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08/06/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Undefeated champion mare Zenyatta and leading older male horse Quality Road, the two top-rated thoroughbreds in training, are each slated to race Saturday afternoon, though separated by about 3,000 miles.
Zenyatta will go after a third straight Clement L. Hirsch Stakes victory at Del Mar, while Quality Road is the odds-on favorite for the Whitney Handicap at Saratoga.
Quality Road will be the first to leave the starting gate. The four-year-old colt, trained by Todd Pletcher, has five challengers to contend with in the 1 1/8-mile Whitney.
Owned by Edward Evans, Quality Road has returned to racing in 2010 after a disastrous Breeders' Cup Classic. The colt did not get a chance to run in the Classic because of his refusal to be loaded into the starting gate.
"Unfortunately he gets a little bit of a bad rap from, you know, the one isolated incident at the Breeders' Cup when, you know, part of it was his fault and part of it was the way he was handled," Pletcher said this week.
"But since then," Pletcher continued, "he's been absolutely perfect in every situation."
Quality Road came back this year an even better horse than he was at three, the year he won the Florida Derby. With John Velazquez riding, he has moved to the head of the class in the handicap division with three straight wins in 2010.
"We've been very fortunate so far that everything has gone according to plan," Pletcher noted. "We've gotten the first three races and those have gone very well. We're coming up to the next step which, you know, by watching him train he seems to be in as good a form as ever, even better so, you know, everything's gone the way we want it to go. And, you know, there's still some more left to do and each race is very, very important."
Quality Road has picked up victories this year in the Hal's Hope, Donn Handicap and Met Mile. Saturday's Whitney start will be the first of his races that, hopefully, will get him to the Breeders' Cup Classic at Churchill Downs in November.
"In this particular year, we've kind of laid out a schedule at the beginning of the year," Pletcher said. "Talking to Mr. Evans and Chris Baker as Farm Manager and Racing Manager that, you know, this is kind of what we had in mind was to open with the Donn and then, you know, a break in the Met Mile and then, you know, probably another break in the Whitney and hopefully the Woodward and then the Breeders' Cup."
The Woodward, which was won by Rachel Alexandra last year, will be held at Saratoga on the first Saturday in September.
"If the Whitney goes according to plan and he comes out of it well and we feel like he's ready to run back in the Woodward," Pletcher commented, "we would like to run back in the Woodward.
A little more than three hours after Quality Road goes in the Whitney, Zenyatta will break from the gate in the Clement L. Hirsch. This will be her fourth start of the year.
The late-running champion is coming off a second straight win in the Vanity Handicap and now goes for a third straight triumph in the Hirsch.
To owner Jerry Moss, Zenyatta is more than a racehorse.
"She is perfection in a very important way," Moss said. "She didn't just happen to show up in the barn and then all of a sudden start winning all these races all in a row; it took a tremendous effort by a great group of people headed by (trainer) John Shirreffs. There are 14 different people that touch her every day. It is quite amazing. And they're all just great to her and they all deserve a large part of this."
Zenyatta is ridden by Mike Smith who is another promoter for the champion.
"She's extremely intelligent," Smith noted. "If you've ever gotten the opportunity to be around her, she's just amazing. I mean she's so, so intelligent. I mean from - she knows when there's a time when you can walk up to the stall and she can be the most loving thing in the world. She'll let you pet on her."
This year the six-year-old has been showing a lot of showmanship, winning races by the smallest of margins. In the Vanity, the undefeated superster appeared to be running out of room to gain the victory, but she closed late receiving credit for a half-length win over St Trinians even though it looked a lot closer.
Saturday's Hirsch offers the mare a chance to win her 18th consecutive race without a defeat. Her rivals are less than stellar, but Zenyatta still has to run and cross the wire first.
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The NFL preseason is approaching. Time for players, coaches and teams to turn over a new leaf. General managers have hired some new coaches, while coaches have added some offensive and defensive assistants to try and improve things. Here’s a look at some changes to look for in the preseason.
New York Jets: The Jets were one of the surprise teams in the NFL last season, making the playoffs under hard-driving first-year coach Eric Mangini. Mangini rebuilt the offensive line with rookies D'Brickashaw Ferguson (the No. 4 pick in the 2007 Draft) and Ohio State center (the 29th pick in the first round). This season he upgraded the defense with rookie linebacker David Harris (Michigan) while the secondary picked up a much needed top-notch corner in Pitt CB Darrelle Revis (No. 14 overall).
The Jets have added balance to the offense for QB Chad Pennington with RB Thomas Jones, essentially stolen from the Bears. He will upgrade a New York ground game that was 20th in rushing with a weak 3.5 yards per carry. They have their first true feature back since Curtis Martin. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer prefers ball control, like his father Marty. In preseason, behind Pennington you’ll see second-year QB Kellen Clemens and mobile newcomer QB Marques Tuiasosopo.
Jacksonville Jaguars: The heat is on Jack Del Rio in Jacksonville as the Jaguars flopped last season despite a ton of talent. Keep in mind that under Del Rio the Jaguars have been outstanding in preseason with a 12-4 SU, 11-5 ATS August mark. online football betting Their defense is loaded, it’s the offense that has been stuck in first gear the last few years.
Enter a new offensive coordinator in Dirk Koetter, the former Boise State and Arizona State pass-happy coach. He will try and upgrade a passing game that ranked 24th last season. Del Rio has criticized wide receivers and Matt Jones this summer, both of whom have battled injuries. It will be interesting to watch the “new” Jaguars passing game in preseason.
