Blind Luck captures Alabama Stakes

Horseracing Betting Lines

08/21/2010 - Saratoga Springs, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The two leading three-year-old fillies in training met Saturday in Saratoga's $500,000 Alabama Stakes and it was Blind Luck proving the better of the two in the 1 1/4-mile race.

Devil May Care, ridden by John Velazquez, was sent off as the 3-5 favorite in the six-horse field. Blind Luck, with Joel Rosario aboard, was the 9-5 second choice.

Devil May Care won Saratoga's Coaching Club American Oaks and Blind Luck was coming off a nose win in the Delaware Oaks.

The pace in the Alabama was set by Acting Happy with Tizahit right behind. Running in third was Connie and Michael followed by Havre de Grace, Devil May Care and Blind Luck.

The fillies maintained their positions up the backstretch and into the far turn. Around the final turn Devil May Care began her move on the outside, quickly joining the leaders as Blind Luck began to rally from last.

Coming into the stretch Acting Happy and Havre de Grace were to the inside, with Devil May Care on the outside. Blind Luck was four wide at the top of the stretch.

Down the stretch the battle was between Blind Luck, Havre de Grace and Acting Happy. Havre de Grace, ridden by Jeremy Rose, was beaten in the Delaware Oaks by the smallest of margins.

Blind Luck, trained by co-owner Jerry Hollendorfer, once again took the lead just yards from the wire and was able to record a neck victory over Havre de Grace with Acting Happy finishing third.

Todd Pletcher's Devil May Care had nothing down the stretch and finished fourth. Rounding out the order finish was Tizahit and Connie and Michael.

The final time for the Alabama on a fast track was 2:03.89.

Blind Luck returned $5.60, $3.80 and $3.60. Havre de Grace paid $6.00 and $5.90, while Acting Happy paid $9.00 to show.

Blind Luck, who is ranked seventh in the NTRA Thoroughbred Poll, notched her fifth win of the year in seven starts, and the ninth in 13 career races. The $300,000 first-place check brings her 2010 earnings to more than $1.1 million and her career winnings are now better than $1.8 million.

Hollendorfer has already indicated that he plans to bring back the filly for her four-year-old season.

"Next year we might consider putting her on turf if we feel it warrants that," the trainer said this week.

In June she was second to Switch in the Hollywood Oaks, which came after her furious rally to win the Kentucky Oaks. Blind Luck won the Fantasy Stakes at Oaklawn Park in April as the 1-2 favorite. In February the filly won the Las Virgenes at Santa Anita as the 1-5 favorite, but failed at 1-2 to Crisp in the Santa Anita Oaks in March when she finished third.

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Football Betting

NFL Football Betting Online

The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.

Thursday, August 21

NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37

NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road

In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.

Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):

* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games

Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.

Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.

Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.

That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.

Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.

CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

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