Thoroughbred racing in 2011
Horseracing Betting Lines
12/01/2011 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Thoroughbred racing in North America will be remembered as the first year since 2007 that Zenyatta was not a featured horse. The champion mare was retired after her courageous race in the 2010 Breeders' Cup Classic, falling just short of catching Blame at the wire.
The void left by Zenyatta was not completely filled by any one horse. In fact, you could say that even all the top horses in 2011 were unable to fill the space left by the great lady.
However, thoroughbred racing did not stop because of the retirement of Zenyatta or any of the other horses sent to the farm. A full year of racing proceeded to take place in 2011 with many horses stepping forward into the spotlight,
As always the first part of the year was focused on Kentucky Derby prospects.
Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner Uncle Mo was the consensus favorite for the Run for the Roses. After an undefeated two-year-old season in 2010 the colt, trained by Todd Pletcher, looked impressive in winning the Timely Writer Stakes at Gulfstream Park in March. However, a third-place finish in the Wood Memorial made Uncle Mo look vulnerable.
Meanwhile, Dialed In won the Florida Derby and was the favorite for the Kentucky Derby. Uncle Mo was entered in the race and made the 9-2 second choice, but veterinary tests showed something wrong and he was scratched the day before the Derby.
The 137th running of the Kentucky Derby went to 20-1 longshot Animal Kingdom who won the Vinery Spiral Stakes five weeks before the Derby. Animal Kingdom, trained by Graham Motion for Team Valor, then finished second to Shackleford in the Preakness Stakes, but could do no better than sixth in the Belmont Stakes. Still the Kentucky Derby champ was regarded as the best three-year-old in training.
After the Triple Crown excitement, the older thoroughbreds gained the focus of the racing world. Older male horses needed to establish themselves quickly as some fillies were taking the next step forward as four-year-olds.
Most of the top older male horses were coming off three-year-old seasons that were promising, but with many questions. The only Triple Crown race winner from last year to still be training was Belmont champ Drosselmeyer. Kentucky Derby runner-up Ice Box was back as was Preakness runner-up First Dude. Also back was Santa Anita Derby winner Sidney's Candy and Blue Grass champ Stately Victor.
Eclipse Award winner Gio Ponti was easily the best older horse in training and in Europe Goldikova was preparing for another try in the Breeders' Cup Mile.
As the year wore on the horses beat each other up with no older male truly taking control. Tizway won two of four starts and didn't race after winning the Whitney. The speedy Game On Dude won the Santa Anita Handicap and the Goodwood with several solid showings in between and he may have secured a title with a strong showing in the Breeders' Cup Classic.
Four-year-old fillies Blind Luck and Havre de Grace resumed their rivalry from last year. Havre de Grace defeated Blind Luck in the Azeri at Oaklawn Park and the former posted a nose victory in the Delaware Handicap, the same result as the 2010 Delaware Oaks.
Havre de Grace took on all challengers during the year and put herself in the Horse of the Year picture with a win over males in the Woodward at Saratoga. Blind Luck was also heading towards a Breeders' Cup showdown with her rival until a last-place finish in the Lady's Secret that eventually led to retirement.
The three-year-old filly group proved to be a deep one. Royal Delta won the Black-Eyed Susan and Alabama Stakes, Plum Pretty took the Kentucky Oaks and Cotillion, It's Tricky captured the Acorn and Coaching Club American Oaks and Zazu was the best filly in California with wins in the Hollywood Oaks and Lady's Secret.
Coming in from Europe to race on the turf was Cape Blanco. The four-year-old colt won all three starts in the U.S. defeating Gio Ponti in both the Man o'War and Arlington Million. He also won the Turf Classic at Belmont Park, but an injury prevented him from going in the Breeders' Cup Turf and was retired.
Uncle Mo eventually came back to racing with a second to Caleb's Posse in the King's Bishop and a win in the Kelso. Stay Thirsty won the Jim Dandy and Travers to get involved in the Eclipse talk and Animal Kingdom was injured and sidelined until 2012.
The 2011 Breeders' Cup at Churchill Downs was headlined by the Ladies' Classic on the first day and the Classic and Mile on the second day.
Three-year-old fillies dominated in the Ladies' Classic. Plum Pretty set the pace, but gave way to Royal Delta who defeated It's Tricky by 2 1/2-lengths. The win by Royal Delta gave trainer Bill Mott his fourth Ladies' Classic win and a chance to pull off the double with Saturday's Classic.
The second day of the 28th World Championships was going to decide the early favorite for the 2012 Kentucky Derby. Union Rags was the 11-10 favorite in the 13-horse field. However, the two-year-old raced wide most of the race and fell a head short of catching Hansen.
