| 2009 Preakness Stakes Picks: Papa Clem vs Mine That Bird |
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| Written by Steve Hastings | |||||||
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Saturday, 16 May 2009
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 The 2009 Preakness Stakes Picks Experts at online racebook Bodog.com have posted Papa Clem vs Mine That Bird Head to Head Match Up odds for the race later today. Despite winning the 2009 Derby, Mine That Bird and Papa Clem are both –115 odds in this match up.For the first time in history, the winning Kentucky Derby jockey has decided to pass up riding the horse he won the first jewel in the Triple Crown of Horse Racing on to ride another horse in the Preakness. Calvin Borel won the 2009 Kentucky Derby on the back of 50 to 1 long shot Mine That Bird, but decided to ride 2009 Kentucky Oaks winner Rachel Alexandra in the 2009 Preakness. This opened up the door for legendary jockey Mike Smith to ride Mine That Bird in the 2009 Preakness Stakes. The odds makers have made Mine That Bird 6 to 1 odds to win the race outright. "I don't really believe this is happening,'' he said. "I don't think anyone would. This is history, you know? If you go back and really look at his form, you'd say, you know, this horse really isn't that bad. He's a small horse, you know? Maybe the change in racing tactics, dropping him back, not forcing him to try to match strides with bigger horses, handling the wet racetrack, maybe it all made a difference. I mean, you wanna believe, you know? And I do.'' Trained by Gary Stute, Arkansas Derby winning colt Papa Clem will be ridden by jockey Rafael Bejarano from the 7th post position. The odds makers at Bodog.com have made Papa Clem 10 to 1 odds to win the 2009 Preakness Stakes outright. “Watching it, it was exactly what I wanted,” stated trainer Gary Stute about his 2009 Preakness Stakes Picks contender Papa Clem. “[It was] letting him know that at the eighth pole he better not be fooling around. He seems to lose focus. I don’t mind that, but I don’t want him to get the idea that down the lane he’s supposed to fool around. That’s why I usually throw in these blowouts either a day or two days before the race to make sure he’s got a run on his mind. Plus he’s a little too high the last couple days. He bit Friesan Fire’s groom two days ago and kicked a photographer yesterday. I wanted to take a little edge off him.” Bodog.com has posted their 2009 Preakness Stakes Picks Odds on the Papa Clem vs Mine That Bird Head to Head Match Up: Papa Clem: -115 Mine That Bird: -115                        |
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| Last Updated ( Friday, 15 May 2009 ) | |||||||