08/21/2008 - Del Mar, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eleven of the best older thoroughbreds in training make up the field for Sunday's $1 million Pacific Classic at Del Mar. The winner of the 1 1/4 mile race gains an automatic spot in the 2008 Breeders' Cup Classic as part of the "Win and You're In" Breeders' Cup Challenge.
Go Between, trained by Bill Mott, attempts to stop a three race streak in which he has finished second in each start. After winning the Sunshine Millions Classic in January he was the runner-up in the Santa Anita Handicap, the Ben Ali and the Hollywood Gold Cup.
Owned by Peter Vegso, the chestnut horse is the 3-1 morning-line favorite and will be ridden again by Garrett Gomez from the six-hole.
"The horse is doing excellent," said Kenny McCarthy who handles the Bill Mott string at Churchill Downs. "We gave him a couple of easy works after he came back from the Hollywood Park race and then put two sharp works into him."
The five-year-old has won seven of 25 lifetime starts with earnings of $2,183,880.
Here is the rest of the field for the 18th Pacific Classic: Student Council, Awesome Gem, Mast Track, McCann's Mojave, Well Armed, Surf Cat, Mostacolli Mort, Barcola, Delosvientos and Zappa. All horses will carry 124 pounds.
Defending Classic winner Student Council has won eight of 29 career starts for $1,547,731. His lone win this year came in the Pimlico Special and he is coming off a second to Commentator in the Whitney Handicap at Saratoga.
It was announced on August 12 that Student Council will be retired at the conclusion of the 2008 racing season and enter stud in 2009. The six-year-old will stand at Millennium Farms, his current owner.
"His racing career has brought us much excitement," noted Millennium Farms owner Ro Parra. "And after a few more races this year, we are sure that the combination of his pedigree, conformation, soundness, toughness, durability and great race record will make him desirable to breeders around the world."
Well Armed, trained by Eoin Harty for WinStar Farms, took the San Diego Handicap at Del Mar in his most recent start. The gelding has career earnings just over $1 million with five wins in 17 career starts.
"Going the extra distance isn't optimal, but I think he can do it physically," said Harty. "After all, he's by Tiznow (double winner of the Breeders' Cup Classic). He has overcome a lot in his lifetime; the worst was a broken pelvis two years ago and Bill Casner (partner in WinStar Farm) rehabbed the horse himself. These people (WinStar) have sent me three Tiznows and they've all won major races. That's this horse, Colonel John and Tiz Now Tiz Then. What are the chances of that?"
The Pacific Classic will be broadcast on ESPN2 with a post-time set for 9:45 p.m. (et).
<< Bocanegra's header helps USA hold off Guatemala
Guatemala City, Guatemala (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carlos Bocanegra scored in the
68th minute to help the United States down Guatemala, 1-0 at Mateo Flores on
Wednesday in a World Cup qualifier.
The USA is now 5-0-4 against Guatemala all-
<< Marlins SS Ramirez leaves game vs. Giants with hand injury
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Florida Marlins lost shortstop
Hanley Ramirez to a hand injury in Wednesday's game against the San Francisco
Giants.
Ramirez singled in the top of the third inning and stole second base. As he
slid
<< Metcalf homers twice, Millwood goes nine as Rangers rout Tigers
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Travis Metcalf homered twice, knocking in
three runs, and Kevin Millwood hurled nine strong innings, as Texas rolled
past Detroit, 9-1, in the final contest of a three-game series.
Brandon Boggs, Mich
<< LaRue, Cardinals rough up Pirates
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jason LaRue hit a two-run homer, doubled
and finished with three runs batted in, as St. Louis blasted Pittsburgh, 11-2,
in the finale of a two-game set with the Pirates.
Rick Ankiel also had a two-run bl
Cardinals P Wainwright to return >>
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam
Wainwright is expected to return from the disabled list and start Friday
against the Atlanta Braves.
Wainwright has been on the DL since June 8 with a
Marlins SS Ramirez leaves game vs. Giants with thumb injury >>
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Florida Marlins lost shortstop
Hanley Ramirez to a thumb injury in Wednesday's 6-5 loss to the San Francisco
Giants.
