Betting Odds - Graffiti - Podcast

New Kent, VA - Saturday’s 10th edition of the $1 million Virginia Derby has attracted a field of 10 grass-running three-year-olds at Colonial Downs. The last three renewals have been won by some of the best of their generation.

Louisiana Derby winner Circular Quay is the 5-2 morning-line favorite as he makes his turf debut for trainer Todd Pletcher. His two major opponents are Colonial Cup champ Summer Doldrums and Strike a Deal, the runner-up in that race.

Circular Quay is making his first start since finishing fifth in the Preakness Stakes after being sixth in the Kentucky Derby. For the Virginia Derby the chestnut colt will start from post four with Garrett Gomez returning to ride.

Owned by Michael and Doreen Tabor, Circular Quay has won four of nine career starts for better than $1.1 million. Earlier this year he was fifth in the Risen Star Stakes when forced to change course to avoid a mishap. Last year he was second to Street Sense in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile as the 3-1 favorite.

Summer Doldrums, 7-2 in the program, posted a head victory over Strike a Deal in last month’s Colonial Cup. Owned by Klavarich Stables and William Lawrence, the colt will break from post nine with Jose Lezcano in the saddle.

Trained by Richard Violette, Summer Doldrums has won four of 10 lifetime starts for $631,716. At Aqueduct this year he won the Whirlaway Stakes followed by a third in the Gotham and a fourth in the Wood Memorial.

The 3-1 second pick in the program is Strike a Deal. The bay colt will be ridden by red-hot jockey Ramon Dominguez from post two. Dominguez captured the Delaware Handicap last Sunday.

Strike a Deal is owned by Jayeff B Stables and trained by Alan Goldberg. This year he won the Straight Deal Stakes at Belmont Park. The three-year-old has all three career wins on the turf along with two second place finishes. His career earnings stand at $289,765 in six starts.

Completing the field for the 1 1/4 mile Virginia Derby are Blazing Dynamo, Red Giant, Inca King, Soldier’s Dancer, Duveen, Love Dubai and Top Cross.

CBS Sports will broadcast the Virginia Derby which has a scheduled post-time of 5:44 p.m. (et).

In 2004 Kitten’s Joy won this race on his way to being voted champion male turf runner. The following year English Channel won the Virginia Derby, the last two years he has won the United Nations Handicap. Last year, Go Between established a course record of 1:59.74 in winning the race.

Richmond, VA - Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick is expected to appear in federal court next Thursday for a bond hearing and arraignment on felony charges relating to illegal dogfighting.

Vick and three others were indicted by a federal grand jury on Tuesday and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia has scheduled a bond hearing for Thursday, July 26 at 3:30 p.m. (et). Arraignment is expected to follow at 4:00 p.m. (et).

The court date coincides with the first day of training camp for the Falcons in Flowery Branch, Georgia.

Vick and the three other men have been indicted for conspiracy to travel in interstate commerce in aid of unlawful activities and to sponsor a dog in an animal fighting venture.

If convicted of the travel part of the conspiracy charge, it carries with it a statutory maximum of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and full restitution. If convicted on the dog fighting charge, the defendants could face either one year in prison, a $100,000 fine or both.

According to the indictment, the defendants were involved in an ongoing animal fighting business based out of Vick’s property located in Smithfield, Virginia from early 2001 through sometime in April of this year. Since Vick purchased the property in June 2001, the defendants formed a dog fighting enterprise known as “Bad Newz Kennels” and used the property for housing and training pit bulls used in dog fights. From at least 2002, the defendants and others sponsored dog fights on the property and brought dogs from several states to participate in the events. During the fights, the participants would place bets ranging from the hundreds to thousands of dollars. The fights would last until either the death or surrender of the losing dog, which would then sometimes be put to death by drowning, hanging, gunshot, electrocution or other methods.

Also, the indictment said the defendants participated in dog fights in North and South Carolina, Maryland, New Jersey and elsewhere in Virginia.

