The two places where horse racing is the most popular are the United States and the United Kingdom.

Both countries have a long tradition with this sport and there are some classic races each year on both sides of the pond.

USA Horse Racing

If you live in the US, then you most likely are only start to pay attention to horse racing in early May when the Triple Crown starts with the Kentucky Derby. Two weeks later, the Preakness Stakes is held in Baltimore, Maryland. Three weekends after that, the final race in the triple crown is the Belmont Stakes.

The casual fans are waiting to see the next Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978. There have been several horses in the past 20 years that have won the first two legs and tripped up at the Belmont. One reason that is often blamed is the length of the track (1 1/2 miles) which is a quarter mile longer than the other 2 tracks.

If different horses win the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, the ratings for the Belmont will usually fall flat. The passionate horse racing fans will still crowd their local tracks as this does not usually effect people who are betting.

What most people don’t realize is that there are Graded and Stakes Races that are taking place every weekend. Most of these tracks are in the South and California because of the season. But the Graded races in particular will help to go a long way in determining the field for the Kentucky Derby.

The big races are the Graded Stakes for 3 year old horses. Horses make a name for themselves by winning one or more of the larger purses. This is because only 3 year old horses can compete in the Triple Crown. The horse only gets one shot to win and can’t come back the next year.

For example, one name you might be hearing in the Kentucky Derby is Algorithms. This is the 3 year old colt that just won the $400,000 Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream Park. He beat the favorite Hansen (the reigning 2 year old champ) by 5 lengths. Of course, there are plenty of time for other horses to make a name for themselves.

UK Horse Racing

Horse Racing has been in the UK much longer than the US. The term Triple Crown was originated in 1853 when a horse named West Australian won three races: the 2,000 Guineas Stakes, the Epsom Derby, and the St. Leger Stakes. These three races are also run between early May and early July.

The main difference between horse racing in the United States and horse racing in England is how the race is run. Most horse racing in the US is done a track or oval that the horses race around. Different tracks can be different lengths. However, in England, there are two main forms of horse racing: Flat Racing and National Hunt racing.

Flat racing is very similar to the horse racing in America. The horses race a predetermined length on an open track without any obstructions. These races are designed to test the horses speed and stamina as well as the abilities of the jockey. These races vary in length between five furlongs (1,006 m) to over two miles (3,219 m). The three races in the Triple Crown are all flat races.

The National Hunt racing is a form of steeplechasing when the horse must race over fences or hurdles. The biggest event of the year in the UK is generally the Cheltenham Gold Cup in March. This is a race that begins on the final day of the 4 day Cheltenham Festival.

If you would like, you can learn how to bet on the Cheltenham Festival. This horse racing event begins on Tuesday, March 13 and ends on Friday the 16th. Each day has a featured race at 3:20pm. This race and the race preceding it are the heats that take most of the betting.

Unlike the major horse races in the US, horses can race in the Cheltenham Gold Cup in multiple years. The top two favourites for this race are last year’s winner, Long Run, and the two time Gold Cup winner Kauto Star. This means that the majority of the field is going to be have long odds to win.

Most of the top sports news sites like ESPN and CBS sports offer these contests. This is also the time of year that you can find office pools for college bowl games. These contests usually work one of two ways: pick the winner or pick the spread. Obviously, picking the spread is more difficult because there aren’t many easy games to call.

If you are playing pick the bowl game winner, this can work in one of three ways:

1) You get 1 point for each correct team picked.

2) You get less points for winning the early bowl games and more points for winning the BCS and Championship games.

3) You pick teams based on your confidence that they will win. You will have to pick a number of points between 1 and 35 to wager on each bowl game. The same number cannot be used twice. The points are added up to determine a winner.

2011/2012 Bowl Schedule

I’m going to give you a quick rundown of the bowl games and my picks for this bowl season. This will be a quick explanation of the winner, score and confidence of the winner.

