The second leg of this year's Triple Crown horse racing season takes place this Saturday afternoon with the running of the 139^th Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. This is a Grade I stakes race that is contested over a distance of 1 ¼ miles on a dirt track. The total prize purse for this race is $1.1 million, which includes a $100,000 bonus for the winning horse.

When it comes to wagering on Saturday's race, there are a couple of important factors to keep in mind. The first is that this field is unbalanced with one prohibitive favorite against nine other contenders. California Chrome is coming off an impressive 1 ¾-length victory in this year's Kentucky Derby, in which he went off as a heavy 5/2 favorite. As a result of that win, he is currently a prohibitive 5/8 favorite on Bovada's futures odds for this race, and this number could go even lower on the opening Morning Line after Wednesday's post-position draw.

The second factor is the overall field for this race. Barring any additional scratches between now and post time on Friday, there will be a total of 10 horses in this race, which is well below a potential field of up to 14 horses for the Preakness. Bovada's second-favorite (if you can actually call him that) is currently Social Inclusion at 6/1. There is no such thing as a "lock" in any sporting event and especially in horse racing, but it California Chrome breaks clean out of the gate and is allowed to run his race a bit off the lead, it's hard to see him losing this race.

This scenario sets up the perfect opportunity to bet the trifecta and exacta for this race. I am going with California Chrome as my pick to win, so I am looking to wheel him with my next two choices to finish in the money; Ride on Curlin and Dynamic Impact will round out my three-horse play. This means that as long as California Chrome wins and my next two horses finish second and third, I would win. This type of wager provides a bit of a hedge, but I would also bet this as a trifecta box. My exacta play in this race would be a bet on California Chrome with Ride on Curlin.

Ride on Curlin finished seventh in the Kentucky Derby, so he should draw so solid value in his odds for this race. The futures' board has him listed at 12/1, but these odds will probably drop a bit on the morning line. This three-year old has yet to win a major stakes race, but I was highly impressed in his second-place finish in this year's Grade I Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park on April 12. He is trained by William Gowan and he will be ridden by Joel Rosario, who guided Orb to a Kentucky Derby win last year.

Dynamic Impact is listed at 16/1 odds on Bovada's futures for this race, and he should offer even more value in his actual odds for this race as a moderate longshot. This three-year-old was a slow starter that needed five tries to break his maiden, but that all changed with a stunning victory in the Grade III Illinois Derby at Hawthorne on April 19. Trained by Mark Casse and ridden by Miguel Mena, this colt has shown the ability to stalk the field and break down the stretch to finish in the money.

2014 NHL Stanley Cup Futures

This year's NHL Stanley Cup playoffs are still in the midst of wrapping up the Conference Semifinal Round, but one team that has already punched its ticket to the Eastern Conference Finals is the New York Rangers. They first had to battle Philadelphia in a 4-3 series win in the opening round before storming back from a 3-1 hole against Pittsburgh to win that series in seven games.

Momentum and the play of your goalie are two huge factors in the NHL playoffs. The Rangers have both of them squarely on their side as they continue their push for a Stanley Cup title. Do yourself a favor and make a small play on New York to win it all once the futures odds for the final four teams are released.

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