08/20/2008 - Saratoga Springs, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A dozen evenly matched three-year-olds have been entered in Saturday's $1 million Travers Stakes at Saratoga Race Course, led by Jim Dandy Stakes winner Macho Again and Jim Dandy runner-up Pyro.
The "Mid-Summer Derby" is a 1 1/4 mile race with all 12 starters carrying 126 pounds.
Despite winning the Jim Dandy at Saratoga, Macho Again is only fourth in the morning line at 6-1. He will again be ridden by Julien Leparoux from post five. The gray colt will try to duplicate the Jim Dandy-Travers double that Street Sense accomplished last year.
Trained by Dallas Stewart, Macho Again won the Derby Trial and was second to Big Brown in the Preakness Stakes. In his career, the three-year-old has earned $673,761 with four wins in 11 starts.
Assuming the morning-line favorite's position at just 7-2 is Pyro. The colt, trained by Steve Asmussen, will be ridden by Shaun Bridgmohan from post 11.
"He had a pretty strong race in the Jim Dandy," said Asmussen, "and trying to get two good races out of a horse here can be pretty tricky."
Pyro established himself early this year as a favorite for the Kentucky Derby. He won the Risen Star Stakes and Louisiana Derby, both at the Fair Grounds, then failed in the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland on a synthetic track.
After an eighth-place finish in the Run for the Roses, Pyro won the Northern Dancer at Churchill Downs leading into the Jim Dandy. In his career he has won four of 10 starts for $1,274,063.
Lightly raced Harlem Rocker is the 4-1 second choice in the program for trainer Todd Pletcher. The gray colt will break from post eight with Eibar Coa in the saddle.
"Physically, he has been a very nice individual," Pletcher noted. "He has gotten bigger and stronger as a three-year-old. The biggest change in him is that he's become much more of a work horse. He's a good-looking horse. I don't think we've seen the full potential of him yet. The Travers will be interesting."
Harlem Rocker is a Canadian-bred who is coming off a win in the Prince of Wales Stakes at Fort Erie, the second jewel in Canada's Triple Crown. Owned by Frank Stronach, the colt won the Withers at Aqueduct in April.
"He beat a quality horse in J Be K," Pletcher said about the Withers victory. "He beat him convincingly going a mile. I think that race stamped his quality because of J Be K's accomplishments (he won the Woody Stephens at Belmont Park). I think the interesting thing (about the Travers) will be the 1 1/4 miles. He has never gone that far, but he did run well at a 1 3/16 miles, and he acted like he had more to give that day."
Harlem Rocker has earned $445,799 with four wins in five lifetime starts.
The 5-1 third pick is newcomer Mambo in Seattle. The colt won a restricted stakes race at Saratoga last month in his first added-money start. He will start from post nine with jockey Robby Albarado.
Mambo in Seattle has won four of his seven career starts with $163,241 in earnings.
Here is the complete field in post position order for the 139th Travers: Tale of Ekati, Edgar Prado 20-1; Colonel John, Garrett Gomez 8-1; Da' Tara, Alan Garcia 8-1; Tizbig, Cornelio Velasquez 30-1; Macho Again, Julien Leparoux 6-1; Cool Coal Man, John Velazquez 15-1; Amped, Jorge Chavez 30-1; Harlem Rocker, Eibar Coa 4-1; Mambo in Seattle, Robby Albarado 5-1; Tres Borrachos, Tyler Baze 15-1; Pyro, Shaun Bridgmohan 7-2 and Court Vision, Kent Desormeaux 12-1.
The Travers will be televised on ESPN with a post-time of 5:45 p.m. (et).
<< Sixers bring back Ratliff
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia 76ers have signed free
agent center Theo Ratliff.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but a report Tuesday in the Philadelphia
Daily News said the 35-year-old Ratliff has accepted a
<< Griffey ties Sosa on home run list
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chicago White Sox outfielder Ken Griffey Jr.
belted his 609th career home run on Wednesday to tie Sammy Sosa for fifth
place on the all-time list.
Griffey drilled a two-out, two-run homer in the
<< Eagles' Curtis out with sports hernia
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Kevin
Curtis will undergo surgery Thursday for a sports hernia.
