2009 Kentucky Derby Contenders

2009 Kentucky Derby ContendersKentucky Derby 2009 Contenders, Entries, Favorites Odds Preview: On Sunday morning, the Kentucky Derby 2009 added a new member to this year’s race at Churchill Downs. A bronze, 1500-pound statue honoring the 2006 Kentucky Derby winner Barbado was unveiled today in the same place where he became a legend almost three years ago.

Barbado spent the last 8 months of his life battling to stay alive after braking down during the Preakness in 2006. The horse’s struggles brought renewed attention to track safety and breeding practices in horse racing that will help all future Kentucky Derby entries.

The 135th edition of the Kentucky Derby will take over the headlines on May 2nd beginning at 6 PM ET (3 PM PT) and it can be seen live in High Definition on ABC-Sports. Gate assignments for all 2009 Kentucky Derby contenders will be drawn this Wednesday. Going into this year’s Kentucky Derby, another thoroughbred is getting all the media and fan attention, but for all the right reasons. “I Want Revenge” is listed among the top Kentucky Derby favorites and has been listed at 11 to 4 odds by online racebook Bodog.com.

This week, all of the various 2009 Kentucky Derby entries hit the track at Churchill Downs to get in one of their final major workouts before the race on May 2 but all eyes will be on "I Want Revenge". Last Tuesday, the 3-year-old colt covered five furlongs in 1:01 3-5 seconds with jockey Joe Talamo (19 years old). Despite the track being a little muddy from heavy downpour the day before, I Want Revenge trainer Jeff Mullins said he was pleased with the practices.

At Bodog.com, oddsmakers have put together a great batch of Sports Odds to make your 2009 Kentucky Derby odds wagering experience a memorable one. Will any horse win the 2009 Triple Crown? Is a question oddsmakers at Bodog.com want to know! What do you think? Here’s a hint: Yes [+600 ML], No [-1000 ML] .

Here’s another great one: What will be the Kentucky Derby 2009 Official Winning Time? OVER 2:01.60 [-190 ML] or UNDER 2:01.60 [+155 ML]? Can’t get enough Kentucky Derby 2009? Fine, I will give you one more: What will be the Kentucky Derby 2009 Winning Saddlecloth Number? Would it be Odd Number [-120] or perhaps an Even Number [-120]?

Here are other notable betting odds on the top 2009 Kentucky Derby contenders from online racebook Bodog.com:

QUALITY ROAD [11:2]

DUNKIRK [11:2]

FRIESAN FIRE [6:1]

PIONEEROF THE NILE [7:1]

Original Source : http://sports-odds.com/racing/042709-kentucky-derby-2009-contenders-entries-favorites-odds-preview.html

Jayson Williams

Jayson WilliamsEx-Nets star Jayson Williams 'suicidal' at Manhattan hotel; Tasered after showdown with NYPD cops.

Cops Tasered ex-NBA star Jayson Williams Monday after the troubled hoopster went nuts in his luxury Manhattan hotel room, police sources said.

The popular New Jersey Nets center, who beat the rap trial for shooting his chauffeur in 2002, was rushed to St. Vincent's Hospital in handcuffs after cops found suicide notes and empty bottles of pills in his room, sources said.

"He was barricaded, drinking, taking pills. He was overwhelmed," a police source said. "It all came crashing down."

Police were called to the Hilton Embassy Suites in Battery Park City at 4 a.m., after a female friend called security to report a disturbance in Williams' 15th-floor suite, the sources said.

Williams, 41, trashed his room, forcing Emergency Service Unit officers to subdue the former All-Star with a Taser gun, sources said. It took two sets of handcuffs to restrain the husky star, cops said.

Cops found several suicide notes, including a message scrawled on the wall. They said he was distraught over his divorce, his parents' illnesses and his impending retrial in the chauffeur-shooting case.

Guests arrived home to find the posh hotel transformed into a crime scene. "There were about cop cars and an ambulance outside," said Annette Peters, 29, of Minneapolis.