Goldikova was after a fourth straight win in the Mile. The mare's magic ended in a third-place result behind Court Vision. Caleb's Posse won the Dirt Mile and Amazombie captured the Sprint.
It all came down to the $5 million Classic at 1 1/4-miles on dirt at historic Churchill Downs. The filly Havre de Grace was going to try to duplicate Zenyatta's 2009 Classic victory. She was the 4-1 second pick behind 7-2 favorite Flat Out. Uncle Mo, the 5-2 morning-line favorite, went off at 5-1 in the 12-horse field.
Game On Dude set the pace while Havre de Grace was running sixth, Flat Out was in eighth and Uncle Mo pressed the leader after starting from the outside. Game On Dude was a determined pacesetter, nearly pulling off a gate to wire victory.
Drosselmeyer, 2010 Belmont Stakes winner, went off at 14-1 as did Game On Dude. Drosselmeyer was racing in ninth through the early going. The four-year- old was six wide coming into the stretch under jockey Mike Smith, Zenyatta's rider.
Drosselmeyer caught Game On Dude in late stretch and was able to better the pacesetter by 1 1/2-lengths. This year's Belmont Stakes champ Ruler On Ice finished third with Havre de Grace getting fourth just a head before Flat Out. Uncle Mo tired badly to finish 10th.
The big winner was trainer Bill Mott who pulled off the Ladies' Classic- Breeders' Cup Classic double.
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Bruins have signed center David Krejci to a three-year contract extension through the 2014-15 season. Financial terms were not disclosed. Krejci has four goals and nine assists for 13 poi
<< 'Canes add MacLean to coaching staff
Raleigh, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former New Jersey Devils head coach John
MacLean has joined Kirk Muller's staff as an assistant with the Carolina
Hurricanes.
MacLean and Muller were teammates with the Devils from 1984-91.
Mull
<< Westwood, Schwartzel share Nedbank lead
Sun City, South Africa (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Defending champion Lee Westwood and
Masters winner Charl Schwartzel posted matching rounds of four-under 68
Thursday to share the lead after one round of the Nedbank Golf Challenge.
Westwood
<< Colts' tough season brings more difficult decisions ahead
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dan Orlovsky has seen this situation
before.
The newest Indianapolis Colts quarterback given the impossible assignment of
filling the shoes (and brain) of Peyton Manning started seven games during the
Det
<< Nadal will open for Spain against Argentina
Seville, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 2011 Davis Cup World Group Final will
commence Friday with a match between former world No. 1 Spanish great Rafael
Nadal and Argentina's Juan Monaco.
Nadal and his fellow Spaniards are playing host to Ar
Tuscaloosa, AL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 2011 version of the Big East/SEC Challenge features a matchup between the Georgetown Hoyas and the 12th-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide this evening in Tuscaloosa. Georgetown has won its last three games to
St. John's comes calling on No. 1 Kentucky >>
Lexington, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The nation's top-ranked team will be on
display tonight, as the Kentucky Wildcats welcome the St. John's Red Storm to
Rupp Arena as part of the Big East/SEC Challenge.
Kentucky represents the third Top-25 opp
UCLA granted bowl waiver from NCAA >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - UCLA has been granted a waiver from the
NCAA and will be eligible to appear in a bowl game if the Bruins lose to
Oregon in the Pac-12 Championship Game on Friday and finish with a losing
record.
Expect a High-Scoring Affair in Indianapolis >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Michigan State and Wisconsin met earlier
this year and the over/under was 50.5 points. The two teams went over the
number with a combined 68 points (28 in the fourth quarter). The Spartans won
the co
Hunter's Caps square off against Crosby, Penguins >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dale Hunter will try to earn his first win as an NHL head
coach when his Washington Capitals host Sidney Crosby and the rival Pittsburgh
Penguins tonight at the Verizon Center.
Hunter, a former star player for Washington,
Online Sportsbook Football Betting
Why Sports Betting is so much fun?