Ramirez singled in the top of the third inning and stole second base. As
Hawpe's late hit helps Rockies edge error-prone Dodgers >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brad Hawpe knocked in the go-ahead run in
top of the ninth inning, as the Colorado Rockies rallied past the Los Angeles
Dodgers, 4-3, in the middle test of a three-game series from Chavez Ravine.
Hawpe f
Molina's sac fly in ninth lifts Giants past Marlins >>
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bengie Molina had the game-winning
sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth inning, as the San Francisco Giants
held off a late rally by the Florida Marlins to win 6-5 in the middle
install
The Indianapolis Colts know that winning the Super Bowl last season put a huge target on their backs, and they expect opponents to go all-out to knock them from the top of the mountain.
They’ll get their first test from the New Orleans Saints this Thursday night. The defending champs had nothing but good things to say about the New Orleans defense this past week, praising their opponents’ pass rush and run-stopping abilities.
"They play very aggressively," head coach Tony Dungy told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "They play a lot of man-to-man coverage, and they come after you. They have good pass rushers, and they're going to try to pressure us, I'm sure."
Both center Jeff Saturday and quarterback Peyton Manning gave New Orleans’ front four props, admitting keeping guys like Will Smithand Charles Grant contained would be a tall task for the offensive line.
New Orleans ranked second in total defense during the preseason at a sportsbook, allowing just under 233 yards per game. Last season, the defense finished 11th in the league after giving up 307.3 yards and 20.1 points per contest.
Not so sound on the ground
If Indianapolis' efficient offense has a weakness it has to be its running attack. The Colts one-two-punch of Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai is no longer, leaving the bulk of the carries to Addai, the second-year back out of LSU.
Former Saskatchewan Roughrider Kenton Keith was named Addai’s backup this week after beating out DeDe Dorsey for the second-string position. Indy has only three backs on the roster right now, including fullback Luke Lawton, and coach Dungy is aware of the thinness of his ground game. Sports Betting lines on the game can be found at BettingExpress.com
“We’ll continue to look. Luke Lawton’s done a good job for us too. So probably getting a third true tailback is something that we’d like to do,” Dungy told the Indiana Tribune-Star.
Last season, Addai rushed for over 1,000 yards in his rookie campaign and scored seven touchdowns on the ground.
Brees says bring it on
Opening the season on the road against the defending Super Bowl champions is not the way most teams would like to kick off their year – unless you’re the New Orleans Saints or their quarterback Drew Brees. This internet Sportsbooks had the Saints as the favorites.
Brees told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he is excited to get the regular season started and the Colts are a great challenge for him and his teammates. The 28-year-old QB, entering his second season with the Saints, is expecting a wild environment in the RCA Dome this Thursday when the franchise celebrates its 2007-2007 championship.
Brees said he sees the opening game scheduling as an honor and a testament to how well New Orleans did last season. The Saints missed facing the Colts in the Super Bowl by one game, losing to the Chicago Bearsin the NFC Championship game.
"I mean, people think we can hang with these guys," Brees told reporters. "Even if they didn't, it wouldn't matter what they thought because as a team we're very confident. We know what we can do. We're not satisfied where we finished the season last year. And we've been looking forward to this opportunity for a long time."
SportsBooks ready for a shootout
Oddsmakers are preparing for some fireworks this Thursday when the NFL season kicks off. online Sportsbooks have Thursday’s total set at a whopping 52 points, accounting for two of the league’s most explosive offenses.
“This is like must-see TV,” Saints cornerback and former Colt Jason David told the Baton Rouge Advocate. “It’s two exciting offenses with great players. You’ve got a lot of star power on offense. At any given time a big play can happen. If I was a fan, I wouldn’t miss a snap.”
New Orleans, who ranked No.1 in total offense last season, can go blow-for-blow with the Colts’ attack. Head coach Sean Payton’s offensive schemes will get even better production out of Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and receiver Marques Colston now that they’ve each had a season of playing together under their belts.
The Saints and Colts were the top two passing teams in the NFL last year, but while Indianapolis managed to put up almost 27 points per game, New Orleans struggled to capitalize on their efforts. The Saints ranked fifth in points per game.
