Breeders' Cup honors golf legend Gary Player

Horseracing Betting Lines

10/30/2009 - Arcadia, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Golf legend Gary Player has been awarded the first ever Breeders' Cup Sports and Racing Excellence Award.

The Breeders' Cup Sports and Racing Excellence Award honors an individual who has established a career of excellence in a chosen profession and also maintains a passionate interest as an owner, breeder or participant in the Thoroughbred racing industry.

"I am chuffed at being selected for this inaugural award," said Player from his stud farm in South Africa, "and delighted to accept it on behalf of all horse lovers around the world. If I had to choose golf over horses, I would miss my clubs."

Gary Player Stud Farm is recognized throughout the world for breeding high quality thoroughbred race horses. The farm, which covers 20,000 acres, has been in operation since 1974 and has produced many stakes winners including Pinehurst, World Over, Foreign Source, Kadarko, Foolish Pride, Creator and Superwood.

"Demonstrating that same commitment to excellence which made him the world's greatest international golfer, Gary's outstanding success as a thoroughbred breeder and passionate supporter of horse racing makes him an extraordinary first recipient of our Sports and Racing Award," said Breeders' Cup President and CEO Greg Avioli.

"On behalf of our board, the racing industry and Gary's many fans and followers around the world, we are extremely proud to present him with this honor at the Breeders' Cup."

The Sports and Racing Excellence Award will be presented to Gary Player at Santa Anita Park on Thursday, November 5. The award itself is a Steuben crystal.

Wwwgamblink Horseracing Betting News

<< Donaghy won't go away
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - For nearly 30 years on the day before the Oscars, the Golden Raspberry Awards have celebrated the worst Hollywood has to offer. There is the obvious stuff like Worst Picture, Worst Actor and Worst Actress, along wi

<< Semifinals set at Volvo World Match Play
Casares, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Anthony Kim, Robert Allenby, Masters champion Angel Cabrera and Ross Fisher advanced to Saturday's semifinals of the Volvo World Match Play Championship. On Friday, the four groups involved in

<< Granderson earns Marvin Miller Man of the Year award
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Detroit Tigers outfielder Curtis Granderson was named the recipient of the 2009 Marvin Miller Man of the Year award. The award is named for the founding executive director of the MLB Players Associatio

<< Pujols named Player of the Year by peers
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols was honored as the Player of the Year in voting among his major league peers. Pujols, also the NL's Outstanding Player, had one of his best statistic

<< Chelsea quintet on shortlist for FIFA POY award
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chelsea quintet Frank Lampard, John Terry, Michael Ballack, Didier Drogba and Michael Essien have been included on a 23- man shortlist for this season's FIFA World Player of the Year award. England inter

Big Ten Play of the Year >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Iowa Hawkeyes moved up two slots from sixth to fourth in the latest BCS standings after a hard-fought victory at Michigan State - a win that took its toll on the health of a few important cogs in their a

UConn unanimously tops preseason women's poll >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The University of Connecticut women's basketball team is once again atop the Associated Press poll to start the upcoming season. The Huskies, who went 39-0 and won their sixth national cham

McGrew named as full-time crew chief for Earnhardt Jr. >>
Talladega, AL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hendrick Motorsports on Friday named Lance McGrew the full-time crew chief for Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s No.88 Chevrolet, effective immediately. McGrew, 41, took over crew chief duties for Earnhardt Jr. o

SEC adopts new penalties for criticizing officials >>
Birmingham, AL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Southeastern Conference has strengthened its penalties for publicly criticizing league officials. Instead of reprimands, such as those given to Tennessee head coach Lane Kiffin and Mississippi State's Da

Eagles RB Westbrook questionable vs. Giants >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Philadelphia Eagles running back Brian Westbrook missed practice Friday and is officially listed as questionable for Sunday's game against the Giants. Westbrook suffered a concussion in last Monday'

COLLEGE FOOTBALL BETTING

NCAA Football Betting : USC's reward: Top spot in Top 25

NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.

No. 1 always seems to fit USC.

Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.

Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.

Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.

"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."

Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.

"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."

The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.

"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."

Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.

"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"

USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.

"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."

While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.

As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.

But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.

Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.

The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.

The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.

The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.

No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.

Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.

Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.

Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.

The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.

South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.

The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.

Get free Sports Betting lines RSS feeds from top rated online sportsbook MySportsbook.com