Arizona Cardinals: Word out of Arizona is that the players like new coach Ken Whisenhunt, who was the Steelers offensive coordinator last year. We think of Arizona as all-passing because their running game has been awful of late because of a poor offensive line. However, keep an eye on the running game in preseason as they’ve made a lot of changes.
The new coach brings in Russ Grimm to coach the offensive line (Grimm did a marvelous job building the Steelers line). They took Penn State OT Levi Jones in the first round and signed two offensive linemen, Mike Gandy and Al Johnson, to provide depth. Reggie Wells was moved from right tackle to left guard and they want more speed out of the offensive line for pulling and traps, a Pittsburgh staple under Bill Cowher.
Atlanta Falcons: While all the attention has been focused on QB Mike Vick’s off-field problems, new coach Bobby Petrino is revamping the Falcons from an all-running team to a more balanced one. Petrino likes the experience of backup QB Joey Harrington and he has veteran backup Chris Redman, who used to play for Petrino at Louisville and knows his offenses better than anyone. Petrino wants Vick to be more of a pocket passer.
The addition of FB Ovie Mughelli is a sign Petrino wants a power rushing attack behind a physical fullback and newcomer WR Joe Horn should upgrade what was a below average wideout corps. Petrino is changing their old zone-blocking scheme to a more traditional in-line blocking scheme and the offensive line is bigger. Rookie DE Jamaal Anderson was grabbed in the first round and the secondary got younger with former Auburn cornerback David Irons, who the Falcons think was a steal as a sixth-round pick.
Cleveland Browns: The 2007 Browns look like a double-edged sword. There was the excitement of the offseason, trading for RB Jamel Lewis, upgrading the offensive line with Wisconsin’s Joe Thomas (the No. 2 pick in the draft) and free agent LG Eric Steinbach, then trading for Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn when he fell to No. 22. GM Phil Savage and head coach Romeo Crennel feel they have a talented, balanced offense with these new pieces, plus TE >Kellen Winslow and WR Braylon Edwards.
However, were these moves made in desperation? And were they foolish ones? The Browns gave up their 2008 first-round pick for Quinn and we all know QBs take time to develop. And even first-round QBs can be busts (Joey Harrington, Akili Smith). We also don’t know if the offensive line is that much improved (31st in rushing in 2007) and they did nothing to improve a defense that was awful against the run (142 yds pg allowed).
The Browns have a new offensive coordinator in Rob Chudzinski. This is a young offense and Quinn looked tentative, indecisive and inaccurate early in camp. Crennel will play Charlie Frye, Quinn and Derek Anderson in preseason. And there is a mixed bag for rookie QBs receiving significant starts: Tim Couch (14), Kerry Collins (13), Ben Roethlisberger (13), Vince Young (13), Joey Harrington (12), Matt Leinart (11) and Kyle Boller (nine). While all the focus will be on the Browns new-look offense, I’m more concerned with the defense.
Carolina Panthers: Coach Jon Fox loves the ground game, but Carolina has made some interesting changes for 2007. Fox fired offensive coordinator Dan Henning and brings in Jeff Davidson to run the offense. Davidson has brought in zone-blocking schemes to the Panther offense, a dramatic change for a system that's been built around a power-running style.
In zone-blocking, offensive linemen are responsible for blocking any defender who appears in their zone, instead of focusing on one defender. The Broncos and Falcons have had success with the system, which features smaller, more athletic offensive linemen and can create running lanes on the inside and outside. Keep an eye in preseason on how Carolina adjusts as it will take time to learn the system. Fox has been one of the top coaches in preseason, with a 15-5 SU, 12-7-1 ATS August record.
Dallas Cowboys: WR Terrell Owens is still here, but QB Drew Bledsoe and Bill Parcells are gone. New head coach Wade Phillips takes over, replacing Parcells. He ran the Chargers defense last season. Phillips was chosen by teary-eyed owner Jerry Jones partly because he is one of the best 3-4 coaches in football and the Cowboys have loaded up on players for that scheme.
Remember that Phillips was blitz-happy with the Chargers last season and early reports out of the Dallas camp have mentioned how the Cowboys have been blitzing a lot, a departure from Parcells. The theme of the 2007 Dallas defense appears to be one of attack.
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Let’s take a look at the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds and the betting line and figure out where they’ve been and where they are going to go.
MySportsbook.com put up the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds late on Sunday night with the Pittsburgh Steelers favored by 6.5 points and a total betting line at 47.5 points.
Since then, however, the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds have seen a good deal of movement and you’ll want to be on top of where they are likely to move to make sure you get the best line value for the big game.
Since opening, the Super Bowl 2009 betting lines went to Steelers -7 in the span of roughly 3 hours but were quickly bought back down just minutes later to 6.5 again.
After that is took about 5-6 more hours before the betting line went back to -7 where it has sat for a while now and is likely to remain. The opening betting total of 47.5 was bet down right after the line became available and went to 47 within minutes.
Roughly a day later it has been bet even further down to the 46.5 tally it currently is set at.
Roughly 60% of gamblers seem to be on the Cardinals here so the point spread will be bet down and a 7.5 would not last very long at all with many taking the early 6.5 in hopes of finding a potential middle in the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds.
If you like Arizona and see a 7.5, I’d take it as soon as possible because it’s unlikely to last. For Pittsburgh backers, the -7 might be the best you’ll be able to find but a 6.5 is definitely possible close to game time.
Regarding the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds for the total, most tracked gamblers are already on the over and with those who took the under 47.5 already securing a middle on the over 46.5, the only way I see it moving is back up to 47 so if you like the over, I’d recommend betting now.
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