If you’re a horse racing fan — and we know there are some of you out there — you know The Preakness is this weekend. That’s great in and of itself, but what’s greater is Green Bay Packers legend Paul Hornung has a horse in the race.
Hornung’s horse, which he co-owns with Willie Davis and a few other non-Packers, is called Titletown Five. Five was Paul’s number, so we’re giving Hornung a little more ownership stake than the other guys (it’s reportedly 30 percent).
Anyway, Titletown Five has the longest odds in the field at 30-1. Kentucky Derby winner Orb has the best at 1-1. But we look at this way — throw down a few bucks on the long shot and see what happens. What the hell is betting on Orb going to get you unless you put together some masterful trifecta? Not much.
Titletown Five has raced twice this year, finishing second at Oaklawn and ninth in the Louisiana Derby. The first race was only six furlongs, while the Louisiana Derby is 1 1/8 mile. The Preakness is 1 3/16-mile race, hence the long odds.
Titletown will probably start quickly and then fade down the stretch.
If you’re looking for a positive, it’s that the horse is trained by D. Wayne Lukas and he’s trained five Preakness winners.
The other awesome thing here is the jockey will be wearing this.
Oh, and then there’s the awesomely ironic angle that Hornung was once suspended from the NFL for a year for gambling.
Golden Boy!
Orb certainly looks like the one to beat but if he doesn’t run well then Goldencents might offer some value off an 8-1 morning line. Last out in the Kentucky Derby, Goldencents ran on a wet track for the first time in his career. After getting caught up in a sizzling pace, jockey Kevin Krigger did what he could to take care of Goldencents’ health, eased him up, and more or less turned the Derby into a workout. If you draw a line through Goldencents Derby performance, he sits poised to have a big shot to take these wire to wire in the Preakness…as long as it doesn’t rain.
With Antigo, WI native D. Wayne Lukas stating that he wants Titletown Five several lengths off the pace, that leaves only Goldencents and Govenor Charlie out on the front. If these two don’t cook each other out on the lead then Orb will have his work cut out for him.
However…Orb’s trainer Shug McGaughey said that Orb’s last workout “made the hair on the back of my neck stand up” meaning he is once again ready to fire. Orb has won his last five…including the Derby which offered a super fast pace, and the Florida Derby which was slow in the early going, and now we can add a sloppy track to that resume with his dominating Derby performance. This horse can win under any condition.
Expect Orb to be closer to the pace than he was in the Derby. He stood in the gate momentarily at the start of the Kentucky Derby, which turned out to be very serendipitous for jockey Joel Rosario as he was not consumed in the early fractions, avoided the chaos of the first turn, and had a pretty clean trip. Even though he was wide throughout travelling 80 feet further than 2nd place finisher Golden Soul, Orb was MUCH the best.
Orb is the real deal and a serious Triple Crown threat. Titletown Five has no shot and is an obvious toss. Will Take Charge was moving with Orb in the Derby when tiring rival Verrazano was folding to the fast fractions and literally backed right into his lap. If Orb runs into Verrazano, maybe we’re talking about Will Take Charge this week instead.
All in all it’s chalky as hell. Bet with TVG.com and if the winner wins by more than two lengths, they’ll pay 2-1 the actual odds. Orb will likely be about 3/5 so when he wins by about 4, you’ll get a juicy 6/5.
Not much value here. Take Goldencents to win if you get 7-1 or better….but this is Orb’s race to lose. He’s really good.
ORB-GOLDENCENTS-WILL TAKE CHARGE
The Preakness is the ultimate chalk race and not nearly the betting race that the Derby is.
ORB is the best Derby winner since Barbaro and has the speed and stamina to end the longest Triple Crown drought in racing history.
In a 4F warm up at Belmont Park, ORB ran the fastest time among a ludicrous 44 horses. This horse has gotten nothing but stronger with every race, and I’ll be shocked if he doesn’t win this race by at least 2 lengths.
So, if you wanna win, you’ll put ORB on top and try to get the right horses beneath him. Frankly, after ORB circled them at the Derby, I have my doubts about any of the returners giving ORB a serious run. I think the two horses that sat out the Derby: Departed and Governor Charlie pose the biggest threat.
Titletown 5 will be wearing the greatest colors of all time, but I have no clue what business this horse has in this race, having only a maiden win to his credit. I smell a rabbit.
My advice- bet any exacta with ORB that will pay.
1. ORB
2. DEPARTED
3. MYLUTE
50% chance of rain now.
“Titletown will probably start quickly and then fade down the stretch.”
Hahaha