09/13/2008 - Oceanport, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Big Brown held off a late-charging Proudinsky down the stretch to win Saturday's inaugural running of the $500,000 Monmouth Stakes at Monmouth Park. The colt was making his first start on the turf since his initial career start a year ago.
Sent off as the 3-5 favorite in the nine horse field, Big Brown took the lead shortly after the start and led the field around the clubhouse turn and into the backstretch. Racing in second was Get Serious, as the top two runners opened up a sizable gap from the remainder of the field.
Big Brown, ridden by Kent Desormeaux, maintained the lead around the final turn and into the stretch as Proudinsky drew into contention. Also rallying down the stretch was Shakis, who passed the tiring Get Serious.
The favorite was able to hold off the hard-charging Proudinsky and rider Ramon Dominguez to capture the grass race by a neck. Shakis finished third, just a half-length behind Proudinsky and Silver Tree rallied to finish fourth.
Rounding out the order of finish was Fagedaboudit Sal, Hotstufanthensome, Get Serious, Nightscape and Kiss the Kid. Drum Major and Ballonenostrikes were both scratched to run in a stakes race at Philadelphia Park.
The final time for the 1 1/8 mile turf race was 1:47.41 on a course listed as good.
Trained by Rick Dutrow, Jr. for IEAH Stables and others, Big Brown garnered his second straight victory since his disastrous Belmont Stakes. The win was worth $300,000 to bring his career total to better than $3.6 million.
"Well, whenever we have breezed him in the mornings with a number of different riders, they breezed him on the grass and on the dirt, and he goes better on the grass," said Dutrow about starting Big Brown on turf. "He went good on the dirt too, but he just seems to be better on the grass."
The bay colt has a career record of seven victories in eight lifetime starts, with additional wins in the Florida Derby and Monmouth's Haskell Invitational. His next and final race will be the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic on Santa Anita's synthetic track on October 25.
Big Brown returned $3.20, $2.60 and $2.20. Proudinsky paid $3.00 and $2.40, and Shakis paid $2.80 to show.
<< Shields, Ruggiano lead Rays past Yankees in twin-bill opener
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - James Shields tossed eight shutout innings, and
the Tampa Bay Rays routed the New York Yankees, 7-1, in the opening contest of
a day-night doubleheader from Yankee Stadium.
Shields (13-8) scattered five hits, f
<< PSV scrapes past Sparta
Eindhoven, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ibrahim Afelley's goal in the 59th
minute enable PSV Eindhoven to claim maximum points in its first two games as
the defending champs downed Sparta, 1-0 at Philips Stadion on Saturday.
PSV easily
<< Jays rough up Red Sox in opener of doubleheader
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Travis Snider smacked a three-run homer and
drove in five to lead Toronto over Boston, 8-1, in the first contest in a day-
night doubleheader from Fenway Park.
Adam Lind, Vernon Wells and Joe Inglett kno
<< Ballardini celebrates winning start at Palermo
Palermo, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Davide Ballardini made quite a first
impression in his debut as Palermo manager as he watched his side grab a 3-1
win over Roma at Renzo Barbera on Saturday.
Fabrizio Miccoli scored two times af
Robinson, Sutton help Toronto tie Columbus >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carl Robinson scored in the sixth minute, Greg
Sutton stopped a penalty kick and Toronto FC held on for a 1-1 draw on Saturday
against the Columbus Crew at soggy BMO Field.
Toronto (7-11-6) ended a four-match
Crosby, Outman lead A's past Rangers >>
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bobby Crosby had two hits and three runs driven
in to lead the Oakland Athletics to a 7-1 victory over the Texas Rangers at
McAfee Coliseum.
Josh Outman (1-0) allowed only one run on four hits and two w
Bye weeks shuffled to accommodate Ravens-Texans postponement >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hurricane Ike has forced the postponement of
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Stanford shoots 67 to lead LPGA Classic >>
Mobile, AL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Angela Stanford made five birdies in a six-hole
stretch on the back nine and shot a five-under 67 to take the third-round lead
Saturday at the Bell Micro LPGA Classic.
Stanford, who began the day trailing Crist
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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