Acting Happy captures Black-Eyed Susan Stakes

Horseracing Betting Lines

05/14/2010 - Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lightly raced Acting Happy shook loose down the stretch to win Friday's 86th running of the $175,000 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes at Pimlico Race Course. The 1 1/8 mile race for three-year-old fillies is the sister event to Saturday's Preakness Stakes.

Nine fillies entered the starting gate for the annual renewal of the Black- Eyed Susan. When the gate opened several of the starters broke in a tangle.

Taking the early lead was Khancord Kid followed closely by Acting Happy on the outside. Running right behind the top two horses were post-time favorite Tidal Pool and Harissa.

The top four runners kept their positions up the backstretch. Entering the far turn C C's Pal joined the lead group and Tidal Pool was looking for room along the rail.

Around the final turn the top five runners were bunched in a group. Tidal Pool, a slight favorite over Seeking the Title, was pinched back as the field entered the stretch.

Khancord Kid began to fade down the stretch as Acting Happy and jockey Jose Lezcano took the lead. Trained by Rick Dutrow, Acting Happy drew clear inside the furlong pole as No Such Word mounted a rally.

Acting Happy posted a 1 1/2-length victory over the late running No Such Word with Tidal Pool holding on for third. Rounding out the order of finish was Harissa, Khancord Kid, C C's Pal and Patriot Miss.

Diva Delite, ridden by Julien Leparoux, clipped heels with C C's Pal and fell entering the far turn. Seeking the Title with rider Kent Desormeaux was unable to avoid her. Both the fillies and jockeys appeared to be uninjured.

The time for the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes was 1:50 on a fast track.

Owned by Jay Em Ess Stable, Acting Happy was making just her fourth career start and her first in a stakes race. Friday's victory was as a 10-1 longshot, but was worth $105,000.

The daughter of 2003 Belmont Stakes winner Empire Maker has now won two of four lifetime starts for $141,540. After breaking her maiden first time out, Acting Happy was second in her next two starts.

Acting Happy returned $22.20, $10.80 and $5.80. No Such Word paid $9.00 and $5.60, and Tidal Pool paid $2.60 to show.

The updated weather forecast for Saturday's Preakness Stakes indicates partly cloudy skies, winds from the West at 10 to 20 m.p.h. and a post-time temperature near 75.

Wwwjobtrack Horseracing Betting News

<< Galaxy, TFC meet at The HDC
Carson, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Galaxy will try to continue their unbeaten start to the 2010 Major League Soccer Season when they host Toronto FC at The Home Depot Center on Saturday night. While the galaxy have domin

<< Piller remains hot, leads BMW Charity Pro-Am by one
Greer, SC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Martin Piller carded a five-under 67 Friday to take a one-stroke lead after two rounds of the BMW Charity Pro-Am. Piller, who shared the first-round lead with Ted Potter, Jr., completed 36 holes at 13-unde

<< Jones, Pirates use late burst of offense to down Cubs
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Garrett Jones collected five hits and drove in a career-high five runs, including the tie-breaking three-run homer in the eighth inning, to lift the Pirates to a 10-6 win over the Cubs in the opener of a th

<< Embarrassed Wizards hope to catch Fire
Kansas City, KA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Fire travel to take on the Kansas City Wizards in a Major League Soccer clash on Saturday night at CommunityAmerica Ballpark. The Wizards are trying to bounced back from an embarrass

<< Cahoon to return with Als for 2010
Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Montreal Alouettes announced on Friday that veteran wideout Ben Cahoon will return for a 13th year. Cahoon, a Utah native and Brigham Young product, posted a league-best 89 receptions for 1,031

Sindelar among four co-leaders in Alabama >>
Hoover, AL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joey Sindelar fired a seven-under 65 to share the first-round lead Friday with three other players at the Regions Charity Classic. Russ Cochran, Bobby Clampett and Peter Senior also carded 65s on the

Former NFL lineman Hand dead at 37 >>
Walterboro, SC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former NFL defensive lineman Norman Hand has reportedly passed away at the age of 37. The news was reported by CBS news affiliate WCSC-TV in Charleston, South Carolina. The Colleton County corone

Rangers activate Cruz from DL >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Texas Rangers have activated outfielder Nelson Cruz from the 15-day disabled list. The 29-year-old had been placed on the DL on April 27 with a strained right hamstring. He started two

Nationals/Rockies postponed, rescheduled for Saturday DH >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Friday night's game between the Washington Nationals and Colorado Rockies was postponed due to inclement weather. The game has been rescheduled as part of a split doubleheader on Saturday. The first game w

Padres' Cabrera activated from DL >>
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Diego Padres activated shortstop Everth Cabrera from the 15-day disabled list Friday. Cabrera was put on the DL April 30 due to a strained right hamstring. In 18 games this season, Cabrera is

Sportsbooks to bet on football

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 football betting got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting odds needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.