The dogfighting affair was first brought to light when Vick’s home was raided on April 26 when authorities seized 54 dogs, along with several other pieces of equipment associated in dogfighting.

The property was again searched on June 7 by federal officials, who uncovered the graves of several pit bulls on the property.

Vick denied any involvement in dogfighting conducted on his property when the case first broke, and has blamed family members for taking advantage of his generosity.

The indictment could affect Vick’s playing status for the upcoming season under the guidelines of the NFL’s new player conduct policy.

Washington, DC - The Washington Capitals and captain Chris Clark agreed to a three-year contract extension on Wednesday that will keep the right wing with the team through the 2010-11 season.

Clark signed a two-year extension at the end of the 2005-06 season and was named the 13th captain in franchise history prior to last year. The 31-year- old Connecticut native had the best season of his career in 2006-07, recording 30 goals and 24 assist in 74 games.

Acquired from Calgary before the 2005-06 season, Clark has posted 50 goals and 43 assists in two seasons with Washington. In seven NHL seasons, Clark has registered 85 goals, 79 assists and 539 penalty minutes in 430 career games with the Flames and Capitals.

Chicago, IL - The Chicago Bulls officially re-signed forward Andres Nocioni to a multi-year extension Wednesday and signed forward Joe Smith to a contract.

Per club policy, terms on the contracts were not released.

Nocioni, a 6-foot-7 native of Argentina, averaged a career-high 14.1 points and 5.7 rebounds last year with the Bulls. In three seasons with Chicago, Nocioni has averaged 11.5 points and 5.5 rebounds.

“We are very happy to have Andres remain a member of our organization,” said Bulls Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations John Paxson. “During his three seasons with us, he has played a key role to help change the culture of our team.

“His passion and energy for the game of basketball are second to none, and he has been a key member of our team because of that.”

Thought to be the top free-agent priority of the Bulls this off-season, Smith averaged 8.5 points and 6.2 rebounds per game in 2006-07, splitting time between the Denver Nuggets and Philadelphia 76ers.

“(Smith) is a proven veteran, whose style of play matches ours,” said Paxson. “We look for him to come in and play his game, and at the same time, help our team improve upon last season.”

The 12-year pro has career averages of 12.1 points and 7.0 rebounds per game.

Chicago, IL - Catcher Koyie Hill drove in a career-high five runs on a pair of doubles as the Chicago Cubs routed the punchless San Francisco Giants, 12-1, in the third contest of a four-game set at Wrigley Field.

Jacque Jones added a two-run single and scored a pair of runs for the Cubs, who have won five of their last six games and are 10-4 in the month of July. Mike Fontenot and Cliff Floyd each knocked in a run and scored twice for Chicago.

Carlos Zambrano (12-7) worked five scoreless innings and allowed just two hits, with a pair of walks and three strikeouts. He has five victories to just one loss over his last six starts and with the effort, became the National League’s first 12-game winner.

“The highest pitch counts of the year he’s had here,” said Cubs manager Lou Piniella, talking about Zambrano’s early exit. “The weather was just really hot (and Zambrano had complained of a heat-related headache). It was a perfect time to get him out of there.”

Barry Bonds was not in the starting lineup for the third straight game for the Giants. It’s the first time he’s missed three starts in row since sitting out five straight last season.

Bonds, who made a pinch-hit appearance in Tuesday’s game, is hitless in 21 straight at-bats, just two shy of his career-worst 0-for-23 stretch set during his rookie season in 1986. Bonds also hasn’t homered since July 3 at Cincinnati and remains stuck at 751 career home runs, four shy of Hank Aaron’s all-time mark.

Matt Cain (3-11) tossed four-plus innings, allowing six runs on just four hits. The struggling right-hander walked five, fanned three and tossed 92 pitches, just 52 for strikes.

Ray Durham scored the lone run for San Francisco, which has dropped five of its last six games.

Chicago didn’t have a hit until the fourth inning, when a two-out single by Floyd opened the floodgates. Mark DeRosa punched a hit through the left side, Fontenot walked and Jones ripped a line drive off the glove of second baseman Ray Durham, scoring two runs. Hill’s double then chased home two more, boosting the Cubs to a 4-0 lead.

