Friday, May 18, 2007 | 7:22 a.m.
Saturday's Preakness Stakes is shaping up as a two-horse race between Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense and Derby runner-up Hard Spun, leaving little value for bettors in the second leg of the Triple Crown.
Hard Spun was installed as a 5-2 second choice in the morning line behind Street Sense, who was made a 7-5 favorite and will probably go off closer to even money, according to handicapper John Kelly.
"Street Sense is the most likely winner, but the price isn't going to be there," Kelly said on a conference call. "It's a no-bet because the public will be betting both Street Sense and Hard Spun."
Kelly, host of the daily Leroy's Sports Hour (2 to 3 p.m., KENO 1460-AM), said if Street Sense does win Saturday he'll likely become the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978, because the Pimlico course presents the toughest challenge for him in the Triple Crown series.
"I like his nimbleness and his athletic ability," Kelly said. "That's something you rarely hear about horses. He's going to make his own trip.
"I think it's just two horses ... either Hard Spun on the lead or Street Sense coming from behind."
Hard Spun's jockey, Mario Pino, has more than a slight edge in home-course advantage against Street Sense's rider, Calvin Borel. Pino has 11,037 career starts at Pimlico to Borel's zero, according to Equibase statistics.
It was the other way around at the Kentucky Derby, with Borel having amassed more than 5,000 starts at Churchill Downs. Pino had not raced at Churchill before the Derby.
Among the newcomers in the Preakness field, Kelly was most impressed by speed horse Flying First Class, a 20-1 shot trained by D. Wayne Lukas , who is coming off a victory in the Derby Trial, although Kelly doesn't consider him a serious threat to knock off the two favorites.
You can't bet these at the track, but featured head-to-head horse matchups in Las Vegas race books that offer them are expected to include Hard Spun (minus-130, or risk $1.30 to net $1) against Curlin; Street Sense (minus-220) against Curlin; and Street Sense (minus-170) against Hard Spun.
World Series of Golf
Officials with the World Series of Golf are planning to bring the event back to Primm Valley Golf Club for an encore next year after Mark Ewing, a professional day trader from Newport Beach, Calif., won the inaugural tournament Wednesday to earn the top prize of $250,000.
The competition, which employs a unique patent-pending wagering format based on a poker tournament, will air on NBC Sports on June 23 and 24. It was sponsored by the Mirage.
The final round of the World Series of Golf was played in a fivesome that included Ewing; poker pros Phil Ivey and Rhett Butler; Paul Schuller, an electrician from Seattle; and Ken Tanner, a retired railroad conductor from Penrose, Colo.
The betting format requires players to ante up on each tee, then bet, raise, call, check or fold on each subsequent shot. The object is not to shoot the lowest golf score, but to win the "pot" on each hole on the way to eventually eliminating your opponents.
Other notables in the 100-player field in the event, which carried a $10,000 buy-in, were poker stars Phil Gordon, Steve Dannenmann and Blair Rodman; World Series of Blackjack winner Ken Einiger; actress Tanya Roberts; and former Miss Nevada Michelle Yegge.
WNBA
The Sacramento Monarchs, who lost to the Detroit Shock in the championship series a year ago, have been installed as 3-1 favorites to win the 2007 WNBA title, according to oddsmakers at Las Vegas Sports Consultants.
The WNBA's regular season begins Saturday with five games , including a rematch between Sacramento and Detroit that has the Shock favored by 4 1/2 points.
Detroit is a 7-2 second choice to win the league championship, according to LVSC, followed by the Connecticut Sun (4-1) and Seattle Storm (5-1). Long shots are the Chicago Sky and New York Liberty, each 50-1.
