Rachel Alexandra has last work before year's debut

Horseracing Betting Lines

03/02/2010 - New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rachel Alexandra, 2009 Horse of the Year, had her final major workout Tuesday morning before her 2010 debut. The four- year-old filly breezed six-furlongs at the Fair Grounds in preparation for the $200,000 New Orleans Ladies on Saturday, March 13.

With regular exercise rider Dominic Terry aboard, Rachel went the six-furlongs in 1:13 3/5 on a track listed as fast. She went seven-furlongs in 1:26 2/5 and 1:41 1/5 for a mile.

"I was hoping she'd go a little quicker," trainer Steve Asmussen said. "She settled off the other horse (Depaul) really nicely. She stayed with her left lead trying to stay with the other horse, then she switched to her right lead and accelerated. We're happy with where she's at. The main thing is she's healthy and this is a step in the process to getting her back to her previous level.

"She was a little keen early. She was very aggressive and hard-held early. For him (Terry) to still have control with one in front of her was very impressive. It was a little slower from the five-eighths to the three- eighths."

Owned by Jess Jackson and Hal McCormick, Rachel Alexandra could face as many as 10 challengers in the 1 1/16-mile New Orleans Ladies. When nominations for the race closed this past Saturday 16 fillies and mares were named.

Seven of the horses are considered probable with several others listed as possible. Among the probables are Clear Sailing, a four-year-old filly trained by Glenn Delahoussaye and owned by Keith and Ginger Myers.

"She's doing great," said Delahoussaye. "She's going to work Wednesday and we'll see how she works and how she comes out of it and take things from there. We're working her Wednesday with the intention of running her in the New Orleans Ladies."

Clear Sailing is the winner of three of four career starts with earnings of $92,940. Last month she won the $60,000 Pelleteri Stakes at the same distance as the New Orleans Ladies. The daughter of Empire Maker is undefeated in her last three starts, all with jockey Shane Sellers.

"I don't think there's any trainer in the world who's insane enough to say he's looking forward to running his horse against Rachel Alexandra," said Delahoussaye, "but for me this race is not about whether it's Rachel or not Rachel in there against our horse. The New Orleans Ladies fits the progression about where I wanted to be at this point in time.

"Right now we're trying to keep our filly's races at least a month apart, because my owners have this dream of winning a stakes races at Churchill Downs during Kentucky Derby week. The New Orleans Ladies would keep us on a schedule for Churchill's La Troienne Stakes on Kentucky Oaks Day. That's our long term goal."

According to Fair Grounds stakes coordinator Scott Jones, other probable starters for the Ladies include Bayakoa Handicap winner Zardana, trained by Zenyatta's trainer John Shirreffs; Double Espresso, winner of the Pan Zareta Stakes at the Fair Grounds and Unforgotten, second in last year's Chicago Handicap behind 2009 champion female sprinter Informed Decision.

Rachel Alexandra will follow her start in March with an ultimate showdown versus Zenyatta. The two female thoroughbreds are to finally meet at Oaklawn Park in the $5 million Apple Blossom Invitational on Friday, April 9.

Zenyatta is based at Hollywood Park where she has been working out. Owned by Jerry and Ann Moss, Zenyatta will start in the $250,000 Santa Margarita Invitational on March 13.

Wwwtitaniccasino Horseracing Betting News

<< Adler named Germany's top goalie
Munich, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Germany will start Rene Adler in goal in a friendly against Argentina on Wednesday, leaving no doubt the Bayer Leverkusen goalie is the favorite to start in the World Cup. Germany coach Joachim Loew previo

<< Sens acquire D Sutton from Islanders
Ottawa, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Ottawa Senators have acquired defenseman Andy Sutton from the New York Islanders in exchange for a second-round draft pick in 2010. Sutton is in his 11th NHL season and had four goals and eight assis

<< Real, Barca are world's richest clubs
Barcelona, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Barcelona has overtaken Manchester United in the latest rich list of European clubs. Real Madrid still top the Deloitte Football Money League but Barca are now second ahead of United, largely becaus

<< Glazers rule out selling United
Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Glazer family is adamant that they have no intention of selling Manchester United. A group called the "Red Knights" are reported to be interested in buying the recent Carling Cup winners from the

<< Royals sign Hochevar, Rosa for 2010
Surprise, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Kansas City Royals have agreed to contracts with pitchers Luke Hochevar and Carlos Rosa for the 2010 season. Hochevar was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2006 draft and debuted for the big league

Wild sign D Zidlicky to three-year extension >>
St. Paul, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Wild have signed defenseman Marek Zidlicky to a three-year contract extension through the 2012-13 season. Zidlicky is fourth on the Wild in scoring with five goals and 31 assists in 60 games

Flyers D Parent activated off IR, returns Tuesday >>
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Flyers activated defenseman Ryan Parent from injured reserve on Tuesday, and will return to action Tuesday as the club faces the Tampa Bay Lightning. Parent had successful surgery in late Jan

Liverpool's Skrtel could miss rest of season >>
Liverpool, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel could struggle to return to first-team action before the end of the season after being told he faces an eight-week lay-off with a broken metatarsal. He suffered the

RSL releases pair of veterans, pair of rookies >>
Sandy, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Real Salt Lake waived midfielder/forward Rachid El Khalifi and forward Abe Thompson and released rookie defenders Kris Banghart and Justin Davis from its preseason camp, the Major League Soccer club an

2011 Pro Bowl to be played before Super Bowl XLV >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The National Football League announced on Tuesday that the 2011 Pro Bowl, which is to return to Honolulu after a one- year absence, will be once again played the week before the Super Bowl. The decisio

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)

The 2008 NFL betting lines season is almost upon us! If you like to bet on the NFL, you are in the best possible place for online betting. The sportsbook has NFL odds up on a ton of futures, and you will also find NFL lines up for early games as well. Join sportbook today and we'll help guide you right through to Super Bowl XLIII and beyond!

Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting odds .