The club followed with a five-spot in the fifth. Alfonso Soriano drew a lead- off walk, then ended up at third on a pair of wild pitches from Cain, who also issued a free pass to Ryan Theriot.

Left-hander Patrick Misch took over for Cain, and a passed ball scored Soriano, while moving Theriot to second. Two batters later, Floyd’s double plated Theriot. DeRosa then fanned for the second out, but after back-to- back walks loaded the bases, Hill cleared them with a double off the wall in center to give Chicago a 9-0 cushion.

“I always felt good,” said Hill, who also drew two walks in the contest. “I go out there and work with (hitting coach) Gerald Perry, and I try to focus on each at-bat.”

Angel Pagan added an RBI double in the eighth, before a run-scoring single by DeRosa and a sacrifice fly by Fontenot made it 12-0.

Durham scored on an error in the ninth to break up the shutout.

Game Notes

Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee dropped his appeal and began serving a five-game suspension Wednesday for his role in a June 16 brawl with the San Diego Padres…Cain has just one win in his last 11 starts…Giants catcher Guillermo Rodriguez left the game with dehydration and heat illness in the fifth inning…Chicago third baseman Aramis Ramirez took a scheduled day off, while Floyd returned after missing three games with a sore left shoulder.

Los Angeles, CA - Andre Ethier hit a three-run home run and Luis Gonzalez’s solo blast in the sixth inning gave Los Angeles the lead for good, as the Dodgers held on to beat Philadelphia, 5-4, in the rubber match of a three-game set.

Wilson Betemit went 2-for-4 with a run scored and Juan Pierre singled in the first inning to extend his hitting streak to 11-games for the Dodgers, who have won six of seven.

Los Angeles starter Chad Billingsley pitched five unspectacular innings. The right-hander gave up seven hits and four runs with four strikeouts and four walks.

The Dodgers’ bullpen picked up the slack for Billingsley with four shutout innings. Rudy Seanez (6-1) pitched a scoreless sixth inning to pick up the win and Takashi Saito working around trouble in the ninth to record his career- high 25th save of the season.

Ryan Howard homered for the third time in his last two games, going 2-for-3 with three runs scored for the Phillies, who have dropped three of their last four.

Rookie Kyle Kendrick (4-1) suffered the first loss of his young career after giving up five runs on seven hits through 5 1/3 innings.

With the score knotted at 4-4 in the sixth, Gonzalez led off the inning and connected on a 2-1 offering from Kendrick for his 11th home run of the year to give LA the lead.

“I tried to be more aggressive in my first two at-bats, but it didn’t work,” said Gonzalez. “I changed my approach in my third at-bat and worked the count. I got a breaking ball up. As bad as yesterday was (a 15-3 loss), we still won the series.”

Greg Dobbs hit a one-out, pinch-hit single in the ninth and pinch-runner Michael Bourn reached second on a miscommunication between Saito and Dodgers catcher Russell Martin.

However, Saito retired both Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino to preserve the win.

Rollins, Victorino and Chase Utley — Philadelphia’s 1-2-3 hitters — combined to go 0-for-13.

LA grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first inning on three straight singles by Rafael Furcal, Pierre and Martin.

Howard led off the second with his 25th home run of the season to tie the game. Pat Burrell then doubled with one out and eventually scored on Carlos Ruiz’s double to left field to give Philadelphia a 2-1 lead.

Howard walked with two outs in the third and scored on Aaron Rowand’s double to make it 3-1.

Ethier answered with a three-run blast in the fourth to put the Dodgers back in front. Betemit and James Loney hit back-to-back one-out singles before Ethier slammed a 1-2 pitch over the wall in right-center field.

“After getting ahead of me, (Kendrick) left a fastball over the plate,” said Ethier. “I’m just trying to earn a job here and help the team to win.”

The Phils tied it in the fifth. Howard singled with two outs, Rowand walked and Burrell’s single to center made it 4-4.

