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06/28/2010 - Louisville, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A muddy racetrack at Churchill Downs proved no deterrent Monday morning for two of the best known thoroughbreds in training. Defending Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra and 2009 Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird worked out over an off track at the historic facility.
Rachel Alexandra, with Shaun Bridgmohan in the saddle, had her final workout before being sent to Saratoga by trainer Steve Asmussen. The four-year-old filly covered five-furlongs in 1:03 over sloppy footing. She galloped out six furlongs in 1:17.
"She handles it really well," Asmussen said. "She went good. We've got travel plans this week and want everything to go smoothly."
Asmussen will be sending the champion and others to historic Saratoga on Wednesday. The hot weather in Louisville convinced Asmussen to ship to upstate New York a week early.
"It's time," said Asmussen. "I'll be very happy when she's settled in there and we can get into our routine up there."
Owned by Stonestreet Stables and Harold McCormick, Rachel Alexandra got her win of the year on June 12 with a 10 1/2-length victory in the Fleur de Lis at Churchill Downs. After two second-place finishes to begin 2010 the filly looked like her old self in the 1 1/8-mile stakes.
Later Monday morning, Mine That Bird put in a workout over a muddy Churchill track. The gelding went five-furlongs in a very fast 59 4/5 seconds. This was his final workout before making his 2010 debut.
Calvin Borel, the four-year-old's regular jockey, had Mine That Bird gallop out six-furlongs in 1:14 3/5 with trainer D. Wayne Lukas watching.
"I told Calvin we needed to let him do it with no prompting today, just let him do it on his own," Lukas said. "I told him I'd like to see him finish up and if he'd get it in a minute to 1:01, that would be about right. Once I turned him loose and I rode over by the rail to see how deep it was, I thought 'If he does that, he's going to be really going good'. And then he goes 59- and-four.
"I couldn't be happier. Every step has been right down the line. I like the way that he's changing, mentally and physically. That's the big thing. We know he can run if everything's right. Physically, he's so much stronger, he might be 150 pounds heavier than he was last year. And mentally, he's really getting good."
Overnight rains caused the Churchill track to come sloppy as training began Monday morning. As the day progressed the track condition improved to muddy.
"He's just blossomed out," said Borel. "How good is he? I don't know, but we're going to find out. I think he's a good horse. I don't care what anybody says, he wasn't a fluke."
Mine That Bird, owned by Mark Allen and Dr. Leonard Blach, has not raced since finishing ninth to Zenyatta in the 2009 Breeders' Cup Classic. He could start in one of two races this weekend at Churchill: a 1 1/16-mile allowance race on Saturday or Sunday's $175,000 Firecracker Handicap at a mile on the turf, closing day of Churchill's 42-day Spring Meet.
"We'd like to start him here,' Lukas said. "I used that Firecracker as a back- up. I know he's never been on the turf. I really don't want to ship him. I have the Salvatore Mile (July 3) at Monmouth, but I'd like to just leave him in his own stall and try him. If he gets beat, this first one is a means to an end.
"We'll wait and see how the next two days look. I have no reason to believe he won't bounce back from this work. He does every one of them so easy. He has amazing efficiency of motion. I've had some pretty good horses that I thought could get over the ground. I don't know if any of them got over it lighter than he does."
Last week Lukas indicated that the Whitney Handicap on August 7 at Saratoga is the immediate goal for Mine That Bird.
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In any football or basketball game (the main sports that use point spreads) there are two teams playing against each other.
Those teams, though, are rarely exactly evenly matched – meaning that typically one team has a better chance than the other to win the game. If bettors were allowed to bet on who was simply going to win the game, smart ones would obviously bet on the better team (likely winning more than 50% of the time in the process).
If winning were that easy the Las Vegas and online sportsbooks would stop taking any bets! This is where the point spread comes in: the basic function of the point spread is to balance the likelihood of each team “winning” by adjusting the final score by the point spread. After this adjustment is made you get the Against The Spread result (ATS result for short).
Let’s look at Super Bowl XXXIX, New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles. Most people believed the defending champ Patriots to be the better team – so if betting were simply based upon which team would win the game, an uneven majority of people would have wagered on New England. But, by using the point spread, the bookmakers adjusted the terms of the bet, evening the proposition so about half the people believed the Pats to be the smart bet, while the other half considered Philly to be the smart bet.
New England Patriots -7 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
The better team, called the Favorite, is expected to win the game and must “give” or “lay” points to the weaker team. The favorite is listed with a minus sign and the number of points they are favored by (e.g., New England -7)
In the case of our example, New England must not only win the game, but they must win by more than 7 points for Pats bettors to have a winning ATS result. An Eagles bettor wins his bet either if:
There was also the possibility that the final score could land exactly on the spread number (for example, the Pats winning 28-21 when -7), which is called a “push” or “no action” and a refund is then issued to bettors of both teams.
The same game with the same point spread can be considered from the weaker team’s perspective: The Underdog (Philly in the case of our example) is not expected to win the game and online football betting thus receives or “gets” points given by the stronger team. When a game is stated from the underdog’s perspective the team is listed with a plus sign and the number of points they are underdogs by:
Philadelphia Eagles +7 vs. New England Patriots
Keep in mind that Philadelphia +7 and New England -7 is the same point spread on the same game, simply stated differently. The first is from the underdog’s perspective; the later is from the favorite’s.
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
Let’s look at the actual result of Super Bowl XXXIX: New England 24 Philadelphia 21
The favorite, New England, won the game but not by more than the point spread they were favored by (7), so the ATS result was a LOSS for Pats bettors.
Looking at it from the underdog’s perspective, Philly did not win the game, but they lost by less than the point spread (7), so the ATS result was a WIN for Eagle bettors.
Mathematically considered, 24 for the favorite Pats minus 7 equals 17, which is less than the 20 the Eagles scored, so the underdog Eagles win the ATS result (or you could figure 20 plus 7 equals 27 for the Eagles, which is more than 24 for the Pats).
Emily’s boyfriend understood the point spread and wagered $100 on the Eagles at +7. The Eagles may not have gotten a Super Bowl ring, but since they won the ATS result Emily’s boyfriend cashed his bet – giving him money to take her out to a nice dinner.
And now hopefully you understand how to read point spreads, putting you one step closer to joining the fun of sports betting.
To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.
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