Afleet Again captures Breeders' Cup Marathon

Horseracing Betting Lines

11/05/2011 - Louisville, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) -Afleet Again, ridden by Cornelio Velasquez, came from the back of the field to capture Saturday's $500,000 Breeders' Cup Marathon to begin the second day of the World Championships at Churchill Downs. The son of Afleet Alex covered the 1 3/4-miles on a fast track in 3:00.39.

Afleet Again went off as the longest shot in the 11-horse field at 41-1. Breaking from post eight the gray four-year-old trailed for most of the race, running in ninth about a dozen lengths from the lead.

At the top of the stretch a gaggle of horses were on the lead as Afleet Again began to move on the outside. Trained by Butch Reid, the colt opened up down the stretch and posted a two-length victory over Birdrun.

Finishing third was Giant Oak and Pleasant Prince was fourth.

Afleet Again is owned by Robert and Susan Krangel, and picks up $270,000 with the win. The colt notched his first win of the year and his fourth in 24 career starts. He has lifetime earnings of $686,470.

Afleet Again returned $85.20, $35.80 and $13.80. Birdrun paid $7.20 and $5.80, and Giant Oak paid $6.80 to show.

Attendance for Breeders' Cup Championship Friday decreased by two percent from last year's first day at Churchill Downs. Friday's attendance was 40,677 compared to 41,614 last year. The on-track handle was $7,765,183, a four percent decrease over the $8,109,443 bet on-track in 2010.

The common-pool handle for the 10 races was $50,053,505, a 5.6 percent decrease from the $53,010,625 wagered on last year's Friday card. For the six Breeders' Cup races handle this year was $42,490,444 vs. $45,393,976 for a 6.4 percent decrease. Breeders' Cup officials noted that $2,195,465 was refunded because of two late scratches.

Myracetracks Horseracing Betting News

<< Jelavic's hat trick leads Rangers over Dundee
Glasgow, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nikica Jelavic scored a hat trick to take over the Scottish Premier League scoring lead from injured teammate Steven Naismith, as Rangers beat Dundee United, 3-1, on Saturday at Ibrox. Naismith was lo

<< MLB stars win fourth in a row in Taiwan
Kaohsiung, Taiwan (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Michael Morse singled in two runs during the sixth inning to lift the Major League Baseball All-Stars to a 3-2 victory over the Chinese Taipei national team in the fourth of a five-game exhibition series.

<< Jets place D Enstrom on injured reserve
Winnipeg, MB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Winnipeg Jets placed defenseman Tobias Enstrom on injured reserve Saturday. The move is retroactive to October 31. Enstrom suffered an apparent upper-body injury on that day in a game against the

<< Former PSU coach charged with sex crimes; AD charged with perjury
Harrisburg, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky was charged with numerous felony and misdemeanor offenses as the result of a grand jury investigation into sexual abuse of children, while the school'

<< Jets pay a visit to New Jersey
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Both the Winnipeg Jets and New Jersey Devils could be without some key players this evening as they battle for the first time this season at the Garden State's Prudential Center. The Devils return home after clai

Pavan wins Grand Final; Fleetwood takes rankings title >>
Puglia, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andrea Pavan managed only an even-par 71 on Sunday, but it was good enough to hold off Tommy Fleetwood and win the Challenge Tour's season-ending Apulia San Domenico Grand Final. Pavan finished 72 h

Djokovic beaten by Nishikori at Swiss Indoors >>
Basel, Switzerland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Japan's Kei Nishikori upended world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in Saturday's semifinals at the Swiss Indoors Basel tennis event, and will face Roger Federer in the final. Nishikori dropped the first set

Thome returns to Philadelphia >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Phillies officially brought back on of the franchise's most popular players on Saturday, agreeing to a one-year contract with first baseman Jim Thome. "We're very happy to be able

Wrote wins Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf >>
Louisville, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - European invader Wrote broke free down the stretch to capture Saturday's $1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at Churchill Downs. The two-year-old colt went 1:37.41 for the mile on a firm turf co

Browns RB Hillis out vs. Texans >>
Berea, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cleveland Browns running back Peyton Hillis has been ruled out for Sunday's game against the Houston Texans. Hillis was limited in practice on Thursday but was expected to start before re-injuring his hamst

Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

For more March Madness odds go to MySportsbook.com

For more College Basketball betting lines go to BettingExpress.com

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.


