Monmouth Park welcomes Horse of the Year

Horseracing Betting Lines

07/20/2010 - Oceanport, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Defending Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra has safely arrived at Monmouth Park in preparation of her start in Saturday's 1 1/8-mile Lady's Secret Stakes. The four-year-old champion filly was taken from her summer residence at Saratoga Race Course and got to Monmouth Park about 9 a.m. (et) Tuesday morning.

"She shipped just fine, everything's great," said trainer Steve Asmussen's chief assistant Scott Blasi, who arrived with Rachel. "She'll gallop up to the race and school in the paddock on Friday afternoon."

In order to lure the filly to Monmouth for the Lady's Secret the track increased the purse from $150,000 to $400,000. This will be the filly's second race at the New Jersey shore track.

Last year Rachel, co-owned by Jess Jackson and Hal McCormick, won the $1 million Haskell Invitational versus three-year-old males.

Entries for the Lady's Secret Stakes will be drawn on Wednesday. Racing secretary Mike Dempsey expects four or five other females to take on the reigning Horse of the Year.

"It looks like she'll be facing four or five rivals," said Dempsey. "The race will be drawn on Wednesday when we'll obviously know for sure, but right now my best estimate is a field of five, perhaps six."

Rachel, who has Calvin Borel as her jockey, has won 12 of 17 career starts for $3,216,730. This year she has won one of three races for $258,376.

In her last start this year she won the Fleur de Lis by 10 1/2-lengths on June 12. She came up short in her initial two starts of 2010. She was second to Zardana at the Fair Grounds in the New Orleans Ladies Classic and runner-up to Unrivaled Belle at Churchill Downs in the La Troienne.

Borel will also ride in the Haskell Invitational for the second straight year. The veteran jockey, who was aboard Rachel in last year's victory, will guide Kentucky Derby champ Super Saver in the 1 1/8-mile race on Sunday, August 1.

"From what I hear, Super Saver is doing very well," Borel commented. "He put on a little weight which is good to hear because he really had to run hard in the Derby. He's not a big horse at all, and I think the Derby and Preakness took a little out of him.

"I spoke with Elliott Walden (Director of Racing for WinStar Farms) the other day and he told me that Super Saver looks great and is really training well. He's had a bit of a break since the Preakness, and it looks like a pretty tough field, but he should be ultra-tough in there."

Trained by Todd Pletcher, Super Saver was eighth in the Preakness Stakes behind 2009 champion two-year-old colt Lookin At Lucky. Lookin At Lucky, trained by Bob Baffert, is expected to ship in from California for the Haskell.

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Online Sportsbook Football Betting

Colts give the ‘D’ its due

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 Smithand 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 Bearsin 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 backDeuce McAllister told reporters, “but to be able to score more touchdowns would be important for us.”

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