09/18/2008 - Delaware, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Shadow Play, winner of the first elimination heat, captured Thursday's Little Brown Jug with a wire-to-wire victory in the second heat. The three-year-old pacer won the second leg of Pacing's Triple Crown by 6 1/4 lengths in a time of 1:50 1/5 for the mile.
Driven by David Miller from the inside post, Shadow Play was sent off as the 3-5 favorite in the eight-horse field. Finishing second was Lonestar Legend, winner of the second elimination, and third elimination victor Art Official was third. Art Official, the 2-1 second choice, won the first jewel in the Triple Crown, the Cane Pace, on Labor Day at Freehold.
The second heat race had a purse of $264,589, while the three elimination races each had a purse of $58,797. The Little Brown Jug victory by Shadow Play was worth a total of $161,693.
"Horse racing is very popular there." said co-owner and former NHL star Serge Savard about Canada. "One day I told my son we should buy a piece of a horse with Dr. Moore (co-owner veterinarian Ian Moore) just to be involved locally. We told Dr. Moore and he came back to us a year later and said he'd just bought one, Shadow Play, and he sold me 25-percent. It turned out to be a pretty good horse."
Trained by Ian Moore, Shadow Play has won 14 of 33 career starts for $527,248. The pacer won the $350,000 Adios in August at Pocono Downs in Pennsylvania.
"I've been to a couple big races, but I've never been to the Jug," Savard said. "I cannot win [the] Stanley Cup anymore, but I still have a shot at winning a big race. It's fun when you're involved with the right people, and I think I am. They just love the horses."
Shadow Play and Miller won the first elimination of the 63rd Little Brown Jug in 1:50 at the Delaware, Ohio Fair. Shadow Play wore down Badlands Nitro, who set the pace, to win by 1 1/2 lengths. Badlands Nitro held on for second with Giddy Up Lucky finishing third.
Following the elimination, trainer George Teague noted that Badlands Nitro became sick and had to be scratched from the second heat.
Leaving from the inside post in the second elimination, Lonestar Legend went wire-to-wire and post a stakes record of 1:49 3/5. Rudy Rednose was second and Mystery Chase finished third. Miller was the driver of Lonestar Legend. Dave Palone picked up the drive in the deciding heat.
In the third elimination, 1-9 favorite Art Official and driver Ron Pierce overtook pacesetter Santanna Blue Chip down the stretch to win in a time of 1:52 3/5. Goddess's Justin was third in the seven-horse field.
The final leg of Pacing's Triple Crown will be the Messenger Stakes at Yonkers on Saturday, October 25.
No Pan Intended, in 2003, was the last pacer to capture the Triple Crown.
<< Marlins' Ramirez out of starting lineup
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hanley Ramirez was out of Florida's lineup on
Thursday.
The All-Star shortstop homered twice in Wednesday's 14-2 drubbing of the
Houston Astros before leaving after the fourth inning with a strained
<< Angels hit three consecutive homers in seventh, hold off A's
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joe Saunders tossed seven shutout innings, and
the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim held on for a 6-4 win over the Oakland
Athletics to salvage the finale of a three-game set.
Saunders (16-7) scattered si
<< Brewers lose heartbreaker as Cubs inch closer to division crown
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Derrek Lee's RBI single with two outs in the
12th inning capped a stunning comeback, as the Chicago Cubs edged the
Milwaukee Brewers 7-6 in the rubber-match of a three-game set at
Wrigley
<< Miami's Beasley fined by NBA
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Michael Beasley, the second overall selection
of the 2008 NBA Draft, was fined $50,000 by the league on Thursday for his
involvement in an incident at the league's Rookie Transition Program earlier
this m
MLS match in Houston postponed >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Jose Earthquakes and Houston Dynamo
announced that their Major League Soccer match, originally scheduled for
Saturday at Robertson Stadium, has been rescheduled due to hurricane damage in
Houston
Tomlinson sits out practice with sore toe >>
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson
sat out practice for the second straight day Thursday as he nurses a sore big
toe in his right foot. His status is uncertain for San Diego's contest against
the New
Crew extend lead atop East with win over N.Y. >>
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Columbus Crew moved six points clear at
the top of the Eastern Conference table ahead of the weekend Major League
Soccer fixtures with a 3-1 win over the New York Red Bulls on Thursday evening
at Crew
Pujols, Cards stop skid against Reds >>
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Albert Pujols launched a three-run homer to
help the Cardinals snap a debilitating seven-game skid, as St. Louis came away
with a 5-4 win over the Cincinnati Reds in the finale of a three-game set.
Kyle Lo
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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