10/27/2008 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The practice of "red boarding" has been around since folks began wagering on the sport of horse racing. Simply stated, it's the process of making a case for the winner after a race has been made official, regardless of how poor the horse looked on paper.
Most people look down on this course of action, especially if done in a way that promotes arrogance, but it does have its place in the game. Astute handicappers usually plow through previous past performances to uncover how a horse was able to win, using speed and/or pace figures, track conditions, class ratings, jockey tactics and every other handicapping method under the sun.
The 2008 version of the Breeders' Cup was run over two days this past weekend with five of the 14 races on Friday. Since nine more championship events were to be run the following day, red boarding that day's card was perhaps the most useful tool in figuring out how to play the races on Saturday, and it all had to do with the new synthetic surface at Santa Anita called Pro-Ride.
There have been other types of synthetics installed at racetracks around the country, beginning with 1988's Equitrack surface at Remington Park. Turfway Park refurbished its dirt surface with Polytrack in 2005, and many other tracks have followed suit the past couple of years.
Pro-Ride is the latest surface to be put in place, and what a day it was for the so-called red boarders as the track provided one of the most dramatic biases in the history of the Breeders' Cup.
The three non-traditional dirt races on Friday produced two dominating performances by a pair of favorites in Stardom Bound and Zenyatta, and a victory in the Filly and Mare Sprint by Ventura, who was the second choice in the wagering.
The three fillies came into their respective events with a combined one career start on real dirt in 26 career races. Stardom Bound and Zenyatta had each proven victorious in their last starts on Pro-Ride, while Ventura had two victories in three starts on synthetics.
More important than how these horses had done on the "fake" dirt was how the track bias played out all afternoon. Stardom Bound was 12th in a 13-horse field after four furlongs, Zenyatta was last of eighth horses at the half-mile marker, and Ventura was in 10th position at that spot.
All three champions made their moves from the back of the pack and very far away from the rail. On top of that, only one of the 12 horses that were first, second, third or fourth at the half finished the race in the money.
TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE TRACK BIAS
Attacking Saturday's card was made much easier after factoring in how biased the Pro-Ride surface had been the previous day.
The two favorites in the Marathon were complete throw-outs. The 7-5 choice Sixties Icon had yet to race on synthetics and was an easy toss out at the price, since one should never bet a favorite doing something he's never done before. The 3-1 second choice Zappa also had zero chance, as he was going to be close up to the pace.
The field had now been reduced to five playable horses and four of the five ran first, second, third and fourth completing a $2 superfecta just short of $8,000.
More significantly, even with tremendously slow early fractions, the horses in first, second and third after one mile finished eighth and last, seventh and sixth.
The knowledge of how the track was playing set the stage for the next Pro-Ride event - the Dirt Mile.
Well Armed, the 6-5 favorite, had absolutely no chance to succeed despite three graded victories in his last five races. The reason? He likes to race on the front end.
Lewis Michael, coming off a victory in the Pat O'Brien Handicap at Del Mar, looked like a contender in the middle of the week but after drawing the rail in this 12-horse field, could be tossed aside as well.
In fact, only four horses - Pyro, Albertus Maximus, Rebellion and Lord Admiral - were playable based on their running styles and the track bias. The two most accomplished of the four, Albertus Maximus and Rebellion, finished one-two and combined for a $218.60 exacta after being well placed in ninth and 12th with only two furlongs remaining.
The Juvenile was the ugly duckling event of the day, as the three colts that held the top three spots at the half ended up in that very same order under the wire. Nonetheless, Midshipman, Square Eddie and Street Hero were also the only horses in the field with grade one victories on synthetics. The other two colts bet below 15-1, Munnings and Bushranger, had zero experience on non- traditional dirt tracks and they finished 10th and 11th in the field of 12.
The public was right on in the Sprint backing Midnight Lute (5-2) after having run just one race since last year's Breeders' Cup Sprint. The Bob Baffert- trained champion was dead last after a quarter in 21 1/5, but easily stormed to the top through the stretch.
Perhaps the most impressive performance of the day came from the second place finisher, Fatal Bullet, bucking the bias by holding onto the second spot after hitting the half in 43 4/5. But the son of Red Bullet had a huge factor working in his favor: seven straight victories on synthetics. His lone three defeats all came on either the real stuff or the turf and he was beaten a combined 34 -lengths in those events.
