Daily tips for May 19

Racing for May 19

Horse racing: Mornington (Vic – abandoned), Warwick Farm (NSW), Sunshine Coast (Qld), Mt Gambier (SA), Kalgoorlie (WA), Parkes (NSW), Wodonga (Vic), Hobart (Tas)

Harness racing: Launceston (Tas), Melton (Vic) 
Greyhound racing: Nowra (NSW), Sandown Park (Vic), Albion Park (Qld), Canberra (ACT), Sale (Vic), Strathalbyn (SA), Healesville (Vic), Mt Gambier (SA)

Our focus today is on Kranji for the G1 S$3m Singapore Airlines International Gold Cup (2000m) and the G1 S$1m Krisflyer International Sprint (1200m). The inaugural SIA Cup was held in 2000, in conjunction with the official opening of the new Singapore Racecourse at Kranji. There have been 12 individual winners from eight different countries – Singapore, England, United Arab Emirates, Germany, Japan, South Africa, France and Australia after Mummify’s win in 2005.

#3 Pastorius looks very tough to beat in the 2013 running of the SIA Cup. He’s won six of his 12 starts and placed another three times with his misses being a pair of fourths and a seventh. Last month he defeated the likes of Maxios, 2011 Melbourne Cup winner Dunaden and Giofra to take out the G1 Prix Ganay (2110m) at Longchamp. Hong Kong champ Military Attack (#2) looms as the main danger.

Australian hopes sit with #1 Bel Sprinter in the Krisflyer International Sprint but we’ve settled on the Caspar Fownes charge #2 Lucky Nine as the leading hope. Aussie hoop Brett Prebble will ride the four-time Group 1 winner from Hong Kong as he chases a 12th win in 33 starts. Bel Sprinter is not without hope but will need the pace on to make the most of his blistering late speed.

Tips

Singapore R9 #2 Lucky Nine (E/W) 1st ($6.50/$2.20)

Singapore R10 #3 Pastorius (win) LOSE (U/P)

Warwick Farm R3 #2 Instrumentalist (win) 1st ($3.10)

Warwick Farm R6 #10 Porcellanus (win) 1st ($2.70)

Harness racing tip: Melton R6 #10 Rowillie (win) 1st ($2.20)

Greyhound racing tip: Healesville R4 #1 Magenta Skye (win) 1st ($2.40)

AFL (R8) for May 19

Carlton v Port Adelaide (Etihad Stadium, Sunday, May 19, 1.10pm)

This looms as another head scratcher for tipsters with both sides coming off losses in round seven. Carlton loses Eddie Betts and Chris Yarran while Jarrad Waite returns and it wouldn’t surprise to see Bryce Gibbs or Andrew Carrazzo added before the game. For the Power, who’ve lost twice after winning their first five, Dom Cassisi and Paul Stewart should return.

Ken Hinkley won’t want to see his side start poorly once again and if Port can stay within touch in the first half, this could be quite a bit closer than expected. There’s a big query over when Carlton is going to find its goals and an upset wouldn’t surprise.

Suggested bet: Port Adelaide WIN LOSE, game total +189.5 WIN (108-91)

Richmond v Melbourne (MCG, Sunday, May 19, 3.20pm)

The Tigers aren’t renowned for big wins over bottom sides but they have an opportunity to turn on a scoring fest on Sunday at the MCG. Buoyed by a terrific win over Port in round seven, Damien Hardwick will be keen for his Tigers to put the Demons to the sword to maintain the momentum of last week.

Shane Tuck is a big loss, while skipper Trent Cotchin returns and Aaron Edwards could make his debut for the Tigers. Melbourne will welcome back Mark Jamar and Jack Trengove and the Dees should keep it close for the first half in response to last week’s loss to the Suns. Happy to watch this one with a slight lean to Melbourne covering the line in the wet.

Suggested bet: Melbourne +71.5 WIN, game total -201.5 WIN (106-72)

Adelaide v St Kilda (AAMI Stadium, Sunday, May 19, 4.40pm)

After going close to a club record score last week, a dose of reality looms for the Crows as they head home to arm wrestle the Saints for four precious premiership points. Neither side is firing on all cylinders, with the form of Sam Jacobs in the ruck impacting the Crows ability to clear the ball while the Saints have limited avenues to goal.

If not for a lack of resources on the bench, Carlton would almost certainly have taken the points on Monday night over the Saints. With conditions likely to be testing for both sides, Adelaide should take the points in a tight and low scoring affair, as has been the case in two of the past three here.

