BC Marathon champ heads Woodbine stakes

Horseracing Betting Lines

12/01/2011 - Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Afleet Again, the surprise winner of this year's Breeders' Cup Marathon, tops a field of six in Sunday's $150,000 Valedictory Stakes at Woodbine Race Course. The 1 3/4-mile race, the same distance as the Marathon, will be run over Woodbine's synthetic main surface.

Afleet Again, owned by Kasey K Racing Stable, has drawn post three with Cornelio Velasquez returning to ride the four-year-old colt. Butch Reid trains the gray son of Afleet Alex who won the Marathon as a 41-1 longshot.

In the $500,000 Marathon, the gray four-year-old trailed for most of the race, running in ninth about a dozen lengths from the lead. At the top of the stretch a gaggle of horses were on the lead as Afleet Again began to move on the outside. The colt opened up down the stretch and posted a 2 1/4-length victory over Birdrun.

"He was very aggressive, which is rare for this horse," Reid said following the upset win. "This horse is a real Jekyll and Hyde. Sometimes he shows up and sometimes he doesn't really. He (Velasquez) said he was very aggressive. I saw the fractions they were going, 48 in the first half, and he was only six or seven lengths out. I thought we were in pretty good shape."

The Breeders' Cup victory was the colt's first of the year in nine starts and his fourth win in 24 career races. He has lifetime earnings of $686,470.

Making just his third start of the year will be last year's Valedictory runner-up Eye of the Leopard. Trained by Mark Frostad, the five-year-old will be ridden by Luis Contreras from post four.

Eye of the Leopard was off from last year's Valedictory Stakes until the Durham Cup in October when he was fourth. Three weeks ago the Sam-Son Farms' horse finished second at Woodbine in an allowance race.

In 15 career starts Eye of the Leopard has four wins and $921,487.

Here is the full field for the Valedictory in post position order: Alpha Bettor, Tyler Pizarro; Eagle Poise, Patrick Husbands; Afleet Again, Cornelio Velasquez; Eye of the Leopard, Luis Contreras; Harrods Creek, Chantal Sutherland and Getta Rhythm, Justin Stein.

Post-time is set for 5:21 p.m. (et).

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MySportsbook.com and Kentucky Derby Offer Bonuses
The 2008 Kentucky Derby has announced a $1-million bonus for this weekend’s 134th ‘Run for the Roses’ and MySportsbook.com is doing the same.

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According to MySportsbook.com, the favorites for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky are: Curlin (+250); Street Sense (+500); Scat Daddy (+700); Circular Quay (+750); and Nobiz Like Shobiz (+800).

Derby organizers announced this week that there will be a $1-million bonus at the 2007 Kentucky Derby odds if the first-place horse wins by more than 6 1/2 lengths – the margin of Barbaro's victory last year. The bonus would be divided Saturday among the winning trainer, jockey, owner and a charity, with each receiving 25 percent. The designated charity is the Barbaro Memorial Fund.

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Meanwhile, the Derby favorite – Curlin – is going against the odds this year. It's been 125 years since Apollo won after skipping his 2-year-old season, and not since Regret in 1915 has such a lightly seasoned horse worn the blanket of red roses.

Arkansas Derby winner Curlin – unbeaten in three career races – tries to overcome both those obstacles in Saturday's 133rd Derby.

''We're not running against history,'' trainer Steve Asmussen said Monday. ''We're running against who they load up.''

Six other horses have run in the Derby without benefit of 2-year-old races and with three or fewer starts. The best any of them managed was a sixth-place finish by Showing Up last year.
   
Asmussen dismissed suggestions that Curlin's lack of racing experience could keep him from the winner's circle.

”He exudes confidence and he's got a great presence about him,'' the trainer said. ''I feel great about the position we're in. He's not worried about anything, why should you be?''
   
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