Curtis suffered the injury during last Friday's preseason game against
Carolina and will "be out
<< Panthers release veteran DT Scott
Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Carolina Panthers reached an injury
settlement with defensive tackle Ian Scott Wednesday and released the veteran.
Scott, who was signed in the offseason after the Panthers traded defensive
tack
Twins continue home dominance with series win over Oakland >>
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Redmond stroked a pair of run-scoring
singles to lift the Minnesota Twins to a 3-1 victory over the Oakland
Athletics in the finale of a three-game series at the Metrodome.
Justin Morneau a
Griffey hits one of Chicago's four homers in rout of M's >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ken Griffey Jr. belted his first home run in a
White Sox uniform and Nick Swisher homered for the third consecutive game, as
Chicago completed a three-game sweep of the Seattle Mariners with a 15-3 rout
at U.S.
Twins activate 2B Casilla from DL >>
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Twins activated infielder
Alexi Casilla from the 15-day disabled list after Wednesday's 3-1 victory over
the Oakland Athletics.
Casilla has been sidelined since July 29 with a torn lig
Rox disable P Herges, recall P Speier >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Rockies placed
pitcher Matt Herges on the 15-day disabled list with lower back stiffness
Wednesday and recalled pitcher Ryan Speier from Triple-A Colorado Springs.
The rost
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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Two playoff teams from 2007 take center stage on the NFL Network Sunday night in a Week 2 NFL betting match-up when the (0-1) New England Patriots betting head south to Florida for a contest with the (1-0) Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
New England HC Bill Belichick couldn’t care less about the way his team plays in the preseason. With a chance to tie last week’s game with the Baltimore Ravens betting, He elected to go for the two-point conversion and outright victory. The conversion failed, and the Pats ended up falling to the Ravens by a 16-15 final count.
New England rolled off twelve unanswered points to give it a chance at securing the victory, but it never threatened to cover the 3.5-point spread. NFL bettors saw this one coming, as they bet the Ravens down from +6 to +3.5 as the week progressed. QB Tom Brady didn’t take part in the Patriots first preseason clash, but could see action this weekend.
His three replacements all put up embarrassing numbers. They went a combined 17 for 33, and threw three interceptions and no touchdowns. The New England defense was encouraging, as they held the Ravens to 2/12 third down conversions and surrendered just ten first downs. That ‘D’ should be bolstered with the addition of former Bucs and Denver Broncos betting safety John Lynch, who could make his Patriots debut on Sunday against his former mates.
HC Jon Gruden had to be impressed with the way his Bucs played on both sides of the ball in their dominating 17-6 victory over the Miami Dolphins in Week 1’s NFL pre-season betting action. Bucs bettors were quite happy with the effort, as they made a mockery of the fact that they were underdogs in the game.
The logjam at the quarterback position didn’t get any easier to separate for Gruden, as all four of his QBs had positive experiences in the first exhibition of 2008. The four combined to complete 28 of their 40 passes for 204 yards and a touchdown, and that was without starting QB Jeff Garcia in the lineup.
RB Michael Bennett had 19 carries and four receptions, totaling 90 yards and a touchdown. Expect to see more of Bennett, Kenneth Darby, and Earnest Graham, as they all compete for playing time with Warrick Dunn in the backfield this season. Defensively, the Bucs recorded four sacks and held the Fins offense in check all day.
First round draft pick Aqib Talib was impressive in the secondary, recording a tackle and two pass defenses in his debut. Don’t be surprised to see Talib in the starting lineup opposite Ronde Barber for the Bucs in ’08.
The betting trends suggest that NFL bettors should be backing the Bucs in this intra-conference exhibition.
These two teams hooked up last year in Tampa Bay, with the Bucs winning that game 13-10. The Buccaneers have only lost one preseason game at home dating back to the beginning of the ’05 preseason. The Patriots have had a mixed bag of results in their recent exhibitions. They have gone 2-2 ATS and SU each of the last three years.
New England currently sits as modest 1-point favorites in this preseason showdown with the ‘total’ now sitting at 34.5.
You can find these lines and all of the NFL betting lines , so be sure to login and get your wagers down before kickoff!
Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines .
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