Week 9 of the NFL season kicked off last night with the New York Jets picking up a 34-21 win at home over the Buffalo Bills. Matt Forte scored a pair of second half touchdowns while Josh McCown threw for a score as the Jets improve to 4 and 5 this season. Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor was sacked seven times in the game and the team managed little to no yardage on the ground as they fall to 5 and 3.
Watson out for season with torn ACL
Houston Texans rookie standout quarterback Deshaun Watson will miss the rest of the season after being diagnosed with a torn ACL suffered during a non-contact drill in practice yesterday. Watson was drafted in the first round this past spring after leading Clemson to a national championship and was named the Texans starter earlier this season. He was one of the league’s leading passers with 19 touchdowns for the 3 and 5 Texans, still reeling from another season ending injury to all-pro defensive star JJ Watt suffered last month.
Distaff headlines Day One of Breeders' Cup Weekend
Race Nine (Del Mar) -- $2 million Breeders' Cup Distaff
A field of eight extremely talented and well-traveled fillies and mares will run 1 1/8 miles in the Breeders' Cup Distaff, arguably one of the most compelling races on the Breeders' Cup weekend at the resort racetrack a stone's throw away from the Pacific Ocean.
The 5-to-2 morning line favorite is #2 STELLAR WIND, a perfect 3-for-3 at Del Mar but also flawed a bit at this tip, where she is winless in three starts. In fact, the only time she ran second at this trip was when she broke poorly in the 2015 Distaff, dropped back to well off the pace before a huge rally still came up a bit short.
The problem with that tactic is it totally runs counter intuitive to her preferred racing style, which is to be nestled just off the pace. She'll have other speed to contend with this afternoon and she's worth trying to take a stand against at what could be a shorter number considering she'll be the envy of a mainly hometown crowd.
Also take into consideration that her trainer John Sadler is 0-for-39 with starters in the Breeders' Cup. Sometimes numbers do matter.
I'm going with #5 ELATE, who will be looking for her fifth lifetime victory over as many racetracks. The Bill Mott-trained daughter of Medaglia d'Oro has romped in each of her last couple of starts and has drawn comparisons to other great fillies and mares in the Mott barn, namely Havre de Grace and Royal Delta, the latter having won the Distaff twice.
Elate should get a phenomenal trip under her regular pilot Jose Ortiz, and she'll offer a hint of value, listed as the second choice on the morning line at odds of 3-to-1.
I'm leaving STELLAR WIND off all my tickets today in the Distaff, betting ELATE on top in exactas and trifectas with #4 ABEL TASMAN and #6 FOREVER UNBRIDLED.