GILDAN NEW MEXICO BOWL

Temple (8-4) Vs Wyoming (8-4)
Winner – Temple
Score – 28 – 24
Why – More impressive wins overall
Confidence – 8 of 35

FAMOUS IDAHO POTATO BOWL

Ohio (9-4) vs Utah State (7-5)
Winner – Ohio
Score – 27 – 21
Why – After almost upsetting Auburn in week 1, the Aggies have been struggling to beat mediocre teams.
Confidence – 15 of 35

R+L CARRIERS NEW ORLEANS BOWL

SDSU (8-4) vs La Lafayette (8-4)
Winner – San Diego State
Score – 31 – 28
Why – SDSU has played tougher competition in non-conference and Mountain West is a better conference than the Sunbelt.
Confidence – 17 of 35

BEEF ‘O’ BRADY’S BOWL ST. PETERSBURG

Florida Int’l (8-4) vs Marshall (6-6)
Winner – Florida International
Score – 34 – 17
Why – Marshall has a poor offense and they sneaked into a bowl game by barley beating a bad Memphis and took the bowl invite from ECU in overtime.
Confidence – 28 of 35

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#18 TCU (10-2) vs Louisiana Tech (8-4)
Winner – TCU
Score – 34 – 27
Why – Don’t sleep on the bulldogs, TCU may take this game lightly because of the disappointment of not getting a BCS bowl bid.
Confidence – 34 of 35

MAACO BOWL LAS VEGAS

#7 Boise State (11-1) vs Arizona State (6-6)
Winner – Boise State
Score – 37 – 21
Why – I know that Nebraska was beaten by Washington last year in a similar situation, but this really would be a shocker if ASU wins.
Confidence – 35 of 35

SHERATON HAWAII BOWL

#21 Southern Miss (11-2) vs Nevada (7-5)
Winner – Southern Miss
Score – 35 – 34
Why – Southern Miss better not get a big head after beating Houston. They should have been undefeated but laid eggs against sub-par Marshall and UAB.
Confidence – 30 of 35

AdvoCare V100 INDEPENDENCE BOWL

Missouri (7-5) vs North Carolina (7-5)
Winner – Missouri
Score – 27 – 20
Why – Missouri is on a roll lately and they have played the Big 12 teams tough all year long.
Confidence – 14 of 35

LITTLE CAESARS BOWL

Western Michigan (7-5) vs Purdue (6-6)
Winner – Western Michigan
Score – 45 – 42
Why – Western Michigan has one of the best offenses and Purdue has played games like this against the MAC before.
Confidence – 4 of 35

BELK BOWL

Louisville (7-5) vs North Carolina State (7-5)
Winner – North Carolina State
Score – 24 – 20
Why – NC State is coming off of two memorable games and Louisville has been struggling against teams that aren’t in the Big East.
Confidence – 7 of 35

Military Bowl — Pres. By Northrop Grumman

Toledo (8-4) vs Air Force (7-5)
Winner – Toledo
Score – 54 – 47
Why – This could go either way, but it will be very high scoring. Both offenses are great and both defenses are mediocre.
Confidence – 10 of 35

BRIDGEPOINT EDUCATION HOLIDAY BOWL

#24 Texas (7-5) vs California (7-5)
Winner – Texas
Score – 30 – 27
Why – Very close matchup, almost a pick em in my opinion.
Confidence – 5 of 35

CHAMPS SPORTS BOWL

Florida State (8-4) vs Notre dame (8-4)
Winner – Florida State
Score – 20 – 17
Why – Notre Dame is 1-4 against good teams this year. However, FSU hasn’t distinguished themselves against good competition either. The FSU defense will be the difference in this game.
Confidence – 6 of 35

VALERO ALAMO BOWL

#12 Baylor (9-3) vs Washington (7-5)
Winner – Baylor
Score – 42 – 35
Why – See last year against Nebraska if you want to know if Washington can win. However, two bad defenses will hurt Washington more than Baylor and Robert Griffin III.
Confidence – 31 of 35

BELL HELICOPTER ARMED FORCES BOWL

Brigham Young (9-3) vs Tulsa (8-4)
Winner – BYU
Score – 31 – 20
Why – Tulsa has played poorly against good competition. BYU also had some BCS conference wins this year.
Confidence – 19 of 35

NEW ERA PINSTRIPE BOWL

Rutgers (8-4) vs Iowa State (6-6)
Winner – Rutgers
Score – 17 – 14
Why – As pumped up as Paul Rhoads is going to get his team, Rutgers essentially has the home field advantage. Iowa State had a couple of big wins but they have still lost 6 of their last 9 games.
Confidence – 11 of 35

