By Steve Davidowitz | So the New York Football Giants came through for those who believed in them. This, after all, was a team that had lost seven of its first 14 games with only two games to play in the regular season. So something happened to turn them around. Something brought them to top form so they could run the table to win the biggest prize in pro football.

That ‘something’ probably was the timely return from injuries of key personnel as well as the inspired performances of their undervalued coach Tom Coughlin and their quarterback, Eli Manning. Both now seem assured of eventual Hall of Fame induction.

Expect something special to happen at the 2012 Kentucky Derby.
Bet on the Derby prep races at Bovada’s online racebook.

As a surprising 2-1/2 point underdog, the Giants were undervalued by the odds makers — as many of the best pro football bettors seemed to say by their play in Vegas this week — the same way astute horseplayers sometimes spot horses that go to the post at longer odds than they deserve.

A case in point was the 7-1 upset win by ULTIMATE EAGLE in the $200,000 Strub Stakes at Santa Anita on Saturday.

While TAPIZAR was the heavy betting favorite and PRAYER FOR RELIEF was deemed to be his most accomplished adversary,  neither of those Graded stakes winners had a legit speed figure edge over the field. Meanwhile, Ultimate Eagle was a talented contender making the first start of his nine race career on dirt after showing Grade-1 form on turf. From such transitions come overlaid odds and if we wish to examine the race even more closely, we would have found that the only other Grade-1 winner in the lineup was absentee JAYCITO, who won the G-1 Norfolk at Santa Anita in 2010.

Interestingly, these two underappreciated Grade-1 winners combined for the $70 winning exacta payoff.

Earlier on the Santa Anita Saturday card, most of the favorites were left in the dust of the 43-1 shot absentee I’LL HAVE ANOTHER, whose last performance was on Sept. 5, 2011 when he finished a distant sixth (as if he had been hurt) in the G-1 Hopeful Stakes at Saratoga. Prior to that terrible showing, I’ll Have Another was a respectable second to the highly rated CREATIVE CAUSE in the Best Pal Stakes at Del Mar.

So why was he in the $200,000 Robert B. Lewis Stakes? The answer was hinted at in positive workout reports. Then, while others were undervaluing him as a racing talent, he simply romped home the winner of this serious first step towards the Kentucky Derby at 43-1 odds.

At Tampa Bay Downs on the west coast of Florida, the $250,000 Sam F. Davis produced another 3-year-old making his 2012 debut — BATTLE HARDENED — an improving maiden who was bred to excel at long distances. Trained by Eddie Kenneally, Battle Hardened had a full resume of very good works at the Palm Meadows’ training facility. This one was no secret, winning at relatively modest 9-2 odds.

A few  betting favorites had their moments in the sun on Saturday and Sunday, as the highly regarded ALPHA comfortably won the $200,000, 1-1/16 mile Withers Stakes at Aqueduct to continue to perform as if he is going to be a factor in the richer prep races down the road.

On Sunday, back at Santa Anita, GAME ON DUDE, the horse who ran so strongly for second in the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs last fall, returned to the races with a strong winning performance in the $200,000 San Antonio Stakes. The Strub, named for one of Santa Anita’s principal founding families, is a strong prep for the $750,000 Santa Anita Handicap next month. Although Hall of fame trainer bob Baffert is considering a 12,000 mile trip in March for the $10 million Dubai World Cup.

A proven commodity on dirt, Game On Dude may not go to Dubai for one reason, as Baffert explained to Santa Anita officials: “Even with the rich purse, it’s a different situation now with the synthetic (Tapeta) track they have over there (at Meydan Racetrack); it’s not easy to ship so far and face a lot of top turf horses who love that kind of track,” Baffert continued. “Either way, we now have a very good horse in good shape with many options to consider.”

Bovada’s got everything you’ll need to stay on top of the 2012 Triple Crown.