Muddy track no problem for Rachel and Bird

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06/28/2010 - Louisville, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A muddy racetrack at Churchill Downs proved no deterrent Monday morning for two of the best known thoroughbreds in training. Defending Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra and 2009 Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird worked out over an off track at the historic facility.

Rachel Alexandra, with Shaun Bridgmohan in the saddle, had her final workout before being sent to Saratoga by trainer Steve Asmussen. The four-year-old filly covered five-furlongs in 1:03 over sloppy footing. She galloped out six furlongs in 1:17.

"She handles it really well," Asmussen said. "She went good. We've got travel plans this week and want everything to go smoothly."

Asmussen will be sending the champion and others to historic Saratoga on Wednesday. The hot weather in Louisville convinced Asmussen to ship to upstate New York a week early.

"It's time," said Asmussen. "I'll be very happy when she's settled in there and we can get into our routine up there."

Owned by Stonestreet Stables and Harold McCormick, Rachel Alexandra got her win of the year on June 12 with a 10 1/2-length victory in the Fleur de Lis at Churchill Downs. After two second-place finishes to begin 2010 the filly looked like her old self in the 1 1/8-mile stakes.

Later Monday morning, Mine That Bird put in a workout over a muddy Churchill track. The gelding went five-furlongs in a very fast 59 4/5 seconds. This was his final workout before making his 2010 debut.

Calvin Borel, the four-year-old's regular jockey, had Mine That Bird gallop out six-furlongs in 1:14 3/5 with trainer D. Wayne Lukas watching.

"I told Calvin we needed to let him do it with no prompting today, just let him do it on his own," Lukas said. "I told him I'd like to see him finish up and if he'd get it in a minute to 1:01, that would be about right. Once I turned him loose and I rode over by the rail to see how deep it was, I thought 'If he does that, he's going to be really going good'. And then he goes 59- and-four.

"I couldn't be happier. Every step has been right down the line. I like the way that he's changing, mentally and physically. That's the big thing. We know he can run if everything's right. Physically, he's so much stronger, he might be 150 pounds heavier than he was last year. And mentally, he's really getting good."

Overnight rains caused the Churchill track to come sloppy as training began Monday morning. As the day progressed the track condition improved to muddy.

"He's just blossomed out," said Borel. "How good is he? I don't know, but we're going to find out. I think he's a good horse. I don't care what anybody says, he wasn't a fluke."

Mine That Bird, owned by Mark Allen and Dr. Leonard Blach, has not raced since finishing ninth to Zenyatta in the 2009 Breeders' Cup Classic. He could start in one of two races this weekend at Churchill: a 1 1/16-mile allowance race on Saturday or Sunday's $175,000 Firecracker Handicap at a mile on the turf, closing day of Churchill's 42-day Spring Meet.

"We'd like to start him here,' Lukas said. "I used that Firecracker as a back- up. I know he's never been on the turf. I really don't want to ship him. I have the Salvatore Mile (July 3) at Monmouth, but I'd like to just leave him in his own stall and try him. If he gets beat, this first one is a means to an end.

"We'll wait and see how the next two days look. I have no reason to believe he won't bounce back from this work. He does every one of them so easy. He has amazing efficiency of motion. I've had some pretty good horses that I thought could get over the ground. I don't know if any of them got over it lighter than he does."

Last week Lukas indicated that the Whitney Handicap on August 7 at Saratoga is the immediate goal for Mine That Bird.

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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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