Blind Luck tops Kentucky Oaks, Rachel Alexandra in La Troienne

Horseracing Betting Lines

04/27/2010 - Louisville, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fantasy Stakes winner Blind Luck has been made the 6-5 morning-line favorite for Friday's $500,000 Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs. The race for three-year-old fillies has attracted a full field of 14.

The 1 1/8-mile Kentucky Oaks will share the program with the $400,000 La Troienne which features 2009 Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra. Rachel won last year's Oaks by better than 20-lengths.

Blind Luck, winner of six of nine career starts, will break from post five with Rafael Bejarano returning in the saddle. Co-owned by trainer Jerry Hollendorfer, the chestnut filly is the lone entrant listed at odds of less than 8-1.

She won the Fantasy at Oaklawn Park last month as the 1-2 favorite and has been favored in each of her last three starts. In February Blind Luck 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.

Blind Luck has earned more than $1 million in her career, having won last year's Oak Leaf and Hollywood Starlet. She was third to She Be Wild in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies and was runner-up to She Be Wild in the Eclipse Award voting for 2009 champion two-year-old filly.

Crisp, along with Tidal Pool and Amen Hallelujah, is 8-1 in the program. Trained by John Sadler, the filly will be ridden by Joel Rosario from post seven.

Crisp won the Santa Anita Oaks after beginning 2010 with a win in the Santa Ysabel and a fourth in the Las Virgenes. The Oaks will be her first start outside of California for owner Michael Talla.

In her five career starts Crisp has three wins for $252,120.

Here is the complete field for the 136th Kentucky Oaks in post position order: It's Tea Time, Alan Garcia, 15-1; Jody Slew, Miguel Mena, 30-1; Quiet Temper, Robby Albarado, 10-1; Age of Humor, Rajiv Maragh, 30-1; Blind Luck, Rafael Bejarano, 6-5; Beautician, Alex Solis, 15-1; Crisp, Joel Rosario, 8-1; Tidal Pool, Calvin Borel, 8-1; Bella Diamante, Mike Smith, 30-1; Champagne d'Oro, Martin Garcia, 30-1; Evening Jewel, Kent Desormeaux, 10-1; Ailalea, John Velazquez, 15-1; Amen Hallelujah, Julien Leparoux, 8-1 and Joanie's Catch, Paco Lopez, 30-1.

Rachel Alexandra makes her second start of the year in the $400,000 La Troienne. The four-year-old filly was second at the Fair Grounds to Zardana in the New Orleans Ladies.

The two ladies meet again on Friday with four other thoroughbreds also entered in the 1 1/16-mile race.

Owned by Stonestreet Stable and Hal McCormick, Rachel Alexandra will break from post four with regular rider Calvin Borel in the saddle.

"She's happy at Churchill," co-owner Jess Jackson said. "Lexington is her home, but Churchill is her favorite track and she's surely giving us every sign of being ready to run. She's going to need another race before she really defines herself the way she did early last year, but I think she's 85 percent to 90, maybe 95, right now."

Rachel Alexandra, trained by Steve Asmussen, has won 11 of 15 career starts with earnings of $2,988,354. She was undefeated in eight starts in 2009, including wins in the Preakness, Mother Goose, Haskell and Woodward.

A stablemate of champion mare Zenyatta, Zardana will be ridden by David Flores from post three. Trained by John Shirreffs, who also has Zenyatta, Zardana is owned by Arnold Zetcher.

The six-year-old mare has won eight of 19 career starts for $428,421. Last year she won Bayakoa Handicap at Hollywood Park. Friday will be her first ever race at Churchill Downs.

Also entered in the La Troienne are Be Fair, Morena, Unrivaled Belle and Distinctive Dixie.

The Kentucky Oaks has a post-time of 5:45 p.m. (et) and the La Troienne is scheduled for 1:26 p.m. (et).

The forecast for Friday calls for partly cloudy skies with a 20 percent chance of rain and a post-time temperature near 80. There is a 40 percent chance of thunderstorms Saturday with temperatures around 75.

Casino--sportsbook Horseracing Betting News

<< NL West: Unlikeliest of Johnsons thriving in AZ
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Legendary boxer Jack Johnson, NBA Hall of Famer Magic Johnson, 400-game winner Walter Johnson and current NFL superstar Chris Johnson clearly all share the same surname and have made or are making strides

<< Miami Dolphins 2010 NFL Draft Review (Revised)
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - 1 - Jared Odrick, DL, Penn State (6-5, 304); 2 - Koa Misi, OLB, Utah (6-3, 251); 3 - John Jerry, G, Ole Miss (6-5, 328); 4 - A.J. Edds, OLB, Iowa (6-3, 247); 5 - Nolan Carroll, CB, Maryland (5-11, 204); 5 - Reshad Jones, S

<< AL West: Injury bug not slowing division-leading Athletics
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Between April and October, the proverbial injury bug is bound to strike at any time. Happens to every team, every season, and with no forewarning. For the Oakland Athletics, the injury bug has reared its ugly head in th

<< Sunderland's Hutton has suspension reduced
Sunderland, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sunderland defender Alan Hutton has had his three-match ban reduced to one game by the Football Association. An independent Regulatory Commission ruled that the former Rangers defender, who is curren

<< Poti out for Game 7 with eye injury
Arlington, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Capitals will play Game 7 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal against Montreal on Wednesday without defenseman Tom Poti. Capitals head coach Bruce Boudreau said Tuesday that Poti

The future's so bright >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The best player on the LPGA Tour retired prematurely. Again. Just a few years after Annika Sorenstam walked away from the game, Lorena Ochoa followed suit. When Sorenstam retired, she left the tour i

Hawks' Crawford wins Sixth Man Award >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Atlanta Hawks guard Jamal Crawford has been selected as the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year. Crawford received 580 of a possible 610 points, including 110 first-place votes, from a panel of 122 sportswrite

Suarez Navarro, Medina Garrigues win Fes openers >>
Fes, Morocco (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Spanish contenders Carla Suarez Navarro and Anabel Medina Garrigues were among Tuesday's opening-round winners at the $220,000 Moroccan Grand Prix tennis tournament. The top-seeded Suarez Navarro

Orioles bring up P Simon >>
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Baltimore Orioles made three roster moves on Tuesday, including selecting the contract of pitcher Alfredo Simon from Triple-A Norfolk. Simon, a 28-year-old righty, is 1-1 with a 1.59 earned run aver

Barca faces 'moment of truth' against Inter >>
Barcelona, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets said the second match of the Champions League semifinals against Inter Milan is the "moment of truth." Barca earned draws in the first two legs of its previous knockou

Academy Award Betting Odds for Best Picture Offer Great Value

If there is any category that is not an obvious win for any one nominee in this year's Academy Awards, it would be for Best Picture.  Sure the Departed is a 5/7 favorite, but that's hardly anything when we look at Helen Mirren and her "out-of-reach" 1 to 40 odds (which means you would win a whopping $1 for every $40 bet).

For value, take a look at MySportsbook.com Oscars betting odds on my personal favorite, The Queen - a remarkable 12 to 1 long shot.  The film hasn't won any pre-awards for Best Picture (compared to The Departed and Little Miss Sunshine), but there is a tremendous following and it is a strong enough film to warrant a surprise win.

TV Guide advises Oscar watchers should be cautioned not to discount the  drama "Babel" with its strong social themes about overcoming communication gaps among people of different cultures.

"While 'Babel' lost several guild awards to 'Sunshine' and 'Departed,'  it still enjoys loyal support, and historically Oscar voters favor dramas with social messages over comedies like 'Sunshine' and violent crime movies like 'Departed'."

"It hasn't done well in the guilds, which means there isn't much industry support," said Tom O'Neil of awards site TheEnvelope.com, "But several critics are expecting it to win, and that gets my attention." Babel had 7 to 2 odds at press time.

Who is to say independently produced Little Miss Sunshine won't be this year's Crash.  Last year, Crash won for Best Motion Picture, shocking those who bet on gay cowboy flick, Brokeback Mountain, as the favorite to win. 

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts Visa needs.