Game Notes

Before the game, the Dodgers recalled veteran relief pitcher Roberto Hernandez from Triple-A Las Vegas and optioned infielder Tony Abreu to the same club…Joe Beimel and Jonathan Broxton each pitched a scoreless inning of relief for LA.

Oakland, CA - Bobby Crosby homered and drove in two runs as Oakland topped Texas, 6-0, in the finale of a three-game set from McAfee Coliseum.

Mark Ellis was 2-for-3 with a run scored for the Athletics, who snapped a nine-game losing streak by salvaging a game in the series. Marco Scutaro, Mark Kotsay, Travis Buck and Shannon Stewart knocked in a run each.

Lenny DiNardo (4-6) scattered three hits over seven shutout innings, needing only 84 pitches to complete his longest outing of the season.

“It was a solid all around baseball game today,” said A’s manager Bob Geren. “Lenny pitched really well, and it was a good offensive day for us as well. It was a needed win for the team. I couldn’t be happier with the entire performance.”

Kevin Millwood (6-8) allowed three hits and four runs — one earned — over six innings, with four strikeouts and three walks. Brad Wilkerson and Travis Metcalf doubled for the Rangers, whose three-game win streak was halted.

Oakland got all the support they needed for DiNardo with four runs in the second. Nick Swisher led off with a walk and advanced on Ellis’ base hit. Kotsay reached to load the bases on Millwood’s bad throw to second on a potential double-play ball, then Scutaro’s RBI single and Crosby’s bases- loaded walk made it 2-0. After Kurt Suzuki struck out, Buck’s sac fly and Stewart’s single pushed the lead to 4-0.

“I tell you, if we make that double play, instead of the score being 4-0 after that inning was over it probably would have been 2-0,” noted Rangers manager Ron Washington. “We still felt good about the game. Even after that inning, (Millwood) threw up five zeros its just that their pitcher threw up seven.”

Crosby’s eighth homer of the season, a lead-off shot, put Oakland up 5-0 in the seventh off Willie Eyre, and a Kotsay fielder’s choice ground out in the eighth made it 6-0.

Game Notes

Texas has won five of the nine meetings this season with Oakland…The nine- game slide was the A’s longest since 1998…Catcher Adam Melhuse, traded from Oakland to Texas on June 9, got the start for the Rangers and went 0- for-3…Oakland hosts Baltimore for a three-game series on Friday, while Texas returns home to welcome Cleveland for a four-game set on Friday.

New York, NY - Major League Baseball fined Detroit Tigers designated hitter/outfielder Gary Sheffield an undisclosed amount for his recent remarks regarding umpires.

Sheffield had a suspension reduced to two games for his actions in an 11-5 loss to Cleveland on May 31st. Home plate umpire Greg Gibson gave Sheffield the boot when the DH broke his bat on a groundout, tossing its remains to the ground in Gibson’s direction one pitch after arguing a called strike from Indians starter C.C. Sabathia.

Sheffield, partly down the first-base line already, got tossed, then ran back toward the umpire. Detroit manager Jim Leyland and catcher Ivan Rodriguez left the dugout to restrain Sheffield, who displayed his displeasure by poking a finger and yelling at Gibson, at which point coaches Gene Lamont and Andy Van Slyke also came out to help escort the irate Sheffield off the field.

Sheffield later called the umpiring system “corrupt” and commissioner Bud Selig responded on Wednesday with the fine.

“Our highly professional umpires protect the integrity of the game on the field. Attacks on their professionalism and character will not be tolerated,” Selig said.

Milwaukee, WI - Mark Reynolds hit a three-run homer with two outs in the eighth to lift the Arizona Diamondbacks over the Milwaukee Brewers, 5-2, in the third installment of a four-game series at Miller Park.

Scott Hairston and Chris Snyder added an RBI each for Arizona, which snapped a three-game losing streak. Former Brewer Doug Davis pitched six quality innings, allowing two runs on three hits. Tony Pena (4-2) got the win after two innings of one-hit ball, while Jose Valverde struck out the side in the ninth to record his career-best 28th save.

