The 2011 Kentucky Derby betting race is only a week and a half away, and if you haven’t made your prediction by now, you should be worried. Unlike the last few Kentucky Derby betting races, this year’s race could see any number of horses place in the money. For the purpose that you need a horse to believe in, here is our prediction for which horse we feel will win this year’s run for the roses.

This year’s Kentucky Derby winner will be Nick Zito trained horse Dialed In.  From its first win on January 30, 2011 at the Holy Bull Grade III Stakes to its victory earlier this month at the Florida Derby Grade I stakes race, Dialed In has been on our radar. Earlier this week, many sportsbooks made Dialed In the odds on favorite for the Derby at four to one, after rival Uncle Mo dropped finished third in its only prep race.

Throughout its four career starts, Dialed In has been impressive to say the least. The colt’s only bad race came in March, when it finished second to long shot Equestrio, after leading for the majority of the race. Simply put that one race, shouldn’t be a knock on Dialed In, as even the best horses can feel off on occasion.

In our opinions, Dialed In’s biggest appeals come from the horse’s pedigree. Sired by Mineshaft, Dialed In is a direct descendant of legendary horses AP Indy and Seattle Slew. From reports we have read by various colleagues, they believe that Dialed In may be the best horse since Slew, as it has that rare mix of speed and patience that many horse owners dream of having.

As we mentioned above, the Holy Bull Stakes and Florida Derby are two races that made us fans of Dialed In. On the one hand, at the Holy Bull Stakes, Dialed In showed Zenyatta like patience, as it started off at the back of the field only to glide up to the front of the pack and steal the victory. Then at the Florida Derby, Dialed In jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. If Dialed In can use its talents at the Kentucky Derby, we may be looking at the next winner.

While there have been more than enough arguments about how this is finally the year of the Washington Capitals in the Eastern conference, it seems as though a familiar logo might represent the Western conference once again in the 2011 Stanley Cup finals. After consecutive conference championships in 2008 and 2009, including a Stanley Cup banner in their first of the two appearances, the Detroit Red Wings were held back by injuries a year ago. Fast forward to 2011 and head coach Mike Babcock has his team competing for a championship once again. After becoming the first team to punch its ticket into the conference semi finals with the lone sweep of the opening round, the Red Wings are beginning to look like a team that can win it all, unlike the betting on MLB Tigers.

There were times in their series against the Phoenix Coyotes where Detroit simply dominated, controlling the puck for long periods of time in the offensive zone while almost completing shutting things down at their own end. The Red Wings are not yet at full health with the pending return of Henrik Zetterberg and Nicklas Kronwall still on the shelf, but veterans such as Johan Franzen and Pavel Datsyuk have stepped up to fill the void. Both Franzen and Datsyuk are known as players that take their game to another level in the postseason, and with the ageless wonder Nicklas Lidstrom continuing to lead a solid defense Detroit will need only consistent play from netminder Jimmy Howard to go all the way. Babcock has earned a reputation as one of the top coaches in the league, and as long as the Red Wings stay healthy they should be a sports bet favorite to repeat as Stanley Cup champions.

For all of the talk about how the Boston Celtics are not prepared to go on a second consecutive run to the NBA finals with a veteran team that has struggled down the stretch, perhaps somebody should take a quick look back at what happened to last year’s team. The Celtics went .500 over the final couple of months of the season behind the Cleveland Cavaliers and Orlando Magic in the Eastern conference standings, but came alive to push the Los Angeles Lakers to seven games before conceding the NBA championship in the finals. The pressure will be on the Lakers to three-peat, but it won’t happen after the improvements that Boston has made.

Gone is Kendrick Perkins to the Oklahoma City Thunder. In his place is Shaquille O’Neal, Jermaine O’Neal, Jeff Green, and Nenad Krstic. As much as Perkins was a key contributor to that Celtics’ team, the presence of both O’Neal centers as well as Krstic provides more experience and depth, and simple math outlines it as three big bodies compared to one. Kevin Garnett returns as focused and determined as he has ever been, and Glen “Big Baby” Davis has made strides in his game off the bench. The star guard tandem in Boston has become a star trio with Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Rajon Rondo all capable of handling the rock with the game on the line, and with Green to help provide that extra spark off the bench the Celtics are scary. The Lakers haven’t done enough to match the improvements that Boston has made, and after watching the Celtics push Los Angeles to seven games a year ago, this has to be their sports betting year to win it all.