Kentucky Derby pace setter Sidney’s Candy has already demonstrated that he can run on dirt and synthetic tracks, but he may be his best on grass. On Saturday at Del Mar set a turf course record as he dominated the rest of the field in the 1 1/16 mile Grade 2 La Jolla Handicap. It was his first career race on turf, and his sizzling performance which produced a 102 Beyer Speed Figure suggests that his immediate future will be on grass. The previous turf course record course record was set by Mea Domina on September 2, 2006

Although Sidney’s Candy has a pedigree that suggests a good turf horse, no one expected such a strong effort this first time out. Sidney’s Candy is by Candy Ride-who won stakes races on both turf and dirt–and his dam, Fair Exchange, is by Storm Cat. Trainer John Sadler talked about his horse’s performance:

“He worked on [grass] really well last week. We’re thrilled with his performance.”  Read more...

Despite a late race flat tire that necessitated an unplanned pit stop, Denny Hamlin raced like a madman down the stretch and took the checkered flag at Monday’s Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500 NASCAR race at West Virginia’s Martinsville Speedway. The race had been originally scheduled for Sunday, but was moved to Monday due to torrential rains. It was Hamlin’s third career victory on the oldest track on the NASCAR circuit.

Hamlin’s success at the track didn’t escape unnoticed by NASCAR betting enthusiasts, and those that backed him as a +750 choice to win received a nice payday. Series points leader Jimmie Johnson was the betting favorite for the race. Hamlin won the fall race at Martinsville last year and won this race in 2008.

Giving up the lead with ten laps remaining to head to the pit for fresh tires, Hamlin drove like a man possessed to regain the lead and take the victory. He somehow moved from 9th place to the lead in just four laps, and talked about his wild ride after the race:

“That’s hard to do. I had to bully my way through there towards the end, but everybody was just running into everyone. I flattened my tire with Matt Kenseth going down the backstretch and just somehow made it work.”  Read more...

Landon Donovan raised his international stock with a spirited performance for the USA national team at the recently concluded World Cup. That doesn’t mean he’ll be shipping off to the Premier League or Serie A. On Thursday, Major League Soccer (MLS) commissioner Don Garber emphasized that the United States’ top professional league wouldn’t be accepting transfer offers for Donovan. Garber said that he’d be receptive to loan offers during the MLS off-season, but that his league has no plans to entertain transfer offers for any sort of long term duration.

Donovan has played in Europe on loan before with mixed results. He struggled during stints with Bundesliga sides Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich, but was impressive during a 10 week loan to Everton of the English Premier League earlier this year. Donovan scored two goals in 13 matches with Everton and was instrumental in a couple of their best results of the season-wins over Chelsea and Manchester United and a draw with Arsenal.

After scoring three goals for the USA in World Cup play, Donovan has become an even more attractive target for clubs in Europe but MLS commissioner Garber said he’s too valuable of an asset for the league to lose:  Read more...

Alberto Contador held off a hard charging Andy Sheck and took advantage of his rival’s unfortunate chain malfunction to win his third straight Tour De France. Contador’s margin of victory was 39 seconds and provided considerable drama to the 20th and final stage of the race. Denis Menchov of Russia was third overall. American cycling icon Lance Armstrong raced in his final Tour De France and finished in 23rd place over thirty minutes behind his longtime rival and teammate Contador.

The decisive moment of the final stage-and ultimately the entire Tour De France-came on a steep climb with Luxembourg’s Sheck wearing the yellow jersey denoting the race leader. Sheck’s chain came undone, and Contador took the opportunity to speed by and regain the overall race lead. That violated the ‘gentleman’s code’ of the sport which suggests that other riders shouldn’t take advantage of another’s ‘unlucky breaks’ including mechanical failure. Contador’s opportunism has generated a lot of animosity from cycling fans and-initially at least-Sheck himself. Sheck shook his fist at Contador as he rode away, but was in a more conciliatory mood after the race:  Read more...

The Chicago Bulls didn’t win the big prize in this summer’s free agent sweepstakes, with LeBron James opting to sign with the Miami Heat. They’ve made some nice acquisitions despite that, however, and appear to be on the verge of signing well traveled shooting guard Tracy McGrady. McGrady is very receptive to joining the much improved Bulls, though there are a couple of contingencies that need to be worked out before a deal is finalized.

At this point, the major issues to be worked out before a deal is made concerns McGrady’s health and his role with the team. McGrady played only 30 games with the New York Knicks last season as he recovered from microfracture surgery on his left knee. These issues will be addressed on Monday, with McGrady working out for the team and having a physical examination.  Read more...

Switzerland used a Gelson Fernandez goal in the 52nd minute to shock Spain 1-0 in perhaps the biggest upset of the opening round of World Cup play. Spain entered the competition as one of the favorites to win the entire tournament, but was shut down by a feisty Switzerland defense. Spain controlled possession throughout and outshot their opponents 25-9, but only 5 of their shots were ‘on goal’. It was the 5th consecutive World Cup shutout for the Swiss team, who made it through the entire 2006 World Cup without conceding a goal before being eliminated on penalty kicks in the quarterfinals.

