Surgery scheduled for Mine That Bird

Horseracing Betting Lines

08/17/2009 - Saratoga Springs, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird will undergo throat surgery on Tuesday for an entrapped epiglottis. The three- year-old gelding is still expected to start in the $1 million Travers Stakes on Saturday, August 29.

"After Mine That Bird's work this morning (Monday), we scoped him, and he's got an entrapment of the epiglottis," said trainer Chip Woolley. "It's enough that we're going to take him to the city (Elmont, NY) tonight and do surgery on him in the morning.

"The doctors think, there's no guarantees, but the doctors think he'll be good for Travers; he'll be here and ready to run in the Travers. But, it will be somewhat day-to-day. We will not run him if he's not 100 percent, so we're gonna see how things go with the deal tomorrow."

Woolley said veterinarian Dr. James Hunt discovered the problem during a routine endoscopic examination. The condition involves the thin membrane lying below the epiglottis (the fleshy tissue that covers the windpipe when a horse swallows) moves up and covers the epiglottis.

"Every time, two weeks out, we always scope him just to make sure we don't have any problems," said Woolley. "It's just standard procedure with me, that's how I've done it in every race. At his two week-out work, we scope him. We had no clue there was any problem. He came off the race track bucking and playing this morning. I never gave a second thought to it. He finishes up in eleven and three the last eighth of a mile. I mean, I would have never dreamed there's a problem."

Mine That Bird worked five furlongs in 1:03.83 on Saratoga's main track Monday morning with Jamie Theriot riding. The three-year-old is scheduled to have his final tuneup for the one and one-quarter mile Travers next Tuesday.

"I can miss a couple days of training without any worry about the work," Woolley noted. "I mean he can still work on Tuesday if he misses a day or two of training, that's not going to make or break him. But he does need the work and like I said, if he's not ready, he won't run."

The gelding has been stabled at Saratoga since finishing third in the $750,000 West Virginia Derby on August 1 to Soul Warrior. Among those he is expected to meet in the Travers are Belmont Stakes champ Summer Bird, Peter Pan winner Charitable Man and Jim Dandy winner Kensei. Leading filly Rachel Alexandra is nominated to the Travers along with four other stakes.

Owned by Dr. Leonard Bloch and Mark Allen, Mine That Bird pulled off a 50-1 shocker in the Kentucky Derby followed by a narrow second-place finish in the Preakness to Rachel Alexandra and was third to Summer Bird in the Belmont Stakes.

Voted last year's Canadian two-year-old champion, Mine That Bird has earned $1,892,200 with one win in six starts in 2009.

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Elite 8 NCAA Tournament Betting at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com

In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.

Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.

Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early.

Memphis vs. Ohio State

Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.

UCLA vs. Kansas

In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, UCLA will play in a role which they are very unfamiliar with that of the underdog. Only twice this season have they been getting points from the handicappers and both times they covered. Over the last three seasons UCLA is a reliable 23-7 ATS in this unfamiliar role. UCLA has not fared well against Big 12 opponents recently going 1-7 ATS since 1997. Giving up only 59.6 PPG, UCLA will definitely look to do what they do best: keep this game as low scoring as possible. Their defense has been especially tough during the tournament. UCLA opponents have been able to muster up only 48.7 PPG while shooting a combined 34.5% from the field. UCLA definitely has a challenge at hand with a Kansas team that is capable of putting points on the board in bunches. As a team, they average 79 PPG and shoot an impressive 49.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. During the tournament Kansas has been “lights out” from the field having shot 56.2%.

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