Suggested bet: St Kilda +21.5 LOSE, game total -184.5 WIN (87-47)

MLB for May 19

Washington Nationals (23-19) @ San Diego Padres (18-23), Petco Park, San Diego, CA, Sunday, May 19, 10.40am

If Adam LaRoche can keep up his production at Petco Park, Jordan Zimmermann might have an easier time taking over the major league lead in wins. After LaRoche hit two more home runs in San Diego on Friday, Chad Tracy’s pinch-hit solo shot in the 10th inning proved to be the decisive blow in a 6-5 victory over the Padres. Zimmerman goes for his eighth victory of the season here.

However, Washington also has struggled as a team when facing left-handers, batting just .194 including 9 for 58 (.155) with no extra-base hits since May 9. The Nationals hope to reverse that trend and provide some run support for Zimmermann (7-1, 1.69), who is tied with Texas’ Yu Darvish and Tampa Bay’s Matt Moore for the MLB lead in wins.

The Padres hope to avoid their sixth loss in eight games as Eric Stults tries to pick up a San Diego rotation that has a 6.83 ERA over its last six starts. After allowing three runs over 13 innings in his previous two outings, Stults wasn’t as sharp when he had a season-high five walks and gave up three runs over 5 1/3 innings in a 4-2 loss at Tampa Bay.

Suggested bet: Nationals WIN (two units @ $1.78) LOSE, game total -6.5 (two units @ $2.10) WIN (1-2)

Other tips

Rays @ Orioles +9 WIN (10-6)

White Sox @ Angels +8.5 WIN (9-12)

Astros @ Pirates -1.5 LOSE (4-2)

Red Sox WIN @ Twins WIN (12-5)

Tigers @ Rangers +9.5 LOSE (2-7)

Royals @ Athletics +7 LOSE (1-2)

Giants @ Rockies +11 WIN (2-10)

Mariners @ Indians -8.5 LOSE (4-5)

Blue Jays @ Yankees -1.5 WIN (2-7)

NHL playoffs for May 19

Western Conference semi-finals, game 3: Los Angeles Kings @ San Jose Sharks, HP Pavilion, San Jose, CA, Sunday, May 19, 11.10am (Kings lead 2-0)

We’d already written off our NHL bet on the Kings in Game 2 as a loss with the reigning Stanley Cup champs down 3-2 with less than two minutes to play. A stunning 22-second span then led to a pair of Los Angeles power play goals and turned what appeared to be destined to be a tied series into a 0-2 hole for the San Jose Sharks.

So instead of looking back at the two late penalties that led to the two power-play goals that turned a 3-2 lead into a 4-3 loss, the Sharks would rather bank on the fact that they managed to score three goals against Jonathan Quick, outplayed the Stanley Cup champions for much of the night and now have home-ice advantage for the next two games.

The biggest areas of concern for San Jose are on the special teams that dominated the first round. The Sharks are 0-for-7 on the power play although they did score five seconds after Alec Martinez came out of the box on Thursday night and allowed three power-play goals to the Kings in Game 2. However, this series has a real ‘home’ feel and we expect San Jose to have the Shark Tank rockin’ here.

Suggested bet: Sharks WIN (two units @ $1.74) WIN, game total -5 (two units @ $1.68) WIN (1-2)

Other tips

WCSF2: Red Wings +1.5 @ Blackhawks (0-1) WIN (4-1)

NBA playoffs for May 19

Eastern Conference semi-finals, game 6: New York Knicks @ Indiana Pacers, Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN, Sunday, May 19, 10am (Pacers lead 3-2)

Indiana gets a second chance to close out this series at home where they are 5-0 in the post-season and have won all five games by double digits. The conspiracy theorists are out in force too in thinking that the League wants a Heat v Knicks conference final series, so everything will fall the way of the visitors in Game 6 of this semi-final series!

Tin hats aside, the Pacers won’t know until tip-off whether point guard George Hill will start. He participated in the team's morning shootaround but doctors had not yet cleared Hill to play. Even if D.J. Augustin gets the call-up to replace Hill – the Pacers struggled in Game 5 with him in the line-up – we fancy the Pacers to spoil the party and earn a shot at the Heat.

Suggested bet: Game total -179.5 (one unit @ $1.91) LOSE, Pacers WIN (three units @ $1.50) WIN (99-106)

* Prices with thanks to Centrebet, correct at time of publication