Pyro catches fire in Risen Star Stakes

Horseracing Betting Lines

02/09/2008 - New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Breeders' Cup Juvenile runner-up Pyro exploded down the stretch to capture Saturday's $300,000 Risen Star Stakes at the Fair Grounds. The odds-on favorite covered the 1 1/16 miles in 1:44.68 on a fast track.

Making his 2008 debut after finishing second to War Pass in the Juvenile, Pyro came from far off the pace to win his first race on the road to the Kentucky Derby. This was his first victory since breaking his maiden in July.

Setting the pace in the Risen Star was Rich Young Ruler closely followed by Visionaire, The Darp and Signature Move. The favorite was last in the 11 horse field with six furlongs to run.

Entering the far turn Z Fortune, winner of the Lecomte Stakes, joined the leaders and took the lead entering the stretch. With a furlong to run jockey Shaun Bridgmohan took Pyro off the rail to the middle of the track.

Pyro charged down the stretch past the front runners and hit the wire two lengths ahead of Z Fortune. Visionaire held on for third with Unbridled Vicar getting up for fourth.

Rounding out the order of finish was Lecomte runner-up Blackberry Road, Rich Young Ruler, The Darp, Peteadoris, Bonanza, Signature Move and Prince Cortez. Scratched from the race was Check It Twice.

With Pyro and Z Fortune both trained by Steve Asmussen, the conditioner of Horse of the Year Curlin has two legitimate Kentucky Derby hopefuls. Both colts are on schedule to appear in the Louisiana Derby here on March 8.

Pyro, owned by Winchell Thoroughbreds, earned $180,000 with the Risen Star victory to bring his career bankroll to $696,718. The three-year-old has won two of five lifetime starts.

Pyro returned $3.80, $2.60 and $2.20. Z Fortune paid $3.40 and $2.60, and Visionaire paid $3.60 to show.

Immediately before Pyro's win, Breeders' Cup Juvenile Filly champ Indian Blessing went wire to wire to take the $200,000 Silverbulletday Stakes. The 2007 champion two-year-old defeated Proud Spell by a length in the 1 1/16 mile race.

Indian Blessing was ridden by Eclipse Award winner Garrett Gomez to a time of 1:43.75 from the outside post in the seven filly field.

Sent off as the 7-10 favorite, Indian Blessing paid $3.40, $2.20 and $2.10. Proud Spell returned $2.60 and $2.40, and Highest Class paid $3.00 to show,

Indian Blessing is trained by Bob Baffert for owners Patti and Hal Earnhardt. Saturday's win was worth $120,000 as the three-year-old remains perfect in five career starts. She has earned more than $1.5 million.

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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.