Yep, a lot of guys will be gunning for Mine That Bird this weekend.

In case you don’t know it yet, the 141st Belmont Stakes is on this weekend as the top horses in the country will be looking to win the last leg of this year’s Triple Crown trail and end the season on a high note.

With Rachel Alexandra out, Mine That Bird took over the reigns as the heavy favorite at Belmont Park. After all, he is the reigning Kentucky Derby champion and came an inch close from winning the Preakness as well.

However, there will be others looking to challenge the horse this weekend, one of which is Luv Gov. Named after disgraced former New York governor Eliot Spitzer, the horse was last seen making his stakes debut in the Preakness. He was never a factor in the race. He settled early at the back of the pack, got forced eight wide entering the stretch, and was only able to hold his ground as a few fast fading stragglers went past him in reverse.

He wound up eighth.

On the plus side, he never exerted any real effort in the race, so he’ll be reasonably fresh and ready for the Belmont.

Luv Gov is a homebred son of Ten Most Wanted. His first crop of foals are just three…

As of this writing, Rachel Alexandra is still a no go for Belmont this Saturday.

You read it, and since we only have a few more days before the 141st Belmont Stakes gets going at Belmont Park in New York City, chances are, it’ll stay that way until raceday. That means, Mine That Bird should be the ULTIMATE, HEAVY FAVORITE, to win at Belmont Park. The thoroughbred, after all, won the 2009 Kentucky Derby before finishing second best at Pimlico.

Mine That Bird, if he wins the 2009 Belmont Stakes, will become only the 12th horse to complete the Derby – Belmont double and the first one since Thunder Gulch did it, 14 years ago in 1995.

Of course, there will be challengers and these horses should prove to be big ones.

One of which is Dunkirk. Dunkirk finished 11th in the Kentucky Derby in his last start, which was his fourth lifetime for trainer Todd Pletcher. He earned points for running style as he stalked the pace in his two wins, he has 4 starts as a 3-year-old, has topped the Beyer par of 106 with his 108 effort in the Florida Derby, and his dosage index is under 4. However he did not race as a 2-year-old, skipped the Preakness, did not have a sharp prep nor have any starts at Belmont Park, and he has points on the right side of his dosage profile.

Charitable Man, on the other hand, exits a…

No, there won’t be any flying privates making any escapes this weekend.

What we are trying to imply here are two of the contenders looking to make a big impact on the 141st Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park this weekend. Yes, the hroses are named Flying Private and Miners Escape.

Flying Private continued an impressive move which saw him open at 25/1 before moving to 20/1 earlier this week and now to 16/1 where he currently resides. Flying Private finished fourth beaten 4 lengths in the Preakness for trainer D. Wayne Lukas, which ”just” qualifies as a sharp prep race with a Beyer Speed Figure of 102, not quite par but earns points for breaking 100.

Flying Private ran 4th in an optional claimer at Oaklawn for his 2009 debut, then was 2nd and 4th in similar races also at Oaklawn. Ran 2nd by a head in the Mountain Valley Stakes there then shipped to Turfway to run 2nd in the Lane’s End Stakes. Put in an even effort to finish 5th in the Arkansas Derby. In the Kentucky Derby, he was 5 wide on the first turn then stopped badly after 1 mile finishing 19th and last. In the Preakness he raced 10th early and put in a mild rally to finish 4th beaten 4 lengths.

On the negative side he has too many starts at both 2 and 3, lacks a stakes win…

Because you can’t really go wrong with a kickass name like Mr Hot Stuff.

The 141st Belmont Stakes is on this weekend as the final leg of this year’s Triple Crown trail will conclude the horse racing season. Unfortunately, we won’t be having a new Triple Crown champion.

What we have, however, is a jockey looking to win all three legs of the Triple Crown trail. That being Calvin Borel. He’ll be aboard Mine That Bird again with Rachel Alexandra ruling out of the race. Can Borel lead Mine That Bird to win at Belmont Park? Maybe, but we’ll still be rooting for Mr Hot Stuff.

