Record number pre-entered for 24th Breeders' Cup

Horseracing Betting Lines

10/17/2007 - Oceanport, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense and Preakness champ Curlin are two of the record 141 thoroughbreds who have been pre-entered for all 11 Breeders' Cup races scheduled for October 26 and 27 at Monmouth Park. For the first time since the Breeders' Cup began in 1984, the event will conducted over two days.

Post positions for all 11 Breeders' Cup World Championships races will be drawn on Tuesday, October 23 at Monmouth Park. There will be three new $1 million Breeders' Cup races run on Breeders' Cup Friday and eight Breeders' Cup races on Breeders' Cup Saturday.

Nine thoroughbreds have been pre-entered for the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic. In addition to Street Sense and Curlin, the other possible contenders are Any Given Saturday, Awesome Gem, Diamond Stripes, George Washington, Hard Spun, Lawyer Ron and Tiago.

The $3 million Turf has a dozen horses pre-entered including 2004 winner Better Talk Now and 2006 champ Red Rocks.

The three new Breeders' Cup races, to be conducted on Friday, October 26, helped push the total of pre-entered thoroughbreds to the 141 total.

The $1 million Dirt Mile has 11 pre-entered horses, including Met Mile winner Corinthian and veteran runners Commentator and Wanderin Boy. Five of the horses named for the Dirt Mile have also been pre-entered for other Breeders' Cup races.

The first ever $1 million Juvenile Turf race has 23 horses pre-entered, with five of them cross-entered for the two Juvenile races scheduled for Saturday, October 27.

The $1 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint has attracted 12 pre-entered females for its initial running. Hystercalady, winner of the Molly Pitcher at Monmouth Park, will among the favorites.

The $2 million Juvenile Fillies and Juvenile races have each drawn 16 pre- entered two-year-olds. Last year's Juvenile champ Street Sense went on to become the first winner to capture the Kentucky Derby.

Among the pre-entered two-year-old fillies are Spinaway Stakes winner Irish Smoke and highly regarded Indian Blessing. Some of the two-year-old colts are Hopeful Stakes champ Majestic Warrior, Belmont Futurity winner Tale of Ekati and Kodiak Kowboy, winner of the Saratoga Special.

Honey Ryder, third in last year's Filly & Mare Turf, is one of 13 females to be pre-entered for the $2 million grass race. Juddmonte Spinster Stakes winner Panty Raid is also pre-entered in the Breeders' Cup Distaff.

The six-furlong $2 million Sprint has 15 horses pre-entered. Among the 15 thoroughbreds are Forego Stakes winner Midnight Lute, Smokey Stover, who has won five races this year and Smile Sprint winner Mach Ride.

The $2 million Mile has 18 pre-entered thoroughbreds. Among those pre-entered for the one-mile turf event are Del Mar Handicap winner After Market, Wood Memorial champ Nobiz Like Shobiz and multiple stakes winner Kip Deville.

The 1 1/8 mile $2 million Breeders' Cup Distaff has 15 ladies pre-entered. Topping the list are Alabama Stakes winner Lady Joanne, Clement Hirsh Handicap champ Nashoba's Key and Octave, winner of the Mother Goose and Coaching Club American Oaks.

The first three Breeders' Cup races will be televised on Friday by ESPN2 from 4:00-6:00 p.m. (et). On Saturday ESPN will broadcast from 12:00-7:00 p.m. (et) with the remaining eight races.

Wwwisfa Horseracing Betting News

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FOOTBALL BETTING : Cassel Signs Contract

Kansas City, MO - Kansas City has not officially named Matt Cassel its starting quarterback, but there can be no doubt now.

NFL Betting
After praising his leadership and work ethic through spring workouts, the Chiefs announced Tuesday they had signed the 27-year-old Cassel to a multiyear contract. Terms were not disclosed, but he will almost certainly be one of the highest-paid members of the team.
"We are excited to be able to reach a long-term agreement for Matt Cassel to be a Kansas City Chief for many years to come," owner and board chairman Clark Hunt said in a statement. "His proven leadership on and off the field will be a tremendous asset to the organization."
Patriots made him their franchise player, meaning his salary for this season will be about $15 million.
New head coach Todd Haley, taking over for Herm Edwards after a 2-14 season, refused to name a starter at any position during offseason workouts. But it was obvious to everyone the team belonged to Cassel.
"I go out there each and every day with that focus that I'm the starter," Cassel said during a June minicamp. "Competition brings out the best in everybody."
The signing will come as welcome news to Cassel's new coaches and teammates. Amiable and hardworking, online football betting he appeared to win over everyone at minicamp.
"I think he's got some unique leadership qualities. I think his teammates like him and have respect for him. I think he's doing a pretty good job on the field, too," Haley said last month. "He's doing everything that I'm asking him, that our coaches are asking him to do. I don't have one single complaint how he's carrying himself."
After one workout, wide receiver Devard Darling declared Cassel "a breath of fresh air."
"He has a lot of swagger, a lot of confidence. It's good for us," said Darling. "We trust in him that he's going to go out there and lead us all the way."
nse to accommodate his specific abilities.
Trapped on the bench behind Heisman winners Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart at USC and then unable to unseat Super Bowl MVP Brady at New England, Cassel seemed destined to be a backup all his life. As Brady was helped off the field last September, Cassel seized the opportunity he'd been waiting for since high school.
In his only sustained action since his teens, he hit 349 of 555 passes for 3,949 yards at New England. He had 23 touchdown passes and 13 interceptions as the Patriots, who had gone unbeaten through the regular season the year before, finished 11-5 and out of the playoffs.
Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli, who had been Bill Belichick's assistant in New England, engineered the trade after the Patriots became convinced that Brady would recover fully from his knee operation.
"Since Matt arrived in Kansas City, he has embraced the team and the community," Pioli said. "His work ethic, his ability and competitive presence is what we expect from our players."

