Arkansas Derby elevated to top status

Horseracing Betting Lines

12/03/2009 - Lexington, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The $1 million Arkansas Derby is one of three stakes that have been upgraded in status to Grade I for the 2010 racing season. The American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association announced its listing of U.S. Graded Stakes for 2010 following its annual grading session conducted December 2.

Joining the Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park as new Grade I races are the Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap at Saratoga and the Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs.

Five races were downgraded from Grade I to Grade II for 2010: Citation Handicap at Hollywood Park, Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash at Laurel Park, Go For Wand Handicap at Saratoga, John C. Mabee Stakes at Del Mar and Santa Maria Handicap at Santa Anita Park.

Grade I races for the new year will total 113, two fewer than in 2009.

Stakes races moving up to Grade II status are the American Turf Stakes at Churchill Downs, Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint, Pocahontas Stakes at Churchill Downs, Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds and Sir Beaufort Stakes at Santa Anita Park.

Among the 10 races that have been downgraded from Grade II to Grade III in 2010 are Illinois Derby at Hawthorne Race Course, Ohio Derby at Thistledown and Tom Fool Handicap at Belmont Park.

Other stakes downgraded to Grade III are Bed O' Roses Handicap at Aqueduct, Beverly Hills Handicap at Hollywood Park, Comely Stakes at Aqueduct, Jefferson Cup Stakes at Churchill Downs, La Prevoyante Handicap at Calder Race Course, Rampart Stakes at Gulfstream Park and Sunset Handicap at Hollywood Park.

The Breeders' Cup Marathon tops the list of six races moved up to Grade III. The other stakes elevated are Cougar II Handicap at Del Mar, Ft. Lauderdale Stakes at Gulfstream Park, Iowa Derby at Prairie Meadows, Monmouth Stakes at Monmouth Park and Sunland Derby at Sunland Park.

Eight races were demoted Grade III to Ungraded for 2010: Baldwin Stakes at Santa Anita, Barbaro Stakes at Delaware Park, Calder Derby at Calder Race Course, Cinema Handicap at Hollywood Park, Dallas Turf Cup at Lone Star Park, Miss Preakness at Pimlico, Next Move Stakes at Aqueduct and Stuyvesant Handicap at Aqueduct. The Frances A. Genter at Calder Race Course and Safely Kept Stales at Laurel Park were not eligible for grading in 2010.

The Committee reviewed 723 unrestricted U.S. stakes races with a purse of at least $75,000, and assigned graded status to 487 of them, two less than were graded in 2009.

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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.

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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.

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