07/24/2008 - Saratoga Springs, NY (Horseracing Betting) - Salvator Mile winner Notional will go after a second "Win and You're In" victory on Saturday in the $750,000 Whitney Handicap at Saratoga. The winner of the 1 1/8 mile Whitney gains automatic entry into the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita on Saturday, October 25.
Notional's victory in the Salvator Mile at Monmouth Park earlier this month put him into the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile which will be run on Santa Anita's synthetic surface. This year's Breeders' Cup will be conducted for the first time on an all-weather main track.
Lawyer Ron won last year's Whitney is a stakes and track record time of 1:46.64 for the nine-furlongs.
Owned by J. Paul Reddam and trained by Mark Hennig, Notional will start from post three in the 11 horse field with Edgar Prado riding. The four-year-old colt has won four of 11 career starts for $695,740.
Last year Notional won the San Rafael and Risen Star Stakes. His last race as a three-year-old was the Florida Derby when he was second to Scat Daddy. A broken leg ended his 2007 season.
Commentator, winner of the 2005 Whitney, has drawn the inside post with John Velazquez getting the riding assignment. The seven-year-old gelding, trained by Hall of Famer Nick Zito for Tracy Farmer, will be making his first start at 1 1/8 miles since he finished third in the 2005 Woodward to Saint Liam.
The veteran runner is coming off a second-place finish to Divine Park in the Metropolitan Mile Handicap at Belmont Park on Memorial Day. Commentator has lifetime earnings of $1,091,936 in 18 starts with 11 wins.
Pimlico Special champ Student Council is expected to receive a lot of attention from the betting public. The six-year-old will break from post 10 with Shaun Bridgmohan back to ride.
Student Council has earned just under $1.4 million in his 28 race career with eight victories. Trained by Steve Asmussen for W.S. Farish, Student Council is coming back from a third-place result to Mast Track in last month's Hollywood Gold Cup. Last year he won both the Hawthorne Gold Cup and the Pacific Classic, and is expected to make his next start in the Pacific Classic at Del Mar on August 24.
Here is the complete field for the Whitney Handicap in post position order: Commentator, John Velazquez; Solar Flare, Gabriel Saez; Notional, Edgar Prado; Cowtown Cat, Rafael Bejarano; Merchant Marine, Rajiv Maragh; Tasteyville, Michael Luzzi; Rising Moon, Cornelio Velasquez; Grasshopper, Robby Albarado; A. P. Arrow, Ramon Dominguez; Student Council, Shaun Bridgmohan and Timber Reserve, Javier Castellano.
Post-time for the 81st Whitney Handicap is scheduled for 5:46 p.m. (et) and will be televised on ABC.
<< Ortiz to make return Friday
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz, who has been
sidelined since the end of May due to a torn tendon sheath in his left wrist,
is slated to make his return to the lineup on Friday.
The announcement came Thursda
<< Toronto tops Baltimore in rain-suspended conclusion
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lyle Overbay went 2-for-4 with a run batted
in, and Toronto pitching racked up 11 strikeouts as the Blue Jays topped the
Baltimore Orioles, 5-1, in the conclusion of a game that was suspended in the
sixth i
<< Phillies' Rollins late scratch from lineup
Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins was a
late scratch from Thursday's series finale against the New York Mets with an
undisclosed ailment.
Eric Bruntlett started at short and batted leadoff in place of Rollins,
<< Villa's O'Neill getting tired of Barry saga
Birmingham, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill has
admitted that he not sure where his club stand in the long-running saga of
Gareth Barry's proposed move to Liverpool.
Villa have so far resisted the Reds
Liverpool signs French teen Ngog >>
Liverpool, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - French striker David Ngog left Paris St.
German to sign with England's Liverpool on Thursday.
Ngog, 19, signed a four-year contract. He played in 18 games for PSG last year
and scored one goal. He is c
Romero, Vaughan share lead at Senior British Open >>
Ayrshire, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eduardo Romero and Bruce Vaughan opened
with rounds of three-under 68 on Thursday to share the lead after the first
round of the Senior British Open Championship.
