best BC Classic future prices from 5 racebooks
 

Here is a composite of the best future prices I could find a few hours ago for the BC Classic. The list has an implied takeout of 10%. There are several on the list that you could pretty confidently say won't be in the Classic, such as Stevie Wonderboy, and that would lower the implied takeout even further. But the flip side is that there is an excellent chance there will be one or more starters in the Classic that are not on this list.

Bernardini 2.05 Greek
Invasor 6.95 Greek
Lava Man 7 SIA
Shirocco 25 Pinny
Dylan Thomas 25.5 Greek
David Jr 14 VIP,WSEX
StrongContendr 35.5 Greek
Discreet Cat 25 VIP
Sun King 18 VIP,SIA
Premium Tap 40 VIP
Seek Gold 50 VIP
Lawyer Ron 30 VIP
Giacomo 50 Pinn/VIP
Brass Hat 45.5 Greek
StevieWond/boy 45.5 Greek
Suave 60 VIP
Super Frolic 50 Pinn/VIP
Perfect Drift 50 VIP
PointDetermind 66 SIA
Bright One 36.98 Pinny
Brother Derek 50 VIP
FlowerAlley 60 VIP

"Greek" is TheGreek.com, the book formerly known as Olympic.
"VIP" is VIPsports, which has the same lines as Gameday.
"WSEX" is World Sports Exchange, wsex.com
"SIA" is SportsInteraction.com. This sportsbook is NOT A-rated like the others. But they have never stiffed anyone that I've heard about.

--Dunbar

I cant even believe they have odds on Flower Alley. It should be illegal for them to take bets on such a proposition. Thanks for the info Dunbar, always helpful to have info like this to "shop around" with.

Tim, they were taking bets on the dead Second of June for a week afterwards. Its buyer beware out there.

Taking bets on dead horses is a long-standing tradition with some offshore books. I attribute it as much to incompetence as ill-intent. A lot of the books do not make their own lines, so they are slow to adjust to changes. That sometimes works to our advantage, too. (They do not lower the odds after a contender wins a big prep, for example. Or, they do not adjust the other horses' odds when a big fav drops out.)

Right now the biggest joke is wsex.com, which still has a listing for Jazil, Cindago, Declan's Moon, Wilko, Sweetnorthernsaint, Greater Good. And adding insult to injury (so to speak), the highest odds on any of those is 40-1.

For the Kentucky Derby, you can always count on an exciting competition between CRIS and Carib for who takes future bets on injured or dead horses the longest.

btw, Gameday/VIP still has Second of June listed, at 1-1 no less. I presume there is some weirdness in their software that makes it impossible to remove SOJ from their list, but that's pretty weird.

--Dunbar

Taking bets on dead horses is a long-standing tradition with some offshore books. I attribute it as much to incompetence as ill-intent. A lot of the books do not make their own lines, so they are slow to adjust to changes. That sometimes works to our advantage, too. (They do not lower the odds after a contender wins a big prep, for example. Or, they do not adjust the other horses' odds when a big fav drops out.)

Right now the biggest joke is wsex.com, which still has a listing for Jazil, Cindago, Declan's Moon, Wilko, Sweetnorthernsaint, Greater Good. And adding insult to injury (so to speak), the highest odds on any of those is 40-1.

For the Kentucky Derby, you can always count on an exciting competition between CRIS and Carib for who takes future bets on injured or dead horses the longest.

btw, Gameday/VIP still has Second of June listed, at 1-1 no less. I presume there is some weirdness in their software that makes it impossible to remove SOJ from their list, but that's pretty weird.

--Dunbar

btw, Gander and randall, there are futures up for some of the other races. TheGreek has the most BC races listed, 5. But both VIP and wsex have lines up for the Distaff and the Sprint.

Here are the Greek's listings for the F&M Turf, for example:

1751 Ouija Board +305
1752 Alexandrova +645
1753 Gorella +525
1754 Wait A While +425
1755 Alexander Goldrun +1015
1756 Germance +1215
1757 Pictavia +1615
1758 Honey Ryder +1015
1759 Film Maker +1215
1760 Dance In The Mood +2050
1761 Silver Cup +2550
1762 Melhor Ainda +2550
1763 Rajeem +3050
1764 Noble Stella +3050
1765 My Typhoon +4050
1766 Latice +4050
1767 Arravale +4050
1768 Sharp Lisa +3050

(+3050 means 30.5 to 1, etc)

--Dunbar

uh,
you(or they) left off AP Arrow.
Ive looked at this race from every angle and I just cant get past him.

Freakishly fast.

Repent

Bernardini is up to 2.25-1 today at TheGreek. Invasor is up to 7.15-1 there, too.

TheGreek's odds on Dylan Thomas dropped in half, from 25.5-1 to 12.5-1. TheGreek is not as jumpy as Pinnacle, so that drop probably represents some significant money, or at least some money TheGreek considers smart. The best current odds on Dylan Thomas is the 16.5-1 at Caribsports.com. Carib's reputation is somewhere in between the A-books and SIA.

VIP/Gameday's odds on Discreet Cat dropped from 25-1 to 7.5-1! But those books do not take action very well, so that could represent just a smallish bet. The only other book offering odds on Discreet Cat is WSEX.com at 8-1.

--Dunbar

All those odds and no Wanderin Boy? Any way to deal them like stocks? I don't think Wanderin Boy stands a chance in the Classic but after he wins the JCGC his odds will plummet. Be nice if I could get him now at 50-1 and then deal it for a profit after the JCGC.

WSEX and VIP/Gameday have Wanderin Boy at 30-1. TheGreek is usually agreeable to making a line for a horse not on its list. If you emailed them about Wanderin Boy, they might put him up at better than 30-1. Better do it quick, though!

As far as "selling" the futures, Pinnacle will usually put up a wins/loses line once it becomes clear who's in. Tradesports may make a market in it, too. Also, Ehorse has recently re-opened its horse betting exchange, but I haven't checked it out yet. (Talk about bad timing--they reopened, with a big email announcement, on the exact day that the new Internet gaming law went through Congress.)

--Dunbar