Quality Road out to make amends in Woodward Stakes

Horseracing Betting Lines

09/01/2010 - Saratoga Springs, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Four weeks after coming up a head short in the Whitney Handicap, Quality Road will once again go postward on Saturday in the $750,000 Woodward Stakes at Saratoga Race Course.

The colt, trained by Todd Pletcher, will take on six rivals in the 1 1/8-mile race. All seven entered are four-year-olds and will each carry 126 pounds.

Owned by Edward Evans, Quality Road lost the Whitney in the final strides to Blame as the 1-2 favorite. For the Woodward, the colt will start from post three with John Velazquez again riding.

Quality Road has won three of four starts this year, including the Hal's Hope, Donn Handicap and Met Mile. He has earned $810,000 in 2010 and nearly $1.8 million in his career.

Mine That Bird, 2009 Kentucky Derby winner, will attempt to win for the first time since his stunning victory in the Run for the Roses. Trained by D. Wayne Lukas, the gelding will be ridden by Rajiv Maragh from post two. Calvin Borel had been the regular jockey for the four-year-old.

Owned by Double Eagle Ranch and Buena Suerte Equine, Mine That Bird was fifth in the Whitney Handicap.

"I thought he got totally out of touch with the race. Frankly, he got so far back," Lukas said. "I think it was a conditioning experience. I don't think it was a learning experience.

"We put little cutback cup blinkers on him (during training), and we think that may let him lay a little bit closer to the pace. I think he's responded well to it. I liked the way he's worked. He worked alone the other day, and he was much more focused, I thought. He's very genuine."

Mine That Bird has lost seven straight starts, including both this year. The gelding has career earnings of more than $2.2 million with five wins in 16 starts. He was 2009 Canadian champion two-year-old male.

Here is the full field for the Woodward in post position order: Convocation, Javier Castellano; Mine That Bird, Rajiv Maragh; Quality Road, John Velazquez; Arcodoro, David Cohen; Indian Dance, Kent Desormeaux; Tranquil Manner, Alan Garcia and Mythical Power, Martin Garcia.

The Woodward, won last year by Rachel Alexandra, has a post-time on Saturday of 5:50 p.m. (et).

Soccre Horseracing Betting News

<< Marlins call up RHP Sosa
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Florida Marlins selected the contracts of pitcher Jorge Sosa from Triple-A New Orleans and catcher Chris Hatcher from Double-A Jacksonville on Wednesday. This will be Sosa's third stint with the b

<< Baltimore brings up three
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Baltimore Orioles added three to their roster on Wednesday, recalling outfielder Nolan Reimold, infielder Brandon Snyder and selecting the contract of infielder Rob Andino from Triple-A Norfolk

<< BYU signs TV deal with ESPN
Provo, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brigham Young University has announced an eight- year agreement with ESPN for the network to televise the school's football games starting next fall. BYU officially announced its decision to leave the Mou

<< Hartman earns MLS Player of the Month for August
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - FC Dallas goalkeeper Kevin Hartman was voted Major League Soccer's Player of the Month for August, it was announced on Wednesday. Hartman led Dallas to an undefeated record in the month while posti

<< Toronto's Boyd headlines CFL Players of the Month
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Toronto running back Cory Boyd, Montreal linebacker Chip Cox, British Columbia kick returner Yonus Davis and Toronto linebacker Kevin Eiben have been selected as the CFL's top players for the month o

Murray eases into second round at the Open >>
Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former runner-up Andy Murray was an easy opening-round winner Wednesday at a very hot U.S. Open. The fourth-seeded Murray mauled helpless Slovakian Lukas Lacko 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 in 1 hour, 51 minutes on

Drake to play in Africa in 2011 >>
Des Moines, IA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Drake University football team will play in the first American football game on the continent of Africa next year. Drake, a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference, will play an all- star team

NHL extends deadline on Kovalchuk deal >>
NEW YORK (AP) -The NHL has extended its deadline to Friday for approving Ilya Kovalchuk's $100 million, 15-year contract with the New Jersey Devils.The league and the NHL Players' Association announced the new deadline Wednesday.The NHL has already

Tar Heels DE Austin suspended indefinitely >>
Chapel Hill, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - North Carolina senior defensive end Marvin Austin has been suspended indefinitely. Tar Heels head coach Butch Davis made the announcement on Wednesday, just days before the team's season-opener against LSU

Big Ten set to announce realignment >>
Bristol, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Big Ten is set to announce its divisional realignment Wednesday evening and early reports have the controversial split of longtime rivals Michigan and Ohio State in place. According to an earlier report

American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout

An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.

Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off.  Randy was not impressed though.  Paula thought he started off fantastic.  "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either. 

Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed.  Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact.  He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition. 

Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula.  Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.

Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next.  Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential.  Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell.  He sang "Careless Whisper".

22 year old Chris Richardson was up next.  He was listed with +1100 odds coming in.  He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great. 

Nick was boring and pitchy.  Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week.  Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition. 

Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds .  These of course were the early odds.  He was considered original for picking an "odd song".  He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night. 

Sanjaya came in as the second biggest favorite after Chris Sligh but his performance Tuesday night was not very good. 

Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds.  Great voice and a great sense of humor.  He's a real standout.  Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit.  Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig". 

Jared Cotter followed.  He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition.  The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good. 

22-year old AJ Talbado, who has tried out for American Idol five times, was up next.  "Kind of a theme park performance" said Simon.  Though the judges felt he performed okay.  Simon did feel AJ might be better than he originally thought.

Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition.  He was the last to perform.  He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start. 

Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys.  Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.