade 2 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn last month, the son of Street Sense is undefeated in three starts as a three-year old. A victory in the Arkansas Derby would close the gap in the Kentucky Derby futures odds. Essential Quality is currently listed as a +375 favorite. Concert Tour is next on that list at +450 betting odds. 

Rounding out the Top 5 Kentucky Derby contenders on BetOnline's futures board are Rock Your World at +700 with Hot Rod Charlie and Highly Motivated at +1200.

The second favorite to win this year's Arkansas Derby is Caddo River at 7-2 morning line odds. This three-year old Kentucky-bred colt is trained by Brian Cox. He will break from the No. 2 post with jockey Florent Geroux on board.

Of the six colts entered in Saturday's featured event at Oaklawn, five of the contenders recently faced one another in the Rebel Stakes. The lone addition is Last Samurai at 30-1 odds. He placed fifth his last time out in the Grade 3 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn in late February.

As part of my weekly horse racing coverage for the popular betting site ScoresandStats.com, the following link is to my full Arkansas Derby preview and picks.

FanDuel Inks a New Sponsorship Deal With Two Iconic Sports Franchises

 As part of a new weekly news feature for Doc's Sports, I covered FanDuel's recent sponsorship deal with MLB's Detroit Tigers and the NHL's Detroit Red Wings. This new partnership is also tied to MotorCity Casino Hotel and the FanDuel Sportsbook located in that Detroit-based casino property.

FanDuel has quickly grown to become a major player in the rapidly expanding US sports betting industry. Michigan has already established itself as a hotbed for legal sports betting among the 20+ states that currently offer sports betting within their borders in some form.

Here is a link to the entire article at Doc's: FanDuel Ups the Ante in the Motor City

Best Bets for a Top 5 Masters Finish

 Professional golf's first Major of the 2021 season gets underway this week with Thursday's opening round of the Masters at Augusta National Golf Course in Georgia.

The best players in the world have been invited to one of the most exclusive golf courses in the world to compete for the most prestigious title in their sport. This competition as also turned into a major betting event over the years.

Last year's Masters had to be moved to November from its traditional early-April timeframe. Dustin Johnson proved to be the best golfer that week, and just six months later, he his back at Augusta to defend his title as the clear favorite to win.

The easiest way to bet on the Masters is putting down some money on the outright winner after four rounds of play. This is also the hardest bet to win. Johnson will be surrounded by a strong field where anyone can get hot enough to win.

A more realistic bet to win that still offers a high-value return is betting on a player to post a Top 5 finish. As part of my 2021 Masters' coverage for the popular sports betting website ScoresandStats.com, I broke down the top five players in this year's field in terms of the best betting value for finishing in the Top 5 this week.

Here is the link to that betting piece: Best Bets to Finish in Top 5 at the Masters

The Santa Anita Derby Highlights Saturday's Kentucky Derby Preps Schedule

 The first Saturday in April is an excellent lead in to this year's Kentucky Derby on Saturday, May 1. Three key prep races will be staged coast to coast as a way to finalize the 20-horse field for the annual Run for the Roses at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky.

Starting at Aqueduct Racetrack in New York, the featured race on this Saturday's card is the Grade 2 Wood Memorial with a total prize purse of $750,000 and Kentucky Derby qualifying points for a top four finish. The three-year old colt to watch in this race is Weyburn at 9/2 odds with Risk Taking set as the 5/2 favorite on the morning line.

Moving to the home of Thoroughbred racing, this year's Grade 2 Bluegrass Stakes at Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington, Kentucky is offering an $800,000 prize purse with Kentucky Derby qualifying points.

This is another deep field led by Essential Quality. This Kentucky-bred colt was a champion two-year old and he won the Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park in his three-year old debut. A win at Keeneland on Saturday would cement his status as an early favorite to win this year's Kentucky Derby.

The highlight of Saturday's live card of horse racing is the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby out on the West Coast at Santa Anita Park. This key prep has $750,000 up for grabs along with qualifying points.

Famed West Coast trainer Bob Baffert is looking to run his prized Florida-bred colt Medina Spirit in Saturday's featured event. Two more entries to work into the betting mix would be Roman Centurion and The Great One.

As part of my weekly horse racing coverage for the popular sports betting site ScoresandStats.com, I previewed all three of these races with my best bet picks in the following post:

Saturday's Kentucky Derby Preps

Betting Each Region Winner in the 2021 NCAA Tournament

 The 2021 NCAA Tournament got underway on Thursday night with the First Four Round. This leaves 64 teams across four regions to battle it out for this season's college basketball's national championship.

At the top of the list in the West Region as the tournament's No. 1 overall seed is the Gonzaga Bulldogs. The West Coast Conference Champions breezed through the regular season undefeated and they bring a perfect 26-0 record into the opening round.

The No. 1 seed in the East as the other region on the left side of the bracket is the Big Ten's Michigan Wolverines. Some of the value in their odds to march all the way to the Final Four was lost with a 2-3 record over their last five games. However, when Michigan is at its best, to would be a formidable obstacle in anyone's path to the national title.

On the right side of the bracket, the Big 12's Baylor Bears are the top seed in the South Region. This is another team that appeared to be unstoppable until a few late-season losses cut into its betting value to win it all.  

The No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region is the Illinois Fighting Illini. This is another Big Ten power in the strongest college basketball conference this season. Coming off a successful run to the conference tournament title, Illinois carries quite a bit of momentum into its quest for the national championship.

As part of my college basketball coverage for the popular sports betting site Scores & Stats, I previewed all four regions in this year's Big Dance to come up with the best value in each team's betting odds gain a berth in the Final Four.

WEST REGION

EAST REGION

SOUTH REGION

MIDWEST REGION

Betting the Big Ten Tournament Semifinals

 This Saturday afternoon, Lucas Oil Stadium will host the semifinal round of this season's Big Ten Tournament. 

National powers such as Michigan, Illinois and Iowa will try and move one step closer to locking down one of the four No. 1 seeds for the upcoming NCAA Tournament while also advancing to Sunday's championship game.

I have been covering Big Ten college basketball for Vegas Insider all season long. Below are links to my game preview and 'best bet' plays for each of today's Big Ten games.

Ohio State vs. Michigan (1 p.m. CBS)

Iowa vs. Illinois (3:30 p.m. CBS)

2021 MLB Win Total 'Best Bets'

 One of the most popular preseason bets ahead of the new MLB season is on each team's projected win total. Making things even more exciting this year is the return of the full 162-game schedule. The Los Angeles Dodgers have the highest projected win total (103 1/2) as the defending World Series Champions.

At the other end of the spectrum among the 30 MLB teams are the Colorado Rockies in the NL and the Baltimore Orioles in the AL with a projected win total of 63 1/2 games.

Each of these teams offer some added value to their betting odds based on their potential heading into the 2021 season. Breaking things down even further, I covered my "best bets" for MLB win totals in a recent post on Scores & Stats as one of the most popular sports betting sites around. Here is the link to my full betting preview.

                                                 2021 MLB Regular Season Win Totals