Betting Sports
The most popular sports to bet on are NFL and college football along with NBA and NCAA basketball. There are multiple betting opportunities within those sports, beginning with the basic wager on a game’s outcome (also called betting the side). College Football Point spreads are used in both football and basketball in an attempt to even the attractiveness of each team in a match-up. ( See our article detailing how and why point spreads are made)
But you could also simply bet on the money line, or straight-up winner of the game. Oddsmakers use the money line so that more money must be risked on the favorite or expected winner and less money on the underdog to balance the action on both sides. While money line gambling is an attractive option for football and basketball bettors who only care about picking a winner, it is the primary option for those bettors who enjoy wagering on MLB baseball and individual sports like boxing, tennis, golf and racing events such as NASCAR. ( More details on playing the Money Line)
Points (or Runs) Scored
Another bet across all major team sports including football, basketball, baseball, and hockey involves wagering on the amount of scoring in a game, called an Over/Under total. For example, the Over/Under total on Super Bowl XXXIX was 48, which means a bettor could wager whether there would be more or less than 48 points scored by both teams combined in the game.
The final score of Super Bowl XXXIX was 24-21; the scoring of both teams added up to 45, which means the game went Under . So Under bettors won, and Over bettors lost.
Future Bets
Sports gambling doesn’t end there. Betting sides and totals are the most common wagers available everywhere, but many sportsbooks also offer future bets on big upcoming events like who will win next year’s Super Bowl and what movie will win Best Picture at the Academy Awards.
The main advantage of futures is that you can get appealing odds by betting far in advance. For example, with NFL futures you often can get much higher odds on a team by betting before the season even starts. A NFL future bet on a team to win the Super Bowl odds might be 20/1 in the preseason; but by midseason, their odds might decrease to 10/1 if they turn out to be legitimate championship contenders.
Proposition Bets (or Prop Bets)
Proposition bets , also known as prop bets, focus upon the more exotic aspects of a game and are generally reserved for events that are widely televised. Prop bets are extremely popular when it comes to wagering on the Super Bowl in Las Vegas. The Imperial Palace Casino’s sportsbook is well-known for the enormous number of prop bets offered. For example, you can bet on:- What team will win the coin toss
- What player will score the game’s first touchdown
- What will be the exact margin of victory
Types of Bets
Straight Bet
Involves one individual wager, whether it be on your team to cover the point spread, to win the game straight-up on the money line, or to go over/under the total.
Sports Betting Parlays
A parlay is a single bet that links together two or more individual wagers and is dependent on all of those wagers winning together. The benefit of the parlay bet is much better odds than placing each individual bet separately since the difficulty of hitting it is much higher.Standard payoffs on a two-team parlay are 13/5; while a three-teamer pays 6/1; and a four-teamer 10/1.
Parlay cards are also fairly common in sportsbooks and popular with bettors, as they are released early in the week with set odds that do not change in return for a slightly lower payoff.
Round Robin Betting
Adventurous bettors who enjoy betting parlays sometimes put together a series of parlays called a Round Robin . A three-team Round Robin consists of one three-team parlay and three two-team parlays. For example, Joe likes teams A,B,C – with a Round Robin he has a three-teamer with ABC, and two-teamers with AB, AC, and BC.Betting Teasers
Similar to a parlay, a teaser bet is a single bet that links together two or more individual wagers, but is different in that the point spread is adjusted to your advantage on each individual wager. In exchange for the points, you get less of a return on your bet compared to a parlay. For example, a 6-point teaser would move the line on a 7-point favorite from -7 to -1, meaning the team would have to cover 6 less points. Each of the individual wagers must win or the bet is a loss.These are the main types of sports bets available today. But as sports betting continues to grow, sportsbooks will continue to develop new and creative ways to bet. We’ll continue to track these changes to the sports gambling landscape, so check back often and we’ll tell you all about it!
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.
2007 online football betting Preview
My fellow Americans, as tempting as it may be to don the coat and HD-ready tie in order to deliver this State of the Game address before the cameras, I know better. As Brad Paisley sings on his latest album, "I'm so much cooler online."
The ideas for this annual essay to kick off the MySportsbook.com college football betting preview flowed like frat-house beer, which is to say they were cheap and spilled all over the floor. The 2007 season will be better than 2007, if only because there will be more of it. A year ago, the NCAA Football Rules Committee made two rule changes in the interest of speeding up the game. These changes went over like Kobe burgers at a vegan banquet.
To its credit, the rules committee rectified its mistakes. This season the clock once again will start when a kickoff is received, rather than when it is kicked, and the clock will not start so quickly on a change of possession.
However, kickoffs have been moved back five yards, to the 30, which will force more returns. (Thus forcing the clock to run. Clever, huh?) Special teams might decide a lot of games, because coaching strategy will come straight out of another new Paisley lyric (almost), I'd like to check you for kicks.
Paisley sings with a twang, which is why he's appropriate for this college football season. The sun coming up over the 2007 college football betting lines season rises from the south. It's a Southern football world. As the Southeastern Conference begins its 75th year, the power shift is noticeable.
