Oddsmaker Dustin Davis was perfect with horses finishing first or second

A BIG SHOUT-OUT to race secretary and oddsmaker Dustin Davis for handing you a whole night of winning bets. Yes, in case you didn’t notice, if you made pick-3, pick-4 and pick-5 wagers on Davis’s top two picks in the program for the seven ASD races on Monday, you would have turned $120 into $1,118. Here are his top two picks for each race with the winner in red: Race 1 -- 1,2; race 2 -- 3,5; race 3 -- 3,2; race 4 -- 2,7; race 5 -- 2,1; race 6 -- 3,5; race 7 -- 3,6.

If all your horizontal sequence bets were 2 x 2 x 2, etc. (taking his top two choices from each race) in $1 wheels, here’s what you would have collected:

Race 3: $1 pick-3. Spent $8, collected $115
Race 4: $1 pick-3. Spent $8, collected $281.60
Race 5: $1 pick-3. Spent $8, collected $49.40
Race 6: $1 pick-3. Spent $8, collected $43.05
Race 7: $1 pick-5. Spent $32, collected $481.30; $1 pick-4 spent $16, collected $112.50; $1 pick-3, spent $8, collected $35.80.

So, for spending $120, you would have collected $1,118.65.

BELMONT STAKES

Rock Your World left slowly in Kentucky Derby then was sandwiched

What a race the Belmont Stakes on Saturday is shaping up to be. By my accounting, six of the nine horses have a legitimate shot of winning the 1 ½-mile test.

Rock Your World jumps off the page because of his slow start in the Kentucky Derby. Will he make amends? And, of course, Essential Quality is forecast to run his best race. But what about Rombauer who won the Preakness Stakes or Hot Rod Charlie who had many fans in the Kentucky Derby or Known Agenda who had the tough post position #1 in the Derby? And, as a long shot, what about France Go de Ina who really didn’t run his race last time?

Wherever you land, the odds should be good--and the excitement will be palpable. Too bad COVID-19 restrictions are keeping the ASD Race Book closed because this will be a race that ordinarily would evoke lots of cheering. Good luck, anyway, on your selections. Oh yeah, a 20-cent superfecta box with all six of the above horses would cost you $72. Worth it? Hmm.

BAFFERT BAN

Bob Baffert Banned at Churchill

He’s trained horses that have won the Kentucky Derby four of the past seven years but Bob Baffert is persona non grata at Churchill Downs for the next two years. That includes the Churchill-owned tracks of Arlington Park and Fair Grounds. That’s because Baffert’s Kentucky Derby winner, Medina Spirit, tested positive for a corticosteroid that shouldn’t have been in the horse’s blood. The original test was confirmed by a second.

That means the Baffert Kentucky Derby winners since 2015 will look like this:
2015--American Pharoah
2018--Justify
2020--Authentic
2021--Medina Spirit (possible disqualification)
2022--not Baffert
2023--not Baffert

Baffert said the corticosteroid, betamethasone, likely got into Medina Spirit’s system from an ointment used to treat a skin condition. Up until last fall, a tiny amount was allowed even in race day horses; now it’s zero.

Yet to be determined is whether Medina Spirit’s connections, Zedan Racing Stables, will be deprived of the Kentucky Derby purse money. No one in Baffert’s employ, directly or indirectly, will be allowed to race at Churchill tracks either. Baffert is under suspension at New York Racing Association tracks as well.