10/15/2008 - Arcadia, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The following is the official race order for the 25th Breeders' Cup World Championships, Thoroughbred racing's most prestigious global event, to be held on Friday, October 24 and Saturday, October 25 at Santa Anita Park.
Championship Friday will be a 10 race program, beginning at 2:05 p.m. (et) 11:05 a.m. (pt) with two Santa Anita allowance races followed by five Breeders' Cup races (ESPN2, 3:30-6:30 p.m. et) on the first ever major racing card devoted exclusively to female horses: Sentient Flight Group Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint; Grey Goose Juvenile Fillies Turf; Bessemer Trust Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, Emirates Airline Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf and the Breeders Cup Ladies Classic. Friday's program concludes with the Las Palmas Handicap and two Santa Anita allowance races.
Championship Saturday (ABC 1:00-3:30 p.m.; ESPN 3:30-7:00 p.m. et) features nine open Breeders' Cup races on an 11 race card, starting with the Breeders' Cup Marathon at 1:10 p.m. et (10:10 a.m. pt), followed by the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint, TVG Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, Breeders' Cup Mile, Bessemer Trust Breeders' Cup Juvenile, Grey Goose Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf, Sentient Flight Group Breeders' Cup Sprint, Emirates Airline Breeders' Cup Turf and the Breeders' Cup Classic. Post time for the Classic will be 6:45 p.m. et. The Damascus Stakes and Oak Tree Derby follow the Classic.
Edgar Prado, the Hall of Fame jockey who has more than 5000 races in his career and three at the Breeders' Cup World Championships, will donate five- percent of winnings from his mounts in this month's World Championships to Breeders' Cup Charities and the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund.
Prado is dedicating his potential Breeders' Cup earnings to his mother, Zenaida Prado, who died of breast cancer in February of 2006, prior to his victory aboard Barbaro in the Kentucky Derby and subsequent induction into Racing's Hall of Fame in August.
The primary beneficiaries of Breeders' Cup Charities are: Susan G. Komen for the Cure and the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Breeders' Cup Charities also will support causes in southern California and Thoroughbred industry charities.
"We are grateful for Edgar's generous pledge in the name of his late mother at this year's Breeders Cup," said Greg Avioli, president and chief executive officer of the Breeders' Cup. "Over the years, Edgar has been the epitome of talent and class on and off the racetrack, and we welcome his support to these important causes."
The pledge by Prado is the fourth commitment from the Thoroughbred industry to Breeders' Cup Charities, which was established this year to further community outreach efforts in conjunction with the 2008 Breeders' Cup World Championships. Pamela and Martin Wygod, on behalf of WebMD Health Foundation, made the first contribution to Breeders' Cup Charities, donating $250,000. Earlier this month, IEAH Stables, owners of Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Big Brown, pledged a portion of all of its starters' earnings at the Breeders' Cup, to Breeders' Cup Charities. Former Hollywood Park President and current Breeders' Cup Vice Chairman R.D. Hubbard, on behalf of the R.D. and Joan Dale Hubbard Foundation, last week donated $50,000 to Breeders' Cup Charities.
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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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