Mr Hot Stuff didn’t get that nickname for nothing. The horse was a late developer. He first tried to break his maiden in October, but it took him four months and five tries to earn his first win. He followed that up with third place showings in two California stakes, the Sham and the Santa Anita Derby.

He finished behind three other Derby runners in those races; Take The Points, Pioneerof The Nile, and Chocolate Candy. Overall, he has faced some classy fields, but he has just the maiden win to show for it. He’d also raced exclusively on synthetic tracks up to the Derby, so we don’t yet have a sense of whether he has an aptitude for dirt.

In his last race, Mr Hot Stuff ran in the Kentucky Derby, but it was far from notable. He was squeezed and bumped repeatedly at the start, and that seemed to take the life out of him. He settled near the back of the pack, moved wide on the final turn, and didn’t show any interest in responding when he was asked to move in the stretch. Some horses just don’t take to the spectacle that is the Derby, and this was clearly one. He finished 15th and was never better than that.

Mr. Hot Stuff is typically at or near the back of…

The final leg of this year’s Triple Crown race is finally here.

The final leg of the Triple Crown will be the 141st Belmont Stakes on June 6th, and sadly, there will be no rematch between Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird and Preakness winner Rachel Alexandra.

Rachel Alexandra (was 9/4 on the 2009 Belmont odds) has been withdrawn and two more horses have been added to the betting options.

There are a ton of quality horses with a chance at the title remaining in the race and this one could very well come down to the final wire with a photo finish being the only way to decide who takes home the 2009 Belmont Stakes title.

Kentucky Derby winner and Preakness runner-up Mine That Bird becomes an ever bigger favorite with the withdrawal of Rachel Alexandra. The three-year-old thoroughbred currently sits at 2/3 on the 2009 Belmont Stakes odds.

His runner-up finish at Pimlico earned him a 106 Beyer, his career best, and qualifies as a sharp prep and a stakes win this year to go with his Kentucky Derby victory. Although he has rallied from off the pace in the first two legs of the Triple Crown trail, he won using a stalking trip during his championship juvenile season in Canada so we awarded him the point for running style, as stalking the pace 1-5 lengths behind is preferable in the Belmont over front-runners or…

For the second time in this year’s Triple Crown trail, one horse is pulling the entire ”to run or not to run” fiasco on horse racing fans.

Yup, after Mine That Bird hinted that he’ll be missing the second leg of the Triple Crown, that being the Preakness Stakes, after winning the Kentucky Derby, it is now Rachel Alexandra’s turn to pull the same sick joke because after winning the Preakness, she is flirting with a NO SHOW for the 141st Belmont Stakes on June 6.

How come? Well, for some reason, Rachel Alexandra has her owners wondering if getting her to run at Belmont Park would still be necessary considering that the quest for the Triple Crown this year is once again, gone, after Mine That Bird failed to win the second leg at Pimlico.

Rachel Alexandra’s owner Jess Jackson feels getting the filly to compete for the 2009 Belmont Stakes is unnecessary considering that she wasn’t suppose to run for the Preakness Stakes anyway and since Rachel Alexandra already proved that she can run with the big boys when the filly won the Preakness, there’s not much to prove anything else on June 6.

”What else does she have to prove?” Jess Jackson said. ”The Preakness was a gamble. We don’t have to gamble anymore.”

Jackson claims that Rachel Alexandra, despite the stunning win at Pimlico…

A US gambling problem? Ask over 1 million pathological gamblers in California.

The Office of Problem Gambling (OPG) unleashed recently the most comprehensive prevalence study ever conducted on the United States gambling problem. The verdict: America is in big trouble.

Gambling in the US generated a revenue of $72.87 billion in 2003. Land-based casinos nationwide made $4.74 billion in state tax revenue in 2005. The OPG study on problem gambling was undertaken lengthily and meticulously — through a multi-lingual telephone survey between 2005 and 2006.

A critical inclusion amongst survey respondents were residents aged 18 and over of California, the most populous and one of the wealthiest states of the US. California gambling statistics collected provide a perturbing microcosmic picture of how gambling has taken hold of America.

