Rachel Alexandra back to work in morning

Horseracing Betting Lines

06/21/2010 - Louisville, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Reigning Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra put in her first workout at Churchill Downs on Monday morning since her victory in the $200,000 Fleur de Lis Handicap. The four-year-old filly breezed a half-mile for trainer Steve Asmussen.

"She went fine," said Asmussen. "It's a ridiculously hot morning, you know. That's a big concern. It's time to get out and go north."

With Shaun Bridgmohan in the saddle, Rachel covered the four-furlongs in 51 1/5 second and galloped out five-furlongs in 1:05 1/5. At 6:30 a.m. (et) it was 81 degrees when the champion took to the track.

"I think we've got to get out of this weather," Asmussen commented. "The flag's stuck to the pole today. She acts like the rest of us do right now -- it's hot. Her weight's good and she's very sound, and her strength is good. But it's hot. We'd all feel better if it was about 20 degrees cooler."

The original plan for Rachel was for her to travel to Saratoga after the end of the Churchill Downs meet on July 4. Asmussen is now thinking about shipping the filly and his other horses earlier due to the hot weather.

Rachel won the Fleur de Lis by 10 1/2-lengths on June 12, her first win of the year. She came up short in her initial two starts of 2010. She was second to Zardana at the Fair Grounds in the New Orleans Ladies Classic and runner-up to Unrivaled Belle at Churchill Downs in the La Troienne.

Owned by Stonestreet Stables and Harold McCormick, the filly has career earnings of $3,216,730 with 12 wins in 17 starts.

Hallnark Horseracing Betting News

<< Saints release DE McCray
Metairie, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Orleans Saints have released defensive end Bobby McCray. McCray, 28, signed with the Saints as an unrestricted free agent in 2008. The Florida product started eight of 32 regular-season ga

<< Portland Trail Blazers 2010 Draft Preview
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Pritchard has built the Portland Trail Blazers into a contender in the Western Conference but he is reportedly not in the good graces of team owner Paul Allen. In fact, Pritchard has acknowledged he knows ownership i

<< Phoenix Suns 2010 Draft Preview
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Suns rebounded nicely this year after the Terry Porter debacle but that didn't stop Steve Kerr from announcing that he would not return as president and general manager when his contract expires on June 30. Kerr intend

<< Monterey is more than Pebble Beach
Monterey, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Most golf nuts are always searching for that ultimate buddy trip. To play 12 rounds of golf in 5 days, visit the local establishments and enjoy the fruitful libation to the wee hours of the morning. Myrtle Be

<< Philadelphia 76ers 2010 Draft Preview
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia 76ers have been one of the more active teams early in the offseason, naming Doug Collins as the team's new head coach, and trading disappointing center Samuel Dalembert to the Sacramento Kings. Collins is

San Antonio Spurs 2010 Draft Preview >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After 13 Consecutive trips to the postseason and four rings, you can almost see the end of the road coming for a great San Antonio team. Injuries and age have taken a toll on Gregg Popovich's club for the last two seasons

Toronto Raptors 2010 Draft Preview >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Raptors figure to lose Chris Bosh in the offseason so they will need to acquire a big man to replace him. Toronto would like to work a sign-and-trade with Bosh's prospective new team, where it could get an asset in ret

Miyazato takes over top spot in world rankings >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With her fourth win of the season on Sunday, Ai Miyazato took over the No. 1 spot in the world rankings for women's golf. Jiyai Shin, who slipped to No. 2, is scheduled to return to action thi

FC Dallas names Quinn president, CEO >>
Frisco, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - FC Dallas announced that Douglas Quinn has been named president and chief executive officer of the Major League Soccer club, effective Aug. 2. "We are thrilled to welcome Doug to FC Dallas, and look fo

Utah Jazz 2010 Draft Preview >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The rich plan get richer, as Utah will use the New York Knicks' pick to select a big man as insurance for the injured Mehmet Okur and free agent power forward Carlos Boozer. The Jazz must also make a decision on Kyle Korve

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.