A Little Warm is hot horse in Jim Dandy Stakes
Horseracing Betting Lines
07/31/2010 - Saratoga Springs, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A Little Warm, ridden by John Velazquez, took the lead in mid-stretch on his way to winning Saturday's $500,000 Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga Race Course.
The 1 1/8-mile contest is the local prep for the $1 million Travers on Saturday, August 28.
A Little Warm, trained by Tony Dutrow, prompted the pace that was set by Miner's Reserve. Running right behind the first two colts were Friend Or Foe and Stormy's Majesty, as 9-5 favorite Fly Down was racing last in the eight horse field.
Miner's Reserve and A Little Warm continued on the front end entering the final turn and as the field entered the stretch. Miner's Reserve, ridden by Calvin Borel, was a 15-1 longshot, while A Little Warm was the 4-1 third choice.
Owned by Edward Evans, A Little Warm edged past Miner's Reserve with a furlong to go and went on to post a 1 3/4-length victory. Afleet Express, the 5-2 second pick, advanced to finish third followed by Friend Or Foe, Fly Down, Steinbeck, Aikenite and Stormy's Majesty.
The time for the Jim Dandy was 1:47.98 on a fast track.
Winslow Homer, also trained by Dutrow, was scratched in order to run in Sunday's Curlin Stakes at Saratoga.
A Little Warm notched his fourth career win with Saturday's triumph and added $300,000 to his bankroll. The colt has lifetime earnings of $608,880 in nine starts.
"I felt strongly he was going to run a terrific race," Dutrow said, "but I don't know if that was going to be good enough to win. We work so hard with these animals, and when you achieve a race like this, it's bigger than life."
Early this year the three-year-old won the Spectacular Bid Stakes at Gulfstream Park and followed with second-place finishes in the Hutcheson and Louisiana Derby.
A Little Warm returned $10.20, $5.50 and $3.80. Miner's Reserve paid $13.60 and $7.90, and Afleet Express paid $3.50 to show.
It was announced on Friday that 2009 Horse of the year Rachel Alexandra will make her next start in Saratoga's Personal Ensign Stakes on Sunday, August 29.
"Rachel feels very much at home among the great Saratoga fans," said Jess Jackson, who owns the filly with Harold McCormick, in a statement. "It's an historic race, named after a great champion. The timing is right for Rachel. She's been coming back into her stride and this will help her prepare for the rest of her campaign and the Breeders' Cup later this year."
The Personal Ensign is a 1 1/4-mile race for fillies and mares with a purse of $300,000.
Sunderland, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sunderland signed midfielder Kieran Richardson to a contract extension through the 2012-13 season on Saturday. Richardson, 25, joined Sunderland from Manchester United in 2007 and has made 85 appea
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<< Mexican captain Marquez leaves Barcelona
Barcelona, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mexican captain Rafael Marquez ended his
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Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Hanigan delivered the tie-breaking two- run double in the seventh inning, and Bronson Arroyo tossed seven sturdy frames in Cincinnati's 5-2 win over Atlanta in the middle tilt of a three-game set.
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Omaha, NE (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - James Hahn fired a seven-under 64 and Kevin
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San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pat Burrell smacked a two-out, two-run
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Huskers' Lucky hospitalized for undisclosed reason
LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska running back Marlon Lucky was hospitalized Monday for undisclosed reasons after Lincoln police responded to a call at his residence.
The Nebraska athletic department said in a release Monday that Lucky was admitted Sunday night.
MySportsbook.com has the Cornhuskers listed at +2500 to win the BCS National Championship odds.
A nursing supervisor at the hospital said all questions about Lucky were being referred to the athletic department. The athletic department said there would be no further comment from the department or Lucky's family.
A Lincoln Police spokesman said officers responded to a call at Lucky's residence 11:30 p.m. Sunday. The spokesman said he didn't know Lucky's condition at the time he was taken to the hospital.
