09/07/2008 - Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rahy's Attorney, ridden by Slade Callaghan, took the lead on the turn for home and went on to win Sunday's $1 million Woodbine Mile at Woodbine Racecourse. Odds-on favorite Kip Deville, 2007 Breeders' Cup Mile champ, faltered down the stretch to finish off the board.
Sent off as a 12-1 longshot, Rahy's Attorney earned himself a spot in this year's $2 million Breeders' Cup Mile with the victory. The race is one of the "Win and You're In" Breeders' Cup Challenge events.
Rahy's Attorney, trained by Ian Black, raced near the lead in the one-mile turf race. He took the lead coming off the final turn with Kip Deville moving into second on the outside. Rahy's Attorney powered down the stretch as the 1-2 favorite, Kip Deville, could not keep up.
Callaghan guided his mount to a 1 1/4-length win over the filly Ventura in the eight-horse field. Just Rushing finished third followed by Ice Bear, Kip Deville, Mulmur, Palladio and Wollemi Pine.
"I was just off the pace going around the turn," explained Callaghan. "I knew my horse could last the distance. So I made an early move with him. To be honest, I wanted to be right on the fence. I had to swing him out a little bit to get by Just Rushing, then back to the rail. This horse loves the rail. This is a tremendous effort against Kip Deville. I thought he (Kip Deville) was heads and tails above the rest of the field in here. But my horse had home advantage."
The time for the 12th Woodbine Mile on a yielding turf course was 1:36.14.
"I think he must be (a miler). I was trying to make him something else," laughed Black. "Well, I was always happy where he was. He heeled up so much, he ran huge down the lane."
The victory was worth $660,000 for the owners Ellie Boje Farm and others. They supplemented the four-year-old gelding into the race for $180,000. Rahy's Attorney has won seven of 17 career starts, all at Woodbine, for $1.14 million.
The gelding captured the Connaught Cup in May, but was coming off a third- place finish to Seaside Retreat in the Nijinsky Stakes. Earlier this year he was second in the Singspiel to Mission Approved.
Rahy's Attorney returned $27.30, $8.70 and $9.30. Ventura paid $4.20 and $4.90, and Just Rushing paid $9.90 to show.
In the $750,000 Northern Dancer Breeders' Cup Turf Stakes, Champs Elysees rallied down the stretch to post a nose victory over Quijano. The time for the 1 1/2 miles was 2:32.02 on a yielding E.P. Taylor Turf Course.
"This horse, coming from over in Europe, he'd been on something like this, so I knew it wouldn't bother him too much," jockey Garrett Gomez said about the soft turf. "It was just a matter of time, get a good trip with him and get him traveling well."
It is the second consecutive stakes win for the five-year-old with Gomez in the saddle. In January of this year the pair captured the San Marcos Stakes at Santa Anita.
Trained by Bobby Frankel, Champs Elysees was the beaten even-money favorite last time out in the United Nations Handicap at Monmouth Park. Owned by Juddmonte Farms, Champs Elysees adds $450,000 to his bankroll and has won four of 18 lifetime starts for more than $1.1 million.
Champs Elysees paid $9.20, $4.60 and $3.30. Quijano, the 2-1 favorite, returned $3.50 and $2.90, and Seaside Retreat paid $4.00 to show.
<< Report: Pats QB Brady might be done for season
Foxboro, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady
might be done for the season after suffering a left knee injury in Sunday's
17-10 win over the Kansas City Chiefs.
Yahoo! Sports, citing a source on the team,
<< Patterson-Golden earns medalist honors at Women's Mid-Am
Ann Arbor, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wendi Patterson-Golden shot a two-under 70 on
Sunday to earn stroke play medalist honors at the U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur.
Patterson-Golden, a 33-year-old from Florida, finished two rounds of stroke
play at
<< Fordham beats Rhode Island with big plays
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fordham had to wait an extra day before opening
its season on a sun-struck, Sunday afternoon in the Bronx. But the delay from
Tropical Storm Hanna was worth the patience when the Rams blanked Rhode
Island, 16-0.
<< Bishop leads Saskatchewan to fourth quarter rally over Winnipeg
Winnipeg, MB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Michael Bishop helped rally Saskatchewan from
down 17 points in the fourth quarter and Luca Congi kicked the game-tying and
game-winning field goals with under two minutes to play, as the Roughriders
shocked
Colts' Clark leaves season-opener with knee injury >>
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Indianapolis Colts tight end Dallas
Clark left Sunday's season-opener against the Chicago Bears after suffering a
right knee injury in the first quarter.
Clark, who caught 58 passes and found the
Coaching legend Don Haskins dies >>
El Paso, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hall of Fame basketball coach Don Haskins, who
helped break racial barriers in the collegiate game, died Sunday at the age of
78.
