Creative Cause heads San Vicente Stakes

Horseracing Betting Lines

02/16/2012 - Arcadia, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Creative Cause, third in last year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile, heads a field of six in Sunday's $150,000 San Vicente Stakes for three-year-olds at Santa Anita Park. The seven-furlong sprint marks the 2012 debut for the gray colt.

Trained by Mike Harrington, Creative Cause will be ridden by Joel Rosario from post two. The colt is owned by Heinz Steinmann and is a son of top sire Giant's Causeway.

"It looks like he could be a little fresh coming off a layoff, but he's a great horse and I love to ride him," Rosario noted. "His Breeders' Cup race was a good one. I was impressed with it. Maybe he's the right horse for the Derby, who knows?"

Creative Cause is the winner of three of five career starts highlighted by victories in the Best Pal Stakes at Del Mar and the Norfolk at Santa Anita. He has banked $521,000.

Norfolk Stakes runner-up Drill will break from Creative Cause's immediate outside with Martin Garcia riding for trainer Bob Baffert. The colt is another Baffert-trainee owned by Karl Watson, Paul Weitmann and Mike Pegram. Baffert sent out The Factor to win last year's San Vicente.

Drill will be making his second start of the year, coming off a fifth-place result as the 8-5 favorite in last month's San Pedro at Santa Anita. After winning in his second career start, the colt captured the Del Mar Futurity.

The son of Lawyer Ron was 10th in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile and again failed as the favorite in the Delta Downs Jackpot two weeks later. In December he was a disappointing ninth in the CashCall Futurity at Hollywood Park.

Drill has the second most earnings behind Creative Cause in the race at $249,710 with eight career starts.

Here is the full field from the rail out: Let's Get Crackin, Victor Espinoza; Creative Cause, Joel Rosario; Drill, Martin Garcia; Smoking G, Corey Nakatani; American Act, Martin Pedroza and Captain Obvious, Mario Gutierrez.

Post-time for the San Vicente is set for 6:36 p.m. (et).

Sidney's Candy won the race two years ago prior to capturing the Santa Anita Derby.

Footvall Horseracing Betting News

<< Oilers, Ducks swap players
Edmonton, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Edmonton Oilers acquired defenseman Bryan Rodney from the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for center Ryan O'Marra. The 27-year-old Rodney has five goals and 15 assists in 41 games with the Syracuse Crunch

<< Berdych, del Potro land in Rotterdam quarters
Rotterdam, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former Wimbledon runner-up Tomas Berdych and former U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro reached the quarterfinals at the $1.6 million ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament. The second-seeded Ber

<< MLS signs U.S. striker Johnson
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - U.S. national team striker Eddie Johnson will return to MLS this season, it was revealed Thursday. It will take one more day to determine which team he will play for, however. The 27-year-old Johnson, who le

<< Saint Francis names Benzel co-defensive coordinator
Loretto, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former Robert Morris assistant football coach Scott Benzel was named co-defensive coordinator and assistant head coach at Saint Francis on Thursday. Benzel has spent the last nine seasons at Robert Morris, incl

<< Erakovic, Dulko exit Bogota
Bogota, Colombia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded Marina Erakovic of New Zealand and 2009 runner-up Gisela Dulko were a pair of second-round upset victims Thursday at the $220,000 Copa BBVA Colsanitas tennis tournament. Romanian Edi

Broncos sign WR Hill >>
Englewood, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Denver Broncos on Thursday signed free- agent wide receiver Jason Hill. Hill recorded a career-best 367 receiving yards and three touchdowns on 25 catches last season with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Aguero rescues City in Europa League >>
Porto, Portugal (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sergio Aguero scored in the 83rd minute and Manchester City edged FC Porto, 2-1, in the first match of their Europa League round of 32 series Thursday. Silvestre Varela gave defending Europa League champion

Gary Carter passes away >>
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hall of Fame catcher Gary "Kid" Carter died Thursday. He was 57 years old. More to follow...

Rapids acquire Argentinean midfielder Rivero >>
Commerce City, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Rapids acquired Argentinean midfielder Martin Rivero on loan Thursday from Argentina's Rosario Central. The 22-year-old Rivero debuted for Rosario Central at the age of 18, and made 30 app

Alouettes sign LB Davis >>
Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Montreal Alouettes signed linebacker Rod Davis to a two-year contract on Thursday. Davis, who became a free agent on Wednesday, led the Edmonton Eskimos with 79 tackles last season. He also recorded fiv

Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

For more March Madness odds go to MySportsbook.com

For more College Basketball betting lines go to BettingExpress.com

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.