Lucky, from North Hollywood, Calif., started six games last season as a sophomore and was the team's second-leading rusher, with 728 yards and six touchdowns. He also caught 32 passes for 383 yards. He averaged 19.1 yards on eight kickoff returns.
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How did changes to college football betting rules affect bettors?
The 2007 college football rules changes that were implemented to shorten games are now history. The NCAA rules committee did what they set out to do; games were cut by an average of 14 minutes per game last season. There were also, on average, 14 fewer plays per game. We’ll get into how that did (or didn’t) affect games in regards to the pointspread a bit later.
While the NCAA rules committee may have had the betterment of the game in mind, they'll now “turn back the clock” for next season. Two key rules have now been overturned by the NCAA committee for the 2007 season, something definitely for the better.
For those of you who may not remember what those rules actually were, let us refresh your memory.
1) The first one was actually starting the clock on a kickoff as soon as the kicker touched the ball rather than waiting until the returner touched it. The problem here was near the end of the half (or game), if the team leading was kicking off, they could milk the clock by intentionally running offsides and then re-kicking. They could run 10-15 seconds off the clock each play while taking just five-yard penalties each time. They could run the clock down and simply cause the half (or game) to end on a kickoff, keeping the opposing offense off the field. In 2007, the clock will now start when the returner touches the ball as it had before last season.
2) The second rule dealt with starting the clock after a change of online football betting possession rather than waiting until the ball was snapped. This took a lot of time off the clock throughout the game as teams changed possession, however it caused the most problems late in games (or halves). Rather than huddling up and calling a play, the offensive team would have to rush onto the field as the clock started. This was a definite disadvantage to a team that was trying to come from behind late in the game. This year the clock will start on a change of possession, after the ball is snapped.
How did those rules affect the college game last year and will it make a difference this year when it comes to the pointspread? We commonly heard two theories when it came to these changes. First, it would affect scoring negatively. Second, it would hurt favorites as they would have less time and fewer plays to cover the number.
Did the rules hurt scoring? Yes. It seemed obvious that shortening the game by what amounted to 14 plays would push scoring downward. That was the case last year. Of the 119 Division 1A teams, 69 squads scored fewer points in 2007 than they did in 2005. Just 48 teams had a higher PPG scoring average and two stayed the same. Almost 59 percent of the teams in college football last year had a lower PPG average than they did in 2005. Expect more scoring in 2007 as we revert back to the old rules.
Did the rules hinder favorites from covering the number in 2007? Not really. Last year the favorites posted an overall spread record of 336-350-16 (48.9 percent). The year before, favorites were 316-326-13 (49.2 percent). In 2004, the favorites were 316-339-2 (48.2 percent). In fact, college football favorites have been above 50 percent for the season just once in the last seven years (in 2003). Last year’s numbers fell right in line with where they have been historically.
How about big favorites? The rules must have hurt them? Maybe a little bit. Double-digit favorites last year came in at a 47.8 percent clip compare with an average of just over 50 percent over the last seven years. Since 1980, favorites of -10 or more have covered at exactly a 50 percent clip (measured over 6,716 games).
Even bigger favorites must have struggled? Not really. In fact, it was just the opposite. Favorites of three TD’s or more were 59-54-2 last year (52.2 percent). Since 2000, those same favorites (-21 or higher) hit at 51.3 percent and since 1990 came in a clip of 50.3 percent. Stepping it up a notch to four TD favorites or higher, we actually see they've covered at a much better rate last season than before. Last year, favorites of -28 or more were 31-21-1, or almost 60 percent. Historically, four-TD-or-higher favorites have come in at a 50.7 percent spot since 2000 and only 48.9 percent since 1990. The “perceived” problem with the favorites covering at a reduced rate really never came to fruition.
Bottom line is, there might be some more scoring in 2007, but no real revelations when it comes to finding any pointspread golden nuggets.
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