Put Your Money on the Chicago Handicap Or the Pegasus Stakes

Thomas Burger
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The Chicago Handicap at Arlington Park is a race for three-year-old fillies and mares that takes place in June. The race is a Grade 3 event. The seven-furlong-seven-furlong event on the main track, a popular opportunity for exceptional sprinters and milers to compete against one another at a middle distance on a synthetic racing surface, is now given for a purse of $150,000. The competition is held on the main track. Because Polytrack wagering continues to attract large fields and provides a racing surface that is fair for both grass experts and dirt runners, the Chicago Cap is extremely popular among bettors. 

Guide to Online Racebooks 

The most obvious advantages of placing bets online are the convenience and simplicity of the process; however, with so many betting sites and services available, it is critical to select a trustworthy racebook. Furthermore, the leading online racebooks offer enticing rebate and bonus programs to ensure that a greater proportion of their wagering money stays where it belongs: in their pockets. 

Betting on the Chicago Handicap Odds 

The Arlington Handicap has seen its fair share of generous prices since its cancellation in 2015 due to budget changes. Despite having previously won a graded stakes race at Arlington Park Polytrack, My Option was given odds of 5/1, which were considered generous. At 13.20 dollars, My Option was the winning bet, while a $2 exacta wager that included Flower Spell checking in second place returned nearly $75. These kinds of tidy profits become even more satisfying when using a reputable online racebook like Bovada, which pays a 3 percent win or lose rebate on all straight wagers and a 5 percent rebate on all exotic bets. Bovada is an excellent example of an online racebook. 

Participants in the 2016 Chicago Handicap 

This year’s Chicago Handicap, which will take place on June 25 at Arlington Park and feature a diverse and talented cast, promises to be an excellent betting race over seven furlongs. Several horses have a realistic chance of winning in the field of ten, including Kathballu, a fascinating horse who won an allowance race on May 22 at Churchill Downs. Kathballu had competed against top companies but had only had moderate success before moving down to the lower ranks and finding her winning form. Because this four-year-old filly has only won three of her 15 career races, many bettors will likely oppose her as a play. However, she unquestionably possesses the ability to outperform this group, despite the fact that this will be her first race on a synthetic surface, which she was bred to compete on. The 2016 Chicago Handicap is the event of an appealing exotic because there are many prices plays available and wagers on the trifecta and superfecta have the potential to produce massive payouts. 

Morning Odds and Posting Order Position 

  • 1st Zippy Run 
  • Two, the Trix City 
  • 3 – You bought her. 
  • 4-Sweet Southern Dame 
  • Sarah Sis, 5 
  • 6-Kathalu 
  • 7-Athena 
  • Appearance of 8-Minks 
  • 9-Looking for Treasure 
  • 10-Tiz Recently 

Did you know that? 

Despite its relatively short history, the Chicago Handicap has undoubtedly drawn its fair share of famous and accomplished athletes. Saoirse, the Canadian Champion Older Female, won the first edition of the race, and in 2005, multiple graded stakes winner Happy Ticket found herself in the winner’s circle as the race continued to attract top-quality fillies from across the country. Informed Decision was the only horse to win the Chicago Handicap in both 2009 and 2010, making him the only horse to do so. Informed Decision won several important stakes races, including the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint, on her way to becoming the American Champion Filly and Mare Sprinter in 2009. Informed Decision also won a couple of other major races.

Put Your Money on the Pegasus Stakes

Since its inception in 1981 as a grade 3 event for three-year-olds at Monmouth Park, the Pegasus Stakes has attracted some of the industry’s most talented competitors. This race is a stepping stone to more important three-year-old races on the east coast, such as the Grade 1 Haskell Stakes, which is also held at Monmouth, and the Grade 1 Travers Stakes, which is held at Saratoga. The Pegasus is a prestigious annual race held in June that has several well-known and accomplished race winners among its alumni. 

Betting odds for the Pegasus Stakes 

Mr. Jordan won the 2015 Pegasus with a shrewd stalk and pounce performance, giving him his fourth victory in his first six career appearances. Mr. Jordan, who was given odds of 2/1 before the race, beat Tekton, who paid $5.60 and $3.40 to place and show, and Good Pick Nick, who paid $2.80 to show. Mr. Jordan returned a total of $6, $3.60, and $2.60. Despite the relatively low payouts, Bovada’s Racebook customers always win more for each dollar wagered because of the three percent and five percent rebates offered on all straight bets and exotic wagers, respectively. 

Contenders for the 2016 Pegasus Stakes 

The 2016 Pegasus Stakes will feature seven three-year-old colts competing over a one-mile and one-sixteenth-mile distance. The event will be led by the unbeaten Unified, who has excelled in all three of his previous appearances, with a field of seven horses. Unified, trained by James Jerkens, has won several major races in a row, most recently winning the Grade 3 Bay Shore Stakes and then the Grade 2 Peter Pan Stakes in quick succession. Unified appears to be in a strong position against his six competitors; however, he will need to show that he can take his game on the road and handle a new track while also leaving the state of New York for the first time. Junior Ortiz, who will start from position 4, will be given the mount. 

  • 1) Fantastic Slew 
  • 2) An Age-Old Enchantment 
  • 3) Saratoga Jack 
  • 4) Incorporated 
  • 5) Reminiscences of Previous Winters 
  • 6) The Moon of Donegal 
  • 7) Constant Star 

Have you been notified? 

Despite having an excellent track record of previous winners, the Pegasus does not receive the recognition it deserves. Skip Trial, the race winner in 1985, went on to sire the three-time Horse of the Year, Skip Away. Danzig Connection won the race in 1986 following his signature victory in the Belmont Stakes that year. Danzig Connection is the only horse in Pegasus history to have also won a Triple Crown race. Cryptoclearance, who finished first in 1987 and went on to have a very successful stallion career, was an exceptional horse in his own right. Before retiring, he won the Florida Derby and the Donn Handicap. Brian’s Time, who won both the Jim Dandy Stakes and the Florida Derby in 1988, extended the winning streak of Pegasus contenders. Volponi won the Pegasus in 2001 and the Breeders’ Cup Classic in 2002 at odds of 44/1, making him the only Pegasus winner to also win a Breeders’ Cup competition. Other notable Pegasus winners include Behrens (1997) and Verrazano, both of whom have won numerous stakes races (2013). Jose Santos and Edgar Prado have both won the Pegasus Stakes three times, making them the jockeys with the most victories in the competition’s history.