George Steinbrenner's best chance in Kentucky Derby

Horseracing Betting Lines

07/13/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tuesday the sports world lost one of its most recognizable figures when a heart attack claimed the life of George Steinbrenner. The owner of the New York Yankees passed away at the age of 80.

While best known as the owner of the Bronx Bombers, the Ohio-native was very much involved in thoroughbred racing. He raced under the name of Kinsman Stable and bred horses at Kinsman Farm in central Florida.

"The thoroughbred racing world joins the rest of the sporting community in mourning the death of George Steinbrenner," said Alex Waldrop, President and CEO of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association. "He was a devoted owner and breeder and philanthropist for more than 40 years, and his Kinsman Farm near Ocala, FL, produced numerous stakes winners. His many contributions to our sport are greatly appreciated, and he will be sorely missed."

Steinbrenner never won a Triple Crown race, though he had serious contenders for the Run for the Roses. In 2005 he even had the post-time favorite for the 1 1/4-mile race at Churchill Downs.

Bellamy Road, a colt purchased by Steinbrenner, had won the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct prior to starting in the Kentucky Derby. The three-year-old was made the 5-2 favorite for the race over Arkansas Derby champ Afleet Alex, Santa Anita Derby winner Buzzards Bay and Blue Grass Stakes champ Bandini.

Ridden by Javier Castellano, Bellamy Road sat third at the start behind pacesetters Spanish Chestnut and Going Wild. Coming off the final turn, Steinbrenner's colt was second, only a head in back of stablemate High Fly.

But Bellamy Road picked the wrong year to challenge for the lead in the Kentucky Derby. The fast pace (the first six furlongs went in 1:09 2/5) took its toll on the front-runners and a pair of longshots Giacomo (50-1) and Closing Argument (71-1) came charging down the stretch to finish first and second, respectively.

Steinbrenner's horse couldn't keep up and faded to seventh in the 20-horse field. Bellamy Road was one of six Kentucky Derby starters that Mr. Steinbrenner had.

Bellamy Road was not entered in the remaining two Triple Crown races, but he came back to finish second to Flower Alley in the Travers as the 2-1 second choice.

In his career Bellamy Road won four of seven starts with one second-place finish and banked $811,400.

"The two best horses I ever trained,' said Nick Zito, "were Unbridled's Song and Bellamy Road."

Along with his involvement with Major League Baseball and thoroughbred racing, Steinbrenner was a benefactor of the Penn Relays track and field carnival. His father, running for MIT, was the 1927 high hurdles champion at the Franklin Field event. George was a hurdler at Williams College and the Lockbourne Air Base.

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Oddsmakers at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com currently have the Chiefs listed as 7-point favorites versus the 49ers.

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Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

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