The El Paso Times reports Haskins died of congestive heart failure.
In 1966
Todd claims first Nationwide title in six-shot romp >>
Sandy, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brendon Todd capped off four sparkling rounds of
golf with a four-under 67 on Sunday to claim his first Nationwide Tour win at
the Utah Championship.
The 23-year-old rookie may have been surprised to see t
Mets take second test of twin-bill behind Delgado >>
Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carlos Delgado stroked a pair of solo home
runs and finished with four RBI as the New York Mets took a 6-3 victory over
the Philadelphia Phillies to split a doubleheader at Shea Stadium.
Ryan Church and
Recently I had an email debate with an angry reader who said I did not understand "the science of oddsmaking", as he called it.
He said I was wrong for suggesting oddsmakers care about who wins or loses games.
"Oddsmakers only care about splitting the betting public 50/50 on both sides of the line and keeping the commission (a.k.a. juice)," he wrote.
He might have been right about not understanding "the science of oddsmaking". After all, I'm not an oddsmaker. That said, I stick to my assertion that oddsmakers (a.k.a. sportbooks) often do care about who wins games.
Granted, as a general rule, sportsbooks try to balance their action so that they're not exposed to big losses. However, there are times when this is difficult to pull off, regardless of how much a line has moved. There are also times when that general rule is ignored and a book pursues risk.
Generally speaking, it's safe to say the books in Vegas are risk-adverse. Unlike in the past when the wise guys ruled the town, Vegas is now corporate and the goal of most casinos is to make as much money as possible with as little risk as possible.
Thus, Vegas sportsbooks try everything in their power to balance the action. They're satisfied simply collecting the juice. But these profits are small, especially compared to the take from other casino games, namely slot machines.
Because the profits at Vegas sportsbooks are so small, you could argue that many casinos operate sportsbooks simply as a novelty to keep the tourists happy.
With a growing aversion to risk, it should come as no surprise that Vegas bookmakers have been panicking this NFL season.
Despite huge pointspreads, a disproportionate percentage of bettors are still laying their money on favorites like the Eagles, Colts, Pats and Vikings rather than the dogs (a common trend for the largely recreational bettors that visit Vegas).
And much to the dismay of the books, those favorites are finding ways to cover the thick chalk. In fact, prior to Week 7, the four teams listed above are a combined 16-2-2 (88 percent) against the spread. (The tables turned dramatically in Week 7, but more on that later.)
The result has been an early-season beating for the books, and a bonanza for bettors.
While Vegas increasingly hates risk, it's no longer a major player in the sports betting world. Most of the betting action now takes place offshore where sportsbooks are not as obsessed about balance. In fact, some books encourage exposure to risk because the rewards can be so much bigger.
Consider MySportsbook.com. On its website, the book has odds pages which actually display the amount of action it's getting on games. In other words, you can see how much action the book is taking on both sides of a pointspread, moneyline or over/under.
One look at these numbers and it's obvious MySportsbook.com does not balance every game. In fact, far from it.
Take last weekend's matchup between St. Louis and Miami. By game time on Sunday, 83 percent of the betting action at MySportsbook.com was on the Rams; only 17 percent was on Miami.
What's interesting is that MySportsbook.com opened the pointspread with Miami at +6 1/2. By game time, the spread had lowered to +5.
That goes contrary to the balancing theory. If MySportsbook.com had wanted to balance the action, it would have given Miami more points; instead, it took away 1 1/2. World Series odds are now up as well.
MySportsbook.com exposed itself to even more to risk, and rolled the dice on the underdog Dolphins. Why? I contacted a representative with the book to find out. His answer was simple.
"The line moved early based on 'smart money' from sharp players," said Jeff Gilroy, a spokesperson for the book. "We also knew from early in the week that we would need Miami, therefore (we dropped) the spread to encourage Rams money.
"At the end of the day, we liked the home team."
So the conclusion is this: MySportsbook.com respected the sharp action, and gambled that the sharp bettors had a better take on the game than the recreational bettors, who were hammering the visiting Rams.
In the end, the gamble paid off. Miami, desperate for a win in front of its home fans, pounded the overrated Rams, who are terrible on the road and even worse on grass. Final score: 31-14 Fish.
MySportsbook.com was also heavily exposed on numerous favorites in Week 7, including Philadelphia, Seattle and Denver. All three failed to cover.
The fact that sportsbooks are exposed to risk on certain games is really nothing new. The fact, that Sportsbook.com is willing to show the public where it's exposed is intriguing.
Armed with this type of information, bettors can make more educated wagers. They can get an idea where the sharp money is going and conversely where the public money is headed.
MySportsbook.com is opening up its cashbox, letting bettors look inside and challenging them to take their best shot at grabbing the cash.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting odds needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
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