Gulfstream Park Derby debuts on Sunday

Horseracing Betting Lines

12/29/2011 - Hallandale Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The first of the year also means the beginning of the Triple Crown trail to the Kentucky Derby. The first stakes on that road is Sunday's Gulfstream Park Derby, a new race on the calendar.

The 1 1/16-mile event worth $100,000 has attracted a field of 11 three-year- olds for the main track. Post-time for the Gulfstream Park Derby is slated for 4:45 p.m. (et).

Topping the field is Spectacular Bid Stakes winner Ancient Rome. Trained by Tony Dutrow, the colt has drawn post seven with Joe Rocco Jr. again getting the riding assignment.

"I honestly don't know what to expect," Dutrow said. "Ancient Rome certainly has the talent, and if he can get the distance, he's going to be a useful three-year-old this year. It's all about experimenting here."

In the Spectacular Bid on December 3, Ancient Rome pressed the pacesetter and was able to put his nose on the wire, covering the six-furlongs in 1:08.95.

"He's always shown that toughness," Dutrow said. "That's one thing we know for sure about him. I would anticipate coming out of those sprint races he would be out on the lead or at least with the pacemakers.

"He's by Roman Ruler so we're looking at that when thinking about the stretch out. His daddy has produced a Belmont winner (Ruler on Ice) so we'll just have to wait and see."

Owned by Michael Dubb, Ancient Rome was second in his first start with Jeremy Rose in the saddle at Delaware Park. In his second career race, the colt, with Rocco riding, won by 7 3/4-lengths at Delaware as the 3-10 favorite. He has earnings of $92,000.

Here is the full field in post position order: King Kid, Corey Lanerie; Reveron, Fernando Jara; Gold Megillah, Edgar Prado; Nachas and Joy, Rajiv Maragh; Casual Trick, John Velazquez; Silver Menace, Javier Castellano; Ancient Rome, Joe Rocco Jr., Politicallycorrect, Elvis Trujillo, Ravelo's Boy, Jeffrey Sanchez; Rex's Last Tour, Daniel Centeno and Yourhonorandglory, Kendrick Carmouche.

Wwwsjsharks Horseracing Betting News

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Barry Bonds Watch: Giants Slugger Says He'll Be Back

With only 21 home runs standing between him and Hank Aaron, Barry Bonds is indeed planning on coming back for more in 2007. At least, that's what his agent told the Los Angeles Times.

"Barry's going to play in 2007," Jeff Borris of Beverly Hills Sports Council told the Times on Tuesday. "I've had many discussions with Barry and he's going to play. My intentions are to see to it he's in a big-league uniform next season. Those are my marching orders."

Contract negotiations could get started as early as next week. Let's see which team has the deeper pockets. Will MLB baseball betting lines despite allegations of steroid use? Bet On It at www.MySportsbook.com .

Get all your baseball betting lines, MLB lines and MLB team props at the My Sportbook.

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College Football Betting Tips From a Pro

While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.

Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.

The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.

What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.

These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.

College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.

Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.

Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.

Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.

I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.

Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.

It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.

As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.

Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your NCAA college football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.