Wrong year for Life At Ten to be so good

Horseracing Betting Lines

07/19/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - When the two leading thoroughbreds in training are also the top female racehorses in the country, it becomes difficult for any other filly or mare to get recognized.

This is the situation that confronts five-year-old mare Life At Ten. Almost any other year the Todd Pletcher-trained horse would be mentioned as a serious contender for the Eclipse Award as champion older female and even Horse of the Year.

This year, as most people know, has been graced with the continued racing of 2009 Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra and Breeders' Cup Classic winner Zenyatta. Their respective connections have aided thoroughbred racing by keeping the two ladies in training.

However, the two champion females take away the spotlight from the other top thoroughbreds this year.

Life At Ten, owned by Candy DeBartolo, easily captured this past Saturday's running of the $750,000 Delaware Handicap. As the odds-on favorite, she set a slow pace on Delaware Park's main track in the 1 1/4-mile race and was able to open up down the stretch to defeat her five rivals by three-lengths.

"She was fortunate to get an easy first quarter and half," noted Pletcher, "and she really had a lot left in the stretch. We will probably look at the Personal Ensign (August 29) at Saratoga next and go from there. It is just special to win the Delaware Handicap because it is such an important race for fillies and mares. We have always looked at the Del 'Cap as a great opportunity. It has a great tradition and great purse and we have been fortunate enough to win the race four times."

Life At Ten is undefeated in four starts this year, including wins in the Ogden Phipps and Sixty Sails Handicaps. The five-year-old has had five different jockeys in her last six starts, something neither Rachel nor Zenyatta need to concern themselves about.

The question is whether Life At Ten will face either of the top two females in a race this year. Rachel, who is based at Saratoga, will start in this Saturday's $400,000 Lady's Secret at Monmouth Park at 1 1/8-miles.

The Personal Ensign would have set up perfectly for the defending Horse of the Year. However, majority owner Jess Jackson is an unconventional personality who doesn't follow the 'rule book' when it comes to selecting races for his four- year-old filly.

Zenyatta is most likely to make her next start at Del Mar on August 7 in the $300,000 Clement L. Hirsch Stakes at 1 1/16-miles, a race she has won the last two years.

Don't expect Zenyatta to venture outside of California until the Breeders' Cup at Churchill Downs in November.

Life At Ten has started at four different tracks in her last four races, a trend that allows more race fans the opportunity to view this highly talented mare.

Now within $11,000 of becoming a millionaire, Life At Ten is not to be overlooked the remainder of the 2010 racing season. If you get the chance to see her run, don't pass up the opportunity.

Wwwy28mark6 Horseracing Betting News

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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.

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"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. 

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Numerous College Basketball teams take final big step to March Madness betting

So, what turned on the lock spigot? Well, after what felt like weeks of teams treading water and slipping back into the bubble muck, a bunch of them finally decided to say "to heck with parity" and won games that should put them into the Big Dance.

Disagree with some of these? Then here's the challenge. Take all of the "should be ins" and make a legit case that each should be ahead of the team that's a lock. Then find 10 more teams that also should be placed in the bracket ahead of that lock team. Not so easy, is it?

If you want more evidence that these locks should be good to go, check out what our research department dug up. Since the NCAA Tournament went to 64 teams in 1985, only six teams from a "big six" conference have had a record of 10-6 or better in conference play and not been selected: Colorado (2004) and Nebraska (1999) from the Big 12, Boston College and Seton Hall (both 2003) from the Big East, Indiana (2005) from the Big Ten and UCLA, which somehow went 12-6 in the Pac-10 in 1988 and still missed out. (Note: Five teams went 11-7 and didn't get in, the latest being last season's Stanford team, which had a brutal nonconference run.)

Yes, 10 conference wins doesn't always mean what it used to because of unbalanced schedules, but this season, it should be plenty good in all but the extreme cases (see: Iowa).

In a way, this is a welcome development, because this is a bubble watch, not a lock watch. We can finally be done with teams like Maryland and Virginia Tech and start really bearing down on at-large battles such as Syracuse-West Virginia and Appalachian State-Georgia Tech.

Interestingly, all the shifting of teams into lock status appears to be more administrative than impactful. The number of remaining available at-larges didn't change one iota. The only difference is that teams on the bubble now have a clearer idea of which team(s) they are competing with for those precious bids.

The Bubble Breakdown
CONFERENCE LOCKS SHOULD BE INS AT-LARGES TAKEN
(assuming no auto bid outlier)
ACC Betting Odds 6 0 5
Big East Betting Odds 5 0 4
Big Ten Betting Odds 2 2 3
Big 12 Betting Odds 3 0 2
Pac-10 Betting Odds 5 1 5
SEC Betting Odds 4 0 3
MVC Betting Odds 1 1 1
MWC Betting Odds 2 1 2
TOTAL 28 5 25

As always, I've tried to be as inclusive as possible while only including teams that would have a reasonable chance of at least being discussed if this were Selection Sunday. If your team's not on here, there's probably a good reason (or three) -- start with the RPI and SOS numbers and work your way down.

(Please remember, per selection committee criteria, that records displayed are Division I only. Next update: Feb. 28)

If you have a legitimate grievance, or just like talking bubble, send an e-mail. Polite ones with fact-based arguments have a much better chance of receiving a response. I apologize in advance if I can't get back to all of you.

Atlantic Coast Conference

Work left to do: Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech

The ACC moves to six locks as BC, Va Tech and Virginia all got their 10th ACC wins, which should be more than enough this season, and Maryland rallied past North Carolina to get the final piece the Terps needed. After that? It could end there unless FSU, Ga Tech or Clemson picks things up in a hurry.

 

Work left to do:

Clemson [19-9 (5-9), RPI: 41, SOS: 42] The Tigers are closer to locking up the collapse of the year award (in a good battle with OK State) than they are to grabbing an at-large. Clemson's been very competitive, but there's no really positive way you can spin nine losses in 11 games. They now cannot get to .500 in ACC play and still must head to Virginia Tech in the season finale (after hosting Miami). Unless the Tigers win both and/or do some serious work in the ACC tourney, they very well could be left out. There are no great nonconference wins, but ODU, App State, Miss. State, South Carolina and Georgia are all respectable W's.

Florida State [18-11 (6-9), RPI: 48, SOS: 14] The Noles got thrashed at Maryland to run their losing streak to five, but then pounded NC State at home to set the table for what likely is an elimination game at Miami. You can at least make a case for the Seminoles at 7-9 in ACC play (and some work in the ACC tourney), but 6-10 is not going to cut it. Wins at Duke and over Florida will resonate, but the computer numbers remain questionable. Beyond Florida, FSU thrashed bubble buddy Providence, but there's not a ton beyond those two games that will help. They didn't show well in big-time opportunities against Pitt and Wisconsin (before the Florida win).

Georgia Tech [18-10 (6-8), RPI: 51, SOS: 46] The Jackets beat Wake on Wednesday but couldn't get it done at UVa on Saturday, which could be a crucial loss with UNC and BC (both at home) remaining and 8-8 almost a certain need for at-large consideration. A nonconference win over Memphis helps, but the RPI and SOS are not at-large quality right now; if you combine those with a sub-.500 ACC mark, that could spell NIT for GT.

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