Alpha goes after first in Withers

Horseracing Betting Lines

02/01/2012 - Ozone Park, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alpha, winner of the Count Fleet Stakes, heads a field of seven for Saturday's $200,000 Withers Stakes at Aqueduct. The 1 1/16-mile event is part of the track's stakes series for three-year-olds leading to the $1 million Wood Memorial on April 7.

Sent off as the 4-5 favorite in the Count Fleet, Alpha will start the Withers from the outside post with Ramon Dominguez again riding. The colt is trained by Kiaran McLaughlin for Godolphin Racing.

"It's fantastic this year what they've done with the Count Fleet, Withers, Gotham, and Wood," said McLaughlin's assistant Artie Magnuson. "It's a great program, best in the country, seriously. It's a steady march, great purses, and there's grading in there. It's ideal.

"The thought is (to run in) all of them. We could skip one if we want, but the thought is to just do all four. The Kentucky Derby is very important, but this series is very important. These aren't preps, these are important races, so we're treating them that way. We take the Withers very seriously, and the Gotham. We've won a stake and that's nice, and this is graded, that's important, everything's very important. Alpha needs to show up, needs to run, but we couldn't be happier with him now."

With two wins in four career starts Alpha has $180,000 in his bankroll. Last year he was second to Union Rags in the Champagne and 11th in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile won by Hansen with Union Rags second. Bernardini, sire of Alpha, won this race in 2006.

Owner Mike Repole, of Uncle Mo fame, has How Do I Win entered in the Withers. Trained by Todd Pletcher, the gray three-year-old will be ridden by Cornelio Velasquez from post five .

How Do I Win was fourth in the Count Fleet last month at 11-1. Prior to that start he had won two straight after failing in his first three races.

"He's been kind of inconsistent in the afternoons, as you can tell from the past performances, but when he puts everything together I think he'll live up to expectations," said Pletcher, who won the Withers in 2008 with Harlem Rocker. "In his last race, the jockey took too much hold of him, and he's more of a free-running horse."

Here is the full Withers' field from the rail out: Hakama, Julian Pimentel; Speightscity, David Cohen; Swag Daddy, Junior Alvarado; King Kid, Mike Luzzi; How Do I Win, Cornelio Velasquez; Tiger Walk, Horacio Karamanos and Alpha, Ramon Dominguez.

Post-time for the Withers is slated at 4:05 p.m. (et).

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Colts give the ‘D’ its due

The Indianapolis Colts know that winning the Super Bowl last season put a huge target on their backs, and they expect opponents to go all-out to knock them from the top of the mountain.

They’ll get their first test from the New Orleans Saints this Thursday night. The defending champs had nothing but good things to say about the New Orleans defense this past week, praising their opponents’ pass rush and run-stopping abilities.

"They play very aggressively," head coach Tony Dungy told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "They play a lot of man-to-man coverage, and they come after you. They have good pass rushers, and they're going to try to pressure us, I'm sure."

Both center Jeff Saturday and quarterback Peyton Manning gave New Orleans’ front four props, admitting keeping guys like Will Smithand Charles Grant contained would be a tall task for the offensive line.

New Orleans ranked second in total defense during the preseason at a sportsbook, allowing just under 233 yards per game. Last season, the defense finished 11th in the league after giving up 307.3 yards and 20.1 points per contest.

Not so sound on the ground

If Indianapolis' efficient offense has a weakness it has to be its running attack. The Colts one-two-punch of Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai is no longer, leaving the bulk of the carries to Addai, the second-year back out of LSU.

Former Saskatchewan Roughrider Kenton Keith was named Addai’s backup this week after beating out DeDe Dorsey for the second-string position. Indy has only three backs on the roster right now, including fullback Luke Lawton, and coach Dungy is aware of the thinness of his ground game. Sports Betting lines on the game can be found at BettingExpress.com

“We’ll continue to look. Luke Lawton’s done a good job for us too. So probably getting a third true tailback is something that we’d like to do,” Dungy told the Indiana Tribune-Star.

Last season, Addai rushed for over 1,000 yards in his rookie campaign and scored seven touchdowns on the ground.

Brees says bring it on

Opening the season on the road against the defending Super Bowl champions is not the way most teams would like to kick off their year – unless you’re the New Orleans Saints or their quarterback Drew Brees. This internet Sportsbooks had the Saints as the favorites.

Brees told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he is excited to get the regular season started and the Colts are a great challenge for him and his teammates. The 28-year-old QB, entering his second season with the Saints, is expecting a wild environment in the RCA Dome this Thursday when the franchise celebrates its 2007-2007 championship.

Brees said he sees the opening game scheduling as an honor and a testament to how well New Orleans did last season. The Saints missed facing the Colts in the Super Bowl by one game, losing to the Chicago Bearsin the NFC Championship game.

"I mean, people think we can hang with these guys," Brees told reporters. "Even if they didn't, it wouldn't matter what they thought because as a team we're very confident. We know what we can do. We're not satisfied where we finished the season last year. And we've been looking forward to this opportunity for a long time."

SportsBooks ready for a shootout

Oddsmakers are preparing for some fireworks this Thursday when the NFL season kicks off. online Sportsbooks have Thursday’s total set at a whopping 52 points, accounting for two of the league’s most explosive offenses.

“This is like must-see TV,” Saints cornerback and former Colt Jason David told the Baton Rouge Advocate. “It’s two exciting offenses with great players. You’ve got a lot of star power on offense. At any given time a big play can happen. If I was a fan, I wouldn’t miss a snap.”

New Orleans, who ranked No.1 in total offense last season, can go blow-for-blow with the Colts’ attack. Head coach Sean Payton’s offensive schemes will get even better production out of Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and receiver Marques Colston now that they’ve each had a season of playing together under their belts.

The Saints and Colts were the top two passing teams in the NFL last year, but while Indianapolis managed to put up almost 27 points per game, New Orleans struggled to capitalize on their efforts. The Saints ranked fifth in points per game.

“Yards are great,” running backDeuce McAllister told reporters, “but to be able to score more touchdowns would be important for us.”

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