Franklin American Mortgage Music City

Mississippi State (6-6) vs Wake Forest (6-6)
Winner – Mississippi State
Score – 37 – 21
Why – Mississippi State has played a brutal schedule and played well against some of the best teams in the country. Wake Forest has lost 4 of their last 6.
Confidence – 23 of 35

INSIGHT BOWL

#14 Oklahoma (9-3) vs Iowa (7-5)
Winner – Oklahoma
Score – 37 – 14
Why – Besides for beating Michigan, Iowa has played poorly this year including an embarrassing loss to Minnesota. Oklahoma was once the #1 team in the country before stumbling down the stretch.
Confidence – 33 of 35

MEINEKE CAR CARE BOWL OF TEXAS

Texas A&M (6-6) vs Northwestern (6-6)
Winner – Northwestern
Score – 40 – 38
Why – Texas A&M is going to have a hangover after firing Mike Sherman. Dan Persa will lead Northwestern to a bowl win after falling just short the past couple of years.
Confidence – 21 of 35

HYUNDAI SUN BOWL

Georgia Tech (8-4) vs Utah (7-5)
Winner – Georgia Tech
Score – 35 – 27
Why – The fact that Utah lost to Colorado when they had a chance to go to the Pac-12 Championship. Georgia Tech will run the ball all day long.
Confidence – 20 of 35

AutoZone LIBERTY BOWL

Cincinnati (9-3) vs Vanderbilt (6-6)
Winner – Cincinnati
Score – 30 – 23
Why – Vandy plays teams close, but they can’t seem to actually win these games.
Confidence – 32 – 35

KRAFT FIGHT HUNGER BOWL

Illinois (6-6) vs UCLA (6-7)
Winner – UCLA
Score – 27 – 17
Why – Both teams lost their coaches, but UCLA had some backbone when they played Oregon. Meanwhile Illinois lost 6 in a row and their offense hasn’t scored more than 17 points in these games.
Confidence – 2 of 35

Chick-fil-A BOWL

#25 Auburn (7-5) vs Virginia (8-4)
Winner – Virginia
Score – 24 – 17
Why – Auburn has not done well against teams with a good defense. They average less than 17 points a game against teams with a defense in the top 3rd.
Confidence – 12 of 35

TICKETCITY BOWL

#19 Houston (12-1) vs #22 Penn State (9-3)
Winner – Penn State
Score – 25 – 24
Why – Houston is going to have an emotional letdown after losing their BCS bowl bid. Penn State has one of the best defenses in the country and will be on an emotional roller coaster of their own.
Confidence – 3 of 35

OUTBACK BOWL

#16 Georgia (10-3) vs #17 Michigan State (10-3)
Winner – Michigan State
Score – 34 – 30
Why – Georgia may be an SEC team, but they had an easy schedule this year as most of the SEC East was rather weak. Michigan State needs this one if they ever want to be taken seriously as a big time program.
Confidence – 1 of 35

CAPITAL ONE BOWL

#9 South Carolina (10-2) vs #20 Nebraska (9-3)
Winner – South Carolina
Score – 25 – 20
Why – I will call this the Forrest Gump bowl game; “I was running”. Both of these teams run the ball and have good/great defenses. USC got lucky and didn’t play Alabama or LSU. Nebraska has a couple of poor performances in big games this year.
Confidence – 9 of 35

TAXSLAYER.com GATOR BOWL

Ohio State (6-6) vs Florida (6-6)
Winner – Ohio State
Score – 18 – 13
Why – Ohio State has lost 3 straight, but won some big games earlier in the year. They also have their coach of the future and of Florida’s past in Urban Meyer. Florida doesn’t have the offense to win this game and hasn’t played well for much of the season.
Confidence – 18 of 35

ROSE BOWL GAME PRESENTED BY VIZIO

#5 Oregon (11-2) vs #10 Wisconsin (11-2)
Winner – Oregon
Score – 48 – 38
Why – Oregon clearly has the better offense even though they are going against Monte Ball. Wisconsin will struggle defensively against Oregon like they did against Michigan State. The Badgers may keep it close but Oregon will win.
Confidence – 27 of 35

TOSTITOS FIESTA BOWL

#3 Oklahoma State (11-1) vs #4 Stanford (11-1)
Winner – Oklahoma State
Score – 42 – 37
Why – This will be a shootout, but OK State has a little bit more offensive firepower than Stanford and Andrew Luck.
Confidence – 13 of 35

