Saturday morning and we know that this is a huge sports weekend in the Beltway region. We have Preakness, the Nats-O’s and all the NCAA LAX action. Plenty of super TV time. Look at the blogs over the past few days for more information.
So lets hits some quick notes starting with the NBC team and their Preakness picks for your betting help.
NBC Sports thoroughbred racing handicappers Bob Neumeier and Mike Battaglia and analyst Gary Stevens share their picks for Saturday’s Preakness Stakes with me early this week.
NEUMEIER: 1. Circular Quay 2. Street Sense 3. Curlin. I like Circular Quay to bounce back after a disappointing Derby. He was coming off an eight week layoff, and I think he needed the conditioning of that race. That’s not a knock against Street Sense; he could easily win the Preakness. Curlin had a bit of a bad trip in the Derby, I think he’s going to run well on Saturday. I don’t like Hard Spun this week. I think there are other front speed horses like Xchanger and Flying First Class who might soften him up near the lead.
BATTAGLIA: 1. Hard Spun 2. Street Sense 3. Curlin. It’s a flip of the coin
STEVENS: 1. Street Sense 2. Hard Spun 3. Circular Quay. I have no reason to shy away from Street Sense after his Derby win last week, but it won’t be a walkover for him. Pimlico plays a little more favorably to speed horses, but Street Sense will be tough to catch. Todd Pletcher has never had a Derby starter run in the Preakness, but Circular Quay was coming off of an eight week layoff, and the Derby could actually work as a prep race for him for the Preakness.
Nats Xtra live from RFK…
Battle of the Beltway has the Nats pre and post game show with Johnny Holiday and Ray Knight on location both Saturday and Sunday on MASN2. The guys will have some special goodies both before and after the telecasts.
CN8’s fine sports show Out of Bounds nabbed 2 Capital Area Emmy nominations Gregg Murphy, host “Out of Bounds,” in the category of Program Host/Moderator. CN8’s live multi-regional weeknight sports show “Out of Bounds” also received a nomination in the Sports – Program Feature/Segment category.