Not surprisingly, the Switzerland victory also produced a hefty soccer betting payday for their financial supporters. The Swiss were a +1100 underdog to take three points from their opening game. Spain had been installed as a -400 favorite, with the odds on the draw priced at +400.

Switzerland employs a ‘bend but don’t break’ defensive style, which allowed Spain to control possession and play but yielded very few significant scoring chances. For the game, Spain held a 74% to 26% time of possession advantage and outshot Switzerland 25-9. More significantly, however, Spain managed only 5 shots on goal. Spain’s passing game was beautiful-they completed 574 passes, which is the most so far in the 2010 tournament. That is small consolation to the Group H favorites who now find themselves without a point after one game.  Read more...

Redshirt freshman quarterback B.J. Daniels threw for three touchdowns and the South Florida Bulls used a tenacious defensive effort to upset visiting West Virginia 30-19 on Friday night. Daniels threw for 232 yards and rushed for 104, compiling more yardage individually than West Virginia amassed as a team. Both teams are now 6-2 on the season.

College football betting aficionados who took the Bulls as +3 home underdogs cashed their tickets with the outright victory. Despite their 6-2 record, West Virginia dropped to 2-5 against the spread in their lined games this season while South Florida evened their college football pointspread record at 3-3 in their lined contests. The 49 combined points barely managed to go OVER the posted total of 47′. Both teams have trended toward the OVER this season, with South Florida going OVER in 4 of 6 lined games and West Virginia OVER in 5 of 7.

Daniels had this rebuke for his team’s doubters after the victory:

“I guess a lot of people doubted us and thought we were going to go down the same patch we did the last two years. That was a lot of garbage that our team didn’t listen to.”  Read more...

USC has won their big game against Ohio State twice in back to back years. Its the next game they have problems with. Last year, USC went on the road and lost to Oregon State immediately after defeating the Buckeyes. This year, it was the Washington Huskies who pulled the upset. The Huskies defense shut down the powerful Trojans offense, and Erik Folk kicked a 22 yard field goal with 3 seconds remaining to give Washington a 16-13 victory in Seattle. U

College football betting enthusiasts who took the Huskies as a whopping +19 home underdog were rewarded with the outright victory. The pointspread triumph also went against Washington’s dismal ATS form in recent years”the Huskies were 8-19 ATS overall and 3-15 ATS in Pac 10 games over the past three seasons. The 29 combined points scored went well UNDER the posted total of 52. USC has now gone UNDER in 20 of their last 28 games overall, as well as 15 of their last 18 conference games.

USC was undone by a rare display of sloppy, undisciplined play much to the chagrin of coach Pete Carroll:  Read more...

In the muddy mess of a rain soaked Churchill Downs, jockey Calvin Borel continued his mastery of the track as he guided Super Saver to victory in the Kentucky Derby. Super Saver had gone off as an 8-1 choice behind 6-1 favorite Looking At Lucky, and Borel took the ‘Run For The Roses’ for the second consecutive year and an unprecedented third time in four years. Borel was aboard 50-1 longshot Mine That Bird in 2009 and rode Street Sense in 2007. In the only Derby Borel didn’t win in the last four years he finished in the money, guiding Denis of Cork to a third place finish in 2008.

Borel became the ninth jockey to win the Kentucky Derby at least three times. Eddie Arcaro and Bill Hartack both won it five times while Bill Shoemaker has won it four times. Angel Cordero Jr., Kent Desormeaux, Gary Stevens, Issac Murphy and Earl Sande are the others to have won three Derbies.

After the race Bob Baffert, who watched race favorite Lookin At Lucky finish sixth, gave Borel his due credit:  Read more...

Philadelphia Phillies’ slugger Ryan Howard has two years remaining on his current contract with the club, but the team had no interest in potentially losing him as a free agent. For that reason, the Phillies have worked out a hefty contract extension with Howard that will pay him an average $25 million a year for the next five years. The 30 year old Howard has played his entire career with the Phillies, leading the team to two consecutive World Series including a victory in 2008.

Howard spoke of his loyalty to the team as a primary reason that he jumped at the deal without hesitation:

“That wasn’t a very hard decision.”

“I tell you what, it’s a great feeling to have that security and know where you’re going to be. I feel what I’ve been doing over the last couple of years, I feel pretty confident that down the road, I’ll be right where I want to be and still doing the same things.”

He then threw in a playful jab at the notoriously demanding Philadelphia fans:

“Hopefully there’s no riots taking place back in Philly.”

Philadelphia’s GM Ruben Amaro, Jr. was also in a jovial mood in announcing the deal:  Read more...