ALLSTATE SUGAR BOWL

#11 Virginia Tech (10-2) vs #13 Michigan (10-2)
Winner – Michigan
Score – 35 – 28
Why – Virginia Tech’s defense hasn’t seen an offense like Michigan this season. They lost both games to Clemson and layed an egg in the ACC championship game. Denard Robinson has saved his best for the end of the season and one of the worst defenses in the nation last year has been transformed into a top 20 defense in one season.
Confidence – 22 of 35

DISCOVER ORANGE BOWL

#15 Clemson (10-3) vs #23 West Virginia (9-3)
Winner – Clemson
Score – 34 – 27
Why – It was same old Clemson until they surprised Virginia Tech. There is just no way of knowing about West Virginia with their poor losses and lack of competition in the non-conference and Big East.
Confidence – 26 of 35

AT&T COTTON BOWL

#6 Arkansas (10-2) vs #8 Kansas State (10-2)
Winner – Arkansas
Score – 38 – 24
Why – Arkansas has a potent passing game and Kansas State is susceptible to being beaten by these types of teams.
Confidence – 29 of 35

BBVA COMPASS BOWL

Southern Methodist (7-5) vs Pittsburgh (6-6)
Winner – Pittsburgh
Score – 25 – 22
Why – SMU has played poorly since they beat TCU back in October. Pittsburgh won this bowl game last year.
Confidence – 25 of 35

GODADDY.com BOWL

Arkansas State (10-2) vs Northern Illionois (10-3)
Winner – Arkansas State
Score – 37 – 34
Why – These teams are pretty even, but Arkansas State has a better defense which gives them the edge.
Confidence – 16 of 35

ALLSTATE BCS CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

#1 LSU (13-0) vs #2 Alabama (11-1)
Winner – LSU
Score – 17 – 13
Why – LSU is the best team in the country right now. They beat Alabama on the road and the Tide are lucky to get the rematch. It will be another defensive battle, but some TDs will be scored this time around.
Confidence – 24 of 35

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The Yanks looked like clear favorites after beating up on the Tigers 10-1 in game 4 at Comerica Park in Detroit. Surely they would do just as well at home with their left-handed heavy lineup and a short right field deck.

Unfortunately for New York, the bats failed them at critical times when they could have blown the game wide open. The Yankees had the bases loaded with one out in the 4th and 7th innings and they could only manage to walk in one run in those two situations.

Aside from Robinson Cano, the Yankees hitters struggled up at the plate and could only hit dribblers and seeing-eye singles. Alex Rodriguez struggled particularly badly with an 0-4 game and two critical strikeouts; one with the bases loaded and 1 out and the other to end the series for New York.

Credit has to go to both pitching staffs for making critical pitches and shutting down both teams offenses. Detroit scored 2 runs on back-to-back homers in the first inning, but they only managed to squeeze one more run off of CC Sabathia who was making his first ever relief appearance.

After that critical run that CC gave up, the Detroit hitters didn’t have a chance against the best three man setup in the game. If the Yankees had pulled ahead, Soriano, Robertson and Rivera would have closed the door.

However, the Detroit bullpen was finally up to the challenge. Benoit through critical strikeouts to get the Tigers out of the 7th inning with only the one run allowed. Valverde had a perfect ninth and took out the heart of the Yankees line up for the save.

In the end, the Tigers found the magic formula for beating the Yankees in the playoffs: Don’t face Mariano Rivera! He through a postseason low of 8 pitches during the 5 game series. The three Tigers hitters didn’t have a chance as he took them out in 5 pitches in the top of the ninth.

So now we know that the Yankees season is over, while the Tigers go on to play the Texas Rangers in the ALCS.

This 5 game series makes a first round upset much more likely to happen. This is what the favorites in the AL and NL are hoping to avoid. Both the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Yankees were favorites to win their respective leagues, but both teams have been pushed to the limit. Will we see a major upset?

Game 5 Picks

Philadelphia vs St Louis

It would be a monumental collapse if the Phillies lost to the St Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals were an unlikely candidate to even make the playoffs. They sat 8 1/2 games back of the Atlanta Braves at the beginning of September. They made it into the playoffs on the last day by beating the Houston Astros while the Braves lost their last game to the Phillies.

