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05/12/2010 - Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver will take on 11 challengers in Saturday's $1 million Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course. The 1 3/16-mile race is the second jewel in racing's Triple Crown.
Unlike the Kentucky Derby when poor weather affected the race, the Preakness should be held on a fast track. A few thunderstorms are forecast for Friday, but Saturday will be dry with partly cloudy skies and a post-time temperature near 75.
Post-time for Saturday's Preakness is 6:10 p.m.(et).
Owned by WinStar Farm, Super Saver is the 5-2 morning-line favorite in the 12- horse field. The three-year-old colt will start from post eight with Calvin Borel again in the saddle.
Borel goes after his second consecutive Preakness victory on Saturday, having won last year's race with the filly Rachel Alexandra. Borel has won three of the last four Triple Crown races on three different horses. He won the 2009 Kentucky Derby on Mind That Bird.
Super Saver gave his trainer Todd Pletcher his first Kentucky Derby win after failing with 24 previous horses. Pletcher is justifiably excited about his current champion.
"I think he's got a big chance to win at Pimlico," Pletcher said recently. "So we're going to tackle that assignment and then we've got three weeks 'til the next one. I think coming into the Derby it appeared to be a very wide open group and I think it's still a little bit wide open. But I wouldn't trade places with anyone, especially going to Pimlico and backing up a little bit of distance."
Pletcher, who is looking for his first Preakness win, believes Super Saver's tactical speed is the horse's biggest advantage.
"I think he's got a tactical edge because he's not relying on the trip like many of the rest of them," Pletcher noted. "If it's a slow pace he'll be there. If it's a fast pace he can settle like he did the other day. Something that was overlooked in the Derby is that everyone made it out to be that this horse didn't get a great trip and that horse didn't get a good trip. Super Saver was able to get a great trip because he was able to put himself in all the right spots and every time Calvin needed him to do something, he did it."
The colt is the winner of three of seven career starts and has lifetime earnings of more than $1.8 million.
This year Super Saver was third to Odysseus in the Tampa Bay Derby and second in the Arkansas Derby behind Line of David. In 2009 he was fourth to Homeboykris in the Champagne, but came back to win the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes.
Pletcher will also send out Derby Trial runner-up Aikenite in the race.
Aikenite is owned by Dogwood Stable and will be ridden by Javier Castellano from post one. The colt, 20-1 in the program, was second to Hurricane Ike in the Derby Trial on April 24 at Churchill Downs.
Aikenite has just one win in eight career starts for $300,806 in earnings. This year he was sixth in the Holy Bull Stakes, but came back to finish third in the Fountain of Youth. His eighth-place finish in the Blue Grass Stakes knocked him out of consideration for the Kentucky Derby.
Here is the complete field for the Preakness in post position order: Aikenite, 20-1, Javier Castellano; Schoolyard Dreams, 15-1, Eibar Coa; Pleasant Prince, 20-1, Julien Leparoux; Northern Giant, 30-1, Terry Thompson; Yawanna Twist, 30-1, Edgar Prado; Jackson Bend, 12-1, Mike Smith; Lookin At Lucky, 3-1, Martin Garcia; Super Saver, 5-2, Calvin Borel; Caracortado, 10-1, Paul Atkinson; Paddy O'Prado, 9-2, Kent Desormeaux; First Dude, 20-1, Ramon Dominguez and Dublin, 10-1, Garrett Gomez.
All starters will carry 126 pounds.
The Triple Crown will conclude on Saturday, June 5 at Belmont Park with the running of the 1 1/2-mile Belmont Stakes.
Affirmed in 1978 was the last thoroughbred to sweep the Triple Crown races.
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Sandy, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Dynamo travel to Utah to take on Real
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Others contend the game is about speed and skill, and the 'goonis
Swiss upset Canada, USA loses again at Worlds >>
Mannheim, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ivo Reuthemann, Thomas Deruns and
Martin Pluss each registered a goal and two assists, as Switzerland put to
rest 76 years of frustration at the hands of Canada with a 4-1 victory
Wednesd
Nationals' Marquis expects to go under the knife >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jason Marquis, Washington's biggest
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undergo surgery on his right elbow in the near future.
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Olivo's HR in 10th lifts Rox over Phils in twinbill opener >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Miguel Olivo crushed the first pitch he saw in
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Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.
As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.
The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.
Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).
But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.
Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.
Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:
Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1
Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2
New York Giants - 9 - 2
Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).
Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.
So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.
And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.
They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.
Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.
But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.
Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.
Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.
Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.
Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?
Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.
In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.
Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.
Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.
The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.
The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.
Visit MySportsbook.com for free sportsbook odds RSS feeds go to MySportsbook.com for all your betting football needs.
In terms of sports wagering, the NFL is "the most popular game in town." The explanation behind that is easy.
It is called the "pointspread."
Many years ago, NFL games, as well as the more popular college games, used straight odds as a vehicle for betting. For example, if the Bears were playing the Giants, and it shaped up as a competitive contest, the Bears might be, say, a 7/5 favorite. If they were playing an also-ran, it might be 10/1. Well, there is a point where a line becomes prohibitive, as far as betting the favorite. And who would waste money betting an underdog that has virtually no chance? Such a setup did not contribute to promoting betting action.
But in modern sports betting, a "pointspread" is used.
A NFL pointspreads are exactly that, a pre-established point difference between the two sides that will, for all intents and purposes, create a handicap that evens things out, and in doing so, produces comparable wagering activity on both sides of that proposition. So in lieu of a odds figure in which to bet the team to win outright, the Bears might be a three-point favorite over the New York Giants, and a 17-point favorite over the also-ran. Now that the team that is the underdog can "get" points, there can be equal action on both sides.
In sportsbooks, this is usually done with efficiency by charging the losing bettors 10% extra - in effect, bettors are laying 11/10 on those games. So they are actually betting $110 to win $100. If they lose, they pay the "vig." If they win, they simply collect.
The establishment of the pointspread as the corner stone around which team sports like football can be wagered upon was truly what brought gridiron betting into the stratosphere for online football betting .
Don't believe it? Just take a look at what happens around the Super Bowl.
Stay with us here as we take you through the best in NFL action on a consistent basis, with advice columns as well as handicapping selections. If you're looking for college football betting, that's in our NCAA section, which you can reach by clicking here. And if you're looking for a different kind of football, such as the Canadian Football League, which we'll deal with occasionally, or the Arena Football League, which we really like, you can find it in our Miscellaneous section by clicking
Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting odds .
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook betting credit cards
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