Rematch between Blame and Quality Road not immediate

Horseracing Betting Lines

08/09/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Saturday's dramatic stretch drive between Blame and Quality Road in the Whitney Handicap will have to satisfy race fans for more than a month. The earliest the two four-year-olds will meet again appears to be the Jockey Club Gold Cup in October.

Whitney winner Blame, co-owned by Claiborne Farm and Adele Dilschneider, will be given time off until the October 2nd running of the Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park.

"Seth Hancock (of Claiborne Farm) was here this morning (Sunday) and we firmed things up - the Jockey Club Gold Cup will be his next race," said trainer Al Stall, Jr. "It will be that, and then the Breeders' Cup Classic. We'll take him back to Keeneland in a couple of weeks, let him train there, and bring him back up to Belmont."

Trainer Todd Pletcher confirmed that beaten favorite Quality Road will start in the Woodward Stakes at Saratoga on September 4, a race won last year by Rachel Alexandra.

"If he continues to do well, I see no reason to change our plans," Pletcher said. "It was still a very good effort and we lost to a very good horse."

The Whitney turned out to be one of the best races of the year.

Quality Road, who was sent off as the 1-2 favorite in the six horse field, set a modest pace in the 1 1/8-mile stakes. Undefeated in three starts this year coming into the Whitney, Quality Road appeared set for a big win under jockey John Velazquez.

"He was basically alone on the lead," Pletcher noted. "He's generally a little more focused when he has a target (but) there wasn't anyone eager to take the lead."

Quality Road had a clear lead at the top of the stretch until Blame, ridden by Garrett Gomez, dug in to offer up a challenge.

"I thought if he (Blame) were in striking distance at the three-eighths pole, he had a shot," said Stall. "He really does have a great punch from the three- eighths pole, and Garrett was just reeling Quality Road in, reeling him in. Inside the eighth pole, you could see he had a little more momentum than Quality Road."

Blame drew even with Quality Road in deep stretch and was able to get past the favorite only yards before the wire.

"I was just biding my time until we turned for home," winning jockey Gomez said following the race. "I just didn't want to sit too long because he's got a long, consistent run and just keeps coming."

Gomez timed his ride perfectly to edge out Quality Road by a head in the 1 1/8-mile effort.

"He (Quality Road) got beat spotting an extremely good horse five pounds," Pletcher commented. "Not taking anything away from Blame; we look forward to trying him at equal weights."

Third-place finisher Musket Man came out of the Whitney in good shape and will continue to face the best in the handicap division.

"He looks pretty good, no problems," Musket Man's trainer Derek Ryan said on Sunday. "We'll probably keep him going long now for the rest of the year. One of these days he's going to get a legitimate pace and a race will set up for him. I'll probably either run him back here (in the Woodward) or wait for the Hawthorne Gold Cup, then the Breeders' Cup."

The 1 1/4-mile Hawthorne Gold Cup at Hawthorne Race Course is the same day as the Jockey Club Gold Cup on Saturday, October 2.

Also coming out of the Whitney was 2009 Kentucky Derby champ Mine That Bird. Winless since taking last year's Run for the Roses, Mine That Bird was fifth and will probably start in the Woodward.

"Right now that would be the next stop," said trainer D. Wayne Lukas. "I'll talk to the owners, get their input, but that's definitely an option."

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NCAA Football Betting : USC's reward: Top spot in Top 25

NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.

No. 1 always seems to fit USC.

Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.

Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.

Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.

"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."

Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.

"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."

The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.

"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."

Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.

"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"

USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.

"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."

While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.

As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.

But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.

Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.

The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.

The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.

The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.

No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.

Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.

Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.

Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.

The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.

South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.

The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.

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