Since the Pro-Ride surface resembles more of a turf course than traditional dirt, the Europeans had a big edge when it came to the Classic. The winners of most races across the continent usually come from off the pace, and the one making the last and final move frequently gets the victory.
Not only did milers Raven's Pass and Henrythenavigator appreciate the added distance, they finished first and second just because they made their winning bids well after Colonel John and Curlin moved into contention.
To accentuate this point even further, Duke of Marmalade - the lowest priced horse of the three European-based charges and the only one to have raced 10 panels - finished a well-beaten ninth only because he challenged the early lead and faltered.
Also, who would have ever thought that Curlin would not just lose the Classic, but be outrun by Tiago even after reaching the front with just one furlong to go?
All in all, the eight Pro-Ride Breeders' Cup winners came into the weekend with just 12 career races on traditional dirt. And one horse, Midnight Lute, ran nine of the 12.
A new era of horse racing has begun, and now that the world knows how it played out, the 2009 Breeders' Cup should be an extremely profitable one since Santa Anita will once again be hosting the festivities.
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Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).
As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).
Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.
A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.
Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.
"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.
De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.
The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.
The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.
De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.
Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.
But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.
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MySportsbook.com: NBA Championship Odds
With the playoffs about two months away, the top two teams in the Western Conference are the clear cut leaders to win the NBA Championship. The Dallas Mavericks have the best record in the NBA (44-9) and have been absolutely scorching since the second week of the season. What makes the Mavs’ record more impressive is the fact that they dropped their first four games of the season. Currently they have won 17 out of their last 18 and are MySportsbook.com’s favorite (2-1) to win it all. Right behind the Mavs are the Pacific leading Phoenix Suns (39-13). Last season, the Suns lost in the Conference Finals to non-other then the Mavericks four games to two. Of course the Suns were without center Amare Stoudemire who has is averaging 19.9 PPG and 9.5 RPG since coming back from his knee injury. Unlike the Mavs, the Suns have struggled a bit lately having lost their last three and four out of their last seven. Of course the main reason for their three straight loses is due to the absence of two time MVP Steve Nash, who is out with a shoulder injury. Heads-up, the Mavs have beaten the Suns in both of their meetings this season.
In the Eastern Conference, the Pistons (32-19) are the favorites to win it all at 6-1. The addition of Chris Webber seems to have been a good move for the Pistons. Since coming over from the 76ers, Webber has averaged 13.1 PPG and 7.3 RPG and the Pistons are 11-4. Even though the defending champion Heat are currently on the playoff making cusp, they are the Eastern Conference team that is getting the most action to win it all (9-1). The fact that Shaquille O’Neal is back in the starting lineup after missing 39 games probably has something to do with this. No doubt, Shaq makes a difference when in the lineup as their winning six out of their last seven would indicate.
Just because it is the All-Star break doesn’t mean that you can’t bet on NBA hoops this weekend. Be sure to log onto MySportsbook.com to bet on who you think will cut down the nets this July. Also, be sure to check out all of the lines and props for All-Star weekend. With the highest credit card acceptance rate in the industry, there are plenty of ways to cash in on the NBA this weekend.
MySportsbook.com’s NBA Championship odds:
Atlanta Hawks 1000-1
Boston Celtics 5000-1
Charlotte Bobcats 5000-1
Chicago Bulls 20-1
Cleveland Cavaliers 20-1
Dallas Mavericks 2-1
Denver Nuggets 25-1
Detroit Pistons 6-1
Golden State Warriors 250-1
Houston Rockets 12-1
Indiana Pacers 60-1
Los Angeles Clippers 45-1
Memphis Grizzlies 5000-1
Miami Heat 9-1
Milwaukee Bucks 1000-1
Minnesota T-Wolves 200-1
New Jersey Nets 50-1
New Orleans Hornets 150-1
New York Knicks 150-1
Orlando Magic 75-1
Philadelphia 76ers 1000-1
Phoenix Suns 5-2
Portland TrailBlazers 1000-1
Sacramento Kings 250-1
San Antonio Spurs 9-1
Seattle Sonics 5000-1
Toronto Raptors 35-1
Utah Jazz 20-1
Washington Wizards 25-1
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