Big Brown rebounds to capture Haskell Invitational

Horseracing Betting Lines

08/03/2008 - Oceanport, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two months after finishing last in the Belmont Stakes, Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner Big Brown came from behind to win Sunday's $1 million Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park. Big Brown was sent off as the 1-5 favorite in the seven horse field.

Ridden by Kent Desormeaux, Big Brown gave his backers a moment of anxiety when it appeared he was going to suffer his second straight defeat. After breaking sharply from the gate Big Brown relinquished the lead to Coal Play as the field headed into the clubhouse turn.

Coal Play, ridden by Joe Bravo, set the pace up the backstretch with Big Brown about a length back in second. Running in third was Atoned with Magical Forest fourth.

Around the final turn Coal Play remained on the lead as Big Brown, under urging from Desormeaux, offered no challenge. Magical Forest moved into third and Nistle's Crunch gained fourth.

In mid-stretch, the 41st Haskell seemed to belong to 20-1 longshot Coal Play. Big Brown was not able to cut into the lead. With about 100-yards to run Big Brown finally responded to Desormeaux and rallied to overtake Coal Play near the wire.

Big Brown hit the wire 1 1/2 lengths ahead of Coal Play with Cool Coal Man, Coal Play's stablemate, finishing third. Alaazo, Nistle's Crunch, Atoned and Magical Forest completed the order of finish.

The time for the 1 1/8 miles was 1:48.31 on a fast track.

In spite of the less than impressive victory by Big Brown, the colt solidifies his position as the leading three-year-old of 2008. Owned by IEAH Stables and Paul Pompa Jr., Big Brown lost his Triple Crown bid in the Belmont Stakes on June 7 when he was eased down the stretch.

Trained by Rick Dutrow, Jr., Big Brown collects $600,000 with the Haskell win and improves his career record to six victories in seven lifetime starts for better than $3.3 million.

It was the first Haskell win for both Dutrow and Desormeaux.

The colt's connections are keeping open the possibility of him running in the Travers Stakes on August 23 at Saratoga.

Big Brown returned $2.40, $2.10 and $2.10. Coal Play paid $8.00 and $4.20, and Cool Coal Man paid $2.80 to show.

Slost Horseracing Betting News

<< Ibanez, M's rally past O's to avoid sweep
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Raul Ibanez hit a two-run single in the seventh to lead the Seattle Mariners in an 8-4 win over the Baltimore Orioles, salvaging the finale of the three-game set at Safeco Field. J.J. Putz (3-4) threw

<< Injury relief for Santa Cruz, Blackburn
Blackburn, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Blackburn Rovers boss Paul Ince has breathed a sigh of relief that striker Roque Santa Cruz's injury in the 4-2 friendly defeat at Wolves has proved not to be too serious. The 26-year-old Par

<< Fuel gamble pays off for Edwards in Pocono win
Long Pond, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carl Edwards won Sunday's Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 at the Pocono Raceway. The No.99 Roush Fenway Racing driver crossed the finish line 3.859 seconds ahead of Tony Stewart. The victory was Edwa

<< Murray fights off Djokovic for Cincy title
Mason, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eighth-seeded Scotsman Andy Murray scored an upset of third-seeded Serbian Novak Djokovic in a heated battle at the $2.615 million Western & Southern Financial Group Masters tennis event on Sunday. Murr

<< RB Grant re-signs with Pack
Green Bay, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Green Bay Packers ended speculation over one of their key offensive pieces on Sunday when they signed running back Ryan Grant. According to the NFL Network, the deal is worth $30 million over fou

Maddux helps Pads avoid sweep by Giants >>
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Greg Maddux allowed just two hits over six brilliant innings, and the San Diego Padres topped the San Francisco Giants, 4-1, to avert a three-game sweep at Petco Park. Maddux (5-8) held the Giants to a

Cooper, FC Dallas hand Toronto FC first home loss >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kenny Cooper had two goals after the 80th minute in wild finish at BMO Field to lead FC Dallas to a 2-0 win Sunday over Toronto FC, which ended the match with just nine players and lost for the first time at home

Scolari excited by Anelka's four-goal performance >>
Moscow, Russia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chelsea coach Luiz Felipe Scolari was excited after seeing Nicolas Anelka score four goals in the 5-0 thrashing of AC Milan in a preseason friendly Sunday. The 29-year-old France international struggled

Romero cruises to U.S. Senior Open title >>
Colorado Springs, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eduardo Romero stumbled to a three- over 73 Sunday, but it was more than enough to give him the title at the U.S. Senior Open. Romero posted six-under-par 274 for the championship. This was hi

Ramirez slugs Dodgers past D-Backs >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manny Ramirez finished 4-for-5 with a home run and drove in three runs, as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks, 9-3, to salvage a spilt in the four-game series at Chavez


Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

Additional sports lines can be found at: www.Sportsbooks.com

To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards.