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07/14/2010 - East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sportswriter, winner of the North America Cup, will take on nine rivals in Saturday's $1 million Meadowlands Pace at The Meadowlands. The field of 10 three-year-old pacers will leave the starting gate at 10 p.m. (et).
The 2009 champion two-year-old male pacer barely got into the race after finishing fourth in his elimination race. The first three across the wire in the three elimination heats automatically gained entry into the Pace. Sportswriter, driven by Mark MacDonald, was the fastest of the three fourth- place finishers.
The three elimination race winners were Rock N Roll Heaven, Rockin Image and Ok Commander. Each heat was valued at $50,000.
Sportswriter, trained by Casie Coleman, has eight career wins in 13 starts for $1,562,460. In 2010 the colt has just one win, The North America Cup, in five starts for $746,780.
Sportswriter, owned by Steve Calhoun, West Wins Stable and Southwind Farm, will start from the far outside post.
"He's a warrior," MacDonald said about his drive. "It seems like we've always got something to overcome with this horse. He's just such a game horse. One of these days, everything is going to come together for this horse. It's been one thing after another, but he seems to show up for the big dances. That's the main thing."
A win will make Sportswriter the ninth horse to win both the North America Cup and Meadowlands Pace. Last year Well Said turned the double joining Rocknroll Hanover (2005), Gallo Blue Chip (2000), The Panderosa (1999), David's Pass (1995), Cam's Card Shark (1994), Presidential Ball (1993) and Precious Bunny (1991).
Here is the full field for the Meadowlands Pace in post position order: Kyle Major, Jody Jamieson, 15-1; Rockin Image, Yannick Gingras, 3-1; Rock N Roll Heaven, John Campbell, 5-2; Valentino, George Brennan, 15-1; I'm Gorgeous, Andy Miller, 12-1; Delmarvalous, Brian Sears, 12-1; Nova Artist, Brian Sears, 15-1; One More Laugh, Tim Tetrick, 9-2; Fred And Ginger, Dave Palone, 10-1 and Sportswriter, Mark MacDonald, 6-1.
Delmarvalous, fourth in his elimination, replaced OK Commander who was scratched due to lameness. OK Commander developed an abscess in his right front leg after winning his Meadowlands Pace elimination.
Delmarvalous is trained by George Teague, Jr. who also trains I'm Gorgeous.
<< Del 'Cap features six top females
Stanton, DE (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Saturday's $750,000 Delaware Handicap has
attracted six of the leading female thoroughbreds in the nation. The winner of
the 1 1/4-mile race gains automatic entry into this year's Breeders' Cup
Ladies'
<< Johnson resigns as Vandy football coach
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Vanderbilt's athletic department has called a
press conference for 2 p.m. (et) at which time head football coach Bobby
Johnson is expected to announce his resignation.
The Tennessean first reported the decisi
<< Nets name Billy King general manager
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Jersey Nets have named Billy
King as their next general manager.
King takes the reins from Rod Thorn, who is stepping down as team president
and general manager after 10 years on the job
<< Braves get Gonzalez from Jays in five-player deal
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Braves acquired shortstop Alex
Gonzalez from the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday in a five-player trade.
The Braves sent shortstop Yunel Escobar and pitcher Jo-Jo Reyes to Toronto and
also acqu
Rockets ready to match Cavs offer sheet to Lowry >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Rockets plan to match the offer
sheet extended Wednesday to restricted free-agent guard Kyle Lowry.
Houston general Manager Daryl Morey said on his Twitter account
Wednesday afte
Melzer into Stuttgart QFs >>
Stuttgart, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - French Open semifinalist Jurgen Melzer
was a second-round victor Wednesday at the Mercedes Cup tennis event.
The second-seeded Melzer got past Germany's own Mischa Zverev, a wild card
this week, 7-
Pennetta eases into Palermo quarters >>
Palermo, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Defending champion and top seed Flavia
Pennetta of Italy was an easy second-round winner Wednesday at the $220,000
Palermo International tennis tournament.
Pennetta handled Czech Renata Voracova 6-
Schiavone will skip Slovenian event >>
Portoroz, Slovenia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - French Open champion Francesca Schiavone
will miss next week's WTA Tour event in Slovenia, citing a left wrist injury.
The world No. 8 was slated to be the second seed at the $220,000 Slovenia
Open.
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.
For complete odds on the Kentucky Derby, visit MySportsbook.com. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
In any football or basketball game (the main sports that use point spreads) there are two teams playing against each other.
Those teams, though, are rarely exactly evenly matched – meaning that typically one team has a better chance than the other to win the game. If bettors were allowed to bet on who was simply going to win the game, smart ones would obviously bet on the better team (likely winning more than 50% of the time in the process).
If winning were that easy the Las Vegas and online sportsbooks would stop taking any bets! This is where the point spread comes in: the basic function of the point spread is to balance the likelihood of each team “winning” by adjusting the final score by the point spread. After this adjustment is made you get the Against The Spread result (ATS result for short).
Let’s look at Super Bowl XXXIX, New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles. Most people believed the defending champ Patriots to be the better team – so if betting were simply based upon which team would win the game, an uneven majority of people would have wagered on New England. But, by using the point spread, the bookmakers adjusted the terms of the bet, evening the proposition so about half the people believed the Pats to be the smart bet, while the other half considered Philly to be the smart bet.
New England Patriots -7 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
The better team, called the Favorite, is expected to win the game and must “give” or “lay” points to the weaker team. The favorite is listed with a minus sign and the number of points they are favored by (e.g., New England -7)
In the case of our example, New England must not only win the game, but they must win by more than 7 points for Pats bettors to have a winning ATS result. An Eagles bettor wins his bet either if:
There was also the possibility that the final score could land exactly on the spread number (for example, the Pats winning 28-21 when -7), which is called a “push” or “no action” and a refund is then issued to bettors of both teams.
The same game with the same point spread can be considered from the weaker team’s perspective: The Underdog (Philly in the case of our example) is not expected to win the game and online football betting thus receives or “gets” points given by the stronger team. When a game is stated from the underdog’s perspective the team is listed with a plus sign and the number of points they are underdogs by:
Philadelphia Eagles +7 vs. New England Patriots
Keep in mind that Philadelphia +7 and New England -7 is the same point spread on the same game, simply stated differently. The first is from the underdog’s perspective; the later is from the favorite’s.
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
Let’s look at the actual result of Super Bowl XXXIX: New England 24 Philadelphia 21
The favorite, New England, won the game but not by more than the point spread they were favored by (7), so the ATS result was a LOSS for Pats bettors.
Looking at it from the underdog’s perspective, Philly did not win the game, but they lost by less than the point spread (7), so the ATS result was a WIN for Eagle bettors.
Mathematically considered, 24 for the favorite Pats minus 7 equals 17, which is less than the 20 the Eagles scored, so the underdog Eagles win the ATS result (or you could figure 20 plus 7 equals 27 for the Eagles, which is more than 24 for the Pats).
Emily’s boyfriend understood the point spread and wagered $100 on the Eagles at +7. The Eagles may not have gotten a Super Bowl ring, but since they won the ATS result Emily’s boyfriend cashed his bet – giving him money to take her out to a nice dinner.
And now hopefully you understand how to read point spreads, putting you one step closer to joining the fun of sports betting.
To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.
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