By Frank Scandale @FScandale @TheDailyPayoff
The dust hasn’t even settled at Belmont and odds makers in Vegas are setting the Triple Crown winner American Pharoah up for another big payday.
With American Pharoah becoming the 12th horse to ever win the coveted Triple Crown, Las Vegas oddsmaker William Hill announced the odds of the thoroughbred winning, OR losing the Breeder’s Cup Classic in October.
William Hill said it would be the first time a horse has won a “Grand Slam” with a win at the Breeder’s, the richest horse race in North America.
William Hill Race & Sports Book has opened YES/NO Prop wagering on “Will American Pharoah win the 2015 Breeders’ Cup Classic” at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky. The YES opened at 3/1 (+300) with the NO at 5/18 (-360). In the event that American Pharoah does not race in the 2015 Breeders’ Cup Classic, “NO” is the winner.
In layman’s terms, At YES, 3/1 (Racing Odds) or +300 Sports Odds, a bettor who wagered $20 today would win $60 on October 31st plus get their original $20 that they wagered back.
On the NO bet, 5/18 (Racing Odds) or -360 Sports Odds, a bettor wagering $20 today would win $7.20 on October 31st plus get their original $20 that they wagered back.
The Sports Odds are typically written to represent a $100 wager. +300 odds on a $100 wager equals a $300 win + $100 original wager returned. -360 odds is what the better would need to wager to win $100. So a bettor who wagered $360 on the NO would win $100 plus get his original $360 wagered back.
However, at William Hill in Nevada, the minimum sports wager is $2.
American Pharoah owner and New Jersey resident, Ahmed Zayat shared Monday on MSNBC’s Morning Joe Show that the Triple Crown winner’s next race would “probably” be the $1,000,000 William Hill Haskell Invitational on August 2 at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, New Jersey. American Pharoah’s Trainer, Bob Baffert, has won the William Hill Haskell Invitational a record seven times, including last year with Bayern, who went on to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
As for whether American Pharoah will even run in the Breeders, a mile and a quarter race, Stephen Panus, vice president of America’s Best Racing, sees the fact that it is even a possibility as a boon to the sport.
Stephen Panus with son Jake, 11.
“Just the fact that this Triple Crown champion race horse is pointed towards racing more through the 2015 toward the Breeders’ Cup is an amazing opportunity for the sport to welcome and embrace many new and soon-to-be racing fans who all now desire to get a glimpse of American Pharoah,” Panus said.”At the moment, the focus is some well-deserved R&R for this Triple Crown champion.”
Panus also sees the next race to be the Haskell in Monmouth Park, NJ, and perhaps Saratoga in late August for the midsummer derby, The Travers and/or The Jockey Cup Gold Cup at Belmont Park or Super Saturday at Santa Anita in late September to possibly be in play, before heading to Keeneland for the Breeders’ Cup Classic. For now, it’s one race at a time.
“But we all hope and certainly have our fingers crossed that he will run at the Breeders’ Cup Classic, the richest horse race held on American soil with a purse of $5M, ” he said.
Horse racing ambassador and Churchill Downs host Joseph Kristufek puts his money on American Pharoah running in October, as well, noting with Shared Belief sidelined, he’s the best dirt horse in the world right now by far. Shared Belief was diagnosed with a hip fracture in April.
Agreeing the odds William Hill is quoting are fair, Kristufek is unwavering in his support for the champ.
“When it comes to over racing, every horse is different,” he explained. “This horse is an absolute machine. He could probably run again tomorrow.”