Sportswriter captures North America Cup at Mohawk

Horseracing Betting Lines

06/26/2010 - Campbellville, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dan Patch Award winner Sportswriter led most of the way and was able to hold on to win Saturday's $1.5 million North America Cup at Mohawk Raceway. The three-year-old pacer covered the mile in 1:48 3/5.

Driven by Mark MacDonald, Sportswriter took the lead around the first turn and set the pace up the backstretch. Racing in second was Kyle Major with We Will See in third and Fred and Ginger fourth in the 10-horse field.

Last year's two-year-old pacing colt champion took the field into the far turn as Fred and Ginger made a move into second with Kyle Major in third and 2-1 favorite Rock N Roll Heaven advancing into fourth.

Trained by Casie Coleman, Sportswriter had the lead coming off the final turn and into the stretch. We Will See, driven by Brett Miller, came charging along the rail to challenge the leader.

Sportswriter held off We Will See down the stretch to post a one-length victory in the year's first major harness race. Finishing third was 95-1 longshot Piece Of The Rock followed by Rock N Roll Heaven, Delmarvalous, Fred and Ginger, One More Laugh, Kyle Major, Art Professor and All Speed Hanover.

Sportswriter, owned by Steve Calhoun, West Wins Stable and Southwind Farm, notched his first win of the season, picking up $750,000 for the effort. After winning seven of eight races in 2009, the pacer has earned $1,645,411 in his career with eight wins in 12 lifetime starts.

Earlier in the evening, Coleman and MacDonald combined to win the $666,000 Fan Hanover with Western Silk to become the first trainer-driver combination to win both the Fan Hanover and Pepsi North America Cup.

In last week's elimination race, Sportswriter was third to Rock N Roll Heaven.

Sportswriter returned $8.50, $5.50 and $4.60. We Will See paid $21.40 and $10.50, and Piece Of The Rock paid $15.20 to show.

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Colts give the ‘D’ its due

The Indianapolis Colts know that winning the Super Bowl last season put a huge target on their backs, and they expect opponents to go all-out to knock them from the top of the mountain.

They’ll get their first test from the New Orleans Saints this Thursday night. The defending champs had nothing but good things to say about the New Orleans defense this past week, praising their opponents’ pass rush and run-stopping abilities.

"They play very aggressively," head coach Tony Dungy told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "They play a lot of man-to-man coverage, and they come after you. They have good pass rushers, and they're going to try to pressure us, I'm sure."

Both center Jeff Saturday and quarterback Peyton Manning gave New Orleans’ front four props, admitting keeping guys like Will Smithand Charles Grant contained would be a tall task for the offensive line.

New Orleans ranked second in total defense during the preseason at a sportsbook, allowing just under 233 yards per game. Last season, the defense finished 11th in the league after giving up 307.3 yards and 20.1 points per contest.

Not so sound on the ground

If Indianapolis' efficient offense has a weakness it has to be its running attack. The Colts one-two-punch of Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai is no longer, leaving the bulk of the carries to Addai, the second-year back out of LSU.

Former Saskatchewan Roughrider Kenton Keith was named Addai’s backup this week after beating out DeDe Dorsey for the second-string position. Indy has only three backs on the roster right now, including fullback Luke Lawton, and coach Dungy is aware of the thinness of his ground game. Sports Betting lines on the game can be found at BettingExpress.com

“We’ll continue to look. Luke Lawton’s done a good job for us too. So probably getting a third true tailback is something that we’d like to do,” Dungy told the Indiana Tribune-Star.

Last season, Addai rushed for over 1,000 yards in his rookie campaign and scored seven touchdowns on the ground.

Brees says bring it on

Opening the season on the road against the defending Super Bowl champions is not the way most teams would like to kick off their year – unless you’re the New Orleans Saints or their quarterback Drew Brees. This internet Sportsbooks had the Saints as the favorites.

Brees told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he is excited to get the regular season started and the Colts are a great challenge for him and his teammates. The 28-year-old QB, entering his second season with the Saints, is expecting a wild environment in the RCA Dome this Thursday when the franchise celebrates its 2007-2007 championship.

Brees said he sees the opening game scheduling as an honor and a testament to how well New Orleans did last season. The Saints missed facing the Colts in the Super Bowl by one game, losing to the Chicago Bearsin the NFC Championship game.

"I mean, people think we can hang with these guys," Brees told reporters. "Even if they didn't, it wouldn't matter what they thought because as a team we're very confident. We know what we can do. We're not satisfied where we finished the season last year. And we've been looking forward to this opportunity for a long time."

SportsBooks ready for a shootout

Oddsmakers are preparing for some fireworks this Thursday when the NFL season kicks off. online Sportsbooks have Thursday’s total set at a whopping 52 points, accounting for two of the league’s most explosive offenses.

“This is like must-see TV,” Saints cornerback and former Colt Jason David told the Baton Rouge Advocate. “It’s two exciting offenses with great players. You’ve got a lot of star power on offense. At any given time a big play can happen. If I was a fan, I wouldn’t miss a snap.”

New Orleans, who ranked No.1 in total offense last season, can go blow-for-blow with the Colts’ attack. Head coach Sean Payton’s offensive schemes will get even better production out of Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and receiver Marques Colston now that they’ve each had a season of playing together under their belts.

The Saints and Colts were the top two passing teams in the NFL last year, but while Indianapolis managed to put up almost 27 points per game, New Orleans struggled to capitalize on their efforts. The Saints ranked fifth in points per game.

“Yards are great,” running backDeuce McAllister told reporters, “but to be able to score more touchdowns would be important for us.”

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