George Steinbrenner's best chance in Kentucky Derby

Horseracing Betting Lines

07/13/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tuesday the sports world lost one of its most recognizable figures when a heart attack claimed the life of George Steinbrenner. The owner of the New York Yankees passed away at the age of 80.

While best known as the owner of the Bronx Bombers, the Ohio-native was very much involved in thoroughbred racing. He raced under the name of Kinsman Stable and bred horses at Kinsman Farm in central Florida.

"The thoroughbred racing world joins the rest of the sporting community in mourning the death of George Steinbrenner," said Alex Waldrop, President and CEO of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association. "He was a devoted owner and breeder and philanthropist for more than 40 years, and his Kinsman Farm near Ocala, FL, produced numerous stakes winners. His many contributions to our sport are greatly appreciated, and he will be sorely missed."

Steinbrenner never won a Triple Crown race, though he had serious contenders for the Run for the Roses. In 2005 he even had the post-time favorite for the 1 1/4-mile race at Churchill Downs.

Bellamy Road, a colt purchased by Steinbrenner, had won the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct prior to starting in the Kentucky Derby. The three-year-old was made the 5-2 favorite for the race over Arkansas Derby champ Afleet Alex, Santa Anita Derby winner Buzzards Bay and Blue Grass Stakes champ Bandini.

Ridden by Javier Castellano, Bellamy Road sat third at the start behind pacesetters Spanish Chestnut and Going Wild. Coming off the final turn, Steinbrenner's colt was second, only a head in back of stablemate High Fly.

But Bellamy Road picked the wrong year to challenge for the lead in the Kentucky Derby. The fast pace (the first six furlongs went in 1:09 2/5) took its toll on the front-runners and a pair of longshots Giacomo (50-1) and Closing Argument (71-1) came charging down the stretch to finish first and second, respectively.

Steinbrenner's horse couldn't keep up and faded to seventh in the 20-horse field. Bellamy Road was one of six Kentucky Derby starters that Mr. Steinbrenner had.

Bellamy Road was not entered in the remaining two Triple Crown races, but he came back to finish second to Flower Alley in the Travers as the 2-1 second choice.

In his career Bellamy Road won four of seven starts with one second-place finish and banked $811,400.

"The two best horses I ever trained,' said Nick Zito, "were Unbridled's Song and Bellamy Road."

Along with his involvement with Major League Baseball and thoroughbred racing, Steinbrenner was a benefactor of the Penn Relays track and field carnival. His father, running for MIT, was the 1927 high hurdles champion at the Franklin Field event. George was a hurdler at Williams College and the Lockbourne Air Base.

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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.