Kevin Mench hit a two-run home run for the Brewers, who had a four-game winning streak halted. Chris Capuano got the start and allowed two runs over seven frames. Grant Balfour (0-1) made his Brewers debut and first major- league appearance since 2004, and surrendered the homer to take the loss.

With the game knotted at 2-2 in the eighth, Balfour hit Eric Byrnes with a pitch with two outs to keep the inning alive. Byrnes swiped second before Conor Jackson walked, setting the stage for Reynolds.

Reynolds turned on Balfour’s fastball and launched it well over the wall in left-center to put his team up 5-2.

Pena and Valverde shut the door from there to keep the Arizona lead intact.

Arizona opened up the scoring in the fourth with a pair of runs. With runners on first and second and two out, Hairston singled to center to score Byrnes. Snyder stepped in next and hit a single of his own to plate Reynolds for a 2-0 lead.

The Brewers stormed right back with two runs of their own to tie the game. That was all courtesy of Mench, who belted a homer to left with a man on and one out.

Game Notes

With a Cubs win earlier in the day, Milwaukee’s lead in the NL Central was sliced to 3 1/2 games…Capuano hasn’t won since hurling eight shutout innings against Washington at Miller Park on May 7. In his previous nine trips to the mound prior to Wednesday, he went 0-6 with a 7.74 earned run average…Milwaukee and Arizona are meeting for the first time since splitting six games last season…Arizona lost their previous seven road games.

Minneapolis, MN - Magglio Ordonez continued his hot hitting against Johan Santana, getting two hits, and driving in three runs off the Twins lefty, as the Tigers edged Minnesota, 3-2, at the Metrodome.

Ordonez entered the game hitting .400 against Santana, and he continued that torrid pace with a two-run double in the fourth and a homer in the sixth. Ordonez has five homers and 17 RBI in his career against Santana.

Andrew Miller (5-3) allowed four hits and a run over five innings to get the win for the AL Central-leading Tigers, who have captured three in a row and nine of 11 games. The Tigers are 16-4 in their last 20 road contests.

Michael Cuddyer went 4-for-4 for the Twins, who suffered a pair of injuries. Center fielder Torii Hunter, who celebrated his 32nd birthday on Wednesday, suffered a mild left hamstring strain. Catcher Mike Redmond was hit by a pitch on his left hand from Chad Durbin in the seventh inning.

Luis Castillo and Justin Morneau drove in runs for Minnesota, which faltered by going 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position and left 14 men on base.

Santana (11-7) was charged with five hits and three runs and he fanned seven over eight innings to have his five-start winning streak broken.

In the seventh inning, Redmond was hit in a pinch-hitting role to load the bases with one out. However, Jeff Cirillo fouled out and Lew Ford flied out, as the Tigers kept their 3-2 lead.

Cuddyer singled off Todd Jones to begin the ninth, but Detroit’s closer came back by retiring the next three hitters for his 25th save.

Ryan Raburn doubled and Placido Polanco singled to start the Detroit fourth. One out later, Ordonez doubled to the gap in left-center field.

Hunter beat out a potential double-play grounder in the fourth inning, but was then removed from the game. The injury isn’t considered serious, as his status is day-to-day.

Morneau was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to force in Minnesota’s first run in the fifth, but Jason Kubel then struck out to end the inning.

Ordonez homered to center with two down in the sixth before the Twins got within a run in the bottom half when Cirillo scored on Castillo’s groundout. However, the Twins left the potential tying run at third when Jason Bartlett flied out.

Game Notes

Detroit’s Marcus Thames left the game in the top of the ninth inning due to a left leg injury…The Tigers have beaten the Twins three straight times…Jeremy Bonderman (10-1) pitches for the Tigers on Thursday afternoon, while Scott Baker (4-3) goes for the Twins in the finale of the three-game series…Santana, who fell to 11-4 lifetime against the Tigers, threw a season-high 118 pitches, including 35 in the fourth inning.