This would make for an all-time irony if the Cardinals can repay the Phillies by beating them in game 5. Philadelphia looked like a shoe-in for the second round when they beat up the Cardinals for the first 11 innings of the postseason. Since then, they have had to scratch and claw for every run as the Cardinals pitchers have shut down the Phils vaunted offense.

However, the fantasy ending is not going to happen this time around. Roy Halladay is the started and the Phillies are at home for game 5. Roy shut the Cardinals offense down for 7 of the 8 innings of work in game 1 after he gave up 3 runs in a shaky first inning. The Cardinals are countering with their best pitcher, Chris Carpenter. However, Carpenter is going on short rest again and looked very average in the first two innings of game 2.

My predictions is that the Phillies are going to get out of the gates early on Carpenter and ride Halladay for an easy 5-1 win.

New York vs Detroit

The Tigers roared through September with the best record in baseball. They easily won the Central Division title, but couldn’t beat out the Rangers or Yankees for home field advantage. Because of that, the Yankees get to play game 5 at home.

The Tigers had a good shot at eliminating the Yankees after beating them in games 2 and 3. They were facing a mediocre in AJ Burnett. But, the Tigers could not capitalize with their bats and New York took all of the momentum back home with a 10-1 thumping.

New York has to hope that the game 5 starter for Detroit, Doug Fister, was as average as he appeared in game 1. If that is the case, the Yanks could run away with this game early. Except for Jose Valverde, the Tigers have no relief pitchers to help out if they get into trouble.

The Yankees are pinning their hopes to the Ivan Nova who effectively shut down the tigers for 4 hits over 6 1/3 innings in game 1. If they can get past Fister before the 7th inning, they should be celebrating in New York tonight.

I predict that the final score of this game 5 will be 10-4 Yankees.

Milwaukee vs Arizona

This series turned out to be more exciting then I thought. Both of these teams are very closely matched, finishing just 1 game difference in the standings. The home team has won all 4 games in this series so far.

Fortunately for Milwaukee, they were the ones that finished one game ahead in the standings, so they get the home field in game 5. Fans in both cities may want to call off work this Friday, as the game starts at 5:07 ET and 2:07 PT.

This is going to the toughest game 5 to call. Runs are going to be at a premium as both aces Gallardo and Kennedy will take the mound in this critical matchup. Will Milwaukee continue the home team trend or can the Diamondbacks complete the 0-2 comeback?

My prediction for this game is that the Milwaukee Brewers will win a tight game 3-2.

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Soon after hitting this buzzer beater to force overtime he went on to control the OT and guide the Bulls to win leading all scorers having 30 points 11 assists 4 rebounds and had a career high 5 steals.

Bulls won 119-116 and will deal with the Oklahoma City Thunder Monday at the UC.

Bob Arum said he that decided to choose Antonio Margarito instead of Miguel Cotto, whom Pacquiao stopped in the 12th round in November, because it would be perceived as a more competitive bout. The bout will be offered on HBO Pay-Per-View.

So, who do you think will win this match? Will Pacquiao wins and gets his 8th division championship or will Margarito stops him?

Russian businessman Mikhail Prokhorov, the owner of New Jersey Nets have already spoken that he is interested in getting Lebron. He even said that he would show LeBron the whole world and make him a multi-millionaire. Chicago Bulls also shows interest in James as the Bulls have already freed up the Cap Space for James. Cleveland have sign a new coach in hoping will lead James to Championships.

Now, in this week there are so many rumors about Lebron wanting to play with other All Star players just to win a championships. The latest rumor is that LeBron is wanting to play to the Miami Heat as he will play along with two All star players like Chris Bosh and Dwane Wade.

As of the moment we doesnt know where will LeBron James go. But we will all find out as James will announce at 9 p.m. ET Thursday weather he will play for Heat, Cleveland Cavaliers, Chicago Bulls, New York Knicks or New Jersey Nets.

Bustamante also bagged the biggest purse in the tourney – $36,000 while Kuo got a runner-up prize of US$ 18,000. Lining and Archer received US$ 10,000 each for reaching the final four.

“By finally winning the world 9-ball, which is every pool player’s dream, I can now say that I am a complete billiards player,” said Bustamante in Filipino.