Lucky Chucky versus nine in $1.5 million Hambletonian

Horseracing Betting Lines

08/04/2010 - East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Champion colt Lucky Chucky will start from post two in Saturday's 85th running of the $1.5 million Hambletonian at The Meadowlands. The one-mile trot is harness racing's premier event.

The Hambletonian is the second leg of trotting's Triple Crown and will have a field of 10 three-year-old trotters. Lucky Chucky, Cassis and Pilgrims Taj each won an elimination race last week.

Lucky Chucky, trained by Chuck Sylvester, is the 5-2 morning-line favorite and will be driven by Hall of Fame member John Campbell. Campbell has won the Hambletonian six previous times, most recently in 2006 with Triple Crown champ Glidemaster.

Co-owned by Sylvester, Lucky Chucky was voted the Dan Patch Award as 2009 champion two-year-old trotting male. Last year he won nine of 12 starts for $667,649. In three starts this year Lucky Chucky has one win and a second for $73,972.

"I like our chances," Sylvester indicated. "He's the first serious contender I've had in a few years."

Sylvester has won the Hambletonian four times -- one shy of the training record shared by Bill Haughton, Stanley Dancer and Ben White. Sylvester and Campbell teamed to win the 1998 Hambletonian with Muscles Yankee and the 1987 edition with Mack Lobell. Sylvester's other victories came with Chip Chip Hooray in 2002 and Park Avenue Joe (in a dead heat with Probe) in 1989.

The first leg of the Triple Crown, the Yonkers Trot, was won by On The Tab.

The final leg is the Kentucky Futurity, which will be held on October 16 at The Red Mile. There have been nine Triple Crown winning trotters, the last being Glidemaster in 2006.

Here is the full field for the Hambletonian in post position order: Cassis, Tim Tetrick, 7-2; Lucky Chucky, John Campbell, 5-2; Pilgrims Taj, Mike Lachance, 9-2; Mystery Photo, Andy Miller, 10-1; Wishing Stone, George Brennan, 12-1; Muscle Massive, Ron Pierce, 8-1; On The Tab, Daniel Dube, 15-1; Hard Livin, Yannick Gingras, 15-1; Temple Of Doom, David Miller, 15-1 and Holiday Road, Brian Sears, 6-1.

The Hambletonian will be televised on NBC and has a scheduled post-time of 3:43 p.m. (et).

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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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