08/07/2008 - Arlington Heights, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Saturday's 26th running of the Arlington Million at Arlington Park features a world class field of eight turf runners. The 1 1/4 mile grass race is part of the "Win and You're In" program with the winner qualifying for the $3 million Breeders' Cup Turf.
Drawing the inside post is the 2-1 morning-line favorite Archipenko, who leads the European contingent. Owned by Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa al Maktoum and Dr. A. H. Parker. Archipenko will be ridden by Kevin Shea.
The four-year-old won Hong Kong's Audemars Picquet Queen Elizabeth II Cup last April 27. Returning to Great Britain, Archipenko won the Summer Mile Stakes at Ascot on July 12. Overall Archipenko, trained by Michael DeKock, has won four of 13 career starts for $1.9 million.
The 5-2 second choice in the program is another runner from Europe, Mount Nelson. Trainer Aidan O'Brien will go after his second Arlington Million crown having won in 2005 with Powerscourt. John Murtagh has the riding assigment and the pair will break from post seven.
The four-year-old, owned by Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith and Susan Magnier has earned $798,169 in an eight race career with three wins. Tabor won the Million in 1997 with Marlin.
Mount Nelson is coming off a nose victory in the Coral Eclipse Stakes on July 5 at Sandown Park.
The top American contender is Einstein who is 7-2 in the morning-line and will start from post six with Robby Albarado in the saddle. Owned by Midnight Cry Stable and trained by Helen Pitts, the six-year-old won the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic at Churchill Downs on Kentucky Derby Day, May 3, and the Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap on February 23.
"This year everything's just kind of fallen in place," said Pitts during Tuesday's teleconference. "I mean it's just from being able to start the year with that money allowance race and move forward from there. It's just kind of played out as the year's gone on and he's just moved forward off of every race."
Einstein has finished second in his last two starts, the Stephen Foster behind Curlin and the Firecracker Handicap to Thorn Song. In a 20-race career he has eight wins and better than $1.3 million.
Here is the complete field for Arlington Million XVII in post position order: Archipenko, Kevin Shea 2-1; Stream Cat, Julien Leparoux 8-1; Spirit One, Ioritz Mendizabal 10-1; Sudan, John Velazquez 8-1; Cloudy's Knight, Ramsey Zimmerman 20-1; Einstein, Robby Albarado 7-2; Mount Nelson, John Murtagh 5-2 and Silverfoot, Rene Douglas 20-1.
The Arlington Million will be shown live on ESPN with a 5:45 p.m. (et) post- time.
<< Blumenherst, Na win in match play opener at U.S. Women's Amateur
Eugene, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Stephanie Na and Amanda Blumenherst each
posted victories in the opening round of match play Wednesday at the 108th
U.S. Women's Amateur at Eugene Country Club.
The Australian Na beat Kelley Louth
<< Favre traded to Jets
Green Bay, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Green Bay Packers reached an
agreement to trade quarterback Brett Favre to the New York Jets late
Wednesday night.
Though the Packers did not release terms of the trade, the Gree
<< Fish, Safin advance in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fifth-seeded Russian Marat Safin and
sixth-seeded American Mardy Fish advanced, while second-seeded Spaniard
Fernando Verdasco fell in Wednesday's second-round action at the $475,000
Country
<< Ponson pitches Yanks to win over Rangers
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sidney Ponson posted his second straight
solid performance and Mariano Rivera worked a scoreless ninth to notch his
27th save in as many opportunities, as the Yankees edged the Rangers, 5-3, in
the thi
Mets turn to Santana in hopes of series win over Padres >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York southpaw Johan Santana looks for a seventh
straight start without a loss today when the Mets host the San Diego Padres in
the finale of a three-game series at Shea Stadium.
Santana, a big-ticket acquisition from t
Cards aim for sweep of Dodgers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Cardinals send out their most successful
pitcher of 2008 to the mound as the playoff hopefuls shoot for a three-game
sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers this afternoon at Busch Stadium.
After falling further bac
A's send Duchscherer to hill against Blue Jays' Burnett >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Justin Duchscherer represented the Oakland Athletics in
this year's All-Star Game. A.J. Burnett has been pitching like one for the
Toronto Blue Jays as of late.
The two double-digit winners will go head-to-head when the Bl
Yanks' Mussina goes for 15th win in finale with Rangers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Mussina will attempt to become the latest member of
the American League's 15-win club when the veteran hurler takes the mound for
the New York Yankees in tonight's finale of a four-game series with the host
Texas Rangers
Terrell Owens will address the media at a 3:15 p.m. ET news conference outside the Cowboys' practice facility after an internal police report indicated he tried to kill himself by overdosing on prescription pain medication, even putting two more pills into his mouth after a friend intervened.
The Dallas police report said Owens was asked by rescue workers "if he was attempting to harm himself, at which time [he] stated, 'Yes.'"
Owens left the hospital late Wednesday morning, giving reporters a "thumbs up" but making no comment as he was driven away in an SUV.
Michael Irvin said that Owens denied he attempted suicide and said he was rushed to the hospital as a result of an adverse reaction to medication. And a source close to Owens told Michael A. Smith that Owens wasn't attempting suicide.
NFL Network analyst Deion Sanders said he spoke with Owens shortly before his release from the hospital and that Owens was in good spirits.
"The fact that it has been reported a suicide attempt, he's laughed at that notion. It was a case that medication that was taken wasn't accepted well in his system with the other vitamins he's on," Sanders said.
