Daily tips for June 20

Racing for June 20

Horse racing: Ballarat (Vic), Bathurst (NSW), Rockhampton (Qld), Penola (SA), Taree (NSW), Pinjarra (WA), Royal Ascot (UK). Harness racing: Charlton (Vic), Newcastle (NSW), Gold Coast (Qld), Geelong (Vic), Penrith (NSW), Wagin (WA). Greyhound racing: Warragul (Vic), Grafton (NSW), Geelong (Vic), Maitland (NSW), Albion Park (Qld), Sandown Park (Vic), Angle Park (SA), Hobart (Tas), Dapto (NSW), Mandurah (WA).

When you’re on a good thing … Royal Ascot has delivered the goods for us over the past two nights and we’re staying aboard for tonight’s running of the Group 1 £350,000 Gold Cup over a marathon 4000m. Celebrating the 60th anniversary of her coronation, The Queen will be in attendance to watch her mare Estimate (pictured above), a winner over 3200m here last year, carry the favourite’s tag into the race. But there looms a spoiler to royal celebrations in the shape of Irish trainer Dermot Weld, in his 40th anniversary of his first Royal Ascot winner, who stands to bring off an astonishing feat with the remarkable former hurdler #7 Rite Of Passage. This nine-year-old gelding on the Gold Cup in 2010 but will be racing for only the third time since that victory three years ago, and for the first time in eight months. Weld last produced Rite Of Passage to win the Group III Long Distance Cup (3200m) at Ascot's inaugural Champions meeting in October after a break of 510 days!

Suggested bet: Ascot R3 #7 Rite of Passage E/W (two units) SCRATCHED

Other tips

Ballarat R3 #10 Gold Heist (win) 1st ($1.40)

Ballarat R6 #6 Spartypants  (E/W) 3rd ($2.10)

Rockhampton R5 #2 Motorised (E/W 1x4) 1st ($3.90/$1.30)

Penola R2 #8 Dalmini (place) 1st ($8.70)

Penola R5 #4 Tuscan Ranger (E/W) LOSE (U/P)
Ascot R2 #1 Alive Alive Oh (win) SCRATCHED

Ascot R5 #8 Remote (E/W) 1st ($3.20/$1.50)

Harness racing tip: Charlton R1 #6 Luv Tha Aces Lombo (win) LOSE (4th)

Greyhound racing tip: Dapto R6 #4 Notso Sweet (win) LOSE (U/P)

NHL Stanley Cup Finals for June 20

Game 4: Chicago Blackhawks @ Boston Bruins, TD Garden, Boston, MA, Tuesday, June 18, 10.10am (Bruins lead 2-1)

For all the analysis, the problem is pretty simple for the Chicago Blackhawks. They simply cannot get the puck past Tuukka Rask. The goaltender has kept the President's Trophy-winning Blackhawks off the scoreboard for more than two hours as the Bruins have claimed a 2-1 edge in the Stanley Cup final series. After Rask recorded his third post-season shutout by stopping all 28 shots he faced in a 2-0 triumph on Tuesday, Chicago will look to get the better of the young stud in Game 4 and end Boston's seven-game home winning streak. And credit Patrice Bergeron for adding to Chicago's troubles as last season's Selke Trophy winner scored a power-play goal and won 24 of 28 faceoffs in Game 3.

The Blackhawks will receive a boost with the return of Marian Hossa, according to coach Joel Quenneville. Hossa, who shares the team lead with 15 points, was a late scratching in Game 3 despite taking part in the pre-game warm-up. An ailing power play continues to plague Chicago, which has failed to score on all 11 opportunities with the man advantage in the series and 20 consecutive dating back to Game 2 of the Western Conference final versus the Los Angeles Kings. Even with Hossa back in the line-up, we can’t see the Blackhawks reversing the strong trend in this series, and great to see we’re getting an extra 1/2 point from Centrebet for our game total bet.

Suggested bet: Bruins WIN (2.5 units @ $1.80) LOSE, game total -5 (2.5 units @ $1.67) LOSE (6-5)

MLB for June 20

Colorado Rockies (37-35, 14-18 away) @ Toronto Blue Jays (34-36, 18-17 home), Rogers Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Thursday, June 20, 9.05am

The MLB has been a punters’ graveyard over the past few days. One of my learned colleagues finished his card yesterday, bet the exact opposite and turned a nice profit! We’re not quite at that point, and expect the Toronto Blue Jays to help deliver a win as our best of the day. Mark Buehrle will be out to help the Blue Jays get within a game of .500 if their longest winning streak in nearly five years continues here against the Rockies.

Buehrle (3-4, 4.66 ERA), who hasn't finished under .500 since 2006, has reached at least 13 wins in five straight seasons but is on pace to fall short of double digits. That's due greatly to a 1/3 record and 6.33 ERA through his first nine starts. The left-hander served up 11 homers in that span but has since allowed one in 33 innings, going 2-1 with a 1.91 ERA in five starts for four Toronto victories. The Blue Jays (34-36 seven-game winning streak is their best since posting 10 consecutive victories in August-September 2008.

Colorado (37-35) has yet to homer in this series and now looks to avoid another three-game sweep in Toronto. The Rockies have hit .176 in losing all eight games they've played there. Juan Nicasio (4-2, 4.86) will face the Blue Jays for the first time, possibly pitching to save his spot in the rotation with newcomer Roy Oswalt to debut tomorrow. Nicasio is winless in his past five starts due largely to struggles as the game goes deeper. He's given up a combined six runs through the first five innings but has allowed 11 after that -- and he's yet to pitch past the sixth this season.

Suggested bet: Toronto Blue Jays WIN (four units @ $1.65) WIN, game total -9 (one unit @ $1.91) WIN (2-5)

Other tips

IL: Dodgers @ Yankees (1) +7 $2.05 WIN (4-6)

AL: Orioles @ Tigers +9 $2.15 WIN (13-3)

AL: Athletics @ Rangers +9.5 $1.83 WIN (4-9)

AL: White Sox @ Twins -7.5 $1.77 LOSE (4-7)

AL: Mariners @ Angels -8 $1.87 WIN (0-1)

NL: Padres @ Giants +7 $2.06 LOSE (2-4)

NL: Nationals @ Phillies WIN $1.93 LOSE (6-2)

NL: Mets +1.5 @ Braves $1.77 LOSE (3-5)

NL: Pirates @ Reds -8 $2.05 WIN (1-2)

NL: Cubs @ Cardinals +8 $1.98 LOSE (1-4)

* Prices with thanks to Centrebet, correct at time of publication – for most people gambling is an exciting and fun recreational pursuit. For others it can become a problem with devastating consequences for them, their families and friends. We want you to enjoy your gambling experience. We want you to stay in control of your gambling and not allow your gambling to control you.