Online sports betting favors Zenyatta on Friday as the unbeaten mare tries to stretch her record to 16-0. That may not be much of a problem considering the field for the Apple Blossom looks weak. Zenyatta should be a huge offshore sports betting favorite.
Zenyatta Favorite
Online sports betting odds will be interesting to follow on Zenyatta simply because of how big a favorite she will be. This could have been a great field on Friday at Oaklawn Park but Rachel Alexandra pulled out of the race last month and not many other horses wanted to enter. History could be made in this race as Zenyatta will try to equal the 16 consecutive wins of Cigar and Citation.
Apple Blossom Invitational Handicap
Zenyatta will be running against only four other horses in the Apple Blossom Invitational Handicap. If Rachel Alexandra was in the field the purse would have been $5 million and more horses would have been entered. The online sports betting field is so weak that only Zenyatta has a Grade 1 or Grade II win. The purse for the race is now only $500,000. Post time on Friday is 7:25 pm Eastern.
Zenyatta Facts
Zenyatta is unbeaten in 15 starts and has won more than $5.6 million in her career. She is owned by Jerry and Ann Moss, trained by John Shirreffs and ridden by Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith. She won the Santa Margarita Invitational Handicap on March 13th. Her last workout was on April 2nd at Hollywood Park.
Zenyatta won the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic against males last November at Santa Anita. The online sports betting start on Friday is the second start outside of California for Zenyatta. The only other start outside the state was in this same race in 2008. She won the Apple Blossom by 4.5 lengths in 2008 in her fourth career start.
Zenyatta will start from post position four with jockey Mike Smith. The other horses in the offshore sports betting race are Just Jenda who won the 2009 Honeybee and the Monmouth Oaks. Those were Grade three races. She has lost three in a row overall. She has won six of 13 and will be ridden by Terry Thompson. War Echo is winless in both starts this season. She will have Shaun Bridgmohan in the irons. The other online sports betting starters are Be Fair and Taptam. Be Fair will be ridden by Calvin Borel while Taptam will be ridden by M. Berry.