Zenyatta returns to Hollywood Park home

Horseracing Betting Lines

08/10/2010 - Inglewood, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Undefeated champion mare Zenyatta has been safely returned to her home base at Hollywood Park. The six-year-old was vanned from Del Mar three days after recording her 18th consecutive victory on Saturday in the Clement L. Hirsch Stakes.

Zenyatta, owned by Jerry and Ann Moss, will remain at Hollywood Park under the care of trainer John Shirreffs. A two-time Eclipse Award winner as champion older female, Zenyatta is expected to make her next start in Santa Anita's $300,000 Zenyatta Stakes on Saturday, October 2.

"She's a great star," Jerry Moss said following the Hirsch win. "She's brilliant and she has a great bunch of fans that recognize that. She hasn't let them down yet.

"Zenyatta represents the best there is in racing. She's a great leader to follow."

The mare has actually won the Zenyatta Stakes the last two years. Before Santa Anita renamed the 1 1/16-mile race to honor the champion mare, it was known as the Lady's Secret Stakes.

"She's a great horse and we're grateful for that," Moss noted. "We want her to keep winning. She's just a miracle."

Saturday's win, with jockey Mike Smith, was Zenyatta's third straight triumph in the Hirsch. Also this year she won the Santa Margarita, Apple Blossom and Vanity Handicaps.

"She'll run on all surfaces," Smith said. "She runs on dirt. She runs on the synthetics. She ran really well on the one at Santa Anita. She changes leads all on her own. Her mechanics are so good, she can run on anything. I think you could put her on grass and she'd run great.

"If we can pull two more (wins) off, to me she might go down as the greatest horse of all time."

Winner of last year's Breeders' Cup Classic, Zenyatta has earned $6,254,580 in her illustrious career.

Wwwvegaslobby Horseracing Betting News

<< Blue Jackets re-sign Blunden
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Columbus Blue Jackets have re-signed right wing Mike Blunden to a one-year contract. The 23-year-old native of Toronto totaled two goals and two assists in 40 games last season. Blunden was o

<< New-look Heat open in Boston as full NBA schedule is released
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The new-look Miami Heat and two-time defending champion Los Angeles Lakers will both be in action on the first day of the 2010-11 NBA season, October 26. The Heat will open the season in Boston aga

<< Phillies recall P Bastardo
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Phillies recalled pitcher Antonio Bastardo from Triple-A Lehigh Valley on Tuesday. The 24-year-old, who is expected to be used as a situational lefty out of the bullpen, has made

<< Woods saw slide coming; wants to play Ryder Cup
Kohler, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tiger Woods met the media on Tuesday in advance of the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits, and tried to keep things light. Though he tried to keep the mood light, Woods did admit that he thought he would

<< Kovalchuk decision will have wider impact
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There has been one NHL story this summer that refuses to go away and a ruling on Monday ensured that the saga will continue. Independent arbitrator Richard Bloch upheld the NHL's decision that the New Jer

Aging 'El Duque' aims for one more shot in majors >>
VIERA, Fla. (AP) -Orlando Hernandez isn't ready to give up baseball.The four-time World Series champion is now a 44-year-old pitching for the Washington Nationals' affiliate in the Gulf Coast League for rookies. Known as ``El Duque,'' he's now just

D'Antoni OK with Isiah role, Coach K would pass >>
NEW YORK (AP) -Mike D'Antoni sounds OK with it. Mike Krzyzewski wouldn't do it.Isiah Thomas' return to the New York Knicks as a consultant while still coaching a college team has raised plenty of questions - starting with whether it's even legal.D'A

Celtics sign F Harangody >>
BOSTON (AP) -The Boston Celtics have signed Luke Harangody, their second-round draft pick.The deal is for two years. Terms were not disclosed.The 6-foot-8 forward was the 52nd pick in this year's draft.At Notre Dame, Harangody finished as the No. 3

Pa. coach Paterno nominated for Medal of Freedom >>
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) -Penn State football coach Joe Paterno has been nominated for the highest civilian award in the country.Congressmen including Glenn Thompson, Mark Critz and Tim Holden say the Hall of Fame coach deserves a Presidential Medal

Bruins: Savard deal investigated like Kovalchuk's >>
BOSTON (AP) -The Boston Bruins say they're cooperating with the NHL in its investigation of Marc Savard's contract.The league is looking into Savard's contract after voiding one with a similar structure that went to Ilya Kovalchuk. The Devils had ag

SPORTS BETTING - Tennis is an underrated and under-utilized bettors' sport.

