Eclipse Award finalist Havre de Grace in Big Easy
Horseracing Betting Lines
01/05/2012 - New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Horse of the Year candidate Havre de Grace has made her way to Fair Grounds Race Course where she will begin her 2012 racing season. The five-year-old mare had been stabled at Vinery Racing's Florida location near Ocala.
"She's just sleeping right now," trainer Larry Jones said a few hours after the mare arrived at the track early Thursday morning. "We haven't even had her out walking. We just walked her right to her stall and let her sleep. She looks good."
Owned by Fox Hill Farms, Havre de Grace is a finalist for the 2011 Eclipse Award as champion older filly and mare and is expected to be in the running as Horse of the Year.
"She's one of the few candidates with a winning record, and we could have kept her undefeated if we'd picked some easier spots for her," Jones said on Wednesday, referring to Havre de Grace's two losses in 2011. "We could have run her in the Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic like we did the year before. We'd beaten Royal Delta (2011 Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic winner) by eight- lengths in the Beldame but we thought our horse deserved the chance against male rivals (in the Breeders' Cup Classic, where she finished fourth after being bumped).
"Earlier last summer in the Delaware Handicap (when Havre de Grace was second by a nose to Blind Luck) I didn't like the weights and I thought about scratching her, but we felt we owed it to the Delaware people to go ahead and let her run."
Jones is based at Fair Grounds this winter and mentioned on Wednesday that is where his mare will open her five-year-old campaign.
"At this time, we're more than likely to point her for the New Orleans Ladies," said Jones. The $100,000 stakes is set for Saturday, March 17.
Havre de Grace won five of seven starts in 2011 for more than $1.6 million. She won the Apple Blossom and Azeri at Oaklawn Park followed by the Obeah, Woodward and Beldame.
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Miami Marlins continued to reshape their roster on Thursday, acquiring feisty starter Carlos Zambrano and cash from the Chicago Cubs in exchange for pitcher Chris Volstad. More to follow.
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Doha, Qatar (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former world No. 1 stars Rafael Nadal
and Roger Federer secured spots in Friday's semifinals at the season-opening
$1.024 million Qatar Open.
The top-seeded Nadal ripped 31 winners and got past seventh-s
<< Former England boss McClaren returns to Twente
Enschede, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former England manager Steve McClaren
has rejoined Dutch side Twente for a second spell as manager, as he signed a 2
1/2-year contract Thursday.
McClaren, 50, guided Twente to its first-ever Eredivis
<< Zambrano gets a fresh start in South Beach
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Just when you thought the circus down in
Miami couldn't get any crazier, here comes Carlos Zambrano.
Already in the midst of a wild offseason, the Miami Marlins added yet
another piece to the pu
<< Yanks can't agree to terms for Japanese SS Nakajima
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Yankees were unable to reach an
agreement with Japanese shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima.
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San Antonio, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginobili underwent successful surgery to repair a fractured fifth metacarpal in his left hand. The procedure, which placed a plate and screws into the hand, was perfor
South Carolina's Jeffery declares for NFL Draft >>
Columbia, SC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - South Carolina wide receiver Alshon Jeffery
has decided to forgo his senior season and will enter the NFL Draft.
Jeffery was the MVP of South Carolina's Capital One Bowl victory over Nebraska
after catching
Marlins bring back Dobbs with two-year deal >>
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Miami Marlins brought back infielder Greg
Dobbs with a two-year deal on Thursday.
No terms of the contract were released, but multiple reports state the pact is
worth $3 million.
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Kings fire Paul Westphal >>
Sacramento, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Sacramento Kings have fired head coach
Paul Westphal after a 2-5 start.
Assistant Keith Smart will serve as head coach for Thursday's game against
Milwaukee.
More to follow.
Smart takes over as Kings host short-handed Bucks >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - When it comes to player vs. coach, the player usually wins.
Just days after a blowup with enigmatic second-year center DeMarcus Cousins,
Paul Westphal was fired as the Sacramento Kings' coach.
Assistant Keith Smart, the
Chiefs' Treen Green out for Sunday's game
How long Trent Green will remain sidelined is unknown. Coach Herm Edwards said Monday he will miss a second straight start Sunday when the Chiefs host the San Francisco 49ers.
A two-time Pro Bowler, Green was going into a feet-first hook slide when he was knocked unconscious by a thunderous, head-snapping hit from Cincinnati's Robert Geathers.
Oddsmakers at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com currently have the Chiefs listed as 7-point favorites versus the 49ers.
The 49ers got beat by Philadelphia 38-24 as a 6.5-point underdog last week. The combined score went OVER the posted over/under total (42.5).
Alex Smith completed 27-of-46 passes for 293 yards with a touchdown. Michael Robinson rushed for 29 yards and a pair of touchdowns on five carries.
The Chiefs lost 9-6 to Denver last week as an 11-point underdog. The combined score was well UNDER the posted over/under total (38).
Larry Johnson rushed for 126 yards on 27 carries. Damon Huard completed 17-of-23 passes for 133 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions.
To visit this online sports book got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.
Horse Betting
(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).
The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.
"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."
Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.
"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."
When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:
CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.
DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.
PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.
You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.
"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."
Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.
(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)
Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."
But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."
Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."
Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."
All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.
In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.
"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."
To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.