Andy Bean, John Cook, Kirk Hanefel
Liverpool's Leto to join Olympiakos on loan >>
Liverpool, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Liverpool's Argentinian midfielder
Sebastian Leto is set to spend next season out on loan with Greek side
Olympiakos.
The 21-year-old made four appearances for the Reds last season an
Andersen heads back to Denver >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Denver Nuggets signed forward Chris Andersen
to an undisclosed contract Thursday.
The 6-foot-10, 228-pound versatile forward began his career with Denver in the
2001-02 campaign. After spending three seas
The Indianapolis Colts know that winning the Super Bowl last season put a huge target on their backs, and they expect opponents to go all-out to knock them from the top of the mountain.
They’ll get their first test from the New Orleans Saints this Thursday night. The defending champs had nothing but good things to say about the New Orleans defense this past week, praising their opponents’ pass rush and run-stopping abilities.
"They play very aggressively," head coach Tony Dungy told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "They play a lot of man-to-man coverage, and they come after you. They have good pass rushers, and they're going to try to pressure us, I'm sure."
Both center Jeff Saturday and quarterback Peyton Manning gave New Orleans’ front four props, admitting keeping guys like Will Smith and Charles Grant contained would be a tall task for the offensive line.
New Orleans ranked second in total defense during the preseason at a sportsbook, allowing just under 233 yards per game. Last season, the defense finished 11th in the league after giving up 307.3 yards and 20.1 points per contest.
Not so sound on the ground
If Indianapolis' efficient offense has a weakness it has to be its running attack. The Colts one-two-punch of Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai is no longer, leaving the bulk of the carries to Addai, the second-year back out of LSU.
Former Saskatchewan Roughrider Kenton Keith was named Addai’s backup this week after beating out DeDe Dorsey for the second-string position. Indy has only three backs on the roster right now, including fullback Luke Lawton, and coach Dungy is aware of the thinness of his ground game. Sports Betting lines on the game can be found at BettingExpress.com
“We’ll continue to look. Luke Lawton’s done a good job for us too. So probably getting a third true tailback is something that we’d like to do,” Dungy told the Indiana Tribune-Star.
Last season, Addai rushed for over 1,000 yards in his rookie campaign and scored seven touchdowns on the ground.
Brees says bring it on
Opening the season on the road against the defending Super Bowl champions is not the way most teams would like to kick off their year – unless you’re the New Orleans Saints or their quarterback Drew Brees. This internet Sportsbooks had the Saints as the favorites.
Brees told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he is excited to get the regular season started and the Colts are a great challenge for him and his teammates. The 28-year-old QB, entering his second season with the Saints, is expecting a wild environment in the RCA Dome this Thursday when the franchise celebrates its 2007-2007 championship.
Brees said he sees the opening game scheduling as an honor and a testament to how well New Orleans did last season. The Saints missed facing the Colts in the Super Bowl by one game, losing to the Chicago Bears in the NFC Championship game.
"I mean, people think we can hang with these guys," Brees told reporters. "Even if they didn't, it wouldn't matter what they thought because as a team we're very confident. We know what we can do. We're not satisfied where we finished the season last year. And we've been looking forward to this opportunity for a long time."
SportsBooks ready for a shootout
Oddsmakers are preparing for some fireworks this Thursday when the NFL season kicks off. online Sportsbooks have Thursday’s total set at a whopping 52 points, accounting for two of the league’s most explosive offenses.
“This is like must-see TV,” Saints cornerback and former Colt Jason David told the Baton Rouge Advocate. “It’s two exciting offenses with great players. You’ve got a lot of star power on offense. At any given time a big play can happen. If I was a fan, I wouldn’t miss a snap.”
New Orleans, who ranked No.1 in total offense last season, can go blow-for-blow with the Colts’ attack. Head coach Sean Payton’s offensive schemes will get even better production out of Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and receiver Marques Colston now that they’ve each had a season of playing together under their belts.
The Saints and Colts were the top two passing teams in the NFL last year, but while Indianapolis managed to put up almost 27 points per game, New Orleans struggled to capitalize on their efforts. The Saints ranked fifth in points per game.
“Yards are great,” running back Deuce McAllister told reporters, “but to be able to score more touchdowns would be important for us.”
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts US credit cards
Sports Betting News: Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting