Quality Road heads Whitney Invitational

Horseracing Betting Lines

08/04/2010 - Saratoga Springs, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Quality Road, trained by Todd Pletcher, tops a field of six for Saturday's $750,000 Whitney Invitational at Saratoga Race Course. The winner of the 1 1/8-mile Whitney gains automatic entry into this year's Breeders' Cup Classic.

Owned by Edward Evans, Quality Road will be ridden by John Velazquez from post three. The winner of last year's Florida Derby has been made a heavy 2-5 program favorite for the Whitney.

"I think we have a fit and happy horse, which is the goal," Pletcher declared.

Perfect in three starts this year, Quality Road has a career bankroll of more than $1.6 million with seven wins in 10 lifetime starts. The colt is coming off a win in the Met Mile on Memorial Day at Belmont Park.

In February he won the Donn Handicap by more than a dozen lengths at Gulfstream Park. Quality Road began his 2010 season in January by taking the Hal's Hope Stakes at the south Florida track.

Last year at Saratoga, Quality Road won the Amsterdam Stakes and was third to Summer Bird in the Travers.

Quality Road has been second most of the year in the National Thoroughbred Poll behind undefeated mare Zenyatta.

"I think Quality Road certainly belongs in any conversation about the best horse in training," Pletcher noted. "I think if you look at his Donn Handicap, for example, that was just an unbelievable race, and then to come back with a similar performance in the Met Mile - we believe he is the best horse in training."

Stephen Foster champ Blame will make his second career start at Saratoga in the Whitney. The four-year-old won last year's Curlin Stakes for three-year- olds.

Trained by Al Stall, Jr., Blame will be ridden again by Garrett Gomez from post two and is the 4-1 second choice.

"I believe he will improve off his Stephen Foster victory; hopefully, the trip will work out tactically," said Stall. "At least with a smaller field, he won't be hung out in the 11 hole.

"He can handle anything. Nothing bothers that horse. We're ready for the task. This is his third race this year. We're excited to be here and run in the Whitney. We are ready to take on all comers. I'm looking forward to it."

Blame has earned better than $1 million for owner Adele Dilschneider. In 10 career starts the colt has seven wins, including his last four in a row. This year he also won the William Donald Schaefer Stakes at Pimlico.

Also in the field are 2009 Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird, Suburban Handicap champ Haynesfield and Met Mile runner-up Musket Mam.

Here is the complete field for the Whitney in post position order: Mine That Bird, Calvin Borel, 12-1; Blame, Garrett Gomez, 4-1; Quality Road, John Velazquez, 2-5; Haynesfield, Ramon Dominguez, 12-1; Jardim, Julien Leparoux, 30-1; and Musket Man, Rajiv Maragh, 6-1.

Post-time for the 83rd Whitney is set for 5:50 p.m. (et).

Cbssportskine Horseracing Betting News

<< Big Ben strikes again in Detroit
Auburn Hills, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Pistons re-signed veteran center Ben Wallace on Wednesday. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the Detroit Free Press reported it is a two-year contract worth jus

<< Lucky Chucky versus nine in $1.5 million Hambletonian
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Champion colt Lucky Chucky will start from post two in Saturday's 85th running of the $1.5 million Hambletonian at The Meadowlands. The one-mile trot is harness racing's premier event. The Hambleto

<< Seattle's Montero named MLS Player of the Month
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fredy Montero was voted Major League Soccer's Player of the Month for July, it was announced on Wednesday. Montero has been on fire recently, registering a goal or an assist in eight straight league matche

<< Alex Rodriguez hits home run No. 600
NEW YORK (AP) -Alex Rodriguez became the youngest player to hit 600 home runs Wednesday, reaching the milestone after a 12-game drought - and exactly three years to the day after his 500th homer - with a drive off Toronto's Shaun Marcum in the first

<< Syracuse in field for 2010 Legends Classic
PRINCETON, N.J. (AP) -Syracuse, which was ranked No. 1 for one week last season, and fellow NCAA tournament teams Georgia Tech and UTEP will be host schools in the 2010 Legends Classic.Michigan will be the other team in the field guaranteed a berth

Blues sign Dave Scatchard >>
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Blues have signed forward Dave Scatchard. Terms of the two-way contract were not released. Scatchard spent last season with Nashville and its minor league affiliate in Milwaukee. He regis

Chargers' third-round pick Butler to miss season >>
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Diego Chargers announced linebacker Donald Butler, a third-round selection in the 2010 draft, will miss the upcoming season due to an Achilles injury suffered on Tuesday. Butler starred at W

McGee takes Brook Lopez's spot at Team USA camp >>
Colorado Springs, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brook Lopez, center for the New Jersey Nets, withdrew from consideration for the 2010 USA Basketball World Championship team due to a battle with mononucleosis. JaVale McGee, center for the

Bills release Schobel >>
Pittsford, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Buffalo Bills have released veteran linebacker Aaron Schobel. The moves comes after the Bills announced Monday that Schobel was not in their plans for the 2010 season, though did not outright

Bradley announces roster for Brazil friendly >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - U.S. men's national team soccer coach Bob Bradley officially named his 18-player roster for a Aug. 10 friendly against Brazil at the New Meadowlands Stadium. Fourteen players on the roster were part of

SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting

NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.


That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.

A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."

It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.

The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.

So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."

Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.

Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Seriously.

The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.

The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.

Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."

The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts MasterCard needs.

Barry Bonds Watch: Giants Slugger Says He'll Be Back

With only 21 home runs standing between him and Hank Aaron, Barry Bonds is indeed planning on coming back for more in 2007. At least, that's what his agent told the Los Angeles Times.

"Barry's going to play in 2007," Jeff Borris of Beverly Hills Sports Council told the Times on Tuesday. "I've had many discussions with Barry and he's going to play. My intentions are to see to it he's in a big-league uniform next season. Those are my marching orders."

Contract negotiations could get started as early as next week. Let's see which team has the deeper pockets. Will MLB baseball betting lines despite allegations of steroid use? Bet On It at www.MySportsbook.com .

Get all your baseball betting lines, MLB lines and MLB team props at the My Sportbook.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your baseball sportsbook needs.