“Yards are great,” running backDeuce McAllister told reporters, “but to be able to score more touchdowns would be important for us.”
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Eastern Conference Playoff Betting Trends
We all know by now that the “public” loves to put their money on the FAVORITES and the OVERS. Just by taking a quick glance at Sportsbook.com’s “Betting Trends” it appears as is this tendency will continue as far as the Eastern Conference games are concerned. For the inaugural games of the first round, 69% of the early money is on Toronto -4.5; 59% of bettors prefer Chicago -4.5; 84% are backing Detroit -9; and 56% think Cleveland -11.5 is the way to go. As far as TOTALS are concerned, the only UNDER the “public” is backing is the Cleveland/ Washington game in which 83% are pounding the UNDER (190). Remember, there is no better way to predict a possible line change than by monitoring MySportsbook.com’s “Betting Trends”. By determining who the “public” is backing, you can get the most ideal line for your bet. For example, if you are siding with the public you better place your bet before the line moves in the wrong direction. On the other side of the coin, if you prefer the team that the “public” is betting against; you might be able to get and extra ½ or even more by placing your bet a bit later. Under the “Betting Trends” section, Sportsbook.com also provides plenty of statistical data and trends in order for the bettor to make the most informed pick. Below are some extremely important trends for the first round opponents of the Eastern Conference match-ups, more can be found at MySportsbook.com
New Jersey Nets vs. Toronto Raptors
Toronto was the most reliable covering team this season with a 48-33-1 ATS record but covered the OVER only 41.5% of the time.
The last 20 times these teams have played, the TOTAL has gone UNDER 16 times.
Versus Eastern Conference teams, Toronto is 33-19 ATS including 17-9 at home.
New Jersey has covered four games in a row while Toronto has failed to cover their last four games.
When playing a team with a winning record during the second half of the season, New Jersey was just 5-13 ATS this season.
After scoring 105 points or more, Toronto has covered the OVER only 28% of the time this season.
Miami Heat @ Chicago Bulls
Miami has failed to cover their last 7 games whereas Chicago has covered 6 out of their last 8 games.
Miami has covered the UNDER in four of their last five games whereas Chicago has covered the UNDER in five out of their last six.
When playing on Saturdays, Miami covered 80% of their games this season.
Away from home, Chicago is just 16-25 ATS this season.
At home, Miami covered the UNDER about 66% of the time whereas Chicago covered the UNDER about 61% of the time.
The last 13 times these teams have played each other, Chicago has covered 9 times.
In Miami’s last 11 road games, the UNDER covered 9 times.
Orlando Magic @ Detroit Pistons
Detroit has covered 5 out of their last 6 games.
Away from home, Detroit is 28-13 ATS but just 14-26-1 ATS at home.
At home, Orlando covered the UNDER 64% of the time while Detroit covered the UNDER in 63% of their away games.
The last five times these teams have played in Detroit, the OVER covered each time.
Versus Eastern Conference teams, Detroit is 8-17-1 ATS at home but 17-9 ATS away.
Detroit covered the spread 5 out of the last 6 times they played Orlando.
After a Division game, Orlando covered the UNDER 87% of the time this season.
Washington Wizards @ Cleveland Cavaliers
In a home game where the TOTAL is between 190 and 194.5 points, Cleveland is 9-1 ATS this season.
Washington has covered the UNDER in their last 6 games and in 8 of their last 9 games.
The last 6 times these teams have played each other, the UNDER covered each time.
When playing on 3 or more days of rest, Washington is just 18-37 ATS since 1996.
Since 1996, Washington is 28-16 ATS versus Cleveland including 11-5 over the last 3 seasons.
In their last 7 road games, Washington is 6-1 ATS.
Versus Eastern Conference teams at home, Washington is just 6-18-2 ATS.
For even more betting trends for not just the NBA but for all of the major sports, log on to Sportsbook.com and click on “Trends”. With only two months left in the NBA betting season it is important to be as well informed as possible in order to maximize your profit. Also for all of you poker players, check out MySportsbook.com’s “WSOP Low Bid Auction”. You could be on your way to Vegas to play against the world’s best poker players for under a buck.
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