In the spirit of the second leg of the Triple Crown, The Preakness, the handicappers here at the Powder Blue Room have handicapped a fictitious race in which the field is comprised of current Royals players.
The following are the morning line odds with a description of each horse (player). Keep in mind the winner of this race will simply be the best overall baseball player and not necessarily the "fastest" (as in run the fasteset). Is there an OTB (Off Track Betting Center) near Aurthur Bryant's?
All horses trained by Trainer Trey Hillman, listed with morning line odds:
Note: I just learned that Trey Hillman was fired but we will press on as a momento to Trey. Hint: Race horses run as "rookies" as two-year olds. They run in the Triple Crown as three-year olds.
Horse;Odds
Mike Aviles; 10-1
Hard runner who always finishes in the money. Injured last year after a solid two-year old campaign. Lacks the true arm strength to compete with the gems of the Triple Crown circuit but worth a play on the exotic bets. Handily beat fellow Preakness entry Yuniesky Betancourt last time out.
Willie Bloomquist; 40-1
No one really knows why Trainer Trey keeps trotting this horse out there time and time again. Comes from the long line of disappointing nags out of the Seattle Mariners stable. Willie trains hard and is a breeze to have around the barn except that he can't run with the others at this level. Willie will show up early and be the first out of the gate, but will be far back by the three quarters poll.
Zach Greinke; 1-15
The obvious favorite here and the class of the field far and away. He will break slow and spend the first half mile off the pace lofting 68 mph curve balls before turning it on at the mile poll. The only way he looses is if Trainer Trey attempts to switch out jockeys for the stretch run using Bruce Chen's jockey "to create a better match-up". Zach is an independent colt and knows better.
Brayan Pena; 15-1
Pena brings excellent value to the betting window as a quality, unraced horse. Trainer Trey seems insistent on running his aging stable-mate Mr. Ed (Jason Kendall) but the Royals Stable ownership (Glass family) finally decided to give the young horse a chance.
Billy Butler; 6-1
The only other horse in the field with a chance to give Zach a run at the end. Billy is prone to swinging 6 horses wide in an attempt to start his powerful stretch run. He brings a good finish every time, just sometimes misses the mark.
Rick Ankeil; 25-1
Rick was a champion 2-year old horse who set the word on fire in the Breeders Cup Juvenile. Then Rick forgot how to run and had to go retrain himself as a harness horse. Gotta give the horse credit for learning how to switch running styles, but no shot for the win on this one. Might be worth a look in an exotic bet on one of his good days.
Joakim Soria; 8-1
This track doesn't really fit his style as a (ahem) closer. Not firing like he has in years past, but of course its hard to be a closer when no one sets the pace or scores any runs to ever have a lead. Soria was picked up in Mexican claiming race as one of the Royals stables' best finds in recent history.
Bruce Chen; 2,309,309,0249-1
Bruce breaks from the gate, realizes he's outclassed at this level and does the world a favor and retires before anything serious can happen.
Kyle Farnsworth; 20-1
A menacing looking horse at 17 hands and 1400 lbs and has some front running ability. Kyle never seems to get it all going at the same time despite flashes. Look for him in the exotic bets.
Field:
Dusty Hughes
Kyle Davies
Chris Getz et all
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