Sportsbooks to bet on football

Recently I had an email debate with an angry reader who said I did not understand "the science of oddsmaking", as he called it.

He said I was wrong for suggesting oddsmakers care about who wins or loses games.

"Oddsmakers only care about splitting the betting public 50/50 on both sides of the line and keeping the commission (a.k.a. juice)," he wrote.

He might have been right about not understanding "the science of oddsmaking". After all, I'm not an oddsmaker. That said, I stick to my assertion that oddsmakers (a.k.a. sportbooks) often do care about who wins games.

Granted, as a general rule, sportsbooks try to balance their action so that they're not exposed to big losses. However, there are times when this is difficult to pull off, regardless of how much a line has moved. There are also times when that general rule is ignored and a book pursues risk.

Generally speaking, it's safe to say the books in Vegas are risk-adverse. Unlike in the past when the wise guys ruled the town, Vegas is now corporate and the goal of most casinos is to make as much money as possible with as little risk as possible.

Thus, Vegas sportsbooks try everything in their power to balance the action. They're satisfied simply collecting the juice. But these profits are small, especially compared to the take from other casino games, namely slot machines.

Because the profits at Vegas sportsbooks are so small, you could argue that many casinos operate sportsbooks simply as a novelty to keep the tourists happy.

With a growing aversion to risk, it should come as no surprise that Vegas bookmakers have been panicking this NFL season.

Despite huge pointspreads, a disproportionate percentage of bettors are still laying their money on favorites like the Eagles, Colts, Pats and Vikings rather than the dogs (a common trend for the largely recreational bettors that visit Vegas).

And much to the dismay of the books, those favorites are finding ways to cover the thick chalk. In fact, prior to Week 7, the four teams listed above are a combined 16-2-2 (88 percent) against the spread. (The tables turned dramatically in Week 7, but more on that later.)

The result has been an early-season beating for the books, and a bonanza for bettors.

While Vegas increasingly hates risk, it's no longer a major player in the sports betting world. Most of the betting action now takes place offshore where sportsbooks are not as obsessed about balance. In fact, some books encourage exposure to risk because the rewards can be so much bigger.

Consider MySportsbook.com. On its website, the book has odds pages which actually display the amount of action it's getting on games. In other words, you can see how much action the book is taking on both sides of a pointspread, moneyline or over/under.

One look at these numbers and it's obvious MySportsbook.com does not balance every game. In fact, far from it.

Take last weekend's matchup between St. Louis and Miami. By game time on Sunday, 83 percent of the betting action at MySportsbook.com was on the Rams; only 17 percent was on Miami.

What's interesting is that MySportsbook.com opened the pointspread with Miami at +6 1/2. By game time, the spread had lowered to +5.

That goes contrary to the balancing theory. If MySportsbook.com had wanted to balance the action, it would have given Miami more points; instead, it took away 1 1/2. World Series odds are now up as well.

MySportsbook.com exposed itself to even more to risk, and rolled the dice on the underdog Dolphins. Why? I contacted a representative with the book to find out. His answer was simple.

"The line moved early based on 'smart money' from sharp players," said Jeff Gilroy, a spokesperson for the book. "We also knew from early in the week that we would need Miami, therefore (we dropped) the spread to encourage Rams money.

"At the end of the day, we liked the home team."

So the conclusion is this: MySportsbook.com respected the sharp action, and gambled that the sharp bettors had a better take on the game than the recreational bettors, who were hammering the visiting Rams.

In the end, the gamble paid off. Miami, desperate for a win in front of its home fans, pounded the overrated Rams, who are terrible on the road and even worse on grass. Final score: 31-14 Fish.

MySportsbook.com was also heavily exposed on numerous favorites in Week 7, including Philadelphia, Seattle and Denver. All three failed to cover.

The fact that sportsbooks are exposed to risk on certain games is really nothing new. The fact, that Sportsbook.com is willing to show the public where it's exposed is intriguing.

Armed with this type of information, bettors can make more educated wagers. They can get an idea where the sharp money is going and conversely where the public money is headed.

MySportsbook.com is opening up its cashbox, letting bettors look inside and challenging them to take their best shot at grabbing the cash.

To visit this online football betting got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting odds needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.