Racing legend Foyt forced to skip Rolex 24 at Daytona

Autoracing Betting Lines

01/27/2012 - Daytona Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A.J. Foyt will miss this weekend's Rolex 24 at Daytona after being hospitalized due to complications from recent knee surgery.

Foyt, a four-time Indianapolis 500 winner, was scheduled to serve as Grand Marshall for the 50th anniversary of the 24-hour endurance race at Daytona International Speedway. He is also a winner of the Daytona 500 and the 24-hour race there.

"I am really sorry that I can't be there this weekend for the Rolex 24," Foyt said in a statement released on Friday. "I was really looking forward to it, because I thought it was a great honor to be asked to be the Grand Marshal of the 50th Anniversary of that race and considered it to be one of the great highlights of my career.

"I feel so bad that I let everyone down. I was also looking forward to seeing some of my old friends and the race cars that I drove in that race. It was going to be a really fun weekend for me, but I guess I'll be watching the race from my hospital room. Yep, the doctors pulled rank on me. And I hate to admit, but I think they're right -- this time. I'd like to wish everyone a safe race, and I'll be with you in spirit."

Foyt is expected to make a full recovery.

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MySportsbook.com and Kentucky Derby Offer Bonuses
The 2008 Kentucky Derby has announced a $1-million bonus for this weekend’s 134th ‘Run for the Roses’ and MySportsbook.com is doing the same.

Well, not quite $1 million, but MySportsbook.com is offering a 75% rebate for Kentucky Derby lines. Check out the exclusive horse racing bonus for all the details.

According to MySportsbook.com, the favorites for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky are: Curlin (+250); Street Sense (+500); Scat Daddy (+700); Circular Quay (+750); and Nobiz Like Shobiz (+800).

Derby organizers announced this week that there will be a $1-million bonus at the 2007 Kentucky Derby odds if the first-place horse wins by more than 6 1/2 lengths – the margin of Barbaro's victory last year. The bonus would be divided Saturday among the winning trainer, jockey, owner and a charity, with each receiving 25 percent. The designated charity is the Barbaro Memorial Fund.

''It's certainly creative, it's certainly fun and it has something for the horsemen, which we always want to embrace,'' Churchill Downs president and chief executive Robert Evans said at a news conference. ''What's really cool is it will force us to remember Barbaro.''
    
Meanwhile, the Derby favorite – Curlin – is going against the odds this year. It's been 125 years since Apollo won after skipping his 2-year-old season, and not since Regret in 1915 has such a lightly seasoned horse worn the blanket of red roses.

Arkansas Derby winner Curlin – unbeaten in three career races – tries to overcome both those obstacles in Saturday's 133rd Derby.

''We're not running against history,'' trainer Steve Asmussen said Monday. ''We're running against who they load up.''

Six other horses have run in the Derby without benefit of 2-year-old races and with three or fewer starts. The best any of them managed was a sixth-place finish by Showing Up last year.
   
Asmussen dismissed suggestions that Curlin's lack of racing experience could keep him from the winner's circle.

”He exudes confidence and he's got a great presence about him,'' the trainer said. ''I feel great about the position we're in. He's not worried about anything, why should you be?''
   
The Kentucky Derby is at 4:04 p.m., ET Saturday.

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