Eight-figure budgets, glamorous settings -- and that's just for the head coaches. The SEC has four coaches who have won national championships -- the greatest aggregation of coaching know-how since Eddie Robinson dined alone.
Steve Spurrier, Phil Fulmer, Nick Saban and Urban Meyer have given lie to the idea that a conference championship game is too daunting a hurdle on the road to No. 1. In six of the past 10 seasons, the national champions played and won a conference championship game -- three of the six (Tennessee, 1998; LSU, 2003; Florida, 2007) from the SEC.
2007 College Football Betting Preview
There will be more of the same this season, if the preseason prognostications are correct. Six SEC teams are in the preseason coaches' poll, more than from any other conference. Only one conference has talent so deep that a team with 15 returning starters, including the best quarterback in the league, from an eight-win season is considered an afterthought. That may speak more to Kentucky's losing legacy than to the wisdom of the predictions, but there you have it. And seriously, keep an eye on Wildcats QB Andre' Woodson.
The reach of the South extends all the way to No. 1. Take a look at the team that is a consensus pick to win the national championship. The quarterback is from Shreveport. The best wide receiver is from Nashville. The top recruit is from New Orleans.
So what's the campus doing in Los Angeles? Hey, it is the University of Southern California.
USC lost two Pacific-10 Conference games a year ago, the first time that had happened in five seasons, and university officials withstood the urge to form blue-ribbon panels to unearth the cause of such a disaster. Instead, the Trojans gathered themselves and routed Michigan, 32-18, in the Rose Bowl.
USC's losses at Oregon State and at UCLA last year should have given pause to those who question the Pac-10's football prowess (such as, without naming names, L.M. from Baton Rouge). The league only got deeper this season; Dennis Erickson is taking over an Arizona State team that never quite got out of its own way under his predecessor, Dirk Koetter.
Erickson will resume his quest to become the first coach to win a national championship at two schools. Both he and Spurrier, now in his third season at South Carolina, returned to college football at schools with lower profiles than where they won their titles.
That isn't the case for the third coach looking for the national championship double. You may have missed this, but NASA reported the astronauts on the space shuttle last spring made contact with what can only be described as beings from another galaxy.
The leader of the aliens said, "We come in peace," followed by, "So how do you think Nick Saban will do at Alabama?"
The public is reacting to the new Crimson Tide coach as if he is the Barry Bonds of college football -- beloved at home for what his fans believe he is going to do, hated on the road for his intimidating attitude and for what his detractors believe he did (bend NCAA recruiting rules). I made this comparison from the dais at a charity dinner in Mobile, Ala., last month, and the chill that washed over me didn't come from the air conditioning.
Saban will attempt to prove that he can remake in Tuscaloosa what he built in Baton Rouge, much like another member of the national championship fraternity. Bobby Bowden is attempting to remake at Florida State what he built at, um, Florida State. Bowden rebuilt his offensive staff, bringing in four new coaches led by Saban's former offensive coordinator, Jimbo Fisher, to jump-start an offense that has been dead for a couple of years.
Las Vegas Sports Lines
The Atlantic Coast Conference is expected to show new signs of life, too. That is said with no disrespect toward last season's champion, Wake Forest, which provided one of the best story lines of 2007. The Demon Deacons begin this season in their customary position, overshadowed by the Virginia Techs, Miamis and Florida States.
It's not that Wake will find it difficult to duplicate its success in 2007 as much as the feeling that success engendered. Surprising success is the narcotic of sport. It never feels quite so euphoric the next time. Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese has figured this out. He refers to 2007, when a league looked down upon by fans and foes alike took three undefeated teams into November, as "Cinderella."
The fairy tale may be over, but the Big East has four genuine Heisman Trophy candidates in Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm, West Virginia tailback Steve Slaton and quarterback Pat White, and Rutgers tailback Ray Rice. Rutgers, as did Wake Forest and, of course, Boise State, proved last season that the have-nots in college football occasionally have quite a lot.
The Broncos' rousing 43-42 overtime victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl has raised the profile of all schools in conferences that don't get automatic BCS bids. This season, TCU and Hawaii are the preseason favorites to burst through the BCS doors and earn an at-large bid. The Warriors return 14 starters from an 11-3 team, including quarterback Colt Brennan.
Brennan not only broke the single-season record with 58 touchdown passes in 2007, but he also led Division I-A in passing efficiency (186.0). The senior is expected to contend for the Heisman Trophy, and neither his success nor the rise of his team should come as any surprise in the 2007 season.
After all, Hawaii is the southernmost team in the country.
To visit this sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.