It was not immediately known if he injured himself or if he was armed.

A few hours later, Williams' manager insisted the troubled ex-athlete was on the mend.

"Jayson is doing fine. He said he was fine," said Akhtar Farzaie, his manager and friend, outside the hospital emergency room. "All of us are here to be by his side as friends."

His ex-wife, Tanya Young Williams, also arrived at the hospital to join him.

In 2002, Williams was charged with gunning down 55-year-old limo driver Costas "Gus" Christofi at the former player's sprawling "Who Knew?" estate in Alexandria Township, N.J.

Williams, who was hosting a party for a charity basketball game that included several Harlem Globetrotters, had hired to Christofi to drive for the event.

Prosecutors charged that Williams was goofing off with a shotgun while giving a tour of this palatial home and the weapon went off, killing Christofi.

"I always expected that he would do something violent again if he wasn't stopped," said Andrea Adams, Christofi's sister. "He's very careless. He's violent and he doesn't care."

Williams was cleared of the most serious charges. The jury deadlocked on the count of reckless manslaughter.

In 2006, a New Jersey appeals court ruled Williams could be retried on that charge. No trial date has been set. The hoop star paid Christofi's family $2.75 million to settle a wrongful death suit.

"He had a lot of demons, a dark side that would surface every now and then," said a person who knew Williams when he played eight seasons for New Jersey.

The Nets source said Williams is usually a gregarious and fun-loving person, but seems to need a structured lifestyle.

"He needs something to fill his time," the source said. "You hate to see him hurt himself, but this was a guy with a lot of demons."

Earlier this year, Williams' estranged wife claimed in divorce papers he once threatened to kill her and their two daughters.

Tanya Young Williams claimed in court papers that her husband punched out a car window while the couple's daughters sat inside and hurt himself while coming home drunk.

Williams, who became a city high school basketball star at Christ the King High School in Queens, went on to star at St. John's University. He was drafted in the first round of the 1990 NBA draft and debuted with the Philadelphia 76ers. He blossomed into a star with the New Jersey Nets after a 1992 trade and remains one of the franchise's all-time leading rebounders.

Original Source : http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/04/27/2009-04-27_exnets_star_jayson_williams_.html

Mexico City Earthquake

Mexico City EarthquakeMagnitude 5.6 Earthquake Hits Mexico.

A 5.6 magnitude earthquake shook Mexico City early Monday afternoon, sending frightened residents into the streets and saturating phone lines, but causing no apparent significant damage.

The quake rattled nerves of Mexicans already coping with an outbreak of the swine flu that has killed an estimated 149 people.

The combination of the higher death toll from the flu and the quake weakened the peso, which had lost nearly 5% from Friday's close to MXN13.975 per U.S. dollar.

The quake briefly interrupted a press conference in which Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova was giving an update on the flu emergency situation.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the epicenter was in the Pacific coast state of Guerrero, home to the resort of Acapulco, which lies roughly 360 kilometers from Mexico City.

The earthquake's depth made serious damage less likely, said Jim Dewey, a research geophysicist with USGS.

"Certainly strong shaking could be perceived, but it wouldn't likely cause extensive damage," Dewey said. "It was 25 miles deep, so that puts some distance between it and the surface of the ground."

Telephone service in parts of Mexico City was lost briefly. A spokesman for phone company Telefonos de Mexico (TMX) said lines were temporarily saturated with call volume, as usually happens after earthquakes, and that there was no reported damage to exchanges.

Mexicans, accustomed to earthquakes, largely shrugged off the tremor, worried more about the killer flu. "Ah, we're accustomed to earthquakes around here," said Leopoldo Garcia, a 70-year-old retiree walking around the city.

Mexican state oil company Petroleos Mexicanos is operating normally despite an earthquake that hit Mexico Monday and the flu outbreak, said a company spokesman.

"We haven't seen any damage yet," said the spokesman, adding that the company is still checking for earthquake damage and that it's premature to rule out any incidents.

Original Source : http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20090427-714613.html