Gallop On: Wynn Las Vegas Sportsbook Manager, CYInterview Regular John Avello Comments on Triple Crowner American Pharoah, the Action and How the House Did for Mayweather/Pacquiao
This past weekend, American Pharoah became the first horse since 1978 to win the Triple Crown of Horse Racing by winning the Belmont Stakes. A horse must win the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes to become a Triple Crown winner.
With all the attention surrounding this amazing sports story, we welcome back Wynn Las Vegas sportsbook manager and CYInterview regular John Avello to get his analysis on this historic feat. Mr. Avello has over 30 years of Las Vegas gaming experience and has always provided us compelling sports insights.
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Being the Wynn Las Vegas sportsbook oddsmaker, Mr. Avello knows how hard it is for a horse to win the Triple Crown. However, he says he was not surprised American Pharoah won the Belmont Stakes this past weekend:
“It’s just that the three races in five weeks make it so difficult because normal horses run once every six weeks to two months. So you’re asking a lot from a three year old. This horse was special and there’s been some other special ones. California Chrome was special. Real Quiet was special. They just didn’t have it for the last race, didn’t have the stamina. They just ran out of steam and this horse seemed to have a little extra in the tank and it showed on Saturday and he just blew the field apart.”
Looking at the betting action, John says the sophisticated bettors – sports gamblers who know more information wise than the average bettor – were the losers throughout the Triple Crown. They continued to wager against American Pharoah:
“There was a lot of money on him not to win it before the Preakness. After he won the Preakness, then the line was put up at about a 5 to 6 favorite, the general public was on him, the sophisticated or wise guys as they’re known were not. So the wise guys kind of took a bath on this one. They bet against him throughout and based on history that’s the way they played it, but it didn’t work out for them this year.”
Looking ahead, there are some early reports and speculation that the Triple Crown winning horse may enter the Breeders’ Cup on October 31st. Given the stakes at this time, Mr. Avello does not believe American Pharoah will be in that race:
“I don’t know if he will make it that far Chris. He just won the Triple Crown; he’s worth a lot of money for breeding purposes. … I don’t know if you take a horse with this type of value and try to stretch him out through a summer race and then the Breeders’ Cup because, you know, anything can happen and if anything did happen to him, it would be devastating as much as this horse is worth.”
Last month, John gave us his insight before the Floyd Mayweather Jr./Manny Pacquiao fight [see here]. On how the Wynn Las Vegas sportsbook faired for the biggest boxing matchup in years, he offered this:
“It was actually a loser for the house. We took a lot of Mayweather money late, when I say late, up to two hours before the fight started and it was big money. You know, six figure bets, multiple six figure bets and they were all on Mayweather. So as it turned out, the fight itself didn’t turn out for us too well that day.”
You can find out more about Wynn Las Vegas at http://www.wynnlasvegas.com/
You can email Chris Yandek at ChrisYandek@CYInterview.com
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