Bonus introduced for winning Preakness Stakes

Horseracing Betting Lines

08/28/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It's been a few years since there has been a bonus for sweeping the Triple Crown races. During the time that VISA sponsored the bonus, no three-year-old thoroughbred won the three classics, Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes.

Now, MI Developments Inc. has announced a bonus program involving winning the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course and specified prep races at company owned racetracks. The name of the program is PREAKNESS 5.5. The 5.5 represents the $5.5 million that would be up for grabs by owners and trainers.

The tracks involved are all owned by MID: Gulfstream Park, Santa Anita Park and Golden Gate Fields. The $5.5 million bonus will be shared between the winning owner ($5 million) and trainer ($500,000).

"The purpose of this grand prize is to provide a spectacular event for the fans and to create a potential life changing experience for the stakeholders of the racing industry," stated Frank Stronach, Chairman of MID. "These events represent the greatest hope for the renewal of the thoroughbred racing business in America. Our continued development of MID's recently acquired assets should translate into improved results across MID Racing Properties' asset base."

In order to receive the bonus money horses prepping for the Triple Crown at the designated tracks must win at least two stakes races for three-year-olds.

At Gulfstream Park a horse must win either the Holy Bull Stakes or the Fountain of Youth, and also capture the Florida Derby on Sunday, April 3, 2011. The purse for the Florida and the Santa Anita Derbies have each been raised to $1 million.

At Santa Anita Park, before claiming the Santa Anita Derby a horse must win either the Robert B. Lewis or San Felipe Stakes. A horse can also qualify by winning the El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate Fields and then win the Santa Anita Derby.

"Gulfstream and Santa Anita have long and storied traditions of producing the finest three-year-olds in the country," said Gulfstream Park General Manager, Steve Calabro. "I expect this will produce Gulfstream's finest winter racing."

A consolation prize will also be offered sponsored by XpressBet. This will be called XpressBet .55. If the winner of the 2011 Preakness is not eligible for the Preakness $5.5 million bonus, the winning owner would get $500,000 and the winning trainer $50,000. However, the Preakness winning horse must have been a runner in one of the initial qualifying races and finished first, second or third in the Santa Anita or the Florida Derbies.

"I am really excited to support the owners and breeders in the 2011 three- year-old season," said Ron Luniewski, President of XpressBet. "As we move towards the three-year-old season, we will be offering some fun wagers based on the Preakness 5.5 and the XpressBet .55."

Any new idea that can increase interest in thoroughbred racing must be commended. I would like to see more bonus programs created spanning races over an entire year.

A logical one would involve the Haskell Invitational, Travers Stakes and Pennsylvania Derby. All are $1 million stakes for three-year-olds during the summer and early fall.

Hitboz Horseracing Betting News

<< Wozniacki captures third straight Pilot Pen title
New Haven, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Caroline Wozniacki won her third consecutive Pilot Pen Tennis title Saturday by pulling out a three-set victory over Nadia Petrova. The world No. 2 Wozniacki took the 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win over Petrova in a li

<< Leafs sign MacArthur for one year
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Free-agent forward Clarke MacArthur was signed to a one-year contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but TSN of Canada reported the deal is worth $1.1

<< Chiefs' Sheffield released from hospital
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Cameron Sheffield has been released from the hospital after suffering a neck injury in Friday's preseason game against Philadelphia. Sheffield, who has movement in all hi

<< Wigan shocks Spurs
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hugo Rodallega's goal 10 minutes from time handed Wigan an unlikely 1-0 win over Tottenham at White Hart Lane on Saturday. The result came just a few days after Tottenham sealed a place in the

<< USA routs Croatia in Worlds opener
Istanbul, Turkey (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eric Gordon sank four three-pointers and scored 16 points, as the United States crushed Croatia, 106-78, in its opening contest of the 2010 FIBA World Championship. Kevin Durant added 14 points for the

Blue Jays stave off late rally, nip Tigers >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brandon Morrow had another solid outing, allowing just one run in six innings, and the Toronto Blue Jays held on to beat the Detroit Tigers, 5-4, in the third of four games at Rogers Centre. Morrow

Defending champ ousted at U.S. Amateur >>
University Place, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Defending champion Byeong-Hun An was ousted from the U.S. Amateur on Saturday, losing on the last hole of his semifinal match. Trying to become the first back-to-back champion since Tiger Woods, An squ

Twins' Hudson leaves game >>
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Twins second baseman Orlando Hudson left Saturday's game in the second inning. Hudson suffered an apparent right ankle sprain.

Red Sox activate reliever Hideki Okajima from DL >>
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) -The Boston Red Sox have activated reliever Hideki Okajima from the 15-day disabled list and optioned right-hander Michael Bowden to Triple-A Pawtucket.The moves were announced before Boston's game Saturday night at Tampa B

Kirk fires 63 to grab lead in Tennessee >>
Farragut, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Kirk fired a nine-under 63 Saturday to grab a one-stroke lead after 54 holes of the Knoxville Sentinel Open. Kirk completed three rounds at 15-under-par 201. He will go for his second win of the season

Elite 8 NCAA Tournament Betting at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com

In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.

Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.

Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early.

Memphis vs. Ohio State

Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.

UCLA vs. Kansas

In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, UCLA will play in a role which they are very unfamiliar with that of the underdog. Only twice this season have they been getting points from the handicappers and both times they covered. Over the last three seasons UCLA is a reliable 23-7 ATS in this unfamiliar role. UCLA has not fared well against Big 12 opponents recently going 1-7 ATS since 1997. Giving up only 59.6 PPG, UCLA will definitely look to do what they do best: keep this game as low scoring as possible. Their defense has been especially tough during the tournament. UCLA opponents have been able to muster up only 48.7 PPG while shooting a combined 34.5% from the field. UCLA definitely has a challenge at hand with a Kansas team that is capable of putting points on the board in bunches. As a team, they average 79 PPG and shoot an impressive 49.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. During the tournament Kansas has been “lights out” from the field having shot 56.2%.

With Friday -105 juice on Basketball betting, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on all of the “March Madness” action.  Don’t forget to monitor who the public is backing at MySportsbook.com’s “Betting Trends”.  By doing so, you have the best chance of predicting a possible line change, thus getting the best value for your wager.

To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards