Big Brown wins Kentucky Derby; tragedy strikes Eight Belles

Horseracing Betting Lines

05/03/2008 - Louisville, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Big Brown, overcoming the far outside post, rolled to a five-length victory Saturday in the 134th running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. The three-year-old, unbeaten in four career starts, can now become the first Triple Crown winner since 1978.

Big Brown, the 2-1 favorite in the 20 horse field, becomes the first winner of the Run for the Roses to start from the 20-post since the starting gate has been used. It also is the third Kentucky Derby win for jockey Kent Desormeaux who previously captured the race in 1998 with Real Quiet and with Fusaichi Pegasus two years later.

Around the final turn and into the stretch Big Brown, on the outside, assumed the lead with the filly Eight Belles now second. Big Brown accelerated through stretch on his way to his fourth win in as many starts.

However, tragedy struck the Kentucky Derby when second-place finisher Eight Belles, the lone filly in the race, broke down shortly after crossing the wire. The three-year-old suffered fractures to both of her front ankles and was euthanized on the track.

The field broke well at the start of the 1 1/4 mile race, though Pyro was pinched and dropped back to last. Cool Coal Man was the first out of the gate from the inside post. Taking the lead heading into the clubhouse turn was Bob Black Jack followed by Cowboy Cal. Big Brown was fifth on the outside away from trouble.

Around the first turn Bob Black Jack kept the lead with Cowboy Cal second and Cool Coal Man in third and Recapturetheglory running fourth. Up the backstretch in the $2.2 million race Bob Black Jack and jockey Richard Migliore led the field followed by Cowboy Cal, Recapturetheglory, Cool Coal Man and Big Brown fifth remaining to the outside of the leaders.

Entering the far turn Bob Black Jack still had the lead with Cowboy Cal second as Big Brown moved up to third while Eight Belles and jockey Gabriel Saez moved into fourth.

Finishing third was Denis of Cork followed by Tale of Ekati, Recapturetheglory, Colonel John, Anak Nakal, Pyro, Cowboy Cal, Z Fortune, Smooth Air, Visionaire, Court Vision, Z Humor, Cool Coal Man, Bob Black Jack, Gayego, Big Truck, Adriano and Monba.

The time for the 2008 Kentucky Derby was 2:01.82 on a fast track.

Owned by IEAH Stables and Paul Pompa Jr., Big Brown becomes the seventh undefeated thoroughbred to capture the Run for the Roses. In his four career wins the colt has won by a total of 34 lengths.

Picking up his first Kentucky Derby win was trainer Rick Dutrow, Jr. who chose the far outside post at Wednesday's post position draw.

Big Brown was coming into the Run for the Roses off a wire-to-wire victory in the Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park. The Kentucky Derby triumph was worth $1.4 million to bring Big Brown's lifetime earnings to more than $2 million.

The colt is expected to start in the Preakness Stakes on May 17 at Pimlico, where he should be a prohibitive favorite. The third leg in racing's Triple Crown is the Belmont Stakes which will be conducted on June 7 at Belmont Park.

Big Brown returned $6.80, $5.00 and $4.80. Eight Belles paid $10.60 and 6.40, and Denis of Cork paid $11.60 to show.

Affirmed is the last three-year-old to sweep the Triple Crown races when he and Alydar put on their monumental duels 30 years ago.

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.


Matt Kenseth And Kevin Harvick Favorites To Take NASCAR Nextel Cup Championship

(September 15)—The NASCAR season has hit the homestretch with the opening event on this year’s Chase for the Cup taking place this weekend at the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway. With 10 races remaining to determine the Cup Series champion, leading online sportsbook MySportsbook.com today announced odds on all 10 Chase qualifying drivers capturing the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship.

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MySportsbook.com will offer comprehensive Nascar betting lines on every race remaining on the Nextel Cup series including driver match-ups, props and odds to win each race. For a complete list of NASCAR odds, please visit www.MySportsbook.com.

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