Parx Racing gaining stakes recognition

Horseracing Betting Lines

12/05/2011 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Each year the American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association re-evaluates all the stakes races in the United States with a minimum purse of $75,000. Stakes can be elevated in status, reduced or remain status quo.

Racetracks take great pride in having their stakes races given a graded status. In particular the tracks not considered major venues for racing.

This year the committee gave special recognition to stakes races conducted at Parx Racing in suburban Philadelphia. The former Philadelphia Park, and before that Keystone Race Track, gained several upgrades to their stakes.

For the first time in track history a Grade I race, the highest level stakes, will be held at Parx Racing. The Cotillion Stakes for three-year-old fillies has gained the coveted position as Grade I.

The last three runnings of the Cotillion have featured the best of each year's sophomore fillies. In 2009 Careless Jewel may have been the second best filly behind Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra. Prior to capturing the Cotillion, Careless Jewel won the Delaware Oaks and Alabama.

In 2010 the two best female three-year-olds, Blind Luck and Havre de Grace, hooked up in another edition of their now historic rivalry. Havre de Grace finally got the win over Blind Luck who had defeated the Delaware Park-based filly in the Alabama and Delaware Oaks.

This year's Cotillion showcased two of the top fillies in training. Kentucky Oaks winner Plum Pretty was again facing It's Tricky winner of the Acorn and Coaching Club American Oaks. Trained by Bob Baffert, Plum Pretty avenged the American Oaks loss by crushing It's Tricky by more than seven-lengths.

Joining the Cotillion and the Grade II Pennsylvania Derby on the graded stakes roster at Parx Racing are the Smarty Jones, Greenwood Cup and Dr. James Penny Memorial Handicap, all three being elevated to Grade III.

Another track beaming with pride is Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races in West Virginia. The track's premier race, the $1,000,000 Charles Town Classic, has been moved up to Grade II after just three editions.

"Every member of our team should be proud that their efforts and hard work are resulting in some historic firsts for our track," said Erich Zimny, Director of Racing Operations. "In 18 of the last 19 months, our average daily handle has grown versus the prior year's number and there are more eyes on racing in the eastern panhandle of West Virginia than there ever have been. We could not have accomplished that - or sustain it - without our event days."

Duke of Mischief won this year Classic followed by Santa Anita Handicap champ Game On Dude and Whitney Handicap winner Tizway. Eventual Pacific Classic winner Acclamation finished last in the 10-horse field.

What do each of these two tracks have in common? Casinos.

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Football Betting Sportsbook Accepts Credit Cards

Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.

As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.

Bet 2010 Super Bowl Odds

The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.

Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).

But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.

Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.

Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:

Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1

Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2

New York Giants - 9 - 2

Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).

Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.

So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.

And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.

They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.

Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.

But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.

Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.

Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.

Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.

Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?

Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.

In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.

Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.

Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.

The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.

The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.

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