NFL Betting Lines

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Numerous College Basketball teams take final big step to March Madness betting

So, what turned on the lock spigot? Well, after what felt like weeks of teams treading water and slipping back into the bubble muck, a bunch of them finally decided to say "to heck with parity" and won games that should put them into the Big Dance.

Disagree with some of these? Then here's the challenge. Take all of the "should be ins" and make a legit case that each should be ahead of the team that's a lock. Then find 10 more teams that also should be placed in the bracket ahead of that lock team. Not so easy, is it?

If you want more evidence that these locks should be good to go, check out what our research department dug up. Since the NCAA Tournament went to 64 teams in 1985, only six teams from a "big six" conference have had a record of 10-6 or better in conference play and not been selected: Colorado (2004) and Nebraska (1999) from the Big 12, Boston College and Seton Hall (both 2003) from the Big East, Indiana (2005) from the Big Ten and UCLA, which somehow went 12-6 in the Pac-10 in 1988 and still missed out. (Note: Five teams went 11-7 and didn't get in, the latest being last season's Stanford team, which had a brutal nonconference run.)

Yes, 10 conference wins doesn't always mean what it used to because of unbalanced schedules, but this season, it should be plenty good in all but the extreme cases (see: Iowa).

In a way, this is a welcome development, because this is a bubble watch, not a lock watch. We can finally be done with teams like Maryland and Virginia Tech and start really bearing down on at-large battles such as Syracuse-West Virginia and Appalachian State-Georgia Tech.

Interestingly, all the shifting of teams into lock status appears to be more administrative than impactful. The number of remaining available at-larges didn't change one iota. The only difference is that teams on the bubble now have a clearer idea of which team(s) they are competing with for those precious bids.

The Bubble Breakdown
CONFERENCE LOCKS SHOULD BE INS AT-LARGES TAKEN
(assuming no auto bid outlier)
ACC Betting Odds 6 0 5
Big East Betting Odds 5 0 4
Big Ten Betting Odds 2 2 3
Big 12 Betting Odds 3 0 2
Pac-10 Betting Odds 5 1 5
SEC Betting Odds 4 0 3
MVC Betting Odds 1 1 1
MWC Betting Odds 2 1 2
TOTAL 28 5 25

As always, I've tried to be as inclusive as possible while only including teams that would have a reasonable chance of at least being discussed if this were Selection Sunday. If your team's not on here, there's probably a good reason (or three) -- start with the RPI and SOS numbers and work your way down.

(Please remember, per selection committee criteria, that records displayed are Division I only. Next update: Feb. 28)

If you have a legitimate grievance, or just like talking bubble, send an e-mail. Polite ones with fact-based arguments have a much better chance of receiving a response. I apologize in advance if I can't get back to all of you.

Atlantic Coast Conference

Work left to do: Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech

The ACC moves to six locks as BC, Va Tech and Virginia all got their 10th ACC wins, which should be more than enough this season, and Maryland rallied past North Carolina to get the final piece the Terps needed. After that? It could end there unless FSU, Ga Tech or Clemson picks things up in a hurry.

 

Work left to do:

Clemson [19-9 (5-9), RPI: 41, SOS: 42] The Tigers are closer to locking up the collapse of the year award (in a good battle with OK State) than they are to grabbing an at-large. Clemson's been very competitive, but there's no really positive way you can spin nine losses in 11 games. They now cannot get to .500 in ACC play and still must head to Virginia Tech in the season finale (after hosting Miami). Unless the Tigers win both and/or do some serious work in the ACC tourney, they very well could be left out. There are no great nonconference wins, but ODU, App State, Miss. State, South Carolina and Georgia are all respectable W's.

Florida State [18-11 (6-9), RPI: 48, SOS: 14] The Noles got thrashed at Maryland to run their losing streak to five, but then pounded NC State at home to set the table for what likely is an elimination game at Miami. You can at least make a case for the Seminoles at 7-9 in ACC play (and some work in the ACC tourney), but 6-10 is not going to cut it. Wins at Duke and over Florida will resonate, but the computer numbers remain questionable. Beyond Florida, FSU thrashed bubble buddy Providence, but there's not a ton beyond those two games that will help. They didn't show well in big-time opportunities against Pitt and Wisconsin (before the Florida win).

Georgia Tech [18-10 (6-8), RPI: 51, SOS: 46] The Jackets beat Wake on Wednesday but couldn't get it done at UVa on Saturday, which could be a crucial loss with UNC and BC (both at home) remaining and 8-8 almost a certain need for at-large consideration. A nonconference win over Memphis helps, but the RPI and SOS are not at-large quality right now; if you combine those with a sub-.500 ACC mark, that could spell NIT for GT.

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