Big Red Mike captures 151st Queen's Plate

Horseracing Betting Lines

07/04/2010 - Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Big Red Mike, ridden by Eurico Rosa da Silva, went wire-to-wire to claim victory in Sunday's $1 million Queen's Plate at Woodbine Race Course. The 1 1/4-mile race is the beginning of the Canadian Triple Crown.

Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain was in attendance for the 151st Queen's Plate.

A field of 13 Canadian-bred three-year-olds left the starting gate for the top thoroughbred race in the Great White North. Plate Trial runner-up Mobilizer and Woodbine Oaks champ Roan Inish were the 7-2 co-favorites.

Big Red Mike and Hotep were both 5-1 when the gate opened and that's how they ran as the race developed. Big Red Mike set the pace along the inside with Hotep racing second to the outside.

The pair remained in their positions up the backstretch and into the far turn. Making a slight move around the final turn was Mobthewarrior and Roan Irish.

Trained by Nicholas Gonzalez, Big Red Mike still had the lead coming off the turn for home and into the stretch. The chestnut gelding could not be overtaken down the stretch and went on to post a 1 1/4-length win over Hotep with Roan Irish third and Giant's Tomb rallying to finish fourth.

Rounding out the order of finish was Mobthewarrior, Dark Cloud Dancer, Smart Sky, Moment of Majesty, Who We Gunna Call, Mobilizer, Ghost Fleet, Vicar Street and D's Wando.

The time for the Queen's Plate was 2:04.89 on Woodbine's synthetic surface.

The victory was worth $600,000 for owner Terra Racing Stable and gave da Silva his second straight win in the Queen's Plate. Last year he won aboard Eye of the Leopard.

Big Red Mike was coming off a win in the Plate Trial on June 13. In that contest he also set the pace and was able to re-rally for the victory. The gelding has now won three of six career starts for $761,101, all at Woodbine.

"The thing that impressed me the most was when he got engaged, carrying 126 pounds and first time going that far. I was very proud of him that he dug in the way he did. He beat some good horses," said Gonzalez about the Plate Trial win. "The horse is a fighter. He's won on the inside before. He's fought some tough hard races on the outside. He's just that kind of horse where the competition is good for him."

This was the first Queen's Plate win for both the owner and trainer.

Big Red Mike returned $12.00, $6.30 and $4.40. Hotep, the 3-1 morning-line favorite, paid $6.90 and $4.70, and Roan Inish paid $4.30 to show.

The Triple Crown will continue with the Prince of Wales Stakes on Sunday, July 25 at Fort Erie Racetrack and the Breeders' Stakes on Sunday, August 15 back at Woodbine.

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Numerous College Basketball teams take final big step to March Madness betting

So, what turned on the lock spigot? Well, after what felt like weeks of teams treading water and slipping back into the bubble muck, a bunch of them finally decided to say "to heck with parity" and won games that should put them into the Big Dance.

Disagree with some of these? Then here's the challenge. Take all of the "should be ins" and make a legit case that each should be ahead of the team that's a lock. Then find 10 more teams that also should be placed in the bracket ahead of that lock team. Not so easy, is it?

If you want more evidence that these locks should be good to go, check out what our research department dug up. Since the NCAA Tournament went to 64 teams in 1985, only six teams from a "big six" conference have had a record of 10-6 or better in conference play and not been selected: Colorado (2004) and Nebraska (1999) from the Big 12, Boston College and Seton Hall (both 2003) from the Big East, Indiana (2005) from the Big Ten and UCLA, which somehow went 12-6 in the Pac-10 in 1988 and still missed out. (Note: Five teams went 11-7 and didn't get in, the latest being last season's Stanford team, which had a brutal nonconference run.)

Yes, 10 conference wins doesn't always mean what it used to because of unbalanced schedules, but this season, it should be plenty good in all but the extreme cases (see: Iowa).

In a way, this is a welcome development, because this is a bubble watch, not a lock watch. We can finally be done with teams like Maryland and Virginia Tech and start really bearing down on at-large battles such as Syracuse-West Virginia and Appalachian State-Georgia Tech.

Interestingly, all the shifting of teams into lock status appears to be more administrative than impactful. The number of remaining available at-larges didn't change one iota. The only difference is that teams on the bubble now have a clearer idea of which team(s) they are competing with for those precious bids.

The Bubble Breakdown
CONFERENCE LOCKS SHOULD BE INS AT-LARGES TAKEN
(assuming no auto bid outlier)
ACC Betting Odds 6 0 5
Big East Betting Odds 5 0 4
Big Ten Betting Odds 2 2 3
Big 12 Betting Odds 3 0 2
Pac-10 Betting Odds 5 1 5
SEC Betting Odds 4 0 3
MVC Betting Odds 1 1 1
MWC Betting Odds 2 1 2
TOTAL 28 5 25

As always, I've tried to be as inclusive as possible while only including teams that would have a reasonable chance of at least being discussed if this were Selection Sunday. If your team's not on here, there's probably a good reason (or three) -- start with the RPI and SOS numbers and work your way down.

(Please remember, per selection committee criteria, that records displayed are Division I only. Next update: Feb. 28)

If you have a legitimate grievance, or just like talking bubble, send an e-mail. Polite ones with fact-based arguments have a much better chance of receiving a response. I apologize in advance if I can't get back to all of you.

Atlantic Coast Conference

Work left to do: Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech

The ACC moves to six locks as BC, Va Tech and Virginia all got their 10th ACC wins, which should be more than enough this season, and Maryland rallied past North Carolina to get the final piece the Terps needed. After that? It could end there unless FSU, Ga Tech or Clemson picks things up in a hurry.

 

Work left to do:

Clemson [19-9 (5-9), RPI: 41, SOS: 42] The Tigers are closer to locking up the collapse of the year award (in a good battle with OK State) than they are to grabbing an at-large. Clemson's been very competitive, but there's no really positive way you can spin nine losses in 11 games. They now cannot get to .500 in ACC play and still must head to Virginia Tech in the season finale (after hosting Miami). Unless the Tigers win both and/or do some serious work in the ACC tourney, they very well could be left out. There are no great nonconference wins, but ODU, App State, Miss. State, South Carolina and Georgia are all respectable W's.

Florida State [18-11 (6-9), RPI: 48, SOS: 14] The Noles got thrashed at Maryland to run their losing streak to five, but then pounded NC State at home to set the table for what likely is an elimination game at Miami. You can at least make a case for the Seminoles at 7-9 in ACC play (and some work in the ACC tourney), but 6-10 is not going to cut it. Wins at Duke and over Florida will resonate, but the computer numbers remain questionable. Beyond Florida, FSU thrashed bubble buddy Providence, but there's not a ton beyond those two games that will help. They didn't show well in big-time opportunities against Pitt and Wisconsin (before the Florida win).

Georgia Tech [18-10 (6-8), RPI: 51, SOS: 46] The Jackets beat Wake on Wednesday but couldn't get it done at UVa on Saturday, which could be a crucial loss with UNC and BC (both at home) remaining and 8-8 almost a certain need for at-large consideration. A nonconference win over Memphis helps, but the RPI and SOS are not at-large quality right now; if you combine those with a sub-.500 ACC mark, that could spell NIT for GT.

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