Ten years ago, at just about this time, I called Alan Boston in Vegas and left him a voicemail that went something like this (abridged version): "Hey Alan, Chad Millman from ESPN The Magazine calling. I want to do a book about wise guys, you in?"

A couple weeks later I got a message back (abridged version): "I don't know, maybe," Boston said. "Call me and we'll talk about it. But not later today. I got $1,000 on Andre Agassi to win the French Open at 40-1, and he's in the finals."

Here's what happened next (abridged version): Agassi won his tourney. Boston won his $40,000. I wrote sportsbook.

In the ten years since, how much has been wagered on the big-time tennis events? Put it this way: The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't even track the number year by year because it's so small.

"Tennis makes up about one-tenth of one percent of our take," says Lucky's bookmaking boss Jimmy Vaccaro. "The last big golf major we probably had $100,000 worth of bets. In tennis, we might have written two big tickets."

Tennis' lack of popularity amongst the American bettoratti is no surprise, really. For starters, the biggest sports betting holidays -- the Super Bowl, the NCAA tourney -- are must see TV. People, at least the degenerates I know, plan vacations around watching those events in Vegas sports books.

But Wimbledon? Doesn't exactly reel in the whales. "Seriously, it's the nuts as an event," says Boston. "But who even knows when it's on?"

Here's another reason that helps explain why golf gets traction, something I call "The Bubbe Theory." My Bubbe is pushing 95 and has cataracts so bad that, to her, even the most crystalline Chicago day is mostly cloudy. But she still listens to the Cubs games, and she still calls me in a fit if she disagrees with something Rick Telander writes in the Chicago Sun Times. She's a sports fan. If she doesn't know you, you're just filling a niche. And niche players, even historically good ones like Roger and Raf, don't drive betting volume. Only the highest profile names attract square money, which inflates wagering totals like a shot of saline to the lips. Bubbe, and the public, loved Agassi, tennis' last cross-the-rubicon, mainstream draw. She also has a crush on Tiger. She's given me standing orders to put a sawbuck on the big cat whenever I walk through a sports book (or mistakenly tap into one via my Internet machine.) That explains why the Masters is getting $100K in action at some books while the four tennis majors might not get that combined this year.

This isn't a case of tennis being a difficult sport to bet. In fact, in Europe, it's probably the second most popular sport for gambling after soccer. Granted, as the WSJ football betting last week and The Mag's Shaun Assael examined in even greater depth last year, that might be because gamblers across the pond see it as an easy game to fix. But it could also be because, over there it holds the kind of sway the big two do over here.

Street corners in Spain are peppered with public courts and kids doing their best Raffy impressions. In some war torn parts of Eastern Europe poverty-stricken kids view tennis as an escape route, like football or basketball here. A couple years ago The Mag's Lindsay Berra wrote a great piece about Belgrade's Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. They learned the game as kids while bombs were raining down on their homeland. They practiced in drained swimming pools. Not exactly Nick Bolletierri conditions.

In the United States, casual fans think tennis is played four times a year. But on the tightly packed European continent, national interest in homegrown talent runs deep every weekend. Of the ATP's current top 20 players, only two, tennis betting and James Blake, are American. Fourteen are from Europe, representing six different countries.

No wonder fans from Lisbon to Bhudapest get jacked up for the net game, whether it's Wimbledon or a low-level tourney like the Estoril Open in Portugal (congrats to Spain's Albert Montanes for winning that one, btw). Chances are good that someone representing their flag will not only be playing, but have a shot at winning.

And that's all any bettor can ask for.

To visit this sports book go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.