Afleet Express holds off Fly Down to win Travers

Horseracing Betting Lines

08/28/2010 - Saratoga Springs, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Afleet Express, ridden by Javier Castellano, edged a late running Fly Down to capture Saturday's $1 million Travers Stakes at Saratoga Race Course. The time for the 1 1/4-miles was 2:03.28 on a fast track.

The Travers, also known as the Mid-Summer Derby, had a field of 11 evenly matched three-year-olds for the 1 1/4-miles. Haskell runner-up Trappe Shot went off as the 7-2 favorite and Jim Dandy winner A Little Warm was second at 9-2.

Setting the pace was Jim Dandy runner-up Miner's Reserve followed by First Dude, A Little Warm and Trappe Shot. Entering the far turn Miner's Reserve and jockey David Cohen continued on the lead with First Dude, second in the Preakness, still pressing the pace.

Around the final turn Afleet Express assumed the lead along the rail as Belmont Stakes runner-up Fly Down and rider Jose Lezcano rallied on the outside.

Afleet Express took the lead coming out of the turn and into the stretch. Fly Down came charging down the middle of the track and drew even with the leader with a furlong to run.

The two battled down the stretch right to the wire. The two colts hit the wire together in what appeared to be a dead-heat. Afleet Express, one of three Afleet Alex sons in the Travers, nosed out Fly Down with a bob of the head.

First Dude finished third with Afleet Again fourth. Completing the order finish was A Little Warm, Friend Or Foe, Miner's Reserve, Ice Box, Trappe Shot, Super Saver and Admiral Alex. Afleet Again and Admiral Alex were also sired by 2005 champion three-year-old colt Afleet Alex.

Afleet Express returned $16.00, $7.80 and $4.90. Fly Down paid $6.90 and $5.20, and First Dude paid $4.60 to show.

Trained by Jimmy Jerkens, Afleet Express is owned by Gainesway Stable and Martin Cherry. The colt earned $600,000 with the win to bring his career earnings to $835,140.

"There are people who go and run in the Derby just to run in the Derby," Jerkens said this week, "even though they know they're going to get beat 100 lengths. I don't see what you get out of that. To be in here in a race that has gotten as prestigious as this has and to have a horse with a good chance is pretty exciting."

In his seven-race career, Afleet Express has won four times with a second and a third. He was third in Saratoga's Jim Dandy Stakes and won the Pegasus Stakes at Monmouth Park in June. Castellano has been aboard Afleet Express the last four races.

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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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