Zenyatta versus five in Vanity

Horseracing Betting Lines

06/10/2010 - Inglewood, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Leading Horse of the Year candidate Zenyatta will go after a third straight win in Sunday's $250,000 Vanity Handicap at Hollywood Park. The undefeated mare has five challengers in the 1 1/8-mile race on Hollywood's synthetic track.

Owned by Jerry and Ann Moss, Zenyatta has a record-tying 16 race win streak and can break the tie she has with legendary horses Citation and Cigar. Her career earnings currently stand at more than $5.9 million.

Zenyatta, trained by John Shirreffs, will start from post five with reigning Belmont Stakes winning jockey Mike Smith riding. The six-year-old will carry the same 129 pounds she toted when she won last year's Vanity.

"The weight was pretty much what we were expecting," said Shirreffs, who is seeking his record fifth win in the Vanity. "We're just trying to focus on the Vanity and not on all of her accomplishments.

"Mike Smith is the good guy in all of this. We were really happy celebrating his victory in the Belmont Stakes (with 13-1 longshot Drosselmeyer). Mike is a rider and a horseman, so he is invaluable."

Zenyatta began her 2010 campaign by winning the Santa Margarita Handicap at Santa Anita Park and followed with a 4 1/4-length win as the 1-20 favorite in Oaklawn Park's Apple Blossom Handicap.

The last two years Zenyatta has been voted champion older female and for 2009 finished second for Horse of the Year to Rachel Alexandra. She won the 2008 Breeders' Cup Ladies Classic and last year became the first female to capture the Breeders' Cup Classic.

Shirreffs will also send out Zardana, owned by Arnold Zetcher. The six-year- old mare will be ridden by Victor Espinoza from post three.

Zardana is best known for having defeated Rachel Alexandra in the first running of the New Orleans Ladies Classic in March at the Fair Grounds. Rachel will start in Saturday's Fleur de Lis at Churchill Downs.

In her last start Zardana was a disappointing fifth in the La Troienne at Churchill Downs on April 30. That race was won by Unrivaled Belle with Rachel Alexandra second. Zardana has won eight of 20 lifetime starts for $438,276.

Here is the complete field for the 69th Vanity in post position order: Miss Silver Brook, Joe Talamo; St Trinians, Martin Garcia; Zardana, Victor Espinoza; Will O Way, Tyler Baze; Zenyatta, Mike Smith and Cherryblossommiss, Rafael Bejarano.

Post-time for the Vanity will be 7:40 p.m. (et).

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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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