A highlight of the OPG study, California has between 750,000 and 1.2 million adults considered to be pathological gamblers. Problem and pathological gambling are especially high among males, those with disabilities, and those who are unemployed.

The American Psychiatric Association defines pathological gambling as “an impulse control disorder that is a chronic and progressive mental illness”. Inaccurately referred to as compulsive gambling, it is problem gambling to the extent of a mental disorder, especially a psychiatric disorder, causing harm to the gambler and other people.

California has 296,500 to 490,000 adults classified as lifetime pathological gamblers, unveiled the OPG gambling study. There are 450,000 to 713,400 others with a considerable gambling problem although not enough to meet established criteria for pathological gambling.

Pathological gambling must meet at least…

Oprah Winfrey is gambling her boob tube expertise on not one but two reality TV series.

The queen of talk is extending a helping hand beyond her mega-popular daytime program to a pair of new reality TV shows for ABC, tentatively titled ‘Oprah Winfrey’s The Big Give’ and ‘Your Money or Your Life’. They are the first projects of the TV development group of Oprah’s new Harpo Productions.

There is no confirmation Oprah will host either show, or both, but she’ll definitely appear in them, as she had guested for the Harpo-co-produced Rachael Ray.

Oprah will venture to go against the grain of current reality TV, which shows and often pushes people to lash out, lose a nerve, backbite, and engage in other low behavior.

‘Oprah Winfrey’s The Big Give‘ will have 10 contestants initially receive money plus resources, grow their capital, and use it to help others. One contestant will be eliminated each week, and the last one standing — the winner — will have one wish granted — a sort of extension of the Wildest Dreams feature of The Oprah Winfrey Show, the highest rated talk show in US TV history.

‘Your Money or Your Life‘, Oprah’s second reality show, will have a team of experts help one family per episode to rise out of a…

Yep, it was the Devin Hester show last Monday.

However, Chicago Bears fans must not overlook how efficient Rex Grossman was on NFL Monday Night Football. C’mon, the guy DID NOT commit any turnovers. And when you’re talking about Rex not committing any turnovers on an NFL Football game, THAT is definitely something to be happy about.

Devin Hester DID score TWO TOUCHDOWNS on punt returns, (man, I still can’t get over it… hehe…) but the fact of the matter is, the Chicago Bears did score using its offense. (Yep, contrary to popular belief, the Bears do have an offense, not just defense and special teams, scoring for them…)

The special teams, particularly Devin Hester, scored two TDs, the Bears HBs scored two more, and lo and behold, the Bears passing game scored two as well.

Rex Grossman, after struggling the last few weeks, was a decent 13 for 23 on NFL Monday Night Football. He went for 200 yards to score two TDs without a turnover. Yep, he didn’t commit any turnovers this time.

Although Grossman’s performance last Monday didn’t necessarily mean that he finally has what it takes to lead the Chicago Bears all the way to Super Bowl XLI in Miami, Florida, (although I’m rooting for them heavily this year after the demise of my fucked up Oakland Raiders team…) Grossman did just enough to keep him in the…

Good news to all you cross-dressers who have always wanted to be Cher!

No you can’t have her plastic surgeon’s number. But here’s the next best thing. The gay-worshipped diva is holding a huge global garage sale of over 800 items, from stage costumes to gem encrusted jewelry, works of art, furniture and even a Hummer that is expected to fetch around $1 million.

Guess this is a sign that she has retired for real.

According to one report, Cher is getting rid of her gothic past and redecorating her Malibu home to adapt a Moroccan-Tibethan theme. Now her garbage will be a transvestite’s treasure find.

Some of her famous outfits went under the hammer at Sotheby’s this week.

Belongings auctioned included paintings, jewellery, even her £16,000 English-made bed, dating back to 1865, the red velvet gown she wore on the Cher Show in 1975 as well as a Bob Mackie floral beaded gown worn in 1972.

Now the rest of her garbage, erm, stuff will be dispatched for the garage sale to take place at the Beverly Hilton next…