Santa Anita Handicap goes to Heatseeker

Horseracing Betting Lines

03/01/2008 - Arcadia, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Heatseeker, ridden by Rafael Bejarano, held off a late running Go Between to capture Saturday's 71st running of the $1 million Santa Anita Handicap. The time for the 1 1/4 miles was 2:00.42.

Strub Stakes winner Monterey Jazz took the lead shortly after the start and proceeded to open a seven length lead on the field entering the backstretch. Running second was Air Commander followed by Student Council and Heatseeker in the 14 horse field.

Around the final turn Monterey Jazz, under jockey Russell Baze, began to tire but still had the lead coming off the turn. Heatseeker found running room down the middle of the track as Go Between and rider Garrett Gomez began their run.

Heatseeker took the lead with a furlong to go as Go Between cut into his margin. At the wire, Heatseeker prevailed by a neck over the late running Go Between with Champs Elysees finishing third.

"I was in great position all the way", said Bejarano.

Rounding out the order of finish for the Big 'Cap was Tiago, Zappa, Student Council, Awesome Gem, Great Hunter, Air Commander, Big Booster, Seminole Native, Monterey Jazz, Medici Code and Celtic Dreamin.

Heatseeker is the first horse other than Lava Man to win the Big 'Cap in three years. Owned by William Deburgh, Heatseeker collects $600,000 with the victory and now has $927,776 in earnings. He has won six of 15 lifetime starts, including the Native Diver at Hollywood Park last December.

Jerry Hollendorfer trains the five-year-old who was second last month in the San Antonio Handicap to Well Armed. In January of this year he was third to Zappa in the San Pasqual Handicap.

Heatseeker returned $16.00, $7.00 and $4.80. Go Between paid $7.00 and $5.20, Champs Elysees paid $7.80 to show.

Lava Man, winner of the Santa Anita Handicap in 2006 and 2007, is nearing his first workout at his Hollywood Park headquarters after several months off.

"He's doing great," said Dennis O'Neill, brother and associate of trainer Doug O'Neill. "I think he's scheduled to work in about two weeks, but he's doing absolutely fantastic. His weight is good and his coat looks really good."

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American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout

An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.

Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off.  Randy was not impressed though.  Paula thought he started off fantastic.  "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either. 

Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed.  Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact.  He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition. 

Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula.  Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.

Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next.  Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential.  Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell.  He sang "Careless Whisper".

22 year old Chris Richardson was up next.  He was listed with +1100 odds coming in.  He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great. 

Nick was boring and pitchy.  Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week.  Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition. 

Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds .  These of course were the early odds.  He was considered original for picking an "odd song".  He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night. 

Sanjaya came in as the second biggest favorite after Chris Sligh but his performance Tuesday night was not very good. 

Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds.  Great voice and a great sense of humor.  He's a real standout.  Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit.  Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig". 

Jared Cotter followed.  He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition.  The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good. 

22-year old AJ Talbado, who has tried out for American Idol five times, was up next.  "Kind of a theme park performance" said Simon.  Though the judges felt he performed okay.  Simon did feel AJ might be better than he originally thought.

Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition.  He was the last to perform.  He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start. 

Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys.  Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.

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