A funny thing happened on the way to the BCS Championship Game . . .
Last week’s column mentioned the Wynn Las Vegas sports book posted a line on the potential Auburn-Oregon match-up with Oregon -4 1/2. That was in line with the consensus here in town. All season long, the Oddsmakers’ Poll by former Las Vegas Sports Consultants chief Kenny White and his oddsmaking friends has had Oregon rated around 3 or 4 points better than Auburn.
NEW YORK – By the time you read this, New York City Offtrack Betting may or may not have shut itself down, whether for a few days or longer, or it may have extended its latest closure threat until the state Senate returns to Albany on Tuesday. The possibility of a permanent shutdown is already prompting approving cries of “good riddance” from newspaper editorialists and some within racing who have long considered OTB a blight upon the sport.
The college football regular season is coming to a close this weekend with most of the focus being on the teams still trying to play in the BCS National Championship Game on Monday, Jan. 10, at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.
In a fitting intersection of backstories, the weekend’s stakes at Hollywood Park honor the Thoroughbred Hall of Famers Native Diver and Bayakoa, ripping fast animals who suffered both the glory and consequences of their uncompromising speed.
TUCSON, Ariz. – I am neither happy nor pleased to have to gnaw on this battered bone again, but I have to keep at it or I might bite both of its owners. Make that three. I don’t know the others involved on the now infamous Hanson Commission, and I don’t savage strangers.
Less than a month ago, they were the Big Four of the Breeders’ Cup Classic, the most accomplished American horses of 2010. However the Classic turned out, it was nearly a foregone conclusion that Lookin At Lucky was going to be the champion 3-year-old of 2010, Blame or Quality Road would be the champion older male, Zenyatta would be the champion older female, and one of the four would be Horse of the Year.
Thanksgiving isn’t exactly a jockey’s favorite holiday. Their relationship to food in large quantities is, by the nature of their profession, conflicted. In their dreams, they might hear themselves say something like, “Yes, more gravy would be lovely.” But in the real world, there usually is a steep price to pay.
Then there are those lucky few, like that Louisiana boy Joe Talamo, who could indulge in all the Thanksgiving trimmings without a flinch, stuffing themselves with stuffing, then arise Friday morning with a clean conscience and a healthy appetite for leftovers.
As the debate rages over who should be Horse of the Year in America, as well as who might be the best horse in the world, it is important to understand that the two most important polls in the Thoroughbred world operate under completely different rules.