The series of events began a little before 8 p.m. Tuesday.
Owens' publicist, Kim Etheredge, said she was at Owens' home when he took pain medicine for his broken right hand. Concerned by how he began acting, Etheredge said in various interviews Wednesday with Dallas-area media that she called 911. Owens was taken to a hospital, with Etheredge saying it was an allergic reaction to the medicine.
But early Wednesday, several media outlets received a police report -- that had yet to be released by the authorities -- saying Owens had attempted suicide by overdosing on the painkillers, even putting two more pills into his mouth after an unidentified friend intervened.
The police document, first reported by WFAA-TV, said Owens was asked by rescue workers "if he was attempting to harm himself, at which time [he] stated, 'Yes.'"
When officially released by police, about half the document was blacked out, including the phrases "attempting suicide by prescription pain medication" and "a drug overdose," as well as the details of Owens having two pills pried from his mouth and Owens saying "Yes" when asked if he intended to harm himself.
Etheredge, who said she was the friend cited in the police document, told Dallas-area media Wednesday that the police got the story wrong.
The tape of the 911 call could help clear things up. The Associated Press filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act to get its contents, but fire department officials said it would not be available before late Wednesday.
The police report said the 32-year-old Owens told his friend "that he was depressed." Details of the police report were first reported by WFAA-TV.
The friend, who is not identified in the report, "noticed that [his] prescription pain medication was empty and observed [Owens] putting two pills in his mouth," the police report said.
Using her fingers, the friend attempted to pry them out of Owens' mouth. Owens told police he had taken only five of the 40 pain pills in the bottle he'd emptied before the incident.
Etheredge told the Star-Telegram that Owens was "fine."
Etheredge said she called 911 because Owens was groggy and lethargic. After taking some supplements "it kicked in a reaction" with the painkillers, she told the Star-Telegram.
"Here's a person whose body is so clean, it really had a negative reaction to the medication and supplements he was taking," Etheridge told The Morning News. "Thank goodness someone was there to call an ambulance."
Police Lt. Rick Watson said he could only confirm that paramedics called police to say they were taking Owens to the hospital. He said no more details would come from the police because no laws were broken.
It is not a crime in Texas for a person to attempt suicide.
"This is a high-profile person. We looked into it and we determined it is not a criminal offense," Watson said. "This a medical type of situation that occurred."
Watson and fire department spokesman Joel Lavender cited privacy laws for the lack of information they could provide. Lavender said more details could come from the 911 call. The Associated Press filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act to get the contents of the call.
"Let's just look at the tape, review the tape," Lavender said. "I'll give you an honest answer once I know something."
At the police news conference, Watson released a version of the police narrative with certain sections blacked out. The full report was obtained by several news outlets and reported first by WFAA. The AP received the full version from WFAA.
According to the police report, Dallas Fire and Rescue was called regarding someone "attempting suicide by prescription pain medication." Officers arrived to find Owens being stabilized by ambulance workers, who then took him to Baylor University Medical Center.
Owens was hospitalized late Tuesday because of what his publicist said was an allergic reaction to pain medicine he was taking for a broken hand. Doctors reportedly tried to induce vomiting.
Owens, one of the league's top receivers during his 11-year NFL career, is best known for wild stunts on the field and other publicity-seeking antics off it.
When the Cowboys signed him to a $25 million, three-year deal in March, they said their background checks indicated no red flags. In fact, team consultant Calvin Hill -- who mostly deals with troubled players -- said during training camp that his department was not involved with Owens because he didn't have a history of those kinds of problems.
He missed most of training camp, and three of four preseason games, because of a hamstring injury. He was late for work during his recovery and was fined for it, but Owens laughed it off, saying he overslept. He said it had happened before, though not with Dallas, and would probably happen again.
Owens broke the bone leading to his right ring finger during a game a week ago Sunday. The next day, doctors screwed in a plate so the bone could heal without fear of further damage. Cowboys coach Bill Parcells said last week that the pain medicine made Owens ill.
Owens had not practiced since the injury, but because Dallas had a bye this past weekend he did not miss a game. He was expected to practice Wednesday, and Parcells had said there was a chance Owens could play Sunday against Tennessee.
Owens had been especially looking forward to the Cowboys' game after that -- Oct. 8, in Philadelphia, against the team that dumped him midway through last season only months after he helped them nearly win the Super Bowl.
Owens was seen laughing and joking on the practice field Tuesday morning. He chatted briefly with reporters in the locker room in the afternoon and seemed fine. A 2-inch scar on the top of his hand was puffy but not wrapped, and he said the swelling was doing down.
While in the locker room, he took a pill from a white paper bag and looked at another medicine bottle that was in the bag. He also called a business partner about a towel-wrap venture they're starting and joked to TV cameras that he wasn't talking until Wednesday and it was only Tuesday.
"My little boy knows better than that," he said, laughing, as he plopped onto a sofa in the middle of the locker room.
Also Tuesday, Owens was involved in launching a national campaign for the National Alliance to End Abuse, an organization aimed at helping at-risk youngsters. He appeared at a high school Tuesday morning and was scheduled to visit others but had to cancel because of changes in the team's practice schedule.
Owens has played two games for the Cowboys, catching nine passes for 99 yards and a touchdown. For updated football betting lines and Dallas Cowboy Superbowl odds visit online sportsbook MySportsbook.com
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your VISA Sportsbook needs.
Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting