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08/27/2010 - Joliet, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Briscoe will start on the pole for an IZOD IndyCar Series race at Chicagoland Speedway for the third year in a row after winning Friday's qualifying for the PEAK AntiFreeze and Motor Oil Indy 300.
With IndyCar debuting its new two-lap oval qualifying format, Briscoe recorded an average speed of 216.346 m.p.h. around the 1.5-mile track for his third pole of the season and the 11th of his IndyCar career. All three of his poles this year have come on mile-and-a-half ovals -- Kansas, Texas and Chicagoland.
Earlier this week, IndyCar's sanctioning body, the Indy Racing League, announced that the qualifying format on ovals would change from the average speed of four timed laps to just two laps in determining the starting grid, beginning with this weekend's race at Chicagoland.
Briscoe is the defending race winner. He finished third at Chicagoland in 2008.
"I'm just hoping in the race I can be as competitive as we have been in the last two years, " Briscoe said. "It's always an exciting race. There's always a lot of good side-by-side, two-wide, three-wide action. We've got 29 cars this weekend, and it's a huge field. It's going to make it very busy for us out there.
Briscoe has one race win so far this year, which came at Texas.
Defending series champion Dario Franchitti will start on the outside pole after qualifying just 0.18 seconds behind Briscoe.
Briscoe gave Team Penske its 11th pole this season. His teammate, Will Power, the current points leader, has won a series season record eight poles so far. Power, who won last week's final road course race of the season in Sonoma, CA, qualified third.
"It's all about racing obviously on the ovals here," Power said. "Running in practice today, I felt as though we had a pretty good car, and now we just got to have a good, clean race tomorrow."
Power will share the second row with teammate Helio Castroneves, while Marco Andretti and Graham Rahal will roll off from row three.
Dan Wheldon qualified seventh, followed by Hideki Mutoh, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Takuma Sato.
Danica Patrick will start 12th.
Power holds a 59-point lead over Franchitti, while Franchitti's Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, Scott Dixon, trails by 95 points. Dixon, who has finished second in the last four races at Chicagoland, qualified a disappointing 15th.
Saturday's 300-mile race from Chicagoland will start around 8:00 p.m. (et).
<< TFC aims to start new home streak vs. RSL
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Real Salt Lake travels to take on Toronto FC in
Major League Soccer action at BMO Field on Saturday night.
RSL, which has just one league loss in its last 16, will be facing a Toronto
side that is coming off
<< Report: Manny awarded to White Sox through waiver claim
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago White Sox have reportedly been
awarded Dodgers slugger Manny Ramirez through a waiver claim, MLB.com has
confirmed.
There is still the matter of either finalizing a trade with Los Angeles
<< Stakhovsky lands in New Haven finale
New Haven, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ninth-seeded Sergiy Stakhovsky was an easy
semifinal winner Friday at the $750,000 Pilot Pen Tennis event, a final
hardcourt U.S. Open tune-up.
The Ukrainian Stakhovsky handled 12th-seeded Dutchman Thiemo D
<< Dons aim to continue perfect start
Aberdeen, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Aberdeen enters the weekend on top of
the Scottish Premier League table with two wins from its first two games, and
the Dons will look to make it three wins from three matches on Saturday when
they ho
Rams WR Avery has significant knee injury >>
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - St. Louis Rams wide receiver Donnie Avery
suffered an apparently serious knee injury during Thursday night's 36-35
preseason win over New England.
Avery, who departed after recording two catches f
Georgia RB Ealey arrested >>
Athens, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Georgia sophomore running back Washaun Ealey
was arrested early Friday morning for a hit-and-run involving a parked vehicle
and driving with a suspended license.
The Atlanta-Journal Constitution is reportin
An into semifinals at U.S. Amateur >>
University Place, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Defending champion Byeong-Hun An
defeated Max Homa, 1-up on Friday to advance into the semifinals of the U.S.
Amateur Championship.
An's quarterfinal victory at Chambers Bay on Friday keeps h
Mets bring up Hernandez, option Feliciano >>
Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Mets selected the contract of
infielder Luis Hernandez from Triple-A Buffalo on Friday and optioned
outfielder Jesus Feliciano to Buffalo.
Hernandez last appeared in the majors in 2
(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).
The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.
"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."
Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.
"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."
When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:
CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.
DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.
PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.
You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.
"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."
Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.
(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)
Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."
But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."
Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."
Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."
All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.
In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.
"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."
To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.
MySportsbook.com: New College Football Clock Rules Examined
Coaches and bettors alike are desperate to make sense of the new time-keeping rules on the NCAA gridiron. One of the big stories to come out of the Ohio State-Texas clash last weekend was Texas coach Mack Brown's criticism of the NCAA's new clock rules that are intended to shorten the duration of college football games, therefore affecting college football betting.
"They scored with six minutes left and the game was over before we had a chance to do anything," Brown told ESPN.com. "I really hope whoever made these changes will go back and look them over."
Sure, it might be sour grapes; the Buckeyes thoroughly trounced the defending national champion Longhorns 24-7. However, Brown isn't alone in giving the changes their due thought. Bettors are also wondering about them, albeit for a completely different reason. Most experts agree that the changes will result in games being shortened by anywhere from 10 to 20 plays. The obvious consequence is lower scores, with more time rolling off the clock during changes of possession. (The Ohio State-Texas game flew well under the total of 52.)
According to research at the online sportsbook MySportsbook.com, more than 18 plays a game disappeared last weekend into thin air. That's a 10-percent reduction. In 2005, a typical game had 168.58 plays. For 2007 already, it's down to 150.26.
As a result, teams combined to gain an average of about 100 fewer yards a game last weekend versus the 2005 openers. Scoring was also down by about 4.5 points (attention Las Vegas sports lines).
Of course, oddsmakers were able to adjust to the changes before the season started. Proof of that came as the over went a balanced 8-9 at My Sportsbook on Saturday.
Other angles to consider:A shorter game should theoretically result in shorter lines. Whereas Team A might have been a 14-point favorite in a 168-play game (last year), if there are 10 percent less snaps in 2007, the line should also be reduced by 10 percent (to 13 or 12.5). Of course, this is an over-simplification of the matter, but something to keep in mind.
Less possessions means a better chance the game will be decided by three or seven points. For example, what might have been a 20-10 final score in 2005 may end at
17-10 in 2007. Granted, a 24-17 game last year might end at 21-17 these days, but the former - a three- or seven-point advantage being preserved as opposed to created - is the most likely scenario.
*UPDATE* - Sept. 25, 2007
New Clock Rules Boon for online bookmakers
By adjusting the time-keeping rules to shorten the duration of college football games, the NCAA hoped to make its product more enjoyable for the fans. While the NCAA's success in this regard is still up for debate, bookmakers couldn't be happier with the results.
"We are seeing a massive jump in college football betting," noted the MySportsbook.com management team. "With all the early Saturday games (12 a.m. ET) ending before the second wave begins (3:30 p.m. ET) - something that didn't always happen before the changes - bettors are now able to re-invest their winnings from the morning session in the afternoon games."
While not all bettors will choose to roll over their winnings, it doesn't take much for an impact to be seen on the bottom line. "Not all of the millions of dollars in morning payouts get re-bet. In fact, it's probably only 10 to 20 percent," noted the sportsbook management team. "Still, the increased football betting lines window will create a ton of growth for us over the course of the season."
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