Year's best take to the track on Saturday

Horseracing Betting Lines

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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MySportsbook.com : Fortune Favors Favorites in March Madness betting?

Just like Day 1 of the “Sweet 16”, Friday’s games are chock full of some of the nation’s elite.  Unlike Thursday’s games, there is a little bit more of a “Cinderella” feel as #7 seed UNLV and #6 seed Vanderbilt will attempt to move on to the Elite Eight.  With powerhouses Florida, UNC and Georgetown looking to continue their momentum against lesser known teams, it isn’t surprising that once again the “betting public” is backing most of the favorites.  As the early coin rolls in, 56% of Sportsbook.com bettors prefer Georgetown (-7.5) as they take on Vanderbilt; 84% of the early money is backing Oregon (-3) as they square off against UNLV; and a slight majority (52%) of the early cash is on Florida (-10.5) against Butler as the Gators continue their quest for another National Title. The only favorite the public don’t seem confident in is UNC, as 59% of the cash is backing the underdog Trojans (+8).

Midwest

#1 Florida vs. #5 Butler

The defending National Champs have been on a mission since last April.  Joakim Noah and Al Horford turned down millions of dollars for one reason, to REPEAT.  After a late season hiccup which saw them lose three out of four, the Gators have won six straight by an average of 20.3 points. More importantly, they covered in five of those six games.  Behind their stymie defense that yields only 56.9 PPG, Butler has been a very pleasant surprise this season.  As their 20-11 ATS record will indicate, “surprise teams” like Butler are often good bets for gamblers.  Playing in an average conference, Butler wasn’t and underdog too often but when they were, they covered (6-0 ATS).  Butler’s defense will have its hands full against a Gators offense which averages 80.1 PPG on an amazing 52.9% shooting from the field.  With Florida’s tournament experience over the last few years, it isn’t surprising that they are 5-1 ATS this season, 20-4 ATS over the last three seasons and 38-20 since 1997 in tournament action.

#3 Oregon vs. #7 UNLV

As a #7 seed, UNLV is the closest thing to a “Cinderella” we have this year.  If you bet on UNLV this season with any regularity, you most likely cashed in. Behind their guard oriented attack, the Rebels are an impressive 20-11 ATS this season.  As an underdog they covered in 8 out of their ten games which isn’t surprising since they are 52-30 ATS as a ‘dog since 1997. The Rebels have been a consistent cover during the month of March as well.  This March they are 6-0 ATS, 11-3 ATS over the last three seasons and 24-11 since 1997. Their impressive ATS trends don’t end there; versus teams with a winning record they are 15-6 ATS this season and 41-21 over the last three seasons.  Although Oregon hasn’t been as generous to gamblers as UNLV this season, they have been covering consistently as of late.  There is no question that they are playing their best ball of the season having won their last 8 straight up (SU) by an average of 14.5 points. Not surprising they covered in 7 of those games.  It is interesting to note how similar these teams are in regards to scoring and scoring defense. UNLV averages 75 PPG while giving up 66.5 PPG and Oregon scores 75.8 PPG while yielding 65.5 PPG.

East

#6 Vanderbilt vs. #2 Georgetown

“Hoya Paranoia” is officially back! After a decent start, Georgetown has rolled through the second half of the season.  Over their last 18 games, they are 17-1 SU.  They have definitely improved ATS as the season has progressed as well. After opening the season 1-4-1 ATS, the Hoyas have covered 78.3% of their games.  With their great interior play of Jeff Green and Roy Hibbert, the Hoyas as a team shoot 50.5% from the field.  Like the Georgetown teams from years ago, they also excel on defense.  Hoya opponents averaged only 56.8 PPG on 38.2% shooting from the field and an extremely low 30.4% from beyond the arc.  The last stat could be of some concern to Vanderbilt considering they shoot 37.7% from long-range.  Ranking second to last in the SEC in rebounding margin, Vanderbilt will have its work cut out for them against the Hoya trees. As far as covering is concerned, Vanderbilt has been almost a “sure thing” (7-1 ATS) versus good defensive teams that allow less than 64 PPG.

#1 UNC vs. # 5 USC

The Tar Heels are as talented and as deep as any team in the country.  Going ten deep and chock full of HS All-Americans, UNC averages 86.1 PPG and scored 100+ seven times.  Led by All-American forward, Tyler Hansbrough (18.6 PPG 7.9 RPG) UNC has a very balanced attack which can kill you on the inside as well as on the perimeter.  UNC only real concern is their youth as eight of their rotation players are either sophomores or freshmen.  UNC was a reliable cover this season going 20-13 ATS.  An intriguing covering trend for the Tar Heels in recent years has been how they fared after non-conference games.  This season they are 11-3 ATS after non-conference games and over the last three seasons they are 31-13 ATS.  USC is also a pretty deep team which is loaded with swingman types.  An match-up to keep an eye on will be freshman forward Taj Gibson (12.1 PPG, 8.6 RPG) as he squares off against the AA Hansbrough.  USC has been a covering machine this season achieving a 21-10 record ATS.  They have thrived in the underdog role, having covered 10 out of 12.  When playing a team with a winning record, the Trojans are an incredible 20-6 ATS. Keep in mind, USC dedicated their season to former star to Ryan Francis who passed away before the season so as they get closer to the ultimate goal, emotion could definitely be on their side.

With Friday -105 juice on Basketball betting, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on all of the “March Madness” action.  Don’t forget to monitor who the public is backing at this sportsbook “Betting Trends”.  By doing so, you have the best chance of predicting a possible line change, thus getting the best value for your wager.

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