Top two-year-old back in training
Horseracing Betting Lines
12/13/2011 - Hallandale Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Leading two-year-old Union Rags is being slowly brought back to training in time for the 2012 Triple Crown races. The colt, trained by Michael Matz. is back at Gulfstream Park to begin light workouts.
"We got on his back Saturday and just walked him for about a half hour. Starting on the 15th, he's going to be ridden every day," Matz said. "Then after the first of the year, we'll take him down to Palm Meadows to start some serious training."
Undefeated in his first three starts Union Rags, owned by breeder Phyllis Wyeth, lost by a head to Hansen in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Churchill Downs on November 5. Since that race he was sent to a farm in Wellington, FL for some rest and relaxation.
"He's got a terrific disposition. He's a real smart horse. I had him in the paddock where he's away from other horses," Matz explained. "He was a little restless in the paddock, so we put him in a paddock right by the side of where the horses go to train. He loved it. He watched them all go by, and he just loved it."
With more than $800,000 already banked, Union Rags is the early favorite for the Kentucky Derby on the first Saturday in May. Matz is looking to use Gulfstream's three-year-old stakes series to prepare for the Run for the Roses.
"I would say the logical schedule would be the Fountain of Youth (Feb. 26) and the Florida Derby (March 31)," Matz said. "He's here and we don't have to ship around. If something happens where we have a change of plans where we have to do something different, we're going to nominate him to just about everything."
Union Rags has Javier Castellano as his rider, winning the Saratoga Special and Champagne before the Breeders' Cup Juvenile loss.
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison has been suspended one game without pay for his helmet-to-helmet hit on Cleveland Browns quarterback Colt McCoy. The hit occurred during Thursday night's
<< Buccaneers sign DE Reed
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Buccaneers have signed defensive end Nick
Reed.
The 24-year-old made six tackles in seven games with the Chicago Bears this
season before being released November 14.
As a rookie in 2009, Reed play
<< Sharks and Avs begin home-and-home in Denver
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Jose Sharks will conclude a three-game road trip
tonight against the Colorado Avalanche in the opener of a home-and-home set at
the Pepsi Center.
San Jose is 0-1-1 on the swing and suffered a 3-2 overtime loss at
<< Streaking Wild visit Jets, shoot for eighth straight win
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Wild are off to a blistering start after 30
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when they wrap up a five-game road trip tonight against the Winnipeg Jets.
Minnesota lead
<< Flames, Preds battle in Music City
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Nashville Predators will continue a four-game
homestand this evening versus the Calgary Flames at Bridgestone Arena.
The Predators opened the residency with a 3-2 win versus Anaheim on Saturday,
as Jordin Tootoo poste
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - For Jacksonville Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew, it had to feel like beating his older brother in a game of one-on-one in the driveway for the first time. The shifty back scored four touchdowns in
Friberg leaves Seattle for Sweden's Malmo >>
Renton, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Seattle Sounders FC midfielder Erik Friberg has
transferred to Sweden's Malmo, the Major League Soccer club announced.
A native of Goteborg, Sweden, the 25-year-old Friberg signed with Seattle in
December of
Nets sign F Williams >>
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Jersey Nets signed free agent
forward Shelden Williams on Tuesday.
The fifth overall pick in the 2006 draft by the Atlanta Hawks, Williams has
played in 303 career games with Atlanta, Sacra
United's Fletcher sidelined by bowel disease >>
Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manchester United midfielder Darren
Fletcher will take an extended break from the sport for health reasons, the
English Premier League club announced Tuesday.
Fletcher, 27, required several break
U.S. forward Gomez joins Mexico's Santos >>
Mexico City, Mexico (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - United States forward Herculez Gomez,
who appeared in three matches at the 2010 World Cup, has signed with Mexican
club Santos.
Gomez, 29, left U.A.G. (Tecos) for Santos, his fourth Mexican club. Go
SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting
NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.
That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.
A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."
It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.
The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.
So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."
Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.
Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.
Seriously.
The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.
The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.
Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."
The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.
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